CHARLES R. HACKER.
Charles R. Hacker, county clerk of Nemaha county, Nebraska, was born on his
uncle's farm, now the Nemaha county poor farm, August 29, 1866, and all his life
has been identified with this county.
Mr. Hacker's ancestors were residents of the Old Dominion. His grandfather,
David Hacker, was a native of Virginia, born July 24, 1797. Moving to what was
then called the west, he lived in Ohio and Indiana, and when the Civil war was
inaugurated, although then well advanced in years, his patriotism was shown by
his volunteer service. As a member of Company D, Thirty-seventh Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, known as the “Graybeard Regiment,” he performed faithful duty in the
ranks, and died at St. Louis, Missouri June 20, 1863. He and his wife, whose
maiden name was Catherine Gile, were the parents of seven children, six of whom
reached adult age
James Malcomb Hacker, the father of Charles R., was born at Dayton, Ohio,
September 12, 1825, and died in Auburn, Nebraska, January 25, 1902. He was one
of the pioneers of Nemaha county, having come to this county in 1858, from Iowa,
to which place he had emigrated from Ohio. Not long after coming to Nebraska he
moved to Kansas, but returned shortly afterward to this state and county, of
which he was an honored citizen for forty years. By occupation he was a civil
engineer and for many years filled the office of county surveyor, and he also
filled other public offices of trust and responsibility in Nemaha county. For
three terms he was county clerk, and he was deputy in that office under County
Clerks Culbertson and Hubbard. Fraternally he was identified with the Masons and
the Knights of Pythias and Odd fellows, having been a member of the first
organization for more than thirty years and having received all the degrees up
to and including the Scottish Rite, and was an I. O. O. F. for over fifty years.
Politically he was affiliated with the Whigs in early life and when the
Republican Party came into existence he harmonized with it and gave it his
enthusiastic support. As a youth he took an active interest in the William Henry
Harrison campaign. His last vote he cast in the fall of 1901, when he helped to
elect his own son, Charles R., to the office of county clerk. Religiously he was
a life long Methodist. March 8, 1851, he married Miss Mary Jane Fairbrother, who
was born in Indiana, January 28, 1831, daughter of Arnold L. and Mary (Jane)
Fairbrother, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Indiana. The
Charles R. Hacker, with the other children in the family, was reared on the
farm, which his mother managed with their assistance while the father was in
Brownville and Auburn, attending to his official business. The farm on which
they lived was sold in 1888 and the family moved to Auburn, where Charles R. has
since lived, and where he has, in a measure, succeeded to the position occupied
by his honored father. As already stated in this article, he was elected to the
county clerk's office in the fall of 1901 and re-elected in the fall of 1903,
and is now filling that position.
Mr. Hacker was married, February 8, 1903, to Miss Elsie Hacker, a third cousin,
and they reside with his mother in Auburn. Like his parents, Mr. Hacker is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as also is Mrs. Hacker. Politically he
is a Republican, and he has fraternal relations with the Modern Woodmen and the
Knights of Pythias.
This is from the NEGenWeb Project
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