Individual Details

CHARLES B. MUMFORD. —
From the early pioneer period in its history to
the present time Gage county has claimed members
of the Mumford family as sterling and valued
citizens, John B. Mumford, father of the subject
of this review, having been one of three
brothers who came from Wisconsin to this
county in the '60s, and each of these brothers,
John B., Ismay, and Jacob, having taken
vigorous part in the furtherance of the initial
development and upbuilding of the county,
where the family name has always stood forth
for civic loyalty and progressiveness and for
the intelligent and productive industry which
makes for individual success and communal
advancement.

John B. Mumford was born in the state of
A-Iaryland, where his parents established their
home upon coming from England to this country,
and he became one of the pioneer settlers
in Wisconsin, where he engaged in agricultural
pursuits and became one of the substantial
citizens of Lafayette county. His initial
visit to the Territory of Nebraska was made
in the year 1860, when he accompanied his
older brother, Ismay, to what is now the opulent
and beautiful county of Gage, and of the
conditions that then obtained in this locality
some idea is conveyed by the statement that
Dawson Mumford, son of Ismay, was the first
white child born within the limits of this
county. The general historical department of
this publication shows also that Ismay
Mumford was the first treasurer of Gage county.
After this pioneer visit to Gage county John
B. Mumford returned to Wisconsin, but in
1865 he brought his family to Gage county
and here established a permanent home. He
purchased four hundred acres of land, reclaimed
and developed one of the excellent farms of the
county, and he continued to reside on his
well improved homestead farm, in Logan
township, until his death, when seventy-
three years of age, his venerable widow still
surviving him and being one of the loved
pioneer women of Gage county : her maiden name
was Mary A. Roush and she was born in
Ohio, the original American progenitors of the
Roush family having come from Holland in
the early period of our national history. John
B. and Mary A. (Roush) Mumford became
the parents of nine children, and of the six
now living Charles B., of this review, is the
second eldest ; Sarah, the eldest, is the wife of
William A. Foreman, of Beatrice; Eugene P.
is individually mentioned within the pages of
this publication ; Ida and Frank remain on the
old homestead farm of their father, the former
being the wife of L. W. Eppert. who is
associated in the work and management of the
place ; and Luther A., formerly principal of
the Beatrice high school, is now engaged in
the school-textbook business in the city of
Lincoln, capital of Nebraska. John B. Mumford
was a leader in the local councils of the
Democratic party, though never consenting to
accept public office, and his religious faith was
that of the Methodist Episcopal church, his
venerable widow being a devout adherent of
the Christian church.

Charles B. Mumford was born in Lafayette
county, Wisconsin, and was a small boy at the
time the family home was established on the
pioneer farm in Gage county, Nebraska, where
he was reared to manhood and received the
advantages of the common schools of the
period. It can well be understood that in his
boyhood and youth he acquired full fellowship
with the sturdy work of the farm, and in
initiating his independent career he naturally
continued his allegiance to the great basic
industry of agriculture. For a period of years
he was numbered among the progressive and
successful farmers of Logan township, and in
1894 he removed to Beatrice, the county seat,
where he engaged in the livery business. A
number of years later he sold this business and
turned his attention to the buying of horses,
which he sold for local use, besides developing
a substantial enterprise in the shipping of
horses to various central markets. A thorough
judge of values, he made a definite success of
the business and was one of the prominent
shippers of horses from this state. In the
spring of 1915 Mr. Mumford gave evidence of
his appreciation of the modem trend of progress
by identifying himself with the automobile business.
He erected a large garage building on Seventh
street and there installed the best of equipment,
including a general repair shop and a line of
automobile supplies and accessories, his broad
experience and aggressive policies having been
potent in the upbuilding of a very prosperous
business and his active control of the same having
continued until September, 1917, when he sold both
the building and the business to the present owner,
Austin Krous. Since that time he has renewed
his allegiance to his former line of business
and gives his attention to handling horses,
both in placing them on the market and in fitting
them for service. He is at the time of
this writing the owner of two fine standard
bred horses which are making good account
of themselves in turf events. Mr. Mumford
is well known throughout this part of Nebraska,
and his genial personality, as combined with
his sturdy integrity in all of the
relations of life, has gained to him a wide
circle of friends. He is a staunch supporter
of the cause of the Republican party, though
he has manifested naught of ambition for public
office, and his wife is an active member of
the Christian church.

As a young man Mr. Mumford wedded
Miss Martha Dearborn, and she is now deceased.
She is survived by three children :
Charles D., who is associated with his uncle,
E. P. Mumford, in the furniture business in
Beatrice, where he was formerly employed
fourteen years in the furniture store of Walter Scott;
Leslie is now a resident of San
Francisco, California; and Mabel is the wife
of N. Townsend, a prosperous farmer in the
vicinity of Taco, in the Canadian northwest.

In September, 1904, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Mumford to Miss Mae Van
Eoskirk, who was born in Linn county, Iowa,
a daughter of Lincoln and Celia (Freer) Van
Boskirk, whose marriage was solemnized in
Wisconsin, whence they eventually removed
to Iowa, from which state they came to Gage
county, Nebraska, in 1885, establishing their
residence in Beatrice, where Mr. Van Boskirk
erected a large and attractive residence
at the corner of Seventh and Summit street —
this being the present home of Mr. and Mrs.
IMumford. Mr. Van Boskirk was a second
cousin of Abraham Lincoln, and in the early
territorial days he acquired a large tract of
land in Nebraska, the patent to the same having
been signed by President Johnson, and this
property still continues in the possession of
the family. More detailed mention of the Van
Boskirk family is made on other pages, in the
review of the career of Frederick Van Boskirk,
a brother of Mrs. Mumford. Mr. and
Mrs. Mumford have one daughter, Clara
Belle, who was born February 28, 1912.

Birth	14 Oct 1858	Darlington, Lafayette County, Wisconsin
Marriage	1 Dec 1878	Gage County, Nebraska - Martha J. Dearborn
Marriage	28 Sep 1904	Lancaster County, Nebraska - Mae Van Boskirk
Census (family)	8 Jan 1920	Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska - Mae Van Boskirk
Census (family)	10 Apr 1930	Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska - Mae Van Boskirk

Spouse	Mae Van Boskirk (1877 - )
Child	Clara Belle Mumford (1912 - 1975)

Spouse	Martha J. Dearborn (1860 - )
Child	Charles D. Mumford (1883 - )
Child	Leslie M. Mumford (1885 - )
Child	Mabel Eleanor Mumford (1887 - )

Father	John B. Mumford (1829 - 1904)
Mother	Mary Ann Roush (1837 - 1927)
Sibling	Sarah E. Mumford (1855 - )
Sibling	Eugene P. "Gene" Mumford (1863 - )
Sibling	Ida Nevada Mumford (1865 - 1934)
Sibling	Frank W. Mumford (1868 - )
Sibling	Luther Emerson Mumford (1875 - 1956)

Notes