Allen D. Beemer was born near

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, on December 19, 1842. He was a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry who, after the war, operated a hotel in

Franklin, Pennsylvania Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States, located at the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River. The population was 6,097 in the 2020 census. Franklin is part of the Oil City microp ...

, and a livery stable in Pennsylvania. In 1869, he moved to

West Point, Nebraska West Point is a city in and the county seat of Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,504 at the 2020 census. History West Point was founded in the spring of 1857, when Omaha businessmen formed the Nebraska Settlement Asso ...

, the county seat of Cuming County. There, he engaged in the hotel business and in the buying and selling of grain and livestock. He held political offices in West Point and was sheriff of Cuming County from 1880 to 1884. In 1885, Beemer led the effort to

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

a village near the Rock Creek

water stop A water stop or water station on a railroad is a place where steam trains stop to replenish water. The stopping of the train itself is also referred to as a "water stop". The term originates from the times of steam engines when large amounts ...

along the

Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (FE&MV), sometimes called "the Elkhorn," was a railroad established in 1869 in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. About The company constructed several lines in Nebraska, incl ...

line. The village was named after a settlement on the opposite side of the

Elkhorn River The Elkhorn River is a river in northeastern Nebraska, United States, that originates in the eastern Sandhills and is one of the largest tributaries of the Platte River, flowing and joining the Platte just southwest of Omaha, approximately ...

and several miles from the village site; that unincorporated settlement had been named Rock Creek after the stream on whose banks it was built. The plat was filed at the courthouse in West Point on May 26, 1885, in the names of A.D. Beemer and wife, George Canfield and wife, and K.C. Morehouse and wife. Beemer worked to build a railway depot building and to construct a bridge across the Elkhorn to connect with the Rock Creek settlement and its important grain and flour mill. In 1886, a post office was established in the village he had platted; it was named the Beemer Post Office. Later that year, 54 residents petitioned the county seat to incorporate their settlement as the Village of Beemer. Beemer continued his efforts to develop his namesake village, founding a newspaper called the '' Beemer Times'', and building a hotel, bank building and livery stable. In February 1893, he accepted an appointment as Warden of the Nebraska State Penitentiary in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

. He held that post from 1893 to 1895, and again from 1903 until his death on March 28, 1909.''Some Early History of Beemer, Nebraska'', Nebraska State Historical Society, 1964. He is buried in the

Wyuka Cemetery Wyuka Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1890, Lincoln's Bnai Jeshurun Congregation, a Reform congregation, began using a section of Wyuka. History Wyuka Cemetery was established in Lincoln, Nebraska, by an act of the ...

in Lincoln.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beemer, Allen D. 1842 births 1909 deaths People from West Point, Nebraska American pioneers People from Scranton, Pennsylvania People from Franklin, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Lincoln, Nebraska American hoteliers