My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS BAYER, one of the wealthiest and most enterprising farmer’s of Kearney county, Nebr., was born in Eiger Kries district, Bohemia, December 21, 1832, and after reaching manhood came to America (in May, 1867), and for one year and a half resided in New York; he then went to Du Page county, Ill., remained there until 1869, and then went to Missouri, but afterwards returned to Illinois, and remaned there until his coming to Nebraska. May 20, 1869, he was married in Livingston county, Mo., to Miss Frances Schwab, daughter of Elias Schwab, a native of France, who came to this country when quite an aged man. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bayer have been born seven children, in the following order — Frank, Barbara, Maria, Josef, Anton, Anna and John. The parents of Thomas Bayer are Josef and Barbara (Shaver) Bayer. The father was, in his early business life, a dealer in hard timber, accumulated quite a fortune, and is now enjoying all the comforts of life in his native land in Bohemia. There were born to them six children, of whom our subject is the third, and all are doing well — Thomas being the only one of the family that has come to America.

While living in Missouri, Mr. Bayer acted as fireman on a railroad locomotive, and while in Illinois was agent for a brewery. He came from the latter state to Nebraska October 19, 1874, and located the homestead on which he still lives, it being the southeast quarter of section 6, township 6, range 14, about a mile northeast of Minden. Like all the early settlers, he secured a choice piece of land, and put up a small board shanty, which served him as dwelling for the following two years. In 1875 he broke land and commenced farming, at which he was quite prosperous, and in 1884 was able to erect a good, large, comfortable, two-story frame house, together with barns, sheds, and all necessary buildings for a first-class farm. He now owns over seven hundred acres, more than two hundred of which are under cultivation, in mixed crops. The whole farm is fenced in, and the uncultivated portion is devoted to pasturage and hay. Mr. Bayer gives much of his attention to live stock, and has a large number of horses, cattle and hogs, to which he prudently feeds his grain, thus reaping, through his fat stock, a reward for his labor in the field; his hogs are of choice breed, and of these he makes a specialty. Mr. Bayer is a man of superior judgment, and as a farmer stands foremost among the best in his country, and this latter fact is fully proved by the statement that he has never made a failure in securing a good crop since his residence in Nebraska. He has reached a high position in the esteem of his neighbors, and has been often urged to accept offices of trust and honor within their gift, but has always declined, his ambition not leaning towards political preferment; his affiliations, however, are with the democratic party. In religion, he and his family are consistent in their faith — that of the Roman Catholic church.