Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 14 of 32)

CHARLES L. MOUGEY, a retired farmer of Custer county, now residing at Kearney, is a well known and much esteemed citizen and is a worthy representative of that sturdy band of settlers and homeseekers that came into the county in 1883. He was bom in Scioto county. Ohio, August 30, 1855. His parents were Charles C. and Eugenia (MagneUi Mougey, the father a native of France and the mother of Ohio, bom of French parents. Charles C. Mougey and wife had the following children: John, Peter, Mary, Joseph \\'.. Mrs. Catherine Powell, Charles L., Mrs. Matilda Deaver, Edward J., Eli. Mrs. Josephine Baker, George, Mrs. Bertha Schlistamier, Mrs. Ellen Mougey, and Lewis and Ezra, both of whom died in infancy.

Charles L. Mougey came to Custer county thirty-five years ago and located one mile south of Lodi. He developed a fine farm there and lived on the place until within recent years, when he moved to Kearney. He has since lived retired from business activity but still owns the homestead. He was married, at Mount Pleasant, Nebraska, December 24, 1884, to Miss Flora Bird, on her twenty-first birthday. Her parents were Lewis and Emeline (Currant) Bird, and she has five sisters, namely : Rachel J. and Rebecca A., twins, their wedded names being Webster and Moffit, respectively ; Mrs. Olive M. Searles, Mrs. S. Margaret Mougey, and Mrs. Osta E. Eddy.

Mr. and Mrs. Mougey have had four children : Raymond, Bird, Orpha, and Florence. Raymond, who now operates the old homestead farm, married Margaret E. Nichols, and they have four children, Margaret, Maurice, Arthur, and Eleanor Jean. Raymond Mougey and his family belong to the Evangelical church. In politics he is a Democrat, like his father. The second son. Bird, is a cement contractor, engaged in business at Manhattan. Montana. He married Eloise Whitaker and they have two children, Lloyd E. and Florabird. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Orpha died at the age of three years. Florence, the youngest of the family, is a highly educated young ladv. she being a graduate of the Kearney hieh school and the Kearney State Normal, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Mr. and Mrs. Mougey are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Wherever known, the family has high social standing.

AUSTIN A. NARRAGON, who is a well known citizen and successful farmer, has been a resident of Custer county for thirty years, and during this time has witnessed wonderful progress along every line. He was born near Anamosa, Jones county, Iowa, October 5, 1866, and is a sqn of Lyman J. and Mary E. (W'illison) Narragon, the foniier of whom was born near Oswego, New York, and died' in Nebraska, in August, 1913, and the latter of whom was bom in Ohio, seventy-six years asjo: since the death of her husband she resides with her son, William Narragon, in Custer county. Of the ten children the following survive : Austin A., William S.. Elisha L., Charles C. Mrs. Rosa Miller, Mrs. Elva E.

In his early boyhood Austin A. Narragon went to school in his native county. In 1874, when he was eight years old. his parents moved to western Iowa and two years later they went to Crystal Lake, Michigan. It was while living there that young Austin consummated what was probably his first business transaction, which consisted of picking blackberries. carr)'ing them four miles and receiving three cents a quart for them thus delivered. It was over ten years later that the family came to Custer county, in 18<S<S, and located on Elk creek, ten miles south of Mason City, where the father rented and operated land for one year. In 1890 Lyman I. Narragon and his sons Austin A. and William S. came to the neighborhood of Oconto and located three claims, five miles southwest of the village, all this land being valuable at the present time. Austin A. Narragon remained at home with his parents, looked after them in their declining years and has never married. He is a Republican in his political principles, as was his father, and he was reared in the faith of the Evangelical church.

Nc GEORGE, who is one of the substantial and representative farmers of the South Loup countr}', is numbered among the well known and influential pioneer citizens of Custer county, within whose borders he has maintained his residence for more than forty years, so that his personal experience covered virtually the entire period marking the development and progress of this now favored section of Nebraska.

Mr. George claims the historic old Bav state as the place of his nativity. He was born in Danvers, Essex county, Massachusetts, on the 31.st of May. 1852, and is a son of Lorenzo D. and Harriet (Gilford) George, the former of whom was born in Carroll county. New Hampshire, and the latter of whom was born and reared in Massachusetts. !Mr. George is a scion of staunch \\'elsh ancestr\-, and it may consistently be said that he has inherited nianv of the predominating characteristics that have "always made the renresentatives of the Welsh stock leal and loyal, sturdy and upright, in all of the relations of life. Mr. George is the eldest in a family of five children, and concerning the others the following brief record may consistently be entered: Mrs. Ella Trew was the second in order of birth and she and her husband are residents of Custer countv ;

Mrs. Ida Sleeth. the third child, is a resident of the state of Washington ; Cora Jane, recently deceased, was the wife of AUie L. ^lorgan, who resides not far distant from the George homestead in Custer county; and Mrs. Flora Silvernail, who resides in Milltown, \\"ashington, is the widow of Frederick Silvernail, who was engaged in lumbering operations in that state.

Nc George is indebted to the common schools of ]\Iassachu5etts for his early educational discipline, which included that of the high school, and as a youth he gained a due quota of experience in connection with farm enterprise in his native state. The year 1871 recorded the arrival of Mr. George in Nebraska, and he passed the first two years in the vicinity of Gibbon. Buflfalo county. In 1873 he married, and about two years later, in 1875, he and his wife numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Custer county. Here Mr. George filed entry on a homestead and forthwith began the development and improvement of the pioneer farm, his operations being along both agricultural and live-stock lines. As the years passed, his well directed industrial activities, in which he received the assistance of his wife and his sons, were marked by cumulative success, and thus was laid the foundation for the substantial material prosperity which is his at the present time. He and his wife endured their full share of of the discouragements and trials that marked the pioneer era in Custer county history, but the gracious rewards of later years have made these hardshi]xs and frontier experiences but matters of pleasing reminiscence. In the historical department of this publication mention is made of an interesting incident in the career of Mr. George, and the same may well be repeated in this immediate connection. In the pioneer days he applied for appointment to the position of postmaster of a newly established postoffice in the vicinity of Georgetown. In his petition he signed his name Nc George. The postoffice authorities in Washington mistook his first name for initials and wrote that he must supply his full name. He found it impossible ' to convince the postoffice department that he had no other personal or Christian name save that indicated by the two consonant letters, and thus the appointment was denied him. It may further be stated that the town of Georgetown was named in honor of the subject of this review.

Mr. George has long been a progressive and successful exponent of agricultural and livestock cnteq)risc in Custer county and has been one of the influential and valued citizens of the ccminiinity in which he has maintained his home for more than two score years. His po- Htical allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is well fortified in his opinions concerning public policies. He has been called upon to serve as precinct assessor and for a number of years he held the office of township clerk, though he has never been imbued with any ambition for political preferment and in his service has been animated only by civic loyalty. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and he and his wife are zealous members of and liberal contributors to the First Eudell Baptist church, at Cumro. They were instrumental in effecting the organization of the Old Settlers' Association of the South Loup country and have been prominent and influential in its subsequent maintenance and social activities. It is interesting to record that this association holds its annual picnics on the George homestead. Mrs. George is a woman of distinctive literary ability an dsome of her papers, read at the old settlers' picnics and at church meetings. have attracted much attention and favorable comment, the while they constitute a valuable contribution to the historic and general litcrture of the county. It may well be said that Mr. George and his wife are known to virtually all of the pioneer citizens of Custer county and that tJie circle of their friends is limited only by that of their acc|uaintances. They have been prominent in public and social affairs and have done well their part in furthering the civic and material prosperity of their home county and state.

In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. George to Miss Ruth Emogene Allen, a daughter of Josiah X. and ^Nlary Allen, who were at that time residents of Gibbon, Nebraska. In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Airs. George: Llewellyn D. is a prominent anrl highly esteemed citizen of Broken Bow ; Ethel is the wife of Walter B. Curtis, and they reside in the vicinity of Anselmo, this county ; Ralph, who is condurting successful operations on a Custer county farm, married Mrs. Viola (Barr) Lesh, and their pleasant home is a center of generous hospitality: Eunice is the wife of Rev. W. F. McNiell, a clergyman of the Baptist church, and they reside in the city of Chicago : Clarence remains at the parental home and is his father's coadjutor in the work and management of the farm ; Arthur, who married Miss Ruby Nichols, at Grand Junction, Colorado, their home being now in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, became associate editor of the Xcbniska Ruralist and field man, but he entered the nation's military service in connection with the world war and at the time of the close of the great conflict he was stationed at Camp Pike, Arkansas, and is now commissioned second lieutenant of reserves, and honorably discharged : he has resumed his duties with the Nebraska Ruralist; Bertha is the wife of Hervy Hinote, who is a carpenter by trade, and they reside on the George homestead ; Vincent, who married Miss Marian Gillespie, of Polk county, is a teacher of mechanical engineering in the L'niversity of Wisconsin at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1918-19; and Marguerite, the youngest of the children, is attending school in the city of Chicago, she being a young woman of talent and engaging personality.

FELIX BERNERT, who is one of the most extensive and prosperous farmers in his part of Custer county, is not one who has had fortune and property thrust upon him by inheritance and, perhaps, increased it by careful management. (Jn the contrar\-. his large competency, his valuable properties and his high and substantial standing as a citizen, have been acquired by individual force of character, by industry, perseverance, and intelligent elifort, founded upon the strictest honor. Starting as a simple homesteader, about thirty-three years ago, he is now the owner and active operator of 1,120 acres of as fine land, on the whole, as can be found in Custer county.

Mr. Bernert was bom in Moravia, Austria, March 19, 1857, a son of Joseph and Josepha ( Witche ) Bernert. His father was a brickburner in .Austria, which country he never left, nor did his wife or the other ten childreii of the family. Felix Bernert, the youngest of his parents' children, was educated in the public schools of his native land, and was variously employed there until he reached his twentyfifth year. At that time he immigrated to the L'nited States, and February 26, 1882, he settled in Cook cotmty, Illinois, w'here for two years he was employed by the day as a farm laborer. Thus he \yas able to secure a start and to save a small amount of capital, with which he came to Nebraska in 1884, locating in Thayer county, where he v>orked on a farm for another vear. In 1885 he came to Custer county and filed on a homestead, which prove-l the nucleus for his present larsre property, and which he still owns and holds for his home property. .\t the time of his arrival he erected a sod house of the same type as those used l)v other early settlers, but, along with other misfortunes, he lost this place of habitation, in a cyclone. He built a more pretentious abode to replace the one destroyed in 1890, and this was his residence until 1909, when he erected the modern house in which he now hc.s all the comforts and conveniences of civilization. Mr. Bernert has added to his improvements, his buildings and his general equipment as the years have passed, and the prosperity of the present day compensates him for all the hardships that he passed through before he was able to get his start. He follows general farming, in which he has met with remarkable success, probably because of his skilled management and his knowledge of his vocation, together with his unceasing industry and an intelligent use of modern methods and appliances. He has been successful also in raising live stock, and at this time he has ninety-nine head of cattle, at the head of his held being a thoroughbred Hereford individual. He also has 119 head of hogs of a good grade, and is accounted a good judge of live stock.

Mr. Bernert is a Democrat in politics, but while he is a loyal and progressive citizen he has never sought public office. He is a friend of education and constructive civic movements, and has given his support to worthy enterprises tending to advance the general welfare. Reared in the faith of the Catholic church, he has remained true to its teachings, and his wife and their children likewise adhere to the faith of this great mother church of Christendom.

In 1887 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bernert to Miss Clara Drechsler, who was born in Moravia, Austria. She is a daughter of Edward Drechsler, who came to Custer county, Nebraska, July 20, 1890, and who here passed the rest of his life in farming. To Mr. and Mrs, Bernert there have been born nine children, of whom six are living: Frank resides at home and assists his father in the work and management of the farm operations ; Mary is the wife of H. Langer, of Custer county : Joseph, who was twenty-six years of age, enlisted October 5. 1917, in the United States service, and was killed on the 6th of October, 1918, while a member of a regiment with the American Expeditionary Forces in France: Felix. Jr., is the owner of a farm near that of his father ; and Carl and John reside with their parents.

EUGENE M. WEBB was born in Buffalo county, Wisconsin, on the 18th of December, 1859, and is a son of Alfred P. and Ellen J. (Olds) Webb, the former a native of the state of New York and and the latter of Connecticut. The two children bom to the parents are Eugene M. and Bertina M. Pardoe. Alfred P. Webb was a gallant defender of the Union in the Civil war, in which he served on the flag ship of Admiral Farragut.

In 1870 Eugene M. Webb came to Nebraska in company with his widowed mother, and here he attended school for a year, after which his mother located on a homestead in Butler county. There she taught school for several years - until her son had completed his education and attained to his legal majority. Mr. Webb earned his first money by dropping corn by hand for a German farmer, but he did not manifest much predilection for farm life in those days. Being of studious disposition, he became imbued with a desire to enter the field of journalism, and at the age of twenty-one years he became an apprentice in the office of the Butler County Press, where he learned the printer's trade under the instruction of Hon. C. D. Casper, one of the oldest and best known newspaper writers in Nebraska.

After being graduated from Mr. Casper's office, Mr. Webb became editor of the Brainard Enterprise, and in 1886 he established the Ulvsses Herald, which he conducted until the fall of 1888. He then located in Broken Bow and launched the Nebraska Citizen, a pioneer reform sheet which preached the old Greenback gospel and was a potent factor in blazing the way for the Farmers Alliance and the first Populist victory in Custer county. Mr. Webb claims the distinction of having written the first editorial ever written by a Nebraska editor in favor of independent political action. He attended the first Populist convention and was a strong supporter of Kem in his first race for congress, being at that time a partner of Hon. C. W. Beal in the publication of the Custer County Beacon. Two years later he established the Custer County Independent, at Callaway, and for six years this was recognized as one of the most aggressive Populist newspapers in Nebraska. Within that period, in 1896, Mr. Webb was elected a member of the state legislature, as representative of Custer and Logan counties. After concluding his term as a legislator, he returned to Callaway and resumed the editorial management of the Independent. He vigorously opposed the fusion policy which had been forced upon the Populist party bv its leaders, and warned the rank and file of the party against the political machinations of the politicians who had bartered principles for office, at the party's expense. The politicians and office-holders retaliated bv a withdrawal

In the spring of 1898 Mr. Webb entered a homestead eight miles southwest of Callaway, but he continued the Independent and his fight against fusion, setting the type for the editorial pages in "the little old sod shanty" at night, after a hard day"s work in the field, and on publication day making the trip to Callaway with the type, which was placed in the forms and "shot into the enemy"' on much the same plan that Mark Twain's poetrj- was shot into the Indians. And thus the Independent eked out its existence until the fall of 1898, when Mr. Webb retired from newspaper work. He has since devoted his energies to the development of his farm and the raising of live stock.

In 1912 Mr. Webb was elected overseer of the Nebraska State Grange, and he is serving his sixth year in that capacity. He has always been an active worker for the advancement of the agricultural interests of the county and state.

At Bellwood, Butler county. Nebraska, on the 3d of August, 1884, Mr. Webb was united in marriage to Miss Lily May Freiday, a daughter of John G. and Pauline (Postman") Freiday. Mr. and Mrs. Webb have three children, concerning whom the following brief data are entered in conclusion of this review: Eugene M.. Jr., who is a farmer by vocation, married Miss Grace Province and they have two sons and three daughters : Alfred Vernon Webb, who likewise follows the basic industries of farming and stock-raising, married Miss Gertrude Ashley ; and Thomas M. Webb, the youngest son, also is to be found arrayed with the sturdv yeomen who are actively identified with farm eiiterprise.

JAMES V. DEVINE. - The financial interests of any live and growing community are among the most important, because upon these rest the possibility for progress or the probability of retrogression. Therefore those communities that are possessed of sound financial institutions are those best fortified for constructive growth and substantial development, and for this reason conservative banking houses are among the most valuable assets of anv city or town. The thriving community of Oconto is fortunate in the possession of such a reliable financial institution as the Farmers Bank of Oconto, which is now in its fourteenth vear. and the growth of which has been steady and consistent, in just proportion with the confidence in which it has been held by the people of the community. Since the time of its organization this bank has had the service of sound and well informed officials, among whom has been since its inception its present and only cashier, James V. Devine.

Mr. Devine has been a resident of Custer county for nearly thirty years, during which time he has become, in several capacities, well known to the people here. In 1889 the Devine family located not far from Broken Bow, settling on a homestead farm, and the boyhood and youth of Mr. Devine were passed amid agricultural surroundings, his training being one in which were impressed upon him the dignity of labor, the value of industr}' and the necessity of honesty and integrity. He received good educational advantages in his youth, as he attended the public graded schools and the high school, and eventually was graduated from the Fremont Normal school. On the completion of his studies he turned his attention to business and financial matters, and when he entered the Farmers Bank of Oconto, at the organization of that institution, in 1905, he had considerable experience of a valuable character behind him to assist him in familiarizing himself with his new and important duties. He has remained as cashier of this banking house to the present time, and much of its success may be justifiably accredited to his judgment, foresight, financial acumen and general popularity and afYability. He has numerous important connections in big business interests, and is accounted one of the substantial business men and public-spirited citizens of his community.

BENJAMIN L. NICHOLAS, a practical and eiUerprising fanner and stock-raiser of the Mason City community of Custer county, owns and operates 880 acres of land, constituting one of the valuable and highly improved farms of the locality. These possessions have been acquired through the medium of the efforts of Mr. Nicholas and the members of his family and as the resuh of his consecutive endeavor he has won a place among the substantial citizens of his adopted county- Mr. Nicholas was bom on Holowav farm, near Nasberth. Wales. March 10. 1856. He is a son of Thomas and Martha (Lewis') Nicholas, and a grandson of Edward Nicholas and Evan Lewis, all of whom passed their entire lives in Wales. Thomas Nicholas was a successful farmer, a well known and highly esteemed citizen, a tiberal in politics, and he and his wife were faithful members of the Calvanistic Methodist church. Of their eighteen children, six are living, and Benjamin L. was the only one to come to the United States. Benjamin L. Nicholas was given a liberal education in his youth, including attendance at the high school,- and was a bright scholar with a quick and retentive mind, samples of his penmanship at the age of thirteen years, as preseiwed in a beautiful book kept by himself, giving evidence that he was greatly advanced at that time. He was reared on his father's farm, and on February 28, 1881, he wedded Miss Margaret Beynon, who was born at Merthyr Tydvil. South \\'ales, August 28, 1857, a daughter of Rev. John and Ann (Williams ) Beynon, the father having been a minister of the Congregational church. Rev. John and Ann (Williams) Beynon became the parents of four children - Edward, who is deceased ; Mary, who died in infancy ; David John, who is a clergyman of the Congregational church and who is at the time of this writing a resident of Southampton, England; and Margaret, who is the wife of Benjamin L. Nicholas, the subject of this review. Almost immediately after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas sailed for the United States, and within the year 1881 they arrived in Kansas, where they homesteaded a tract of eighty acres. This they subsequently relinquished, to come to Custer county, Nebraska, where, in 1884, they pre-empted a quartersection of land. At the time of their arrival they had but two cows, and their first residence was a sod house, but Mr. Nicholas' ability, industry, and perseverance, with the assistance of his worthy wife, succeeded in overcoming all obtsacles, and he kept adding to his land until he now has 880 acres. The sod house was abandoned for a more commodious and comfortable dwelling, and the buildings are now all modern in character, while the other improvements are of the latest type. Around the residence are numerous shadetrees, which greatly add to the attractiveness of this country estate, and which were planted by Mr. Nicholas himself. He carries on general farming in the main, and also raises all kinds of live stock, and he has been very successful in both departments of farm enterprise. As a citizen he has taken an active part in the life and government of the community, having been justice of the peace for i time and a member of the board of county commissioners for six years, in addition to which he has rendered valuable service to the community as a member of the school board.

In this connection it may be said that he has always been a great friend of education, and that all of his children are high-school graduates, while some have taken normal-school courses. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas are members of the Baptist church. He is affiliated with the Mason City blue lodge of the Masonic fraternity, and with the Modem Woodmen of America. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas the following brief record is consistently entered : Martha Ann is the wife of E. G. Burrows, of Mason City. Mary Theodosia is the wife of Nels Peterson, manager of the Burrows store at Mason City. Margaret Britannia is the wife of Carl G. Bunnell, who is in the service of the Standard Oil Company, at Fargo, North Dakota. Sarah Jane, a talented teacher of music, is now at the parental home. Alice Ursula, who was formerly a popular teacher in the public schools of Mullin and Broken Bow, on the 1st of October, 1918, went to Fort Riley, Kansas, in the capacity of Red Cross nurse. Gwendolyn Irene is the wife of W. J. Beachy, who was formerly superintendent of the public schools at Ansley, Custer county, and who for two years thereafter held the position of superintendent of the schools at Davenport, this state : he then took a radio course, in preparation for service in connection with the nation's participation in the world war, and at the time when the great conflict came to a close he was attached to the Forty-sixth Corps, in California. Elizabeth Marion is the wife of John C. Eloe, a prosperous fanner in Custer county. John Thomas, who was graduated in the Alason City schools and who later passed one year as a student in the Grand Island Baptist College, was a member of the Students Army Training Corps at the Nebraska State Normal School in Kearney at the time when the war closed. William Lewis, who likewise was graduated in the Mason City high school, remains at the parental home.

WILLIAM J. RICE. - If the Civil war revealed nothing more, it certainly did make manifest the fact that the American people on either side of Mason and Dixon's Line were men of hearts, brains, and heroism. Among those who bore the brunt of conflict and toiled and suffered in camp and on the march, in behalf of the Union, is Mr. Rice, who is now engaged in the peaceful pursuit of farming.

William Jasper Rice was born in Adair county, Missouri, March 20, 1844. His father, Erastus Rice, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and served as a soldier in the Mexican war. He located in Missouri, where he became a farmer and where he spent the remainder of his days. His wife bore the maiden name of Amanda Mason and was a native of Missouri, in which state she spent her entire Hfe.

Wilham J. Rice was reared on a farm in his native county, where he attended the pub- He schools, and he was only a boy when the Civil war burst upon the nation. Watching the course of events, his patriotic spirit was aroused, and when past nineteen years of age he enlisted, in August. 1863, at Centerville, Iowa, in Company L, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, in which he served till the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged, at Clinton, Iowa. He passed through the Atlanta campaign and was with \\ilson on the raid through Georgia, taking part in the important battles of Franklin and Nashville, besides many mionr engagements. At the close of the war, having made a creditable military record, he returned to Missouri, and November 18, 1866, in Putnam county, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Mullins. a native of I\Iissouri. Her father. Matthew Mullins. was born in North Carolina and died in Missouri, in 1871. Her mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Guinn. was bom in Tennessee and died in Missouri, in 1879. Mrs. Rice had two brothers, Thomas B. and John W.. who served in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, and Thomas B. was a prisoner at Andersonvilk for three months.

Mr. and Mrs. Rice spent several years in Missouri, and in 1887 they came to Custer county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded 160 acres, in section 7, township 17. range 23, besides pre-empting a tree claim adjoining. A sod house was his residence for many years, and pioneer conditions were still to be found on every hand. His farm to-day is equipped with a good set of buildings, the present frame house having been erected in 1909. Mr. Rice was actively engaged in farming for many years, but the work of the fields has been shifted to younger shoulders, though Mr, Rice manages his alTairs and finds time to handle fire insurance, as agent for the Columbia Fire Insurance Company, of Omaha.

Mr. and Mrs. Rice have had eight children : Mar)' L. is the wife of Daniel Maupin. of Colorado : Martha F. is the wife of William E Wardrobe and resides in Custer countv : M. E. is a bachelor and remains at the parental home: Amanda E. is the wife of D. D. Shaw, residing in Custer counuty : James R. is a farmer in township 17, this county : Laura B. and Elmer arc at home ; and J. C. remains in Custer countv.

advocate of principles endorsed by the Republican party. He has held various township offices, has been a member of the Republican county central committee and at the primaries in August. 1918. he received the nomination of his party as a candidate for the lower house of the state legislature. It was well known that were he to be elected he would serve with credit to himself and his constituency, but he met defeat through normal political exigencies.

As a soldier, citizen, husband, father, and friend, Mr. Rice is one who can always be depended upon, and any enterprise which means the betterment of the community is assured his support.

HENRY L. LOWRY. - This is the story of a life that has been lived, of a ser\-ice that has been rendered and of which the record is made. All the friends who knew Mr. Lowry in life say that the record is creditable and that he well deserves a tribute in this volume.

Henry Lewis Lowry was born near Rochester. Minnesota. August 1. 1856. and died in the hospital at Rochester. September 18. 1908. having at the close of his life rounded a circle by returning to the place of his birth. Hi.s story, as it concerns Custer county, begins in 1877. at which time he moved to this western domain and established his residence. On the 2d day of January'. 1888. he was united in marriage to Susie May Thorn, who was born in Napoleon, Ohio, a daughter of Cline an<l Augusta (Morris) Thorn. Her father was a native of New Jersey, but later lived in Ohio and Michigan for a number of years. He is now retired and lives with his son. near the present home of Mrs. Lowry. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lowrj' established a home of their one - one that in many respects was an ideal home, in that it contained comfort and cheer, and brave hearts to meet the joys or sorrows of life as they came. Into this home were born two children - Earl Curtis Lowry works for his mother on the farm, where he is manager and mainstay ; Ella Mae Lowry was educated in the schools of Ansley and Litchfield and has been one year at the University of Nebraska : she has taught school in the home district for four vcars.

Mr. Lowry moved to Litchfield. Nebraska, in 1896 and was en-aeed in the general mercantile business until 1902. when he moved to Lincoln. From that city he went to Richfield, Nebraska, where he again engaged in the general merchandise business. This he continued imtil February. 1904. when he returned to Litchfield to take care of his father and mother. His health faihng, he went to Rochester, Minnesota, and there, in the famous hospital of the Mayo Brothers, he was operated on by Dr. W. J. Mayo, for cerebral embolism. This was in September, 1908, and he never recovered from the operation but died in the hospital.

Socially, Mr. Lowry was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in each of which he was a prominent factor in the lodges with which he affiliated. Prior to his death Mr. Lowry sold the old homestead upon which he filed in 1878 and which was his home for a number of years, but since his death Mrs. Lowry has bought another place, which she and her son are now managing. She has 210 acres of good land, upon which they do a general farming and stock-raising business. Mrs. Lowry possesses those qualities with which every woman should be endowed who is forced to face the world alone. In her case, however, it is not quite true that she faces the world alone, for both her son and daughter are charged with much consideration for their mother and together their operations are quite successful. The family have always borne a good name and are rated high by their friends and neighbors.

THOMAS FORAN. - Young blood and energy combined with Custer county climate and soil always spell success. Opportunity for youth and activity is everywhere in evidence. The young farmers of no country have better opportunity and no farmers are doing more to make opportunity than are the members of the young generation of soil tillers right here in this good county.

Thomas Foran hails from the state of Illinois, where he was born in 1882, and he gave to his native state the first years of his childhood. His fapiily record is set forth in detail in another sketch published elsewhere in this volume. He came with his parents to Custer county in 1886, and here he grew from childhood to manhood, experiencing the usual incidents common to the youth of the central west. Here he obtained a liberal education in the common schools, and he has put into practical oneration what he learned bv actual experience on farm and stock ranch.

To become the partner of his joys and sorrows and add felicitv to domestic life, Mr. Foran led to the marriage altar Miss Elizabeth Hickey, on January 16. 1907, at Anselmo, this county. The bride was a young lady of gracious personality and well suited to preside over the home which it was their pleasure to establish and maintain. Mrs. Foran is a native of Kansas, where she was born in 1885. Into the Foran home circle five children have made their advent : Ambrose Charles is ten years of age (1918); Delia Irene is eight; Philip James has seen six summers ; Delbert is four ; and Lena Mary is only two. All the children are at home and the first three named are attending school and are candidates for Custerites of unusual energ)'. The two younger children, while awaiting their turn at school, make the home interesting and banish lonesomeness.

Tom Foran, as he is familiarly called, bought 160 acres and made it the foundation of his farming operations. To this, other land was added until to-day 800 acres comprise his landed estate, of which, 175 acres are in cultivation. He put on his own improvements, owns his own machinery, and has a splendid start in live stock, which consists of hogs, horses, and twenty-four head of cattle. All of this is the result of his own energy and frugality, in which, of course, the good wife had a large share. He availed himself of the primitive sod house and resorted to economical measures in securing the nucleus of what is bound to be a comfortable competency, sufficient to protect him and his wife from the encroachments of discomfort in their declining days. They are faithful members of the Catholic church and generally attend church services in Anselmo, which is their nearest town. Mr. Foran generally votes the Democratic ticket, provided that, in his opinion, thi Democratic candidate measures up to his standard of eligibility. The Forans are a fine family and enjoy the respect and confidence of their neighbors.

JOHN L. WILLIAMS. - During a long and varied career, John L. Williams has extended his abilities to numerous lines of business endeavor, in each of which he has made a success. In turn preacher, farmer, ranchman and real-estate and insurance agent in the south and west, he has now settled down permanently in the restaurant business, and is the proprietor of the leading establishment of this kind at Broken Bow. Sir. Williams was born in Huntington countv, Indiana. June 13. 1862. and is a son of Dr. W'illiam H. Williams.

Dr. William H. Williams, the seventh son of John and Sarah ^^'illiams, was born in Fayette county, Indiana. February 28. 1819. and in his youth acquired his early education in the common schools of his native county. He early displayed a predilection for a professional career, and for his primarv studies in the profession of medicine he placed himself under the preceptorship of Dr. P. S. Silvey, a well known physician of Fayette county, with offices at Everton. He made rapid progress in his chosen field of endeavor, and while located at Everton he met a young lady of that place. Miss Susan Fox, to whom he was married October 4, 1837. Three years later he began his practice at Everton, but in the following spring he moved to Huntington county and located at Warren, where he lived and carried on his professional labors for thirteen years, building up an extensive practice and gaining the confidence of his fellow-citizens, whom he served not only as a physician but as justice of the peace as well. November 1, 1853, he moved with his family to New Lancaster, Indiana, and he was living there when the Civil war came on. Enlisting in 1863, he served gallantly for two years and ten months, during which time he took part in some heavy engagements, including Nashville and Franklin and all those of the Atlanta campaign. He received his honorable discharge, at Indianapolis, Indiana, July 3, 1865, and returned to his home at New Lancaster, where he continued his professionl work until 1878. He then removed to Antioch, where he enjoyed an extensive practice until his death, in 1891. During his residence at New Lancaster, he was frequently called upon for public service. For four years he was notary public and for nine years justice of the peace. He and his wife were the parents of the following children : Mrs. Sarah A. Beal and Mrs. Loretta Beal, who still reside in Huntington county. Indiana : Napoleon B., of Indiana ; Dr. Orland B., a skilled physician who practiced medicine and surgery for years before his death, at New Lancaster; H. Jerome; John L. ; Arnold A., a fanner near Ng^ Lancaster; and Dr. O. B., a practicing physician at New Lancaster.

John L. Williams received his education in the public schools, and his first vocation was performing the duties of ofifice-boy in the offices of his father and brother. Subsequently he was engaged in farming for several years, and then he developed a gift for pulpit oratory and for a period traveled through the south, where he was' very successful in preaching and in establishing churches, particularly in Alabama. His first visit to Custer county was made in 1887, and while he remained only a short time, the impression created in his mind was strong, and in 1895 he was irresistably drawn back to this country, this time to make a permanent residence here. In the year mentioned he took up a homestead, and after proving up on the same he later repeated the operation. For a number of years he devoted himself to securing and proving up on claims. In this way he came into close connection with the real-estate business and eventually he established himself in that line of enterprise at Broken Bow. One of his accomplishments at that time lay in his taking numerous homeseekers to Wheatland, Wyoming, where he placed them in the midst of prosperity and found them comfortable places of residence. He was also much in evidence in handling realty in and around Alliance. Another venture in which Mr. Williams was interested was the Omaha Health & Accident Insurance Company, of which he was a charter member and a member of the first board of directors. In the spring of 1917 Mr. W'illiams left the real-estate business to become the proprietor of his present enterprise. Aided by Mrs. Williams, through industry and good management he has succeeded in developing the leading business of its kind at Broken Bow, and one which has become extremely popular, not only with the people of the county seat but also with the general traveling public as well. In addition to this business, Mr. Williams is the owner of a farm of 240 acres in central Missouri and a comfortable, modern home and other realty at Broken Bow.

In 1880 Mr. Williams married Miss Katie Fisher, who was born in Huntington county, Indiana, and they became the parents of five daughters : Ina, who became the wife of J. T. Hillman, a farmer of Broken Bow ; Etta, the wife of William Waft'en Smith, a well man at Menia, this county ; Mamie, who married Robert Winchester, a farmer near Broken Bow ; Isa, who married E. R. Davis, an operator at Hulsey, Nebraska; and Nondic Nova, who married B. Carter, residing near Kearney, Nebraska. The family belongs to the Baptist church.

JOSEPH T. COLE, who is one of the substantial citizens of Custer county, for many years a heavy land-owner and cattle-grower, has been a resident of Nebraska since 1902. Mr. Cole was born at Kewanee, Illinois, July 28. 1862. He comes of honest, sturdy old stock. His parents were Joshua and Susan ( Hoppock) Cole. His father was born at Athens. Ohio, from which place he moved to Kewanee. Illinois, in 1851. buying land in Henry county and continuing to cultivate the same during the rest of his active life. The mother of I\Ir. Cole was born at Trenton, New Jersey, and was an admirable woman in every relation of life. There were eight children in the faniilv

- Mary C, Joseph T.. Elton G., William H., Wesley E., ^iartha M. (Cole) Keneval, Ernest O., and Otis R. These children were carefully reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Joseph T. Cole attended the country schools in Henry county and had three years' training in the Kewanee high school. In the meanwhile he had been useful to his father on the farm and under his father's strict supervision learned farm methods thoroughly. In his boyhood and in his section of the country, there was little opportunity to make much of a fortune outside the regular business of farming, but Mr. Cole relates in a very amusing way one of his hopeful early attempts. A neighbor, an old Scotch farmer, was much annoyed by the gophers that persisted in making free with his crops, and his offer of five cents each for even,' trapped "varmint" looked like a paying proposition to Joseph T. and he accepted the terms. Although he was paid in the script then in common use, he earned one whole dollar and believes that was his thrift foundation, to use a term in general parlance to-day. He realized then, for the first time, what he believes every boy should learn early, that to earn a dollar is a much bigger proposition than to spend it.

After reaching the age of twenty-one years Mr. Cole started out for himself, for three years afterward working for farmers by the month. He was careful and saving with his money but when he contracted to buy a 160- acre farm that pleased his fancy, he found that his accumulated savings would not be sufficient of themselves to cover the price of fifty dollars an acre. He was a young man of excellent standing in the community, however, and thus had no trouble in borrowing the amount required. In a few years he had worked himself out of debt and six years later sold his farm very advantageously. Mr. Cole not only Jiad industry and perseverance as helpful factors in his career, but he early showed the enterprise that has, at various times, brought him ample returns along other than agricultural lines. With his brother, Elton G. Cole, he embarked in a lumber and grain business at Toulon, Illinois, which was continued for seven It was during this period that the brothers built the first telephone line, nearly fifty miles in extent, in Stark countv. This bit nf enterprise proved a fortunate undertaking:. In 1902 Mr. Cole moved to Platte county, Nebraska, where for four years he was engaged in growing seeds for the great seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company, of Detroit. Michigan, and because of the thorough manner in which he carried this business to conclusion it proved exceedingly profitable. One carload of seeds shipped within this time brought Mr. Cole the comfortable sum of $6,000.

In 1906 Mr. Cole moved with his family to Custer county and bought 360 acres of fine land in the Tappin valley, on which he erected a spacious residence and otherwise so greatly improved it that he was able to sell it, ^larch 1, 1918, for eight-five dollars per acre. In association with two sons, Mr. Cole yet owns a ranch of 4,000 acres, situated near Anselmo, on which he and his wife purpose to pass their summers happily, assisting in looking after their fine herds of cattle, while their sons carry on the business of farming. Their winters will be spent in their handsome modern residence at Broken Bow.

At Kewanee, Illinois, on August 22, 1883, Mr. Cole was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Frazier, who was lx)rn at Bloomingdale, Ohio, a daughter of George and Anna ( Crawford ) Frazier, the latter coming of English ancestry. George Frazier was a lumberman and operated a saw mill. Mrs. Cole was the fourth born of her parents' children, the others being: Mrs. Margaret M. Copeland, deceased; James C, deceased; Mrs. Ella M. Busby; Mrs. Mary J. Dutton ; Thomas B. ; William: and John \\'., deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have four children : Orren L., who is a successful farmer of Custer county, near Broken Bow, married Miss Pearl Martin ; Walter E. is a farmer and stock-raiser ; Arthur .\., who is also associated with his father, is a farmer and stock-raiser near Broken Bow ; and Olive attended the Broken Bow high school, took a business course in the State Normal school at Kearney, and later completed a course in the Nebraska Agricultural College, at Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Cole are members of the Baptist church. In his political opinions Mr. Cole is an independent thinker and casts his vote according to the dictates of his own excellent judgment, which faculty has served him well for manv vears.

DANIEL W. CORY. - This paragraph names one of the veterans of the county, one of the veterans of the Grand .\rmy of the Republic, and one of the veterans among Custer county homesteaders - a man who has reached the years of his retirement and who finds life bright at eventide.

of Ohio and both excellent people who transmitted to their children the characteristics that made them substantial citizens. There were eight children of the father's family, six boys and two girls, but Daniel W. is the only surviving child. For his second wife the father married, in 1845. Mary A. Bennett, a native of \'irginia. To this union eight children were born, four of whom are still living - Isaac L., Emma H. Adams, Chester, and Charles M. Charles M. Cory has been county judge for twenty-five consecutive years in Noble county, Alinnesota.

The first money Daniel W. Cory earned went into the family coffers to help support the family, his services being required during all his early years and being ungrudgingly given. When twenty years of age he went to Wabash, where he entered college, intending to. take a full six years' course, but after six months the Civil war broke out and interfered with his plans. He enlisted in the Eleventh Indiana \'olunteer Infantry and served four years and three days. He was mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland, on July 26. 1865. During his service he was in twelve different engagements - among them being Donelson. Shiloh, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mississippi, Cedar Creek, etc.

Mr. Cory's married life dates from February 25, 1866. when, in Boone county, Indiana, he married Miss Nancy M. Fall. Mrs. Cory was born in the same county where she was married, and her parents were Joseph C. and Lucinda (Mize) Fall. The father was a native of Carolina and the mother was a Virginian. Mr. and Mrs. Cory became the parents of nine children, five of whom still survive : Nora O. is deceased. Thorley E.. who married Mollie Hawkins, is a carpenter by occupation and lives in Indianapolis. Indiana. Mattie is the wife of Charles M. Street, a farmer living northwest of Anselmo. Custer county. Eva H. is the wife of Frank Jacquot and lives in Merna, this county. Charles E. married Daisy Dixon, and is a farmer living in Indiana. Josie E. is the wife of A. Logan Thomas, of Custer county.

Mr. Cory came to Custer county from Michigan, in the spring of 1885. and took a preemption claim ten miles west of Broken Bow. On this he lived for seven years, and he then moved to a point ten miles northwest of Anselmo. where he homesteaded and where he lived for five vears. after which he sold the homestead and bought a nice property in Merna. A shadow fell across his life June 13, 1912. when his wife was removed from the home on earth to the one "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He now makes his home with the children, where "Grandpa" is always welcome. He and his wife were both well and favorably known throughout the Merna and Anselmo districts, where they merited the good reputation they enjoyed. They were always connected with the Methodist church, and Mr. Cory votes generally the Republican ticket.

BENJAMIN F. WELCH. - In noting the qualities that have raised Benjamin Franklin Welch from humble beginnings to his position as one of the substantial farmers of Custer county, one is forced to renew appreciation of courage, industry, and perseverance, for his life has not been without its discouragements and what he has attained has been gained through his own efforts.

Mr. Welch was born in Peoria, Illinois, September 26, 1854, and is a son of Ezra B. and Adelia E. (Fisher) Welch, who were natives of New York and who went to Illinois as young people and were there married. Later they moved to Jasper county, Iowa, where Ezra B. Welch became the owner of a farm, and where, through industry and strict application to business, he made a success of his efforts. He was a Republican, and on several occasions was the incumbent of township offices. There were thirteen children in the family, of who three are now living - I. S.. a retired citizen of Omaha, who served three years as a Union soldier during the Civil war, within which time he was confined in Andersonville prison for eighteen months ; C. E., also a retired resident of Omaha : and Benjamin F.

Benjamin F. Welch was educated in the public schools of Prairie City. Iowa, and for several years was engaged in farming in that state. In 1870 he came to Sarpy county. Nebraska, where he was married, in 1876. and in 1888 he went to Box Butte county. He first came to Custer county in 1891 and bought a farm near Ansley. where he remained about twenty years.and in 1911 he moved to Broken Bow. where he now owns 160 acres of well improved land, in section 12.. For a time he was largely engaged in feeding cattle, but at the present time he devotes his time princioally to general farming. The obstacles which have appeared in his path have been overcome, and he now owns a valuable and well improved prooertv, on which he has modern liuildings and splendid equipment. Mr. Welch is a citizen who has the respect of his community

In 1876 Mr. \\'elch married ]\Iiss Maggie A. Weeth, who was born at Hyde Park, Ilhnois, a daughter of George Weeth. an early homesteader of Sarpy county. Nebraska, where he owned a good farm at the time of his death. Four sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Welch - Ernest E., who is studying for the medical profession, at Omaha; L. F.. who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Berwyn, Custer county ; H. G., who is a switchman at Ravenna, Nebraska ; and Earl A., who is employal in the United States government shipyards at Portland, Oregon.

CHARLES O. HUNNELL. - Among the well known agriculturists of the Broken Bow community of Custer county whose careers have been especially remarkable for enterprise, perseverance, and tenacity of purpose, is Charles O. Hunnell, the owner of 200 acres of well improved land in section 2. Mr. Hunnell was born in Hamilton county, Nebraska, November 12, 1875. and is a son of James and Sarah ( Baker) Hunnell. natives of Wisconsin and both now deceased.

Frederick Hunnell. the paternal grandfather of Charles O. Hunnell. was born in Germany, whence he immigrated to the United States in young manhood and settled in Wisconsin, where his death occurred. The maternal grandfather. Theron Baker, a native of New York, migrated to Wisconsin, and thence to St. Charles. Illinois, where he died when nearly 100 years of age. James Hunnell was reared in Wisconsin, and when the Civil war came on, he left home and went to Iowa, where he enlisted in Company D, Forty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He served two years with that regiment, when he was incapacitated by an injury to his heel - an injury that troubled him throughout the remainder of his life. When he received his honorable discharge he returned to Wisconsin and married, and in 1870 he came to Nebraska and located on a pioneer homestead in Hamilton county. He proved up on his claim and continued to carry on operations there until within one year of his death, when he went to Henderson. .After his demise his widow returned to the farm, where she passed the remainder of her life. They were attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Hunnell was a Mason. A Republican in politics, Mr. Hunnell was one of the prominent and influential men of his communitv and served as countv commissioner and county judge. Of the seven children in the family, six are living: Mrs. Lennie Segrist, the wife of a carpenter of York county, Nebraska ; Charles O. ; Airs. Edna Ely, wife of a Custer county farmer; Mrs. Alattie Lape, whose husband farms in Gage county ; Cora, the wife of E. R. Deal, who is a farmer of Custer county and a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work; and Mrs. Nina Murphy, the wife of a farmer and sheepman of Thedford, Nebraska.

Charles O. Hunnell was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State University, which he attended two years. Returning to Hamilton county, he farmed for a time, but after the death of his parents he turned over his share of the family estate to his brothers and sisters and struck out for himself, with hands practically empty. Going to Wyoming, he worked as a cattle-herder for nine years, and he then returned to Nebraska and settled on a homestead in Thomas countv. About this time he engaged in the cattle business, buying and selling, and in partnership with his brother-in-law he leased thirty or forty sections of land - a project in which he was able, through industry and good business management, to accumulate enough capital to give him an individual start. In 1909 he purchased a farm in Custer county, section 2, and in July, 1913, he sold his Thomas countv place and came to the Custer county farm, where he now has 200 acres of g-ood land, devoted to general farming. In addition he owned 198 acres of land in Gage county, which later he sold. Mr. Hunnell is one of the progressive agriculturists of Custer county and has evidenced his belief in modern methods, while as a citizen and a business man his rating is high. He is a Republican voter, and holds membership in the Masonic fraternity.

In March, 1917, Air. Hunnell was united in marriage with Miss Grace Paylor. who was born in Missouri. They have one son, Henry Charles, who was born June 26, 1918.

BENJAMIN K, SMITH. - This sketch is written of a man who makes no house-top proclamation, who has followed the even tenor of a Custer county career with modest demeanor, but who has made a host of friends and given a valuable contribution to both his community and his county.

Mr. Smith was born November 7, 1856, near Mount Pleasant. Iowa. He is a son of John F. and Rebecca A. (Clemmons) Smith, the former a native of Vermont, and the latter of Ohio. In the familv of Tohn F. Smith were four children, of whom Benjamin F. was the last born, the others being Jennie Ferree, Melissa, and Ida, deceased. The parents of Mr, Smith moved to Clairmont, Ohio, when Benjamin was six months old. John F. Smith was a farmer by occupation and after a short residence in Ohio he moved to Richland county, Illinois, where his wife died. He then moved back to Ohio, where young Benjamin worked on the farm and attended school in winter time, but as there was no school until corn was husked and none after the sugar camps opened, in February, it will be seen that the school term was somewhat abbreviated. He made the best of his opportunities, however, and secured the education by which he has been enabled to conduct effectively all kinds of business transactions. His first money was earned by selling Seymour c& Blair badges in a redhot presidential campaign.

After reaching his majority he faced the world for himself and went to work on a farm by the month, in ]\Iason county, Iowa. Here he worked four years. August 10, 1882, at Clinton, Illinois, he married S. Katherine Reed, and time has proved that he could have made no better selection for a life companion and helpmeet. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of George W. and Margaret A. (Schenck) Reed, and in her father's family were eleven children - S. Katherine Smith, Lida A. Sauter, Lettie Manion, Hannah J. Barber, George W. Reed, Henry T. Reed, Cora L. Vance, Lucy B. Mc- Connell, Dora McConnell. Clara (deceased), and Myrtle B. Mills.

To the newly established home of Mr. and ]\Irs. Smith came happiness and sunshine through the birth of children, three of whom have blessed the union : Walter R. is operating a farm for himself, near Arnold. He married Hattie Douglas and they have one son and one daughter. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge, and both he and his wife are connected with the Christian church. Earl L. is single and is "Somewhere in France" at the time of this writing. He is a private in Company E, Three Hundred and Thirteenth Engineering Corps, American Expeditionary Forces in France. Lonnie A. also is in France and is a member of Battery C, Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth Artillery, with the American Expeditionary Forces.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith came to Custer county in 1886 and located on a pioneer farm four miles south of Arnold. On this place they lived twenty-five years, and they endured the ordinary privations and hardships incident to the pioneer life of that day. They now own 320 acres and, so far as this world's goods are concerned, they are considered well to do. All lias been made by farming and stock-raising. They belong to the Christian church and the ^lystic Legion, and Mrs. Smith, or "Aunt Kate," as she is known among her ' friends, is a member of the Daughters of Re- i bekah lodge and the Degree of Honor. Con- ; cerning the early days Mrs. Smith gives an account of one of the dances given irv the set- ' tlement, somewhere along in 1888. This dance was given in the building now occupied by ' Grissom & Leo as a restaurant. Early in the evening the settlers began coming in and the decks were cleared for action. Most of the people brought their children with them and with quilts made beds for them in the rear of the hall. Here the youngsters were packed away like sardines in a box. Aunt S'arah Finch seemed to have been on the pie committee, for she brought a stack of them so large that it is said one had to stand on his or her toes to see over it. It is said that dancing and feedwere alternated throughout the evening - it was dance and eat then dance and eat some more. The food consisted of chicken, turkey, roast beef, roast pork, and all kinds of pies and cake. With such provisions on hand and such entertainment, it is small wonder that the dance lasted till morning. It seems, too, that their home-made wine of an extraordinary brand added joy to the occasion and helped to i wash down the edibles. Historical annals con- i tain no data of this wine, other than that it '. was furnished by the R. E. Allen and every- ' body pronounced it good. Music for these ] primitive dances was furnished by the Finch ' band.

This is the story of a pioneer and his wife who have passed through the stirring scenes and times of former years and who are now privileged to enjoy the result of their labors and sacrifice.

ED. P. McEVOY. - Prior to coming to Custer county, in 1912, Ed. P. McEvoy had gained considerable experience as an operator of land in the Missouri valley of Iowa, but it was not until he took up his home in Nebraska that he tasted the full fruits of success. At the present time he is the owner of a handsome property of 480 acres, lying two miles west of Berwyn, upon which he is carrying ! on operations in a manner that at once designates him as a man of superior ability and a farmer of practical and progressive ideas.

Mr. McEvoy is a native of Canada, and was born March 16, 1868, a son of Ed. and Mary (Kelly) McEvoy, who were born in that country, and both of whom are now deceased. Ed.

McEvoy, a lifelong farmer, brought his family to the United States in 1872 and settled in the Missouri valley of Iowa, where he purchased a farm and operated it until 1890. In that year he moved to Adair, Iowa, and engaged in the general mercantile business. He made a success in commercial fields, as he had done in his agricultural efforts. He retired some years before his death, and passed away in the faith of the Catholic church, of which his wife also was a devout member. He was a Democrat in politics. Air. and Mrs. McEvoy were the parents of eleven children, of whom eight survive, but Ed. P. is the only one now living in Nebraska.

Ed. P. McEvoy was but four years when brought by his parents to the L'nited States, and the rural schools of Iowa furnished him with his early education, while he was growing up on the home farm. Trained to all manner of agricultural pursuits, he was fully prepared to enter upon a career of his own when he reached man's estate, and farming was his choice of a vocation. In Iowa he acquired land, which he cultivated successfully, and he became one of the community's well-to-do and influential citizens, being elected to several township offices, but in 1912 he disposed of his property in the Missouri val'ey and took up his residence on a farm near Callaway, Custer county, Nebraska. Subsec|uently he sold this property and moved to his present farm, two miles west of Berwvn, where he has 480 acres of fertile and productive land. This he devotes to mixed farming, having had more than ordinary success in his work as a stockraiser. Mr. McEvoy is known as one of his communitvs progressive men. The farm, in section 18, has been splendidly improved, and the modern buildings include a large and comniodious residence, as well as suitable and well ec|uiDPed structures for the shelter of his stock,' machinery, and grain.

.\ Republican in politics, Mr. AIcExoy is somewhat interested in local government affairs, but not to the extent that he looks for personal preferment at the hands of his fellow citizens or his party. His fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Columbus, and he and the members of his fimilv be'ong to the St. Joseph's Catholic church of Broken Bow.

In 1895 Mr. McEvoy was united in marriage with Miss .-Mice Gilniore, who was born in Harrison county. Iowa, a daughter of Charles Gilmore, an early settler of Iowa and a farmer there for many years. Mr. and Mrs. McEvoy became the parents of six children : Miss Bertha, who resides with her parents : Thomas, who died while in the military camp at Augusta, Georgia ; and Eva, Anna, Charles, and Joseph, who are at home.

OWEN C. MURPHY. - There are probably not many names better known in Custer county than that of Murphy, belonging, as it does, to pioneer settlers here and to their numerous descendants who make up some of the county's best citizenship. Owen C. Murphy, who for many years was prominent in the stock industry, came to Custer county in 1884 as a homeseekcr, and established himself on land that he occupied continuously for thirtyfour years. Mr. Murphy was born in Mc- Henry county, Illinois, January 9, 1858. His parents were Owen J. and Emma ( Chenoweth) Murphy, the former of whom was born in Calhoun county. West Virginia, and the latter in Braxton county, that state. Of their seven children six survive, namely : Mrs. Minerva Clapsattle, Mrs. Melvina Elliott, Mrs. Emma Charles. Mrs. Sarah Crow. Owen C, and Mrs. Ida Winters. The father of Mr. Murphy moved to AIcHenry county, Illinois, in 1838 and lived there, respected and esteemed, until his death, in 1892.

Owen C. Murphy was reared in a home where ample provision was made for comfort as well as necessities, and he attended the public schools. Thus in boyhood he was less hampered than many farmers' sons, his father not only recognizing the need of but being also able to provide, to a reasonable extent, for the recreations that seem so important in the eyes of youth. Air. Murphy remembers that his first independent business transaction was buying stock on a small scale. As the investment turned out well, he was encouraged and thus gradually he became more and more interested in the stock business. It is possible that this led to his coming to Nebraska, in 1884, when twenty-six years old. He located seven and one-half miles northwest of Callawav, Custer county, where he eventually accumulated 1,080 acres and where, for more than thirty years, he carried on an extensive stock-raising business. In later years, before retiring, he was a very successful breeder of Galloway cattle. He continued active in the live-stock field until 1917, when he sold his ranch and stock and bought twenty acres of land adjoining the town of Callaway. On this land he has erected a handsome, modern residence, thorougly equipped to invite ease and repose. While, in the main, Mr. Murphy has been unusuallv successful in all his business undertakings since coming to Custer county, he has lived through seasons of great discouragement - notably the hard times of 1894 - but, thanks to a naturally cheerful disposition and to listening to the practical, common-sense advice of his admirable wife, he held on to his interests in the county when any number of his neighbors "abandoned the ship."

^Ir. Murphy was married, at Woodstock, Illinois, August 25, 1881, to Miss Elsie Couse, who was born in IMcHenry county. Illinois, and is a daughter of Andrew and Ellen ( Fulton) Couse. The father and mother were both born in Xew York, and Mrs. Ellen ( Fulton ) Couse was a representative of the same family as was Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first steamboat. Eight children have been born to ]\Ir. and Mrs. Murphy and of these the following survive : Ida D., who resides with her parents ; Elsie, who is a graduate of the Nebraska State Normal school at Kearney, and who is teaching school at Idaho Falls, Idaho ; Clara, who is the wife of William E. Arnold, a farmer located six miles northeast of Callaway; Ellen, who is principal of the Callaway high school, and is a graduate of the Kearney State Normal School ; and Maud L. and Margaret, both of whom are students in the Kearney Normal School. These young ladies are all exceptionally intellectual. Mr. ^lurphy and family belong to the Evangelical chnr;h. Politically he maintains an independent attitude, having no desire for any public office and believing that the best man should be elected, irrespective of party affiliations. He has long been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

FREDERICK W. MORRISON. - Down near Callaway Frederick W. Morrison operates a splendid Custer county farm and makes his contributions to Custer county ijroduction. He was born May 27. 1868, and has been a resident of Nebraska since his early childhood. He is a son of William F. and X'irginia I Lichtenberger) Morrison, the former of whom was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of whom was a representative of a very estimable farmily whose name is well known in Custer county. William F. and \'irginia (Lichtenberger ) Morrison became the parents of ten children: Harry L. (deceased), Ednnmd W., Charles O., Samuel .\.. Josiah E., Frederick W., '.Alfred E., Leon H.. .Anna V. (deceased), and George A. The religious faith of the family is that of the Christian church.

In .\ugust, 1870, with team and wagon, \\'illiam F. Morrison drove through from the state of Illinois, to York coiuitv. Nebraska, and in this pioneer journey to the newstate of Nebraska he was accompanied by his wife and their seven children. \\'hen he arrived in Nebraska his cash capital was represented in the sum of two dollars and forty cents, and this was the very nominal monetary reinforcement with which he initiated his western career. For one year the family lived in a dugout on Lincoln creek, this primitive dwelling having no window, and a strip of old carpet having constituted the door. Frederick W. Morrison relates an incident of the early days, when the father and an uncle went into the Fort Kearney region, where they hunted and killed buffalo. \\'hen thev arrived at the home, about midnight, the children were so hungry for meat, after having lived so long on corn bread and white gra\'^% that the mother called them from their beds and fried for them all the buffalo meat thev could eat.

Frederick \\'.^Iorrison earned his first money by herding cattle, for ten cents a day. With his earnings he bought a pig. and before his father realized what was happ>ening. that pig"s progeny had so increased that Frederick was claiming most of the hogs on the place, so that the father called a halt on the hog deal. Like other country boys, young Frederick worked on the farm in the summer season and attended school in winter. He came to Custer county in 1900 and purchased 400 acres of land, besides filing homestead entry on an adjoining tract of 160 acres. North of Callaway he now owns a valuable landed estate of 400 acres, the same being situated on what is known as the Fairview Table. His accumulations are such as to entitle him to classification among the well-to-do and substantial men of the county, and through energy and enterprise he is constantly adding to his possessions. He and his wife rank among the best of Custer county people, and theirs is a typical Custer county home, while their achievement is a |)ractical demonstration of what may be won tlirough thrift and industry. Mrs. Morrison has always been her husband's energetic and faithful helpmeet, and has given him valuable assistance in every enterprise pertaining to the farm and home.

In ]iolitics Mr. Morrison is aligned in the ranks of the Republican party, but he is always careful to see that his vote is cast for those whom he believes to be worthv of public trust. He maintains affiliation with the Masonic fraternity.

.\t the home of the bride's iKircnts, on Sjiring creek, this county, was solemnized. May 1, 1907, the marriage of Mr. Morrison to ^liss Lulu M. Hough, who was born in Illinois and who is a davighter of Preston W. and Martha ( Pierce) Hougli, her father having- been born in North Carolina. Mrs. ^Morrison has three brothers - WilHam E., Carl W., and Earl P. - and on other pages, in the sketch of the career of her eldest brother, are given further data concerning the Hough family. Ivlr. and Mrs. Morrison have three children, all bright and happy, and all lending cheer to the attractive home. The names of the children, with respective ages in the fall of 1918, are here noted: Ralph P., ten years; George E., six vears ; and Rov T., four years.

BENJAMIN F. KIKER, a general merchant who is doing a large and increasing business at Comstock, this county, has had experience in other lines, including banking and agricultural enterprise. He has spent many years in Nebraska and is well and favorably known in dififerent sections of the state, having always been identified with substantial enterprises in every community in which he has had his home.

Benjamin F. Kiker was born June 17, 183.3, in Ohio county, West \'irginia. He is a son of Joseph and Amanda (Christwell) Kiker. His father, who was born in Germany, came to the United States in 1857 and located in Illinois. He has been a farmer all his life and still lives on his old homestead in Illinois. The mother of B. F. Kiker died in 1898, and he is the eldest of the three living children. He has two sisters : Emma, who is the wife of Douglas Tankersley. a farmer in Scott county. Illinois ; and Annie, who is the wife of John McCarty, also a farmer in Scott county. The mother of Mr. Kiker was a member of the Baptist church. The father is a strong supporter of the Democratic party.

After his school period was over, Benjamin F. Kiker came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he followed farming for twenty-four years and became a man of local prominence and influence. He then came to Custer county and for six years lived near Sargent. Within this period he was elected president of the Farmers State Bank of Sargent, in which office he continued three vears, at the expiration of which he moved to Boulder. Colorado. Mr. Kiker remained at Boulder during the next four years and then returned to Custer county and settled on a ranch west of Comstock, where he remained two years. Business acumen then led him to change his occupation and he traded his ranch for a stock of general merchandise and located at Phillins, Hamilton county. One year later, in search of a wider field, he moved his stock to Comstock, where he somewhat enlarged the scope of his business and where he now conducts one of the leading mercantile establishments of this section of the county.

January 29, 1880, at Aurora, Nebraska, Mr. Kiker married Stella New, who died November 29, 1881, leaving no children. On June 27, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kiker to Sarah F. Green, and of this union eight children have been born, as follows : Stella is the wife of John A. Grant, who is, at the time of this writing, in the engineeringdepartment with the American Expeditionary Forces in France ; Roy C, who is a member of Company A, Seventh United States Engineers, is with the United States army in France; Joe, who is his father's general manager, married Ora Pullian-i ; Claude H., who is a soldier in the United States army, is at Fort Riley ; Grace and Cora, both of whom are school-teachers, reside at Boulder, Colorado ; Mary is deceased ; and Sada remains with her parents. Mr. Kiker is not active in politics but he is a good citizen and does his part in prompting worthy enterprises and assisting public-spirited movements that give assurance of being practical and permanent.

GEORGE L. McCREA. - Among the farmers of Custer county who have passed their entire lives on the properties which thev now operate, George L. McCrea is one whose efiforts have served to assist in the upbuilding of the community and the development of agricultural interests. The owner of a good farm in the Berwyn locality, he has shown progressiveness and public spirit and in the working out of his career has displayed personal characteristics that have gained him respect and esteem among his neighbors.

Mr. McCrea was born on the homestead place in Custer count-v, June 26, 1881, and is a son of James and Diana (Barnes) McCrea, natives of Michigan. The father is now deceased and the mother is a resident of Massachusetts. The parents were married in Michigan, where for about twelve years they made their home thereafter, and in 1880 they came to Custer county, Nebraska, where the father secured the homestead on which George L. McCrea now resides. James McCrea fought as a soldier of the Civil war, having been for three years and six months connected with a battery of Michigan light artillery. He had an excellent record for brave and faithful service and passed through many of the decisive and hard-fought engagements of the struggle, on one occasion, at the battle of Chickamauga, being captured by the enemy, but benig soon released by exchange. Just as he was a dutiful and courageous soldier, so was he an honorable and industrious farmer and business man, and the record which he established as a civilian (.'(|ualled that which he made as a wearer of his country's uniform. Politically he was identified with the Republican party, but only as a voter and a worker in behalf of his friends. He was a Dimkard in religion, which faith his widow shares. Of their two children. George L. McCrea is the survivor.

The district schools of Custer county furnished George L. IMcCrea with his early education, and after he has attended up to the ninth grade of the public schools at Berwyn, he settled down to agricultural pursuits on the home farm which he had always known as his place of residence. His training as a farmer was comprehensive, and on attaining his majority he became associated with his father, at whose death he assumed management of the home property, which he has continued to conduct and operate in a capable and highly prosperous manner. His farm is now modern in every way. When he took charge of the property the residence was a sod house, or "soddy," but this he replaced with a nice frame home, in which he has modern e(|uipment : and the other buildings have been either replaced, enlarged, or repaired until now they give the farm attractiveness and added value, with a general air of prosperity which speaks for the owner's progressiveness. His stock is of a good grade, and in every respect he is a typical representative of the su:cessful class of central Nebraska farmers.

Mr. McCrea was married May 29, 1904, to IMiss Nellie M. Perkins, who was born in Lancaster county, Nebraska, and to this union there have been born five children, all at home and attending the public schools of Berwyn - Ruth. Ray, Rex, Doris, and Thaine. Mr. Mc- Crea is fraternally affiliated with the Modern AN'oodmen of .America. He is a Re]niblican politically, and has served his communitv as a member of the school board.

CHARLES SCHMIDT. - The career of the substantial citizen whose name introdures this sketch began in Poland and ended in Custer county. He was a man upon whose shoulders rested the stern responsibilities of life, who did well his part, and sixteen vears ago was called from the scene of his lalxirs to that long home which awaits mankind.

and came to this country in 1878. Here he began at once a life of hard work, which, reinforced by rigid economy, provided well for his family. Having received a liberal education in the old country and having there established the habits of industry, he found that both served him well in the new land of his adoption. He worked at anything he could find to do. Anything to make an honest dollar that would help to support his family or add to the equipment with which he started farming for himself, was just the thing that he was ready to do. He worked in the Dakotas. If work was not obtainable in one place, he went to another, where work could be obtained. He was married in 1878. to Henrietta Rhodes, a tlaughter of J. T. and Mrs. M. E. Rhodes. Mrs. Schmidt is a native of Illinois and is a very estimable lady. They reared a large family of children, all of whom have been a credit to the name : Charles lives on a farm in Custer county : Robert married and went to Colorado, where he is engaged in farming: Bert, Alfred, and Clarence are working on the home farm ; May Bassett lives in Canada : Alvina McDermott lives on a farm in this county; Etta Bales lives on a farm near Seneca ; Zelma is at home ; Paul died in infancy. The father homesteaded \(>0 acres of land and later bought another quarter-section, which made him a splendid farm. After his death, which occurred in 1902, the boys continued to run the place and they put on the present-day improvements, all of which are the result of their toil. They have done splendidly in maintaining the farm and making stock-raising profitable. They have a good grade of cattle, hogs, and horses. They own their own machinery and have the l)lace in a high state of cultivation. The father belonged first to the Lutheran church but later, in this country, united with the Christian church. The nearest town is Merna where the boys are to-day well and favorably known and held in high respect as men of integrity and dejiendabilitv. Looking nt their premises to-day. one would hardly believe that their father began with nothing, lived in a sod house, and made his first money by husking corn down in Dale valley, and that for years it was a hani struggle to make ends meet and get the start with which profitable farming could be conducted.

LEE CORNISH. - Down in the Lodi .secction of the Wood River valley. Lee Cornish, with his young wife and child. lias his splendid farm home. Mr. Cornish was born June 29_ 1881. in C~)tsego county. New York. Ilis par- ents, Lyman W. and Eunice A. (Lowe) Cornish, were likewise born in Otsego county. Lvnian W. Cornish was an industrious New York farmer, was a man of sterHng character ; was a communicant of the Baptist church and was affihated with the Masonic fraternity. In the Lyman Cornish family were three children, two sons and one daughter : Arthur B. Cornish is a resident of the Lodi vicinity in Custer county. Mrs. Louisa L. Johnston is deceased. The third is Lee Cornish, the subject of this sketch.

In 1884 Lyman W. Cornish came with his family to Custer county and settled on a claim that had 'been previously entered by Jacob Ingraham, who sold his relinquishment to Mr. Cornish. This claim was located about three and one-half miles from the present site of Lodi. The family had the usual experiences in:ident to early pioneer life. All freight had to be hauled from Kearney or Lexington, for those were the davs when no railroads reached the county. In 1890 Mr. Cornish put down the first hydraulic well in the west end of the Wood River valley, and for many years settlers hauled water from this well to the Redfern Table - some hauling as far as eight or ten miles. The neighbors at this time were F. E. Van Antwerp, S. N. Pierce, Jonas Hanson, C. L. Mougev. and others. Lee Cornish states that his sister. Mrs. Louisa I Cornish ) Johnston, was the first school-teacher on the Red fern Table, and boarded in the home of James Whitehead.

Lee Cornish was married February 5, 1914. to Miss Florence Trexler, an amiable and competent voung woman. Mrs. Cornish is a daughter of Filbert Trexler, who was a native of Pennsylvania. Her mother, whose maiden name was Lela Perkins, wa^ a native of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Trexler were people of sterling worth and were staunch members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Cornish is a member of the same church. In the Trexler family were five children, two sons and three daughters - Harrison was the firstborn : Floren:e is the wife of Lee Cornish, subject of this review: Mrs. Esther H. Butts (whose hsuband is "somewhere in France " at the time of this writing ) ; Burton R.. a young bachelor, is serving his country in Company A. Tenth Engineering Forest Division, somewhere in France ; and Helen I. is the youngest of the chi'dren.

Lee Cornish is a member of the Baptist church and is one of the faithful constituents of the little church at Lodi. Notwithstanding Mr. and Mrs. Cornish divide their religious affiliation, they are a fami'v of sterling worth and of commanding influence in the community. They have one child, a bright boy who is named after his maternal grandfather, Filbert Trexler.

Mr. Cornish bought the interests of his brother and sister in the old home estate, and that is now his home. It consists of 640 acres, with a school lease on an adjoining 160 acres. Thus the old original Cornish homestead still remains in the family. The present home, however, is vastly difTerent from the primitive habitation of the pioneer days, and is one of which Mr. and Airs. Cornish may well be proud.

Mr. Cornish is rated as a very successful farmer and stock-raiser, and as one of the citizens of whom Custer county is justly proud. When one looks at the Cornish farm, with its broad acres, its splendid equipment, and splendid invoice of live stock, it is interesting to remember that years ago Mr. Cornish made his first money by herding hogs for a neighbor. With his first money he intended to make his first investment - in a circus ticket. That was perhaps the first circus that ever visited Callaway. He arrived late, however, and found that the circus was not as promising as had been advertised, so he invested the circus money in a curry-comb, with which he afterward improved the appearance of his saddle pony, and from which, no doubt, he obtained more genuine satisfactory than he would if he had attended the show.

CHARLES E. HIMMELRIGHT. - Since 1892 Charles E. Himmelright has been a substantial and valued citizen of Custer county, and to him and his good wife are to be credited one of the splendid home of which the county boasts.

Mr. Himmelright was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, April 8, 1870, and is a son of Thomas and Louisa (Billings) Himmelright, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of the Hoosier state, where their marriage was solemnized. The father enlisted in an Indiana regiment and served in the L'nion army for eighteen months in the Civil war. He came to Custer county with his family in 1892, bought land here, and here established his home. He is still a resident of the county. The mother, however, has passed to her reward in the realm beyond. In the father's family were five children - Retta Kelly, of Mason City: Maggie, the wife of John Cole, residing in Colorado: Charles E., the splendid citizen of whom we are writing: Gertie, married and living at St. Joseph, Michigan; and

Alfie, a resident of Ansley, Custer county, where he is engaged in the well-digging business. The family hold the faith of the Christian church, and the father is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Charles E. Himmelright received his early education in Illinois, where in the public schools he qualified himself for the transaction of business and for useful citizenship. In 1882 he went to Kansas, where he remained nearly five years, coming in 1887 to Aurora. Nebraska, from which place he removed to Custer county in 1892.' Here he bought a farm of 200 acres and established his home. He developed the farm, put up good buildings, and has made it a very attactive and comfortable, as well as profitable, place.

October 3. 1898. recorded the marriage of Mr. Himmelright to Mrs. Ella Ritenour. a sister of Benjamin P. ^lorris. who is well and favorably known in Custer county and a review of whose career appears on other pages of this volume. The first marriage of ]\Irs. Himmelright was with W'illi,^ Ritenour. and by this union she had four children - John, Anton, Ada. and Newell - -all residing in .\nslev except Newell, who entered the military service of his country when the nation became involved in the great world war and who was on active duty in France at the time when the war came to a close. Mr. and Mrs. Himmelright have three children - Floyd. Twila. and Ina. and they are cheery members of the pleasant home circle.

~Slr. and Mrs. Himmelright are members of the Christian church, and in a fraternal way he is activelv aflfiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party.

On the home place ^Ir. Himmelright is doing a ereneral farming and stock-raising business. Hogs and cattle are given special attention, and he has a small herd of Short-horn resjistered cattle from which he is breeding a s])lcndid type of Ix^ef and milk stock. When on the place you look around and see the improvements and the representation of wealth and labor, vou Would scarcely realize that this energetic farmer began with nothing and has accumulated all by his own eflforts.

JOSEPH MORONEY. - The agricultural and stock-raising industries of Custer county have a worthy representative in the subject of this review and he is accounted one of the public-spirited and substantial men of his comnnmity.

Jersey, November 2, 1866. His father. Martin Morone\', was a native of County Clare. Ireland, and when a young man came to the United States and found employment as a "nailer," in the days when nails were made by hand. In New Jersey he married Miss Mary Daugherty. also a native of Ireland, and in 1876 they become residents of Grundy county, Illinois. In 1885 Martin Moroney became a settler of Custer county, where he secured a homestead of 160 acres - the northeast quarter of section 4, township 18, range 22 - and preempted the northwest quarter of the same section. Pioneer conditions were to be found on every side, and the first home of the' Moroney family was a primitive sod house, this having been the family domicile for many years. On this farm Martin ^loroney and his good wife spent the remainder of their days, passing away when well advanced in years - both having reached the age of eighty years when called to their final rest. They became the parents of five children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are: John, whose whereabouts afe unknown ; Joseph, of this sketch ; and Mary, the widow of Thomas Condon.