Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 26 of 32)

The youthful years of William H. Mackley were spent in his native county and there he received his early education by attending the winter terms of school. There he earned his first money by trapping rabbits and quails. He says he doesn't think that he was ever given as much as $2.50 for spending money during all his boyhood years. What he spent he earned himself, but earning money in those days was almost recreation. All he had to do was to help clear the timber off the land, chop cord-wood, split rails, grab stumps, and burn brush - all of which would be a sinecure for the boy of the present generation. But young William was not afraid of work and all of these things hardened his muscle and inured him to the privations of after years.

In the spring of 1883, when he was twentytwo years of age Mr. Mackley and his brother James came to Nebraska and stopped for a time at Yankee Hill, south of Lincoln, where they rented _a farm from a man who furnished everything and gave the boys half of the crop. After laying by their corn, they came out to Custer county and located nine miles south of Arnold, on the Tallin Table. Then they went back, harvested their crop, and when they had disposed of it, started again for Custer.

It was late in December when they arrived at Gothenburg, and they had no easy task in reaching the Tallin Table, where they expected to occupy an old sod house, three miles fn^m their land. This was to be a temporary home until they could build, in the spring time, on their own land. The distance from Gothenburg to their land was about thirty miles. When they started, a storm was brewing. They got lost and had to sleep in their wagons. The storm increased in fury until it became a fullgrown blizzard of the merciless type so well known to the pioneer. It was the next morning about ten o'clock before they succeeded in finding the old soddy they were looking for. When they did find it, they found that part of the roof had blown off. They managed to get the roof back on, cleared out the snow, and stabled their horses inside until the storm was over. During the first night in their new home, one of the horses knocked the ash pan out of the stove and set their bed on fire. But inconveniences of this kind never daunted the indomitable spirits of the pioneers. They lived through them and they look back uixjn these incidents with considerable pride in the fact that they met them, conquered them, and really succeeded in spite of all impediments.

One of the noted days in the career of William H. Mackley was January 15, 1891, when at North Platte, he led to the marriage altar Miss Rose McKenna. Mrs. Alackley is a native of Monticello, Iowa, where she was born June 26, 1862, and she is a daughter of John and Mary (McGarl) McKcnna. lioth natives of Ireland. In the McKenna family were six sons and four daughters, and those now living are C. Anna Waddick, Rose Mackley, Margaret Clark, and John. The religious faith of the family has been that of the Catholic church.

The Mackley home has been blessed with seven children - Margaret. Elizabeth, and Mary are all at the parental home pursuing their studies in the ninth grade of the public schools ; James C, who is farming his father's land, married Winifred Sheets; Catherine A., John, and Edward make up the rest of the family circle and are at home with their parents.

During the hardships and privations of early years the Mackleys stayed on their land, never leaving for drouth or crop failure, and to-day the old homestead is still their place of residence. Their holdings have increased until to-day they own 1,120 acres of land and, as a neighbor said of them, "Their house fronts on Easy street." Mr. and Mrs. Mackley have worked together and each has contributed to their accumulations of the present day. They are well known and highly regarded in the home community. They have reared a fine family of sons and daughters, of whom they can be justly proud. Politically. Mr. Mackley affiliates with the Democratic party.

HENRY H. ANDREWS. - The inherent dignity of New England strength and resourcefulness has been significantly exemplified in the career of Henry Harris Andrews, whose activities along productive lines have been wide and varied and whose jx)wers liave come efifectively into play in the furtherance of civic and material development and progress in Nebraska during his residence of more than thirty years in Custer county. He has shown distinct initiative and executive ability and has had much more to do with the advancement of Custer county, and especially that of his home town of Callaway, where his interests are manifold and where he is known and valued as a representative and influential citizen.

Mr. Andrews, to whom may well be ascribed pioneer honors in Custer county, was born at Otisfield Gore, Cumberland county, Maine, on the 17th of February, 1859, and is a scion of a family that was founded in New England in the early colonial epoch of our national history. He is a son of David Sawyer Andrews and Mary Elizabeth (Howe) Andrews, both likewise natives of Cumberland county, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. In his native county Davis S. Andrews eventually became an exceptionally progressive exponent of farm enterprise, in which he brought to bear methods and policies not commonly in vogue in the Pine Tree state at that period. He continued his active alliance with farm industry until he engaged in the lumber and cord-wood business in Elaine, and in this connection he achieved the success, with comprehensive experience, that fortified him for the broader operations in which he later became prominent in the south. Suffering from a disorder of the heart, he was advised by physicians to seek a less rigorous climate, and under these conditions, when in middle life, he went south and became largely intere.sted in productive timber and lumbering operations in Virginia, where for many years he was associated in this line of enterprise with General Fitzhugh Lee and Daniel Lee. In his lumlx-ring oj^erations in the Old Dominion Mr. Andrews gave special attention to white-oak car lumber and red-oak railway ties, as well as hunber used in the manufacturing of sugar hogsheads. There he continued his lumbering activities for a period of fully eighteen years, but the summer months he customarily spent in the north. He was a man of fine character and of exceptional ability, so that he naturally became prominent and influential as a citizen, the while he commanded iniqualified popular confidence and esteem. He was seventy-three years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in Maine, his wife having preceded him to eternal rest, her death having occurred about the year 1889. Mrs. Andrews likewise was a representative of a sterling New England colonial family, and she was a kinswoman of Elisha Howe, the inventor of the first sewing machine, the initial trial of which was made by his sister, in the same section of Maine in which the subject of this review was born. David S. and Mary E. (Howe) Andrews became the parents of ten children, of whom only two attained to maturity - Henry H., whose name initiates this article ; and Florence May, who became the wife of Dr. Andrews, of Auburn, Maine, and who passed her entire life in the old Pine Tree state ; she and her husband are survived by three children - Arthur, Harold, and Helen. Arthur Andrews, who gained no little celebrity as "the boy astronomer of Maine," constructed his own telescope and used for this purpose tools that were sent to him by his uncle, Henry H. Andrews, to whom this review is dedicated. With this telescope young Andrews made observations that formed the basis of many important scientific articles published in leading astronomical journals. He finally opened a chemical laboratory at Auburn, ]\Iaine, and after our nation became involved in the great world war he did a large amount of practical and scientific research and experimental work for the government, as well as for his native state. Prior to his enlistment in the aviation corps of the United States navy, he had served as assistant pure-food commissioner of Maine. Harold Andrews, the younger of the two boys, took a course in engineering at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and became an expert on gasoline engines. In connection with the world war he entered the United States navy, in which he gained the rank of ensign. Miss Helen Andrews has been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools at Auburn, Maine, and has recently taken a special course of study in the celebrated Barnard College.

David S. Andrews held unswervingly to the faith of the Repi:blican party, and, as may well be imagined, was stalwart in his allegiance to the late James G. Blaine, the distinguished statesman from Maine, of whom he was a close personal friend. Mr. Andrews was influential in politics in his native commonwealth and served as a meml>er of the Maine legislature. He and his wife were earnest members of the Congregational church. It is interesting to record that Henry H. Andrews, of this review, has in his possession a letter of introduction that was given to his father by Hon. Sidney Perham, a former governor of Maine, and addressed to James G. Blaine. This letter was further made, through Mr. Blaine, to serve as Mr. Andrews' introduction to the late Henry Gassaway Davis, former United States senator, and had pertinence to the early lumbering activities of Mr. Andrews along the Virginia Central Railroad, controlled by Mr. Davis and his son-in-law, the late Stephen A. Elkins.

The boyhood days of Henry Harris Andrews were passed principally upon his father's farm in Maine, and his preliminary educational discipline w^as acquired through the medium of a private tutor. At the age of sixteen years he entered the Fredericksburg Military Academy, with the intention of preparing himself for admission to the historic University of Virginia. Later, however, he continued his studies by entering Hallowell Classical Academy, to prepare for matriculation in Bowdoin College, and it was almost by accident that he deflected his course and became a student in the Maine State College of Agriculture & Mechanic Arts, which is now the University of Maine. In this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, and in the same class was graduated Miss Lillian Mary Ring, who later became his wife. He received the degree of Mechanical Engineer, and thereafter he completed a fourteen weeks' course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, where he also served as a private tutor in drawing. During the ensuing period of about two years Mr. Andrews was associated with his father's lumbering business in Virginia, and he then accepted a position as mechanical draftsman for the Henry R. Worthington Pump Company, of Brooklyn, New York, where he remained about two years. The failing health of his father then caused him to go to the latter's aid in connection with business affairs. In Virginia he finally assumed the position of bookkeeper in the banking house of Conway, Gordon & Garnett, at Fredericksburg. In this institution, which was founded prior to the Civil war, he effected a revolution in the archaic system of operations, and brought the bank up to a high state of efficiency. He severed this connection after a period of about two years, and then came to Nebraska.

last day of May, 1887, when he made his apptearance at Callaway, Custer county, and was inducted as cashier of the Bank of Callaway, the same having been founded by Silas H. Burnham, who came from the same part of Maine as did Mr. Andrews and who is now president of the First National Bank of Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Andrews continued as cashier of the Bank of Callaway until its voluntary liquidation of business, in October. 1896. The bank paid all obligations in full and was one of the very few able to do this in that period of financial panic. It has been claimed on good authority that at the time there was not another bank in Nebraska that could have thus paid in full, and the fact offers a specific tribute to the able executive management of Mr. Andrews.

While still cashier of the Callaway bank Mr. Andrews became Nebraska state agent for the Oxford County Loan Association of Norway, Maine, which aided greatly, through its well extended financial loans, in the development and pfogress in several counties in Nebraska. Mr. Andrews has thus been identified with real-estate interests for many years, and has associated himself also with virtually all important enterprises that have conserved material advancement in Callaway. Thus is may be noted that he was actively concerned in the organization of the Callaway Milling & Manufacturing Company, of which he was the first secretary; and the Callaway Building & Loan Association, the business of which was eventually closed by him in a most successful way. He has continued as representative of the Oxford County Loan Association, and in connection with his extensive operations in the extending of farm loans he has been representative also of the Security Investment Company, of Lincoln ; Benson, Myers & Company, and the Peters Trust Company, of Omaha, as well as the Forgan Investment Company, of that city. He now gives his attention primarily to the insurance and real-estate business, and he has large and important landed and industrial investments in Nebraska and other western states.

In January. 1919, Air. .Andrews was elected president of the Nebraska State Irrigation Company, and he is largely concerned with development interests in Scotts Bluff county, as well as in other counties of the state. He is the owner of valuable farm land in Custer county, as well as valuable realty at Callaway.

Unfaltering in his allegiance to the Re])ublican party and intluential in its local councils, Mr. Andrews has never consented to become a candidate for political office of any kind. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are leading mem- Ijers of the parish of Holy Trinity church at Callaway, of which he was one of the organizers and of wdiich he has served almost continuously as a member of the vestry. He is now treasurer of the parish and here he served twenty-four years as superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Andrews has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, and of his other Masonic affiliations brief record may here be entered : Parian Lodge, No. 207. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has passed all the official chairs and of which he was secretary for fifteen years ; Hastings Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite ; Clara Chapter, No. 222, Order of the Eastern Star: and Tehama Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is serving in 1919 as grand sentinel of the Nebraska grand chapter of the Eastern Star, and as w^orthy patron of the local chapter, of which Mrs. Andrews is secretary at the present time. He is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Highlanders, and the Modern \\'oodmen of America. He served two consecutive terms as president of the Old Settlers' Association of Custer county. In connection with war activities Mr. Andrews is prominently identified with the American Protective League, of which he is chief for Custer county, and he has been a prominent force and executive in connection with the Custer county war work of the Red Cross, Young Men's Christian Association, Home Guards, etc. He has been for the past two years the chairman of the Callaway Chapter of the Red Cross. Mrs. Andrews is the present regent of David Conklin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Callaway, this being the only chapter in the county, and she has been a leader in the Red Cross activities in the county during the war period.

In October, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Andrews to Aliss Lillian Mary Ring, who was born and reared at Orono, Maine, and who is a daughter of Edwin T. and Zebiah (Harvey) Ring, both of whom died in that state. Air. and Mrs. Andrews have but one child, Louise Elizabeth, who is the wife of Lieutenant Wilber K. Mylar, AI. D., a graduate of the Cotner L'niversity and of the medical school at Lincoln, he having enlisted for professional service in the United States army and having been assigned to the English service at Thetford Alilitary Hospital, Thetford, Norfolk, England.

of the theory of coincidences, it may be stated that when Mr. Andrews was a boy he accompanied his father to the city of Boston, where they visited the tannery of Sawyer, HolHs & Sawyer, which firm, in connection with its tanning business, had control of large tracts of land in Custer county in later years, hides from cattle raised on these Nebraska tracts having been sent to the Boston tanneries of the firm. One of the tracts thus controlled is that on which the thriving little city of Callaway, the home of Mr. Andrews, now stands, and a member oi the holding firm in earlier years was a kinsman of his father. In connection with this New England exploitation in Custer county there have been retained in the county many New England names for ranches.

JOHN H. HARGAN, who in every respect is an admirable specimen of the self-made men of whom Custer county is so proud, owes his success to his own grit, energy, and integrity. He entered upon his career with only ordinary advantages, made his own opportunities, and labored industriously, with the result that today he is one of the substantial citizens of the Sargent community, where* he owns a valuable farm in section 25, township 19. Mr. Hargan was born on a farm near Malvern, Mills county, Iowa, October 24, 1870. and is a son of Daniel and Levina (Shepard) Hargan.

The parents of Mr. Hargan were born respectively in Indiana and Kentucky, but when young moved with their parents to Iowa, where they met and were married and where they .resided on a farm until 1884. In that year they came to Custer county and located on a homestead five miles north of Walworth, which continued to be their home until the fall of 1888. With the exception of one year, 1892, when he resided at Broken Bow, Daniel Hargan was engaged in farming and stockraising on this property until 1900, when he retired from active pursuits. He still resides at Sargent, alert in mind and active in bod)', although he has reached tlie advanced age of eighty-five years. Mr. Hargan during his active years was a man of industry - one who possessed good judgment and sound business ability and was able to accumulate, in an honorable manner, a goodly share of this world's goods for his comfort in his declining years. Mrs. Hargan died in 1913, having been the mother of seven children, of whom five are living: Rachel, of Council BlufTs, Iowa, the widow of the late Lewis Stewart ; Mattie. the wife of James Pointer, a photographer at Malvern, Iowa; Lelia, the wife of Elisha Carson, a farmer of Hunter, Missouri; John H., of this notice ; and Frank, who married Lelia Storey and resides at Sargent.

John H. Hargan received his education in the public schools of Iowa and Nebraska, and was fourteen years of age when brought by his parents to Custer county. Since that time he has resided here, his mature years having been passed in the pursuits of the soil and his vocation having brought him personal contentment and material rewards. His farm is a productive one, made so by his intelligent treatment of the soil and his use of the most highly approved modern methods. Inspection will show that his buildings are substantial and in good repair and that his equipment is of the latest manufacture. He raises a good grade of live stock and grows the standard crops, and in both departments, he is a thorough master of his vocation.

Mr. Hargan was married, near Sargent, January 16, 1891, to Miss Nellie Shettron, a daughter of William and Sarah (Smith) Shettron, who came to Custer county in 1885. Mrs. Shettron is now deceased, but the father survives and makes his home with 'Mr. and Mrs. Hargan. Mr. and Mrs. Hargan have one child, Addie V., who is the wife of Guy Fuller, a farmer near Sargent. Mr. Hargan is not interested in politics as an office-seeker, but is a good citizen and a supporter of publicspirited movements.

JOHN OLSEN. - In the matter of its contribution to America, Sweden has John Olsen to its credit. He is a young and prosperous farmer living in the vicinity of Arnold, in the full-fledged operations of farming as might be expected in the prime years of his manhood. Mr. Olsen is a native of Sweden, where he was born in 1882, and he is the third son of Larsen and Betty Olsen, both of whom were of the sturdv Scandinavian stock. Coming to the United States in 1899, the father died at the age of sixty-four. The mother is still living and is now in Sweden. In this family of which the subject of this sketch is the third born are the following children. Gust, forty years of age, is a coal miner in Colorado. Betty, thirty-eight years of age, lives on a farm in Sweden. John's story is related in this sketch; Augusta, aged twenty-six years, and Marget, aged twenty years, remain in Sweden.

that time his attention has been given to agriculture and stock-raising, in both of which he has been eminently successful. He now owns 605 acres of land, has 140 in cultivation, and raises red hogs and a good grade of cattle. His live-stock possessions comprise fifty head of well bred stock hogs, forty-seven high grade cattle, and twelve head of horses, which furnish the horse power for his farming activities. His improvements are good and he has the necessary machinery for all the needs of the farm. July 28, 1915, Mr. Olsen married Emma Olofson, an excellent young lady who was born in the United States and who is a daughter of Erik Olofson. Since the establishment of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Olsen two children have been born into the family circle - Edna, aged three years, and Verna, aged one year (1919). John Olsen and his wife are hard-working, industrious people and are splendid neighbors. In politics Mr. Olsen claims to be independent and declares that his vote goes to the man who he beheves to be best qualified for the office.

MILLARD HILL. - The subject of this record is one of the early settlers of Custer county and through his own efforts, marked by diligence and good management, he has achieved success.

Mr. Hill was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, August 21, I860, and is a son of Thomas and Rebecca (Barton) Hill, the former a native of Tennessee, while the birthplace of the latter was in Illinois. The mother passed away in Illinois, more than fifty years ago. The father came to Custer county in 1887 and spent his last days at the home of his son, where he passed away November 4, 1915, when eighty-three years of age.

Millard Hill spent his boyhood days in his native county and acquired his youthful education in the public schools. In 1885 he heeded the advice once given by Horace Greeley and decided to "go west." In that year he arrived in Custer county, Nebraska, and secured a pre-emption claim on West Table. He experienced the usual hardships which fell to the lot of the pioneers of this region, but he also had the foresight and determination which were possessed in no small degree by the men who laid the foundations for the prosperity and high state of development which exist today. His fir.st home was in keeping with the times, a sod hou.se, twelve by si.xteen feet in dimensions and with no floor. In this primitive dwelling the family lived for three years. Mr. Hill, like his neighbors, for several years hauled water for stock and household use, until a well could be provided. He made his home for twelve years on this place, and he th(?n sold it and bought a farm in Ortello valley. On this land he made extensive improvements, until it became one of the best improved properties in the neighborhod, and here he successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits until February 20, 1917, when he became manager for the Farmers Elevator Company of Anselmo, a position which he has capably filled to the present time. He still retains ownership of his fine farm 'of 240 aCres, and while living on the farm he was postmaster of Ortello postof?ice, which was maintained at his home.

In Custer county ^Ir. Hill married Miss Alice Orton, a native of St. Clair county, Illinois, and they became the parents of nine children : Nellie is the wife of C. J. Sitler, of Colorado ; Clara died in infancy ; Albert, who married Miss Jennie Waddington, conducts farming operations in Custer county : Alura is the wife of William Carpenter, who is operating Mr. Hill's farm; Edna is the wife of Dan Parker and they reside in Custer county ; M. F., still a bachelor, is assisting in operating the home farm, and Flossie, Wilhelmina, and Garland are still under the parental roof.

Mr. Hill can truly be called a self-made man - one who has made good use of his oiij^ortunities and who is to-day one of the substantial men and public-spirited citizens of Custer county.

OTTO FACKNITZ, a substantial and reliable citizen of Broken Bow, is one of the followers of a useful trade who has established a record for good workmanship and fidelity to engagements, and thus he has established himself in a recognized position among the helpful men of his community. He was born March 7, 1880, near Hastings, Nebraska, a son of Fred and Catherine (Kader) Facknitz, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Canada.

Otto Facknitz received his early etiucation in the public schools and was reared on the farm, his first money being earned in plowing corn for a neighboring farmer, who -i:)aid him at the rate of fifty cents a day. In sui>ix)rt of his statement that he was an industrious and capable lad, he offers in evidence the fact that his work was so greatly appreciated that he was always given the largest piece of pie at meal times. He was married at the age of nineteen years, at which time he left the parental roof and began to work at his trade of carpenter, wliicli lie had mastered while helping his father in the work of the home farm. He also worked on a farm for two years after his marriage, and then went to Clay Center, Nebraska, where he secured employment in the Old Trusty incubator factory, and when he left the latter plant, six years later, he was given a splendid letter of recommendation by his employer, testifying in high terms to his honesty and mechanical ability. From Clay Center 'Sir. Facknitz went to Dunning, Nebraska, where he leased land and for ten years conducted a stock farm, besides which, at irregular intervals he worked at his trade, as a carpenter. Recently he has moved to Broken Bow, where he lias a good business and where he has maintained his reputation as a skilled w^orkman - industrious, painstaking, and possessed of much ability. In connection with the world war Mr. Facknitz enrolled in the United States shipyards volunteers of jniblic service, and he was expecting to be called at any time, but the close of the war rendered it unnecessary for him to serve.

In 1899 Mr. Facknitz married Miss Nellie Keller, daughter of William Keller, a soldier of the Civil war. Mr. Keller was born October 5, 1839, and enlisted in 1861 in Company E, Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He served to the clo.se of the war, and was advanced to the rank of sergeant. He returned to his Pennsylvania home and there married Frances H. Creager. daughter of John W. Creag-er. They became the parents of four children: Nellie. Cornelia, Edwin, and Frank. Mr. Keller and his family came to Nebraska within the '80s, and IMr. Keller passed his last years at the home of ^Ir. and Mrs. Facknitz. where he died, and where his widow is still making her home.

SOLOMON D. BUTCHER. - The name, if not the wisdom, of Solomon still abides on the earth, and is located in Custer county. The exponent of this cognomen is Solomon I). Butcher, who from pioneer days has been a resident of Custer county - a homesteader and a photographer, and known, perhaps, to most of the present population. The data of his biographical sketch run something like this: He was born January 24, 1856, in Burton. Wetzel county. West N'irginia. He is a son of Thomas J. r.utcher. a \\'cst \'irginian by birth and a Custer county pioneer by early settlement and long residence. His mother was Esther (UUom) Butcher.

D. Butcher, of whom this sketch is written, Marinda (Butcher) Smith, Anna E. (Butcher) Wabel, George W. Butcher, and Abner Butcher. In 1859 Thomas J. Butcher moved to Winona, Illinois, where for nearly twenty-one years he was employed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

S. D. Butcher says that he got hold of the foundation dollar upon which his present fortune is erected by a trapping operation in which he secured a fine si)ecimen of the mink family, the pelt of which netted him three dollars. Mr. Butcher ran the gamut of the common schools and graduated from high school. He took up the profession of photography, which he has plied as a vocation ever since. In addition to his high-school and photographic work he had one term in the Henry Military School cf Ilenrv. Illinois. This was during the winte:* of 1875-6.

In 1880 Mr. Butcher came to Custer county, Nebraska, and located a claim twenty-two miles north of Broken Bow, near where his father also had located. This was in the Middle Loup valley, near Gates. He stayed at this time six weeks. hel]5ing his father and family to get settled and to begin western operations. The first task was to dig a room in the clay bank and stretch over it, for a roof, a wagon cover. Then the erection of the regulation sod house commenced. It was laid out on a foundation twenty-one by thirty-one feet. Inexperienced in sod carpentry. Butcher and his father went to work, but it was not long until Solomon D. made up his mind that sod-laying was not the particular form of brick-masonry he would care to follow for a life occupation.

\\'hile excavating for a dugout stable, they exhumed a skeleton which seemed to be the remains of a very large man. The larger bones and sku'.l were in fairly good state of preservation. The shape of the skull, as well as the posture of the remains, seemed to indicate that the bones once belonged to an India;i. It was evident that the corpse had been interred in a sitting posture with the face toward the setting sun.

.\nother incident Mr. Butcher relates is to the effect that about eight days before the house was finisficd the provisions ran out. and it was, it must be remembered, one hundred miles to the railroad at Grand Island. All that they could rake up in the shape of edible food was a small sack of shorts on which coaloil had been spilled. This gave the shorts and the shorts-bread a ])eculiar flavor which was not altogether apiicaling to the aijpetite. But Butcher claims that it beat nothing away across the river, and after they became accustomed to

Later, Mr. Butcher relinquished his homestead and returned east, and in the fall of 1881 and the spring of 1S82 he took a course in the Minnesota Medical College and Hospital at Minneapolis.

May 16, 1882. he was married to Lillie M. Barber, to which union a son and daughter were born. The son is to-day Captain L. J. Butcher, "somewhere in France" as will be seen by the captain's biography elsewhere in this volume. The daughter is Madge H. Rosso, concerning whom there is a more extended biogTaphical sketch elsewhere.

In October, 1882, Mr. Butcher and his young wife arrived at the father's place on the Middle Loup, and together the}' began their Custer county career. During the winter Mr. Butcher taught school in the Predmore district and earned money enough to put up the first photograph gallery ever erected in Custer county. It was a unique building", eighteen by twentyeight feet, made of lath and adobe. The adobe was made of clay mixed with straw. These adobes fashioned a fairly durable, if not picturesque wall, and it could be truthfully said that there was not another art emporium like it west of the Mississippi river. The roof was made of boards with skylights and windows composed of cotton sheeting. The floor was artistic, just as nature had fashioned it. An old wagon-cover was used for a background, but unfortunately the wagon-cover had been knawed by rats and was full of holes. Mrs. Butcher patched the holes, but when pictures were taken the patches in the background persisted in showing.

Necessity has always been the mother of invention, and it was true in this instance. Butcher hit upon the novel plan of taking off those patches and still leaving them on. He wired a coil bedspring to the ceiling of the gallery, and then hung the wagon cover background to the bedsprings. When he wanted to make a picture he set the bedsprings to jumping and this danced the curtain up and down and blurred the background so that the patches v\-ere not visible. This was a novel invention, but was never patented. The only objection, or drawback, to the arrangement was the habit that the springs fastened upon Mr. Butcher. To this day he would rather hang to bedsprings - especially when 'there is a mattress on top of it and the morning is cold - than anything else.

fearfully made." The mail came regularly to Jefferson from West Union, a distance' of twelve miles down the Middle Loup river. The records show that the postoffices of that day were not the luscious, juicy plums thev are under the present administration. Butcher's salary was stamp cancellation, and for the first three months the salary reached the mammoth proportion of sixty-eight cents. Butcher resorted to farm work at fifty and seventy-five cents a day, and did anything else he could, to support the family and keep the brown-gray coyote over the hill and away from the door. Photography, however, was his fad and the particular work he fancied. When anyone wanted a tintype picture. Butcher dropped the hoe or spade so quickly that it broke the handle, and, quicker than it takes to tell the story, he had the customer lined up against the background and the bedsprings jumping.

At the first old settlers' picnic held in the Middle Loup valley in Custer county, which was at the Jefferson postoffice, July 4, 1883, Butcher offered a dozen pictures as a prize for the best-looking baby under two years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Farley had the honor of carrying off the prize, as their little daughter, now Mrs. Mary (Farley) fiuffman, was declared the winner by the judges. Mrs. R. G. Carr, Joe Rankin, and Mrs. Jerry Phelps served as judges on that occasion.

In the fall of that year the Butchers added a sod living-room to the gallery, for which they had to haul the sod more than a mile, and exchange two days' work for each one the man and team worked hauling the sod. Mr. Butcher put on a dirt and brush roof, stretching sheefing over the bed to keep it dry. They lived for some time in this "soddy." Butcher claims that it rained oftener during the time they were under that canvas than during any other period of his residence in Custer county. In fact, he says there were weeks at a time when the weather did nothing but drizzle, and often clouds would hang around in that vicinity and sail over his premises every few hours, just to get a chance to rain on that roof. Sometimes in the middle of the night he and his wife would have to pile out of bed, wrap the baby in a quilt, and make their way through the dark and storm to the residence of his father. Sometimes these trips were made when the night was so dark that they could find their way only by the flashes of lightening. The hard part of it all fell to the lot of Mrs: Butcher, who, when the rain was over and the sun came out, had to haul everything out of the house and let it dry on the clothesline and the grass of the front yard. Butcher claims that during his early career they moved around to much that when moving time came the chickens would lie down on their backs and cross their legs ready to be tied. This, however, was probably due to the fact that from the Methodist minister's wife Mrs. Butcher got the eggs for the setting from which those chickens were hatched.

In 1886 Mr. Butcher conceived the plan of getting out a history of Custer county. On this he worked for seven years, making one thousand, five hundred and thirty-five farm views, and also writing sketches of the settlers, in which he detailed their pioneer experiences. These pioneer sketches were unfortunately destroyed by fire, but the plates, or negatives, from which the pictures were made were saved. Butcher inmiediately commenced compiling data for another book, and in 1901 he succeeded in publishing "S. D. Butcher's Pioneer History and Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska."

In 1902 the Butchers moved to Kearney, where they remained for several years. Mrs. Butcher, who for a number of years had been a victim of ill health, finally succumbed to ailments which refused to yield to treatment, and she passed to that realm where pioneering is unknown and where rest and reward await those whose earthly lives merit this eternal compensation. Her death occurred on December 29, 1915. She left many friends, a loving husband and two children to mourn her loss. She was a faithful, devout member of the Christian church for many years, a devoted mother and loving wife.

\Miile in Kearney, Mr. Butcher engaged in photography and handled real estate as a side issue. He also spent much time in compiling data for a history of Dawson county, in connection with the Kearney Publishing & Engraving Company. After spending a thousand dollars in this enterprise, it was finally abandoned for the time being. Dtiring that time Mr. Butcher and his son made over 2,250,000 local postcard views for the local trade.

January 24. 1917, at Smith Center, Kansas, Mr. Butcher was united in marriage to Mrs. Laura M. (Brachear) Nation. By her former marriage Mrs. Nation had two children - L. D. H. Nation, and Ruby Lorene Nation. L. D. H. Nation graduated from Central City high school at sixteen years of age, and at eighteen years of age graduated from the Gregg Business College in Chicago, Illinois. When nineteen years of age he was made a professor in the faculty of Story College, at

Portage, Wisconsin. Later he received calls from Cotner University : Mosher-Lampinan Business College, of Omaha; Central Business College of Denver, and Isaac Woodbury College, of Los Angeles. He was a finished Spanish scholar and accepted a professorship in a leading California college. He learned every phase of commercial training and business science, teaching eight systems of shorthand. He enjoyed the highest esteem and commendation of every institution with which he was connected. He was a member of the Christian church, and the Knights and Ladies of Security. He died June 7, 1916, being twentyfive years old. Thus death cut short a very promising career. Miss Ruby Lorene Nation is eleven years of age and in the sixth grade of the liroken Bow schools. She has also reached the third grade in her musical education.

The present Mrs. Butcher is a member of the Eastern Star, the Rebekah Lodge, and the Royal Neighbors. She has passed through the chairs in the two lodges last named. Mr. and Mrs. Butcher and little Ruby are all members of the Christian church. S. D. Butcher took an active part in the Populist movement in Custer county, but was independent in politics during the "scrappy days of the Pops."

J. C. NAYLOR. - Prominent amongf the early residents of Custer county, one wlio took a leading part in the development which changed this locality from a practical wilderness to a fertile and productive country, furnishing homes for prospyerous families and keeping pace in every way with the world's development, was the late J. C. Naylor, one of the best known attorneys of the early days of the county. He was born April 20, 1842, in West Virginia, and in his early life was engaged in newspaper work, later becoming owner of one of the big freight caravans that operated across the trackless plains of Nebraska, going from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, to Denver. While engaged in this work he took up the study of law, and at the age of twenty-two years he was admitted to the bar. He became one of the best known criminal lawyers of the state, practicing first at York, and later at Broken Bow and Callaway. His death occurred November 20, 1899. He was one of the substantial men of the community and through his integrity and high personal character gained and retained the respect and confidence of the community. Mr. Nay.- lor was married to Jane Kinnard in 1890, and to this union were born two children, James C, Jr., and Jane, who is now the wife of Charles S. Carothers, prominent Callaway business man. Mrs. Carothers is a graduate of the Kearney State Normal, and for four years prior to her marriage she was engaged in teaching in the public schools of the county. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is the mother of one daughter, Doris.

James C. Naylor, Jr., is one of the well known figures in journalism in central Nebraska, and has exemplified in his career the true spirit of progressiveness and enterprise. He was born at Callaway March 28, 1894, and attended the Callaway public schools, graduating from there in 1911 and later taking some work in the University of Nebraska. On January 1, 1916, he became editor of the Lotif' J\^l!cy Queen, at Callaway, w'hich had previously been conducted for fourteen years by Roy R. Barnard. Mr. Naylor made a success of this venture, and is now the head of a corporation. The Central Nebraska Printing &- Publishing Company, owners of the Loup J'allcy Queen, the Kearney Democrat, and the Oconto Register, of which publiactions he is the editor. Mr. Naylor is unmarried and makes his home with his widowed mother, in Callaway.

office, although, in the daily routine of his work, his influence may be counted upon to advance the interests of his party. He is public-spirited and has marked civic pride, and his work in behalf of beneficial movements in his community has always been of a constructive character.

WILLIAM POLAND. - The pioneer settles in the Sargent region of Custer county had many difficulties to encounter in the early days, but they were, in large part, hardy and persevering men, and many have lived to triumph over all obstacles and discouragements. Among these there have been individuals from all parts of this and other countries, all alike struggling to acquire a competence. Many have developed into excellent citizens, public-spirited and alive to the best interests of their community, and in this class is found ^^'illiam Poland, who settled in Custer county in 1883 and who is now a resident of the suburbs of Sargent.

Mr. Poland was born August 22. 1858, in Knox county. Missouri, a son of Jehu and Margaret (Reishman) Poland, natives of Ohio. Jehu Poland was a farmer, first in Ohio and later in Missouri, from which latter state he enlisted for service in the Civil war, in which he fought bravely through four years of struggle. During his army life he contracted a serious disease, from which he never recovered and which finally caused his death, when he was about fifty-seven years of age. He was a Republican in politics, and he and his wife belonged to the Free Methodist church. In 1884 Mr. Poland came to Custer county and located on a homestead seven miles northwest of Sargent. There ne spent the rest of his life, his death occurring three years later. IMrs. Poland survived him until 1902, and of their eleven children seven are now living: Mary A., the wife of Thomas Moore, a retired citizen of Guthrie, Oklahoma; William : Melvin, a farmer of the vicinity of Taylor, Nebraska, who married Etta Ott ; Effie. the wife of Burton Hardenbrook, a barber of Douglas, Wyoming; Lillie, the wife of Thomas Banford, a dairyman of the same place; Vivian, a farmer of the Walworth community of Custer county, who married Hattic \"anderveen ; and George, who farms seven miles north of Sargent, the maiden name of his wife having been Maggie \'anderveen.

The educational training of \\"illiam Poland was secured in the public schools of Iowa, where he was brought up on his father's farm, and at Harper, that state, he married Mary E.

Todd, a daughter of William and Nancy (Laniasters) Todd. Mrs. Poland's parents were born in Kentucky, went to Iowa about 1846 or 1847, and were always farming people, Mr. Todd dying at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1900. The Todds came to Custer county about 1886 and bought land, living here until 1898. when they returned to Iowa. Mr. Todd was a Democrat and a member of the Free Methodist church, to which Mrs. Todd, who died in California, in 1913, also belonged.

Shortly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Poland came to Custer county, where, in 1883, they settled on a homestead seven miles northwest of Sargent. On that property they resided about fifteen years, during which time they experienced all the hardships and vicissitudes incidental to pioneer life. During one particularly depressing period, when there was no money circulating in the county, they actually existed on the sum of five cents. Only the barest necessities were to be secured, and when meat was desired on the table, the only course to pursue was to take the family rifle and secure a partridge or a jack-rabbit and much of this kind of meat was dried for summer use. In the early days the Polands had the only well in the community, this being 230 feet deep, dug by one Collins, who consumed three weeks in the task. Mr. Poland assisted in hauling the lumber for the first building at Taylor, and in other ways shared in the early events that preceded general settlement. He was persevering and industrious, made his labors count for something, and eventually developed a good property, but in 1897 he moved to the suburbs of Sargent, where he now carries on general farming. His career has been a successful one. and he is held in high esteem in his community, both as a skilled farmer and as a man of integrity and public spirit.

Mr. and Mrs. Poland became the parents of five children, of whom four are living: Clara is the wife of Charles Shaw, a machinist of Lincoln ; Charlie, who married Gertrude Moore, is a farmer of the Walworth community ; Nancy is the wife of Arthur Miller, a machinist of Lincoln ; and Lloyd, single, resides at home and assists his father in the operation of the farm.

PRATT J. HARMAN. - Here is a homegrown, self-made man who is young in years, who has scored his initial success and whose life record, like that of almost any other youthful scion, is largely bound up in the record of his sire.

Pratt J. Harman was born on the Lafayette Harris place near Walworth, Custer county. He arrived in the fragrant month of June, 1890, a year subsequently to the practical end of the pioneer period, and yet his life has not been all roses and June sunshine. He is a son of Gustave and Lena (Bullard) Harman, the former a native of Germany and the latter a representative of several native-born generations through the Empire state. This excellent couple have transmitted to their progeny the desirable characteristics of two distinct races. The father, who was a farmer most of his life, came to the United States when but sixteen years of age, and in his youth he followed farm work most of the time. There were exceptions, however, and the exceptions consisted of railroad grading - in fact he took part in grading the Burlington line in Custer county, through Broken Bow, and still later worked on the grade of the Comstock and Sargent branch of the same road. He went to Brown county in 1876 and there worked for Major Morris and other cattlemen. There, at Ainsworth, he was married in 1879, to Lena Bullard, whose father lived, and still lives, in the state of New York. ^Irs. Gustave Harman, mother of the subject of this sketch, was but thirteen years of age at the time of her mother's death. It was the next year after their marriage that Mr. and Mrs. Harman came to Custer county and began farming the place belonging to Lafayette Harris, where their son, Pratt J., was born. In the fall of 1890 they bought relinquishments of John Cain and they own that farm at the present time. This place they made their home until 1904, when they moved to the farm where they now live. Mr. Harman added to the original possessions until he now owns 640 acres of well improved farms. Good buildings have just been completed in section 13 for the use of Pratt J. Harman, who does a general agricultural and stock-raising business! In the spring of 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Gustave Harman went to Idaho SjJiings, Colorado, but they returned to Nebraska that fall, locating in Sargent.

Pratt J. Harman returned to Custer county with his parents and began the farming operations in which he is engaged at the present time. He is the only child in his father's family. He received his early education in the schools of Sargent, and later took a business and normal course in the Broken Bow Business and Normal college. He has never married and has given practically all of his time to farming, except for a term or two when he taught school, as so many others have done - making teaching a stepping-stone to some other profession or occupation. He also had a contract for carrying mail between Sargent and Berwyn, which he held for more than one year. He is at present engaged in farming the place which his father first bought. He comes of a prominent family, his father and mother have both held the offices of moderator and school director for some time in district No. 100.

Concerning the romance and experiences of early days, Pratt J. Harman states that when his father was paying attention to his mother prior to their marriage, he took her to a dance several miles distant from home, with an ox team. He also recalls their experiences in the dry years, when, after a dry summer, they found themselves in possession of more hogs than bushels of corn. Another year forty acres of wheat averaged two bushels an acre. On one occasion the father was caught in a blizzard which came up so suddenly that the wind turned the wagon around before they could turn the horses. They reached the barn with difficulty but could make their way from the barn to the house only by following a wire that had been previously placed for that purpose. These hardships are over and the young man faces the prospects of better times in the years that are to come.

THEODORE LIEHS, who is accounted one of the leading and prosperous agriculturists of the Mason City community, is one of the self-made men of Custer county, and his experiences here have been diversified and interesting, ranging from the days of sod houses and frontier conditions to the comforts and civilization of modern life. Mr. Liehs is a native of Germany, and was born October 26, 1858, a son of Fred and Maggie ( Reeder) Liehs. His father, who was a grocer and won a modest business success, passed his entire life in his native country, both he and his wife having been born in Saxe-Holstein, Germany. By his first marriage he became the father of two children, of whom Theodore survives, and after the death of his first wife he was again married, Julius, the son of this marriage, having, at last reports received, been still living in Germany. The family belonged to the Lutheran church.

Theodore Liehs received his early education in the public schools, and was variously employed in his native land, principally in his father's store. W'hen he was twenty-six years of age he decided to try his fortunes in the United States, and accordingly he made his way to this country, where he arrived with but a small amount of money and with even less knowledge of the conditions and the language of the land of his adoption. When he arrived at Chicago, he found his financial resources exhausted, but he was able to borrow one dollar, with which he managed to continue on to his destination at Clinton, Iowa, where he obtained employment in a lumber yard and later in a butcher shop. One of his first acts was to return the borrowed money to Chicago, for Mr. Liehs' entire career has been characterized by the strictest honesty and utmost fidelity to engagements and responsibilities. During the four years that he worked at Clinton he saved his money carefully, and when he came to Custer county, in the latter part of 1887, he was able to make a payment of $300 on a pre-emption of 160 acres, the purchase price of which was $800. This property formed the nucleus for his present large holdings, for when he had his indebtedness cleared oflf he began buying more land, and/ to-day he is the owner of 640 acres, all located in the Mason City community. At the time of his arrival he took up his residence in an old sod house, and for a number of years he accepted his share of the hardships and discomforts of frontier existence, but as his finances improved he began to install comforts and conveniences on his land, and these culminated in the building of a comfortable and commodious residence, large and substantial barns, and well equipped outbuildings. His land is under a high state of cultivation, and through his good management and agricultural ability it yields large crops. In addition to his general farming operations, Mr. Liehs has been successful in the breeding of cattle, hogs, and horses, and is accounted a good judge of live stock. His success rests entirely upon his own efforts and merit, as he has worked his own way to his present enviable position, unaided by influential friends or outside financial support.

In 1882 Mr. Liehs married Miss Maggie Craiger, who was born in Germany, and to this vmion there were born three children, of whom two are living: Annie, who is the wife of Louis Kuchnel. a farmer in the state of Washington ; and Fred, who was educated in the district schools of Custer county, has spent his entire life in agricultural pursuits and is now his father's chief assistant in the operation of the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Liehs and their children are members of the Lutheran church. In politics ]\Ir. Liehs maintains an inde|)endent stand. In connection with the nation's participation in the world war Mr.

Liehs has shown his loyalty by giving liberal support to the various agencies through which the government has been upheld in its war preparations and activities.

SOREN SORENSEN. - Many of the early settlers in Custer county came to this section in the hope of securing land on which they could carry on agricultural industries, but there were others who, already ecjuipped with a useful trade, realized that their services would be in demand in the development and upbuilding of a new country. Thus men like Soren Sorensen, who were skilled in different trades and were ambitious to get ahead in the world, left Denmark and other European countries for growing communities in the great country across the Atlantic ocean, and in the course of time many of these found full opportunity for their mechanical skill. ^Ir. Sorensen came to America in 1881 and located at Grand Island, Nebraska.

Mr. Sorensen was born May 5, 1857, in Denmark. His parents. S. and Cassie (Jensen) Sorensen, passed their entire lives in Denmark. They had seven children and the following are living: D. C, who lives at Elva, Nebraska, is a bricklayer by trade; Mrs. Eliza Peterson remains in Denmark ; and Christ likew^ise lives in Denmark. By trade the father was a cabinetmaker.

After settling at Grand Island, in Hall county, Nebraska, Mr. Sorensen worked at the carpyenter trade, which he had learned in his own country, and he soon found his time well occupied. As population increased, houses had to be erected, and he was called to other places to complete work and some times he put up the first houses in a hamlet that soon grew into a town. This was the case at Litchfield, in Sherman county, where he built the first house, in

In 1884 Mr. Sorensen married Miss .Anna Walker, who was born in Iowa and who died in 1898, leaving two children : Frank, now a farmer in Oregon, and Estella. the wife of John Goodenfelda, who conducts a hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Sorensen was married the second time in March. 1910. when Mrs. Anne C. Robertson became his wife. She was the widow of Rol)ert Robertson, who was born in Denmark and who died in Custer county, Nebraska. August 5, 1904. the Roberteons having come to this county in November.

adding to the farm acreage. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson became the parents of eight children, concerning whom the following brief record is consistently entered : Charles operates the home farm in Custer county; Mrs. Mary Arp resides at Mason City, this county ; ^^'illiam and Fred are progressive farmers in this county ; Matt is a resident of Hazard, Sherman county; Lewis H. was a gallant young son of Custer county who sacrificed his life on the battlefields of France, and is accorded a tribute in following paragraphs ; Hans is associated in the work and management of the home farm, in Custer county; and Letitia is the wife of Nels Stanter, a farmer of this county.

Mr. and ]\Irs. Sorensen hold membership in the Lutheran church, and they are well known throughout their section of Custer county, where they are held in unqualified popular confidence and esteem. In politics ^Ir. Sorensen maintains an independent attitude, as he does his own thinking and decides for himself in regard to the qualifications of candidates for public office. He is affiliated with the Mason City lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

LEWIS H. ROBERTSON. - Here is consistently given a memorial tribute to the late Lewis H. Robertson, who entered the military service of the L^nited States on the 5th of October. 1917, and who went with the American Expeditionary' Force to France, where he was one of the heroic and gallant young Americans who fell in battle on the 26th of July, 1918. After having been cited for bravery, he gave his life that future generations might be blessed with the freedom and liberty which his native land has enjoyed for more than two centuries. From an appreciative estimate that appeared in a Custer county newspaper at the time of the death of this gallant young patriot are taken the following extracts:

Corporal Lewis H. Robertson was born at Davey, Lancaster county, Nebraska. .January 4, 1888. Wlien he reached the tender ace of three years he moved with the family to the Black Hill Basin, in the fall of 189L where he resided until seven years ago, after which he spent part of his time at Hazard, Nebraska, in partnership with his brother Matt. His father died three years after the family arrived in the Basin, August 5, 1894.

Corporal Robertson's premature departure is mourned by his mother, Mrs. Anne C. Sorensen. and five brothers and two sisters. He will be missed also by a host of friends and many army comrades.

Corporal Robertson entered the army October 5, 1917, going as an alternate from Hazard, Sherman county, Nebraska, with the following men who were his comrades at Camp Funston : Rav Hennis, Lawrence Larson, Hcnr\- Rasmussen, William Rasmus- sen, Ernest Jacobson, Chris H. Pierson, Earl Ecklev Joe Horak, NValter Cadwalder, and Henry Pillen ^' At Lamp I'unston he served in Compan'v K, Three Hundred and F.tty-fifth Infantry, and distinguished himself as a prom.smg soldier, and was transferred to Company G, Fourth Infantry, United States

Fnnltnn r T' "T ' ^^"""^^^ "^ ^v his otKicers at villP M.7: rf ^"c u^"?""*^' P'--^' Lieutenant Melville, McClelen Schooks, and Orchard. He was also praised by his officers in France- Colonel Harvey, Second Lieutenant R. C. Erwin, Sergeant Case and First Lieutenant J. A. Crawford. The Founh crowned thetnselv-es with high honors. It was in ns conflict that Corporal Lewis H. Robertson died in action, July 26th, at the hopeful age of thirty years, one month, and twenty davs. More deta leddiatT'^l'^t,'"''^'"?/* '^''' '''"^'' A" we know is that he slumbers amidst vast armies of fallen heroes on the sacred soil of France. Could he speak The following perhaps would be his message to us '

Nor need ye place a cross of wooden stuff Uver my head to mark my age and name - ,iL^ "^^';y #''°""'^ '^ monument enough' lis all I wish of show or outward fame

Win,. '''' 17 *''^1 "" *'"= '"'"b^ °f ancient kings. Wha matters where my dust shall scatter then ? shall have served my country oversea And loved her - dying with a heart that sings. . This whole community with one accord has noth-

Wth hi^b^H ^ ^°^f'" ''/' "P°" °"^ servL flag \-\.th hushed breath and subdued heart-beat w-e change his star of true blue to one of gold in com! niemoration o his faithful service and the sacrTe

A living star in freedom's skv always'' Deathless to ride, in never ending flight ^ 1 hrough vaulted domes of spanless spaces far J ;_losc to the founts of quenchless, radiant light ' Th. T\f?P''"'''''"'^; ^°d'^ fadeless heroes' are born^ not- these hills where thou wast

HORACE G. LANG has proved himself tlie possessor of a large amount of that excellent quality of manhood and that self-rehance which, united with perseverance and industry, have enabled him to become one of the valued men of Custer county.

Mr. Lang was born at Grafton, Grafton county. New Hampshire, August 3, 1862. His father, Gilman Lang, was a native of New Ham.pshire and became a manufacturer of edged tools, an occupation which he followed until 1872, when he became a resident of Taylor county, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his days, passing away at the age of seventy-one years. In New Hampshire he married Miss Nancy EHwood, and she passed away at Broken Bow, Nebraska, at the age of seventy-one years. Thev were members of the Methodist church and were the parents of three sons, all of whom became residents of Custer county: George W., who was a farmer, is now deceased ; Warren J. is a resident of Broken Bow; and Horace G is the subject of this sketch.

Horace G. Lang was a lad of seven years when the home was established in Taylor county, Iowa, and there he was reared to manhood, acquiring his education in the public schools. In 1883 he came to Custer county and secured a homestead, making his home in a sod house for five years. He then sold the place and bought his present farm. Here he owns 625 acres, under a high state of cultivation, and on the place he has erected a splendid set of improvements and carries on general farming and stock-raising. Mr. Lang was one of the very early settlers of Custe'r county and shared in the hardships of the pioneer days. He hauled water from Broken Bow. twenty-one miles away, and the lumber in his house w^as brought from Kearney. He hauled oats to Kearney and sold them for ten cents a bushel, besides carrying them up two flights of stairs.

In Custer county Mr. Lang married Miss Clara Vincent, a native of Indiana. At her death she left five children: Rowena is the wife of Clarence Dunn and resides at Callaway: she is the mother of two children and her husband is in the national army at the time of this writing; lone is the wife'of Wallace Blakeman, a farmer of Custer county, and tliey have two children ; Blanche (is the wife of George Edwards, a farmer of Custer countv and they have two children ; Elfa is the wife

For his second wife Mr. Lang married Mrs. Martha Tvvell, whose maiden name was Martha Dunn. She is a native of Taylor county, Iowa, and is a daughter of J. B. Dunn, a prominent citizen of that county. Mr. and Airs. Lang have a son, James G., who is a lad of fourteen years and who is assisting in the operation of the farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Lang are members of Baptist church and in politics Air. Lang is a Republican, though in local afifairs he casts an independent ballot. He has never aspired to public office but has rendered efficient service as a member of the school board and helped to organize the school district.

Mr. Lang is a son of Oilman Doe, but, not liking the name, he applied to the proper authorities and had his name changed to Lang, his grandmother's maiden name having been Langley.

Horace G. Lang is one of the influential men of his community, his word is as good as a bond and he is always found ready to aid any cause that has for its object the upbuilding of his adopted county.

ELLIS W. GIVEN. - Of the many honest, industrious farmers who are the boast of Custer county, not a few have passed the greater part of their careers in the vicinity of Merna, and a list of these would be incomplete without the name of Ellis Welch Given. Mr. Given is one of West Virginia's contributions to this region, having been born in that state February 10. 1866, and he is a son of Robert E. and Rachel M. (Jordan) Given, of whom more specific mention is made on other pages of this volume.

E. W. Given was reared to the discipline of the farm, in Illinois and Nebraska, and accompanied the family to Custer county in 1884. L'nder the direction of his father he learned the best methods of farming. He operated the home farm for several years while the parents were still living and after their death he came into possession of the old homestead. New improvements have been made, and) the property to-day is among the finest in the neighborhood. Mr. Given is the owner of 240 acres, devoted to mixed farming.

December 25, 1895, Mr. Given was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Jacquot, a daughter of Nicholas Jacquot, a record of whom will be found elsewhere in this history.

Mr. and Airs. Given are the parents of three children : Brooks Elliot, Ardetta Deborah, and Robert Ellis, all of whom are at home. The family are members of the Methodist church and in politics Mr. Given is a Democrat. Mr. and Airs. Given represent two of Custer county's earliest families and are held in the highest of esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

J. W. RAY. - A man of some prominence, a successful farmer, a generous and obliging neighbor, is named in this paragraph, and to tell the life story we go back to Lucas county, Iowa, where on the 23d day of February, 1867, he made his debut into the world. He is a son of Jesse and Alargaret (Thomas) Ray, both of whom were natives of the Buckeye state, splendid people of sterling qualities and well respected in the community of their home.

Air. Ray has been a farmer all his life. His education, which is of a liberal character, was received in the public schools of Kansas and Nebraska, and at the early age of thirteen years he started out to make his own way in life. His success has been in keeping with his energy and dauntless spirit and has reached a grade often displayed in the county of opportunity where he has his present home.

The father, Jesse Ray, came to Nebraska in an early day, and homesteaded in Hamilton county. From that county he eventually moved back to Iowa, and from the latter state he later removed to Kansas. He and his wife were devoted Christian people, members of the Methodist church. To them were born eight children, five of whom are still living. The subject of this sketch and his sister, Mrs. Lloyd Foster, are the only ones living in Custer countv.

On April 19, 1891,' J. W. Ray was united in marriage to Alartha Patterson, at Dodge, Nebraska. The parents of Airs. Ray were Nebraska pioneers, having come into the state in 1868 and having settled and homesteaded in Dodge county, where they continued to reside until their death. The mother died in the fall of 1912, the father having passed away June I, 1901. Mrs. Ray is the only daughter living in Custer countv. She has a brother living in Dodge, Nebraska.

Mr. and Mrs. Ray have four children : Mabel is the wife of James Ralls and lives in Loup county, and Ruby, Eunice, and William are at the parental home. Mr. and Airs. Ray have lived on the present place eighteen years. He has a fine stock of cattle, good horses and a well improved farm of 320 acres, - a very creditable showing for the opportunities that have been afforded him. He and his excellent family are highly respected by their neighbors, and their present energy will insure to Mr. and Mrs. Ray a competency for early retirement. Mr. Ray gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and he is counted as one of the staunch supporters of the political regime represented by that party. He is a member of the Modern \\'oodmen of America, from which he derives all the social and pecuniary benefits.

STEPHEN A. DEAN. - Living in the vicinity of Broken Bow, in one of the splendid farm homes that adorn the middle section of the county, is Stephen A. Dean, who here enjoys the distinction and rating of a firstclass farmer, an upright citizen, and one of the spirits to be consulted in connection with the promotion of any public enterprise.

Stephen A. Dean was bom in Johnson county, Iowa, March 5, 1861, and is a son of \\'esley and Casandra (Zike) Dean. The father was a native of Ohio, but the mother came from Kentucky. They became the parents of seven children of whom three are still living - Stephen A., Mrs. Aha J. Moats, and Mary B. The father died when young Stephen was eleven years of age and the mother moved to Iowa City, where she gave her children a high-school education, thus furnishing them good equipment for life.

After finishing his education. Stephen A. Dean returned to the old fami in Johnson county. Iowa, and began farming operations. He had everything to learn, for he had never farmed before, but, being twenty years of age. he went at it with a youtliful will and enthusiasm that conquered all difficulties and made things come his way.

Following the natural course of humanity, on June 30. 1885, ^Ir. Dean was united in marriage to Miss Nellie E. Strang, a young lady of the home vicinity. Mrs. Dean was a daughter of James B. and Julia (Bailey) Strang. lx>th natives of the Empire state. From the time of their marriage, the Deans maintained an ideal home, and three children, all boys, made their advent into the family circle : Ervin E. was placed in class 2. division B of the final draft for service in the world war: Roy C, as a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Aviation Squad, was in France when the war came to a close ; and Harry O. was assigned to class 2 in the final military draft. Mrs. Dean was called to the life eternal in the vear 1902.

Mr. Dean came to Custer county in 1882 and pre-empted a quarter-section of land, five miles northwest of Broken Bow. He made proof on the claim and was the first one to receive title for his land in this section. Mr. Dean later returned to Johnson county, Iowa, and bought from his mother the old home place, upon which he continued to farm and to raise and feed cattle and hogs, but in the meantime he kept his Custer county land rented, and continually added to its improvement. November 26, 1903. he wedded Miss Ruth J. Thomas, who, like his first wife, was born in Johnson county, Iowa. She is a daughter of Robert M. and Malinda (Jones) Thomas. Three years after his second marriage Mr. Dean returned to Custer county, where he took up residence upon his pre-emption claim. This was in 1906. and since that time the Dean family have been continuous residents. They now have 280 acres of land, on which is one of the most attractive farm homes in the county. The land is in a high state of cultivation and Mr. Dean is rated as one of the foremost of the progressive farmers of the county. The family are members of the United Brethren church and are faithful constituents of the local Grange, to which they have contributed energy and leadership. In politics Mr. Dean is rated as a Democrat, but he is a man of broad information and strong con\-ictions. and accordingly issues and candidates must make an appeal of sincerity if they secure his support.

ABEL H. FORD. - As a living example of what resolute working, earnest endeavor, and indomitable perseverance will accomplish, Abel H. Ford stands prominent among the worthy citizens of Custer county. Coming here in 1887, with no capital save that represented by his personal qualities and characteristics, he has worked his way uninterrupt edly to a position of independence, and his status to-day is that of a substantial citfzen and prosperous agriculturist.

Mr. Ford is a native of Iowa, where he was born April 6, 1860. a son of Jackson and Elizabeth (Savage) Ford. There were seven children in the family, of whom five are living: James B.. a salesman, of Des Moines. Iowa ; Abel H., of this review : Oscar, engaged in farming in Kansas: Delia, the wife of T. T. May : and Anna B.. the wife of Roy Minor, ^ who is engaged in mining near Bisbee, Ari- ^ < zona. Jackson Ford was for many years a farmer in Iowa, but he is now living in retirement in Colorado, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, while his wife, who is sev- enty-four years of age, makes her home with her son Abel. The father is independent in political views, and has never been identified with fraternal orders.

Abel H. Ford was given a public-school education in Iowa and was reared on the home farm. Like many farmers' sons, he was attracted by railroading, and for five years he followed that vocation, only to return to the soil. In 1887 he came to Custer county and settled on a homestead twenty miles northwest of his present property, residing thereon until 1911, when he sold out and purchased his fann in section 36, township 19, range 19, where he has developed a splendid property and made many modern improvements. Mr. Ford follows general farming, in addition to which he raises considerable live stock, and in both departments he has shown himself thoroughly familiar with modern methods of procedure. Through fair dealing and honorable transactions he has built up an excellent reputation in the community, and has gained popular confidence and respect as a public spirited citizen. He is independent in politics, and has no fraternal connections.

In 1887 Mr. Ford married Miss Martha D. Roberts, a daughter of William and Cynthia (Billings) Roberts, of Iowa, and three children have been born to them : Charles F., a farmer six miles northwest of Sargent, married Loula Kenyon ; Mamie E., is the wife of Ed Jameson, a farmer of Custer county : and William H. resides at home and assists his father in the operation of the home farm.

JOHN A. DEVINE. - There is all of consistency in entering in this history a definite tribute to the memory of the late John A. Devine, whose were pioneer honors in Custer county and whose character was the positive expression of a strong, loyal, and noble nature. He "stood four-square to every wind that blows ;" he wrought well as a member of the world's great army of productive workers : he was content to follow the even tenor of his way without ostentation or any desire to come into the white light of publicity, and he made his life count for good in all of its relations. To the civic and industrial development and upbuilding of Custer county Mr. Devine contributed his quota, and as a citizen he commanded the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem.

John A. Devine was born in Ireland, on the 2d day of February, 1845. and he was sixtvthree years of age at the time of his death, which occurred at his old homestead, near

Oconto, Custer county, in 1909. Mr. Devine was a child when his parents immigrated to America from the fair old Emerald Isle, and the family home was established in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared to manhood and where he acquired his early education. There was solemnized his marriage to Miss Bridget Ann Sharp, and somewhat later they established their home at Streator, Illinois. In the latter state they continued their residence until 1889, when they came to Custer county, Nebraska, and settled on the homestead which is still the abiding place of Mrs. Devine and three of her children. Here Mr. Devine instituted the reclamation and development of a farm, and here he and his wife endured their full share of the hardships incidental to pioneer life. The passing years brought to them independence and prosperity, and there was not denied to them the fullest measure of good will and esteem on the part of the community in which they lived and labored to goodly ends. It has been consistently said that the word of Mr. Devine was as good as his bond, and thus he fully deserved the high esteem in which he was uniformly held. His religious faith was that of the Catholic church, of which his widow likewise is a devoted communicant, and in politics he gave his allegiance to the Democratic party. Mrs. Devine is now one of the venerable pioneer women of Custer county and here her circle of friends is limited only by that of her acquaintances.

In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Devine: Charles is a resident of the state of Illinois; Frank, who has the management of the old home farm, is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume, as is also James V., who is cashier of the Farmers Bank of Oconto, this county ; Joseph remains at the old home farm and is associated in its work and management ; John, the youngest son, is a dentist by profession and is engaged in practice in the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Martha, the widow of Joseph P. Berry, maintains her residence at Oconto. Custer county : Anna is the wife of James Noon, of Joliet, Illinois ; and Mary, who is now with her mother on the o'd homestead, has been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools.

ALEY SH.\FER. who is one of the enterprising and industrious young farmers and stock-raisers of Custer county, is well known and well established in the above industries, while in a more personal way he is regarded with sentiments of highest esteem in the community in which he hves. Not every young man would have proved so unselfish and resourceful as was he - - in the face of a domestic calamity - the death of his beloved mother - and his younger brothers and sisters, who have been crae fully reared and are a credit to the community, entertain for him justifiable gratitude and affection.

Aley Shafer was born February 12, 1887, four miles north of Comstock, Custer county, Nebraska. He is the third in a family of twelve children born to his parents, Chile and Dolly (Arnold) Shafer. The father was born in Ohio, where he grew up on a farm and in 1883 he came to Custer county, where he home-steaded and also took a tree claim. For many years he carried on farming and stockraising with success. In 1915 he retired, and since then he has lived at Comstock. He is a Democrat in his political views. To his marriage with Dolly Arnold, who died in February, 1909, the following children were born : Nora B. is the wife of F. M. Tykward, a railroad man of Whitefish, Montana ; Eliza J. is the wife of C. H. Tucker, a farmer near Ord, Nebraska; Aley is the subject of this sketch; Ralph O., who is a farmer near Comstock, married May Hammond; Hilda is the wife of Henry Edler, a farmer near Bennett, Iowa ; Grover C, who is a farmer near Comstock, married Alta Day; Alfred K., who conducts a draying business at Comstock, married Georgia Andrews ; Everett lives at Comstock ; Dolly fills a position as bookkeeper at Whitefish, Montana ; Robert W. and Addie make their home with the subject of this record ; and Arnold lives at Comstock.

Aley Shafer obtained his early education in the public schools at Comstock. He has always been interested in agricultural pursuits and at the present time is farming 220 acres in Custer county. His stock interests are important and he makes a specialty of Duroc hogs. He owns valuable realty in the city of Comstock.

Mr. Shafer has never married. Circumstances were such when his mother was taken away, that he was called upon for care and devotion in behalf of the small children left motherless, and it was then that the "big brother," Aley, took charge and with the help of his sister-in-law, Mrs. May (Hammond) Shafer and R. O. Shafer, a home atmosphere was created that compensated the children in part for the loss they had sustained in the death of their natural protector. At this time the father was busy with his railway contracts, being in business with his brother, who had a contract with the B. &

Mr. Shafer is a Democrat in politics and fraternally is prominent in the order of Modern Woodmen of America, is which he has been chief forester for the past eight years.

ANTON K. DOBESH. - Down in the Ansley section where this particular member of the Dobesh family resides, it goes without saying that if his name is Dobesh he is a substantial citizen, worthy of all credit and confidence. There are few names more potent in farm and business circles than that old-country name of Dobesh. which has been honored by other men as well as the subject of this sketch.

Anton K. Dobesh was born in a dugout on the old Dobesh homestead in Custer county, Nebraska, in 1883, and comes of rich oldcountry blood, as is shown in the sketch of his father, Anton P. Dobesh, on another page of this volume.

Anton K. Dobesh married Miss Clara E. Bristol, who was born in Iowa, in 1882, and they are the parents of five bright children, all of whom are at home, their names and respective ages, in 1918. being here noted: Rupert, eleven years; Clara M., eight years; Veronika Virginia, six years ; Portia L., three years; and Anton K., Jr., one and one-half years. The first three children are now attending the public schools and the two younger children may be said to be arbiters of the household affairs in the Dobesh home.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dobesh began life in a sod house, but are to-day the owners of one section, or 640 acres, of good land, which is in a high state of cultivation and equipped with good improvements. The sulendid outfit of modern farm implements is well housed in machine sheds, and every possible convenience of modern farming is in evidence. Good grades of live stock, including Poland-China hogs and Red Durham cattle, are well featured and made prominent in the live-stock operations, conducted in connection with diversified agriculture.

This family, like other families of the same name, bears a splendid reputation, and Mr. and Mrs. Dobesh are counted as very valuable citizens and neighbors. Mrs. Dobesh is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Dobesh affiliates with no political party and announces that he is an independent voter and considers well the man to whom he gives the favors of his franchise. He is living on land which he bought from his father.

Patriotic appeals of the war drive have been met with generous response in liberal contributions on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Dobesh. Two near relatives of the family are in the war service at the time of this writing - Lawrence Bristol, brother of Mrs. Dobesh, is at Camp Ward, and Arthur Dobesh, a cousin of Anton K., is in the aviation corps and is in France. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Dobesh was a successful and popular teacher in the Custer county schools, and she thus continued her work in the pedagogic profession for six years.

HUDSON J. FR-ASER. - One of the substantial men of afifairs living in the eastern portion of Custer county is the subject whose name appears above. Although unencumbered with domestic affairs, Hudson Jay Fraser rendered to his parents a commendable service and has helped to develop the local resources of his community. Mr. Eraser hails from the Empire state. He was bom March 9, 1869. He is a son of Charles and Lorinda (Hays) Eraser, both of whom were natives of New York. The father's lifelong occupation was that of farming, although at times he worked in the timber of northern Michigan, where he also did some trapping. In the father's family were six children, three of whom ar e now living. These, aside from the subject of these lines, are Clara, who lives with her brother on the farm, and Nellie, the wife of R. P. Moore. In the common schools of New York Mr. Eraser received his early education and later he attended school at Grand Island. Nebraska. He never married but has chosen to follow all these years the path of single blessedness.

Hudson Jay Eraser came v;ith his parents to Custer county at the age of twelve years. The father located the homestead which is still the familv home and upon which Hudson Jay Eraser niade his home until 1897, when he bought land near Westenille. where he lived until the 1st of March. 1914. Then he returned to the old homestead to render much needed assistance to his mother. The mother died that same vear, her death occurring June 6, 1914. The father had died in August the year before. Charles Eraser had always been active and prominent in local affairs, serving on the school board for a number of years. He was a Democrat in politics and he and his wife were members of the Methodist church. They experienced the common lot of pioneers. Lumber for their house had to be hauled from Grand Island and all the provisions had to be freighted from the same place. With a horse team it required five days to make the round trip. During the first winter they hauled wood for fuel, from the canyons near Wescott, about ten miles away. Their first habitations were made of sod and in these they passed their pioneer days.

In his youth Hudson J. Eraser herded cattle, for which he earned seven dollars a month, but in spite of privations, droughts and small wages, the family succeeded in making a home in the new countr}', and to-day their improved and developed farm is a valued Custer county asset.

HENRY B. GLOVER. - One of the widely known and representative men of Custer county who is first and foremost in fanning, stock-raising, and promotion of public affairs, is the substantial citizen introduced by the title line. Deserving of more extended mention than these paragraphs can afford, we regret our inability adequately to present the subject and his farm surroundings to the reader who many not know him.

Mr. Glover was born in Livingston county, Illinois. September 24, 1861, and is a son of Samuel L. and Martha J. (Dunn) Glover. Samuel L. Glover is a native of the Empire state, and his wife was bom in Erie county, Pennsylvania. Samuel L. Glover removed to Illinois in 1857 and established himself in farming. Prior to that time he had been running a grocery store in Erie, Pennsylvania. He lived in Illinois for thirty years, and then came to Custer county. Xelaraska, where he bought the ranch upon which he made his home until his recent death, July 6. 1918. His widow still resides on the ranch and enjoys life at the advanced age of eighty-four year''. These parents brought into the world six children, all of whom have done great credit to their home and parentage : Deett is the wife of J. W. McRae. a Colorado farmer living near La Veta; Mary E. is the widow of Elva T. Potter and lives on the old home place; Grace is the widow of Eugene V. Sparks and she, too. lives on the home ])lace ; the fourth in the familv is Henry B., who is the subject of these lines; Percy D. married Augusta Lower and is farming in the vicinity of Westerville ; Sidney L. married Mrs. Lena Pete.- son, ucc Christensen, and they also are living near Westervillc.

April 6, 1907, at Lincoln, Nebraska, Mr. Glover led to the marriage altar Miss Corda Johnson, a lady of unusual culture, she being the esteemed daughter of Reuben and Celina (Sisson) Johnson, who were Custer county pioneers, having come to the county in 1894. Here Mr. Johnson purchased part of a school section and leased the rest of it. The section was number 36, township 17, range 18. Mr. Johnson served for several years on the board of supervisors, and his death occurred in 190.>. In the Johnson family circle were seven children, five of whom are living. All of the surviving children have their homes in Custer countv with the exception of Charles, who resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Charles Johnson was prominent in the organization of a bank at Callaway and also one at Gering, this stale. Mr. and Mrs. Glover maintain an elegant home on one of the best improved farms m the county - a farm whose improvements would compare well with those of the farms in any state, in any locality. Here are big farm 'houses, one of which was occupied by Mr. Glover himself and the other by his father during his life time and now by his mother and sisters. Here are big bams, extensive sheds and hog houses, the strongest kind of fences, water systems, and ever>- monern convenience, so that the place may well be termed a model farm. The landed holdings amount to 1,080' acres. The stock consists of Poland-China hogs of the large and bony type, fashionable black Angus cattle, and draft - Percherons. Some of the cattle and horses are registered in herd and stallion books as aristocratic tvpes.

No children of their own have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Glover, but their benevolent disposition has contributed to the comfort and life equipment of two children whom they have taken into their home - Clarence J. Forte, who came to the Glover home at eleven vears of age, is now twentyone years old and is at the time of this writing at Camp Funston, in the ser\'ice of the country; a bright girl, Gertrude Johnson, is now an inmate of the home; where she enjoys all the privileges of A favored daughter. Aside from being a leading and extensive farmer, Henrv B. Glover has always been prominent in politics, as a Republican leader. In 1007 he was elected to the state senate, in which he represented Blaine. Loup. YUev. and Custer counties. He made a splendid record in the senate and has always been counted as an honest, dependable, progressive citizen who could be safely charged with the promotion of all public enterprises.

WILLIS G. WILLIAMS is a Kentuckian by birth, but he has lived in Custer county thirty years and has here made a signal success of his farming operations. He lives in the north part of the county, where he is widely and favorably known.