Edward H. Dort, born July 17, 1860, in Harpursville, New York, was a prominent druggist and bookstore owner in Auburn, Nebraska. Son of John Luke Dort, a wagon-maker who moved to Missouri and then Nebraska, Edward began his career at 14 with W. H. McCreery in Brownville. In 1885, he purchased Dr. A. S. Holliday’s drug store in Auburn. Despite a fire in 1890, he rebuilt and continued his successful business in a new brick building. Edward married Florence M. Fisher on June 7, 1887, and they had three children. He was active in local politics, fraternal organizations, and the Auburn Mutual Lighting and Power Company.
Edward H. Dort, who has the leading drug and book store in Auburn, Nebraska, is one of the representative and highly respected citizens of the town. He was born in Harpursville, Broome County, New York, July 17, 1860, and is descended from New England and New York ancestors who were noted for their honesty and industry and some of whom figured prominently in the localities in which they lived. John Luke Dort, his father, also a native of Harpursville, was born March 24, 1823, and died at Rockport, Missouri, August 27, 1872. Grandfather Eli Dort was born, lived, and died in Harpursville, the date of his birth being January 14, 1791, and his death August 25, 1857. On February 16, 1815, he married Eleanor Farrar, who was born January 24, 1794, and died December 14, 1867. They reared a family of three children, one son and two daughters. The son, John Luke Dort, married Rhoda A. Smith, a native of Coventry, New York, born August 24, 1823, daughter of Clark and Louise (Kelsey) Smith, the former born in Brattleboro, Vermont, May 3, 1782, and the latter in Bainbridge, New York, September 20, 1789. Her parents were married at Bainbridge, November 8, 1807; reared a family of twelve children, and passed their lives as farmers in Chenango County, New York. Grandmother Dort’s father, Seth Smith, was born August 21, 1736, and passed his life in Granby, Massachusetts, where he died October 13, 1820. He was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. When the news of the invasion of the British first reached his town it was on Sunday morning and he was in church. Instantly he left the house, mounted his horse, and rode all over the town, raising volunteers. The next morning, with his newly raised recruits, he marched about thirty miles, arriving at the scene of action in time to participate in the memorable battle of Bennington. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject was John Dort. He was born February 14, 1767, and died July 11, 1848. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Briggs, were the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters.
John Luke Dort learned the trade of wagon-maker of his father in Harpursville and worked at that trade there until he moved west with his family to Atchison County, Missouri, where they settled on a farm and devoted their time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of the same. Their seven children, all born in New York, were as follows: Mary Elizabeth, wife of Albert F. Bush, was born July 27, 1847, and died in Litchfield, Nebraska, December 24, 1885, leaving four children; Ella, born January 9, 1852, is the wife of Frank D. Chaffee, of California; James A., born January 22, 1855, is a fruit grower of California, and has a wife, one son, and one daughter; Clark Eli, born in 1858, died May 13, 1872; Edward H.; Louise D., born June 18, 1863, is the wife of Fred Dysart, of Nemaha County, Nebraska, and has one daughter living; and Frank O., born June 9, 1867, is a banker of Medford, Oklahoma, and has a wife, one son, and four daughters. The widowed mother, now seventy-nine years of age, blind and feeble, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Dysart. She has long been a devoted member of the Presbyterian church, as also was her worthy husband.
Edward H. Dort, the fifth born in the above-named family, received a common school education in Missouri and Nebraska, and at the age of fourteen years entered the employ of the pioneer druggist, W. H. McCreery, of Brownville, with whom he remained six and a half years, becoming familiar with every detail of the business. From Brownville he went, in the summer of 1880, to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was a salesman for four and a half years. This experience qualified him to engage in business on his own account, and in May, 1885, he came to Auburn and purchased the drug store of Dr. A. S. Holliday. Since that date he has conducted a successful business here. In the spring of 1890 he suffered loss by fire, his store burning, but he was soon re-established and better equipped than before the fire. His present location is in a brick building which he erected, thirty by eighty feet in dimensions, two stories and basement, all of which is occupied by his fine line of drugs, books, etc. His residence he built in 1888. It is one of the most attractive homes on one of the well-shaded streets of the pretty town of Auburn. Its large grounds, dotted over with shrubbery, and every detail of the surroundings, both exterior and interior, indicate the taste and refinement of the family.
Mr. Dort married, June 7, 1887, in Peru, Nebraska, Miss Florence M. Fisher, a native of Woodford County, Illinois, and a daughter of Lewis and Eliza (Peabody) Fisher, natives of Illinois. They came to Nebraska in 1868, where they lived for a number of years, and whence they went to California, where they are now living retired. Mrs. Dort is one of a family of eight children, two by her father’s first marriage and six by the second. She was educated in the State Normal School and previous to her marriage taught school two years. Her union with Mr. Dort has been blessed in the birth of three children: Clark L., Edward Nelson, and Edith Elizabeth.
Mrs. Dort is a member of the Christian church, while Mr. Dort is a Presbyterian. Politically he is a Republican. For seven years he was a school director in Auburn. Fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Dort is president of the Auburn Mutual Lighting and Power Company, established in 1901, he being promoter and organizer. W. A. Gilmore is vice president, R. C. Boyd treasurer, and G. W. Thomas secretary.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.