Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 3 of 32)

After having given eighteen months to work in this connection, the romance of railway service palled upon him, and he resumed the vocation of his earlier years, that of farming. He continued his association with agricultural enterprise in Illinois for one year and then, in 1885, he came to Adams county, Nebraska, where he was similarly engaged for one year. He then came to Custer county, where he continued to be actively engaged in farming until 1911, when he was elected county sheriff. He immediately impressed himself upon the community as a man of vigor, resourcefulness and executive power, and the estimate placed upon his service was best shown in his retention of otiHce for a period of seven years, during which he gave an administration that shall always figure as one of the most admirable in the annals of the official history of the county. In politics Mr. Wilson is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party, and he has been active and influential in its councils in Custer county. He still retains active association with farm industry and is the owner of a half-section of land in Custer county. As in the past, he here gives much attention to the raising of live stock upon a somewhat extensive scale, and he has been specially successful in the raising of cattle. Mr. Wilson is a royal-arch Mason and is affiliated also with the Independent Order of ()dd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of Pythias, in each of which his popularity is of unequivocal order.

March 3, 1S92, recorded the marriage of i Mr. Wilson to Miss Nellie M. Harris, the ceremony having been performed at Loup City, this state. Mrs. Wilson was born in Ohio and is a daughter of John Harris, who was one of the sterling pioneers of Custer county, where he obtained a homestead and where he became well and favorably known. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have six children: Hazel is the wife of Harry Holly, of Broken Bow : Gladys is the wife of Ora Swancutt, a farmer near .\nsley, this county : Beulah was graduated in the Broken Bow high school as a member of the class of 1918; and Clarence. Doris, and Leland (called "Woodrow" by his companions) are attending the public schools. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is actively interested in its work.

ANDREW PETERSON is a representative farmer and good citizen of Custer county. Nebraska, who has spent almost his entire life here. He was born near Copenhagen, Denmark, November 5, 1882, and is one of a family of eighteen children born to his parents. Milter and Mary (Peterson) Peterson, who are still living, hale and hearty, at Weissert, Custer county, to which village they retired from their homestead, in 1915. They came to the United States and to Callaway, Nebraska, July 4, 1888, and took up a homestead claim in Custer county, north of Oconto, where they continued their residence until they moved to Weissert, as previously mentioned. Of their large family the following survive : Peter, who is superintendent of a screw factory in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, married Hannah Gould; Pete, a bachelor, lives near Oconto ; I\Iary, who is the widow of Nels Johnson, lives five miles south of Berwyn ; Milter, who is a farmer and lives at Weissert, married Mabel Govier ; Carrie, who is the wife of Christ Peterson, lives at Fremont, Nebraska ; Lena is the wife of Henry Henderson, who is clerk in a furniture store in Council Bluff's. Iowa ; Andrew is the subject of this sketch; James, who is a section boss on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, at Broken Bow, married Lucy Luther; Christ, who is fireman on a railroad and who lives at Grand Island, Nebraska, married Ruby Woods ; and Pretrena is the wife of Daniel Lewis, a railroad section hand, at Oconto, Nebraska. The parents of the above family were members of the Lutheran church in Denmark, but since coming to the United States have been united with the Church of God. The father is a Republican in his political views.

Andrew Peterson was six years old when he accompanied his parents to the United States and his education was obtained in the public schools in Nebraska. He was reared on his father's farm and has followed agricultural pursuits ever since. He was married March 3, 1909, to Mrs. Efi^e (Barnes) Mc- Caslin, a daughter of John and Emma (Leffler) Barnes. The father of Mrs. Peterson was horn in Illinois and the mother in Ohio. They came to Custer county in the spring of 1885 and homesteaded in the neighborhood of Swiss valley, where they lived until 1910, when they removed to Superior, Wisconsin. There Mr. Barnes bought the farm which he continues to operate. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had six children, namely: Effie. the wife of the subject of this review ; Clarence, who is a carpenter by trade and who lives at Broken Bow. married Edna Evans ; Orville. who is a railroad man living at State Line. Wisconsin, married Eva Spraker; William. Merle, and Osa. the younger daughter, remain with their parents at Superior. Wisconsin. By her first marriage Mrs. Peterson had three children, the one survivor being Jesse ^IcCashn, who was born August 23, 1902, and who assists Mr. Peterson on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have one son and two daughters : Elmer C, born February' 2, 1910; Dorothy, bom December 19, 1912 ; and Emma, born June 24, 1916. Mr. Peterson belongs to the Church of God. He is a Republican in h's political views, like his father, but has never been a candidate for office.

CLIFFORD N. BRITTAN was bom October 9, 1854, in Lafayette, Indiana. His parents, Francis and Louisa (Gates) Brittan, were natives of England and of their thirteen children only four are now living: Luther A., Mrs. Clara Beard, Mrs. Laura Dix, and Clifford N. The father came to the United States when twenty-one years of age. He landed in New York and at once entered into the silk mercantile business, in which he continued the rest of his life - or until ripe old age caused his retirement.

Mr. Brittan's first recollection of nionev earned was assorting the small nuggets of mineral that were removed from mines and thrown into the refuse dumps by the miners. His father moved from New York to Indiana, and from there to Dodgeville, Wisconsin. From the Badger state he moved to Burlington. Kansas, about the year 1855. Three years later, in 1858, he moved to Kansas City, but he decided that it was a very unsafe place for a man of Union proclivities. Accordingly, he started for Peoria. Illinois, to look for a situation, and expected his wife and seven small children to follow later by boat. Travel was by water, for the reason that railroads were very scarce and poorly operated in those early days. The steamboats made regular trips. Mrs. Brittan succeeded in getting her family aboard without accident, and the same evening the Confederate soldiers ca])tured the boat, near Boonesville, and started down the river with their prize. Some time during the night they learned that General Lyons had defeated the Confederate army near Boonesville, and this caused them to abandon the boat. The next morning General I^yons took charge of the boat, which he held for three days. Mrs. Brittan sent word to the General concerning her situation and finallv the boat's crew were allowed to proceed with the boat to St. Louis, where they landed the passengers. From here Mrs. Brittan and her family proceeded by boat to Peoria, Illinois, where thev met the father.

by trade and occupation. He was married on Christmas day, 1871, in Quincy, Iowa, to Alice B. Jones, who was bom and reared at that place and who is a daughter of Luke R. Jones and Elizabeth (Parke) Jones, both natives of West Virginia. In the Clifford Brittan family are five children : Frederic C, Walter M., Charles E., Harry F., and Hazel B. \\'right. Frederic C. lives on the old Holliway ranch near Arnold and has a water-power plant which furnishes electric j^ower and lights for the village of Arnold. Walter M. is indi\idually mentioned on other pages. Charles E. is located at Alliance, Nebraska, and at present is vice-president of the First State Bank of Alliance. He is also vice-president of the Antioch Bank, at Antioch, and is a potash dealer and operator. Harry is a fanner and ranchman living ten miles southwest of Callawax', where he conducts ver\- successful and extensive ranch operations. Hazel B. is the wife of Carl Wright, of Callaway, who is the Callaway miller.

Clifford N. Brittan came to Custer county in 1889 and engaged in the hotel and liver\' business. During a period of ten years he gave his attention to fanning and ranching, still living in Callaway. In 1917 he sold 1.44o acres of good land, but he still owns a full section - 640 acres. In addition to this he has a fine town property and is counted a very successful man. Public-spirited, responsive to every appeal for community improvement, he is an excellent citizen. In politics he is independent, and religiously he is connected with the Methodist church.

CHARLES A. GRANGER, who is a well known and respected citizen of Comstock, Nebraska, is one of the substantial men of Custer county, fanning aMd stock-raising being industries in which he is extensively engaged. Mr. Granger has been a resident of Nebraska for over forty years, but his birth took place in Macomb county. ^Michigan, June 24, 1843. His parents were Haskel and Eunice (Dibble) Granger, these being gooG old New England names, but his father was bom in New York and his mother in Canada. Thev were the parents of seven children, three of whom are living, namelv : Charles A. ; Sallie. the wife of James Chrisman, a retired resident of Wahoo, Nebraska ; and Evelyn, the wife of Edward Knod, their home being on their farm in Saunders county, Nebraska.

prises in different cities. During an early period he owned and operated a dray line in Michigan City, Indiana, and for three years he conducted a meat market at Crown Point, that state. He then bought a hotel in that village and conducted it two years. In March, 1877, he brought his family to Nebraska and settled in Saunders county. His death occurred in August of the same year. The mother survived him many years, having l»ssed her eighty-ninth birthday when she passed away, in 1915. They were people of real worth and were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The father was a Republican in politics and was a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Charles A. Granger attended the common schools in Indiana and assisted his father, who. with his other activities, was engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mr. Granger accompanied his parents to Nebraska and his father's death, so shortly afterward, placed added responsibilities on his shoulders. In the spring of 1893 Mr. Granger came to Custer county and bought land. He resided on that tract eleven years, making many improvements, and he then sold the property and moved into Comstock, where he has resided ever since. In the meanwhile he purchased another farm, west of the town. This place contains 1 10 acres, and he directs the fanning and stock-raising industries without living on the farm, making it profitable because he has had abundant experience and still keeps abreast of the times along agricultural lines.

Mr. Granger was married April 25. 1869, at Hebron, Indiana, to Miss Marion Matheson. and they have seven children, as follows : Lydia is the wife of P. T. Walton, and they live at Plattsmouth, Nebraska ; Zara, who is a farmer near Sargent, Custer county, married Nannie Seidel ; Harry, who is in the well and windmill business at Comstock, married Inez Heller: Clarence, who is a farmer northwest of Comstock. married Maud Cleveland; Eva is the wife of Arnold Simpson, a farmer near Sargent; Florence is the wife of Mahlon Cleveland, a railroad man living at Aurora. Nebraska ; and Edith is the wife of Charles Cleveland, a farmer north of Comstock. It is a great satisfaction to Mr. and Mrs. Granger that their children are all so well settled in life and that all, with the exception of two, live near the old home, making it possible for them to have the companionship of their thirty-three grandchildren and their three great-grandchildren. Since taking up his residence at Comstock Mr. Granger has taken an active interest in civic affairs, but not as a politician. His many years have given him a wider experience than some of his fellow citizens and his ripened judgment is frequently consulted in matters of local importance. Mr. Granger is a veteran of the Civil war. He enlisted, at Valparaiso, Indiana, in January, 1862, as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and he served one year. He was then discharged on account of sickness. He took part in several minor skirmishes but in no important battles.

CHARLES L. MULLINS, M. D. - The medical profession of Custer county has no more skilled or distinguished member than Dr. Charles L. Mullins, who, both as a private practitioner and in numerous positions of public trust, has gained a state-wide reputation. He is a veteran of the Spanish-American war and in connection with the nation's participation in the great world war he has been an indefatigable worker in behalf of the government's interests. The high esteem in which he is held by his professional confreres is evidenced by his being chosen president of the Nebraska State Medical Society.

Dr. Charles L. Mullins was born at Winchester, Clark county, Missouri, January 27. 1867, a son of William B. and Anna M. (Kephart") Mullins. His paternal grandfather, Reuben Baker Mullins, was born in Virginia and at an early day went overland into Kentucky, as a contemporary of Daniel Boone. He was married in Virginia to Betsy Love before emigrating, and both passed the rest of their lives in the Blue Grass state. The maternal grandfather of Doctor Mullins was Henry Kephart, who was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Kentucky, married Sallie Teaters. and finally settled in the neighborhood of Blakesburg, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming until his death and where Mrs. Kephart also spent her last years. William B. Mullins was born in Pendleton county, Kentucky, in 1814, and as a young man adopted the profession of school teaching, a capacity in which he went to Blakesburg, Wapello county, Iowa, where he wedded Miss Anna M. Kephart, who was born in Kentucky, in 1833. Some time after their marriage they moved to Winchester, Clark county, Missouri, where tl-.ey were residing at the outbreak of the Civil war. and Mr. Mullins enlisted in the Twenty-first Regiment of Missouri Volunteer Infantr)'. At the close of a gallant service, he returned to Missouri, resumed merchandising, and continued to be so occupied until his death, which occurred Auenst 11, 1884. Mrs. Mullins survived him until 1917. They were the parents of six children : WilHam H.. of Missouri ; R. B., a dental practitioner of Broken Bow ; Mary, the widow of C. W. Bollinger, formerly a retail and wholesale music dealer of Oskaloosa, Iowa; Sallie, the wife of S. W. Parr, of that place ; Dr. Charles L. ; and Luzenna, the wife of Fred Trico, of Oskaloosa. low^a. William B. Mullins was a Mason and in politics was a Democrat.

Charles L. Mullins attended the public schools of Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, and as a youth took up the study of pharmacy, completing his education therein at Northwestern University, Chicago. He was registered and began the practice of pharmacy in Cass county, Nebraska, where he resided for several years, and while thus engaged he became interested in the study of medicine, to which he applied himself personally for some time before entering the r)maha Medical College. Graduated with his degree in the class of 1891, he began practice at Gretna. Nebraska. In 1892 he removed to Eagle: in 1894 he came to Ansley, Custer county ; and in 1895 he centered his activities at Broken Bow, where he has since carried on a general practice. He is a close and careful student of his profession, and on several occasions has taken post graduate courses at Chicago.

Not long after his location at Broken Bow, the Spanish-American war came on, and Doctor IVIullins enlisted as a medical officer, receiving the rank of captain with the First Nebraska \'olunteers. He serv'ed in the Philippines and rendered valuable service to his country as a member of the first board of health at Manila after the American occupation. Much of his time recentlv. in fact since the entrance of the United States into the great war, has been devoted to war work of varied character, and he gave specially efifective service as a member of the exemption board of Custer county. Several years ago Dr. Mullins served as coroner of Custer county, and at present he is county health officer, a post which he has held for a number of terms. He is also a member of the Nebraska state board of medical examiners. He belontrs to the Custer County Medical Society, of which he has been secretary for a number of vears, and of which he w'as formerly i)resident : he was president of the Nebraska State Medical Society for the year 1918; and he is a member also of the Missouri \'allev Medical Societv and the -American Medical Association. In politics he is a Democrat, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, includuw the Scottish Rite.

Bv a former marriage Doctor Mullins has three children. The eldest, Tom P.. is engaged in the practice of dentistry at Valparaiso, Nebraska. Charles L., Jr., is a graduate of \\'est Point Militan,- Academy, 1917, and at the time of this writing he is a captain in the Twelfth Infantry, United States Army, stationed at Camp Fremont, California, awaiting orders to go to France. The only daughter, Mary, is the wife of H. Mashbum. a California ranchman. Dr. Mullins w-as married October 18, 1904, to Thankful Z. (Potts) Day, who was born in Kansas, but reared in California. She is a member of the Episcopal church.

ALBERT P. JOHNSON, now one of the leading members of the Custer county legal fraternity, did not initiate his active career as a professional man. It was not until he had for some years been engaged in ])ursuits of a commercial nature that he took up the study of law, but since his entrance upon this field of endeavor, in 1903, he has advanced steadily in prestige and to-day he is adjudged one of Broken Bow's leading attorneys. Mr. Johnson was born at Racine, Wisconsin, October 22. 1871, a son of Burt and Caroline ( Swinson) Johnson.

Shortly after the close of the Civil war, Burt Johnson took up his residence at Racine. Wisconsin, where he was married and settled down to work as a skilled mechanic in the wagon shops of the Mitchell Lewis Company. Later he secured business interests oi' his own, and, becoming independent in means, in 191 1 he retired from active affairs and removed to Kearney. Nebraska, where he and his wife now reside, in the enjoyment of the comforts that come to those who have lived industrious and honorable lives. While not connected with any particular religious denomination, thcv are Christian people who live the true faith and whose actions are guided hv honorable motives. Mr. Johnson is a Prohibitionist in politics. They are the parents of four sons : J. \\'., who is a caqienter of Broken Bow ; Albert P., whose name introrluces this re\ ie^ - ; Ed<vard J., who is engaged in farming in Lincoln county, Nebraska : and Benjamin S.. who likewise is a successful farmer, with a property west of Mema, Custer county.

The public schn^'s of Racine, ^^"isconsin. furnished .Albert P. Johnson with his early education, following which he enrolled as a student at a school at Gibbon. Nebraska, this school later beconiine York College. York, Nebraska. He was duly graduated after com- ])letin<' the prescribed course, in 1891. For several years he was variously employed, but in August, 1895, came to Broken Bow, where he began clerking. He gradually drifted into the insurance business, and while thus employed came into contact with a number of problems that attracted his interest to the law. Deciding that he would follow a professional career, he began studying under Kirkpatrick Brothers, a well known law firm of the city at that time, and eventually he went to the State University of Oregon, where he completed a course and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1903. On his return to Broken Bow, he at once engaged in practice, and since that time has devoted himself unremittingly to his calling. For a time he was engaged alone, but eventually became, as now, a member of the firm of Sullivan, Squires & Johnson. This is considered one of the strong legal combinations of the county, and has been retained in numerous cases where important litigated interests have been opposed. Not long after his admittance to the bar, Mr. Johnson was elected county attorney of Custer county, and he acted in that capacity during 1904 and 1905, since which time he has not cared to have his name used in connection with public positions, preferring to give his large clientele his undivided attention and energies. He belongs to the county and state bar associations and to the ^lodern Woodmen of America, and in political faith he is a Democrat.

Mr. Johnson vi^as married, March 4, 1894, to Miss Lola M. Hogg, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of John A. and Margaret (Hall) Hogg, pioneers of the Hawkeye state. To this union there have been born five children : Esther R., who is the wife of Merlin C. Yannice ; Albert Paul, who is in the United States .\rmy, as a member of Flying Squadron C, stationed in Georgia at the time of this writing: Thelma R., the wife of William Schultz ; and Margaret and Carol, public-school students. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their children belong to the United Brethren church.

JAMES D. HASKELL, one of Custer county's best kno.wn and most respected citizens, came here in the spring of 1876, before the county was organized. He is a man of interesting personality and the experiences he li\ed through form an absorbing page of the county's history and are told with the gift of the true story teller.

James D. Haskell was born June 2, 1853, in Butler county, Ohio. His father, Enoch Haskell, was a substantial farmer of Butler county and reared his son in that practical way that in large measure prepared him well for the hardships, experiences and changed conditions that later entered his life. The district schools gave him an education that sufficed for ordinary social and business aiifairs in his early manhood, and later, in the school of experience, he has widened and broadened his knowledge. In the spring of 1876 many eager homeseekers turned their eyes toward Nebraska and, when they were able to choose, very many of them decided to settle in Custer county. Mr. Haskell entered the county with 100 head of yearling heifers, for which he had paid $700 and which he had driven from Ellis, Kansas. He located a claim about eight miles west of Calloway.

When Mr. Haskell came to Custer county he was a man of family. In December, 1880, at Eaton, Ohio, he was united in marriage to Miss Cora L. Wilcher, a daughter of Joseph Wilcher, and seven children were born to them, namely: Kent, Essie, Arlie, Alta, Hazel. lela, and Minnie.

Mr. Haskell is an honored pioneer who has had startling adventures and unique experiences in Custer county, and the reader is referred to the detailed account of the same given in another part of this history.

HARRY C. EVANS, proprietor of the Evans Hereford Ranch, located two miles west of Callaway, Custer county, has been for many years known to the citizens of this community, to which he came with his parents in the year 1887. He is now known as a prominent and successful breeder of registered Hereford cattle and registered Percheron horses - a line of business in which he has been engaged for five years, and in connection with which he is rapidly taking rank with the leading stockmen of the county.

Harry C. Evans, who was born at Mason, Effingham county, Illinois, February 12, 1877, is a son of Joshua H. and Samantha (Gibson ) Evans, and a grandson of John Gibson. His father was a Republican in his political sympathies, was a blacksmith by trade and followed this vocation in Illinois for a number of years, both he and his wife having been faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They had two children : Launa, who is the wife of George H. La Fleur ; and Harry C. When Harry C. Evans was four years of age his parents moved to What Cheer, Iowa, and he attended the public schools of that place and also at Perry and North Platte. He finished his schooling in Custer county, Nebraska. The only son of his parents, he early displayed industry and a predilection for his father's business, and when he was still so small that he had to stand upon a box, he began earning money at his father's forge, where he placed himself in front of the anvil and did striking to make a weld. He thoroughly mastered his father's trade and with him moved to Callaway in 1887. Here father and son continued blacksmitliing together until the elder man was elected postmaster, an office which he capably filled for a period of twelve years. In the meantime Harry C. Evans continued the blacksmith business until 1913, when he disposed of his interests to turn his attention in the direction of raising and breeding stock. For some time past he had been interested in the subject of Hereford cattle and Percheron horses, and when he bought the 720-acre tract, two miles west of Callaway, which is known as the Evans Hereford Ranch, he began with characteristic energy to breed registered animals in both these lines. He has met with surprising sticcess during the five years that he has been engaged in this business, and the results that he has attained have made hnn known as somewhat of an authority on the subject. Mr. Evans occupies an established place in the confidence of his associates and the general piiblic, and is a progressive citizen who supports beneficial and constructive movements in his community. He is a Republican, but not an office-seeker, and he and his wife are members of the Alethodist Episcopal church.

j\lr. Evans was married June 23, 1907, at Mason City, Iowa, to Miss Frankie M. Crossley, the only child of Amasa A. and Gertrude (Van Fleet) Crossley, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Auburn, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Crossley were members of the Episcopal church, and the father belonged to the Odd Fellows' fraternity. Four children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Evans : Gertrude June, attending the Callaway schools as a student of the third grade ; and Robert C, Frankie M., and Harriet L., at home.

BRYAN LEONARD. - The art of healing is as old as man, and there have been and still are many and diverse systems. One of these that has Ix-come very generally accepted among well informed people, because of its remarkable efficacy when other svstems have entirely failed, is known under the name of chiropractic. Its practitioners are of both sexes, as in other medical schools, and are graduates of institutions which thoroughh' teach the underlying scientific principles of this admirable system.

chiropractor at Callaway, Nebraska, was born in Ireland, in 1882, a son of Hubert and Julia (Freeman) Leonard, who were likewise born in Ireland, and of whose large family of children eight are living - Mrs. Mary Tehon, John J.. Michael M., James G., Patrick F., Hubert, Bryan, and Charles E. Dr. Bryan Leonard was four years old when his parents came to the L'nited States and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1886 the family came to Custer county, Nebraska, and located in Eureka valley. There he grew to manhood, attending school and assisting his father in boyhood and afterward following farming and ranching on his own account. Prior to taking up chiropractic. Dr. Leonard taught in the schools of Custer county for eight vears. It would be interesting to know what definitely turned Dr. Leonard's attention to the profession for which he is so eminently qualified, but statistics are at hand that show that in 1911 he became a student of chiropractic, at Davenport, Iowa, and he was graduated in the Chiropractic College in that city.

Dr. Leonard was married in 1905, in Custer county, to Miss Elizabeth J. Schmitz, who is a daughter of John B. and Ann (\\'ardrobe) Schmitz, and they have one son. Gale H. Mrs. Leonard also is a chiropractor, having likewise been educated at Davenport, Iowa, and having graduated in the same class with her husband. They both practiced at Farmington, Iowa, and at Milton, Iowa, prior to locating at Callaway, in 1914. Here they have been continuously engaged in practice with the exception of the time required for a post-graduate course, which they have both completed, and Mrs. Leonard has also completed a full course in Red Cross work. They have built up a fine practice here and have state licenses for both Nebraska and Kansas.

J.VMES R. DE.\N. a.ssociate justice of the supreme court of Nebraska, came for Chicago to Custer county in C^ctober, 1890. and has residede here ever since except when serving on the suijreme bench, when, as the law provides, he resides at Lincoln. He is a native of St. Louis. Missouri, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He is a son of Henry and Ellen Margaret Dean. His mother's family name was Armour. She was a native of South Carolina, but her parents were of Scotch-Irish descent. Judge Dean's father emigrated from Cmnity .\ntrim, Ireland, as a boy of seventeen, without means. He became a tanner and leather merchant at St. Louis, with interests in tanneries at .Allegheny and other points in Pennsylvania. \Micn he retired from business he engaged in farming. He died in 1889 and his widow passed away in 1901. their remains being interred in the family plot of ground in W'oodland cemetery at Des ^loines, Iowa.

Judge Dean acquired his preliminary education in his native city and at Decorah. Iowa. \\']ien he was ten years old he visited Europe with his father, and in later years he has visited nearly every state in tlie Union, as well as Mexico and Canada. After his eleventh year, except when in school, he worked on a farm until he entered upon his profession. In 1885 he was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, besides taking other branches of study at the university and paying his own way through .school. That year he located and entered practice in Chicago, where he remained until he came to Broken Bow. He was the fourth to hold the office of county attorney here, being first elected in 1894 and re-elected in 1896. He was city attorney of Broken Bow four years and a member of the board of education ten years, serving four years as president. In his first year as city attorney he compiled the ordinances of 1904.

In January, 1892, Judge Dean married Miss Jennie E. Sutton, daughter of Albert Y. and .\bbie C. Sutton, of Broken Bow, and they have two children, Paul H. and Dorothy S. Dean.

( hi January 1. 1909. the subject of this review was appointed supreme judge, by Governor George L. Sheldon, when the constitutional amendment was adopted increasing the membership of the supreme court from three judges to seven. In 1911, on a party ticket, he failed of election to the supreme bench, by a narrow margin, but he led his ])arty judicial ticket in the state by about 9,000 votes. He has membership in the American Bar Association ; the Masonic Fraternity, including the Royal Arch Chapter, the Knights Templars, and the Shrine : and also the Odd Fellows. He is a Presbyterian, as were his forefathers. In 1906 he was commissioned from the presbxterv to the General Assembly at Des Moines. Iowa. He is a Democrat - iierhaps one of the best known of that party in Nebraska. In 1913 he was a Wilson presidential elector-at-large.

November 7, 1916, Judge Dean was elected judge of the supreme court for a term of six years. At that election there were six candidates for the supreme bench, three of whom were elected. They were not the candidates of any political party but appeared as individuals on a separate ballot, without party designation. The total vote for supreme judge in Custer countv that vear was 5,163, and of these

Judge Dean received 4,024 votes. His decisions and written opinions are said to have the merit of such brevity as is consistent with clearness. Those written by him during his appointive term are in volumes 83, 84, and 85 of the Nebraska Supreme Court Reports and volumes 120 to 124 of the Northwestern Reporter. His opinions for his present elective term begin in volume 100 of the Nebraska Reports, and the current Northwestern Reporters beginning with volume 161. Some of his opinions appear in "Lawyers Reports Annotated" and in other legal publications.

Northeast of Broken Bow Judge Dean has some land where he successfully grows alfalfa. In 1910 he become interested in this plant, and now he has almost 100 acres that yield from two to three crops yearly.

GEORGE I. SELLON, M. D.. city physician of Broken Bow, has been one of the prominent members of his profession here since 1912, and his splendid acquirements have served to attract to him a large professional following, while his standing among his fellow practitioners has led to his being the recipient of \'arious honors in the Custer County Medical Society. Doctor Sellon was bom at Murray, Iowa, July 24. 1882, and is a son of Henry and Alice (Swickard) Sellon.

Henry Sellon was born in Illinois, the son of a Methodist Episcopal minister who came to the United States from England. For a time Henr)' Sellon was engaged in farming in his native state, but after his marriage to Miss Swickard, who was a native of Pennsylvania, he went to Iowa and purchased a fann in the vicinity of Murray, Clarke county. About 1895 the family home was changed to Wyoming, in which state the mother's death occurred, and Mr. Sellon subsequently went to Harding, Arkansas, where he is living on his own farm. There were four children in the family, of whom three are living: Stella, who is the wife of C. P. Budd, a stockman of Marbletown, Wyoming: Edward L.. who served as a soldier during the Spanish- American war and died soon after the close of that struggle: George I., who is the subject of this sketch; and ]\label, the wife of Dr. C. D. Stafford, a practicing physician of Kemmerer, Wyoming. Mr. Sellon is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics is a Republican.

George I. Sellon attended the public schools of Murray, Iowa, and the high school at Evanston, ^^^-oming, following which he pursued a cotirse in the Wyoming State Univer- sity, at Laramie. There he was graduated in 1905, with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Philosophy. After his graduation he engaged in educational work, and for three years he was superintendent of schools at Cumberland, Wyoming, but his preferred profession was that of medicine, and he accordingly entered the medical college of the Nebraska State University, being graduated in 1912, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During his final year at college he worked as an interne in the Swedish Hospital at Omaha, and following his graduation, fully prepared, he came to Broken Bow and established himself in practice. He has been very successful in the building up of a large professional business and while his practice is of a general character, he has made somewhat of a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat, of which he has made a particular and thorough study, and a field in which he has gained some reputation. Dr. Sellon is serving as city physician of Broken Bow. He belongs to the Custer County Medical Society, of which he was secretary in 1915 and president in 1917, and he holds membership also in the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He enjoys an excellent reputation as a physician who closely observes the highest professional ethics. Politically he supports the Republican party. In Masonr\' he has risen to high rank, belonging to the Scottish Rite bodies and also the Mystic Shrine.

In 1912 Dr. Sellon married Miss Myrtle L. Leffler, who was born at Exeter, Nebraska, a daughter of F. J. Leffler, who served through the Civil war and was an early settler of Nebraska. To this union has been born one son : Dale I., now three years old. Mrs. Sellon is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

WILLIAM E. HEAPS, who is a fine example of the thrifty, enterprising farming class of Custer county, was born on his father's farm seven miles northeast of Broken Bow, March 8, 1888. His parents are Charles G. and Elzina (Wheeler) Heaps, both of whom were born in Indiana, from which state they came to Custer county, Nebraska-, in its early days of permanent settlement. They are highly respected farming people and are members of the Baptist church. Thev have the following children : Oliver, Frank'. William E., Charles, Rex, Ada, Margaret, and Leone. The father belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics votes with the Populist party.

by attending the public schools in the winter time, and he remained at home assisting his father until he was twenty years of age. The first money he earned for himself was fifty cents a day, paid him by Joseph Holcomb. He has been frugal and industrious and he owns what is known as the Peter Mohat place, situated six miles north of Broken Bow, and consisting of 600 acres of valuable Nebraska soil.

Mr. Heaps was married June 11, 1913, to Miss Velma Smith, who is a daughter of Charles and Rose (McGraw) Smith, and a granddaughter of James McGraw. Mr. and Mrs. Heaps have three children : Marie H., Clarence G., and Lois M. He belongs to the Baptist church.

LON D.AVIS, a substantial retired farmer now residing in Custer county, owns a large amount of valuable property in the vicinity of Broken Bow - forty acres adjoining the city and 420 acres situated two miles to the east. He came first to Nebraska in the spring of 1882, and although farming and cattleraising have been his main industries since then, there is one interval which he recalls with a great deal of interest, that being several years during which he rode the range as a cowboy. Mr. Davis was born in the village of McCarthy, Ohio, July 2, 1850. His parents were David A. and Louisa (Davis) Davis, his paternal grandparents coming from Wales and his maternal ancestors from England. By trade his father was a stonecutter. He belonged to the order of Odd Fellows and he and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They had seven children, namely: Lon, Charles, Ellsworth, William M., Benjamin F., Hannah, and Clara B. All of these children are living except Hannah.

Lon Da\is lived at home in Jackson county, Ohio, until he was eight years old and after that made his home for some years with Hon. H. S. Bunday. then a member of congress, who was the father-in-law of Senator Foraker. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Davis came from Ohio to Dawson county, Nebraska, and for the two succeeding years he lived near Tra])per's Grove, two miles east of Sumner, moving then to the vicinity of Georgetown, on the South Loup river. In the spring of 1886 he rode the range and trailed cattle down the South Loup river from the Streeter Woods ranch to Glendive, Alontana. With his cowboy comrades he assisted in ferrying the cattle across the Yellowstone river and then drove the cattle 150 miles northwest, to the new ranch. During this trip they went through

Rapid City and the Black Hills and had serious times in their efforts to get water while passing through the 100-mile strip known as the Bad Lands, in South Dakota. Mr. Davis has many entertaining stories to relate concerning cowboy life as he experienced it while with the H-3 ranch on Running Water, and his description of the method of a roundup is very interesting. When a roundup is started different camps are located where water and feed are plentiful. A large territorv is worked and the cattle are driven in and "night-herded" until many miles of territory have been included, when the bunches of cattle are all thrown together and each outfit cuts out its own brand and then works them back to their own range. The roundup was often the scene of much sport, and sometimes remarkable horsemanship was displayed in cutting out and branding the calves. Frequently also the "boys" engaged in riding contests after their business was completed, and their equestrian skill has long been the theme of verse and stor\', besides which, it mav be added, it frequently lias been a main feature in motion-picture work, in recent years.

Mr. Davis was married at Broken Bow, September 3. 1890, to Miss Emma Sanderson, who is a daughter of John and Hannah S. (Chapman) Sanderson, and a granddaughter of John and Hannah ( Watson ) Sanderson. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have five children: Mrs. Clara B. Taylor, Mrs. Rutli A. Copsey, Ina M.. Alon E., and Elbert D. Miss Ina M. Davis is a popular teacher. The familv belongs to the Presbyterian church. Mr. Davis is a good citizen but not a seeker for office. In politics he is a Republican.

W. H. PENN, who is now numbered among the substantial business men of Broken Bow, has been the architect of his own fortune, and, having based his life's structure on substanliai foundations, has builded soundly and well. When he entered upon his career he was possessed of little save inherent ability and a determination to succeed, and these have been sufficient, through their development, to enable him to become a wellto-do merchant in a community that does not lack for able men.

Mr. Penn was born in Linn county, Iowa, December IS. 1866. a son of Charles and Emily (Swecker) Penn, a sketch of whose career will he found in the review of Charles Penn. elsewhere in this work. He attended the public schools of York, Nebraska, and was sixteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Broken Bow, where his first work was in the official capacity of deputy sheriff under his father, who was at that time sheriff' of Custer county. His strict attention to duty in that position gained him public confidence, and he was subsequently made city marshal, an office which he held for one year, but eventually he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, accepting a position as clerk in one of Broken Bow's stores. After twelve years of experience in this direction, he engaged in the clothing business on his own account, and subsequently he added dry goods, shoes anrl men's furnishing goods. The firm name is now Penn & Rodgers Company, and the establishment carries a large and up-todate line of attractive goods, its trade having grown and developed from a small beginning to a point where four clerks are given regular employment and extra help is needed for Saturday night's business. Mr. Penn is accounted an energetic, thoroughly capable and strictly honorable man of business, and his standing and reputation are high in commercial circles and with the general public.

In 1895 Mr. Penn was united in marriage to Miss Maude Hurless. who was bom in Iowa, a daughter of John and Mary E. Hurless. The Hurless family resided for a few years in Iowa, but in the '80s came to Nebraska, where Mr. Hurless and his wife passed away. For many years Mr. Hurless was a railroad man. principally employed in bridge construction work, as a foreman To. Mr. and Mrs. Penn there have been bom five children : Charles, who is identified with the Bell Telephone Company, at Bridgeport, Nebraska : Louise, who resides with her parents : Harry, who is attending a school of wireless telegraph}- at Minneapolis; and John and \\"inifred, also students, at home. Mrs. Penn is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Penn is fraternally identified with the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic order. .\ Republican in jxjlitics. he is influential in his party, and has taken a keen interest and helpful part in civic affairs, being at this time a member of the Broken Bow city council. It has been his fortune to have attained many of his ideals and ambitions, and to have so directed his affairs in life that he has v\on success without the aid of outside influences - he is an excellent example of the self-made man.

C.EORGE E. PENNINGTON, M. D. - Dr. Pennington, who is familiarly known in Broken Bow and throughout Custer county, was born March 28, 1875, in Stewartsville..

Missouri. His father, Robert T. Pennington, was a man of sterling worth and came of a fine line of Kentucky ancestors, he himself being a native of Kentucky. The Doctor's mother's maiden name was Martha M. Kems. The immediate family circle of which Dr. Pennington is a representative, was a large one, - there were fourteen children, seven of whom are living at the present time. Recording their names we have the following: John, William R., George E., James L., Margaret E. Duncan, Eliza Sweitzer, and Emma Gauntt.

The Doctor's father served three years in the Home Guards of his native state. He has a record of having lived fifty-three years on his Missouri homestead, where he reared his children. When the Doctor was a small boy he worked on the farm, doing such work and chores as generally fall to the lot of a farmer boy. His first money was earned by dropping corn by hand in the cut-over stump land of Missouri. This was a hard job, and there is small doubt but that the boy earned the twenty-five cents per diem. After finishing the common schools he attended the Wesley University at Cameron, Missouri, from 1894 to 1896, inclusive. After this he entered Emsvvorth Medical School, at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he completed a four years' course, graduating in 1902. In addition to this medical preparation, the Doctor n-as a student at St. I.ouis for several months, rounding out and completing his medical course. In 1902 he was married, at Bolivar, Missouri, to Miss Julia E. Egbert, who since that time has been his companion and helpmeet, sharing with him all the vicissitudes of a rising young physician bent on establishing a lucrative practice in a western country. Mrs. Pennington, like her husband, is a native of Missouri, and is a daughter of Caldon G. Egbert, who was a native of Illinois. Her mother, whose maiden name was Sarah M. Gardner, was a native of Tennessee. In the Egbert I'amilv of which Mrs. Pennington was a member were five children - Emma Rollins, Julia E. Pennington. William T. Egbert, Charles L. Egbert, and John A. Egbert.

Dr. and Mrs. Pennington have three children. The oldest, Marie E., is in the high school ; Pauline is finishing the eighth grade : and Georgia is in the fifth grade.

After his graduation and marriage, Dr. Pennington came to Custer county and located at Anselmo, where he engaged in the drug business, which he handled in connection with his medical practice He remained at this place until 1908. when he moved to Broken Bow and commenced the buildine of the lucrative practice he now enjoys. This city has been his home since that time. The Doctor is, well and favorably known, not only in Anselmo and Broken Bow, which havj been his home towns, but throughout the entire county. In the early days of his practice, trips were long, and consequently he was called long distances into the country for consultation purposes and often met the people of other towns in the county. His official position has tended to widen his acquaintance. He has served the county as health officer for eight years, and for seven years prior to the abolition of the office of coroner he served as county coroner. In fraternal circles the Doctor has been an ambitious climber and is to-day one of the few thirty-second degree Masons in the county. He is also an Odd Fellow and ranks high in the councils of that fraternity. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican party. He and his family are coimected with the Christian church, where they are faithful and constant attendants. Whenever the Doctor's professional duties will permit, he is found attending the church services held on the Sabbath day. Dr. and Mrs. Pennington are estimable people and held in high esteem by all their neighbors, fellow townsmen, and a wide circle of friends

COMMODORE C. BIGGERSTAFF. - (3ne of the members of the retired colony of .Broken Bow, Mr. Biggerstaft'. during a long and active career, has been successful in his operations as agriculturist and business man. and the extent and importance of his various holdings at this time serve to give him a position of prominence among his city's capitalists. He was born in Athens county, Ohio. October 27. 1852. a son of John J. and Nancy (Sickles) Biggerstaff. who passed their lives in Kno.x county. Illinois, having moved there from their Ohio home in the fall of 1853. There the senior Biggerstaff was a farmer and stock raiser. They were members of the United Brethren church, and the father was a Democrat and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Seven children were bom to John J. and Nancy Biggerstafif : Commodore C. ii the subject of this sketch ; Alonzo died in infancy: Julia E. is the wife of Richard Williams, of Kansas City. Missouri: Josephine is the wife of ?Ienry Wesner ; Margaret, is deceased ; Mary A., is the wife of James W. Pamp; John C. is a retired capitalist of Oakland. Califomia.

Mr. Bigeerstafi" was given a public school education in Knox county, Illinois, and also spent the winter of 1875-6 at Kno.x College. Galesburg. Illinois, following which he re-

^Ir. Biggerstaff was married July 7, 1878, in Knox county. Illinois, to Miss Jennie Cook, a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth ( Ramp ) Cook, the ceremony taking place at the home of the bride's grandfather, Benjamin Ramp, a wealthy farmer and stock-raiser To this union one son was born, Chatmcev C, bom July 26, 1904. John W. Cook came from York, Nebraska, "to Broken Bow in 1890 and embarked in the grocery business, which he followed continually here until his death, February 7, 1908. He was a Republican, a substantial citizen, and a member of the Odd Fellows lodge. He and Mrs. Cook \vere the parents of four children : Lauretta L.. who is the wife of Thomas L. Sharp ; Jennie, who is the wife of Commodore C. Biggerstaff ; Mary Elizabeth, who died in infancy ; and Wilson Caster, formerly a physician and minister of the Methodist church, a graduate of the osteopathic school at Kirksville, ^Missouri, who died in March, 1908.

In the spring of 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Biggerstaff came to Nebraska and located at York, where he was engaged in the mercantile and cattle business until May, 1884, when he moved- to Broken Bow, Custer county. In that year he engaged in the hmiber business, under the firm name of Biggerstaff & Hershey. and in this enterprise he continued about four years. In the meantime, in 1886. he took up land two miles northwest of Broken Bow, and during the next twentythree years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. He then retired and took up his residence at Broken Bow, where he is accounted one of the city's most substantial citizens, being the owner of large tracts of land as well as stock in valuable oil wells and paying coal mines. Mr. Biggerstaff is a Democrat, but is not in any sense a politician. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, of which Mrs. Biggerstaff is a prominent attendant, having been one of the seven charter members of the Broken Bow congregation, in 1885. She has always been prominent in church work, and was likewise instrumental in the formation of Broken Bow"s library association

SAMUEL VAN BUSKIRK, a resident of Custer county, since 1S88, has been variously identified with the interests of this region since the time of his arrival and, principally as an agriculturist, has accumulated a competence that permits him to pass the evening of life in comfortable circumstances, in his pleasant home at Merna. A native of the Keystone state, Mr. \"an Buskirk was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1848. His father, Samuel \'an Buskirk, also was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1808, and he died af Alta, Iowa, in 1891. He was a successful farmer and in 1856 he became a pioneer settler in Iowa, in which state he resided for different intervals in Delaware. Dubuque, and Buena Yista counties. The mother of our subject was in her maidenhood. Mary Ann McNeal. She was a native of Pennsylvania, in which state she married, and her last days were spent in Alta, Iowa. She and her husband were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Samuel \'an Buskirk was a lad of eight years when the family settled in Iowa and in that state he was reared on a farm. When he reached his majority he chose the occupation with which he was familiar, and in Buena Yista county. Iowa, he followed agricultural pursuits imtil 1888. He then became a resident of Custer county, Nebraska, where he pre-empted 120 acres, north of Broken Bow. His first home was a sod house, and pioneer conditions were still in evidence on every hand. Five years later he purchased land north of Merna. and there he conducted farming and stock-raising operations with good success for many years. While a resiwent of Iowa he learned the value and superior quality of the Aberdeen Angtis cattle and he brought to Custer county a fine male of that breed. While he was engaged in diversified farming, his pastures were well stocked with that type of cattle, for which he fovmd a ready demand on the market, such stock ha\ing a reputation for generally commanding top prices. Industry and good judgment have marked the career of this pro gressive exponent of the agricultural and livestock interests of his adoijted county, and Mr. \'an Buskirk has been able to retire with a competence, being the owner of 600 acres of land.

In Iowa Mr. Van Buskirk was united in marriage to Miss Ann Elizabeth \'an Buskirk, a native of New Jersey, and she presides with grace and dignity over their beautiful new home in Merna. Four children came to bless the home : Bessie i.s an accomplished and popular teacher in the Merna schools' Jesse is a merchant at Merna' Lura is the wife of David Ward and they reside at Marcus, Nebraska ; and Delia is deceased.

The family are members of the L'nited Brethren church and Mr. Van Buskirk is a Re])u!)lican in jiolitics. Fraternally he belongs to the Merna lodge of the Independent

Order of Odd Fellows and also the Masonic lodge of Alerna. Though seventy years of age, j\lr. Van Buskirk is a man who might pass for one twenty years younger, and he is still active in affairs, looking after his landed interests and being a director in the Bank of Merna. He is recognized as one of Custer county's public-spirited citizens and in every relation of life measures up the full standard of American citizenshi[).

ROBERT D. McCARTY is one of Custer county's pioneer citizens and is now living retired in a beautiful home in Merna. Robert D. McCarty is a native of New York state, and was born near Syracuse. March 9. 1840 His parents, Dennis and Hanora (Clifford) McCarty, were natives respectively of County Cork and County Tipperary, Ireland. They inimigrated to the United States when yount^ people and were married in New York. Dennis McCarty became a farmer, and about the close of the Civil war located on a farm in A\ elister county, Iowa, near Fort Dodge, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their days.

Robert D. McCarty was reared on a farm in .\ew ^'ork and accompanied his parents to Iowa. About this time he engaged in railroad-construction work, which he followed for many years.

In the spring of 1880 he and his family, in company with the Downey and Corcoran families, came to Custer county, and he secured as a homestead the southwest quarter of section 14, township 18, range 22. He also took a tree claim of 160 acres, but as the trees did not make a ven,- good growth he pre-empted this land, and this half-section was the scene of his activities until he retired. He has been successful as a farmer and todav is the owner of 800 acres of land.

On September 10, 1870, at Fort Dodge. Iowa, was solemnized the marriage of Robert D. iMcCarty and .\nna Downey, a native of Scranton. Luzern county. Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Ellen (Sweeney) Downey, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. The home of Mr. and Mrs. McCarty has been blessed with the birth of eleven children, all of whom have grown to maturitv, and as the hand of death has not yet entered this household they have ever\' reason to be thankful. The record of the children is as follows : James owns and operates a farm in Custer county : Lizzie is the wife of Ambrose Sweeney, of Merna ; Ella became the wife of Edward Snell, residing in Seattle, \\'ashington ; John is a fanner on

East Table ; Joseph is a merchant in Merna ; Mike and Robert ojierate land belonging to their father; Frank is the owner of a farm near the old home place ; Ambrose is a member of the national army ; Raymond is engaged in farming and is still a bachelor; and Margaret is the wife of J. D. Christ, of Anselmo.

Mr. and Mrs. McCarty are among the very early settlers of the county and recount many interesting incidents pertaining to the early days and the hardships with which they had to contend. One of the greatest obstacles to overcome was the matter of securing water. When the McCarty family and those who accompanied them came to Nebraska they drove with teams, just northwest of where Broken Bow now stands they stopped to inquire of some men where the)' might get water for their stock and for family use. J. D. Ream, who had located there that spring, pointed to a spot where he said was the well and said they could help themselves. On reaching the spot, they discovered a horse had fallen into the well and no water could be had. They continued their journey to the locality where they had filed on land, and the next day sent a hired man and one of the sons to get water on Victoria creek. They failed to find this stream and returned with water which they had scooped up out of a buffalo wallow, and which could be used only after a thorough process of boiling.

Not a sign of anyone ever having been here could be seen, not a wagon track in Dale valley, and their nearest neighbors on the north were in the Black Trills. Their first home, in which the family lived for several years, was constructed of sod, the bit of lumber used in it being hauled from Grand Island For several years after coming here Mr. McCarty followed railroading, while the wife and children held down the claim. The winter of 1881 was one of the worst ever seen in this country. Starting on the 11th of December it snowed continuously until the 25th, and it looked strange to the family to see a blizzard raging and the sun shining. The snow was nine feet deep on the level. The prairies in those days were covered vi'ith fleas, which gave considerable annoyance to the settlers, who would put the legs of their bedsteads in cans of Water to keep the fleas from getting into the beds. But with all the trials and hardships, they were happy in the thought that they had a home they could call their own, and a place where they could rear their children. The satisfaction that comes to them now. more than repays for all the hardships they endured.

The members of the family are communicants of the Cathohc church, and in the work of development they have contributed their full share. To the courage and labors of such as the McCarty family the present generation is indebted for the comforts and blessings of present-day conditions, and a historjof Custer county would be incomplete without mention of what they have accomplished.

OLIVER G. SMITH. - One of the prosperous exponents of the agriculture and stockraising interests of Custer county is Oliver G. Smith, who has been a resident of the county since pioneer days.

Mr. Smith was born in \\'est X'irginia, February 7, 1868. His father, Cornelius D. Smith, was likewise a native of West Virginia, in which state he married and became a land-owner and farmer. He resided there until 1879, when he came to Nebraska and took a homestead in Kearney county, near Minden. After one year's residence there he sold out and came to Custer county, in 1880, where he homesteaded on section 3, township 18, range 21, casting in his lot with the veryearly settlers in this part of the county. The first home was a sod house with a dirt floor and dirt roof, and in this the family lived for several years. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Jane Pierpont and was a native of West Virginia. She came to Nebraska as a pioneer woman and is now making her home in Mema, her husband having passed away at the age of seventy-five years. She is a member of the United Brethren church, as was also her husband, and they became parents of seven children : Oliver G. is the eldest; Mattie is the wife of D. \W. Widaman, of IVlerna ; Mrs. Charles Wachter likewise resides in Custer county ; David S. is a resident of Merna : Wirt lives in the Arnold vicinity of Custer county ; Mar\' died at the age of sixteen years; and John died in childhood.

Oliver G. Smith was a boy of eleven years when the home was established in Nebraska He was reared amid the scenes of pioneer days and on reaching manhood became a farmer. His first purchase was 160 acres adjoining the old place, and when it came into his possession it was wholly unimproved. To day Mr. Smiih is the owner of 77^ acres, with a fine set of improvements, and general farming and stock-raising are carried on with good success.

Wheeler, who became residents of Custer county in 1888 and are both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have become parents of three children : Lena passed away at the age of twenty-one years ; and Aha and Edgar are still at home.

Mr. Smith is one of the substantial men of the community. He casts an independent ballot at the polls and has never aspired to nor held any public office. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and ^^'oodmen of the World lodges in Merna and is held in unqualified esteem by all who know him.

\\"ILLIAM H. Mc KNIGHT. - A resident of Nebraska from the time when the only buildings known in the central part of the state were composed of sod, \\'illiam H. Mc- Knight has watched with the eye of a proprietor the various changes that have been brought I)y the passage of the years and the sturdy and progressive work of the settlers. and has himself borne a full share of the labor of development. He is now one of the large landholders and successful agriculturists of the Berwyn community of Custer county, where his accomplishments entitle him to the respect and esteem in which he is uniformly held by his fellow citizens.

Mr. McKnight was born in Lafayette county, Wisconsin. May 20, 1850, a son of Miles and Joanna (Dillehay) McKnight. His father, the son of Scotch parents, was born in 1805, in eastern Tennessee, and was married in \'irginia to !\Iiss Joanna Dillehay. who was liorn in Virginia, August 11, 1811. The year following the close of the Black Hawk war they moved in covered wagons to Wis consin. and for a number of years Mr. Mc- Knight was employed in the lead mines at Mineral Point, because, although he had taken up land, he had no capital with which to develop his fann and was consequently com- ]K'!led to take other work. He passed the remainder of his life in \\'isconsin and before his death, May 13. 1865. had seen his financial affairs in excellent shape, and was known ii. his community as a well-to-do citizen. Mrs. McKnight survived him until 1873 and died in the faith of the Baptist church, of which he also was a member. He was a Democrat in his political sympathies. Of the seventeen children born to this worthv couple, onlv three survive at this time: William II.: Belle, who is the widow of N. G. Dersjin and resides at Monroe, Green county, \\'isconsin ; and M. W.. who is engaged in fanning in the vicinity of Adams, Nebraska.

public schools of Wisconsin and was reared on the home farm, where he was living at the outbreak of the Civil war. He was much too young for service, but was constantly entreating his parents to permit him to join the arm\ , I and toward the close of the war, when he was * still only a lad, he ran away from home and joined the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, with which he served six months. He then returned to his Wisconsin home and resumed his association with farm enterprise. In lcS7I he there married Miss Etta Parsons, who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of Monroe I. and Jane Parsons, now residents of Iowa There were five children bom to this union, of whom four are now living, these being : Ira Derwood, who resides on a farm at Glenwood, Iowa, and is engaged in the real-estate business : Lewis Winfield, who is a farmer of the same community ; Delia Leora, who is the wife of Oscar Lee, principal of the State Industrial School at Waukesha, Wisconsin : and \\'ilbur Harrison, who is a member of Company I, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Infantr}', arrived in France in December, 1917: he was later wounded and.was in a hospital at the time this article was written. Mrs. McKnight died December 13, 1888, and February 28. 1889, Mr. McKnight was again married. Miss Belle Jones becoming his wife. She was born Februarv- 7, 1868, in Tippecanoe county. Indiana, and is a daughter of James Alfred and Louisa Elvira (Joslin) Jones, the fonner a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky. The parents of Mrs. McKnight moved to Saunders county, Nebraska, in 1869, and after the father's death the mother came to the home of her daughter and son-in-law, with whom she remained until her death. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McKnight : Jesse Floyd, who was in the base-hospital camp at Camp Cody, is now at home: Virgil Sidney is a farmer of Custer county : and Forrest Edward, George William, and James Theodore all remain at home.

Mr. McKnight first came to Nebraska in 1879. in which year he located in Butler county. He saw little to encourage him at that time, the countPi- being practically undeveloped, while the few settlers, living far apart, were doing without conveniences and living in primitive sod houses. After two years he returned to Wisconsin, but the western country had made its impression and formed its attraction, and shortly thereafter he again located in Butler county, where he followed farming until 1903. That vear marked his arrival in Custer county, which has since been his home. Here he purchased 440 acres of land, put it under cultivation.

built a nice home and substantial outbuildings, and he has since established himself as a progressive and skilled farmer who thoroughly knows his business and can make his labor pay him proportionately. He carries on general farming and raises all kinds of live-stock, the while the success which has attended his efforts is evidence of the consistency of his methods.

Mr. McKnight is fraternally affiliated with Ansley Lodge No. 176, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and has received the thirtysecond degree of Scottish Rite Masonry-, at Omaha. In politics a Republican, he has wielded some influence in his community, and has rendered good service as a member of the school board.

CLARENCE ?^IACKEY. - Instances are numerous in Custer county where men have arrived in this part of the country without acquaintances or friends and have worked their way to affluence and position, but there are few which equal the record of Clarence Mackey, president of the Ansley State Bank and one of his community's wealthiest and most prominent citizens. Mr. Mackey was handicapped at the outset of life by very little educational training, and before he came to Nebraska he had been unable to accumulate any sum even approaching a starting capital Yet his ability, given the opportunity, finally evidenced itself, and to-day Mr. Mackey is accounted one of Ansley's leading citizens.

Mr. Mackey was bom at Minerva, Ohio. August 11, 1860, and is a son of Thomas and Caroline (Taylor) Mackey. natives of Stark county, Ohio His father, who was the son of a lifelong resident of the Buckeye state, learned th.e cabinetmaker's trade in his youth, and was engaged in the work of his trade at the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted for service in the Union army and became a first lieutenant in a regiment of Ohio volunteer infant^v^ He engaged in a number of hard-fought battles, but escaped wounds, although for some time he was confined to the hospital, because of sickness, .\fter the war he was engaged for a long period in agricultural ])ursuits and the later years of his life were passed at Minerva. Ohio, where he died in 1899. and where his widow, who survives him in ripe old age. still makes her home. She is a devout member of the Christian church and is a woman of many excellencies of mind and heart. Mr. Mackey was a Democrat in his political faith and was a member of the .Masonic fraternity. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom four are living: Clarence is the immediate subject of this review ; Harr\-, who resides at Chadron. Nebraska, is a locomotiVe engineer on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway ; William met his death a number years ago. in a railway accident: Leona is the wife of E. W. Jobes, a manufacturing machinist at ilinerva, Ohio; and Jolui. who resides at the old home at Minerva, is retired from active pursuits. The maternal grandfather of Clarence Mackey was Finn Tajlor, who was bom in ( )hio and spent his entire life there, patenting land under President ^lonroe, at a time when the Indians were to be found in large numbers.

The educational advantages of Clarence Mackey in his youth were decidedly limited in character, for he early began work at the coal mines of Pennsylvania, and continued thus employed for a number of years. He first came to Nebraska, in 1891. and following this was employed at various places. In 1892 he located near Westerville. where he first rented a farm of 160 acres. He later purchased land, and this he put under cultivation and improved in various ways, in the meantime carrying on extensive operations in mixed farming and stock-raising. His success was marked in agriculture, and subsequently he began to turn his attention to other affairs. About 1903 he entered the field of banking, and at the present time he is president of the Ansley State Bank, which, under his wise and capable direction and conservative policies has become recognized as one of the safe and substantial institutions of the county. His success has been absolutely self -gained and his career can be profitably studied by aspiring youths who are commencing their careers without friends or fortunes to assist them.

In 1892 Mr. Mackey married ]\Iiss Ella Camjibell. who was born in Pennsyhania. a daugbrer of Richard and Elizabeth ( Fate) Campbell, who now live at \Vesterville. Custer county, Nebraska. Mr. Campbell was a railroad man for many years. ^Irs. Mackey died in April. 1906. the mother of four sons and one daughter : William, who is twentyone vears of age. entered the United States Navy, June 1, 1918. as a student at the Great Li'kes Naval Training School : Thomas, eighteen years of age, has entered the United States Navy school at Lincoln, where he attends the State University ; Richard, who is seventeen years of age, is attending school : Clarence, Jr., fifteen years old, is likewise a student; and Ella, thirteen years old, is attending school. Mr. Mackey was again married, in Februarj-, 1917, when Miss Elsie Saville became his wife. She was born in Custer county, and is a daughter of Dana M. and Sarah L. Saville. Her father, who came to Custer county about 1883, and was a pioneer homesteader, died on his farm, in l9l6. Fraternally ]\lr. Mackey is connected with the Masons, in which order he has reached the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite : and he is affiliated also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias. In each of these fraternities he is popular with his fellow members. He has long been prominent in civic and political affairs of a local order, and his well known business and financial ability, as well as his integrity and personal probity, have caused him to be selected by his fellow citizens for positions of marked trust. He has twice been a member of the state legislature and twice county treasurer, and his public record is a splendid one. characterized b)' conscientious and constructive service' for the general welfare. He is a stanch Democrat.

DANIEL G. - Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, seldom fails of attaining success, and the career of Daniel G. Bowley. now one of the progressive farmers of Custer county, is but another proof of this statement. When he started out in life he had but few advantages to assist him along the road to success, but his diligence and iudiciouf management have brought him ample success as a reward for his labors.

Mr. Bowley was bom in Alleghany county, \'irginia, October 3, 1870, a son of William O. Bowley, who was one of Custer county's first settlers and of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Our subject accompanied the family to the pioneer home in Nebraska and as a boy witnessed the hardships and struggles of the early-day settlers. As his age and strength increased he assi.sted more and more in the lalxjr incident to developing and operating the homestead, and under the instructions of his father he learned the best methods of planting and harvesting, so that when he reached manhood he was well equipped with the practical experience to enable him to become a fanner on his own account. He started out for himself at the age of twenty-two years and operated land as a tenant for a few years, meeting with the success that justified him in making a purchase of land. It is fifteen years since he bought his present fami. which at that time was wholly unimproved hut which has been brought to a high state of cultivation, and by the erec- tion of suitable buildings Mr. Bowley has a valuable property- General farming and stock-raising form the basis of the enterprise carried on by the owner, though he has given considerable attention to horticulture and has a fine apple orchard of seven acres, the same having been bearing fruit for several years.

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Bowley chose Aliss Josephine Hennesey, a native of Virginia. They are members of the Methodist church, South, and Mr. Rowley's political beliefs make him a Democrat. The Bowley family were among the first settlers of the county and members of that family have had to do with the upbuilding of the community for more than forty years, so that historic consistency is conserved when a place is given the subject of this biography in the annals of Custer countv.

WARREN THOMAS HURST, M. D. - The medical profession of Custer county includes among its members many men of eminent ability, whose training has been comprehensive and whose fine talents have been developed through broad experience, close application, constant study and the broadening mfluence of intimate association with their fellow men. In this category one of the foremost, without doubt, is Dr. Warren T. Hurst, a general practitioner in medicine and surgery and a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. He has been engaged in professional labors at Broken Bow since 1912. Dr. Hurst w^is born August 20, 1878, at Marion, Linn county, Iowa, and is a son of Thomas and Martha (Walker) Hur.st.

The parents of Doctor Hurst were born, reared and educated in Canada, where their marriage was solemnized, and shortly after that event they came to the United States and settled in Illinois. After about ten years' residence in that state, they changed their location to Iowa, where Mr. Hurst continued to work at railroading, which was his life vocation. In 1883 he came with his family to Nebraska, where he held various positions with railroad lines, and finally he took up his permanent abode at Omaha, where, although advanced in years, he continues to be identified with the big' railway conii)anies, at this time being connected with the flag service in the shops. He has been a Mason for many years, is a Republican in politics, and his wife is a member of the Baptist church. Thev are the parents of three children : Lydia, the wife of Thermon Brown, a railroad man of Omaha - Frances, the wife of James Leary, a mechanic of Denver. Colorado": Dr. \\'arren T., of this review. There are two deceased children : George E., formerly of ( )maha, died in 1912, and Mrs. Alice Elizabeth Short, of Omaha, died in 1910.

Dr. Warren T. Hurst was five years of age when he accompanied his parents to Nebraska, and here his early education was secured in the public schools. He was graduated from the high school at Weeping Water, Cass county, with the class of 1895, and after some further preparation he entered the Creighton School of Medicine, at Omaha, where he took a four years' course. He spent another year at the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery and then went to Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was graduated May 20, 1912, following which he engaged in practice at Chicago. In this same year he changed his field of operation to Broken Bow, and since then he has built up a splendid practice, both in a general way and as a specialist in the treatment and cure of diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Doctor Hurst belongs to the various organizations of his calling, and keeps fully abreast of the advancements being made in the sciences of medicine and surgery. He stands high in his calling, not alone among his fellow practitioners, but with the general public as well, and has served as county physician of Custer county and as health officer. His political tendencies cause him to support the principles and policies of the Democratic party. During his college career he joined the Phi Rho Sigma fraternity, and he belongs also to the Masonic fraternity, both York and Scottish Rite bodies and also the Mystic Shrine. Dr. Hurst has been a supporter of good movements, civic and educational, as well as those of the Presbyterian church, of which he is an attendant, Mrs. Hurst being a member thereof.

Prior to her marriage to Dr Hurst, Mrs. Hurst, who is a native of Coi^enhagen, Denmark, was Miss I.ola Beck. She and the Doctor are the parents of one child ; Juanita.

JAMES LANGE. - Since he is the owner of a fine tract of land on the second bench of the Buffalo Table, south of Callaway, and has around him everything necessary for comfortanle living and thrifty farming, Mr. Lange should be rated as one of the foremost citizens of the south part of the county.

Tames Lange was born in Denmark, on the 13th day of Decemlier. 1865, and is a son of Theodore and Anna M. (Sorrenson") Lange, both of whom were natives of Denmark, possessing all the characteristics of Scandinavian thrift. For more complete record of

When James Lange reached the age of fourteen years he entered upon a four years' apprenticeship in a blacksmith shop. When nineteen years of age he came to the United States, and in the city of Chicago he and his older brother, Marius, worked about a year. Then coming farther west, he landed in Lexington, Nebraska, and worked for Anton Abel, a ranchman who seems to have had a ranch in both Dawson and Custer coimties. A year later he came into Custer county, where he continued work on the Abel ranch on the Cottonwood branch, for at least a year. He then filed on a homestead 20 miles south of Callaway, on Buffalo creek. This property he acquired by the relinquishment of Jacob Peterson. He and his brother bought a yoke of oxen and v^'ent back to Lexington to straighten up the land deal. On this trip they experienced one of the severest and most trying ordeals of their pioneer days. They were caught in a three-day blizzard, and when they started for home the snow was nearly three feet deep. They had to lead a couple of wild bronchos, which they had bought of Mr. Abel. Night overtook them, they lost their way, could find no trail and came near to freezing to death. Marius was not strong, and the task of plowing through the snow was more than he could stand. He became sick and exhausted, and' James carried him miles on his back and led the ponies. Marius begged to be left on the prairie, but that would have meant his death, so they dragged on mile after mile, and reached home about one o'clock in the morning. Both men had their feet so badlv frozen that their toes had to be amputated.

(_)n Februarv 24, 1889, in Broken Bow, was solemnized the marriage of James Lange to ^liss Hester Richardson, daughter of William T. and Jane (Yinsen) Richardson, both Kentucky people. Since the establishment of their home the Lange family has had its circle increased by the birth of four children - Gertrude S. J.. Julius T.. \'erna M. and Lorelta L, all of whom remain under the parental roof and contribute to the life and hapi)iness of the place.

Mr. Lange's holdings comprise 720 acres, which he is now improving. A fine dwelling has just been erected, which makes a splendid modern domicile in which the family can enjov farm life. A general farming and stockraising business is carried on by Mr. Lange and the boys. The family are connected with tlie Lutheran church and in the matter of politics. .Mr. Lange's first choice is for the Democratic party.

JOSEPH D. BYLER. - This is an ordinar\' story of an ordinary man, - one who in his modest way lived his life and in his departure left behind him a splendid family, a creditable record, and the comforts earned by hard toil.

The subject of this memoir was bom in Pennsylvania, Januarj' 2. 1857, and was a son of Jacob and Sarah ( Yoder) Byler. He came of an excellent Pennsylvania family, and was one of eight children, only three of whom are living at the present time - Isaac, Rudolph, and David. Joseph D. was the yoimgest of the family.

It was in Pennsylvania that the boyhood years of Joseph D. Byler were spent, and there he had recourse to the common schools, in which he received a good fundamental education that qualified him for the business transactions of life. At the age of fifteen years he left the home farm and started into the world for himself. His first journey landed him in Logan county, Ohio, where he worked for a number of years. From there he went to Garden City, Missouri. There he associated himself with Charles McCants, and the two started for Nebraska. He arrived in Custer county in the spring of 1885. An inventory of his worldly possessions showed him to be better off than a good many others were when reaching the county. He had three mules, harness, wagon and twenty-five dollars. He located in Roten valley, fourteai miles southwest of Callaway, and bought a relinquishment from James Howell. It was here that he established, and maintained for two years, bachelor quarters.

Two years after he reached Custer county Mr. Byler married Miss Ida F. Hauenstine. a nati\e of Ohio and daughter of Jacob and Lncinda (Dull) Hauenstine, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. In the family of Mrs. Byler's father were fourteen children. The surviving members of this large family of children are: Mrs. Joseph Redhead, living near Callaway; Jacob, of Toledo. Ohio: Mrs. John Belmire, of St. Louisville. Ohio : Joseph, residing near Callaway. Custer county: and Mrs. Ida Byler, widow of the subject of this memoir.

When the Byler home was established in Custer county, in 18<87, it was an unpretentious sod house, and the home was maintained and the early develojiments of the fann started under very adverse circumstances. For two years Mr. Bvler hauled water six and seven miles. Then he chig a well 200 feet deep and jmt in a board casing. He had a horse and bucket to draw the water from the well. Later he added more room to the sod house, but in order to do this he took the roof from the barn and got along with a dirt floor.

In the course of time four children were born into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Byler, and concerning them the following brief record is entered : Bessie M. Blixt, whose husband is an implement dealer in Callaway, has four children, two boys and two girls. Clarence H. is, at the time of this writing, in the nation's military senice, as a member of Battery C, Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth Field Artillery, at Camp Dodge. Iowa. Ruth A. and Nellie M. are at home with their mother.

A great sorrow came to the home on the Stli day of July, 1916, when the husband and father was called from the scene of his labors in this world to the reward of the next. He had been a kind and provident father and husband, and his death was a sore bereavement. He left his family, however, in good circumstances, on a farm of 480 acres, well improved and in a high state of cultivation. For twenty years prior to his death, Mr. Byler had been a faithful member of the Evangelical church. Mrs. Bvler and her children who are not married, make their home on the place and maintain the farming operations conducted by the late husband and father.

ARTELLUS P. C.\LHOON. - One of the venerable and honored citizens of Broken Bow, long a Nebraska farmer in Polk and Custer counties, Artellus P. Calhoon is now living in comfortable and well deser\^ed retirement, after a long and creditable career. He is a native of St. Joseph county, Michigan, and was born Mav 26, 1845, his parents being Alvin and Lois (Bean) Calhoon.

While still a young man, Alvin Calhoon, who had been reared to farming, raised a company for service in the Indian troubles, and he' fought with the rank of captain. Later he removed to Michigan, where he settled on a farm and passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits. He was a strong .\bolitionist, in the climacteric period leading up to the Civil war, was a stanch Republican in his political views, and he and his wife were faithful members of the Methodist church, of which he was a local preacher durino- the earlv days. There were eight children in'' the Calhoon family, and all are living: Marcellus, who married Clara Rowley, is a retired farmer of Ord, Nebraska; Emma, who is the widow of Samuel Sidwell, makes her home at Minatare, Nebraska : Clarence C. who married Tillie Hahn, is a farmer of Polk county. Nebraska ; Bingham, who married Caroline Simpson, is a farmer of York county, this state; Lola is the wife of Lewis Munson, a fanner near Peoria, Kansas; Lawrence and Florence are twins, the fonner having married Anna Demmick and being a farmer near Gladwin, Michigan, and the latter being the widow of Lewis Moore, of Three Rivers, Michigan ; and Artellus P. is the subject of this sketch.

Artellus P. Calhoon received his early education in the public schools of Michigan, and as a young man of twenty-seven years he came to Nebraska, his first settlement being in Polk county, where he took up a homestead and farmed for eighteen years. In 1900 he disposed of his interests in that locality and came to Custer county, where he continued his operations with increasing success until the spring of 1918, when he turned over the responsibilities and burdens to younger shoulders and retired to his comfortable home at Broken Bow, where he is surrounded by every convenience. During his active years Mr. Calhoon was rightly accounted a capable fanner and stockman, as well as an able business man whose transactions were characterized by the highest integrity. He has always been a loyal and public-spirited citizen and at various times has been active in civic affairs, more as a supporter of movements for the general welfare than as an aspirant for office or a holder of public posts.

In the spring of 1877 Mr. Calhoon was united in marriage, in Polk county. Nebraska, to Miss Henrietta Robinson, who is now deceased, and they became the parents of six children, concerning whom the following brief record is consistently entered : Alvin, who married Bertha Luther, is a minister of the Free Methodist church and is living near Alberta, Canada, where he has a fann and fills a pulpit ; Calvin, who married Dolly Barbee, is a preacher of the Home Association, and resides near Jerome, Arizona ; Miss Zora resides with her father, for whom she keeps house. Ina is the wife of Rev. James Davis, a farmer and preacher in the vicinity of De Nova. Colorado. Clinton, who married Mary Shepard, is a preacher of the Nazarene church and resides in Kansas. Charles, who is still a bachelor, resides with his father and sister and is now studying to become a minister.

three already having adopted this profession and the fourth lieing engaged in ])reparing for that high calling. The married daughter of Mr. Calhoon chose for her husband a preacher. Mr. Calhoon is himself a generous contrilmtor to religious enterprises and movements.

EARL W. BROWN. - This caption spells the name of a prosperous son of a popular sire who was one of the prominent pioneers of Custer county, as the story which follows will disclose.

Earl W. Brown hails from Kansas, where he was born March 12, 1881. and he is a son of A. D and Matilda (Mullen) Brown, Custer county pioneers of more than ordinary prominence. In the family of A. D. Brown were the following named children - Claude, Harl, Lawrence, Forrest, Stella Holliday, Earl W., Lila Phifer, and Oma, the last mentioned being a student in the Grand Island Business College at the present time. A. D. Brown was a prominent farmer and stockraiser in the early days of the South Loup countrys in which section he settled in 1881. Here he located a tree claim and bought 160 acres, about five or six miles southeast of the site of the present thriving town of Arnold. He was at that time in the full vigor of manhood and soon became one of the active and influential men in that part of the countv, much credit being due him for the ser\'ice he rendered in developing the southwest section of the county. He served on the board of supervisors for a number of years. He and his good wife were devoted members of the Christian church. Mr. Brown died on his farm, December 17, 1909. He was a highdegree Mason and an Odd Fellow of high rank and good standing. The children have been a credit to their parents and occupy in their respective communities much the same relation as that sustained by the parents. All of the children are in the Christian church and the boys are either Masons or Odd Fellows.

Further brief data concerning .\. D. Brown, the sterling pioneer, are available and should be incorporated in this review. He was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, March 1, 1847, and thus his age at the time of his death was sixty-two years, nine months and five days. He was reared and educated in the old Hoosier state and he represented that commonwealth as a gallant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-second