Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 2 of 32)

Thomas Milton Harry was born in Illinois, a son of Thomas Smith Harry, who passed the larger part of his life in that state. As a young man Thomas M. Harry went to Shenandoah, Iowa, where he married Miss Wright, a native of Ohio and daughter of Thomas Wright of Fairbury, Illinois. In 1885 Mr. and Mrs; Harry came to Nebraska and settled in Hayes county, Mr. Harry homesteading and eventually perfecting title to a claim near Palisade. He continued to be engaged in farming until 1893, in which year he was elected clerk of Hayes county, an office which he retained for four years, and after the expiration of his term he was engaged in the grain and elevator business for a number of years, in the meantime serving four years as assessor of Hitchcock county, Nebraska. He next moved to Texas, but after a short stay in the Lone Star state he disposed of his interests there and purchased a small farm in the neighborhood of Springfield, Missouri, where he and Mrs. Harry now make their home. They are the parents of four children - Zelma, the wife of Harris Fuller, a fanner of near Springfield; Clay, subject of this sketch; Phebe, the wife of Jesse L. Barlow, a farmer and stockman near Red Cloud. Nebraska ; and Wayne R.. residing with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Harry are members of the Christian Science church. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the various official chairs.

The early education of Clay Harry was obtained in tile public schools of Hayes Center and i'alisade, and he was graduated from the high school with honors. Following this, he entered Doane Acadeni)', where he was graduated with the highest honors of the class of 1907. Becoming a student of Doane College, at Crete, Nebraska, he took a four years' course, his college career being a brilliant one, in which he gained numerous honors, being editor of the college paper for two terms and getting out the annual college publication in the year 1911. In his senior year he engaged in the newspaper business, as one of the owners of the / 'idrttc-Hcrald, with which he was identified for two years. He then went to Central City, Nebraska, where he purchased the Central City Nonpareil. He was the owner and editor of tJiis publication for twenty-one months, and he then returned to Crete, where he spent a short time in a job-printing office. Following this, he went to Holdrege, Nebraska, where he took charge of the Holdrege Citizen and remained one year. In 1917 Mr. Harry deserted the newspaper business to enter the service of the Nebraska Telephone Company, and in December of that year he came to Broken Bow, where he was made manager. He has since devoted his undivided attention to the duties of this post, and has succeeded not only in giving the people of the community prompt and accurate service, but also in advancing the company's interests materially.

April 9. 1915, Mr. Harry married Miss Esther Hollenbeck, who was born in Kearney county, Nebraska, daughter of John H. and Ida M. (Eastwood) Hollenbeck. early settlers of that county. Mr. Hollenbeck, who is now a traveling salesman, is a son of a veteran of the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Harry there has come one daughter: Rosamond Ida. They are members of the Congregational church at Crete, where Mr. Harr>- belongs to the Masonic blue lodge. At Broken Bow he is an active member of the Public Serv'ice Club, and his military record includes membership from 1908 to 1911 in Company H, First Regiment. Nebraska National Guard. His political tendencies make him a Democrat.

BURRITT W. KIMBALL, a well known general farmer and stock-raiser near Broken Bow. has been a resident of Custer county for nineteen years and during this time has devoted himself continuously to agricultural pursuits, his industry, thorough methods and good judgment bringing about very substantial results. Mr. Kimball was born in Benton county, Iowa, April 11, 1875. His parents, both now deceased, were Hollis S. and Marv (Dorsey) Kimball.

who was bom in \'ermont, removed with his family to Iowa during the boyhood of his son Hollis S., and si)ent the remainder of his life in that state. The maternal grandfather was Beal Dorsey, who died in Iowa, in early manhood. Hollis S. Kimball accompanied his parents from \'ermont to Iowa, but a number of years later he came to Knox county, Nebraska, where he secured a homestead claim. He eventually proved up on this claim, and he continued to live on that homestead for twenty-five years. During the Civil war he served three years as a member of the Third Iowa Cavalry. In later life he moved to California, and his death took place in the city of Los Angeles. In his early political life he was a Republican but later identified himself with the Populist party. To his marriage with Mary Dorsey, who was bom- in Iowa, five children were bom, and three of them survive - Nina, who is the wife of Frank Deitz, a farmer in Kno.x county ; Burritt W., who is the subject of this sketch; and Willis, who is a farmer near Sioux City, Iowa.

Burritt W. Kimball attended school in Knox county and completed his school course at Niobrara. He has always been interested along agricultural lines and was already an e.xperienced fanner when he came to Custer county, his first purchase of land being 280 acres, since then increasing to 440 acres. He has improved his property and has commodious and substantial buildings. May 26. 1897, recorded the marriage of ^Ir. Kimball to Miss Florence B. Johnson, who was born at Fulton, Illinois, and is a daughter of Dwight Johnson, a manufacturer of stock and hog food, at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Kimball have four children : Delisle. Thelma, and Margaret and lone (twins.) Mrs. Kimball is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are also all of the children. In politics Mr. Kimball is a Republican and fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.

ALBERT R. CHRISMAN, a man of large estate and high personal standing in Custer county, retired from his farm to Broken Bow in 1915 but still carries on his farm industries and continues the raising of horses and mules on a large scale. He is one of the county's substantial business men.

.Mbert R. Chrisman was born in Lafayette countv. Missouri. September 28. 1858. and is a son of Joseph I\l. and Lucy B. ( Richardson") Chrisman. the former of whom was born in \'irginia, in 1833, and the latter in 1840. They were married in \'irginia, lived many years

The paternal grandfather, Joseph Chrisman, was a pioneer from Virginia to Missouri, making his prospecting trip on horseback, and about 1837 conveying his family across the country by wagon. He was a farmer and stockman and died in Missouri. His son, Joseph M., accompanied him to Missouri in 1837 but subsequently returned to Virginia, where he was married to Lucy B. Richardson, a daughter of Marcus Richardson, who spent his life on his Virginia plantation. To this marriage the following children were bom : Lizzie, who is the wife of R. B. Sargent, of Custer county; Albert R. ; M. J., a retired fanner of Broken Bow ; Lucy, who is the wife of Geo. Sweeney, of Scheding, Nebraska ; H. E., of Broken Bow ; Hattie, who is the wife of Sam Tooley, of Broken Bow ; Samuel, who is deceased ; and Jennie Ruth, who is a trained nurse. In 1883 the family came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Custer county. The parents were members of the Presbyterian church.

Albert R. Chrisman had school privileges in Missouri. He gave his father assistance on the farm and when the family came to Nebraska he helped to bring, with other stock, 150 head of cows, and for many years he continued to be largely interested in stock. He owns large bodies of land in the state, including a section in Blaine county and 480 acres in Custer county, north of Broken Bow.

November 20, 1889, recorded the marriage of Mr. Chrisman to Emma D. Tooley, a daughter of William W. and Lucy A. Tooley, who came to Nebraska in 1884, from Indiana, and who reside at Broken Bow. Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman have five children - Ray, who resides on the home farm ; Chester A., who is, at the time of this writing, a soldier in the national army ; and Lucy, Mary and Joseph. Mrs. Chrisman belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Chrisman is a member of the Woodmen and is independent in politics.

Mr. Duncan is a native of the Empire state, born at Buffalo, New York, February 17, 1857. His parents, James and Christine (Ross) Duncan, were natives of Scotland, coming to America when young people, and were married in New York, where they made their home until 1857, when they became residents of Iroquois county, Illinois, where James Duncan became a successful farmer. The remainder of their lives was spent in Iroquois county, where the mother died in 1885 and the father in 1908. They were the parents of six sons and six daughters, and they lived to see their children all grow to maturity and become useful members of society.

Robert R. Duncan was the yoyngest of the boys of the family and the last to leave the parental roof. He was reared on a farm and attended the public schools in the acquirement of his early education, later attending the Indiana Normal School at \'alparaiso. For five years he taught scliool in Iroquois county, Illinois, and in 1888 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, where he engaged in the hardware business with R. J. Kelly and T. F. Kelly, at Merna. This was eighteen months after the railroad had come, and he was one of the pioneer merchants of the town, continuing in the hardware business successfully until 1903. In 1905 he helped organize the Home Bank of Merna and became cashier of the institution, remaining in that position until 1916, when the Home Bank and the Bank of ]\Ierna consolidated and Mr. Duncan became president, thus having been the active chief executive of the institution for the past thirteen years. This is one of the strong financial institutions of Custer county, its stockholders and directors being numbered among the substantial men of Nebraska.

At Ashkum, Illinois, on May 5, 1890, was celebrated the marriage of Robert R. Duncan and Miss Agnes McDonald, a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a daughter of Alex and Catherine McDonald, natives of Scotland, who became early settlers of Iroquois county, Illinois, where both passed away.

Mr. and Mrs. Duncan are members of the United Brethren church. Mr. Duncan is a member of Merna Lodge No. 171, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and has received the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonr)-, besides being affiliated with Tangier Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Omaha. He also holds membership in the Merna organizations of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Royal Highlanders.

Mr. Duncan has been a resident and business man of Merna for more than thirty vears, arriving here when it was a \illage of 200 population, and he has taken a commendable interest in those things which have had to do with the growth and upbuilding: of the community. Having faith in the future of Custer county as an agricultural district, he has invested in and is the owner of 1,120 acres of Custer county land. \\'hile making a success of his own enterprises, he has not been remiss in

ROBERT .1. KELLY, a pioneer settler of Custer county, was bom in La Salle county. Illinois, October 29. 1856. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kelly, had emigrated from Ireland and had likewise made a pioneer home in the J'rairie state when Illinois was in that stage of its history.

Mr. Kelly's boyhood days were spent on a farm in Iroquois county, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Carey, also of Iroquois county. In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Kelly came to Custer county and took a homestead in Dale vallev. For several years Mr. Kelly was engaged in the mercantile business and later managed a grain business in Merna. Since 1900 he has been engaged in the real-estate business at Merna, and in the years of his residence in the countv he has taken commendable interest in those projects which have had to do with the develoi)ment and progress of the county. He is the owner of a ranch of 800 acres and he has been successful in his business ventures.

ALBERT J. V.\N ANTWERP. - During the past ten years the office of surveyor of Custer county has been occupied by Albert Tason \'an Antwerp, whose services have been of such efficiency as to preclude any idea of a successor being named in his stead. He is also a well known farmer and stock-raiser of his native county. He was born on his father's homestead in Custer county, July 4, 1882. and is a son of Francis Edward and Esther .Mice (Lathrop) Van Antwerp.

The Van Antwerp family is of Holland Dutch origin, and for several generations lived in New York state. Francis Edward Van Antwerp was born at St. Charles, Illinois, the third one of five brothers. There he grew to manhood, and there his marriage occurred, his wife being a native of Roscoe, that state. In 1880, with their first-born son, L. J. \'an Antwerp, they journeyed to Nebraska in pioneer style, with a covered wagon, and took up a homestead in Custer county. Upon the pioneer farm the father passed the remainder of his life, and he was successful in the accumulation and cultivation of a tract of 320 acres. He died January 29, 1917. Mr. \'an .\ntwerp was one of the well known men of his communitv, and for a number of years, ofl' and on, forward from 1884, he occupied the office of county surveyor, or deputy, in addition to which, in 1890 and 1900, he took the census of \\'ood River township. He was a Republican in his political views, and fraternally was affiliated with the Odd Fellows, the Camp of the Modern Woodmen, and the Knights of r\thias. Mr. and Mrs. \'an Antwerp were the parents of five sons - Louis J., who is operating a farm in the vicinity of Lodi, Nebraska; Albert J., who is the subject of this sketch ; Charles Edward Arthur, who resides with his mother on the old homestead : Major Ernest A., who famis near Lodi ; and Merle S., who is identified with milling interests in Calloway.

.\fter attending the public schools of Custer county. Albert J. Van Antwerp adopted the profession of educator, and for two terms he was engaged in instrticting the young in the country districts. He then entered the normal school at Fremont, from which he was graduated in 1904, and in that same year he Ijccame a student at the University of Nebraska, which he attended through 1904 and 1905. When his education was comjileted, he came to Broken Bow and became deputy countv surveyor under his father, a jrosition which he retained about five years. In 1909 he succeeded his father in office, and each two years since that time he has been re-elected. His record in office is an exceptionally good one, a statement which is hardly necessary, in view of the fact of his repeated elections. A Rei>ul)lican in politics he is accounted one of the strong and influential members of his party in the county. \Miile the duties of office have absorbed a large share of his attention, Mr. Van Antwerp has still found time to devote to business matters, in which he has achieved somewhat m.ore than ordinary success. The owner of a splendid ranch of 400 acres, he is extensively engaged in raising live stock, and has recently started to concentrate his energies in this direction in breeding fullblooded Hereford cattle.

In 1905 Mr. Van Antwerp married Miss IMarie Eneboe. w-ho was born at Canton. South Dakota, a daughter of Paul J. Eneboe. ^h. F.neboe. who was one of the early homesteaders of South Dakota, experienced many of the hardships of frontier life, and during his earlier vears was compelled to transport his grain seventy miles in order to find a market, at Sioux City, Iowa, his means of conveyance being an ox-team. Mr. and Mrs. Van Antwerp are the parents of two daughters - Iris ( llivet and .\vis. both attending i^ublic school. The family belongs to the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Van .\ntwerp is affiliated fraternally

CHARLES PENN. - The experiences of Charles Penn, now a member of the retired colony of Broken Bow, have ranged through the pursuits of war and peace, and have included mining in Colorado and Mexico, blacksmithing and machinist work in Nebraska, and large sheep operations in which he occupied :i leading and prominent place among the ranchers of his section. His career has been a long, useful, and eminently successful one, and, in his declining years, he may look back with a measure of pardonable pride over his accomplishments.

Mr. Penn was born in ]kIorgan county, C)hio. November 22, 1846, a son of Caleb P. and ^largaret (Newhouse) Penn, natives of Pennsylvania. Caleb P. Penn was a son of Reason Penn, who took his family to Morgan county, Ohio, at an early day, and there the father of Charles Penn was educated, grew to manhood, and was married. In 1850 Caleb Penn removed to Linn county, Iowa, where he settled down to agricultural pursuits, but in the evening of life he retired from active affairs and took up his residence at Broken Bow, with his son, at wdiose home both he and Mrs. Penn passed away. They were the parents of four children, of whom two survive - Charles and George, the latter a traveling salesman, with headquarters at Kansas City. Mr. Penn was reared a Quaker, while his W'ife was a member of the Christian church. He was a Whig originally in his political views, but with the birth of the Republican party he became an adherent of its principles.

The education of Charles Penn was acquired with some difficulty, as it was necessary that he walk three miles to and from the Iowa district school of his community, but in the meantime he also was able to learn much of the blacksmith and machinist's trades. The Civil war came on to interrupt his career, and, although he was little more than a lad, he enlisted, in 1862, in Company H, Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served nearly three years. He fought with a command which took part in some of the bloodiest and hardest- fought battles of the great struggle between the north and the south, but his recollection of the hottest fight of them all was that of Champion Hill, where his regiment lost 676 during the time, out of the 1,018 men never returning. On his return from the war, the brave young soldier resumed his trades of machinist and blacksmith, both of which he fully mastered, and finally he settled at York, Nebraska, where he opened a shop for the pursuance of his vocations. He -was successful in his eiTorts, and in 1882 he came to Broken Bow, gave up his regular trades, and turned his attention exclusively to the buying and selling of sheep, a field in which he had acquired some previous experience. This was something entirely difterent from his mining experiences in Colorado and old Mexico, his working at his trades, or his wearing of his countr}''s uniform, but just as he had been successful in the other avenues of endeavor, so did he become prosperous in his operations along this line, and by 1883 he had 24,000 sheep and a large and valuable ranch. He continued to be actively interested in this field and to have large holdings in other enterprises and industries until 1907, when he retired from active aiTairs and transferred business burdens to younger shoulders.

Mr. Penn was married December 25, 1865, to Miss Emily Swecker, who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of an early Iowa settler. Mrs. Penn died October 12, 1888, having been the mother of ten children, of whom seven are living: W^ H., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work : Effie Stephenson, of Edgemont, South Dakota ; Nellie Brown, of Leaf City, South Dakota; :Melvin, of Butte city, Montana ; Ellsworth, also of that place : Clara Shocker, of Stanton. Nebraska ; and Ed, engaged in carpentry at Broken Bow. Mr. Penn was again married January 1, 1890. when he was united with Miss Laura \\'ood. a native of England, and they have two children : Warren, of Los Angeles, California, a genera! salesman for the Hudson Automobile Company ; and Edith, in the employ of the Burlington Railroad Company, at Lincoln. Mrs. Penn is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. ;\Ir. Penn is affiliated with the. blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity. He is a Republican in politics, and on several occasions has held public office, having been city marshal while a resident of York, and sherift' of Custer county from 1885 to 1890, during which time he established a splendid record for efficiency, conscientious performance of duty, and unwavering courage.

HENRY B. LANDIS, M. D. - The professional labors of Dr. Henry B. Landis, at Broken Bow, have covered a period of seven . vears. during which time he has firmly established himself as a thorough, skilled, and learned practitioner. This honored member of

The paternal grandfather of Doctor Landis was Henr>- Landis, a native of Virgina, who migrated to Iowa and died in the latter state, while on the niateranl side, the Doctor is descended from a Holland Dutch ancestor. Peter E. Landis was born in Virginia, June 1, 1848, and was a child when taken to Iowa. There he grew to manhood, and when the Civil war came on he was one of the youths who swelled the Hawkeye state's fighting ranks. As a member of Company A, Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, he fought gallantly for two years and nine months. He then resumed the duties of peace, in a regular, honorable, and industrious manner, which eventuated in his securing compensating awards. He remained as a resident of Iowa until 1884, when he purchased a farm near St. Joseph, ^Missouri, where he still resides, as one of his community's most highly esteemed residents. Mr. Landis is a Republican, ' and belongs to the Christian church, which represents also the religious faith of his wife. Mrs. Landis w-as born at Burlington, Iowa, November 9, 1853, and their union, at Wapello, Iowa, has been blessed by the birth of eight children, of whom five are living: Henry B. ; Mary Kathryn, the wife of C. F. Remus, a merchant of Maryville, Missouri ; Lowrie F., who resides at the home place; Alice Cary, the wife of Lawrence Brunn, a farmer near St. Joseph; and Fern, residing with her parents.

The public schools of St. Joseph furnished Henry B. Landis with his preliminar>- educational training, and following his graduation from the high school there he entered the Central Medical College. His diploma and degree of Doctor of Medicine were granted him in 1896, and in that year he commenced practice at St. Joseph. Two years of interne work at Chicago and a post-graduate course in a polytechnic school gave Doctor Landis further preparation and added to the professional equipment which he brought to Broken Bow in 1911. His reputation, gained at St. Joseph, and at King City, Missouri, where he was located prior to coming to the county seat of Custer county, has been strengthened and solidified by bis professional achievements at Broken Bow. He has the confidence of a large clientage, and a high standing among his brethren of the profession. His profes- .sional labors are of a general character, as he is equally at home in any branch of his calling. .As one who keeps fully abreast of the advancements and progress made in medicine and surgery, Doctor Landis is a close student.

and in this connection he is interested in the work of the American Medical Association, the Nebraska State ?kledical Society, and the Custer County Medical Society. He is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is a Knight Templar. His religious faith is that of the Christian church.

In 1900 Doctor Landis married Miss Julia Elizabeth Jackley, who died, without issue, in 1907. He was again married in 1909, when he was united with Miss Lennis May Tanner, a native of Missouri. They have one daughter, Helen Elizabeth, who is attending school.

ALFRED C. SLOGGETT. - Prominent among the retired agriculturists of Broken Bow is Alfred C. Sloggett, who came to Custer county in 1886 and whose career in this state has been marked by advancement from a humble position to one of independence. Alfred Cole Sloggett was born in the village of Granby, Canada, March 13, 1853, a son of William and Bathania (Horner) Sloggett. the former a native of England and the latter of New York state.

William Sloggett was a cabinetmaker and wagonmaker by trade, and also conducted a store in Canada, which he did also after removing to Illinois, in 1856. Mrs. Sloggett died at Forreston, that state, about the close of the Civil war, having been the mother of twelve children, of whom four survive - William, a farmer of Ogle county, Illinois ; Alfred C. of this sketch ; John, a farmer of Whiteside county. Illinois ; and James, formerly a farmer and merchant, and for the past twelve years engaged in the restaurant business at Broken Bow. William Sloggett was married a second time, at Forreston, Illinois, and four children were born of this union : Vivian, a clerk in a store at Fremont, Nebraska ; Mourteaville, a North Dakota farmer; Mrs. Anna Kerlin. a widow, of Fremont ; and Mrs. Pegden, whose husband is a farmer in the vicinity of that city.

Alfred C. Slogett was but three years of age when brought by his parents to the United States, and his early boyhood was passed at Forreston, Illinois. His mother died when he was but eleven years of age and after that conditions at home were not ])leasant for the lad, wlio ran away when he was fifteen, and whi). for about a year and one-half, worked for John Kaline, at Woosung, Illinois, thirtyfive "miles from home. He saved his money and outfitted himself with clothes, made his way to Clinton. Iowa, and secured a position in a sawmill, but this did not ]>rove congenial and after six months he resigned and found employment with a farmer named Church, with whom he remained four years, at twentyfive dollars a month - about ten dollars a month more than common wages at that time. In the meantime he attended the country school during the winter months. A longing to see some of his kinsfolk whom he had left behind, led him back to Illinois, where he had been given up for dead, but after a short visit he returned to Iowa, where he worked a year at gardening. Once more going to Illinois, he began working for his brother, W'illian Sloggett, with whom he remained three years, following which he went to the home of Ed Bricknell, where he boarded, and during that year he farmed about forty acres of com, on his own account. While he had been working for his brother Mr. Sloggett had become acquainted with Miss Emma Miller, a daughter of Manuel Miller, of Ogle county, and thev were married September 15, 1877, at West firove. They resided in Illinois about seven years, when, inspired by the stories heard of the west, Mr. Sloggett came to Custer county, Xebraska, where, about seven miles north of Broken Bow, he contested a farm of 160 acres. He returned to Illinois, where he remained about one year, and then came back and filed on the homestead. In 1886. with his wife and four children, Perr)-. Bessie, Charlie, and George, he came to make a home and accumulate a competency. At this time his possessions consisted chiefly of a few horses, which died the same year, and it was necessar}' that he find employment, in order to support his family while getting a start. Accordingly he assisted in putting in the railroad switches, and he also freighted oats about 100 miles up the line to where they were building the railroad. Mr. Sloggett has numerous reminiscences of these days He tells of fording the river and of shooting prairie chickens and once in a while a deer. The next year he took up farming, and everything went well until the dry year of 1894, which brought about hard times. The family home was a sod house, as were the schoolhouses, and Mr. Sloggett assisted in the building of two of the latter. On this pioneer homestead the remaining children of the family were boni : Edith, Hattie, Harvey, Annie, Orville, and Everett, of whom Annie and On-ille are deceased. Perry, who farms his father's homestead, seven miles v.est of Broken Bow, in the Union valley, married a daughter of Charles Jenkins ; Bessie A. is the wife of Joseph Loyd, an implement salesman of Broken Bow ; ^Irs. Editli Rosier is the wife of a very prosperous farmer eight miles east of Broken Bow ; Hattie is the wife of Clyde Bates, a farmer nine miles northwest of Broken Bow ; George A., a farmer three miles south and one mile west of Ansdmo, married a Miss Rotton ; Charles is single and a farmer; Harvey M. was taken into the United States serv-ice during the first draft, being first with Company D, v355th Regiment, at Camp Funstcn, later going to \'irginia and being assigned to Company F, Fourth Infantry, and finally being sent as a member of our heroic forces in France ; and Everett is in the eleventh grade of the Broken Bow public school.

In 1902 Mr. Sloggett and his family moved to the Skelton place, about ten miles northeast of Broken Bow, where they lived more than two years, and in the spring of 1905 they moved again, this time to the Adams school section, four miles east of town. During the eight years that they resided there numerous fine crops were raised and Mr. Sloggett got a good start, but finally he tired of farming hill country, and this caused another change, the family moving to the old Rogers ranch, about one and one-half miles east of Broken Bow. After six years Mr. Sloggett retired from active pursuits and took up his residence in his modern ind commodious home at Broken Bow, where he has every convenience. He is still the owner of 368 acres of valuable land and his other wise investments have made him one of his community's substantial men. Mr. Sloggett is a Republican, and served as road overseer for three years. He has been connected with the Modern Woodmen of America for twenty-five years. Mrs. Sloggett and all the children belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.

L. E:\IMETT COLE. - One of the old established and highly reputable undertaking establishments of Custer county is that conducted by L. Emmett Cole, who, during a period of twenty-three years at Broken Bow, has placed himself firmly in the confidence of the people. He was born at Carlinville, Macoupin county. Illinois, October 8, 1857, and is a son of William D. and Aramanda (Bailey) Cole.

William D. Cole was bom in 1829. in Kentucky, was there reared and educated, and there he married Miss Bailey, the daughter of a Kentucky fanner. They moved from their native state to Illinois not long after their marriage, Mr. Cole being engaged in fanning there for a number of years, but after their retirement from the active pursuits of life they went to Boise, Idaho, where they passed away, their deaths being but three weeks apart. They were faithful members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Cole was a Mason and a Republican. Of their children, hve are living: L. Enimett; Libbie.who is the wife of John Neal, a real-estate broker of San Francisco, California; Susie, the wife of Ed House, a real-estate and insurance broker of Broken Bow ; William D.. a drugg-ist of Portland, Oregon, who married Madge Womsley, of West Union, Custer county ; and Fred B., who has charge of the North \\'ind Lumber Company, of Carson, Washington.

When L. Emmett Cole was still a lad his parents moved to Champaign county, Illinois, and there, in the public schools of Champaign, he received his education. He was an industrious youth, and his first money was earned in working on a broom-corn ranch, but subsequently he learned the jjainter's trade, to which he devoted a number of years of his life. He remained in Illinois until the year 1887, when he came to Broken Bow, and while still carrying on his business as a painter he learned the undertaking and embalming business. In 1895 lie went to work for W. J. Woods, of Broken Bow, and this association continued for ten years, when Mr. Cole engaged in the undertaking business in an independent way. He has since carried on the business alone. Mr. Cole has conducted his business in a manner that has won to him the respect and confidence of the people of his community, and for this reason he is widely called upon for his services during times of death, his duties having taken him as far west on the Burlington Railroad as Ashby, and as far east as Mason City. He has an up-to-date establishment in every particular, with every convenience and all equipment for the proper care of the dead in a reverent manner, and features of his business are his chapel and his automobile service, including automobile hearse. Mr. Cole is a ^lodern Woodman, an Odd Fellow, and an Elk.

In 1886, at Champaign, Illinois, just before coming to Nebraska, Mr. Cole married Miss Emma Price, her father being a successful contractor and builder. To this union there were born four children : Mabel, who is the wife of Homer Desrocher, a stone contractor in Detroit, Michigan; Roy, unmarried, a sergeant in the engineering corps. United States Army in France ; Grace, who is sinsrle and engaged in the millinerv' business at Detroit ; and Harry, who is still attending school at Broken Bow.

H. K. Atkisson was born in Wayne county, Iowa, January 25, 1858. His father, I. N. Atkisson, who was a native of Kentucky, was a lawyer by profession and came to Nebraska in an early day, residing first at Ashland, later at Lincoln. In 1887 he came to Custer county, where he made his home until his death, in 1891, at Broken Bow. The mother of our subject is Mrs. Minerva (Clark) Atkisson, who is a native of Pennsylvania, and who is now making her home in California.

H. K. Atkisson, one of a family of four children, accompanied his parents to Nebraska and came to Custer county with them in 1887. He was engaged in mercantile business at Merna for several years and for several years past he has been manager of the Milburn & Custer Telephone Company. He has been a notary public for eighteen years and also deals in real estate. When a young man he acquired considerable knowledge of law and legal procedure, while working with his father, and this knowledge he finds valuable in examining abstracts and investigating titles to property.

in Webster county, Nebraska, Mr. .\tkisson married Miss B. L. Wells, a native of Michigan. Mrs. Atkisson has acquired a splendid education, is possessed of considerable literary talent and is serving at the present time as librarian for the public librarv' of ]\Ierna. Mr. and Mrs. Atkisson have three children : Roy N., who is sales manager for Deere & Company of Omaha : Blanche, who is the wife of J. R. Judge, of Lushton, Nebraska ; and Veva, who is the wife of F. E. Peterson, of Lincoln, Nebraska.

The family are members of the United Brethren church and Mr. Atkisson is a Republican in politics. Fraternally he is connected with the Merna organizations of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, and Ancient Order of L^nited Workmen, and he is one of the ])rogressive citizens of Custer countv.

SA^IL'EL M. LUCE, who is now living retired in Merna, after many years of activity as an agriculturi-it in Custer county, was among the very early settlers of this county and has witnessed the changes that have been brought about, while in the work of development he has aided in many ways.

Mr. Luce was born near Bangor, Maine, March 24, 1850. and is a descendant from Puritan stock, his ancestors having been numberefl among the first settlers of the Pine Tree state. His father, William S. Luce, was a native of Maine and followed the life of a sailor initil he received injuries that compelled him to abandon this vocation. In 1854 he came west, and after remaining a short time in Chicago he established his residence in Stark county, Illinois, where he continued to be engaged in fanning enterprise until after the close of the Civil war. In 1866 he became one of the pioneers of Clarke county, Iowa, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death having occurred in 1871. His wife, whose death there occurred in the preceding year, was a native of Massachusetts and her maiden name was Hulda Rogers. Four of their sons were soldiers in the Civil war, all serving from Illinois, but in different regiments - \\'illiam S. in the Ninth Cavalrj' ; Alonzo in the Nineteenth Infantry; Richard in the Ninety-third Infantry ; and Isaac in the One Hundred and Twelfth Infantry.

Samuel M. Luce was a little lad of four years when he accompanied his parents to Chicago and he was with them when the home was established in Clarke county, Iowa, in 1866. There he completed his education and there he eventtially engaged in farming on his own account.

February 28, 1872, at the home of the bride's parents, near Lacelle, Clarke county. Iowa, was solemnized the marriage of Samuel M. Luce to Miss Mary V. Perry, who was bom in Illinois, a daughter of Zachariah and Sarah (Keedy) Perry, natives respectively of Kentucky and Illinois. In 1882 the parents of Mrs. Luce became pioneer settlers of Custer county, and here they passed the remainder of their lives, the death of the mother having occurred in 1892 and that of the father in 1893.

Mr. and Mrs. Luce continued to reside in Iowa until 1882, when they came to Nebraska. They lived one year in Nuckolls county and in 1883 became residents of Custer county, although Mr. Luce had come to the county the year before and located and filed on his homestead of 160 acres, in section 6, township 17, range 21. Here he erected a sod house, which was the home of the family for twelve years. They were among the very early settlers in this part of Custer county. There was no town of Alerna then, not a frame house in Broken Bow and only nine families in Dale valley. Mr. Luce helped organize the school district, helped erect the little sod schoolhouse and was identified with all movements for the upbuilding and development of the community. He made a success of his ventures in agriculture, brought his land to a high state of cultivation and was actively engaged in farming until 1906, when he retired to Merna, where

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Luce has been blessed with seven children : Sarah is the wife of B. C. Browning, residing at Merna ; Elijah is a resident of Merna ; Nancy is the wife of Dell Jones, of Menia ; LeRoy is living at Stratton, Nebraska ; John is a resident of Fort Collins, Colorado; Charles \V.. IDcewise is a resident of Colorado : and Bessie is the wife of Orville Burton, of Grover, Colorado.

Mr. and Mrs. Luce are members of the United Brethren church and in politics Mr. Luce casts an independent ballot. He affiliates with several fraternal orders, being active in the Alodern Woodmen of America, JModem Brotherhood, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Daughters of Rebekah.

Samuel M. Luce is one of the venerable pioneers of Custer county, where he has been an interested witness of the changes that have made the county one of the leading agricultural and stock-raising districts of Nebraska, and in every relation of life he has measured up to the full standard of manhood and loyal citizenship.

HARMER E. MYERS. - Although variouslv identified with aiTairs in Custer county since his arrival here more than a quarter of a century ago, it is probably as a moral and religious teacher that Harmer E. Myers will be longest and most gratefully remembered. More and more is it demonstrated that a cultivated mind and fine instincts reach their highest development oftentimes amid agricultural surroundings, diffusing around them that refinement and peace which are the hall-marks of the born gentleman toiler. To such a class belongs Mr. Myers, who is now one of the large land-owners of Custer county, but who for years was one of the most siiccessful and most aff'ectionately appreciated laborers in the United Brethren church, the numerous churches which he founded standing as monuments to his zeal and ministerial capacity.

Harmer E. Myers was born in Clarke county, Iowa, March 24, 1865, a son of Lambert P. and Rebecca (Rilea) Myers. His paternal grandfather, Jonathan Myers, was a native of Virginia, and moved to the Western Reser\-e of Ohio at an early day. In that historic part of the Buckeye state he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits, and there he reared a family of ten children. William Rilea. the maternal grandfather of Mr. Myers, was a native of Ohio and eventually moved to Iowa. In the early days he was a freighter

Lambert Packer Myers was bom in Mahoning county. Ohio, in 1834, and as a young man learned the caliinetmaker's trade, whicli he followed in his home state. He was there educated and subsequently went to Indiana. In the '50s he removed to Iowa, where he secured employment in a mill. Through industrious work and careful saving he accumulated enough capital with which to purchase a farm in the neighborhood of Hopeville, where he rounded out his career and where he died in 1896. He was a Republican in politics and he served on school boards in several communities. He belonged to the United Brethren in Christ. Mr. Myers was married at Funk's Mills, Iowa, to Miss Rebecca Rilea, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, and who survives her husband, she being a resident of Bedford, Iowa. They became the parents of nine children, of whom eight are living: Leonard v., a furniture dealer, undertaker and embalmer at Red Oak, Iowa, is very prominent in his business in his state and was formerly vice-president of the National Undertakers Association ; Marion U. is a carpenter at Beaconsfield, Iowa ; Harmer E. is the immediate subject of this review: Anna is the wife of H. T. Chew, a farmer of Grand River, Iowa : Mrs. Elizabeth Besco, a widow, resides at Bedford, Iowa, where she has been successfully engaged in business as a dry-goods merchant for the past si.xteen years; Amianella. prominent in the affairs of the Methodist Episcopal church, is the wife of Frank Allen, who was formerly a leading churchman and merchant of Bedford, Iowa, but is now a prominent real-estate man of Greeley, Colorado ; Adna E. is a contractor and builder at Los Angeles, California; and Almond Ray, a graduate of the Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, was in the banking business for a number of years at McAlester, Oklahoma, but later was a resident of Rosalia. Washington, and he is now engaged in fann enterprise near Colville, that state.

The country schools of Iowa furnished Harmer E. Myers his early educational training, and after he had taught school for one year he entered the Western Normal College at Shenandoah. Iowa, where he was graduated in 1888. with the degree of Bachelor of Didactics. Thereafter he taught for one year in Fremont county, Iowa, and one year in Gage county, Nebraska. For two years he was prin cipal of schools at Crab Orchard, Nebraska and for a like period at Unadilia. Otoe county. He then taught one term of country school and one term in his home school in Nebraska. Prior to this time he had begun his labors as a minister of the faith of the United Brethren in Christ. He joined the annual conference, at Shelby, Nebraska, in March. 1892. although he had preached one year prior to this, having been granted a conference license. Assigned tc Unadilia, he held some splendid protracted meetings and made a success of his first church. He then went to Seward, where he was pastor for three year, during which he more than doubled the membership there, taking in 121 new members. Subsequently he was pastor of the First United Brethren church at Lincoln, where he was instrumental in transferring the church from the suburbs into the city proper, and after eighteen months in that pastorate he went to Pawnee City, Nebraska, and remained as pastor of a country church for two years. In the meanwhile he had been formally ordained to the ministry', the ceremony of ordination having been performed at Blue Springs, Gage comity, by Bishop Castle. In 1900 he came to Broken Bow, where he was minister for two and onehalf years, at that time resigning from the regular ministry, his last sermon being delivered in a sod church at Custer Center, Iowa. However, from time to time he continued to preach, accepting different country appointments, and he still fills a pul[)it occasionallv. in addition to doing some work in the lecture field. During his long experience in the work of the church. Mr. Myers met varying conditions. During one period, for three years, he preached three times each Sunday. One of his biggest successes was a revival held at the O. K. schoolhouse, where he organized a large class. For one year he accomplished some gratifying work at the Ortello church, to reach which he had to travel forty miles from Broken Bow, it being his custom to leave this city at three o'clock Saturday afternoon, sleep in a hay-mow that night, and eat luncheon in his bugg\', at Mema.

As an agriculturist Mr. Myers has made an excellent success. He purchased his first quarter-section in 1900. at five dollars on acre, and in 1902 he secured a like amount at the same price, but in VK)3 was forced to pay six dollars and twenty-five cents an acre for a quarter-section, and later, when he bought a half-section, the price had again advanced. He has sold some of his land, but still owns 600 acres of valuable farming property, in two farms - one, his home ])lace, consisting of 480 acres, while the other, eighteen miles from Broken Bow. comprises 120 acres. Mr. Myers does much in the way of stock-raising and dairying, a field of enterprise in which he educated himself, and he has a splendid herd of Durhams. He has milked as high as fortyseven cows, although the average is twentyfive, and in 1917 he sold six hundred dollars' worth of cream, it having been his expectation in 1918 to advance that figure to over $1,000. He usually sells and ships a car-load of cattle and a like amount of hogs each year, and he has made a success also in the raising of registered Percheron stallions.

In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. JMyers to Miss Ella I. Talley, who was born in Ringgold county, Iowa, a daughter of Isaac A. and Nancy (Keller) Talley, who were born in Ohio, and came to Iowa in 1856. being among the earliest pioneers of Ringgold county, Iowa. To ]\Ir. and Mrs. Myers there have been born the following children : Evangeline B. is the wife of William Hein, a farmer near Westerville, Custer county ; Joy U. is engaged in teaching at Hastings, Nebraska : Paul S. resides at home and assists his father ; Vivian is the wife of Frank Thornton, a farmer near Westerville; Jessie is engaged in teaching; and Royal, Hallie, and Beulah remain at the parental home. Mr. Myers is independent in his political views, and his only public office was that of a member of the town council at Crab Orchard, Johnson county, Nebraska.

FRED J. BAHR. - A comparatively recent addition to the grain and coal merchants of Broken Bow, F. J. Bahr established his interests here in 1909, bringing with him a commendable ambition to succeed, and that his aims have_been realized is shown in the fact that he is to-day numbered among the leading business citizens of his adopted community. Mr. Bahr was bom August 16, 1868, at Fayette, Iowa, a son of John J. and Lucy (Timmerman) Bahr.

John J. Bahr was born April 1, 1830, in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, France, and was a young man when he came to the United States with his father. William Bahr, and located in New York. There he married and for a few years was engaged in fanning, but about the vear 1860 he came to the west and bought 400 acres of land in Fayette county. Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a Republican in politics, was a blue lodge Mason for fifty-fi\e years, and in religious^ faith was a Congregationalist, while Mrs. Bahr was a ^Methodist. They were the parents of the following children : Eva is the wife of J. M. Alexander, a farmer and realestate broker of Gothenburg, Nebraska, he being an Odd Fellow and a Republican ; William A., a farmer of near Eagle, Nebraska, and a Republican, married Amy Roberts ; Polly is the wife of William Sharp, for years a fanner at Eagle, and now at Trenton, a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church ; Mary is the widow of J. D. Freeman, who died at Mercedes, California, in the spring of 1917, he having been a Democrat, a Alodern Woodman, and a member of the Congregational church, to which Mrs. Freeman belongs; Fred J. is the subject of this review ; Orson K., a Mason and Republican, and farmer in Montana, married Lucy Allen, a daughter of Charles Allen ; and Thomas J., a Alason Republican and member of the Jklethodist Episcopal church, was formerly a farmer and is now a resident of the San Luis Valley of Colorado ; he married Maude Jackson, daughter of John O. Jackson of Custer county. The maiden name of Mrs. Fred J. Bahr was Lucy Timmerman, and she was born in JeiTerson county, New York, a daughter of Henry Timmerman, and a direct descendant of a hero of the Revolutionary war. Her father was born March 8, 1796, and on November 19, 1820, married Polly Conley, who was born May 27. 1801, and who died May 6, 1876, Mr. Timmennan dying October 6, 1883. Her grandfather, Henry Timmerman, was bom in Montgomery county. New York, January 1, 1750, and in 1775 enlisted for service in the patriot army, for service in the war of the Revolution, under Captain Stuttel Yates. This command went on a campaign of eleven months into Canada, under General Montgomery, and its members were then discharged, at Quebec. Mr. Timmerman making his way back to his home, at Little Falls, on the Mohawk river. Drafted in 1776. he was sent to Ticonderoga and was out one month, and in the same year he was sent to assist in blockading Wood Creek ; to Fort Stanwick, where there was a general engagement; and at the mouth of the Unadilla river, where he was stationed for about two weeks, under Major General Sylsen. In a campaign under Brigadier-General James Clinton, he fought against the western Indians and was then called into the militia sen'icc, which occupied about one-quarter of his time until the year 1780. He then enlisted in the batteau service, under Captain Samuel Gray, and remained therein for two seasons, during which time he was supposed to be out from six to seven months. His wife bore the maiden name of Polly Kellas.

Fred J. Bahr was educated in the schools of Iowa and Nebraska, was reared as a farmer, a vocation which he adopted upon attaining his majority. When he disposed of his interests in his native state, he came to Nebraska and secured a ranch of 400 acres, six miles north of Broken Bow, where he is making a successful specialty of raising the large type of Chester-White hogs. In 1909 ]\Ir. Bahr came to Broken Bow, where he established himself in the grain and coal business, and this line he has followed to the present time, his splendid business abilities having enabled him to build up a large and important industry.

Mr. Bahr married Miss Minnie Morris, and to this union there have been born three children ; H. Morris, who is in the eleventh grade of the Broken Bow high school ; Vivian M., a teacher in the high school at Broken Bow, Nebraska ; and Frederick J., six years of age, who has just started to attend the Broken Bow public school.

DR. Q. HOWARD STEVENS. - While he is comparatively a newcomer in the city of Broken Bow, where he took up his residence and began practice in September, 1916, Dr. O. Howard Stevens has succeeded in establishing himself firmly in a position of prominence in professional circles, as well as in the confidence of the public. He is a native of the state of Nebraska, having been born at Millard, Douglas county, February 11, 1870, a son of George F. and IMary C. Stevens.

George F. Stevens was bom in Maine and was a young man when he moved to Nebraska, in lSo6, Mrs. Stevens immigrating to the United States from Denmark in the year following and taking up her home in this state also. They were married at Omaha, being residents of that place when it was but a small village, with little promise of its coming greatness, but later they took up land at the present site of Millard, the town being located on their old pre-emption claim.

Quincy Howard Stevens passed his boyhood and youth in eastern Nebraska. He received his preliminary educational training in the public schools, and subsequently attended Fremont College, where he had a creditable career and graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Graduate m Pharmacy. On leaving college he found hnnself equipped for educational work, and thereafter he served as superintendent of public schools in several communities. While engaged in these labors he prepared himself as an optical refractionist. He attended the Needles Institute of Optometry, in Kansas City, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Optometry, and following this he was for a time engaged in practice at Omaha, in the meantime teachmg in the Omaha Optical School. He located at Broken Bow September 1, 1916, and has since had a successful practice. He possesses a natural love for his profession and an earnest desire to assist his ailing fellow humans. His slogan : "See Stevens and See Better" is ex- .pressive and characteristic. His office is located in the Bow, where he has a complete optical equipment for testing eyes and making and fitting glasses that give comfort and good vision.

Mrs. Stevens was formerly Miss Elvira Morris, and she was an instructor in the pubic schools of Columbus City prior to her marriage. There is one son, Howard B., aged ten years.

JOHN J. DOUGLASS, who is now one of the highly esteemed retired citizens of Callaway, has the distinction of being one of the three surviving organizers of Custer county. For forty-three years he has resided within the borders of this county, during which time he has seen the country grow and has assisted it in its development, his experiences having included the various conditions, incidents, and eras of life here from the rough and rugged happenings of the frontier days to the refinements and conveniences of modern civilized existence.

Mr. Douglass was born ^klarch 17, 1845, at Sabina, Ohio, and is a son of Thompson and Ann (Coulter) Douglass,^ the former a native of Columbiana county, 'Ohio, and the latter of Ireland. His paternal grandparents, James and Mary (Taylor) Douglass we/re born in Scotland and were early settlers in Ohio. There were three sons and three daughters in the family: Albert, Sarah J., John J., Flora A., George, and Arminda, of whom Sarah J. and Albert are deceased. The common schools, which he attended during the winter terms, furnished John J. Douglass with his educational training, and until he was sixteen years of age he remained under the parental roof and assisted his father. At that time, however, he became restless, and, desiring to do something on his own account, accepted a position as clerk in a dry-goods and grocery store. He started at a wage of eight dollars a month, and during the four years that he was thus employed he was gradually given advancement, but he finally decided that mercantile life was not his forte, and he returned to farming, in which he was engaged for two years. About this time - not long after the close of the Civil war - he contracted the western fever, and in 1868 he came to Ne- braska, settling at Falls City, Richardson county, in the extreme southeast corner of the state. It is worthy of note that he made the entire journey of 1.100 miles, from Sabina to Falls City, on horseback - a big job for one horse and quite an undertaking for a young man who did not know the country. Allnorthern Missouri at that early date was thinly settled, and hundreds of stone and brick chimneys, known as "Lincoln monuments" at that time, were all left to show what had been prosperous homes before the ravages of war devastated the country. Arriving at Falls City in 1868, he secured employment as clerk with the mercantile firm of Reavis & Cameron. It was his desire at this time to venture further out on the frontier, and his plans for such a move had been practically completed when an incident occurred that dissuaded him from his desire at that time to get into the big-game countn,'. A party of United States surveyors went out on the Republican river to survey government land, and the entire party was ambushed by hostile Indians and massacred to a man. Air. Douglass' friends persuaded him to abandon his trip, and he eventually returned to Ohio, where he remained several years, until the Indians were quieted.

In January, 1875, Mr. Douglass again left his Ohio home to return to the country which had gained such a hold upon him during his first trip, and he arrived here on the 6th day of that month. From Missouri he drove in a bunch of cattle, which he held on the Platte river during the summer, and during that time came to Custer county and located a ranch for the Rankin Live Stock Company, about a mile west of the present site of Callaway. Subsequently he went down into the Indian Nation and brought this concern's cattle, about 800 head, to the ranch, as w^ell as about 150 head of his own, which he had been holding on the Platte river. He was hired as foreman for this company and worked for them in that capacity about two years, or from 1876 to 1878. following which he put in about five years riding the range as a cowboy. Eventually he secured a large bunch of cattle of his own, and as the years passed he secured larger and larger business interests, so that finally he became one of the leading business men of the community, as well as an influential factor in financial circles. At the present time he is retired from active business pursuits and lives in his handsome and comfortable modern house at Callaway.

and Sarah Margaret (Williams) Taylor. Mrs. Douglass' maternal grandparents had been residents of Missouri, but when the Civil war came on they were sympathizers M'ith the I'nion cause and were compelled to abandon their home and move to Iowa, where they lived until after the days of secession, of conflict, and of reconstruction. Mrs. Douglass received her education in the public schools of Iowa, attending the high school at Missouri \"alley and later completing a normal course at the \\'oodbine Normal school, at ^Voodbine, that state. She taught several terms of school in Harrison and Alonroe counties and then came, in July, 1888, to visit a friend at Broken Bow. As teachers were not plentiful, she was asked by Charles Randall, then county superintendent, to accept a school at Berwyn, a few miles east of Broken Bow. She accepted the school, and completed the term with much credit to herself as well as the district. About that time this school closed, and she was of¥eted a position in the ofifice of her future husband, who was clerk of the district court. She accepted this position and held the same for four years, or until the expiration of Mr. Douglass' term of office, soon after which they were married and went to live on Mr. Douglass' farm, just west of Callaway.

The country, however, was swept over by drouths, which left desolation in their wake, and great hardships were thus endured by those who could not turn to some other work than farming. Mrs. Douglass again took up school work, teaching for ten months the first year, with only a few days between terms, and she had begim on the third term when she received an appointment to a position in the state land commissioner's office, at Lincoln, which she accepted and held until she resigned to come home and work in the postofifice, her husband having been appointed postmaster during her absence. She held the position of assistant postmaster for seven years. In March, 1906, Mrs. Douglass took a post in the Seven Valleys Bank, which she held for over a year, when she again engaged in school work, and she has taught continuously since that time, with the sole exception of one year, during which she attended the Kearney State Normal School She spent the summer of 1915 in the office of State Superintendent A. O. Thomas : thus her entire time has been devoted to some phase of school work for the last fifteen years. She has assisted several of the county superintendents of Custer county in giving teachers' examinations, and in many other ways she has aided those interested in educational work.

During all the years in wh'oh ^Irs. Douglass has taught in the rural schools of Nebraska, ii has been her boast that she has never missed a day from school on account of the weather, although she has faced many a snow storm and even severe blizzards in making her trips to and from school. She has been blessed with exceptionally good health and possesses an energy- that equals and exceeds that of almost any other woman in the state. By attending teachers' institutes and also the summer sessions of the State Normal School, she has kept pace with the times in the progress made in the various departments of school work. Besides her school work, Mrs. Douglass is an active member of several lodges, the church, with its various organization, and a number of clubs. She is one woman who is happy at having cast her lot in Nebraska and she often declares that she would not exchange her little cottage at Callaway for a mansion in the far east.

]\Ir. Douglass is one of the thirteen men who organized Custer county, and of the number only three are living in the summer of 1918 - A. L. Wise, Milo F. Young, and \h. Douglass. He has always been prominent and active in the affairs of the county, having been elected clerk of the first district court of Custer county, in 1887, an office which he held for four years. His election came ten years after the organization of the county, the work in the meantime having been done by the county clerk. He also served as postmaster during a long period, besides holding various other ofifices, and his public record is an excellent one. While now living in retirement, he is still interested in county afifairs. and his latch-string is always out to his many friends of the olden arid later days. Mr. Douglass is fraternally identified with the Mystic Legion. He is a Republican, is an advocate of woman suffrage, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church.

THOM.A.S H. BROWN has been identified with railroading ever since he entered upon his career as a lad of seventeen years, and his experiences therein have brought him into connection with the systems of both the United States and England. Mr. Brown, who is now cashier of the Burlington Route at Broken Bow, was born in Yorkshire, England, Januar\' 29, 1S80. and is a son of Edward and Eleanor rMudd) Brown.

father was a depot agent in England, his native land, for more than forty years, and there he died when still in the service of one of the big railways. He was a well known man in his calling, as he was also in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was a member for many years. Mrs. Brown, also a native of England, survives her husband and still resides in that country. There were two sons and four daughters in the family, and of the five children now living only two are in the United States : Elizabeth, the wife of George Thompson, a farmer near Edgemont, South Dakota ; and Thomas H., the subject of this sketch. The family belongs to the Church of England.

Thomas H. Brown was given a publicschool education in England, and when he was seventeen years old an opportunity presented itself for him to take up railroading. Having a natural inclination in that direction, he accepted his chance and thus gained much experience and won promotion before coming to the United States. January 31, 1911. Going direct to Edgemont, South Dakota, he secured employment in the office of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy Railroad, where his work impressed the officials favorably, and in December, 1912, he was transferred to the office at Broken Bow and placed in the position of cashier. He has since retained this post and has concentrated all his energies in the discharge of his official duties. During his residence here, Mr. Brown has become widely acquainted, both with railroad men and others, and has succeeded in establishing a number of warm and sincere friendships.

In February, 1912, at Hot Springs, South Dakota. Mr. Brown married Miss Annie Veronica Stockdale, who was born in England, and to this union there has come one son, John Edward, who is now attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is a Democrat in his political views, and is fraternally identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern \\'oodmen of America.

CHARLES F. BRAMER. - Classed with the well-to-do and highly esteemed citizens of Custer county, Charles F. Bramer has won well merited success in the field of farming and stock-raising, and since his advent in this locality, in 1907, has steadily advanced in position and prominence. He is a native of Germany, born at Labes. Pomerania. in 1863, a son of Fred and Amelia (Aldrich) Bramer.

grated to the United States with his family in 1885 and settled in Saline county, Nebraska, where he followed agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life, achieved a moderate degree of success, and died at the age of seventy years. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Albert, who is engaged in farming in the neighborhood of Stamford, Nebraska ; Ricka, who still resides in (lermany ; Mrs. Amelia Myers, of Shickley, Nebraska; Mrs. Ida Schmidt', who h deceased; Mrs. Lena Bielke, whose husband is a farmer at St. Michel ; Charles F., who is the subject of this notice; Fred, who is a ranchman of this state; and Herman, who is identified with a lumber company in the state of Washington.

Charles F. Brainer received his education in the public schools of Germany and had just passed into his majority when he left his native land and immigrated to the United States. He first located in Saline county, Nebraska, in 1884, but fourteen years later he removed to Buffalo county, where he continued agricultural pursuits until coming to Custer county, in 1907. His operations here have all been along the line of general farming and stock-raising, and in each field he has achieved an enviable success. At this time he is the owner of a well cultivated farm located in section 16, township 71, where he has good buildings and other improvements, and his standing in his community is that of a capable farmer, an honorable business man, and a citizen of integrity. Mr. Bramer belongs to the Roval Highlanders, and he and the members of his family are members of the Evangelical church

^Ir. Bramer was married in 1889 to Bertha Schroeder, and they have the following children: Clara Mitchell; Gertrude Boyd, of Ansley ; Minnie Porath, of Wyoming ; and Ben, Clarence, Edwin, John. Elsie, Bertha, and Mabel, all residing with their parents.

RHINEHART PORATH. - One of the fine farms of the southeastern part of Custer county is the property of Rhinehart Porath. It comprises 720 acres of rich and arable land, and the well tilled fields surround substantial buildings - a pleasant residence, commodious bams, and excellent outbuildings. Mr. Porath. the proprietor, has been a resident of Custer county since 1891, and during the period of his residence here he has advanced himself, through industry and careful and intelligent management, to a position among the leading agriculturists of the locality. He was born in Pommern, Gennany, in 1860, and is a son of William and Fredericka Porath.

The parents of Mr. Porath, who passed their entire lives in Germany, were farming ])eople in moderate circumstances, and devoted themselves to the making of a comfortable home. Fhey were faithful members of the Lutheran Reformed church, and died in that faith, the father when sixty-four years of age, and the mother at the age of si.xty-three years. They were the parents of the following children : Rhinehart, the only one in .\merica, and Mrs. Amelia Kreoger, Gustav. Emma, and Ileinrich, all of whom live on farms in Germany. Rhinehart Porath received his education in the schools of his native land and was variously employed, principally at farming, until he came to the United States, in 1883. First settling in Wisconsin, he spent one year there, and he then came to Nebraska, where for two years he was employed in Saline county. In 1886 he entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, during the construction of that company's line from Mason City to Litchfield, and he worked also for several contractors. He has memories of the latter connection still, for there are still three weeks of unpaid wages due him by a contractor named Reynolds. He also worked at Miller during the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, but finally returned to farming, when, in 1891, he bought a relinquishment in Custer county. To his original purchase he has added from time to time, as his finances have allowed, and at the present day he has 720 acres in his property. A large amount of this land is under cultivation and devoted to general farming, and Mr. Porath also has met with much success as a raiser of horses, cattle, and hogs. He is a man of sound business ability, and is one of the most practical and ]>rogressive agriculturists of the community. He uses the most improved machinery in the develo]>ment and other operations of his farm, owning his own implements and doing his own repair work, and he finds an automobile of great value to him in the daily course of his business duties. He has been content to keep a!)Sorbed in his agricultural affairs and has not aspired to prominence in public life, but as a citizen has been strong in his support of constructive legislation.

In 1898 Mr. Porath was united in marriage to .-Xmelia Miller, of Swanton, Nebraska, and they became the ]>arents of the following children : Benjamin, who is married and resides on a homestead in Wyoming ; Ludwig, who is married and resides on a claim in the same state ; Margaret, who is married and lives in Buffalo county, Nebraska ; Hilda, who is the wife of a Custer county farmer; and Paul, Lena, John, Eunice, Edmond, and \\'ilma, all of whom remain at the parental home. Mr. and Mrs. Porath are members of the EvangeHcal church, and they attend the church of this denomination at Mason City. The pleasant Porath residence is located in section 27, township 71.

HARRY C. KIMBALL, one of the substantial business men of Broken Bow, has been engaged in the undertaking business here since 1904 and holds the oldest state license in Custer county. He was born January 29, 1878, at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a son of Kendrick W. Kimball, and a grandson of Kendrick Kimball, a native of Ireland and an early settler of Wisconsin, where he was engaged in farming.

Kendrick W. Kimball was born in Wisconsin, and is one of the few old settlers of Custer county who still own their old homesteads. He came to this county in 1882, in the spring of which year he located in Clear Creek valley, east of Westerville, and for many years he actively followed farming industry. He is now in retirement and makes his home at Ansley, where he is surrounded by every comfort. He is a member of the Christian church, belongs to the Modern Woodmen, and is a Republican in his political view. In 1876, at Stockbridge, Wisconsin, he married Miss Myra Bourne, a daughter of Frank Bourne, of English descent, who was for twenty-eight years a sailor on whaling vessels and who visited many of the ports of the world. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kimball : Harry C. is the subject of this review ; Mary Alice, is the wife of Arthur Anderson, a farmer living eight miles northeast of Ansley, Nebraska ; Jessie M. is the wife of John Hall, a farmer near Ansley ; Bert F., a farmer living northeast of Berwyn, this county, and a Woodman and Odd Fellow, married Mabel House; Kendrick C. is an electrical engineer of Trident, Montana, and is a Mason and Woodman ; Ruth is the wife of Uriah S. Lowden, a farmer on the old Kimball homestead, near Westerville ; and Theo George, a high-school graduate and member of the Woodmen, is working as an electrical engineer, with his brother at Trident, Montana.

In the earning of his first dollar, Harry C. Kimball, showed himself a lad of resource and initiative. A circus was showing to the populace at Ansley, and notwithstanding the fact that the youth was unable to obtain from his father the price of admission, he attended the exhibition and soon had struck a bargain with the clown. Whereupon, in the parade.

young Kimball was found driving a little grey mule hitched to a cart, the lad sitting under a screen and holding aloft a monster papier-mache head on a pole. Not only did he see the circus, but when he returned to his home that night he was able to display his earnings, and was, perhaps, the proudest boy in Custer county. In 1897 he was graduated in the Ansley high school, and following this he began working on the farm during the summer months, while in the winter terms he taught school in the country, for six seasons. In 1904 he came to Broken Bow and entered the employ of S. P. Groat, in the furniture and hardware business, subsequently holding a clerkship with Rockwell & Armstrong and their successors. In 1906, however, he engaged in business on his own account, and since that time he has steadily advanced in fortune and reputation, being known as the proprietor of one of the leading undertaking and embalming establishments in Custer county. Mr. Kimball has installed every appurtenance known to the art of modem undertaking, and is prepared in every way for the reverent handling of the dead. Possessing tact of the rarest kind, he is a sincerely appreciated friend at the homes which the angel of death has visited, and the confidence which is reposed in him comes from the manliness and integrity which he has displayed upon all occasions- Mr. Kimball was married June 17, 1908, at Lodi, Nebraska, to Miss Emma Ward, daughter of Martin and Mary Ward, fanning people of English descent and members of the Evangelical church. One son has been born to this union : Hugh C. W., eight years of age and attending school. Mr. Kimball is a prominent Republican, and has served Broken Bow four years as a member of the city council. He is affiliated with the Odd Fellows, Woodmen, and Highlanders, and he and Mrs. Kimball belong to the Christian church.

ELISHA TAYLOR. - Prominent among the operators in real-estate, loans, and insurance in Custer county is Elisha Taylor, a resident of this locality for thirty-five years. Long a farmer and ranchman, he gave his attention strictlv to those pursuits until 1900, when he established himself in business at Broken Bow, and since that time he has so ably directed his activities and operations that to-day he is listed among the leading business citizens of the county seat. Mr. Taylor was boni in Green county, Wisconsin, December 20, 185 L a son of Miner and Anna (Norder) Taylor.

Miner Taylor was born in the old Empire state, in 1825, and was a son of Elisha Taylor. a New York miller who passed his last days in Michigan. Miner Taylor was just past his majority when he moved to Green county, Wisconsin, where for a time he followed his trade of cooper. Later he became a saw-mill owner and after operating a business of that kind for a number of years he eventually concentrated his energies in farming. He was engaged in the latter pursuit when the Civil war came on, and in January, 1863, he enlisted in Company K, Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He advanced to the rank of corporal, and in numerous hard-fought engagements, several of them during Sherman's "march to the sea," he displayed soldierly qualities that made his record an excellent one. In 1888 Mr. Taylor came to Custer county, Nebraska, and bought a farm near Merna, where he passed the rest of his life in farming. He was a Socialist in his political belief, but took no active part in political or public affairs. His death occurred in 1906. In Green county, Wisconsin, he married Miss Anna Norder, who was born in Switzerland, in 1830, and who died in 1854. They had two children : Louisa J., the wife of G. A. Wiggins, a farmer at Cooper, Iowa ; and Elisha, of this review. For his second wife Mr. Taylor married Lenore Steams, and they became the parents of nine children, of whom seven are living: Jerome, who owns a stock farm of 5,000 acres, in North Carolina ; Jessie Dietz, who is the wife of a Custer county farmer; Allen, who is traveling in Missouri ; Frank, who is a photographer of Broken Bow ; Hetty, who is the wife of Florin Jacobs, a fanner and president of the Co-operative Company store of Broken Bow' : Nellie, who is unmarried and a resident of Broken Bow; and \^'illis W., who is a farmer near this place.

Elisha Taylor attended the district schools of Green county and the normal school at Whitewater, Wisconsin, and for his first vocation adopted the educator's profession. After five tenns of teaching, he resumed farming, and he continued to till the soil of Wisconsin until 1880, in which year he came to Nebraska and took up a homestead in Blaine county. He entered the stock business, which he followed there for four years, and in 1886 he disposed of his interests and came to Custer county, where he commenced to give practically his entire attention to the buying and shijjping of live stock. In this field he made great strides and was known as one of the prominent and successful men in his line, but a broader field of opportunity opened before him in 1900, when he embarked in the realestate, loan, and insurance business. This enterprise has grown surprisingly and now is one of the most important of the city's business adjuncts. Mr. Taylor has a collection agency which handles a large amoulit of business annually ; he owns land which he takes care of on his personal account, as well as doing a big commission business ; and he represents a number of the leading insurance companies, in addition to handlin'g farm and other loans. Straightforward in all his dealings, his reputation is beyond question or reproach.

In 1888 Mr. Taylor married Louise J., a daughter of Charles Heusinger, a machinist of Grand Island and Omaha. Mrs. Taylor, who was born at St. Louis, Missouri, had one child by a previous marriage : Kathrj'n, the wife of William Jenkins, manager of the shipping department of the wholesale groceryhouse of Coffin Brothers, Yakima, Washington. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor there have been born five children : Charles E., who is associated with his father in the real-estate business ; Fred L., who is county agricultural agent at Chadron, Nebraska ; Louise A., who is the wife of Dr. Dale G. Houlette, now in France, where he is connected with the navy dental corps of the United States Navy ; Clara H., who is residing at home and is stenographer for the Security State Bank ; and Margaret A., who is attending school. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Christian Scientist church. Her husband is a Socialist in politics, and has served as a member of the Broken Bow Council for several years.

LEVIER B. CRAMER, whose life in Custer county has covered a period of thirty-six years, is now one of the honored citizens of Broken Bow. He was bom November 3. 1851, in Putnam county, Illinois, a son of Paul and Elizabeth (Basor) Cramer, the former a native of Urbana. Illinois, and the latter of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There were four sons and six daughters in the family, anrf all were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Paul Cramer, who w^as a mason and stone-cutter by trade, came to Custer county in 1882 and located one and three-quarter miles south of New Helena, on Victoria creek, where he purchased, for S200. land which afterward sold for $4,000.

During the boyhood of Levier Bitner Cramer there were several principles which were enforced upon the family, these being the ones of honesty and industn,- and the value of money. In the latter connection he still retains a vivid remembrance as to how this was impressed upon him. He and a neighbor boy. living near-by, found a hub band from an old Pennsylvania wagon, took it to town and sold it to a blacksmith for four cents, which money they proceeded to spend for candy. The matter in some way reached the elder Cramer, and when young Levier reached home, his father got down a new blacksnake whip and without warning or explanation gave him an old-fashioned warming up. The lesson had the desired effect, for subsequently and throughout his career Mr. Cramer has respected the value of money and has profited by this attitude. Mr. Cramer was never given the benefits of a school education, but his mind is bright and active, he possesses the knack of gaining knowledge in a manner not learned in books, and being intelligent he has obtained a good practical education. He accompanied his father to Custer county in 1882 and remained with him as his assistant until the elder man's death, in 1890. Since that time he has been engaged in business on his own account, at Broken Bow. He is a stone mason and has always followed the mason's trade, besides giving his attention to the cement contracting business and to broom manufacturing. Mr. Cramer is a natural mechanic and an expert in his line of business. His good workmanship and his industry have combined to assist him in the development of a prosperous enterprise. He has never cared for political matters, and has few interests aside from those of his home and his business.

In 1877, in Putnam county, Illinois, Mr. Cramer married Miss Lucinda Hartman, daughter of William Hartman, a farmer of that locality. To this union there were born fifteen children, of whom eight are living at this time: Lee, who is a farmer near Merna, Custer county, has been for four years a member of the police force at that point : John M., a resident of Broken Bow and a .fanner by vocation, married Grace Thistle, and they have two children ; Henry, a farmer and stockbuyer of Broken Bow Rural Route No. 1, married Christina Simonson, and they have six children ; Frank, a farmer and stock raiser and buyer, of Broken Bow, married Maple Ralph, and they have two children ; Roy, a farmer of Broken Bow Rural Route, married Maplet Givens and has one daughter : Gilbert, single, is a farmer on the Broken Bow Rural Route; Sadie is the wife of John Clarks. proprietor of a laundry at Broken Bow. and they have three children ; and Ella is the wife of ^^"illiam Rudv. a contractor of Florid. Putnam county, Illinois, and they have two sons.

HOR.'\CE .F. KENNEDY was born at Brownville, Nemaha county, Nebraska, September 2, 1873, a son of Charles H. and Catherine (Randall) Kennedy. His paternal grandfather was Stephen H. Kennedy, a native of Virginia, who followed the westward tide of civilization to Missouri at an early date in the history of that state and later located in Nemaha county, Nebraska, where he died. Mr. Kennedy's maternal grandfather was John Randall, who came from Tennessee, and was one of the early settlers of Nemaha county, Nebraska.

Charles H. Kennedy was born in 1850, in Missouri, and as a young man moved with his^ parents to Nemaha county, Nebraska. where he married Catherine Randall, who was born in Tennessee, in 1848. Not long after his marriage. Mr. Kennedy engaged in the hotel business at Auburn and later was similarly engaged at Broken Bow, but after twenty years of successful operation of houses which were popular with the traveling public, he retired and he and Mrs. Kennedy still survive to enjoy the comforts which have come as rewards for industrious and honorable lives. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of the four children in the family, three are living: Mrs. S. L. ^fuller, of Omaha, Nebraska; Horace F., of this review ; and W. B.. a fanner and ranchman of Wiggins Colorado.

The district schools of Broken Bow and Lincoln furnished Horace F. Kennedy with his early education, and his first occupation in life was found in employment on his father's homestead in Custer county. Later he was associated with his father in the hotel business at Broken Bow. H. F. Kennedy was sheriff' of Custer county for four years, from 1909 to 1913, and is a Republican in politics. After his retirement from office, he engaged in the moving-picture business,' and is now owner and manager of the Lyric. Broken Bow's beautiful theatre, one of the finest and best of its size in the state.

Mr. Kennedy was married December 25 1900, to Nannie R. Talbot, who was born about eight miles east of Broken Bow. a daughter of Dr. R. C. Talbot, one of the oldtime medical practitioners of the county. Thev have two children, Ruth and Howard, both attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are members of the Baptist church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and has passed the official chairs in the bhie lodge. Mr. Kennedy has an honorable military record, having served as a lieutenant in the Spanish- American war, as a member of Company M, First Nebraska Volunteer Regiment. For sixteen months he fought in the Philippines, and during the fighting with the enemy he received a bullet through his right lung, which sent him to the hospital for two months. Mr Kennedy is one of Broken Bow's substantia! business men whose success has been well merited.

W.VLTER M. BRITTAN, a young farmer and business man who lives in the city of Callaway, is a native of Adams county, Iowa. He was born August 2. 1881. Concerning his father, Clifford N. Brittan. and his family, adequate record is gi.ven on other pages of this volume. Walter claims that his first money was earned as a mail carrier, although he was not in the service of the government. His mail-carrying operations consisted of taking notes for his uncle to the uncle's sweetheart, but the emolument received for this service, and its subsequent investment, are not recorded. Likewise, the name of the uncle and also of the sweetheart are withheld. So, other than that this is where the subject of the narrative makes his debut into business life, this item has very little historical value.

During his boyhood years, M. Brittan lived in a hotel and worked in a liven,' stable. When only eight years of age he drove a team for the surveyors who were laying out the lines of the present Callaway branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. On these occasions he was out with this surveying party for two or three weeks at a time.

Mr. Brittan was married January 10, 1916, at Grand Island, to Maude L. Manyon, who is a young woman of gracious personality, she being a native of Illinois and a daughter of Jesse Manyon. Her mother's maiden name was Lettie Reed. In the comfortable home of Mr. and Mrs. Brittan, at Callawav, there are every form of home comfort and everything to contribute to happy home life. They have one child. Fern R., who is the pet of the family, and every one in the home musters to her command. Mr. Brittan has a son by a former marriage, Walter L. Brittan, who is attending St. Mary's College at St. Mary's, Kansas.

The Brittans are owners of 400 acres of good land, which Mr. Brittan oversees and operates in intensive farming. In addition to this, he is the agent for the Dort Motor Company, and is doing a splendid business.

JOSEPH F. WILSON was the efficient and popular sheriff of Custer county from 1911 until January 1, 1919, when he retired from ohice as a result of political exigencies which compassed his defeat for re-election in November, 1918. During his tenure of office he established and maintained a record for loyalty, fidelity to duty, and courageous and diplomatic handling of the important work that was assigned to him, with the result that he gained a secure place in the confidence of the citizens of Custer coimty.

Mr. Wilson was born at Ottawa. Illinois, on the 17th of September, 1869, and is a son of John and Bridget (Fitzgerald) Wilson. John Wilson was bom in Scotland, in 1829. and was a young man when he immigrated to the L'nited States and made settlement in the vicinity of Ottawa, Illinois, where he found employment as a miner in the coal mines, this line of work having been his vocation in his native land. Finally he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, to which he continued to give his energies until his death, October 22, 1882. Vitally loyal to the land of his adoption, he tendered his aid in defense of the Union when the Civil war was precipitated, and he served three years and three months, as a member of Comjiany D, Nineteenth Illinois \olunteer Infantry, with which he took part in many engagements, including several of the important battles that marked the great conflict between the states of the north and the south. In politics he was a Republican, and both he and his wife were consistent communicants of the Catholic church. After the death of her husband Mrs. Wilson continued her residence in Illinois until 1885, when she accompanied her son Joseph F. to Broken Bow. Nebraska, where she subsequently became the wife of David Broam and where she passed the remainder of her life. She was born in Ireland and was forty-eight years of age at the time of her death, in 1887. Of her four children by her first marriage the subject of this review is the only siirvivor.

Joseph F. Wilson acquired his early education in the public schools of Streator, Illinois, and after his graduation in the high school he found employment in a roller-skating rink. He continued in this sen'ice eight months, and thereafter found more profitable employment in connection w ith railroad construction work.