Absalom M. Enoch, a prominent figure in Humboldt, Richardson County, Nebraska, was born on September 18, 1825, in Miami County, Ohio. Moving to Nebraska in 1869, Enoch became a well-respected community member. He served as a captain in the Civil War with the Ninth Minnesota Infantry, participating in significant battles and conflicts with the Sioux Indians. After the war, he settled in Humboldt, where he engaged in farming and hotel-keeping, notably running the Enoch House for two decades. Enoch married twice, first to Elizabeth Caulfield and later to Anna Brickey. He remains active in his community, having served in various civic roles.
Absalom M. Enoch is one of the best-known characters of Humboldt, Richardson County, where he has made his residence since Thanksgiving Day, 1869. He is one of the many old men in whom the healthful, breezy prairies of Nebraska abound, and whose energies and vital resources are almost unimpaired till the final summons comes. He is approaching the eightieth year of his life, and his active decades of life have been well spent and useful to himself and his fellow men. He is an especial favorite with everyone in Humboldt, and there is not a man, woman, or child in the town who does not know him and will not sincerely miss him when he is gone from their number.
Mr. Enoch was born in Miami County, Ohio, September 18, 1825. His father, Jacob Enoch, was born in Pennsylvania, and pioneered it to Ohio and settled in the dense timber. He followed the occupation of hunter and trapper, with incidental Indian fighting. He was in the Black Hawk War in Illinois, and after returning to Ohio said that God had cleared the timber from that country and he accordingly moved out to the prairie state. He came out in 1835, and settled eight miles east of Rockford and six miles north of Belvidere, where he pre-empted and paid one dollar and a quarter an acre for one hundred and sixty acres. He continued farming until 1850, when he crossed the plains with ox teams to California, being some six months on the way, and died in that state in the following year, being buried in Hangtown, now Placerville. He married Mary Maddox, a cousin of the late well-known Wilson Maddox, of Falls City. She was a native of Ohio, and they were married in 1824, their first child being Absalom; the second was Sarah, who died in youth in Ohio; Mary Jane became the wife of Dennis Clark, of Overton, Nebraska, who came to this state in an early day, and they have three sons and one daughter living.
Captain Enoch was reared in Ohio and Illinois, and for a time farmed the home place in Boone County of the latter state, and then sold it and bought another farm near Belvidere. He sold this in 1859 and went to Rochester, Minnesota, which was his home until he came to Nebraska. He has made a most creditable military record. He enlisted for the Civil War and was made captain in Company F, Ninth Minnesota Infantry, having raised that company, and he commanded it throughout the war. Part of his service was against the Sioux Indians, and he witnessed the hanging of thirty-nine of them convicted of murder. He was wounded during the Indian outbreak, and still carries a bullet in his right lung. He also saw hard fighting in the South, being present at the engagements at Guntown and Tupelo, Mississippi, at the siege of Nashville, and in various minor skirmishes. He was in the Sixteenth Army Corps, which remained behind when Sherman made his march toward the sea. Captain Enoch’s subsequent career has been mainly concerned with farming and hotel-keeping, and for twenty years he was proprietor of the Enoch House in Humboldt, but is now retired from active pursuits and spending the evening of a long and useful life in comfort and ease.
Captain Enoch was married in Boone County, Illinois, January 1, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Caulfield, a native of Ireland. She was born in 1826, and died in the home at Humboldt, in 1888, being without issue. Captain Enoch’s present wife, whom he married in Falls City, was Miss Anna Brickey, who was born in Sullivan County, Indiana, a daughter of Peter and Mary (Brock) Brickey. Her father was a farmer and died in York, Illinois, in 1878, leaving three children: Thomas, whose whereabouts are not known; Mrs. Enoch; and Cora Brickey, of Kansas City. The mother of these children died in 1880. Mrs. Enoch had only a limited education, and has had mainly to make her own way in life, which she has done most heroically and ably, and her youthful years and energy do not allow her to remain inactive now that she is independent. She is a most competent dressmaker and is one of the leading ladies in that line of business in Humboldt. She is a member of the Catholic church, and is prominent in social circles. Captain Enoch is a Democrat in politics. He served as police judge of this place for many years, until he refused to serve longer. He has also been a justice of the peace, and for several terms was on the city council and chairman of the board. He was baptized in the Universalist church. He is still erect and sprightly in spite of his years and work in his own behalf and in the service of his country.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.