History of Gage County, Nebraska
George M. Steece is a lawyer by profession but has proved his versatility through his especially successful activities in connection with the farm industry in Gage county, where he owns and operates a splendidly improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 25, Logan township.
Mr. Steece was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, on the 2nd of July 1832?, and is a son of Archibald and Helen (Sterne) Steece, the former of whom was born in Ohio in 1824 and died in 1900, and the latter of whom was born in Virginia, she has celebrated her eighty-seventh birthday anniversary in 1918 and being still a resident of Gage County.
The parents’ marriage was solemnized in Lawrence County, Ohio, where the father followed the trade of iron molders. He went forth as a valiant soldier of the Union when the Civil War was precipitated on the nation.
In response to President Lincoln’s first call, he enlisted, in 1861, as a member of Company A, 18th OVI. With that command, he proceeded to the front. He continued in active service for one year and four months, at the expiration of which he was given an honorable discharge on account of physical disability.
After the war, he continued his residence in Ohio until 1877, when he removed his family to Benton County, Iowa. In 1881 he came with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, where he purchased the homestead now owned by his son George M., the immediate subject of this sketch, who is the only child.
On this farm, Mr. Steece passed the remainder of his life, and he succeeded in connection with farm enterprise in this county. He was a Republican in politics and was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, his widow being an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Archibald Steece was the son of George Steece. He was born in Maryland and became a successful manufacturer of pig iron in Ohio, later following the same line of enterprise in Missouri, where his death occurred.
The family lineage traces back to staunch Holland Dutch origin. William Steece, the maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in Virginia and removed then to Ohio in 1847. He became a successful and influential exponent of the iron industry in the Buckeye state, where he passed the closing years of his life.
George M. Steece acquired his early education in the public schools of his native state. Finally, he entered the law department of the celebrated University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws upon his graduation as a member of the class of 1873.
For two years thereafter, he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Vinton, Iowa, and in 1881 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Gage county, where he has since been in active charge of the farm purchased by his father. He has erected all of the present farm buildings, which are of model type, and is one of the successful agriculturists and stockgrowers of the county.
In 1879 Mr. Steece wedded Miss Eva Gamble, born in Wabash county, Indiana, a daughter of George and Mary (Squire) Gambel, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky.
Mr. and Mrs. Gamble finally moved with their family to Iowa, where the latter’s death occurred, and he was a resident of Colorado at the time of his death. Both he and his wife were of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Mr. and Mrs. Steece have five children: Lottie is the wife of David Thompson, of Riverside township; Jessie J. is the wife of James C. Carmichael, who rents and operates the farm of Mr. Steece; Louis is an agent for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, in the city of Beatrice; Guy is engaged in farming in Logan township; and Florence is the wife of C. Peter Jensen, likewise a farmer in this township.
In politics, Mr. Steece is a staunch Republican, thoroughly fortified in his convictions concerning economic and governmental policies. He has held various township offices, including that of the assessor, of which he was the incumbent in 1918.
He spent one summer in Omaha as an attache of the meat inspection service of the agricultural department of the government, and it should be noted that before coming to Nebraska, he was for two years editor and publisher of the Benton County Democrat at Vinton, Iowa. On his farm, he pays special attention to raising pure-blood Jersey cattle. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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