Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 28 of 32)

Mr. Reed came to Custer county in 1884. and after he had worked seven months with Levier Cramer he went back to York county, Nebraska, where he remained until 1895. Then a renewed desire to try his luck in the "big county" brought him back, and this time he located six miles northwest of Broken Bow. Against this place was a mortgage of $350, which afterward took the place, as the young man did not believe he would be able to pay, the debt. The same land today is worth fifty dollars an acre. For a time Mr. Reed was in partnership with Judge Reese, and during the four years he was with the Judge he succeeded in saving a nucleus of $1,0(X), which has since expanded into his present-day possessions. From this on, Mr. Reed's accumulation of property and sto:k and land was rapid. Fortune seemed to smile upon his investments and his labors, and to-day there is no more thrifty or substantial farmer anywhere in the central portion of the county. Fie owns 2,400 acres of good land, not far from the county seat. He lives in a beautiful farm home, and has all equipments that a farm of that size requires. He has a splendid assemblage of livestock and everything calculated to contribute to profitable farming.

If Frank Reed has not already entered upon retirement and living at ease, it is from force of habit; the habit of work lingers with him at the present time, and it is hard for him to leave the farm, as he might well afford to do. Elsewhere in this volume will be found a picture of immense corn piles, illustrating the agricultural resources of the county. These piles of corn were raised by Mr. Reed, on his present farm.

ARNOLD KRBEL. who is a member of one of the pioneer families of Custer county, and at present the only representative of the Krbel family residing here, owns a large and well improved farm and, as a recent venture, has embarlced in the business of raising purebred Holstein cattle and White Chester hogs.

Arnold Krbel was born January 11, 1875, in the village of Hluboky, province of Moravia, Austria, and is one of a family of eight children, all of whom survive, born to his parents who are Joseph and Annie (Nemec) Krbel. They came to the United States in 1881 and to Custer county, Nebraska, in July. 1882, and homesteaded. In the spring of 1896 they left this farm and moved to Madison county, where the father followed fanning until 1901, when he' retired and moved to Omaha, where both parents live in much comfort. They are faithful members of the Catholic church. The father is a Democrat in politics. Line many others who have come to the United States in search of home and fortune, they had little capital to invest and for a long time had to work hard and endure many deprivations. They found compensation, however, for their labors and now belong to the substantial class and enjoy the respect and esteem of all whom know them, because of their fine qualities.

\\'hen Arnold Krbel went to school in boyhood in Custer county, the sessions were conducted in a sod house, which undoubtedly had its advantages as well as disadvantages and was the only available place at that time. He assisted his father and helped him prove up on the homestead, remaining under the home roof until he was nineteen years of age. During the following seven years his line of employment led him to travel all through the northern states, but in 1901 he returned to the homestead in Custer county and has continued here ever since. He has 320 acres of valuable land and the property is improved in the way of handsome and substantial buildings, adequate to carrv on a large farm where its industries are conducted in a modern war. In addition to the stock mentioned above, he is interested also in raising a good strain of Shire horses. He can remember the time when his father had to draw water from a well 200 feet deep, with the help of the great strength of oxen. Those methods are no longer in use on Mr. Krbel's farm, a huge modern windmill doing the pumping, and other labor-saving devices may be noticed in other directions.

both of whom are at home. Mr. Krbel was married, second, July 13, 1912, at Omaha, to Miss Stazie Scheinost, and they have one child, who bears her mother's name.

In politics Mr. Krbel is a Republican and at times he has served in public office, for two terms being road supervisor and was considered a particularly efficient official. He is treasurer of School District No. 186. In many ways he has shown a spirit of enterprise very commendable. He owned and operated the first telephone line in this vicinity, having subscribers over the whole northeast section of the county, from Comstock to Sargent. He operated it very satisfactorily for some six years and then sold the line to the subscribers. Mr. Krbel belongs to the C. Z. B. J., a Bohemian organization.

Arnold Krbel was chief registerer for Sargent township No. 2 at the first registration, June 5, 1917, and also at the second registration, September 12, 1918. He was also chairman at the registration for the Fourth Liberty Loan drive.

THEODORE RIDDER is the owner of a large and well improved ranch and is a sterling- citizen who has so applied old-country thrift and frugality to Nebraska conditions, that flattering success has attended his efforts.

Theodore Ridder was born November 23, 1865. in Germany, where his parents, Henry and Sophia (Beckman) Ridder were born in the province of Westphalia. The father was a hardworking farmer and managed to provide for his family of ten children - Joseph, Theodore, Henry, Arnold, Frank, Bernard, Herman, ]\Irs. Mary Smith are living, and two other children are deceased.

In 1883, when Theodore Ridder was seventeen years of age, he and his eldest brother, Joseph, came to the LTnited States and made their way to West Point, Nebraska. Here Theodore hired out for twelve dollars a month. Within the following year the father and mother came to this country and bought a quarter-section of land in Cuming county. Young Theodore worked with his father for a short time, and he then rented land and started farming for himself.

He was married October 2, 1889, at West Point. Nebraska, to Elizabeth Praest. a daughter of John and Catherine ( Paschada) Praest. The Ridder home was then established, and ever since that time has been maintained, on the American plan of comfort and plenty. Mr. and Mrs. Ridder became the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living: Henry, who is a farmer living near Callaway, married Elmita Poston : they have two children. Catherine is the wife of Albert P'andorf, residing on a farm near Callaway, and they have three children. Sophia is a graduate pharmacist, having received her education in St. Joseph Convent, Milwaukee. John, who is a farmer living near Oconto, married Opal Poston, and they have one child. Christina, who was educated in the St. Joseph Convent at Milwaukee, is teaching at Peoria. Illinois. Bernard and Alois, who are attending high school, remain at home. Albert, Mary, and Clara are in the rural school. Master Paul is three years of age, and on him devolves the responsibility of ordering home affairs largely to his sweet will.

Theodore Ridder was fortunate enough to receive, from his father, ninety-five acres of land in Cuming county, at the time of his marriage. He farmed this several years and then went to Stanton county and bought 320 acres, where he farmed and raised stock for eleven years. He then .sold out and bought a ranch of 2,300 acres in Wheeler county. After keeping this five years, he sold out and came to Custer county, where he bought 4,000 acres, six miles west of Callaway. This is to-day a very valuable property, and here he conducts a general farm and live-sto;k business. He is a breeder of registered Hereford cattle and handles live stock extensively. He has built a modern residence, which is lighted with electricity and contains every home comfort. In addition to the fine property just mentioned, Air. Ridder owns also a tract of about 3.000 acres near Oconto, this county.

Mr. Ridder's first money was made bv raising pigeons, which he sold in a town of his native country for eight cents a pair. Compared with his extensive operations of to-day, this would seem small business. But the day of small beginnings is not to be despised, as Mr. Ridder has demonstrated. The Ridders are a fine family and a credit to the county to which their home is a contribution.

BERT L. ORVIS. - This sketch concerns a young farmer just on the threshold of middle life, who has already made a marked sucter and later on farms. He was a robust to all the homage and distinction due to earlv pioneers. His farm home is in the vicinity of West Union, garden spot of all the territory lying north of the Middle Loup. Bert L. did not go out of the county to find a birth place. The stork charged with the responsibility of bringing young farmers to the earth missed Sargent by only a short wing-stroke and landed the subject in a farm home near that city, April 18, 1882.

His parents were John R. and Chaney (Sweet) Oris, themselves natives of New York, but Custer county pioneers from an early date. The father was a fanner for most of his life, made his home in the state of Illinois until 1863, when he moved to Iowa, locating in Fayette, where he established himself in the general mercantile business. In the spring of 1877 he loaded his family and possessions into a covered wagon and drove overland into Custer county. Caravans of that kind were very frequent in that day. He located in West Union and filed on the piece of land which is now the home farm of Bert L. In West Union he put up a store, blacksmith shop and also for a time operated a hotel. This was in the old town of West Union and but a short distance from the old homestead. The senior Orvis lived on the farm until 1905 when he sold his interest to his son, Bert L., and retired to Sargent, where he erected a beautiful home and where he ended his days, March 7, 1910. His widow still surv'ives and occupies the Sargent home. They were the parents of eleven children, only seven of whom are living at the present time.

Bert L., the product of Custer county, received his education in the district schools near Sargent and early directed his attention toward farming, close application to which has made him ver\- successful. With the coming of manhood, like most young men, his fancy turned to thoughts of love, and on March 3, 1902, in the city of Broken Bow, he led to the marriage altar Miss Lulu Garrison. Tlie wife is a daughter of George and Amanda (Maple) Garrison, a substantial [jioncer coudIc who settled in the \\'alworth vicinity in 1882.

Since marriage Bert L. and his wife have maintained an excellent home, which the vears have blessed with four children: Ruth. Hal. Elton, and Lysle are a splendid quartet of young Custerites and are full of life and promise. Like the children of every family, they hold the keys to the future and bid fair to extend and expand the commendable characteristics of their parents to the coming generation.

The farm home, which was the original homestead of the father, is well improved with good buildings, is in a high state of cultivation and well stocked for successful and' profitable farm operations. A general farming operation, with stock raising and feeding,

STEPHEN MAPEL. - The north country along the Middle Loup river is one of the best improved sections of the county. It has long rivalled the famous South Loup or the celebrated West Table. Each of these sections, resourceful as they are, are indebted for their reputation to the stalwart pioneers who developed their resources and gave them a wealth of improvement. One of the men who has contributed to the Sargent region is the subject of this sketch.

Stephen Mapel is a native of old Pennsylvania, the land of iron and red blooded Americans. He was born in Greene county, December, 20, 1860. His parents, Stephen and Ruth (Furman) Mapel were both natives of the same state. The father was by trade a blacksmith and miller, yet for the most of the time he was a farmer as well. Hg^'learned the blacksmithing trade before he was twentyone and later became an expert miller but followed it but a few years, spending the remainer of his life on the farm. 'He died in the 78th year of his age, in Taylor county, Iowa. He and his good wife were the parents of ten children, six of whom are still living. Stephen and his brother Thomas, now living in Sargent, are the only ones in this county.

Young Stephen grew to manhood in Iowa and received his education in the Iowa public schools. It was here that the fundamental principles which have stood him so well in hand during his farming career were deep laid in his youthful character. With his face turned toward the great west, he left the Hawkeye state in 1883 and came to this county, where he homesteaded near Lillian. He disposed of this place later and then, in 1889, on the 25th day of Januarv', he joined himself in marriage to Charlotte V. Banning, the daughter of Ephraim and Ruth (Reed) Banning. The Bannings were Custer county pioneers, having homesteaded here as early as 1883. He died in 1901. The Mapels have always maintained a comfortable home, around which are every indication of thrift and industry. They have five children: Jessie R., who is the wife of Fritz Dressen and lives between Walworth and West Union : Mary is the wife of Richard Dressen and lives near Walworth ; D. Lulu married AI. Doak and lives at Craig, Colorado ; H. R. Clare and Howard C. are at home. Mr. Mapel operates 200 acres of land, upon which he has good impro\ements and good stock. He makes a specialty of dairy cows and finds the production of cream a very profitable part of farming. He is one of the leading spirits of the community, the treasurer of school district No. 13, a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church.

Speaking reminiscently of early days, Mr. Mapel says that James Oxford was the first settler who fenced his pasture ; that Stillman Gates was the first man to put up a wind mill and that he and his brother were the first owners of a self-binder in that section of the country.

MRS. MARY KLAPAL, who is very well known in Custer county and highly respected and esteemed everywhere, owns a large body of well improved land and is one of the county's most successful raisers of Whire Face or Hereford cattle. Mrs. Klapal came to Custer county with her husband in 1885 and no one is better qualified to tell of the privations that the pioneers here were forced to endure, and is a notable example of what a courageous, frugal and resourceful woman can accomplish. She was born in Bohemia, September 8, 1863. Her mother died when she was five years old, but her aged father survives and is a comfortably retired resident of Omaha, Nebraska.

John Sekera, father of Mrs. Klapal, was born in Bohemia and belonged to the laboring class. As his own country at that time could oft'er little opportunity for a man, no matter how industrious, to get ahead in the world, he decided to immigrate to America, as many of his countrymen had already done, and had prospered in different parts of the United States. He took passage for New York on an old sailing vessel, in 1868, and in due time was landed safely. He had but 50 cents when he faced life in the strange city but he immediately secured work as a laborer on near-by farms and saved his money until he had sufficient to transport him to Omaha. Nebraska. There he went to work in a smelter and later on farms. He was a robust man or he could not have endured the hard work he engaged in, as he very often had to walk to and from his place of employment, the entire distance from Omaha to Fremont and Grand Island, on account of there being no rail transportation at that time. It was after the death of his first wife that he left Bohemia and later on he was married again, in America. Of his five children, two died in

Mrs. Klapal was fifteen years old when she came to the United States and joined her father at Omaha. In 1883 she was united in marriage with John Klapal, also of Bohemia, who died in 1900. They had the following children : John, who is a farmer living east of Sargent, Nebraska, married Leda Eret ; Mary, who is the wife of Frank Cernek, a farmer northwest of Sargent ; Annie, who is the wife of Jacob Cernek, lives in Garfield county ; Joseph, who lives east of Sargent, married Mary Kluna ; Frank, who' was a United States soldier, died in the training .camp at Camp Funston, February 7, 1918; Fred and Edward, both of whom are at home with their mother; and Josie, who is the wife of Lewis Chalupa, a farmer east of Sargent. Mrs. Klapal has the satisfaction of having a lumiber of her children settled near her and all the survivors are doing well.

Two years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Klapal came to make a home in Custer county, Nebraska. They homesteaded and secured tree claim and pre-emption and she yet owns these and through her thrift and business abiHty has been able to acquire additional land and now has in all 640 acres, well improved. She has given much attention to the cattle industry, her herds being exclusively White Face cattle. She has managed her affairs with remarkable judgment and her ability as a business woman is universally acknowledged. While Mrs. Klapal is now in the enjoyment of all the comforts of life, she sometimes is willing to tell of the hardships of early days here. When she and her husband first landed on the homestead that was to be their future home, it was a desolate place. Prairie fires had burned fiercely and left the land bare of vegetation and, although spring had come in the calendar, it being the sixth of May, when they drove from Loup City it was through a snow storm that amounted to a blizzard. They were cold and hungry and Mrs. Klapal confesses that she was so discouraged that she cried through one day and night. This attitude did not continue, however, for in every effort her husband later made, she was his ready helper, leading the oxen when he first broke up the tough sod, hauling water from the North Loup River, a distance of five miles, attending to domestic affairs and in the meanwhile bearing and rearing a family of eight vigorous children All the medals for heroism do not, by right, belong to warriors.

BORTON F. RIGGLE. - Among the representative self-made men and large landholders of Custer county, few have been the architects of their own fortunes to a greater degree than Borton F. Riggle, who resides on a fine landed estate near Callaway. Were he asked to define the secret of success, from his own standpoint and experience, his reply would be, no doubt, that it is hard work and the taking advantage of fair opportunities. Always and everywhere he remembers that his business career has been a successful one. and that to himself and all Nebraska men of his caliber is p)eculiarly applicable the well-worn maxim that "nothing succeeds like success."

Mr. Riggie was born in Grant county, Indiana, January 15, 1855i a son of Andrew and Phoebe ( Borton) Riggie, natives of Guernsey county. Ohio. After residing for some years in Grant county, Indiana, Andrew Riggie, who was a farmer by vocation, moved, in 1860, to Iroquois county, Illinois, and five years later he took up his residence in Wayne county, Iowa, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits. Wherever they lived they were respected people of their community. They were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Riggie was a member of the Masonic fraternity. They had five children : Borton F, Miss Elizabeth, Mrs. Melissa Babcock, Isaac (a retired farmer of Derby, Iowa), and Mrs. Mary Miskimins.

The early education of Borton F. Riggie was obtained in the district schools of Iroquois county. Illinois, and Wayne county. Iowa, and his early training was along agricultural lines,, but when he was twenty years of age he left the parental roof and went to Chariton, Iowa, where he became a clerk in a general store. After a short experience in connection with mercantile pursuits, he returned to the soil, and for some years he was a renter of land. January 19. 1878, in Wayne county, Iowa, he married Miss Lucy Deulen, who had been a school-teacher in that county, and who is a daughter of Kelen and Sarah (Dawson) Deulen. Mr. and Mrs. Riggie continued to reside in Iowa until 1886, in March of which year they came to Custer county, Nebraska, and located three and one-half miles north of the present site of Callaway. In order to reach his new home Mr. Riggie was compelled to haul his goods overland all the wav from Plumb Creek, now Lexington.

self and his worthy wife, for hardships were numerous, unforeseen obstacles were continually appearing, and disappointments were so frequent as to become almost expected. Yet he forged steadily along and finally had his reward in seeing the progress he was making. Once on the up-hill journey, he made good headway, and he has since become one of the most successful men of his locality, being the owner of 560 acres of some of the finest land in Custer county - all accumulated legitimately and honorably through industry and the proper utilization of every-day opportunities. IMr. Riggle is justly proud of his beautiful residence, and his other buildings are proportionately substantial and attractive. He is a stockholder and director of the Farmers State Bank of Callaway. Mr. Riggle has commanded respect because of the manner in which he has worked his way to success, and has secured esteem because of his straightforward way of living and of doing business. Mr. Riggle is a Republican, but is no politician. He and Mrs. Riggle belong to the Evangelical church, and they are always ready to give their support to movements making for better citizenship, higher morals, and more, extended educational advantages.

Mr. and Mrs. Riggle have three children. Ethel, the eldest, married James E. Addie, a well known attorney of Hastings. Nebraska, and they have one son. Mr. Addie has been recently elevated to a position on the bench of the federal court. He is a Republican and an Odd Fellow, and he and Mrs. Addie are members of the Congregational church. Ida, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Riggle. is the wife of Oscar Kolbo, who is a farmer and stockman near Lodi. Mr. Kolbo is a Republican, and he and his wife belong to the Evangelical church. Frank Riggle. Mr. Riggle's only son, is the owner and operator of a farm north of that of his father, and four and onehalf miles north of Callaway. He is an Odd Fellow and a Republican, and he and his wife belong to the Evangelical church. The maiden name of Mrs. Frank Riggle was Bertha Steel, and she is a daughter of George Steel, one of the very old settlers of New Helena, Custer county. \Ir. and Mrs. Frank Rig.gle have a winsome little daughter.

THOMAS NEDBALEK, who is a substantial fanner and stock-raiser in Custer county, lives on the old family homestead, situated on section 25, township 20, to which his parents came thirty-four years ago. Mr.

Nedbalek three years later, Januar}' 6 1887, in Custer county, was born to John and Mary (Rejda) Nedbalek, the youngest of their family of six children. The other five, with one exception, live in Nebraska. John, the eldest, lives in Garfield county and married Theresa Sebesta. Joseph is a traveling salesman and lives in Central City and married Anna Schmidt. Frank is a fanner near Horse Creek, Canada. Anna is the wife of Daniel Capek and they live in Loup county. Frances is the wife of Joseph Bartu and they live near Arcadia.

The parents of Thomas Nedbalek were born in Austria. While they were honest, worthy people, industrious and religious, they were not able in 1884 to make much headway in - Austria in the way of securing a home or making any provision for old age. Therefore when five children had been added to the family, they detennined to seek better industrial conditions and rewards in another country, and thus it came about that they came to the United States, where they now live retired from work and in the enjoyment of many comforts. They came to Custer county, Nebraska, and secured a homestead. In those early days the privations and hardships were undeniably present, but no more so, perhaps, than in other sections of undeveloped countrj', and they had experienced hard times in their own land and did not expect to live lives of ease at first. The mother remained on the homestead and with care, frugality and hard work, kept the home going, while the father worked for others and thus obtained money with which he later could improve his own land and buy stock. It is an honorable record to look back upon and Thomas Nedbalek fully appreciates the sacrifices of his parents.

Thomas Nedbalek obtained his education in the public schools of Custer county and helped his parents to prove up on the homestead where he now lives. He has 520 acres of fine land, which he devotes to general farming and stock-raising, being one of the big stockmen of the county. He carries on his farm industries along modem lines and has a recognized position in the same, and has long been identified with movements intended to advance high standards here.

Mr. Nedbalek was married at Burwell, Nebraska, April 14. 1909, to Miss Frances Stupka, whose father is an .American citizen and lives in \'alley county. Mr. and Mrs. Nedbalek have two sons: Toseph, who was born March 19, 1914 : and Rudolph who was born Febnian' 12, 1916.

PATRICK KILFOIL, familiarly known as "Paddy" was the first settler of Dale valley. He lived in this section of the state during the pioneer days - times when mutual hardships and privations drew men together in strong ties of friendship and led to the adoption of such names as that by which Mr. Kilfoil is known to all the early settlers.

Patrick Kilfoil was born in the city of Galway, Ireland and is a son of Michael Kilfoil. As he was a very small child when his mother died he has no recollection of her and never knew her name. Patrick was the youngest of three children. In 1842 the father came to America and found employment at one dollar a day, out of which he saved enough with which to send for the children. Mr. Kilfoil was a lad of four years at the time he came to America and his younger years were spent in Virginia and Kentucky, and upon reaching young manhood he found employment on railroads, an occupation which he followed for many years. When the Civil war broke he enlisted, in 1861, for service in the Union Army and faithfully served for three years in preserving the Union. He was once wounded but owing to the severe fighting at the time he knew nothing of it till his comrades called his attention to it. Mr. Kilfoil's only brother was killed at the battle of Bull Run, at the very beginning of the war. His only sister passed away in California. The little bronze button on the lapel of his coat signifies membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and he belongs to the post at Merna.

After his service in the army Mr. Kilfoil traveled in many parts of the country, working and taking in the sights. Among the places lie found employment was a stone quarn', taking out the stone used in building the state capitol at Des Moines, Iowa.

Mr. Kilfoil came to Custer county in the early pioneer days and became the first settler of Dale valley. No one had yet located on West Table or in the vicinity of where Merna now stands. He took a homestead and tree claim and owing to the fact that he had given three years to the service of Uncle Sam he was able to prove up in two years. In recognition of his being the first settler of the neighborhood the township was named Kilfoil in his honor. He witnessed the hardships and privations of the early days and though never actively engaged in - farming he has owned land and always been interested in agriculture, until recently, when he disposed of his farm. The church at Dale was the first Catholic church to be erected in Custer county, and it was made possible largely through the benevolence of Mr. Kilfoil, who was the principal contributor. He has shown his loyalty and patriotism during the great world war and is the largest holder of liberty bonds in Custer county. He is also an important stockholder in the Farmers Bank of Merna. Mr. Kilfoil has lived to see vast changes take place in the county where he was one of its earliest settlers and to the development and upbuilding of which he has been a liberal contributor.

Mr. Kilfoil is a Democrat in politics but has never sought or held public ofiice. He has never married, preferring to live in single blessedness. He is well and favorably known not only in Custer county but over the state of Nebraska as well.

FRANK KRIZ, whose fine farm is situated in section 25, township 1, near Sargent, Nebraska, has been a resident of Custer county for the past ten years and of the state three times or more that long. He has been a resident of three different counties of Nebraska, and has taken part, to some degree, in the development of each.

Frank Kriz was born October 20, 1858, in Moravia. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Bartu) Kriz, both of whom were natives of Moravia, from which country they immigrated to the United States in 1884. The father desired to acquire land for a permanent home and this led to their coming to Nebraska. They settled in Saline county at first but later came to Custer county and here the father died in 1912. The mother lived until 1914. They were good people, honest and industrious, and had many friends in the iieitjhborhood in which they lived. They had three children, namely : Frank ; Fannie, who is the wife of Frank Visek, a farmer in Woods Park; Mar)', who is the wife of Joseph Zurek, a farmer in Wisconsin ; and there is a half brother, Joseph Bartu, who is a farmer south of Comstock, who married Frances Nedbalek.

Frank Kriz obtained a common school education in his native land, and was taught to be frugal and industrious in his home. He grew up there and was variously employed before he came to the United States, in 1886. He located first in Saline county, Nebraska, and lived there two years and then moved to \'alley county, in 1888, and homesteaded there. He remained in that part of the state, engaged in developing his land and carrying on farm industries as he found them profitable up to 1908, in which year he was married for

Mr. Kriz was married first to Mary Vyberal. who died June 13, 1904, the mother of eight children, as follows : Frank, who lives in David City, Nebraska ; Joseph, who lives east of Sargent, Nebraska ; Carrie, who is the wife of Joseph Troyan, lives in Valley county; Emil, who is a soldier with the United States force in France ; Mary, who is deceased ; Louise, who is the wife of Rudolph Stefka, a farmer south of Comstock ; Annie, who is the wife of James Cedek, lives in Valley county; and James, who is unmarried, also lives in Valley county.

Mr. Kriz was married, second, in July, 1908, to Mrs. Mary (Jambor) Reyda, who was a widow and the mother of six children, as follows : Joseph, who lives south of Comstock ; Frank, who is deceased ; and Matilda, Lewis, James, and Edward, all of whom live at home. Mention is here made of the other three children - Annie, who is the wife of Joseph Zedina, lives in Valley county; Mar\', who is the wife of Joseph Pipal, of Garfield county : and Emma, who is the wife of Frank Mason living in Valley county. Mr. and Mrs. Kriz have one daughter, Imia. who was born .April 24, 1909.

ANDREW J. ROATH. - Among the sturdy pioneers who came to northeastern Custer county during the late '70s was one who participated in the development of the county from the days of horse thieves and claim-jumpers, of hardships and of primitive conditions, to the present prosperity, security, and law-abiding civilization, is Andrew Jackson Roath, for many years a farmer in the Cheesebro Canyon community, but for the past five years the proprietor of an automobile garage at Sargent.

Mr. Roath was bom at Hardscrabble Cnow Streator), Illinois, December 4, 1857, and is a son of David and Mar\- (Swift) Roath. the former a native of New York, and the latter of Wayne county, that state. The parents of Mr. Roath were early settlers of Illinois, and his father, a farmer by vocation and a mason by trade, built the first brick house at Ottawa. He was a Republican, was a man of much industry, and during a long and active life achieved a moderate share of success. There were six children in the family: Elsie, of Otsego, Michigan ; Lucien, of Jersey City, New Jersey ; Andrew J., of this review ; Walter, of Los Angeles, California; Orange Judd, of Chicago. Illinois ; and Ernest D., of Los Angeles, California.

.\ndrew J. Roath was educated in the public schools of Illinois, and remained at home until after he attained his majority, his youthful training being along agricultural lines. In March, 1879> he left the parental roof and struck out for Nebraska, eventually arriving at his destination in Custer county, where he homesteaded the northeast quarter of section 6, township 20. range 18. Those were the days when might frequently made right, when rugged men from the four corners of the country came to secure homesteads, and when the lawless element to some extent was attracted by the f)ossibility of big and quick gains. Mr. Roath had numerous interesting experiences during the early days, his proximity to Cheesebro's Canyon bringing him into connection with one exciting series of incidents. The canyon was so named by the reason of one Cheesebro seeing its possibilities, as it was heavily timbered with pine and cedar, the only timber to be secured for any purpose for milesaround. This Cheesebro filed on the canyon claim as a homestead and built a dugout thereon, but failed to live there, having made hishome with his people a mile or so away. For some time he sold cedar posts at fifty cents each to his neighbors and to those who came from as far as twenty and thirty miles away>- but a boastful remark caused his undoing. "I can eat sugar cookies." he is reported to have remarked to one of the less fortunate settlers, "while mo.st have to be thankful if they get corn bread." By this remark he meant that he could haul his cedar jxjsts to Grand Island or Kearney and find a ready sale at all times. The remark was widely reported and caused much hard feeling among the settlersin the vicinity, who I>egan to take notice that Cheesebro did not make his home on his homestead. Further investigation disclosed the fact that he had already earned a home in Minnesota by homestead rights, which made him ineligible for one in Nebraska, and when these circumstances came to light, the neighbors - rightly felt that they were entitled to the cedar posts as much as their claimant. Therefore a crowd of eighteen of them joined together, entered the canyon and began to gather what ])osts and timbers they needed for home consumption. On the second day Cheesebro appeared and endeavored to stop them, and, failing in this, tried to bluff the matter through by asserting that his wife had filed on the claim. This still being ineffective to hold the homesteaders, he appealed to the L^nited States marshal, who made his appearance but who,.

after learning- the circumstances, did not interfere. The matter was then dropped by Cheesebro and the liomestead has since been proven up by others.

Mr. Roath drove through to Custer county in true pioneer style, with a covered wagon, and brought with him a few household goods, several other articles, and some horses and a few head of live stock. He possessed no capital and was forced to depend entirely upon his own resources to get a start, so that every dollar couhted. His first home was a log house, and in one load he hauled from Grand Island the lumber for his first frame house. When he had been here about three years, he had the misfortune to lose his three horses, which were stolen by one Kid Wade, a notorious character of the day and locality. After the theft the people advertised without avail, and finally a committee of vigilantes took matters into their own hands, and Mr. Roath recovered two of his horses, just five months to the day after they were stolen, but he never again saw the third horse. .-Kt the same time of this theft the race horse belonging to Orlando PuUiam was taken, and this was recovered at the .same time. Kid Wade was caught at Lemars, Iowa, by the vigilantes, after a long chase, and was brought back to Cams Bridge, lirown county, Nebraska, where he was confined about three weeks. At the end of that time, the populace having become impatient at the delay, a crowd collected, took the prisoner from the officer in charge, and hanged him to a whistling post on the railroad, at Bassett. Brown county.

Mr. Roath continued to live on his homestead and to thrive and prosper in wealth and in the esteem of the community, accumulating a satisfying fortune and developing one of the best farms of his neighborhood. In 1910 he retired from farming, and engaged in the garage business, although he retained posses^ sion of his farm, which he still owns. His first garage having been destroyed by fire, he rebuilt on the same site, and he now has a modern structure, in which he is doing an excellent business. Mr. Roath is a Republican but is not active in public life. He is the father of two children: Roland A., born March 3, 1902; and Marv F., born August 30, 1907.

only the first three years of his life were lived with the Hawkeyes. He was born in Wapello county, Iowa, April 26, 1882, and is a son of Thomas and Emma (Sheppard) Coday, both natives of Ohio. The father was a farmer by life occupation. He brought his family to Custer county in 1885 and preempted a quarter-section of land. He lived here until 1915 when he moved to Brown county, this state, where he still resides and where he enjoys ranch life as it exists in that cattle county. There were seven children in the father's family, five of whom are still living. Frank and his two sisters are living in this county. One brother, Earl G. Coday, lives on a farm two and one-half miles southwest of Mason City ; and the other brother, Charles R. Coday, lives in Brown county, on his father's ranch. Amy Troxel lives on the Ranklin ranch in Blaine county, and Nellie \'anCleve is living in Callaway. Thomas Coday was once supervisor of this county and served as road overseer for several years.

Frank Coday attended the district school in this county and here received his early training for his life occupation. It was here that he learned the rudiments of agriculture and the care of live stock, the qualities which formed the foundation of his present day achievements.

He was married February 12, 1894, to Eva Owens, at Taylor, Nebraska. His wife is the daughter of Leonard and Mary (Klingler") Owen, pioneers of the county, since the days of 1890. They still make their home in the county.

Into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Coday two children, with life and energy, have come to bring the blessings of a happy home. Max and Pearl are very bright and promising children and, with the opportunity that will be theirs, will make a name and mark in the world.

Mr. Coday is independent in politics, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and an active leader in the Modem Woodmen of America, in which lodge he has passed through all the chairs. His membership is at Sargent. The Codays are splendid people and rated in the community as kind and obliging neighbors.

JOHN STEW.ART. who is now residing on a small farm in the old town of Wescott, first came to Custer county in 1882. and from that time to the ])rcscnt he has been one of his community's sound and jiractical citizens. For about a quarter of a century he was busily engaged in the development of his locality's resources, as an agriculturist, and at all times-

Mr. Stewart, as his name would indicate, is of Scotch nativity, he having been born in County Ross, Scotland, July 20, 1847, a son of Donald and Anna (McFail) Stewart. His parents passed their entire lives in Scotland, where the father was a farmer in a small way. and of the nine children none save John came to the United States, although nearly all left their native soil, immigrating to Canada, Australia, and other countries. John Stewart, the only survivor of his parents' children, came to the United States about the year 1870. He had received an ordinary education in the public schools of Scotland and was a young man of intelligence and ambition. Seeking a locality in which to settle permanently, he traveled from New York to California and worked in various sections and at a number of vocations. He was prudent and thrifty, and wisely saved his earnings, so that when he came to Custer county, in 1882. he was jxjssessed of some capital, antl had the distinction of being the one to pay over the first money that was ever transferred in cash for a release on a homestead right in Custer county. This was the sum of $230 in gold, with which he bought the tree-claim right of a young woman. He also bought an ox-team, of a Mr. Woodward, and settled down to farm his property and to enter upon the career which brought him success and prosperity. Before he gained a foothold ujwn the ladder of achievement, Mr. Stewart, along with numerous others, was called to face many hardships and privations. Unlike the majority of others, he did not have a wife to assist in easing his burdens, for ^Ir. Stewart has never married. However, he was equal to every emergency, eventually won his way through, and for a long period was recognized as one of the community's most prosperous men. His good management brought him a comfortable fortune, and when he was ready to retire from the hard work of the farm, some ten or twelve years ago, he had for sale a valuable and highly improved farm, which brought a handsome figure. Mr. Stewart at that time moved to his present snug farm, in the old town of Wescott, and here he has since been busy in his garden.

Mr. Stewart has always been a staunch and unfaltering Republican. During the height of the Populist movement he was frequently approached in regard to the shifting of his support, but he never changed his allegiance. He has not sought office, but has endeavored to place good men in positions of trust. Mr. Stewart, while a believer in religion, has never

FRANK SUTTON. - Here follows a plain story of pioneering and a story very common to Custer county inhabitants, virtually all of whom came from eastern stoc'n and ran the same gamut of experiences in the primitive days, and there is also a striking similarity in the success achieved by these citizens as exhibited by a present day survey. The man to whom the name and the title line belong, hails from Hoosierdom, where he w-as born in Carroll county, June 26, 1861.

He is the son of Louis and Laurinda (Dimmitt) Sutton. Father Louis Sutton and his wife were both natives of Indiana and farmers by occupation. He enlisted in the army in 1861 and after rendering a year of hard sefvice was discharged on account of physical disability. He returned home and engaged in farming until 1868, when with his family he moved to Appanoose county, Iowa, where he purchased a fann and made it his home until 1882, w'hen the call of the west moved him again - this time to Custer county, where he bought a homestead which he made his home for the rest of his life. He died March 20, 1887, as a result of disease contracted in the war. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Methodist church. He and his wife were the parents of seven children : Mary E. is the wife of J. \V. \\'allace. Sarah A. was the wife of J. H. Shimi, but is now deceased. Andrew J. married Julia Jennings and is now a clergyman located at Pueblo, Colorado. The fourth was the subject of whom we are writing. John R. is a farmer living at Tyro, Kansas. Nancy J. is the wife of Fred Cummings, a fanner and stockman living at Fort Collins, Colorado. Walter M. lives at Pennyman, Virginia, where he is guarding water works for United States government.

Mr. Sutton was educated in the common schools of Iowa and in 1888 was married to Flora Penick, who was spared to him but two short years. After her death he remarried, in September, 1896, to Maude Kenyon, in Loup coimty. The second Mrs. Sutton is a daughter of John A. and Sarah E. (Fuller) Kenyon. Her parents were early Custer county settlers of whom extended notice is given elsewhere.

After coming to Custer county young Frank worked on the farm of his parents imtil 1905, when he started operations for himself. After three years he moved on to the old homestead, where he has lived ever since and upon which he has ]nit all the improvements of the pres-

In the family home of the Suttons were born two children : Raymond E. married Ethel Wells and has established a home for himself in Cummings Park ; Vida P. is at home.

Mr. Sutton recalled some of his experiences of the early days. On one occasion he helped to haul hogs for R. G. Carr to North Loup. There were a hundred sixty-eight hogs to be hauled and it required a number of wagons, and accordingly the whole neighborhood turned out. This was in the winter of '85 and '86. It was so cold that one of the men, George Pierce, would have frozen to death if it had not been for Mr. Sutton and David Coltrane. Pierce had gotten so cold and numb that he lay down and refused to move. They saved his life by using a whip on him and finally roused him up and angered him to the extent that they were able to get him up and move him on. Of the hundred and sixtyeight hogs ninety-two froze to death. Mr. Sutton pulled straw from a stack and put it into the wagon among the hogs in his load and this helped, he thinks, to save them.

H. B. POINTER. - Over in the West Union precinct, which is entitled to be called one of the garden spots of Custer county, lives a substantial farmer in a splendid farm home, surrounded by a happy family whose name is spelled in the title line. Mr. Pointer descends from a good old Kentucky family.

He was born in the Bluegrass state, March 1, 1863, and was the fifth son of John and Hester (Sharp) Pointer, both very excellent Kentucky people who spent their lives in the Bluegrass state. The father was a farmer and a Democrat in politics and rated as one of the first citizens of the community in which he lived. The mother was a very excellent southern lady, a faithful adherent and supporter of the Baptist church. Recorded in the family Bible were the names of six children : Melvina, the wife of S. M. Davis, lives on an Illinois farm ; Tina, wife of Louis Johnson, also lives in Illinois ; John married Carrie Davis and is engaged in farming in Illinois; Maggie, the wife of William Pfrehm, lives in Bay City, Texas. The fifth name in the family roster is the one recorded at the head of this paragraph. James W. married Mattie Hargon, and is a photographer living in Malvern, Iowa.

In 1889 he became a benedict by leading to the marriage altar Cora J. Carr, a Custer county young lady who came of an excellent family. Mrs. Pointer's people were early settlers in this county, coming here in August 1878, locating both a homestead and tree' claim, and living on these claims until 1892, when they moved to Doris, this county, and began the operation of a flouring mill which Mr. Carr, the father, had owned for several years. In 1910 he retired from active life and devoted his time to the care of his property. For the last three years he has been living in Texas. In this family were five children, only two of whom are now living, Stanley and Airs. H. B. Pointer.

The story goes among the West Union old timers that Mr. Carr's first wife was the first teacher in Custer county. It is certain that if she was not the first she was one of the first, as she taught a school for which she was paid by subscription in the fall of 1878.

Mr. Pointer made a marked success of farming. Eighteen years of his life, however, were spent in the milling business at Doris Lake, where he was in partnership with his father-in-law, mentioned above. After retiring from the mill he again resumed farming, which has been his occupation for the last eight years. In his farming and stock-raising operations he makes a specialty of Poland- China hogs and Rhode Island Red chickens, all of which not only show careful selection in breeding but splendid care and unusual attention. The farm consists of one hundred sixty acres, in West Union, where the fann home is located, and another farm south of the river.

Three children have been the result of their marriage and all are living and have promising prospects for the future: Lloyd married May Hill and is living on a farm near Sargent, on which he has made a success of his initial eflfort ; George, who is still single, lives at home and is charged with much of the responsibility of the home place; and Doris likewise remains at the parental home.

In the early days of pioneering Mr. Pointer was here and had his share of the privations and hardships which were handed around so generously to the early settlers. He freighted from West Union to North Loup, a distance of fifty miles, and many nights, without overmuch bedding, slept on the ground floors of the settlers' sod houses. This even in the winter time when the weather was so cold that the provisions they carried would be frozen.

The younger generation of Pointers will never know the hardships endured and the sacrifices made to establish residence and develop the splendid home they enjoyed during their childhood years.

DAA'ID DOWNEY. - In considering the Hfe record of the late David Downey, who for many years was one of Custer county's influential and resi>ected citizens, a striking illustration is presented of what can be accomplished through the exercise of energy, will power, and self-sacrifice, when directed along the right channels. When David Downey arrived at Kearney. Buffalo county, Nebraska, his worldly possessions consisted of a wife, their two sons and one daughter - J. M.. W. C, and Nellie, - their necessary clothing, and the sum of twenty-five cents in actual money. At the close of a busy, frugal, and useful life in this state, he passed away as one of Custer county's substantial and representative men, owning one of the largest stock ranches in this part of the country.

David Downey was bom in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1834, and was reared in Ohio, where he attended school as opportunity was afforded in early boyhood. He soon became self-supporting through general day labor, but, possessing a large amount of common sense, he realized that such work did little to advance his permanent fortunes and that therefore a change must be made. He had heard many stories of the great opportunities that the great west offered, and he decided to try his fortune in Nebraska. He arrived in Kearney in 1879. He came to the state with the intention of securing land and establishing a permanent home, and in search of the same he stopped for a short time in Buffalo county. Mr. and Mrs. Downey from there came to Custer county and located their homestead, on which they filed in 1882. They lived here for a number of years in the same primitive way as did their neighbors, but in facing the many hardships that all encountered, they manifested more courage and resourcefulness than did many others, and they were finally well rewarded. From Kearney Mr. Downey had to haul the lumber with which to build their first substantial house. In the course of years he and his two sons became the owners of 1,800 acres of highly cultivated land, some of the most valuable in middle Nebraska, modern improvements adding to its value. He was greatly interested in raising good live stock, and for years the Downey ranch has been noted for its herds of Hereford cattle.

Mr. Downey always insisted that the greatest event in his life was his marriage to Miss Emily McGregor, who was born at Columbus, Ohio, and who still resides on the old homestead, with her two children, J. M. and Nellie.

J. M. Downey has' taken his father's place in the management and operation of the ranch, and is one of the leading stockmen of the Loup township community, annually raising more than 200 head of fine Hereford cattle. Miss Nellie Downey, who has made teaching her profession, was for a number of years an instructor in the graded schools at Broken Bow, but for the past three years she has been engaged at Hastings. By patrons and pupils she is held in high esteem, both professionally and personally.

The death of David Downey, which occurred March 9, 1918, removed not only one of the early settlers of the county, but also a man who had been of sterling worth in the community - an example of industry and an exponent of strict integrity. It was a great comfort to him in his last days to realize that he left his faithful life companion so well provided for, and it likewise is a comfort to her to know that he lived to enjoy some of the ease his early industry had provided. The entire family belongs to the Presbyterian church.

WILLIAM OBERG. - A specialist in the raising of Jersey Red hogs and Short Horn cattle, William Oberg is one of the well-to-do stockmen of his part of Custer county, and is carrying on extensive operations on his wellimproved farm not far from Sargent, which he homesteaded not long after he had attained his majority. It has been his fortune to have played a helpful part in the development of the county, and while he has been so doing, to have gained the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens here.

Mr. Oberg was born in Sweden. February 10, 1861, and is a son of Carl and Christina (Edgar) Oberg, who passed their entire lives in their native land. In his earlier life Carl Oberg had been a policeman in the city of Vadstena, but eventually turned his attention to farming, and throu,gh industry and careful handling of his affairs became the possessor of a modest competence, on which he retired in the evening of his life. In 1879 William Oberg and his sister, Mrs. Kling, who is now the wife of a prosperous farmer of Saunders county, Nebraska, immigrated to the United States. He had attended the schools of his native land and after locating in Saunders county was an occasional attendant of the dis- trict school for a short term, in the meantime otherwise occupying himself by working as a farm hand. Me was eighteen years of age when he came to this country and was a youth of brawn and intelligence, but had little else to assist him to get a start save his ambition and spirit. Mr. Oberg was not far past his twenty-first birthday when he came to Custer county and homesteaded in section 19, township 20, where he subsequently bought a quarter-section. He has always retained this property, having always been satisfied and seeing no reason for a change, and through careful industry and a proper appreciation of modern methods and devices has transformed his farm into a highly developed tract, on which are splendid buildings and other improvements. Mr. Oberg is a specialist in the field of hog raising, and at this time is doing a large and profitable business in breeding Jersey Reds, in addition to which he has a small herd of Short-horn cattle. His business standing is of the best, and he is known as an enterprising and progressive man and a helpful factor in movements which make for the betterment of his community.

Mr. Oberg was married September 24, 1884, to Miss Anna Monson, who was also born in Sweden, a daughter of Mons and Ingried (Olson) Nelson, who never left their native country. Mrs. Oberg came to the United States with a sister, and they were the only ones to immigrate to this land. To Mr. and Mrs. Oberg there have been born a family of eleven children, of whom there are eight now living: Charley, single, who resides at home and is his father's chief assistant in the cultivation of the farm; Fred, a veterinarian of Osceola, Nebraska, who married Freda Gnmkenmeyer ; Mary, who is the wife of Elmer Leep, a farmer near Milburn ; Jessie, who is the wife of Paul Vankleeck, a farmer and stockman residing in southeastern Wyoming, Goshen county, Wyoming ; Albert and Flossie, who are single and reside at home ; Anna, who resides at home and is a teacher in the public schools ; and Esther, who resides at home.

WILLIAM STOCKHAM. - Among those who took part in the migration to Custer county during the latter '80s, and one who was destined to become a leading farmer and raiser of stock in the I'rokcn Bow community, was William Stockhani. He was at that time a young married man, with but little capital, but possessed of ambition and energy, and the bright prospects with which he viewed the new country have materialized into realities, for he is now

Mr. Stockham was born in Scioto county, Ohio, May 7, 1857, a son of William and Elizabeth (Bennett) Stockman, who were natives of Ohio and who were farming people. There were six children in the family : James, Samuel, William, Joseph, Harvey, and E>avid. When William Stockman was six years of age his father died, and in 1865 his mother came wMth her family to Cass county, Nebraska, where she located four miles east and one-half mile south of the present site of Weeping Willow, where the husband and father had bought land uixjn w-hich he had never had the chance to locate. Nebraska at that time was still a wild country, with buffaloes roaming the plains and Indians still plentiful and. at times, dangerous. Thus it requires only a little imagination to vizualize the dangers faced and the privations endured by this courageous widow with her large family of small children. However, Mrs. Stockham kept her brood together, and she later contracted a second marriage, John W. Russell being a son of this union. The district schools of Cass county furnished William Stockham with his early education, and that he w^as an industrious youth is shown in the fact that when he was only nine years of age he began earning money, by drojiping com by hand, for a neighbor, the corn being thereafter covered by means of a hoe. He remained with his mother until he was past twenty-eight years of age, and on March 30, 1886, near Nehawka, Nebraska, he married Miss Mary E. Ingwerson, a native of that place and a daughter of Frederick and Emma (Heath) Ingwerson. In the Ingwerson familv there were the following children : Tames. Charles E., Albert N., Mary E., Frank W., Mrs. Ida J. Lopp, Richard H., Mrs. Lucy A. St. John, Mrs. Ellen C. ^Mast, and Mrs. Laura I. Wilson.

Not long after their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Stockham came to Custer county, and in 1887 they located on a farm fifteen miles west of Callaway. After residing there a short time, they removed to Wild Horse Flats, in Logan county, near the northeast corner of Custer county, wdiere they took a homestead and tree claim. There they continued to maintain their home for eight years, and thereafter they spent about one year in Custer county, following which they retiirned to the old Stockham place, where they continued its operation successfully for seven years. Then, in 1910, they came to their present place of residence, the D. Heenan ranch, south of Broken Bow, on the South Loup river. Mr. Stockham has continued his agricultural operations here with splendid results, and is known as a skilled representative of the farming industry and an able handler of live stock. During the many years that he has lived in this part of Nebraska he has built up a reputation for sound integrity and honorable dealings, as well as for progressive citizenship, and in the various activities which have occupied his time he has been found reliable and trustworthy - fully deserving of the respect and confidence in which he is held.

Mr. and Mrs. Stockham have become the parents of four sons and five daughters, as follows: William Earl, Richard R., Charles, Alice E.. Stella N., Mabel, Ola, Lottie, and Clarence. The children have been given good educational advantages and are being reared to honorable and useful manhood and womanhood, so that they will be able to fill capably whatever positions life holds for them.

HARRIS M. COLTRANE is a representative Custer county farmer who comes of southern stock. He lives in the vicinity of Sargent, where since 1885 he has been conducting farming operations on a more or less extensive scale and where he has made an enviable reputation as a substantial citizen and successful farmer.

Mr. Coltrane was born down below the Mason and Dixon line, in Randolph county. North Carolina, May 13, 1861. His parents were Daniel L. and Amanda J. (Harris) Coltrane, both natives of North Carolina, where both were raised and lived their entire lives. He was a farmer, which occupation he followed to the exclusion of everything else. In the days of the Civil war he cast his fortunes with his state and served in the Confederate army for eight months, being wounded in the battle of Petersburg, Virginia, at the time of Lee's surrender.

In the father's family were eight children, four of whom are living at the present time: Harris M. is the only one, however, living outside of the county where they were born. Young Harris received his education in the graded schools of North Carolina and very early gave his attention to farming. He came to Custer county hi May, 1885, and for one or two years worked on a ranch. He started farming operations for himself as soon as possible and three years after coming to the county bought a relinquishment known as the Jean Reed timber claim, on which he still lives. He developed the farm, put on all the

In 1892 he was married to Mary E. Twiggs, a daughter of James L. and Eliza E. (Allan) Twiggs. Mrs. Coltrane's parents came to the county in 1882 and homesteaded three miles north of Sargent. In their family were ten children, seven of whom are still living.

Into the family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Coltrane six children have been born : Clarence M. married Bessie Smith of Loup City and is now employed by the National Supply Company at Casper, Wyoming. Loyd A. married Pearl Correll and is homesteading at Proctor, Colorado. Esther E. is teaching school. Clark K., Lewis L., and Hugh H. are at home.

On the Coltrane farm considerable attention is paid to Poland-China hogs and shorthorn cattle, both lines of which are well represented in fashionable types, and this breeding has been a source of profit to Mr. Coltrane. Mrs. Coltrane gives especial attention to White Plymouth Rock chickens and has a classy flock parading the barnyard.

The needs of the country as represented in all patriotic war drives have appealed to the Coltranes and they have responded liberally to every call. They are patriotic, hospitable, courteous and maintain a reputation as good neighbors and excellent citizens.

EUGENE S. SIMS. - Over in the northeast section of the county, in the Comstock region, lives an unassuming fanner who deserves well the rewards of labor and sacrifice and who has given to Custer county the service of his best years.

Eugene S. was born in Avoca, Iowa, March 17, 1880. His parents were George W. and Lucy (Eglebarger) Sims. The father was a native of Henry county, Illinois, and the mother's native state was Iowa. The father was a farmer and came to Custer county in. 1894. Prior to his advent into this county he had farmed in Iowa and Missouri. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Federal army and served three years, was twice slightly wounded and once taken prisoner. By strange coincidence his enlistment into the army was on his birthday, his discharge was dated on his birthday and his death occurred on the anniversary of his birth. There were ten children in the family, but Eugene S. is the only one living in Custer county. One brother was killed in the Philippine war and one, Basil, is now serving in the aviation department of the United States army in Europe.

public schools and in that state too he rolled his first furrow and followed his first plough. It was there that he learned both the theory and practice of farming and qualified himself for his present operations.

His domestic life dates from the 2d day of November, 1902, when he led to the altar and claimed as his wife Letha E. Coover. She is the daughter of Jesse B. and Sarah (Hayes) Coover. The Coovers are wellknown people in the vicinty of Muddy Valley, where they were pioneers since 1888. In the Coover family were seven children, but with the exception of Mrs. Sims none lives in Custer county. Mr. and Mrs. Sims have an interesting family of young and growing children. Merle was born August 19, 1903 ; Pearl, July 10, 1905 : CTen, August 18, 1907 ; Paul, September 14, 1914.

Since 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Sims have been residents of Custer county. The 160 acres of land upon which he is living was purchased with the result of his own toil. He has it well improved, in a high state of cultivation and makes profitable returns from his stockraising and feeding. Politically Mr. Sims affiliates with the Republican party. His wife is a member of the Christian church. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and also to the Woodmen of the World. The Sims family are modest, unpretentious people and enjoy a reputation for honesty and frugality that ranks them well in the communitv.

SAMUEL WADDINGTON. - Among those who have contributed largely to the prosperity of Custer county, and whose patient industry and well directed energ}' have brought individual competencies, may be mentioned Samuel Waddirigton, who is one of the extensive land-owners of the county.

Mr. Waddington was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 12. 1850. His father, James Waddington, was a native of England and when a lx)y accompanied his parents to the United States, settling in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1835. There he grew to manhood and there he married Lydia Boreland. after which event he Ijccame a resident of Tuscarawas county, where he made his home until 1886, when he came to Custer countv. Nebraska, and secured the homestead on which he lived until his death. His wife passed away in Illinois and is buried in Custer county. They were the parents of sixteen children, as follows: Hannah, who is deceased, was the wife of William \'. True, of Colfax. Colorado: Elizabeth married C. F. Carroll, and her death occurred in Ohio, in 1917; Grace married C. C. Carroll and resides at Oconee, Illinois ; Samuel is the subject of this sketch ; Burgarell died in Colorado, in ^lay, 1918 ; Eleanor is the wife of T. P. Bane and resides at Arrowsmith, Illinois: David is a resident of 0:onee, Illinois ; Henry lives at Riverside, California ; Andrew resides at Fowler, Colorado : Nancy is the wife of Abram Taylor, a resident of South Dakota ; Ann. widow of William Scott, resides at Fowler, Colorado ; Isaac died in Custer county, twelve years ago ; John died in Idaho, three years ago ; James is a resident of Montana; William S. resides in Custer county ; and one daughter died in childhood.

Samuel \\'addington was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, in Ohio and Illinois, and when a young man liegan working on a farm by the month. In 1888 he came to Custer county and secured as a homestead the northeast quarter of section 14, township 18, range 23, besides which he pre-empted 160 acres - the east half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarter of section 11 of this township. He was desirous of obtaining a good, level tract of land, and this seemed to answer the purpose. Here he was engaged in general farming until the dry years came on, when he made u]) his mind that stock-raising would be more suitable to this part of the county. Consequently he invested in young stock, and from the first his enterprise began to prosper. As his resources increased, he invested in more land, and he is to-day the owner of 3.800 acres, all in one body and known as Waddington Ranch. This land lies in townships 18 and 19. range 23, and is especially adapted for stock-raising. In past years Mr. \\'addington has operated extensively in raising and feeding cattle, and for many years past he has raised pure-bred Percheron horses, owning at the present time some very fine animals.

Mr. \\"ad(ling'ton was united in marriage to Miss Margaret OUiver, a native of the same neighborh(x:)d as her husband. Their home has been blessed with seven children : Nettie is the wife of M. S. Cooper, of Blaine county, Nebraska ; Carrie married Chalmers G. Empfield, of .\nselmo : Eva married Levi Empfield and resides in Callaway : Bert is married and engaged in farming in Custer county ; Jennie married Albert Hill and resides in Custer count)' ; McKinley is still at home : and Ada is the wife of John Schmitz, of Custer county.

Mr. Waddington may truthfully be called a self-made man, as he never had a dollar given to him and all he has accumulated has been won through his own efforts and good management. He is not a member of any religious denomination but is inclined to a belief in harmony with the Methodist faith. His political views are in accord with the principles of the Republican party. At the age of sixty-eight years he is a man well preserved, still active in the work of the fields and ranch, and his circle of friends is co-extensive with his circle of acquaintances.

JOSEPH EXLEY. - A ver>' successful farm operator and one who has endured the hardships of early days, lives on a well kept farm in the Sargent vicinity and is introduced to the reader by the name on the headline.

Joseph Exley was bom near Eddyville, Iowa. March 1, 1852. He was the third son of Thomas and Cynthia Elizabeth (Lafoon) Exley. The father a native of New Castle, England, descended from a long line of strictly Saxon ancestors. The mother was a native of North Carolina. Thomas Exley was a bookkeeper by profession, having served an apprenticeship for seven years in England before coming to America. Sometime in the year 1841 he came to the United States and located near Burlington, Iowa, and immediately began farming. The early date of his settlement in Iowa enabled him to get government land, which he did, and improved it and by what he earned from his homestead he pur - chased other land until at one time he owned five hundred acres of Iowa land and had it well stocked and well improved. He and his good wife were the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are still living. Joseph Exley and Mrs. Ed. Leach of Sargent are the only ones living in this county.

The subject of this writing spent his early days in Iowa, where he received the instruction afforded by the countr}- schools and where he had his first instruction in the art of soil culture. He landed in Custer county March 13, 1884, and filed on the homestead in section 7, township 20, range 18, which is still his home.

He was married September 13, 1877, to Charity E. Shores, of Lucas county, Iowa. She was a very estimable lady and became the companion of his early life, the maker of his home and the mother of his six children. In 1907 she was called from the earthly home to that land where rewards are supposed to await the faithful. Since her demise the husband has maintained the farm and the farm home, some of his children living with him and looking after the internal affairs of the household.

names of children born into the Exley home: Nora Edith, born in 1879, is the wife of William B. Wright, a farmer living west of Taylor, in Loup countv : Thomas Ira, born in 1880, died January 7, 1899; Orville Malvin, bom in 1883, married Etta Zion, and is operating a farm east of Sargent ; Cynthia \'iola, born in 1885, is single ; Lawrence Frederick, bom in 1887, married Jennie Lovett, and is farming in A\'yoming : Arthur Harden, born in 1894, married Lucy \'anderveen and lives on the home place.

Mr. Exley now owns 320 acres of good land, well improved and upon which he makes his home, but the active farming operations he has delegated to the children. All that is to be seen on the Exley fami is the result of labor and soil production in the years past. We are told that Mr. Exley arrived in Custer county with but a small portion of this world's goods and that his climbing operations commenced at the bottom rimg of the ladder. His children, however, stayed with him and made the farm their home until they were twentyone years of age and he credits them with being of invaluable assistance. During the years of accumulation his reliance was upon toil, he never had recourse to speculation, he never made traps of dollars with which to catch dimes, his labor and his crops paid all his bills and put the improvements upon his place. There are few more striking examples of common thrift and simple energ\- than the subject of this sketch affords

FRANK WOOD. - One of the prominent stockmen of the river region in the South Loup countn- is Frank Wood, who is now in his thirty-sixth year and in the prime of vigorous manhood. He was born on the old home place of which he is now manager. He is a son of Joshua Wood, a Custer county pioneer who was one of the men who had to do with the county's organization. He was elected the first sheriff of Custer county, but did not accept the office. Joshua Wood is sixt}--six years old, in 1918, and lives in Kearney, Nebraska. His wife, Etta (Kilgore) \\'ood, mother of Frank, came of a prominent pioneer family and she is still living. They became the parents of two sons and one daughter - Walter is thirty-nine years of age and is manager of one ranch which is operated in connection with the Wood holdings : Mrs. Ada Overmire is thirty-eight years of age and lives on a farm near Cumro ; and Frank, of tliis review, is the youngest of the number.

made of Hereford cattle. Here are to be found fine horses and well bred hogs, an automobile, good farm machinery, fences, windmills, and everything in the line of farm and stock equipment.

In 1903 Frank Wood was united in marriage to Miss Abbie George, a daughter of Walter A. George, who is well and prominently known throughout the entire state, and who served two terms as state treasurer. More specific mention of Mr. George will be found on other pages of this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Wood have two bright sons, Leo and Claudie, who are in school and pursuing the course so common to young Americans of their class. Mrs. Wood is a member of the Baptist church at Kearney, Nebraska.

The Wood ranch is one of the oldest and most famous in the south part of the county. The brothers' holdings comprise approximately 3,000 acres, and those of the father 3,360 acres - a tract which, as it comprises rivervalley land, is exceedingly valuable. They own about 1,000 head of cattle, which makes theirs one of the largest cattle ranches in the county at the present day.

Mr. Wood and his wife are excellent people and are highly respected by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Patriotic and generous of disposition, they have been contributors to every department of war work, responsive to all appeals and in the production of foodstufl^s they belong to that great class of American citizens who maintain the bulwarks of the production which feeds the army and has sustained the allies in the great world war.

ALECK NELSON. - If they come from Sweden their credit is good and they are hard workers. That is the case with Aleck Nelson, whose home and fann are in the vicinity of Sargent. He was born in Carlskoga, Sweden, November 16, 1845, and is a son of Nels Nelson and Mary (Olson) Nelson, both descendants of a long Swedish ancestral line in the country they always lived. The early years of Mr. Nelson's career were spent in his native land, where he received a good education and learned economy by practical application of frugal and industrious habits. He came to America in 1863, where he made his first home and where he began agricultural pursuits as carried on in this country. From Illinois he went to Clinton, Iowa, where he was employed in general work of various kinds for nearly seven years.

the spring of 1879, at which time he filed on the homestead on which he has lived ever since. He now owns two hundred and forty acres of good land, well improved and equipped so that life for him and his family is much easier than in former years, when he was making his start. Mr. Nelson has had his full share of pioneer hardships and privations. He made eleven trips from his place to Grand Island and one from his place to Kearney and one to North Loup, with a yoke of oxen. The distance traveled in making these journeys was two thousand six hundred miles. It seems almost impossible that people could live under such conditions but it was done. These places mentioned were the railroad points and nearest markets for the farm produce, and the trips had to be made.

On one occasion he recalls having stopped in Ord over night and the only shelter to be obtained was an old livery barn, in which he had hard work to keep from freezing. Again on another occasion he and a neighbor made a trip to the Dismal swamps for cedar posts and were caught in a blizzard and came near losing their lives.

The great pleasure of his life came in the spring of 1871, when he led to the marriage altar, in Carroll county, Illinois, Miss Isabel Ellis, a young lady of splendid character and fine quality, whose parents were natives of Scotland, coming to the United States in 1866. Mrs. Nelson's parents lived in Illinois from the time of their settlement until their death. There were two children in the family circle of her parents, but she is the only one living in Nebraska.

Into the prosperous home of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson the years brought four bright, promising children, but from time to time the shadows fell and only one now survives. Emil Nelson married Bertha Buhlke and is now established in a home of his own. He is employed in a garage at Burwell, Nebraska.

This excellent family belongs to the Swedish Lutheran church. Mr. Nelson is high in the circles of Odd Fellowship, of which order he has been a member for forty-nine years, having passed through all the chairs of the local and higher lodges. He is independent in politics, and votes always for the man he thinks best fitted for the office.

JOSEPH FAJMON, who is a well known farmer and respected citizen of Custer county, has largely made his own way in the world, as his father died when he was only two years old ; nevertheless he owns a large body of productive land and is one of the large grain farmers of this section. He was born November 1, 1872, in Saunders county, Nebraska, the elder of two children born to Joseph and Mary (Penas) Fajmon.

The parents of Joseph Fajmon were born in Moravia, Austria, and lived there until 1871, when they immigrated to the United States. They were quiet, industrious people who left old ties and old country in the hope of bettering their financial condition in another land. After reaching Nebraska, the father homesteaded in Saunders county, with the expectaton of proving up and developing his land into a profitable farm. During the first winter he worked in a smelter at Omaha, in order to secure capital with which to begin farming, having to walk the entire distance back and forth, on account of there being no railroads of any kind at that time in that neighborhood. He died in 1874, the father of two children : Joseph and Mary, the latter of whom is the wife of Frank Kosmata, and they live in Missouri. The mother lives in Garfield county, Nebraska.

Joseph Fajmon obtained his education in the public schools. He was seventeen years of age when he began farming for himself and knows how much hard work sometimes has to be done for a wage of ten dollars a month. He was steadv and industrious and gradually acquired land until now he owns 320 acres, all well improved and fully stocked. He has carried on his farming operations continuously and intelligently and is a large producer of corn and wheat, the great essentials in the year of 1918. Mr. Fajmon can remember occasions during his early agricultural life, when he sold com at nine cents a bushel, and precious wheat at 35 cents. At that time there was but little grain grown in this part of the state. Mr. Fajmon's farm is situated on section 12, township 1, Custer county.

Mr. Fajmon was married at Burwell, Nebraska, January 2, 1899, to Miss Mary Kolousek, a daughter of Frank and Antonia (Pochop) Kolousek, who have two other children, namely : Frances, who is the wife of Mike Hulinsky, a farmer living in Valley county, Nebraska ; and Frank, who is a farmer in California, and married Frances Matousek. Mrs. Fajmon's parents came to Custer county in 1884, and secured the homestead on which they yet live. Mr. and Mrs. Fajmon have the following children : Mary, Phyllis, Anna, Rosie, Charles, Emma, Frances, Frank, and Lillie. Mr. Fajmon takes interest in all that concerns the substantial development of Custer county, but has no desire to hold political office, and he casts his vote outside of party

GEORGE C. MARSH is one of the pioneers who came to Custer county in the '80s, and he has contributed his share to the civic and industrial development and upbuilding of the county. Mr. Marsh was born in the state of Ohio, on the 9th of August, 1860, and is a son of George Adam Marsh and Maria (Haring) Marsh, both of whom were natives of the old Buckeye state and each of whom attained to the age of seventy-three years : they became the parents of eight children, of whom George C. and Charles are residents of Nebraska, Charles being a farmer in Buffalo county.

George C. Marsh was twelve years of age at the time of the family removal from Ohio to Indiana, in which latter state he was reared to manhood and in which he received the advantages of the public schools. He was a resident of Marshall county, Indiana, for a period of twelve years, and in 1884 he came to Nebraska, his arrival in Custer county taking place in February of that year, and his tangible financial resources at the time having been just twelve and one-half dollars. He purchased a relinquishment to a claim and later filed entry on a timber claim. In 1892 he removed to the farm which is now his home. Mr. Marsh grappled earnestly and vigorously with the contending forces that are ever to be encountered in the development of a new country, bore his share of trials and hardships, but he so ordered his course that eventually definite success crowned his efforts. That he has made good, and more than good, is evidenced in his possessions and surroundings of the present day. He has 800 acres of good land, all clear from indebtedness, and on the same he raises good grades of horses and cattle, as well as Duroc-Jersey hogs of the best typje. His success as an agriculturist and stockraiser has been due to his energy, thrift, and good judgment. Aside from his farm enterprise he is a stockholder in the Eddyville State Bank, at Eddyville, Dawson county. Throughout his entire business career Mr. Marsh has adhered firmly to the principle of ordering all transactions on a cash basis, and thus he has never perniitted himself to become involved in perplexing indebtedness. In the early period of his residence in Custer county Mr. Marsh worked eight years on the Black ranch, of which he was foreman during five years of this time. By this employment he earned the money to buy his first land. He has been a man of persistent industry, has been progressive and liberal in his civic attitude, has achieved worthy success, and has at all times commanded unequivocal popular esteem.

In politics Mr. Marsh gives his allegiance to the Democratic party and he has been influential in public affairs of a local order. He has served in various public offices in his home community and was for some time a valued member of the board of county comniissioners, his frequent election to office indicating the high estimate placed upon -him by his fellow citizens. Mr. Marsh is affiliated with the Broken Bow lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the camp of the Modern Woodmen of America at Burr Oak. His home farm is eligibly situated in section 24, township 14, range 20, and he receives his mail on one of the rural star-delivery routes from Broken Bow.

The year 1891 recorded the marriage of Mr. Marsh to Miss Hattie A. Tidyman, who was born in a pioneer dugout in Yo-rk county, Nebraska, in 1869, the year of her nativity indicating that her parents settled in Nebraska prior to the admission of the state to the Union. Mr. and Airs. Marsh have five children, concerning whom brief record is offered in conclusion of this review : Mrs. Lottie Coen resides in Torrington, Wyoming; Mrs. Alta Abbott is the wife of a prosperous Custer county farmer ; Essie remains at the parental home ; Clarence Ellsworth is operating one of his father's farms ; and Harvey George remains a member of the parental home circle.

ROBERT N. KEYES. - Over in the vicinity of Sargent lives Robert N. Keyes, whose life story is here epitomized. Robert was born in Wisconsin, the northern state that puts iron and vigor into the blood of its native born sons and daughters. The date of this event was March 8, 1875. His father was Benjamin Keyes and his mother Lida T. (Tascot) Keyes.

The father was a native of Wisconsin and the mother was born in the Empire state. Mr. Keyes, senior, followed farming in Wisconsin until 1883. when he came with his family to Custer county and located a homestead in section 7, township 20, range 18, where he lived until the spring of 1891, when he moved to Broken Bow, where he died the next year. The family retained their home in the county seat until 1894. During their stay in Broken Bow, after the death of the father, two sisters of Mr Keyes died the same year, after which the family returned to the farm. Notwithstanding it was the dry year of '94, they went to work and have made that place their home ever since. The only child in the family of the senior Keyes now living is the subject of this sketch. The family were members of the Baptist church. Mr. Keyes during his life time voted the Republican ticket.

Robert N. received his education in the district schools and by actual experience and hard knocks learned the science of farming and the care of stock. It was in early youth that he laid the foundations of present day success by the formation of good and industrious habits.

He was married June 2, 1904, to Maude Willhort. in Round Valley. She is a daughter of Emanuel and Louisa (Paxton) Willhort. The Willhort family were old settlers and well respected in their community. Before her marriage Mrs. Keyes was a teacher and taught one term in the vicinity of her present home.

As a result of this union seven children were born, six of whom are still living, making some sign and cheer for the home. They are Pearl, Ralph, Alfred, Alloma, Mabel, and Robert.

The Keyes farm is the home of Durham cattle of fine and selected grades. Other stock, as hogs and cattle, complete the complement and sustain the high grade. The farm consists of three hundred and twenty acres, about equally divided between pasture and cultivated lands. This proportion makes it a splendid stock farm and a very profitable one as well.

The neighbors speak highly of the Keyes family and rate them as helpful members of the community. Mr. Keyes is independent in politics and pays attention to the qualities of the candidate rather than the party to which he belongs.

GEORGE AIARY. - One of the foremost citizens of Custer county is George Mary, who is vice-president of the Oconto State' Bank and proprietor of a hardware and implement business at this place, and who has been identified with Nebraska development for more than thirty years. He was reared at Cleveland, Ohio, and he remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age. in the meanwhile attending school and learning the wheelwright trade.

In 1877 Mr. Mary came as far west as Wichita. Kansas, where he operated a meat market for three years. He then sought a business opportunity at Carroll, Iowa, where he worked for a time as a carpenter and also was a clerk in a hardware store. In 1884 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, where for two years he conducted a meat market at Lexington. In the summer of 1886, after obtaining the contract to furnish meat to Kilpatrick Brothers & Collins, contractors on the Burlington Railroad, he moved to Broken Bow. and subsequently he followed the railroad into the heart of the sand-hill country. When ready to become a permanent settler, Mr. Mary took a homestead which included a_ part of the town of Mullins, which later became the county seat of the then unorganized county of Hooker. There he became a citizen of public prominence and influence, and he ser^'ed as the first county clerk of Hooker county. In 1892 he came to C^conto and established his general hardware and agricultural-implement business. He accepted the office of vice-president of the Oconto State Bank, and additionally finds part of his time occupied in superintending his ranch property, comprising 1,300 acres. Mr. Mary has one son, George J., who was for four years cashier of the Oconto State Bank, and who, in connection with our nation's participation in the world war, entered the national army, as a member of Battery C, Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth Field Artillery, which was first stationed at Camp Dodge, Iowa.