These biographies were transcribed from Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton Counties. They are only the biographies for individuals who resided in Hall County Nebraska in 1890 whose surname starts with the letter L.
LAMON, Elbert S.
Elbert S. Lamon was brought up to the life of a farmer by his father, Manuel Lamon, and like the majority of boys has followed in his progenitor’s footsteps, and is now one of the leading agriculturists and stockmen of Hall County. He is a native of the “Hoosier State,” born in Harrison County, June 10, 1831, whither his parents moved from their native State of Tennessee in 1829, both being of German parentage. Here the father was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred about 1868, his wife surviving him about twenty years, her death occurring at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. Mr. Lamon was a man well known and highly esteemed for his many worthy qualities, and was for twelve consecutive years magistrate in his district. He was also a faithful soldier in the War of 1812. Elbert S. Lamon attained his manhood in Harrison County, Ind., making his home with his father, and was married there November 23, 1854, to Priscilla Green, a daughter of John and Leah Green, natives of the “Blue Grass State.” Mrs. Lamon was born and reared in Kentucky, and after her marriage she and Mr. Lamon settled on a farm in Crawford County, which they continued to till until the fall of 1874, when they came to Nebraska. From that time until the spring of 1880 Mr. Lamon rented land, but in the last-named year located on the farm he now occupies, which consists of 274 acres of fine land. He has just sold 200 acres, and now has a neat little farm of seventy-four acres all under cultivation and well improved with excellent buildings. He has a fine young bearing orchard of about 800 trees, also some cherry and plum trees. He has always been a Republican in his political view, and has served as a delegate to numerous county conventions. He has been a member of the school board in his district, and socially is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Deuel Chapter No. 11. His family consists of the following children: Manuel (who is married and resides in Sherman County, Neb.), William C. (who is married and resided in Grand Island), John, Walter, Virginia A. (wife of E.C. Walker, a sketch of whom appears in this work), Amy E. (wife of Austin Roberts, of Decatur County, Iowa), Minerva, Ida C. and Cora M.
LANGAN, John F.
John F. Langan, dealer in retail liquor, Wood River, Neb. This gentleman is a native of Pennsylvania, born January 5, 1857, and is the son of James and Mary (Bresnihan) Langan. The father was a native of the Emerald Isle, and came to the United States when a young man, located in Pittston, Luzerne County, Pa., and there worked in the mines for some time. He was married in that State, and there reared six of the seven children born to his union. He still resides in Pittston, but comes out West to visit his son, J. F., quite often. The mother was born in Cork, Ireland, but came to America and was married in Pennsylvania to Mr. Langan. She was the mother of seventeen children. J. F. Langan grew to manhood in Pennsylvania, received a common school education, and worked in machine shops, and engaged in running a sewing-machine factory for four and a half years. He came to this State in 1885 and remained here about ten months, when he went back and worked for the same company for about nine months. Again he returned to this State and embarked in the liquor business in Wood River, and has been here about three years. He has been quite successful, and is an enterprising and industrious man. He was married June 12, 1888, to Miss Maggie Conner, a native of Farmsdale, Pa., where she received her education. She is a lady of superior mental ability, and of high personal attainments. They have one child, a daughter, named Mary A. Mr. Langan owns the fixtures for two saloons here and is doing well. He is a member of the Catholic Church.
LEE, Seth
Seth Lee, farmer and stock-raiser, Cameron, Neb. A glance at the lives of the many representative men whose names appear in this volume will reveal sketches of some honored, influential citizens, who have passed beyond man’s allotted age of three-score years and ten, and among those deserving of mention is Mr. Seth Lee. He was born in Bristol County, Mass., July 12, 1818, and his father, Stephen Lee, was also a native of the same county in Massachusetts. The latter grew to manhood, received his education, and was married to Miss Sarah West in Bristol County. She was also a native of that county, and there grew to womanhood. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom reached maturity. Both parents were members of the Christian Church. The paternal great-grandfather, G. F. Stephen Lee, was born in Bristol County, Mass., and was a farmer by occupation. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and his grandson, Stephen D. Lee, has his gun. Seth Lee was eighteen years of age when he moved to Providence, R. I., where he learned the trade of carpenter, and was married August 13, 1840, to Miss Lucy Pearce, a native of that city, who was born March 22, 1822. They were the parents of the following children: Edwin S. (born June 17, 1842), Julia M. (born October 13, 1844), Amanda E. (born February 15, 1848), Willard H. (born March 28, 1856) and Charles F. (born March 18, 1862, and died February 27, 1867). Seth Lee worked at contracting and building for twenty-five years, and in that way accumulated considerable wealth. He came west in 1872, invested in land, and is now the owner of two sections, valued at $30 per acre. He began life with little or no means, but by saving $100 a year was worth $10,000 when he left Rhode Island. He is a member of the Christian Church, and in his political views affiliates with the Republican party. During the late unpleasantness between the North and South he was a stanch Union man, and opposed to slavery. His wife is still living, and if both survive until August 13, 1890, they will be permitted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. The grandparents on both sides were natives of Bristol County, Mass., and the maternal grandfather was a mechanic by trade, and a member of the Christian Church. He died in Warren, R. I.
LEE, Edwin S.
Edwin S. Lee, farmer and stock-raiser, Wood River Neb. This prosperous farmer and stock-raiser of Hall County, Neb., owes his nativity to Providence, R. I., where his birth occurred June 17, 1842 [see sketch of Seth Lee, for parents], and remained there until sixteen years of age, attending the public schools of that city. He then moved with his parents to Massachusetts, and attended school in that State until twenty-one years of age. In 1864 he married Miss Amanda C. Wood, who was born in the town of Swansea, Mass., in 1844, and who received a more than ordinary education. They remained in Massachusetts, where Mr. Lee followed agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he emigrated to Nebraska, and settled in Hall County, where he homesteaded a good tract of land. He is now the owner of 320 acres, all of which is tillable, and is one of the flourishing stock-raisers and feeders of the county. His farm shows evidence of thrift and energy. They came to Nebraska at a day when the marks of pioneer life were everywhere present, and brought with them the customs of the urbane population of the Eastern States. They are the parents of four living children: Arthur (who was born May 20, 1867), Stephen (born in September, 1869), Lawrence (born December 25, 1873), Seba (born November 29, 1881); Hattie, who died May 28, 1888, was twenty-three years of age. Stephen attended the Methodist Episcopal School at Central City, Neb., and is especially proficient in mathematics. Mr. and Mrs. Lee made a visit to their old home during the autumn of 1889, visiting Bunker Hill Monument and old Faneul Hall, and other important places in and about their old home. They brought with them on their return as family relics two readers bearing the date of 1802 and 1805, respectively, also the arithmetic used in the eighteenth century by ancestors of the family. Mrs. Lee is a lady of education and refinement, and is above the average in culture and attainments. Her parents, Abel B. and Amanda C. (Case) Wood, were both natives of Massachusetts, the former born in 1814 and the latter in 1818. He was a farmer and died in Massachusetts in 1887. He was a member of the Christian Church. The mother died in December, 1888, and was one of eighteen children born to her parents, her mother being fifty-one years of age when Mrs. Wood was born. Mr. Lee has acceptably served as justice of the peace. He is a Republican in politics, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
LENNAN, Edward
Edward Lennan, farmer and stock-raiser, Underwood. What is usually termed genius has little to do with the success of men in general. Keen perception, sound judgment and a determined will, supported by persevering and continuous effort, are essential elements to success in any calling. Mr. Lennan was born in Maine, in 1848, and was reared and educated in that State. He went to Wisconsin in 1870, remained there but a short time and then went to Woodford County, Ill., where he worked in a store for about a year. In 1874 he came to Hall County, Neb., and was married in Hastings County (sic), Neb., in 1878, to Miss Mary C. Page, a native of New Hampshire, and the daughter of John W. and Sarah A. (Page) Page, natives of the Granite State. Mrs. Page is still a native of that State, but Mr. Page is deceased. After his marriage Mr. Lennan settled on the farm where he now lives, and has made many improvements. He planted an orchard, also has some small fruit, and is very comfortably fixed. His farm, consisting of 160 acres, is situated from eight to ten miles from three or four towns, is all cultivated, and on it he has two houses. He is interested in politics, and votes with the Republican party; is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance, and has held office in this organization, and he and Mrs. Lennan are members of the North Hastings Congregational Church. Mr. Lennan, being one of the early settlers south of the Platte River, passed through the grasshopper raids, the drought and the bad storms of Nebraska, but likes the State and is permanently located here. His parents, Thomas and Dorothea (Page) Lennan, were natives of the Pine Tree State, and the father always made his home in that State. He was a wool-carder and died in 1869. The mother died in 1869. They were the parents of four children, of whom Edward Lannan was the youngest.
LILLEY, Joseph
Joseph Lilley. The subject of this sketch is one of the honored residents of Hall County, Neb., and although he has only resided here for a period of ten years, he has become well known and the respect and esteem shown him is as wide as his acquaintance. His finely improved arm of 151 acres is well improved with good buildings, fences, orchard, etc., and he is accounted by all a successful tiller of the soil. He was born in the “Keystone State” in 1837, being a son of Isaac and Mary (De Walt) Lilley, who were born in 1801 and 1803 respectively, and died in Pennsylvania in 1885. Joseph Lilley received the education and rearing which is usually accorded the farmer’s boy, and upon reaching a proper age was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Caroline McCarter, who was born in 1845, also in Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of E. B. and Eunice (Bacon) McCater, who were born in 1796 in Pennsylvania, and in New York in 1801, and died in Pennsylvania in 1871 and 1885, respectively. Mr. Lilley’s marriage took place in Pennsylvania in 1864, and their union has resulted in the birth of the following children: Isabella, Daniel De Walt, Edwin K., Pharez B., Eunice M., J. Harley, Sarah E., Bertie C., Emma F. (deceased), Lora V. and Orville H. Isabella, the eldest daughter, is now the wife of Robert L. Converse, their union taking place in 1882, and they have since been residents of Montana. During the late war Mr. Lilley served in the One Hundred and seventy-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (drafted), until 1863. He is now a member of the G. A. R., and in his political views is a Republican and is a director of his school district. E. B. McCarter had four sons in the Volunteer army, the youngest of whom, Henry, died of fever contracted in Virginia. James died also of disease. Warren was wounded and held a prisoner, and Elisha is still living. Mr. Lilley had also a brother among the Volunteers.
LOAN, George
George Loan, Sr., water commissioner of Grand Island, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 23, 1826, being a son of George and Mary (Glendinning) Loan, the former a physician in the royal navy and an eminent man, who became a sacrifice in the East India service to the fever prevalent there. George Loan attained manhood in his native land, and in his early youth became proficient in the art of wire-making, and afterward worked for about fourteen years as an expert. His trade carried him over Scotland, England and Ireland, and in 1867 he came to America and settled in Grand Island, where he has made his home ever since. For about four years he worked in the Union Pacific car shops at Grand Island and three years in the Union Pacific machine shops at North Platte, Neb., and afterward spent some time in the Black Hills, but returned in 1877, and has since been closely identified with Grand Island’s interests. He served four years as chief of police, and is now filling the office of water commissioner, and is a stockholder in the Grand Island Improvement Company and the Grand Island Canning Company. He has reared and educated his family well, and has the pleasure of seeing them occupy honorable citizenship in the different localities in which they live. He came to these shores a poor man, willing and capable to earn a respectable livelihood, but has succeeded far beyond his expectations, and to-day enjoys the blessings of plenty and the esteem and respect of all who know him. He still retains a healthy constitution, and the pleasant geniality of his youth. He was married in Downpatrick, Ireland, to Miss Sarah Johnson, a native of Northumberland, England, a daughter of Thomas Johnson, and by her became the father of the following family of children: Alice (wife of Robert Patterson, a substantial citizen of Sedalia, Colo., and an engineer by profession), Mary (wife of Warren Goddard, engineer at Raton, N. M.), Fannie (wife of Robert M. Stout, also an engineer, of Como, Colo.), Matilda W. and Bessie G. (at home, the latter being her father’s assistant), George, Jr. (a business man in Grand Island) and Edgar G. (a printer in Denver, Colo.)
LOWRY, Clarence
Clarence Lowry, farmer and stock-raiser, Doniphan, Neb. Clarnece Lowry was born in Fulton County, Ind., in 1854, and his early life was divided between working on the farm and attending the common schools of the period. At the age of eighteen years he emigrated to Hall County, Neb., with his mother, and at that time there was not a house on the table land south of the Platte River. In 1876 he homesteaded eighty acres where he now resides and commenced improving the same, and to that he has added enough to make 200 acres of good tillable land, situated on Platte River. He was married in Hall County in 1877 to Miss Maggie Dufford, a native of Pennsylvania, who was left an orphan at an early age. She came to this county with her uncle, Charles Dufford [see sketch]. Four children wren born to Mr. and Mrs. Lowry: Della, Nettie, Archie and Robert. Mr. Lowry is a Republican in politics, and takes considerable interest in the political affairs of the county. Socially he is a member of Doniphan Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M. Like others of the pioneer settlers, he has experienced the grasshopper raids, but has never been discouraged, and likes the State well enough to make it his permanent home. The improvements on his place are complete and neat in all respects. Stock-raising in conjunction with his farming operations he is making a specialty. He was the youngest of ten children born to the marriage of William and Sarah (Clark) Lowry, natives of the Buckeye State. At an early day the parents moved to Indiana, thence to Nebraska in 1858, settling in Nemaha County, and there the father was engaged in tilling the soil. He died in 1861 and the family came to Hall County in 1872. The mother is still living and resides with the subject of this sketch.
LYNCH, Rev. P.
Reb. P. Lynch, Wood River, Neb. Among the Catholic prelates of the diocese of Omaha, Neb., who have especially distinguished themselves as laborers in the vineyard of Christ, none are more zealous, nor have the labors of any one been crowned with greater success, than those of Rev. Father Lynch, the subject of this sketch, and the present pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Wood River, Neb. He is a man of medium stature, light complexion, and the benignity of his countenance bespeaks a heart full of the gentleness of Christian charity; but to the astute observer there lurks behind the depth of his dark blue eye the energy of that grand old Celtic race so famed in history for their eloquence and for the zeal with which they execute all projects that advance the interest of religion. Father Lynch was born in County Cavin, Ireland, and is the son of James and Mary (Smith) Lynch. In his earlier childhood he attended the national school of his native village, and when twelve years of age entered St. Patrick’s Seminary, Cavin, Ireland, and completed a six years’ classical course. After graduation there he entered the Theological College, Dublin, Ireland, and five years later, after arduous research and study, he graduated from the extensive course there. June 24, 1873, he was ordained priest in the above-named college by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Whalen. After ordination he remained three months in his native parish in Cavin, Ireland, with his parents, who were at this time in the vigor of life, and enjoyed a full realization of the most sanguine dreams of the devout Irish Catholic parents to see their son an ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Father Lynch was ordained for the diocese of Omaha, Neb., U. S. A., and in August of the year in which he was ordained was transferred to the city of Omaha. He acted as assistant pastor of the Cathedral at Omaha one year, was then made curate of Columbus, Neb., and served in that capacity for sixteen months. The ability and fidelity with which he had filled his charges up to this time caused him to be appointed pastor of the parish of North Platte and missionary of the same. When he arrived at North Platte he found an ordinary parish with no church facilities. He secured a small room in a country hotel there, and thus devoid of all the comforts of life, with at best but gloomy possibilities and a period of painstaking labor before him, he commenced his career as a pastor. He had a firm trust in God and a manly reliance on his own capabilities. A handsome structure, the first Catholic building ever erected in Lincoln County, Neb., still decorates South Platte as a monument to the scene of Father Lynch’s first efforts as a pastor. He also established new missions in that county. He was sent to Plattsmouth, Cass Count, Neb., and there built two new churches, established one mission, bought two Catholic cemeteries, and secured the property on which now stands an excellent convent school. He accomplished his work in Cass County in the short space of five years, and at the termination of that time was removed to Grand Island, Hall County, Neb. He remained in that city for nearly two years, when it was discovered that the incipient parish of Wood River was surely in need of the personal supervision of a man of energy and progress in order to bring it to the standard which it deserved. Accordingly Father Lynch was made the first resident pastor of Wood River. He found here nothing but the crude material, no church and no pastoral residence, no place for the service of mass. He, however, nerved himself for the struggle, and a spacious church, the largest building in the town of Wood River, and beautiful eight-room pastoral residence and other church property, altogether running far up into the thousands in value and none of it incumbered by a cent of debt, are evidences of the result of his labors in Wood River. This is only excelled by the moral regeneration that has taken place in the parish since his location here. Absence of religious authority and of religious ceremonies had caused many of the people to fall into habit of public dissipation, giving scandal to themselves and to religion. His mild but determined policy placed a check upon the career of the wayward and a seal upon the lips of the traducer, and his wise and prudent counsel has raised many to a plane of moral thinking and living to which they had hitherto been strangers. Father Lynch’s sermons are models of literary simplicity. The most illiterate can not fail to understand them, and the most highly educated can but admire their beauty and strength.
Source: Goodspeed brothers. Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state: a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties… Chicago: The Goodspeed publishing co., 1890.
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