Custer County, Nebraska - Founders and Builders, 1919 (part 8 of 32)

Dr. Clark H. Fensterniacher received his early education in the public schools of Michigan and spent his boyhood on the home farm. An agricultural life, however, did not appeal to him and after some preparation he entered the University of Louisville, Kentucky, irom which he was duly graduated in 1900, in which year he began practice at vSargent. He has continued here with constantly increasing success, and now has a large and lucrative practice of a general character, although he specializes to some extent in surgery, a branch in which he has met with particularly gratifying success. He has given much study and thought to this department of his profession, has kept fully abreast of the great advancements being constantly made, and perhaps no practitioner in Custer county has had more experience in this direction. For a lumiber of years he has been local surgeon for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Sargent. He holds membership in the various medical organizations, and is affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political beliefs cause him to maintain an independent stand in regard to public matters. Gifted with a love for his chosen profession, quick of intuition, and generous and sympathetic in his work, he has won the respect and esteem of the citizens of Sargent, and by his courteous manner and genial nature, as well as acknowledged ability, has won an enviable practice and surrounded himself with a circle of warm friends.

Dr. Fensterniacher was united in marriage in November, 1913, at Sargent, to Aliss Olive Griffith, who was born in Custer county, a daughter of George Griffith, who is engaged in farming near Callaway, this county. Dr. and Mrs. Fensterniacher are the parents of one child, Inez.

^ ALLIE L. MORGAN. - Down on the South Loup, on the same quarter-section upon which is located the Cuniro store and postoffice, in a region noted for its pioneers, lives one of the staunch, reliable characters who helped to make the history of the early day. This was none other than Allie Levi Morgan, who was born in Aurora, Illinois, in 1858.

He is a son of Levi and Sarah (Satterfield) Morgan. Levi Morgan served as a member of an Illinois regiment during the Civil war, and, like many another gallant soldier of the Union, he came home but to die - a martyr to a noble cause.

Allie L. Alorgan came to Nebraska in 1879, from Aurora, Illinois. He landed at Lexington and made his way into Custer county in 1880. Here, one year later; he homesteaded on the South Loup - the place he now owns and upon which he maintains his splendid farm home, which is known throughout the south part of the county as the "Pioneer's Rest." During those early days, he worked first on one ranch and then on another, sometimes for L. D. George and sometimes for John George, sometimes for Andy Pancake. But no matter where his operations were exerted, he made good and managed to cultivate his own land, put on substantial improvements, culti\ate a tree claim and keep

In 1882 Mr. Morgan was united in marriage to Miss Cora George, a member of the widely known George family, and she did well her jjart in making the home and accumulating their possessions. A lady of refinement and a splendid mother, she be<|ueathed her characteristics to her children and leaves in her home the monument of her life. She died in August, 1918, at the age of fifty-eight years. During her life time she and her husband maintained an open, hospitable home, characteristic of the South Louj) country. Their union was blessed by the birth of three sons : Byron is married and lives on the home place ; Nc G. operates the Cumro store and is the community postmaster : Fletcher is married and also lives on the home place. During his life time Mr. Morgan has been connoisseur of Indian relics, and he has on hand to-day a larger and perhaps more valuable collection than any other collector of relics in the county. Many of the arrowheads, spearheads, stone knives, battle-axes, stone hammers, etc., described and illustrated in the historical pages of this volume, belong to him. These he has preserved at great pains and much expense, and some day his collection will be a great asset to some museum or historical society. Historians of the state are indebted to ^Ir. Morgan for much valuable information gleaned from the relics he has collected.

The Morgans are highly esteemed in the community, are promoters of all progressive movements and, withal, are influential citizens. During her lifetime, Mrs. Morgan was a member of the Baptist church.

,\nent the experiences through which Air. and Mrs. Morgan passed, we submit the following lines, written by Mr. Morgan himself, and addressed to his wife. These lines describe the passing of the old sod house in which their children were born and where so many experiences incidental to pioneer times took place.

ROBERT A. HUNTER. - Industr)' in labor, and faith in his community have been contributing factors in the success of Robert A. Hunter, who, after years of participation in farming, stock-raising, and ranching in Custer county, is now residing in comparative retirement at Broken Bow. Mr. Hunter was born February 25, 1855, at St. Louis. Missouri, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Anderson) Hunter, natives of Scotland.

Robert Hunter came to the United States when thirty years of age, and shortly after his arrival he married Miss Elizabeth Anderson, whose mother was a member of the fanirns Scotch publishing-house family of Mc- Millan. She was eighteen years old when she came to this country, and after their marriage she and Mr. Hunter located near Litchfield, Illinois, where they engaged in farming and stock-raising, accumulating large holdings in land and stock. They were faithful members of the Persbyterian church, in the faith of which Mr. Hunter died in 1890, at Walshville, Illinois. Mrs. Hunter survived until 1903 and passed away at the home of her son Robert A., at Broken Bow. They are survived by four children: Mary J. is the wife of Peter \V. Davenport, a veteran of the Civil war. a Republican, and a member of the Christian church and the Woodmen's lodge ; Robert .\. is the subject of this sketch : James .\., a retired ranchman of Alliance, Nel)raska, is a Woodman and a Rejiublican : and Martha is the wife of A. L. Mcl'liai!. a fariuer near Litchfield, Illinois.

Robert A. Hunter attended the public schools and Lebanon (Illinois) College, and he remained on the home farm until his marriage, Marcli 14, 1877. at Walshville. Illinois, to Martha .\. Beck, a ilaugbter of .Moses and

Emily C. (Barlow) Beck. Mr. Beck, who was a pioneer farmer of Illinois, was an elder in the Presbyterian church, belonged to the Odd Fellows, and was a Republican. Not long after their marriage, ^Ir. and Mrs. Hunter came to Custer county and located six miles north of Broken Bow, on an undeveloped ranch, which Mr. Hunter named Sunny Dell. They lived in a little sod house and their early struggles for a start were ones that taxed their energies to the full, but both possessed determination and persistence and in the end they triumphed over all obstacles. Mr. Hunter had the utmost faith in the community which he had selected as his home, and during the drouth years of 1(S90 and 1894, when other settlers were discouraged and were leaving for their former homes in the east, he bought all the land adjoining his own. When his small capital was exhausted he borrowed money, often paying as high as three per cent, a month interest, but his faith was vindicated, and he has lived to reap the reward of his confidence. He still owns his original homestead in Custer county, besides other property, and while he is now partly retired and living in his comfortable home at Broken Bow he still supervises the operations on much of this land.

For many years Mrs. Hunter has been one of the most prominent women in Custer county. During the earl)* days, when her husband was struggling hard to make ends meet, she secured a position teaching school, and for five years, during nine months out of the year, drove daily from five to seven miles to take care of her classes, taking with her her two daughters. In addition to this service she did all of her own housework at the ranch, and did not think it any hardship. Even when prosperity' came, and the family moved to Broken Bow, she continued for a time to teach in the public schools here. For many years she taught a young men's Bible class in the Sunday school of the Presbyterian church, and she has always been active in the work of religion and temperance. She was the first president of the Custer county Women's Christian Temperance Union, has given numerous lectures at public meetings in behalf of temperance, and was a charter member of Chapter S, P. E. O., subsequently serving as vice-president of the Nebraska grand chapter of the P. E. O. She was a member also of the women's board at the Trans-Mississipjii Exposition, held at Omaha in 1898. In 1915 she published the "Story of the Four Gospels," for boys and girls, and a temperance drama entitled "Weighed in the Balance," both of which met with immediate favor. She has contributed numerous short stories and other articles to different periodicals. A woman of splendid talents and utmost sincerity, it is her wish to serve her day and generation and to merit her Master's : "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

JAMES N. PEALE. - Of the men who have lent dignity of character, excellence of labor and largeness of general co-operation to aiTairs in Custer county for a considerable period, none is held in greater esteem than is James N. Peale, the proprietor of a grocery, fruit, and feed business and a creamery station at Broken Bow.

Mr. Peale was born November 4, 1863, at Plarrisonburg, Rockingham county, Virginia, a son of Anderson N. and Martha (Bushnell) Peale. Anderson N. Peale was born at Cross Roads, Rockingham county. Virginia, a son of Jonathan Peale. the original ancestors having come from England, and for many years Anderson N. Peale was a school teacher in the Old Dominion state. In 1883 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, where he located near New Helena and began to teach school, but after a few years he located at Westerville and established himself in the hotel and meat-market business. His death occurred at Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1896, he having removed to that city several years prior to his demise. He was a Presbyterian and in politics was a Democrat. Mrs. Peale was born at Reidsville, North Carolina, a daughter of Henry Bushnell, a leading civil engineer and during his day considered one of the best mathematicians of the south. He was a Democrat and a member of the Baptist church.

The mother of James N. Peale died when he was fourteen years of age, near Harrisonburg, Virginia, and following that he had no real home. He managed to earn small amounts of money by collecting bones, which were ground into fertilizer, and by selling such old iron as he could find, but he did not make much progress until the spring of 1880, when he came to the west, in comjianv with E. N. Bishop, their destination being Cnmdy county, Iowa, a community which thev eventually reached. ( )ne month later, with a pair of plug horses and an emigrant wagon, they came to Gates, Custer county, Nebraska, taking sixteen days to make the journey, and young Peale hired out to James L. Cixford, who was proprietor of the Oxford ranch, on Lillian creek. He worked there about four years, attending the district schools in the winter months, and sul)sec|uently he went to Wes- terville, where for three or four years he clerked in mercantile establishments. During President Cleveland's first administration he was appointed postmaster at Westerville, and he also conducted a mercantile business at that point. From that time to the present there has not been a period of more than several months' duration that he has not been actively engaged in mercantile pursuits. His talents seem to be naturally adapted to barter and trade, and at the present time he is the proprietor of a splendidly successful enterprise on the north side of the Public Square at Broken Bow, handling staple and fancy groceries, fresh fruit, feed, etc., and conducting a creamery station, under the style of J. N. Peale & Company. Mr. Peale has an excellent reputation in business circles - a man of industry and energy, enterprise and spirit, and he is noted for his strict integrity and the manner in which he lives uj> to his business obligations.

^lr. Peale was married July 4. 1888, at Broken Bow, to Miss Alattie S. Bond, daughter of Benjamin Bond, a farmer of this community, and of the children born to this union, two are living, - Shemian C, who is the proprietor of a feed and fuel business at Los Angeles, California ; and Walter N., who is telephone-order clerk for the great wholesale grocery house of H. Jevne Company, at Los Angeles. Mr. Peale is a member of the Methodist Ejiiscopal church and is a staunch Democrat in politics. He is fraternally affiliated with the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.

WILLIAM BOEKING. - N u m b e r e d among the homesteaders of 1882 in Custer county who are still the owners of their original properties, although now retired from active labor, is found \\illiam Boeking. Mr. Boeking was for years a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Custer county, but in the spring of 1916 he took up his residence at Litchfield, where he is the proprietor of an implement business.

Mr. Boeking was born in Westphalia, Germany, January 15, 1860, and is a son of Henry and Kathryn { Knnn ) Boeking, the fonner l)orn in Ciermany in 1S37, and the latter on January 16th of that year. They were married in their native land and resided in Westl)halia until coming to the United States, in 1868, in which year they settled in Livington county, Illinois. During the next eleven vears they were engaged in farming in that county, and then, in 1879, they started out in a wasron for Nebraska. After a long and tedious journey they arrived at their destination, in Sherman county, where the father filed on a homestead. Through his industry and good management he became well-to-do, and when he died, on his homestead, in 1885, he was one of the substantial and highly respected men of his community. He was a Republican in politics, and he and his wife were faithful members of the Evangelical church. They were the parents of five children : William of this sketch ; Henry-, who died at Grand Junction, Colorado; Albert, of Strathcona, Alberta, Canada ; ^Iar\', the widow of William Ruland, and a resident of Litchfield : and John, on the old home farm in Sherman county.

William Boeking was given his education in the jniblic schools of Illinois, to which state he had been taken as a lad of eight years, and he accompanied his parents to Sherman county, Nebraska, in 1879. He resided there three years, and then, with his possessions, which consisted of a team of horses, a wagon, and two dollars in cash, he came to Custer county and settled on a homestead. When others, less determined and stunly, gave up their land under discouraging conditions, he held grimly on to his property, and in the end his perseverance was rewarded, for his property developed productiveness and value and its ownership eventually made him a wealthy man. He carried on general farming, in addition to doing considerable stock-raising, and from time to time he added to his holdings, until he had 5()0 acres. In the spring of 1916 he turned over the strenuous labor of the farm to younger hands, although retaining its ownership, and removed to Litchfield, where he engaged in the hardware and implement business. In 1918 he traded the hardware store for a farm in Sherman county, but he still owns the implement business. Mr. Boeking has made a decided success of his career, during which his transactions have always been honorable, fair, square, and above-board. He has sened as asses.sor of his county three years and has always discharged the duties of citizenship in a conscientious and creditable manner. His political support is given to the Democratic ]«rly, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which the members of his family also belong.

In 188,?. the year following liis arrival in Custer county, Mr. Boeking was united in marriage with Miss Emma Fienhold, who was born at Peru, Illinois, and they became the parents of twelve children, of whom nine survive : .Albert, who carries on operations on his father's- farm in Sherman county, Nebrask.i : Mary, who married Harry Douglass, of Custer county ; Kate, the wife of Ned Perry, a farmer of Butfalo county, Nebraska ; Ed, who entered the United States army in 1917, and later entered active service in France ; Bertha, who married George Paterson, a farmer of Custer county; Harve, a student of the State University, at Lincoln, where at the time of this writing he is taking a course in radio work, having enlisted in the United States service ; and George, Mildred, and Grace, who remain with their parents.

SYLVESTER McWORTHY was born in Carroll county, Illinois, July 21, 1854. His father. Peter Mc Worthy, was born in one of the eastern states, of Irish descent, though for many years the family had been residents of the United States. When a young man Peter McWorthy settled near Quincy, Illinois, where he became a farmer and where his marriage occurred, the maiden name of his wife having been Hicks, and she having been born near Quincy, Illinois. From that locality they moved to Carroll county, Illinois, becoming early settlers there, and in that county they spent the remainder of their days.

Sylvester McWorthy. the subject of this record, was reared on a farm in Illinois and in 1883 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, where his boyhood friends, the Thomas boys, had settled but a short time before. Mr. JNIc- Worthy secured a homestead of 160 acres - the southwest quarter of section 19, township 18, range 21. He had the usual experiences of the early settlers of Custer county, and a sod house was his home until six years ago, when he erected the present frame structure. This farm has always been his home since he came here, thirty-six years ago, and for many years he carried on general farming, though he now rents his land and practically lives retired. Mr. McWorthy has a host of friends in the community, though he has not a relative in the state, and he has chosen to live in single blessedness, as one of the popular bachelors of the county in which he has long lived and labored and of which he is a sterling pioneer citizen.

HENRY T. BARRETT. - Among the early settlers of Custer county who have helped to bring about present-day conditions, mention should be made of Air. and Mrs. Henry T. Barrett.

Henry T. Barrett was born in Jackson county, Iowa, October 20, 1860. His parents, Hercules and Susan ( Hawke) Barrett, were natives of Cornwall, F^ngland, where thev were born within six miles of Land's End. While still young people they came to America, and they lived in turn in Wisconsin, in Illinois, and in Jackson county, Iowa, their last days having been spent in Cass county, that state, where both passed away, he at the age of seventy and she at the age of seventysix years.

Henry T. Barrett was reared in his native state and when a young man came to Custer county and took a somestead of 160 acres, in section 22, townssip 17, range 22. He built a sod house, proved up on the claim, and recently he deeded the farm to one of his sons.

In 1885, in Custer county, was solemnized the marriage of Henry T. Barrett to Sarah E. M. Cass, who was born in Jackson county, Iowa, and who is a daughter of John and Orpha (Hill) Cass, natives of New York state and early pioneers of Jackson county, Iowa, where they passed away.

In 1884 Mrs. Barrett, before her marriage, came to Custer county and secured a homestead in section 22, township 18, range 22. Here she was married and since that event she and her husband have made this their home. They occupy a nice frame house, and the improvements are in keeping with presentday development.

Mr. and Mrs. Barrett have two sons: .\lonzo, who was graduated in the Merna high school, as a member of the class of 1912, is at home and is assisting in the operation of the farm. He recently married Miss Minnine Foerst. Grant, who was graduated in tlie Merna high school, class of 1915, was a member of the United States Army in France at the time when the great war came to a close.

Mr. and Mrs. Barrett are among the pioneer settlers of Custer county, have contributed their full share to the progress and development of the community in which they live, and are people of genuine worth.

AMOS O. ALEXANDER was born February 27, 1871, in Nebraska City, and he is a son of James O. and Sarah E. ( Standley) Alexander, who were honored pioneers of Nebraska, and from whom Amos O. inherited the characteristic traits that have made his life career very successful. There were these children in the family of James O. and Sarah E. Alexander - Phineas W., Sarah J., Finley, James M., Luella A. Spegal (deceased), .\ddie E. Flower (deceased), Amos O., (the farmer and business man of whom this sketch is written), and Lillian M. Andry. Through the mother, this familv was connected with the Methodist church. The father was a stock raiser and farmer by occupation, and his farm was situated seven miles northwest of Nebraska City, where he died when his son Amos was but five years old. It should be made a matter of record that the late James O. Alexander was one of the valiant band of territorial pioneers in Nebraska. He came to Nebraska Territory in 1855, prior to the time when railroads had been constructed through this section of our national domain, and he lived up to the full tension of frontier life during the period of his early residence in the now prosperous and opulent commonwealth of Nebraska. He was a man of strong character, commanded unequi\ocal confidence and esteem and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

At an early age Amos O. Alexander began looking for ways by which he could earn money. When eleven years of age he worked for his brother. His brother permitted him to plant a small tract of ground with corn, and when, at maturity, the product was sold, it brought five dollars. This first five dollars looked bigger to .\mos than many times that amount would to-day. He worked at home and went to school whenever opportunity offered until he was thirteen years of age. By this time his older brothers and sisters had married, and this left him at home with his mother and a younger sister. The situation challenged his strength and manhood. He must contribute to his mother's support. This he did by working on the fami. and from that time until the day of her death he charged himself with the care and support of his mother, who passed to the life eternal on March 29, 1918. The mother's farm was sold in 1892 and with her two younger children she came to Custer county and bought 160 acres, southwest of Arnold. As soon as Amos ( ). was of age he took a homestead on the same table, nine miles sowthwest of Arnold, where he made his home until he moved to Arnold, three vears ago.

July 11, 1894." at North Platte, Nebraska. Mr. Alexander married Cora A. Dourte. of Nebraska City. Mrs. Alexander is a daughter of John and Cordelia (Barnum) Dourte. In her father's family she was the only daughter. She had three brothers, Edward J., Sanford B., and Myron J., and also three halfbrothers. LeRoy G., Carl P., and Harley O.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander was enlivened, as the years went by, with five children - four boys and one girl, ^^'a^ren, at the time of this writing, is somewhere in France, as a member of a supply company of the Fourth Infantry-, .American Expeditionar)' Forces. He is a graduate of the Arnold high school. H. Nolan is a graduate of the Arnold high school and is now teaching near Arnold. He makes his home with his parents. Alva H. also is a graduate of the Arnold high school, is a mechanic by occupation and is working at home with his father. Ralph E. is a freshman in the high school. Constance, six years of age, is the pampered idol of the home. The home farm of the Alexanders, on Garfield Table, comprises 480 acres, with all necessary equipment and improvements. At the present time they have retired from the farm and have a comfortable home in Arnold, where Mr. Alexander is building a new garage and machine shop, of brick anfl cement. The dimensions of the new building are 60 bv 112 feet, with an upper story 60 by 60 feet. This gives over 10,000 square feet of floor space and when it is finished the commodious building should insure a profitable business. Mr. Alexander is considered one of the "live wires" of the community, is an Odd Fellow by social connections and his high standing in the community will insure him a splendid business in his new enterjjrise. His wife enjoys the same distinction and esteem in the community.

WILLIAM R. YOUNG, M. D. - The career of Dr. William R. Young is strongly entrenched in the history of the medical profession in Custer county. The thriving community of Ansley, to which he came in 1897. offered a promising field for the young physician, and the citizens who have watched his uprising have never had cause to regret the faith thev placed in his energy, enthusiasm, and ability. He has grown into his opportunities, has fashioned his resources to his needs, and has reflected dignity, sincerity, and genuine worth upon a profession for which he is singularly and admirably equipped.

Dr. William R. Young was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1868, a son of Thomas and Jane E. (Rutherford) Young. His parents were natives of England, his father immigrating to the United States alone, in voung manhood, and his mother coming with her parents when a child. Thomas S. Young was a fanner by vocation, an occujwtion which he followed for a number of vears in Pennsylvania, Init later he moved to the vicinity of Williamsburg, Iowa, where he passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring there in January, 1917. when he was eighty-three years of age. Mr. "S'oung was a Republican in his political views and for a number of years served as postmaster at a country- office. He was a

Mason and was a member of the Alethodist Episcopal church, as was also Airs. Young, who died in 1913, when sixty-four years of age. They were people who were highly esteemed in their community, noted for their charities and their unfailing kindliness and hospitality. They had four children : William R., of this notice; and iMary, Nellie, and Jennie, all of whom reside at Williamsburg, Iowa.

After completing his preliminary educational training in the public schools of the country community in which his father's farm was located, William R. Young began his professional studies in the medical department of the University of Iowa, in which institution he was duly graduated after a creditable college career. He thus received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1893. At that time he began his professional work at Marengo, Iowa, but after four years there came, in 1897, to Ansley, which has since been his home, the center of professional activities, and the scene of his rise and success. Through ability and splendid professional equipment he has steadily advanced in his profession and has built up a name for himself, while acquiring a large ])atronage. While the Doctor has been a general practitioner, being equally at home in the various branches of medical and surgical science, he has nevertheless specialized to some extent in the treatment and cure of diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Always a close and careful student, with a receptive mind, he has continued his studies and has taken several post-graduate courses - in New York, ill 1907 ; three months in Chicago, in 1917 ; and two months in the latter city in 1918. He is a valued member of the Custer County Medical Society, of which he was formerly president for several terms ; the Nebraska State Medical Society ; the Missouri Valley Medical Society ; and the American Medical Association.

On August 22, 1894, Dr. Young was united in marriage to Miss Mae Roloson, who was born near Williamsburg, Iowa. They have no children. Dr. and Mrs. Young are members of the Christian church and are interested practically in religious, charitable, and educational work and movements. He is a prominent ]\Iason, having attained Scottish Rite degrees, and politically he is a Republican, although close application to the duties of his profession has kept him from active participation in political affairs.

Custer county and a well known and respected citizen, has spent almost his entire life in this county, for he was only one year old when his parents, James and Amelia (Shaw) Sterner, here established their home. He was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, March 28, 1883, and IS one of the seven survivors of a family of ten children, the others being: Mrs. Alice C. Ireland, Mrs. Flora Johnson, Mrs. Nevada Doggett, Charles W., George C., and Robert J. James Sterner was born in Ohio and his wife was born in Indiana. In politics he was a Republican, and his religious membership was in the United Brethren church. He brought his family to Custer county in 1884 and died here in 1891.

Samuel O. Sterner was only eight years old when his father died, and his boyhood memories all linger about the first home, especially when pioneer hardships in Nebraska are the subject of conversation. His father located on Cliff Table and when the dry season came on, the lack of water became a very serious matter, as it had to be hauled from the Loup river, which was twelve miles distant. The family lived on Cliff Table for nine years, during a part of the time being able to secure water from the old Caswell place, which was distant less than a mile. Purchase was then made of the present homestead, which belongs to Samuel 0. Sterner and which is situated on Spring creek, six miles northeast of Callaway. This fine property has been managed by Mr. Sterner and its industries successfully carried on by him eVer since he was sixteen years of age. Under the circumstances, this was a heavy responsibility, but anyone who can visit Mr. Sterner's well improved estate of 280 acres and see his ripening crops of grain - 175 acres under cultivation, eighty being in corn and the rest in oats, wheat, and rye - will readily assert that good judgment regulated his activities and that he has been well rewarded for his years of industry. Until 1911 Mr. Sterner's mother resided with him on the homestead, and she then purchased property at Callaway, where she has a very comfortable home.

Mr. Sterner was married September 21, 1904, at Broken Bow, Nebraska, to Miss Clara Knudsen, who was born in Custer county, and is a daughter of Nels and Anna (Tower) Knudsen, who were born in Denmark. Mrs. Sterner has one brother and one sister - .\lphoiie and Mrs. Anna Reeder. Mr. and Mrs. Sterner have three children : Myrle, Orval, and Aunno, all of whom have been given good school advantages. Mr. Sterner has always voted the Democratic ticket. He is affiliated with the Brotherhood, with the

Masonic fraternity and with the order of American Yeomen. .\s may be imagined, he has always been a man of activity and energy, and that these traits characterized him when he was still a boy may be illustrated by a story that Mr. Sterner sometimes tells of the first piece of money he earned. This was paid to liim by Uavid Moses, as a reward for sitting ])erfeclly quiet on a chair for a period of ten minutes.

MRS. STELLA WATKINS. - The pioneers of Custer county of the year 1885 included numerous emigrants from Illinois, many of whom settled permanently and assisted materially in the development of the agricultural and other interests of the county. Among these was the William family, whose members subsequently became well known and highly respected here, and among whom was a daughter, Stella, who is now Mrs. Stella Drum Watkins, and who for the past twentysix years has been a resident of the northern part of Callaway, where she is widely known and has many sincere friends.

Stella William was born in Grundy county, Illinois, February 20, 1869, a daughter of Richard E. and Anna R. ( Teeter ) William. The father was a native of Wales, his parents coming to the United States when he was five years of age, and having settled in Illinois, where he was reared to manhood and where he married Anna R. Teeter, a native of Indiana. They became the parents of nine children, of whom seven are living: John T., Walter J., Ida (the wife of Henry \Vheeler), Anna (the wife of Grant Patterson), Blanche (the wife of Zearl Ramzey), Gertrude (the wife of Roy Hussey), and Stella (Mrs. Watkins). Richard E. William was engaged in farming in (inuuly county, Illinois, until 1885, in which year he brought his family to Custer county, Nebraska, and settled on Red Fern Table, twelve miles south of Callaway, where he and his wife still nudve their home. Mr. William, a man of remarkable energy, still oversees the operations on his 300 acres of crop-bearing land, although he has reached the age of eighty-one years, and his devoted wife, although ])ast seventy-two years of age in 1918, is likewise alert in mind and active in body and performs all her own work, disdaining assistance. These sterling pioneers are greatly honored and respected in the community in which they have lived so long, ard in which they have displayed those excellencies of heart and mind that have endeared them to many friends.

When she accompanied her ])arents to Custer county Stella William was a young lady of sixteen years and was a graduate of the high school at Braid wood, Illinois. Subsequently she attended the Custer County Teachers' Institute for six weeks, and she obtained her first certificate from Superintendent U. M. Amsberry. She began to teach on Red Fern Table, where she continued her effective services two years. She was married .\ugust 2?, 1887, to Charles B. Drum, a son of Delavan Drum. His business was the sinking of hydraulic wells, a vocation in which he was successfully engaged until his death. November 26, 1907. Four children were born to this union: Delavan C, who is clerk of the ;\1 idway Hotel, Kearney, Nebraska, married Gertrude Bainbridge, daughter of Emmett Bainbridge, and has a son and a daughter: Harry E. ("Bud") lives with his mother and stepfather ; Erwin G., nineteen years of age, is a member of Battery E, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Artillery, stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, at the time of this writing : and Stella May, who is residing with her mother and stepfather, and who is a graduate of Callaway high school, class of 1917, taught one term of school and is now a clerk in the postoffice at Callaway.

November 28, 1909, Mrs. Drum became the wife of Richard Watkins, a son of George and Lucy Watkins, and to this union there has been born one son : Richard W. Mr. Watkins has successfully followed the well-construction business in Custer county during -\ period of sixteen years, but is now engaged in farming in a successful way, on the property, north of Callaway, on which Mrs. W'atkins has made her home for the past tweiitysix years. They are the owners of 520 acres of good Custer county soil, which has been brought to a high state of productiveness ajul im[)roved with modern buildings and the latest equipment of all kinds. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins are widely known in this communit\ jMid are as widely respected. They are leading and consistent members of the Evangelical church, and politically Mr. Watkins is a Democrat.

OTIS H. MOOMEY, one of the substantial merchants of Broken Bow. and senior mem her of the grocery and market finn of O. H. Moomey & Son, has been a resident of Custer county since 1892, and during the quarter of a century that has intervened he has been variously connected with the rising industrial and commercial interests of this section, always to the benefit of himself and his community.

Mr. Moomey was bom on a farm near Iowa City, Johnson county, Iowa, on a property which belonged to his father, Peter Moomey, who had inherited it from grandfather Jacob Moomey, the original holder of the land from the United States government, from which he had secured it on a soldier's land warrant, as a veteran of the War of 1812. Jacob Moomey was a son of John Moomey, who was not only a veteran of the Revolutionary war but also a member of the body-guard of General Washington. In this connection Jacob Moomey was distinguished by the following incident : Close students of Revolutionary history will remember, as related, that on one occasion a British officer through some means slipped through the American lines, rode up to the side of General Washington, and, raising his sabre, was intent upon the death of the patriots' commander. He was prevented from the deed by the prompt action of a private who thrust up his gun and received the blow, which was delivered with such force that it cleft the gun barrel nearly in two, broke the sabre in three pieces and split the private's thumb to the bone, but saved the General's life. This private was O. H. Moomey's great-grandfather.

Mr. Moomey remained on the home farm with his parents until reaching the age of nine years, at which time his father, partly because of the death of a son and a daughter, his only other children at that time, sold his home and moved to Wilton Junction, Iowa, where he was engaged in the butcher business for two or three years. At the end of this period he moved to Keokuk county, Iowa, where he again engaged in mercantile lines, but, meeting with business reverses, he lost all that he had, and his son, Otis, then a lad of sixteen years, was thrown upon the world to make his own way. The manner in which he earned his first dollar is well remembered by him. It was in the fall of 1876 that he hired out to one Amos Quinn to work on what was then known as a "blind" or "mole" ditcher, at the then highest wage known, eighteen dollars per month. They used two yoke of oxen for the propelling power, and on the first morning Air. Quinn asked the youth if he had any experience in driving cattle. On being answered in the negative, the employer said : "Well, here is the best trained two yoke of oxen anybody ever had," and, handing the whip to the lad, continued, "Now, as you have had no experience with cattle, I will give you a lesson in driving here in the yard before we go to work. Now the names of these cattle are. Buck and Bill, the leaders, and John and I\ed, the wheelers. You always want to stand on the left side of cattle when commanding them and when you want to start say: 'Git up, Buck-Bill-John- Red,' and when you want them to stop say : 'Whoa.' If you want them to turn to the right say : 'Gee,' and to the left say : ' Whoaha buck.' " After a few lessons of this kind the employer said : "You see how good they are to mind. Now, boy, I want you to remember I won't have you whipping these cattle, for they do not need it, and if I catch you at it I will tire you." After loading the beam on to the capstan, Mr. Quinn and the expectant, but by no means confident youth, started to the field, but before reaching their objective point they had to cross a large, muddy slough, in which they nearly mired down. Remarking that it was jnilling the cattle too hard, Mr. Quinn threw oil the beam, drove the capstan over where they were ready to start, and while he was setting it in place he sent the youth back with the cattle after the beam. The return trip was made in safety, but in turning the cattle around young Moomey got into trouble, for he picked up the whip and went to the wrong side of the cattle, with disastrous results. When he shouted : "Git up Buck-Bill-John-Red," the oxen began pulling first one way and then the other, and when he gave the command : "Whoa-ha buck," the cattle backed up and turned around, the youth having to run for his life to keep them from trampling him in the mud. However, some way in the scramble he happened to get on the right side again, when the cattle righted up and he was able to deliver the beam to his employer in proper fashion. This was the first and last work young Moomey did by the month. He conceived the idea that he would rather be his own employer and accordingly he rented a farm the next year and employed his parents to keep house for him. There he afterward met and married Ella, the second daughter of Lafayette Strickland, who, during those days, was what was known as a "handy man," being a carpenter and wagonmaker by trade, but later in life conducting a hardware and grocery store. To this union there were born two children : Forrest Beryl and Feme, the latter of whom was called to the Heavenly Father when only two and one-half years of age. Worry over the loss of this child, and hard work in helping her husband to get a start in life, caused the mother to break down physically and, after a long siege of illness, when she was reduced almost to the point of being an invalid, Mr. Moomey decided to come to Custer county. Here he arrived in the fall of 1892, and here Mrs. Moomey soon regained her former health. She engaged in the millinery business at Mason City, occupying a portion of the room where Mr. Moomey conducted and owned a general store. After about nine years of prosperous business in these Hues, they sold out and moved to a farm of one-half section, which they purchased and improved and which they later sold. Finding this profitable. Mr. Moomey engaged in the business of buying town lots and pieces of unimproved land, building houses on them, and then selling. He operated principally, around Ansley. and was making a success of his ventures, but, as he himself puts it. "Like the ston,- of the Indian: you may educate him and he will wear a plug hat and kid gloves for a while, but turn him loose and he will go back to the wigwam." So with Mr. Moomey. Upon being notified of the sudden death of Mr. Morrison, at Broken Bow, who had been engaged in the butcher business, Mr. Moomey and his son, familiarly known as Ber\l, purchased the establishment from the widow, and after a year or two merged it into the present meat and grocery business, located on the west side of the Public Square, where they are doing a splendid business, under the firm name of O. H. Moomey & Son.

JOHN MARK BENNETT. - This is a story of a Pennsylvanian who transferred his activities to the central west, where he has made a record of which any man might well be proud.

John Mark Sennett was born on St. Valentine's day of the year 1859, in the good old state of Pennsylvania. His parents, James B. and Ruth .Knn (Hall) Sennett, were both native Pennsylvanians and were very excellent people of good standing in their home state, whence they eventually removed to Lawrence county, Indiana, where, on a rented farm, the father conducted farming operations a few years. He then moved further west, and located near Hoopston. Illinois, where he continued farming activities, on rented land, until the day of his death.

In the family circle of this worthy couple were nine children, eight of whom are still living: Edward, who lives on a farm in Custer county; John Mark, who is the subject of this narrative, Frank, who is still a resident of Illinois, Mar>', who is the wife of Richard Parks and whose home is in Illinois ; Lizzie, who is the wife of Patrick O'Conner, living in Illinois ; Belle, a widow, whose home is at Hoopston, Illinois ; Adeline, who is deceased ; Harry, who is living at Hoopston, Illinois, as is also Charles, the youngest member of the family.

Before the arrival of John Mark Sennett in Custer countv, he had received his education in the Hoosier state and had been well fitted for the business transactions incident to a farmer's career. In 1870 he left Indiana and journeyed as far west as Illinois, where he established himself upon a farm. He came to Custer county in 1884, when the county was but seven years old, and when pioneer conditions prevailed everv'where. He homesteaded a good quarter-section of land, began at once its impro\ement and by frugal habits succeeded in making his way and adding to his possessions. It seems that Hoopston. Illinois, still had attractions for him, for in 1893 he there led to the marriage altar Mollie .\deline Arihood, a young woman who was born in Tippacone county. Indiana, and who is a daughter of William Lawson Arihood and Almira (Peterson) Arihood, the father a native of ( )hio and the mother of Indiana. Mrs. Sennett's parents came to Nebraska in 1906. and here the father died May 19. 1917. his widow now making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Sennett.

Mr. and Mrs. John Mark Sennet have four children - Ruby, and Jessie are popular teachers, having received their education in the Nebraska public schools and the State Normal School at Kearney : Harn*- and Harley are twins and are pursuing their studies in the home school. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

The first land Mr. Sennett owned was a Custer county farm. This he purchased and to the same he has added until to-day his land holdings in Custer county constitute a rounded section of 640 acres, providing for retirement in old age. Twenty-two town lots are to he marked down in the inventorv of this successful farmer. Every do Inr of the Sennett possessions has been made by Mr. Sennett and his wife. In addition to the land owned in this county they have sixty-two acres in the coast region of Texas - a property that is very valuable and that is rapidly increasing in value as that countr\- is developed. .\ large circle of friends in the entire communitv hold Mr. and Mrs. Sennett in high esteem and applaud the success which they have achieved during their years of residence in Custer countv.

. EDWIN E. SOLI RES'. - Among the firms wlio Iiave contributed to the prestige of Custer county as the home of able and learned representatives of the profession of law. one which is generally acknowledged to be a leader, and particularly in the field of criminal procedure, is that of Sullivan. Squires & Johnson. .\ member of this firm who has ])laved a prom- inent part in its success is Edwin E. Squires, who has tatcen advantage of his opportunities, fashioned his resources to his needs, and reflected dignity, sincerity, and genuine worth upon a profession for which he is singular!)- and even a(hnirably equipped.

Mr. Squires was born on a farm in Dehiware county, Iowa, August 29, 1867, and is a son of James H. and ^lary A. ( Eberhart) Squires. His paternal grandfather, John A. Squires, was a native of New York, and in his later years moved to Iowa, where he met an accidental death, at a Fourth of July celebration. James H. Squires was born near Cortland, New York, in 1842, and was seven years of age when taken by his parents to Iowa. For a number of years he was engaged in farming in Delaware county, that state, and he also had some experience in selling insurance and in the drug business, finally locating at Lawrence, Kansas, where he lived while his children were being educated. His death occurred at Kearney, Nebraska, in 1893. Mr. Squires, who had been a successful farmer and business man. was a member of the Independent ( Jrder of ( )dd Fellows and Ancient Order of United Workmen, was a Republican in politics, and belonged to the Congregational church. He married Mary A. Eberhart, who was born in 1848, in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Hiram B. Eberhart. Mr. Eberhart brought his family to the west some time during the Civil war period, and he died in Iowa. Mrs. Squires survives her husbatid, is a resident of Kearney, Nebraska, ard is the mother of two children: Edwin E.. whose name initiates this review, and Claude, who was educated in the normal school at Lawrence. Kansas, and was a teacher until her marriage to Logan Sammons. a farmer of the neighborhood of .Axtell, Nebraska.

Edwin E. Squires received his early educational training in an academy at Manchester, Iowa, and a high .school at Monticello. that state, and he then entered the literary dcjiartment of the Kansas State L'niversity, at Lawrence, from which he was graduated in 188'). At this time his finances were at a somewhat low ebb, but he was determined upon com])leting his ]3rofessional training, and by working during the summer months he was able to earn sufficient funds to carry him through a complete course in the legal department of the L'niversity of Nebraska, in which he was duly graduated in 1893, with his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He at once began nract'ce at Kearnex , where he was located until 1907. and within this time he served one term, of two years, as countv atlornev of Buffalo countv. Likewise he became known, somewhat more than locally, for his ability in criminal cases, a notorious manslaughter case, in particular, attracting attention and giving Mr. Squires recognition when he won a victory for his client. Thus it was that when he came to Broken Bow. in 1907. he found that his reputation had preceded him, as he was almost immediately the recipient of professional business of the most desirable kind. Soon after his arrival he formed a ])artnersliip with Homer M. Sullivan, under the style of Sullivan & S(|uires. and since then Albert P. Johnson has joined the combination, which is now known as Sullivan, Sc|uires & Johnson. This association of able legists now does the largest and most important business in Cu.ster county, the two original members making a specialty of criminal law. Mr. Squires has been counsel in six murder cases, representing the defendant in four, and has been the winner in all save one of the six. He has been successful in a material way and is the holder of much valuable land in Custer county. A Republican in politics, he has taken an active part in local afl^airs, and in 1913 he was elected mayor of Broken Bow. a capacity in which he gave his fellow townsmen an excellent administration.

In 1898 Mr. Squires wedded Miss .\nnie Finch, who was born at Dallas. Illinois, a daughter of John A. and Elizabeth Finch. Mr. Finch, a native of Pennsylvania, was a pioneer of Dallas. Illinois, where he settled in 1846. and where he was a merchant and ship- ])ed goods down the Mississippi river. The family moved to Kearney. Nebraska, about 1886. and there he and his wife passed away. Mrs. Squires died in 1907, having been the mother of one child. Marj* Elizabeth, who is a senior at the Kearney high school. The mother was a devoted member of the Congregational church, to which Mr. Squires also belongs.

THOMAS J. GILLTGAN. - Anywhere within the fine Middle Loup region of Custer county can be found no better ranchman than the sterling citizen whose name initiates this paragrajih and who is well entitled to recognition in this history. Every^body calls Mr. Gilligan "Tom," and this fact ofif'ers indubitable testimony to his personal poinilarity. For many years he has held precedence as one of the extensive and successful stockmen of the northern part of Custer county, and a residence or more than thirty years in the countx' marks his as entitled to pioneer honors.

county, New York, on the 4th of March, 1860, and is a son of John and EHza (O'Donnell) Gilligan, who were representative of fine old Irish stock and from whom the subject of this review received the inherent attributes that have made for strong manhood and the thrift that is born of energy and mature judgment. John Oilligan was born and reared in the fine old Emerald Isle and was a young man when he came to America, in company with one of his brothers who was a sailor by occupation. He landed in the city of Boston, and within a short time thereafter he made his way to Wisconsin, where he found employment as driver in the transportation of the United States mail. He gained pioneer experience in the Badger state, where he remained several years, and in 1854 he established his reasidence in Essex county. New York, where he turned his attention to agricultural enterprise. There, in 1865, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza O'Donnell, who was born in Ireland and who was but ten years old when her parents immigrated to America and established their home in the state of New York. John Gilligan passed the remainder of his life in the Empire state, where his death occurred in 1880, and his venerable widow still maintains her home in that state. They became the parents of seven children, of whom five are living, two of the number becoming residents of Nebraska - Thomas J., of this review, and Dr. J. P. Gilligan, who established himself in the practice of his profession at O'Neill, Holt county.

Thomas F. Gilligan was reared and educated in his native state, where also he gained his initial experience in connection with the basic industries of agriculture and stock-raising. In 1882 he came to Nebraska, as a sturdy and ambitious young man of about twenty-two years, and he passed the first two years in Gage county, where he was employed by the late Nathan Blakely, one of the most honored and influential pioneers of that county. In 1884 Mr. Gilligan came to Custer county, where he entered claim to a homestead in section 24, township 20, range 22, and where he girded himself for the responsibilities and exactions of pioneer life. By hard work and good management he forged forward toward the goal of success and prosperity, and he has long been numbered among the substantial and representative exponents of agricultural and live-stock industry in this county. He has followed agricultural enterprise on an extensive scale, with large holdings of land, but his major success has been gained in connection with the raising of live stock.

Loyal and progressive as a citizen. Air. Gilligan has contributed his full quota to civic and material advancement in Custer county, and has taken lively interest in all things touching the communal welfare. In politics he has been independent, and he now maintains a non-partisan attitude, in which connection he gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He is a communicant and liberal supporter of the Catholic church.

In the year 1899 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gilligan to Miss Nora Calkins, a daughter of William Calkins, and of this union were born six children - Eleanor, Marie, Peter, Thomas, Jennie, and Nicholas. All of the children are living except Thomas, who died at the age of four years, the mother also having passed away. By careful providing of ways and means Mr. Gilligan kept his children well provided for, and all still remain with him except Jennie, who resides with an aunt in the state of New York, she being fourteen years of age at the time of this writing. In 1908, after the death of their mother, Eleanor and Marie Gilligan went to the home of their uncle, Dr. J. P. Gilligan, where they remained five years and in the meanwhile attended an academy school. At the expiration of the period noted, they returned to the paternal home, where they have since had charge of its domestic economics and have proved themselves most competent housekeepers, besides which they are popular factors in the social activities of their home community.

WALTER A. BENCE, who is one of the prominent and thrifty farmers of Custer county, has been a continuous resident of the county for the past thirty-five years. He was born in Harrison county, Indiana. November 18, 1859, and is the eldest son of Socrates and Ambrosia (Nelson) Bence. Socrates Bence belonged to a pioneer family of Indiana and was born and died on a claim that his father had pre-empted. He was a man of puljlic influence, a Democrat in politics, and for four years, 1884-1888, he served as sherifif of Harrison county. Both he and his wife spent their lives in Indiana. They had six children and five survive, namely: Walter A. is the subject of this sketch; Mary is the wife of Charles Hurst and they live on the old homestead ; Jennie is the wife of Benjamin Chickering, of Louisville, Kentucky ; Charles, who lives in California, married Mary Denbow, now deceased. The mother of the above children was a member of the Presbyterian church.

old family homestead in Harrison county and attended the iniblic schools. He immigrated with his family to Nebraska and drove his team of horses, with his covered wagon, into York county, Februar}' 24, 1882. In March. 1883, he came on into Custer county, where he has lived ever since, engaging ver}' successfully in mixed farming and stock-raising. He owns a historic tract of land, known as the Lone Tree country, it being where the desperate horse thieves who ravaged Brown county met just judicial punishment in the summer of 1884.

In August, 1880, Mr. Bence married Miss Catherine Walter, a daughter of John and Catherine ( Kiefer) Walter, who became the parents of fifteen children. Of these children the following survive : John, who lives in Harrison county, Indiana, married Ann Fleischman ; Caroline is the widow of George Dahl, of Louisville Kentucky; Mary is the wife of Casper Zeiler, of Louisville: Henry, who is a resident of Los Angeles, California, married Tena Hemple ; Margaret, who married, first. John Hart, and, second. George W. McRae. lives at Bcrwyn, Custer county ; Catherine is the wife of Walter A. Bence. of this review ; Sarah is the widow of William Hart, of Louisville ; Louis, of Harrison county, Indiana, married Caroline Bruch ; Jacob, of Custer county, married Minnie Cudmore ; Anna is the widow of John Steller, of Los Angeles: and Barbara is the wife of Andrew Barber, of Brith, Iowa.

ALEXANDER PIRNIE, who is one of Custer county's representative citizens, resides on his well improved farm, in section 12, which he took up as a homestead claim thirtynine years ago. He was born in Perthshire, Scotland, July 16, 1853. His parents were Alexander and Janet (Morris) Pirnie, who came from Scotland to the United States in 1879. Their objective point was Nebraska and the father took up a homestead in Custer county, where he passed the remainder of his life. The death of the mother occurred at Buffalo, Kan.sas, but the burial of both was in Lone Tree cemetery. Custer countv. They were strong and vigorous people and nine of their family of ten children are still living, as follows : Alexander, whose name introduces this paragraph : John, who is a farmer and dain'man, living at Merna, Custer county : Icssie, whose home is in Buffalo. Kansas ; Peter, who is a gravel contractor in Kansas City, Kansas : James, who is a miner at Dawson City, Alaska: Mrs. Elizabeth Stoeker. who lives at Broken Bow: Mrs. Catherine Parson,

Alexander Pirnie had excellent school advantages in his native land. With other members of his family he came to the United States in 1876 and located first in Poweshiek county, Iowa. Securing work with farmers, he remained in that section for three years and then came to Nebraska. For about a year he remained in York county but late in 1879 he come to Custer county and secured the homestead on which he has lived ever since, following general farming and stock-raising. From the first Mr. Pirnie has been a prominent and useful citizen of his community and he has been identified with much of the wonderful progress made here in the last quarter of a century or more. He ser^-ed as a juror in the first regidar tenn of the district court ever held in Custer county and is one of only two surviving members of that body, the other being Edwin McClure, of Broken Bow. The presiding judge, who came through by team from Kearney to hold court, was Judge Gaslin. In politics Mr. Piniie is a Democrat. He served nine years on the town board, was a justice of the peace for the same length of time and for twelve years has been a director in his school district.

September 1, 1881, Mr. Pirnie married Miss Lucina Pov.ell. of Custer county, a daughter of John and Maria Powell, formerlj' of Crawford county, Wisconsin. Ten of the twelve children of Mr. and Mrs. Pirnie yet survive, namely: Earl is a merchant and also ])ostmaster at W'eissert : David M., who is a tarmer, lives at Weissert : John W., who is a minister of the Church of God. on the Berwyn circuit, lives at Broken Bow: Mrs. Lucy Cooksley lives at Weissert: Mrs. Amy Leek lives five miles east of Weissert: Mrs. Mira Cooksley lives on a farm near Weissert ; Richard is a farmer near Comstock : George and ( )tis both remain at the parental home : and Mrs. Elsie Spencer lives at Rose Valley postoffice, Broken Bow.

WILLIAM U. UHLMAN, whose well improved farm and comfortable surroundings indicate efficiency as a farmer and a measure of personal ])ride in the home that he has acquired through his own industry, is well known in Custer county, where he is respected and esteemed. He was born in Switzerland, near the city of Zurich, February 2, 1881. His parents were LHrich and Lesetta fSchutz) Uhlnian, who immigrated to the L'nited States in 1883. Thcv had four children, namely : P ritz, who is a farmer and carpenter residing near Broken Bow, Nebraska, married \'ictoria Smets ; William Ulrich Uhlman is the subject of this sketch; Mary, who is the widow of Charles Myers, resides at Broken Bow ; and Rosa is the wife of Wilbur Osbom, who follows the carpenter trade at Broken Bow.

William Ulrich Uhlman was two years old when the family came to the United States and located in Clermont county, Iowa. The father engaged in farming there for one year and then came to Custer county, Nebraska. and homesteaded. Thus this has been the section in which all the children grew up. William U. obtained his education in the public schools of Custer county and had practical training on the farm in preparing for his chosen vocation. Every section of the countr)' presents disadvantages together with opportunities, and there have been seasons in the past history of Custer county when agricultural operations failed because of natural causes, but in later times, since fanning and stock-raising have come 4argely into the hands of well informed and experienced men like Mr. Uhlman, little complaint is ever heard of lack of fine crops in this beautiful section. Mr. Uhlman's experience has led him to adopt dry-fanning methods and he has been very successful.

Air. Uhlman was married March S, 1905, to Miss Marie Smets, who is now deceased. She left three children - Avis, who was born March 29, 1906; Bemice, who was bom February 22, 1909 ; and Inez, who was born April 19, 1912. Mr. Uhlman is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. In politics he is a Republican and he belongs to the fraternal order of Modern Woodmen of America. His farm lies in section 9, township 18, range 19, - in Round valley, Custer county.

NELS A. HALL. - For forty-two busy years Nels A. Hall, one of Custer county's best known fanners and stock-raisers, had his home in this section of the great state of Nebraska. He has seen wonderful changes of all kinds since he came to this section and has done his share in the development of the county's agricultural resources and in establishing such necessities of civilization as good roads, schools, and churches. When a community can claim a majority of such stable and dependable men as Mr. Hall its permanence and progress are assured. It was a matter of genuine regret to the many Custer county friends of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson when, on the 24th of September, 1918, they left their old home near Round \'aUey and removed to Marion county. Oregon, where Mr. Hall purchased an attractive place, two miles distant from Silverton. and where he and his wife intend to pass the remainder of their hves.

Nels A. Hall is a native of Norway and was born near Gjovik, November 15, 1854. His parents were Andreas and Annie (Nelson) Hall, who had four children, namely: Nels A., Peter, Halldora, and Bertha. The father was a carpenter by trade. In 1874 Nels A. Hall came to the United States. He was then twenty years old and had attended the common schools and probably had, to some extent, learned his father's trade. At that time America called young men from many parts of the world, freely offering opportunities that older countries could no longer give. Ownership of land and a home of one's own attracted many to the western states, and in 1874, among the others who settled in Dane county, Wisconsin, many from Norway, was Nels A. Hall. That was but a step on the way, but Mr. Hall remained there two years and he came to Nebraska in the year 1884. He pre-empted land in Custer county, and on this he continued to reside until his removal to Oregon, as noted above. His well improved Custer county farm is situated in section 34, township 19, in the vicinity of Round Valley. The years that followed settlement were years of hard work, but diligence and perseverance in time brought rewards in peace and plenteousness. Mr. Hall followed methods which have been proved best in this climate and was exceedingly successful as a farmer and stockraiser.

Mr. Hall was married, at Boscobel, Grant county, Wisconsin. April 9. 1879. to Miss Bell Olson, a daughter of Ingebret and Anna (Anderson) Olson, and the following named children have been born to them : Egbert, Anna, Helen. Peter. Lewis, and Andrew. All of the children have been given good educational advantages. Mr. Hall and his family belong to the Lutheran church, to which his parents also belonged. He has long been a loyal and appreciative citizen of the United States and is a Republican in politics.

MARK O. AND WILL N. BOOTS. - One of the splendidly developed farming porperties lying in Custer county in the vicinity of Broken Bow is that which belongs to Mark O. and Will N. Boots - a tract of 320 acres, on which are to be found the latest improvements. These brothers are accounted among the self-made men of their locality, as they started out in life with only their am-

-Mark < ). Boots was born August 19, 1870, and Will X. Boots March 17, 1872, their place of nativity haying been a farm in Carroll county. Iowa. They are sons of C. S. and Sarah A. (Prettyman) Boots. Their paternal grandfather, John O. Boots, was an early settler of Miami county, Indiana, in which state he pa.ssed the greater part of his life in agricultural pursuits, and on the maternal side their grandfather was James Prettyman, a native of Delaware, who early became a farmer of Indiana, but spent his last years in the state of Washington. C. S. Boots was bom August 31, 1842, in Grant county, Indiana, and in 1865, in the Hoosier state, he married Aliss Sarah A. Prettyman, who had been born in Starke county. Indiana, April 2, 1849. Not long after their marriage they removed to Iowa, where, in Carroll county, Mr. Boots was engaged in farming as a renter. In 1889 he came to Nebraska and located in Custer county, where he found the medium through which to gain success, as he is now one of the well-to-do and substantial men of his community. Mr. Boots is a Democrat in politics and he and his wife belong to the Christian church. They becanie the parents of thirteen children, of whom nine sunive : Mary, the wife of A. B. Miley, a Custer county farmer; Mark O. and Will N., whose names introduce this review; Jenetta, the widow of J. F. Line; Bertha, the, wife of Martin A. .\lmandinger, a farmer of Lakeside, W'ashington ; Nellie, the wife of Fred E. Conley, who is working in a shipyard at Portland, Oregon; T. A., engaged in farming in Grant county, Nebraska ; and Misses Kate and Alta, on the home place with their parents.

Mark O. and Will N. Boots received their education in the iniblic schools of Iowa and accompanied their parents to Nebraska in 1889. While the former remained on the home place, Will N. worked out among the neighboring agriculturists for several years, and the boys then rented land together. This they cultivated until they could get sufficient capital to set them up as i)roprietors. Eventually they were able to purchase 160 acres, in the Broken Bow neighborhood, and to this they have since added a like acreage, and their land is now all under a high state of cultivation, ])roducing the standard crops in abundance, under their skilled management and treatment of the soil. In addition to general farming they have experimented successfully in raising all kinds of live stock, and in both

Neither of the Boots brothers is married, but they keep "bachelors" hall" on their farm, where they have a pleasant home and commodious buildings for the housing of their stock, grain, and equipment. They are members of the Highlanders, and Mark O. Boots also belongs to the Knights of Pvthias.

JOHN M. KRAMER is one of the late homesteaders of Custer coimty, and he lives in the Anselmo region, in which locality government land was last taken. The story that is about to be related proves, however, that the late-comers, if they possessed the same indomitable traits, made good almost as readily as did those of early days, when the best of land was open for homestead entry.

John M. Kramer was born fortv-five years ago and is a son of Adam and Margaret (Kopp) Kramer, natives of Germany, who came to America when quite young, here passing the remainder of their lives. The father died at the age of thirty-nine years, and the mother at the age of forty-seven years. In their family were four children: Mrs. Minnie Simmons lives in Council Bluffs. Iowa, where her husband is a railroad employe; Mrs. Tillie Cathro is the wife of an Omaha contractor; Mrs. Nellie Allen lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where her husband is employed as a salesman : the fourth is the subject of this sketch.

During his childhood and youth the educational advantages of Mr. Kramer were limited, but he possessed that spirit which is determined to overcome all handicaps and to attain the object to which it aspires. Accordingly, while working in a candy kitchen in Omaha, he attended a night school, and thus he secured for himself a fundamental education which stands him well in hand as a business man and a qualified, progressive citizen.

In 1894 Mr. Kramer married Cora Pearl, who has been a faithful co-helper in all his farming and stock-raising enterprises. In the Kramer family arc seven children : Amiand Kellogg is married and is a progressive young farmer in Custer county, the other children being Charles, Tillie, Leona, Margaret, Rosamond, and Josephine, all of whom are at home, and those who are old enough are pursuing a course of fundamental instruction in the district school. The children are full of energy and give much promise for future years.

grit, energy, and determination, three things more valuable than money, and with these he backed his capital of three cents and filed on a homestead, northeast of Anselmo, in the hill country where the grass was good and cattleraising an easy thing for the man who had the energy and ability to provide winter forage. Accordingly he has succeeded. He now owns his land, has fine improvements, and has a good start in stock of all kinds. His horses, cattle, and hogs grade well to the best blood, and, withal, he is a citizen who enjoys the respect and confidence of the community.

Mr. Kramer has entered fraternal circles and is a member of the Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors. In these organizations he takes active part, having been clerk of the Woodmen lodge for the last twenty years. Both he and his wife belong to the Milburn Christian church.

WILLIAM G. DAILY. - This story epitomizes the record of eighty-five years. It pertains to one of the unique characters of Custer county - a man of years and of varied experiences ; a man who has tried the fortunes and opportunities of most of the states between New York and the Rocky Mountains ; a man whose name is well and favorably known throughout Custer county ; a man who, together with his good wife, has reared a family of children, all of whom are splendid citizens, prominent in present-day affairs and reflecting credit not only upon their parents and the home from which they came, but also constituting a valued asset to the community of which they are a part.

William Grant Daily was born in the state of New York, in 1833, and has traveled the road of many hills and deep waters during the eighty-five years that have succeeded that date. He himself constitutes the initial point from which this family record starts. His father's name and nativity are not given. Mr. Daily, the venerable citizen of Milburn, the vicinity in which the last twenty-six years of his life have been passed, was imited in marriage, in 1862, to Phoebe Helen Howe, a refined and cultured lady who exemplified many of the excellent traits of her husband. She left this world in 1915. having rounded out full four-score years. In their family were six children : Al'vin Daily is one of the prominent men of Custer county, well and favorably known throughout all the western and northern part of the county. He is one of the successful farmers in the Milburn region, and at present is manager erf the fanners' co-operative store in Anselmo. He and his wife, a very intelligent lady, maintain a splendid home and are rated as leaders in every community proposition. Leon is an Iowa farmer at the present time. He was previously a resident of Custer county, and while here he contributed to the good rq)utatioii of the entire Daily family. Ellen Books lives on the home farm. Sarah Morgan is a farmer's wife and lives in Iowa. Marion Stejjhen is a prominent farmer and operates land adjoining his father's place. Extended notice of his life and farm operations are noted elsewhere in this volume. Rose Athey lives on a ranch in Brown county. All of these are men and women of affairs and are highly respected by all who know them.

Record concerning the operations of Mr. Daily during" former years may be briefly noted at this juncture. At the age of twentyone years he left New York and journeyed as far west as Illinois, where he stayed eight months, and he then returned to his native state. After three years he again faced the west, and he reached Iowa on this trip. In the fall of 1860 he again returned to New York, where he voted for Abraham Lincoln for president. He worked the home farm this time for two years. He traded Iowa land for New York land and lived on the latter for four years, after which he bought a rake and cradle factory, of which he was manager for another period of four years. During this time his residence was in Otsego county of the Empire state. After selling the factory he worked as a carpenter for two years ; and he then went again to Knox county, Illinois, where he worked two years at the carpenter's trade. He then went to Iowa, where he devoted the next sixteen years to fanning. From there he went to Colorado, located near Sterling and went into the cattle business. It was from this place that he came to Custer county, Nebraska, twenty-six years ago. The shifting years of his life, his travels to and fro, found for him no better place than the Milburn district in Custer county, where he has his present home and where for years he has maintained an elegant country place. His sub-irrigated land was a great producer of alfalfa, which contributed to himself and wife a splendid support. By thrift and good management he accumulated three and onehalf sections of land, which in part he has sold and in part divided among his children.

A strange nemesis of accidents entailing physical injury seems to have followed Mr. Daily. Notwithstanding he has weathered the storms and ills of eighty-five years, he has been the victim of many accidents, and it is almost a miracle that he has attained this ripe old age. He has catalogp.ied his recurrent afflictions of this order, and the record reads somewhat Hke this : He has had a broken leg. broken wrist, broken arm. shot in the ami. neck out of joint, one knuckle from left hand gone, was struck by lightning, had stroke of paralysis, lost the hearing of one ear. was bitten by a rattlesnake, and has been in many runaways. Yet none of these things launched in his direction the fatal shaft.

This venerable gentleman is a very amiable and upright citizen, is a member of the Methodist church, is an independent voter, and he prides himself on having cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, first presidential candidate of the Republican party.

PIUS CHRISTEN. - One of the very substantial homes in the New Helena district, and one that is unusually well improved, belongs to Pius Christen, who is one of the staunch farmers of the county and who came into the world in the em])ire of Austria, in 1861. He is a son of Pius and Marj' ( Cerben) Christen to whom were born three sons - David Christen, a banker in Anselmo : Frank a farmer residing in this county ; and Pius, the subject of this sketch. The estimable parents died some time since, the father at the age of eighty-one. and the mother at the age of eighty-two years.

Pius Christen. Jr.. chose as his wife Miss Hattie Pole. who. like her husband, was born in Europe, and whose advent occurred in 1867. To this union four children were born : Theodore, who is a young Custer county farmer; Theodore P., who, at the time of this writing, is in the National army, at Camp ( jrant ; Cenia Thomas, who lives on a farm in the vicinity of Dale church ; and Irene Duschek, who likewise lives on a farm in this county.

In coming from Austria to the United States Mr. Christen felt that here he could better his condition ; that here young men had opportunity, and. notwithstanding the handicap of poverty, if they possessed genius and energy they could make a place for themselves in the world and accumulate a competence for themselves and their families. He first settled in Iowa, where he stayed eight years. Still feeling that the opjiortunities of a new country would be better for him, he came to Nebraska and located in Custer county. Since that time he has been an example of industrT,- and thrift in the neighborhood where he is located. Today his large holdings attest the financial success he has achieved. His farm consists of 1,300 acres. He has 100 head of cattle which grade high to white Herefords. It would be hard to find a classier bunch of Duroc-Jersey hogs than are found in his yards. The horses are good. The implements are the latest and of the most approved pattern. Everj-thing on the Christen farm is strictly first class and up-to-date.

The loyalty of Mr. Christen has never been questioned. He has been generous in his donation to war work and liberal in his purchase of government securities. He is proud of the fact that he has one son in the service of his adopted country. In the community he and his wife enjoy a reputation for honesty and integrity and moral uprightness that would be hard for any one to surpass. Both he and his wife are members of the Catholic church and are liberal supporters of the same. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World, is independent in politics and is one of those men whom every candidate delights to ally among his forces. Pius Christen has made good in America and is an honor to both the state and county in which he claims citizenship.

CHARLES W. DEAL. - In the various activities to which men devote their energies. there are certain vocations which seem to go hand in hand, so that an individual may be found engaged in both at the same time. But it is only the ones who possess superior ability who can attain to success in three separate fields of endeavor, and it is for this reason that more than passing mention should be extended-to the accomplishments of Hon. Charles W. Beal. of Broken Bow. a leading member of the Custer county bar, a veteran newspaper man of brilliance and infiuence. and a leading figure in the political and public life of his section for many years.

Senator Beal was born April 25. 1860. in .\udrian county. Missouri, and is a son of William H. and Jane ( Stout) Beal. His grandfather. Lewis \V. Beal. was an early settler of Indiana and died in Missouri. William H. Ileal was born in Switzerland county. Indiana. January 28, 1828, and was married at \'evay, that state, to Jane Stout, who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1838. In 1856. one year after their marriage, they migrated to ^Iissouri. settling in Andrian county, where Mr. I Seal paid the government twelve and one-half cents an acre for his homestead. He proved up on his property, passed many years in agricultural pursuits, and finally retired from active labors. He died at Mexico. Missouri. February 12. 1917. his wife 'having passed away at Laddonia. Missouri. February 3. 1903. They were the parents of five sons, of wlioni two are living: John, who publishes the newspaper known as the Mexico Message, at Mexico, Missourr; and Charles W.. who is the subject of this sketch. William H. Beal was a member of the Free Will Baptist church and his wife a devout Methodist. Both took an active part in relig-ious work. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, in the work of which he always evinced a keen interest, and as a voter he supported the candidates of the Republican party. During the Civil war he was a strong Union man, and for a time was a member of the state militia.

The public schools of ]\Iissouri furnished Charles W. Beal with his early education, following which he spent three years in Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, Michigan. He then returned to his Missouri home, where he spent one year in teaching school, and March 31, 1886. he came to Custer county, Nebraska, and obtained a school, which he taught for three years. Newspaper work has always held out attractions for Mr. Beal. and at Broken Bow he found the opportunity to satisfy his inclinations in this direction. For nearly twenty years he was the editor and publisher of the Custer County Beacon, a journal of which he made a great success. In various ways he came prominently before the public, and in 1892 he was elected to the Nebraska state legislature, in which he served one term. Later he served a term in the state senate, starting in 1897. In the meantime he had become interested in the study of .law, and he his course in the law school at Lincoln, from which he was duly graduated in 189':'. being admitted to the bar the same year. From that time to the present he has i>een engaged in practice, and he has built up a splendid practice and a reputation among his fellow-practitioners for ability, forensic skill, and deep knowledge of the principles of law and jurisprudence. After practicing at the bar for some time he was elected county attorney, an office in which he made a splendid record, and in 1915 he was again sent to the state senate, to w-hich he was re-elected in 1917. He has been one of the hardest-working members of that honored body, and after taking an active part on the committee ( of which he was chairman I which drafted the prohibition bill, he was made chairman of the legislation to enforce prohibition, this being in the senate's last term. Likewise he was a member of the judiciary and constitutional committees. Senator Beal is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed through the chairs, and of the

Knights of Pythias, in which he is ]wst chancellor. He has been interested in politics and active therein for thirty years, and has been a staunch and unwavering Democrat all this time. With his family, he belongs to the Christian church.

Senator Beal was married January 1, 1896, to Miss Kate Willis, who was born at Ottumwa. Iowa, a daughter of John and Caroline Willis, who came to Custer county in 1884 and homesteaded land, both passing away here. To this union there have been born two children : Anna Belle, who resides with her parents, is a graduate of the Broken Bow high school ; and Franklin C. is attending school.

CHARLES S. TOOLEY. - Through the business ability, consideration and courtesy of its proprietor, the hardware establishment of Charles S. Tooley has become an important source of supply to the peojjle of Broken Bowand the surrounding community, and has placed the owner among the substantial business men of the county seat. Mr. Tooley was born in Warrick county. Indiana. March 10, 1871, and is a son of W. W. and Lucy A. (Parker) Tooley.

The parents of Mr. Tooley w-ere bom in Kentucky, and were children at the time of the removal of their respective parents to Indiana. They met and were married in ^^'arrick county, where W. W. Tooley was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 188.^. that year marking his removal further west and his settlement in Custer county. Here he met with success in his fann enterprise and brought his property to a high state of development. Some time after the death of his wife he retired from active at?airs and since then has been living quietly in Broken Bow. Mr. Tooley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also belonged. They were the parents of nine children, of whom seven sur\'ive. Politically a Democrat, he has wielded some influence in the ranks of his party in Custer county, and at various times has been chosen by his fellow citizens to represent them in public positions of responsibility and trust.

The earlv education of Charles S. Tooley was secured in the public schools of Warrick county, Indiana, where he made his home until he was fourteen years of age, and after the family settled in Nebraska he w-as a student in the schools of Broken Bow. He began his career as a public-school teacher, and for four years was engaged in instructing the young in the rural districts, in addition to which he was for some time interested, as a proprietor.

in fanning ventures. In 1909, however, he entered mercantile affairs, when he purchased a hardware store at Broken Bow, and since that time he has been adding to his patronage each year. He carries a full, modern stock of heavy and shelf hardware, stoves, etc.. and the success which is his - and it is not inconsiderable! - has been self - gained. His achievement is illustrative of the rewards obtainalile through intelligently directed industry.

In 1897 Mr. Tooley married Miss Harriet S. Chrisman, a daughter of Joseph M. and Lucy B. (Richardson) Chrisman, the former of whom was born in Virginia, in 1833, and the latter in 1840. Mrs. Tooley's parents were married in Virginia, lived many years in Missouri, and both died in Nebraska, the mother in 1890 and the father in 1913. In 1883 the Chrisman family came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Custer county. The parents were members of the Presbyterian church, to which Mrs. Tooley belongs. Mr. Tooley is a member of the Masonic blue lodge, in which he has passed the various official chairs and is now master, and in his chapter of royal-arch Masonry he has also passed the official chairs, besides which he is eminent commander of the Knights Templars, and is affiliated with Scottish Rite bodies of the time-honored fraternity and also with the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Democrat. He served four or five years as a member of the city council of Broken Bow, his conduct in that body showing his desire to discharge his important duties in an entirely conscientious manner. In various other ways he has shown his public spirit, and at this writing he is one of the active and valued members of the Public Service Club.

MARION S. DAILY. - Milburn is a region of substantial farmers. In the subirrigated region of Milburn, where they raise alfalfa and where live-stock operations are extensive and profitable, there you will find the subject of this sketch and will soon learn that he is one of the men who have helped to make the rejiutation of the locality.

Mr. Dailv was born in Louisa county, Iowa, in 1877, and is a son of William G. and Phoebe Helen (Howe) Daily, all of whose six children are splendid citizens and valuable adjuncts to the communities in which their respective homes are located. Marion S. Daily received a liberal education and very early in life put into practice the principles of industry and economy which, as applied to agricultural pursuits, always insure success. He has

The year 1901 recorded the marriage of Mr. Daily to Miss Gertrude Farley, a daughter of Robert Farley, who is an estimable pioneer and citizen of Custer county, and who is at the present time a memljer of the county board of supervisors. Into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Daily have come nine children, any one of whom is able to drive away the blues and prevent lonesomeness : Merle, seventeen years of age (1918), is attending school in Anselmo ; and Marion, fifteen years; Verne, fourteen; Walter, thirteen ; Theodore, eleven ; Seth, seven ; Irene, six ; Steven, two ; and Alvin, two months, are all at home and are a fine family of bright, healthy children.

In the early days Mr. Daily proved up on a homestead, but this he sold, and he then purchased the farm he now owns and upon which he has his home. This ranch consists of 430 acres, of which 300 acres are under cultivation. The improvements are good, the equipments modern, the house lighted by electricity, and everything arranged so that farm life is made exceedingly enjoyable. The live stock on the place is of best quality. The cattle run to roan Durhams of high degree. In the pork line, Mr. Daily fancies red hair and breeds splendid specimens of Duroc-Jerseys. W'ith his general farming and stockraising he combines dairying, and milks, on an average, about fifteen cows the year round. This latter enterprise, owing to the splendid alfalfa on the Daily ranch, is a very profitable business, but it spells hard work and long hours - "good and plenty." But it insures the status of after years, and the man who gives faithful heed and tireless effort to such industries in his middle life will, in the years of his retirement, occupy a Fifth avenue home, ride in a family limousine and eat pie for breakfast.

The Dailys are succeeding. They belong to a family that have succeeded. They have the inborn characteristics of people who succeed, and accordingly they are entitled to rate among our first citizens.

Mr. Daily is independent in politics, but it can be said of him that he is a wide reader, well informed in all public affairs and casts always an intelligent vote. He and his wife are members of the Christian church. They are hospitable, generous and, withal, are courteous and obliging neighbors.