Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter 31: People Who Have Done Their Part in Making Gage County, 1918 (part 17 of 29)

Charles N. Emery immigrated to Kansas in 1853, and in the years that followed he lived up to the full tension of frontier and pioneer life. He engaged in overland freighting to Denver and to the mountain regions of the west, and on the 4th of May, 1858, at Lawrence, Kansas, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Benson, who had come with two of her brothers to the United States and who had lived in Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, prior to her removal to Kansas. In 1864 Charles N. Emery and his family removed to Liberty Farm, Kansas, and on the 9th of August of that year their little home was burned by a band of marauding Indians. Removal was then made to Kearney, Nebraska, and in July, 1867, the family home was established at Beatrice, Gage county - in the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to statehood. Here Charles N. Emery and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, as sterling pioneers of the county, and his death occurred in 1897, his widow having died in 1907. In a recapitulatorjr way and as incidental to the stirring frontier experiences of these honored pioneers, it may be stated that from March, 1862, until the spring of 1864, Mr. Emery was in charge of the Thirty-two Mile Creek station on the eastern, or Fort Kearney, division of the great stage line, and in the latter year he took the management of the Liberty Farm station, on the north bank of the Little Blue river. As before stated, this station was burned by the Indians during their historic raid in August, 1864, and several other stations on the stage line likewise were destroyed at this period. In the spring of 1865, after new stations had been built by the stage company, Mr. Emery was placed in charge of the station at Fort Kearney, where he remained until the eastern division of the line was abandoned by the stage operators - after the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha to Fort Kearney. Mr. Emery proved a most valuable and resourceful employe of the stage company, as he was a fine judge of horses and when occasion required could mount the box of a stage and ably drive a four or six horse team. He and his wife kept an eating station that became famed for its effective service and was much appreciated by the travelers who passed over the stage route in those early days. Mrs. Emery was an excellent cook and the provender which she set forth cheered many a weary sojourner. Incidentally the historic frontier character, Ben HoUiday, one of the best of the early stage operators, stopped at the Emery station on Two Mile Creek for breakfast one morning, while on one of his stage trips from California eastward. This hardy pioneer, who had been reared on the frontier, had an inordinate fondness for the old-time "corn dodgers," and after Mrs. Emery had set forth for his delectation a goodly supply of his favorite frontier delicacies he threw on the table a twenty-dollar gold piece as his personal tribute to Mrs. Emery and her culinarv skill.

John C. Emery acquired the most of his early education in a Catholic school at Atchison, Kansas, and as a boy and youth he accompanied his father on the latter's freighting expeditions over the plains and prairies, the experience having been one to which he reverts with marked satisfaction in this later era of opulent prosperity. In coming to Gage county the family journeyed more than two hundred miles in a covered wagon, and after the home had been established in Beatrice he was enabled to supplement his education by attending the high school. In 1879 he became deputy county clerk, under the regime of Captain Hill, and for a number of years he held a position in the office of the county recorder of Gage county. A skilled bookkeeper and accountant, he has for several years past held a position in the representative business house of Kilpatrick Brothers.

Jaynes, who was born at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on the 3d of January, 1861, a daughter of the late Henry C. Jaynes, who came to Gage county in 1871 and became a pioneer settler in Wymore township, he having been a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Emery have two children. Mollie is the wife of Edward W. Clack, of Edgar, Clay county, where he is engaged in the real-estate business. Mr. and Mrs. Clack reside within seven miles of the place where her paternal grandfather's stage station was burned by the Indians, in 1864, as noted in a preceding paragraph. Robert J. Emery, the only son, is now (spring of 1918) first lieutenant of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth United States Infantry, and has been assigned to duty as instructor at the officers' training school at Camp Cody, New Mexico. In this connection it is interesting to record .that out of a total of five hundred and twenty-five men he was one of three who successfully passed the examination that determined his eligibility for this post of instructor, all three of the successful aspirants having been Gage county boys. Robert J. Emery married Miss Mabel Willis, of Beatrice, and they have one son, Robert J., Jr.

Mrs. Emery is an earnest communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum and the Modern Woodmen of America.

ERWIN W. SCHAEFER has distinct vantage-ground as one of the vigorous and representative business men in the city of Beatrice, where he is treasurer and general manager of the Sanitary Dairy, a corporation that has developed a substantial and important industrial enterprise.

Mr. Schaefer was bom in the fair little republic of Switzerland, and the date of his nativity was May 28, 1873. He is a son of Joseph and Mary (Schlup) Schaefer, the father having been a farmer and also having developed in Switzerland a prosperous business in the handling of such waste materials as copper, iron, etc. The mother served for twenty-six years as postmistress at Ammann- segg, Switzerland, a picturesque village among the snow-capped mountains. The subject of this review is a member of a family of eight children, all of whom are living, and he is the only one of the numl?er in the United States, the. others all remaining in Switzerland.

Erwin W. Schaefer was afforded the advantages of the notably excellent schools of his native land, where he completed a course in the high school at Solothurumswitz and also gave special attention to the study of French. He is thus conversant with the German, French, and English languages. After leaving school Mr. . Schaefer found employment in a mercantile establishment, and he was an ambitious young man of twenty-five years when he severed the home ties and set forth to make for himself a place of independence in America. He came to the United States in the year 1898 and established his residence in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where for three years he was employed in connection with the brewery industry. He then established in that city a creamery business and after conducting the same several years he engaged in the same line of enterprise at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. There he continued his activities in a successful way until 1912, when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and became head butter and icecream maker for the Beatrice Poultry & Cold Storage Company, of which Henry Fishbach is the executive head. This alliance he continued until 1917, on the 1st of January of which year was effected the organization of the Sanitary Dairy, which was incorporated with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars and of which he has been treasurer and general manager from the beginning. The capital stock is now one hundred thousand dollars. He has a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the dairy business and his executive ability and progressive policies have brought about the substantial development of the business of the company with which he is now identified. Mr. Schaefer is distinctly loyal and appreciative in his civic attitude and in his political allegiance he is aligned in the ranks of the Republican party. He is affiliated with the Beatrice lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and he and his wife are communicants of Christ church, Protestant Episcopal, in their home city.

November 4, 1899, recorded the marriage of Mr. Schaefer to Miss Emma Schiltnicht, who likewise is a native of Switzerland and who established her residence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, upon coming to America, one of her brothers being now pastor of the German Reformed church at Jackson, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer have two children, Herbert and Eleanor. Herbert is one of the gallant young sons of Gage, county who has entered the nation's service in connection with the great European war. He is a sergeant in the signal corps of the United States army and at the time of this writing, in the spring of 1918, he is with his command "somewhere in France." Miss Eleanor Schaefer is a student in the Beatrice high school.

JOSEPH J. WILL is one of the substantial farmers of Rockford township, where he owns his home place of eighty acres, in Section 16, and also utiHzes an adjoining tract of eighty acres, which he rents. He is a son of the late Frank M. Will, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present article.

Joseph J. Will was born in Woodford county, Illinois, on the 13th of September, 1870, and he was twenty-one years of age when he came with his parents to Gage county. His principal educational advantages in his youth were those afforded by the district schools and at the age of twenty-three years he engaged in independent farming activities on land which he rented in Rockford township. In the spring of 1917 he purchased his present farm home, and those familiar with his energy and progressiveness can give assurance that cumulative success will be his and that the same will be manifested in the judicious improvements which he will make from time to time upon his farm property - given over to diversified agriculture and stock- raising. He is known for his unremitting industry and expresses himself in deeds rather than words, both in the handUng of his business affairs and as a loyal citizen. Officeseeking proclivities have never been his but he gives his political support to the Democratic party.

In 1896 Mr. Will married Miss Helen Beam, who was born and reared in this county, and their five children are Harry, Frank, Roy, Raymond, and Vivian.

CHARLES A. MIELER. - One of the younger men of Gage county who is meeting with success in his chosen calling is Charles A. Miller, who owns and operates a farm of two hundred and six acres, in Section 35, Sicily township.

Mr. Miller was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, April 21, 1873, a son of Eli and Elizabeth (Sheetz) Miller, who are now residents of Wymore, Gage county, and whose record appears elsewhere in this volume. Charles A. Miller was ten years old when the home was established in Gage county. Here he was reared on his father's farm and educated in the public schools. On reaching man's estate he became a farmer, and for thirteen years he has owned his present place, which is devoted to general farming. His farm is well improved and he is progressive in his methods, is industrious, and is meeting with success.

Mr. Miller completed arrangements for a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Cora Pyle, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of . Samuel E. Pyle, who is represented on other pages of this volume.

Mr. Miller is a Democrat in politics and served four years as clerk of Sicily township. Fraternally he is associated with the Royal Highlanders, and he is one of the substantial men of his township.

FRED A. WRIGHT. - As a scion of one of the honored and influential pioneer families of his native county and as one who has here achieyed a place of precedence in connection with banking enterprise, Mr. Wright is entitled to special recognition in this history. He is associated with his father in the ownership and conducting of the Citizens' State Bank of Virginia, of which he is cashier, and he is numbered among the popular and representative business men of the younger generation in the vital little town of Virginia.

Mr. Wright was born on his father's old homestead farm near Hoag, this county, on the 2d of April, 1880, and is a son of Amos E. and Clara (Wickham) Wright, who now maintain their home in the village of Virginia, this county, the subject of this review being their youngest child and only son ; Frances A., elder of the two daughters, is the widow of Joseph E. Penry, and resides at Bostonia, California, she having three sons ; Bessie, the younger daughter, is the wife of William Holm, a merchant at Virginia, this county, and they have two daughters.

Amos L. Wright was born in Menard courity, Illinois, February 27, 1844, and was there continuously identified with farm enterprise from his boyhood until 1866, when he came to Nebraska Territory and entered claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 10, Blakely township. Gage county. He developed one of the well improved farms of that township and remained on this old homestead until 1886, when he purchased an entire section of land to the south of the village of Virginia, this county, this estate comprising the south half of Section 14 and the north half of Section 23, Sherman township. He made the best of improvements on this extensive tract and became one of the leading exponents of agricultural and live-stock industry in that section of the county. In 1890 he retired from the farm and he and his wife have since resided at Virginia. Mrs. Wright was born in Holt county, Missouri, July 27, 1848, and her marriage was solemnized in Gage county, Nebraska. She is a zealous member of the Christian church and her husband is a Republican in politics.

Fred A. Wright has never regretted the sturdy discipline which he gained in connection with the activities of the home farm and has retained full appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil. In addition to profit- ing by the advantages of the pubUc schools he completed a course in a business college at Davenport, Iowa, and in 1899 he became associated with his father in the grain and lumber business at Virginia. Shortly after his marriage, in 1903, he assumed the active management of his father's farm, where he continued his productive enterprise as an agriculturist and stock-grower until the autumn of 1912, when, as a medium of experience, he assumed a clerical position in the Union State Bank of Beatrice. With this institution he continued his service until April, 1914, when he purchased the bank at Spring Ranch, Clay county. Of this bank he had the active management until March, 1915, when he formed a partnership with Robin A. Nickell and purchased the Bank of Cortland, and in November, 1917, he severed his connections there and became cashier of the Citizens' State Bank of Virginia. He is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 22, Sherman township, and is one of the vigorous and resourceful business men of his native county. He takes deep interest in all things pertaining to his home village and served as mayor at Cortland in 1916, his political allegiance being given to the Republican party and he and his wife being members of the Christian church in the village of Virginia. At Virginia he is a popular member of the camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.

January 6, 1903, recorded the marriage oi Mr. Wright to Miss Ethel C. Edwards, who was born at Webb City, Missouri, a daughter of John W. and Mary (Trauber) Edwards, natives of Illinois and early settlers of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where they still reside. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born three children: Faye was born in 1905 and died in 1908, and the two surviving are Dorothy, born, December 13, 1908, and Dale E., born July 9, 1915.

JACOB S. DAWSON was born in Stark county, Illinois, May 13, 1883, and is a son of John L. Dawson, of whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this volume.

Jacob S. Dawson was brought to Nebraska by his parents when he was three years of age, and he received his early education in the country schools of Gage county. He remained with his father on the home farm, in Sicily township, until eleven years ago. Then his father retired and removed to Wymore to make his home. Jacob S. Dawson remained on the farm and he now owns this old home place, of one hundred and seventy acres, in Section 25, Sicily township. He has made many improvements on this farm, building additions to the barns and erecting two silos. He now has as fine a set of farm buildings as can be found in the county. His home is modern in every particular, being lighted with electricity and heated by furnace. Here he and his family are thus able to enjoy the conveniences of a city home, though residing on the farm. Mr. Dawson does a general farming business, and raises and feeds cattle and hogs for the market, somewhat extensively. He is numbered among Gage county's prosperous citizens and representative farmers.

Mr. Dawson chose as his wife Miss Grace Roberts, daughter of J. W. Roberts, of Barneston township. Gage county. They are the parents of four children. Dean, Donald, Marguerite, and Gerald. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson are members of the Methodist church at Wymore. Mr. Dawson is independent in politics and .gives his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. At Wymore he is affiliated with the lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons.

JAMES LONG, a successful farmer of Sicily township, was born December 20, 1860, at Peoria, Illinois, and is a son of John and Mary (Dalton) Long, who were natives of Ireland and came to America at an early date, settling in Illinois. John Long died when his son James was a small child and his widow thereafter moved, to Mason county, Illinois, near Forest City, where she bought eightyacres of land. Here James Long grew to manhood, attending school when he could, and working on the farm. There he married Miss Maggie Brown, whose parents died when sh& was a child, she having been reared by her foster father, Martin Hood, of Mason county.

Mr. and Mrs. Long came to Gage county, Nebraska, in the early '80s and settled on Sicily creek, in Sicily township. Their first home was a log house, and at that time Mr. Long's worldly goods consisted of one team of horses, a few farming tools, and seventy-five dollars in cash. He later bought one hundred and sixty acres of slightly improved land in Elm township, and he farmed this for twelve years. He then bought his present farm, of two hundred and eighty acres, in Section 29, Sicily township. He is a prosperous farmer of marked energy and progressiveness and is a valued citizen of Sicily township.

Mr. and Mrs. Long became the parents of five children, as follows : James is a farmer in Elm township. Ella is the wife of Roy Carpenter, of Omaha, Nebraska ; May is the wife ,of Milo Carpenter, of Beatrice, Nebraska; Earl died at the age of fourteen years ; Leo is associated with his father in the operation of the home farm.

Mr. Long is a Democrat in politics, and is at present a member of the school board of his district. He and his family are members of the Catholic church.

JOHN T. LePOIDEVIN was born in Gage county, Nebraska, September 9, 1872, a son of Thomas LePoidevin, of Beatrice, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.

John T. LePoidevin was reared on a farm and attended country school in Gage county. As a young man he farmed with his father on the home place, and later he rented some land from his father and began farming for himself. In 1910 Mr. LePoidevin purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 5, Rockford township, and this property he has since greatly improved, having remodeled the house and erected some new buildings, with the result that he now has one of the best improved farms in the county. Starting with no unusual advantages, Mr. LePoidevin has through his own efforts made a success of his chosen calling.

Mr. LePoidevin was united in marriage to Miss Lottie Kettering, daughter of John Kettering, of Monmouth, Illinois. To this union have been bom five children - Hazel, Loree, Verna, Marjorie, and Eva.

Mr. and Mrs. LePoidevin are members of the Christian church of Beatrice, and are regular attendants. He is a Republican and has been a member of the school board, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion.

SILAS F. RICHARDS was ten years old at the time when his parents established their residence in Gage county, in 1872, and here he was reared to manhood on the pioneer farm of his father, the late George F. Richards, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume. Mr. Richards has permitted no futilities to mark his career as one of the progressive exponents of farm industry in Gage county and is to-day the owner of an excellently improved estate of two hundred and forty acres, in Sherman township, his attractive home being situated in Section 17, about seven miles distant from Holmesville, which is his postofSce address.

Mr. Richards was bom in Rock Island county, Illinois, March 2, 1863, and in his native county he received his rudimentary education, which was supplemented by his attending the schools of Gage county after the family home had here been established in Rockford township. He continued to be associated with the work of his father's farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, and for several years thereafter he farmed on rented land. His energy and good management brought to him cumulative success in the passing years, and this is significantly attested by his ownership of his present fine farm estate, which he has improved with good buildings and on which he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of good

The year 1886 recorded the marriage of Mr. Richards to Miss Minnie Leming, who was twelve years of age when her parents came from Indiana to Gage county, she having been bom in La Porte, Indiana, January 27, 1871, and being a daughter of John and Margaret (Lukemire) Leming, who were bom in Ohio and whose marriage was solemnized in Indiana. Upon coming to Gage county Mr. Leming engaged in farming in Sherman township, where he passed the remainder of his life. His death occurred November 6, 1903, and his widow now lives in the home of one of her sons, at Belgrade, Nance county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have six children : Ralph is married and resides in the city of Beatrice; Edna is the wife of Clarence Bryant, of Wymore, this county; Fay is married but remains with his parents, as his father's effective assistant in the work and management of the home farm; Blanche is the wife of Cecil Snyder, of Wymore, this county; and Glenn and Forrest are the younger members of the parental home circle.

HARLEY J. SHAW is an honored pioneer whose association with Nebraska was initiated several years prior to the admission of the state to the Union and his experiences in the early days involved specially close association with the Otoe Indians, whose language he learned to speak. His reminiscences pertinent to life on the frontier are most graphic and interesting, even as are those pertaining to his gallant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. His patriotism at that climateric period was on a parity with that shown by both his paternal and maternal grandfathers, each of whom was a valiant soldier in the earlier wars in which the nation was involved, the paternal grandfather having served in the war of 1812 and the maternal grandfather. Colonel Renaulds, having served as an officer in the command of General Washington in the war of the Revolution : he was a man of splendid vigor and

Harley J. Shaw was born in Onondaga county. New York, December 25, 1844, and is now ihe only survivor in a family of five children, of whom he was the firstborn. He is a son of Samuel and Lydia (Renaulds) Shaw, whose marriage was solemnized in Onondaga county, whence, in 1847, they removed to Wisconsin, where they became pioneers and where they lived at intervals in the now prosperous little cities of Waupaca, Green Bay, and Stevens Point. After remaining six years in Wisconsin they returned to the state of New York, and about the time of the Civil war's inception they came to Nebraska Territory and became residents of Gage county. Here Samuel Shaw secured a claim on Cub creek and instituted the reclamation of a farm. He went forth from his frontier farm to give two years of service as a soldier of the Civil war. He enlisted as a member of the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and after the close of the war he conducted for ten years the government flour mill and saw mill at Blue Springs, on the Otoe Indian reservation.. Both he and his wife attained to the psalmist's span of three score years and ten and both were residents of Gage county at the time of death.

Harley J. Shaw was three years old at the time of the family removal to Wisconsin, and thus was nine years of age when was made the return to New York state, where he acquired his youthful education in the schools of Navrino, Onondaga county, and where he was reared to manhood. He was not yet seventeen years old at the inception of the Civil war, but his youthful patriotism was not long to be curbed, for, in January, 1862, at Syracuse, he enlisted in Battery F, Third New York Light Artillery. He was mustered in at Palace Garden, New York city, and thence proceeded with his command to the city of Washington. The command was engaged with the heavy artillery forces at Fort Corcoran and later served under General Mc- Clellan in the second battle of Bull Run. The military career of Mr. Shaw included partici- pation in General Burnside's expedition to New Berne, North Carolina; in the battle of Kingston, where his horse was shot from under him in a desperate charge in which his command operated the first gun in holding the bridge; engagements at Whitehall, Goldsboro, and Little Washington; and the conflict at Plymouth, where he gave distinguished evidence of his valor. Thereafter, under Foster's command, Mr. Shaw was detailed as a sailor and started for Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he passed the historic naval vessel known as "Old Ironsides." He was under Gilmore at the siege of Charleston, being under fire for a period of three months, and his service was further continued in action at Wagner, Gregg, James Island, Jacksonville, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. He was at Savannah when his term of enlistment expired, but he continued in active service through the engagements of Honey Hill, Fort Telego, and Seabrook Island. In the many and spirited encounters in which he took ,part Mr. Shaw escaped without a wound, and besides this he was never ill or otherwise incapacitated and never failed to respond to roll call. He was mustered out of service at Hilton Head, South Carolina, where also he received his honorable discharge, on the 14th of March, 1865. He is one of the veteran and honored members of Rawlins Post of the Grand Army of. the Republic, in the city of Beatrice, and has passed various official chairs in the same.

After the close of the war Mr. Shaw returned to his native county, and in the following autumn he joined his parents in Nebraska Territory. In the winter of 1865-1866 he became associated with his father in the operation of the government mills on the Otoe Indian reservation, and it was in this winter that he cast his first vote, this ballot being incidentally in support of adoption of the constitution on which was based the demand of the territory for admission to statehood. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Shaw took up a homestead in Section 19, Rockford township, and on this place, which he developed most effectively, he continued his residence thirtyfive years. Since 1908 he has resided on his present farm of eighty acres, in Section 19, Sherman township.

In 1867 Mr. Shaw wedded Miss Flora Andrews, who was bom in the state of New York and whose death occurred in 1884. Of the children of this union the eldest is Lovilla, who is the widow of Frank Bishop, and resides at Tate, Pawnee county; Corey R. died in 1887, having been shot by accident; Miles S. is engaged in farming in Blue Springs township; Addie E. is the wife of Frederick Sage, of Boulder, Colorado; and Ralph died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Shaw married Miss Mary L. Berry, who was born in Iowa, and she passed to the life eternal in 1910. They became the parents of the following named children : Clement is an electrician and is serving as such in the European war; Bernard is a resident of Tate,. Pawnee county, Dell rernains with her father, as does also Hazel; Lottie died in childhood; and Harley is with the United States forces in the European war.

Few had broader or more varied frontier experience than did this sterling pioneer, and few had closer association with the Indians, among whom he moved as a valued friend and whose language he acquired. He was associated with freighting enterprise in the early days, between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Brownville and Lincoln, Nebraska, and; he grappled duly with the hardships entailed by drought and grasshoppers. He has always been a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, has been on many occasions a delegate to its conventions in Gage county, and has served in various township offices - an upright and loyal citizen who commands secure place in popular esteem and good will. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

FREDERICK STEINMEYER. - This sterling pioneer, now living retired in the village of Clatonia, is another of those sturdy and industrious men who bore the full heat and burden of the day in connection with the social and industrial development and prog-

Mr. S'teinmeyer was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, February 25, 1841, and is a son of Joseph H. and Elizabeth (Fradiker) Steinmeyer, who immigrated with their children to America in the late 'SOs and established their home in Scioto county, Ohio. Concerning the family history adequate data are given on other pages - in the sketch of John H. Steinmeyer, of Beatrice, the youngest of the surviving sons, as well as in mention of other members of this influential pioneer family. Frederick Steinmeyer gained his early education in his native land and was a youth of sixteen years at the time of the family immigration to the United States. Thereafter he was associated with farm industry in Ohio until the precipitation of the Civil war, when he enlisted as a member of Company B. Fiftysixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with his command in all of the important battles and minor engagements in which it was involved in Mississippi and other southern states, and he was at New Orleans, Louisiana, when he received his honorable discharge, m November, 1864. He then returned to Scioto county, Ohio, but ten months later, in the autumn of 1865, he came to Nebraska Territory. He located at Nebraska City and later became one of the pioneers of Gage county. In April ,1866, he entered a homestead claim in Section 28, Clatonia township, one mile south of the present village of Clatonia. At Nebraska City he piurchased an ox team, which he drove through to Gage county and utilized in the breaking of his land, his first house having been a rude dugout of the type common to that early period. In this primitive domicile was maintained the family home for six years, and then removal was made to a frame house which he erected on Clatonia creek, where he had available timber. He remained on his original homestead twenty-six years and eventually added to his landed estate by purchasing land from the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad Company, the line of which passed through his farm in such a way as to require the removal or demolishing of the farm house. He bought more land and removed back from the bottoms of the creek, made excellent improvements on his property and continued his activities as one of the successful and representative farmers of the county until 1912, since which year he has lived retired in the attractive and modern house which he erected in the village of- Clatonia. He is still the owner of a valuable" landed estate of three hundred and seventy-five acres and is a venerable pioneer who commands the fullest measure of popular esteem. In politics Mr. Steinmeyer is a loyal Republican, he is affiliated with the post of the Grand Army of the Republic in the village of Dewitt, and he and his wife are earnest members of the German Methodist church.

February 15, 1867, recorded the marriage of Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Mary Frye, of Scioto county, Ohio, to which state he returned for achieving the gracious companionship which has continued for more than half a century. Mrs. Steinmeyer was born in Ohio, December 23, 1851, and is a daughter of Henry and Alinora ( Schaff er) Frye, who likewise were bom and reared in that state and who became the parents of ten children, Mrs. Steinmeyer having been the second in order of birth and her parents having come to Gage county in 1868, but finally having settled at Martel, Lancaster county, where they passed the remainder of their lives.

Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Steinmeyer the first, Lena, died in infancy; Sarah is the wife of Philip F. WuUschleger, of University Place, Nebraska ; Martha conducts a millinery store at Clatonia and also has the active supervision of the parental home; John F. is individually mentioned on other pages; Agnes is the wife of Felix F. Noble, of Haxton, Colorado, their marriage having been solemnized on the golden-wedding anniversary of her parents, February 15, 1917; Frank is a prosperous farmer of Grant township, as is also Wesley D., who likewise is mentioned individually in this publication.

tier wilds of Gage county their financial resources were very limited, so that the brothers had to do work for others, including the sawing of wood, it having fallen to the subject of this review to solicit such work from the neighbors and his exactness in the use of English having been so lacking at that time that his customary query was : "Have you any woods to saw?" He has had in his active career full fellowship with honest toil and endeavor and well merits the gracious prosperity that attends the gentle evening of his life and that of his devoted wife, who has been his true helpmeet. They were the first bride and groom to establish a home in Clatonia ' township and during the long intervening period of half a century they have here had a circle of friends limited only by that of their acquaintances.

SHERMAN TAYLOR, one of the substantial citizens of Gage county, was for many years successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits, and for the past ten years he has been a resident of Wymore, where he has contributed in many ways toward the upbuilding of commercial and industrial enterprises.

Sherman Taylor was born in Stark county, Illinois, September 3, 1865, and is a son of Jacob Taylor, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Reared on a farm in Illinois, he there attended the public schools, and in 1882 he came with his parents to Gage county. He attended the Nebraska State University, at Lincoln, and when twenty-one years of age he began his independent career as a farmer. For eighteen years he operated a large farm in Paddock and Sicily townships, where he was an extensive feeder of cattle - to the number of four or five hundred each year. His industry and his intelligently directed efforts were crowned with goodly success and in 1908 he removed to Wymore, where he occupies a beautiful home which he erected for his family. Indolence and idleness being foreign to his nature, he has from time to time identified himself with many enterprises that have benefited the city of Wymore.

Mr. Taylor organized the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank of Wymore and became its first president. He has continued as a member of its board of directors, helping to shape its policy, and it is one of the strong financial institutions of Gage county. Of this banking corporation he is still serving as president. He built several business blocks, having faith in the community and being desirous of aiding its growth and development by judicious investment of his capital. He was a member of the building committee and had active charge of the erecting of the beautiful edifice of the Methodist Episcopal church of Wymore, of which he and his family are members.

Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Lena Swik, and to them have been bom five children : Martha is the wife of Paul F. Mosely, a prosperous young farmer of Paddock township, where he operates one of Mr. Taylor's farms; Sherman, who married Miss Gladys McMaken, is operating an ice plant at Blue Springs, this county; Elsie and Edwin are still under the parental roof ; and Harold died at the age of two years.

Mr. Taylor exercises his right of franchise by voting for men he deems best fitted to serve the public, and in favor of all measures which he believes are for the good of the public. The city of Wymore was but one year old when Mr. Taylor first saw it, and he has been a witness of the changes which have taken place incidental to the development and upbuilding of this attractive little' city, besides which he has been a prominent factor in helping to bring about present-day conditions. In his own affairs he has builded wisely and well, and he is held in unqualified esteem by all who know him.

HARVEY R. ESSAM. - The subject of this sketch is a native son of Gage county, who has elected to remain within its borders and who is here meeting with a good degree of prosperity.

Mr. Essam was born on the farm* which is now his home, in Logan township, his natal day having been February 20, 1883. He is a son of James Essam, of whom extended men- tion is made on other pages of this Volume. Reared on the farm, he attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education, this being supplemented by attendance at the Northwestern Business College at Beatrice. As a young man he took up the occupation of farming and upon the settlement of his father's estate, he came into possession of eighty acres of the old homestead.

Mr. Essam chose as his wife Miss May Higgins, who likewise is a native of Gage county. She is a daughter of C. K. Higgins, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Essam are loyal members of the Methodist church. Their entire lives thus far have been spent in the neighborhood where they now make their home, and both represent families who for many years have been active factors in the moral and material upbuilding of Gage county.

HENRY FISHER, who is giving his vigorous energies to the management of his well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 25, Holt township, and who is a member of a sterling pioneer family of the county, was born on his father's old home^ stead farm, in Section 36, Holt township, on the 4th of January, 1874. He is the eldest of six children born to Frederick and Mary E. (Boward) Fisher, and the second child, Rebecca, is now the wife of William Conklin, of Highland township; Lena is the wife of Lewis Cornelius, of Holt township; Lydia is the wife of Charles Lewis, of Billings, Montana ; Bertha died in childhood ; and Hattie is the wife of John Barnard, of Midland township.

Frederick Fisher was born in Germany, in 1844, and was a youth of twenty years when he came to the United States and settled in Illinois, where he found employment at farm work. There his marriage was solemnized, his wife having been bom in the state of Maryland, in 1855, and in 1871 they became pioneer settlers in Gage county, where he purchased eighty acres of school land, in Section 36, Holt township. He developed one of the excellent farms of the township and there continued to reside until his death, in 1907, his widow still remaining on the old home place.

Henry Fisher is indebted to the district schools of Holt township for his youthful education and has been actively concerned with farm enterprise from his boyhood to the present. His present farm, which he rents from his mother, is a part' of the valuable landed estate accumulated by his father, and as a progressive agriculturist and stock-grower he is fully upholding the honors of the family name. He is independent in politics, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he served six years as road overseer in Holt township.

February 8, 1894, recorded the marriage of Mr. Fisher to Miss Cora Langley, who was born at Nebraska City, this state, a daughter of George and Maria (Mason) Langley, who were natives of Illinois and who came to Nebraska about 1879 ; in 1882 they came to Gage county and they passed the remainder of their lives on their farm in Holt township, north of Pickrell. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have four children; Laura is the wife of James Carbough, a farmer of Highland township ; Clarence is a prosperous young farmer of Holt township, on the farm of his paternal grandmother; and Rena and Mary remain at the parental home.

ELI MILLER, a retired farmer residing at Wymore, has been a resident of Gage county since pioneer times. He assisted in the county's development 'and. met with the success that enables him to spend the evening of his life in the enjoyment of a well earned rest.

Mr. Miller was born in Medina county, Ohio, August 2, 1842, a son of J. C. and Elizabeth (Claus) Miller, natives of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather was Jonas Miller and the great-grandfather Miller was a native of Switzerland.

When Eli Miller was three years old his parents moved to Illinois, becoming early settlers in Stephenson county where they were farming people, their last days being spent in

Gage county, Nebraska. Here they died at the home of their daughter Mrs. Boyd, in Paddock township, the father reaching the advanced age of ninety-three years, while the age of the mother was eighty- four years at the time of her death.

Eh Miller spent his boyhood days in Stephenson county, Illinois, where he was reared on a farm and attended the public schools. At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in farming, , and eventually he purchased land upon which he successfully carried on agricultural pursuits in that county until 1884, when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Barneston township. The improvements on this place were those to be found here in those pioneer days, but Mr. Miller industriously began the further improvement of his place and brought the land to a high state of cultivation. He erected substantial buildings and continued to reside on his farm until eleven years ago, when he removed to Wymore, where he has since lived in honorable retirement.

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Miller wedded Miss Mary Elizabeth Sheetz, who was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, March 18, 1842, and of this union four children have been born : Elsie is the wife of George Shad, of Wymore; Charles A. is a farmer in Sicily township; Marshall M., owns and operates the old home farm; and Emma remains with her parents, at Wymore.

Mr. Miller exercises the right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party but has never aspired to public office, as' he has preferred to give his time and attention to his own afifairs, in connection with which he has won a worthy success.

LOUIS RICHARDS has the distinction of being a native son of Gage county and a representative exponent of agricultural and livestock industry in Sherman township, where he has conducted operations since 1906 on the Wilkinson farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 19. Pertinent to the history of the Richards family adequate data are given

On the old homestead farm, in Rockford township, where his parents established their residence in 1872, Louis Richards was born June 20, 1875, and thus he was ushered into the world under the conditions that marked this section of the state in the middle-pioneer era. He was afiforded the advantages of the local schools and he was a vital and ambitious youth of eighteen years at the time of his father's death. Thereafter he remained with his widowed mother and gave his attention to the work of the home farm until his marriage, since which time he has been independently engaged in farm enterprise, with success that attests his energy and executive ability. He is always ready to give his support to those measures and agencies that tend to advance the communal welfare and is independent in politics.

In the year 1896 Mr. Richards married Miss Mary Winrick, who likewise is a native of this county and whose father, Joseph Winrick, now a resident of the state of Washington, conducted for many years a barber shop in the city of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have two children, - Orville and Ethel.

HERMAN H. PENTERM AN. - Among the many prosperous farmers and land-owners of Gage county mention should be made in this history of Herman H. Pentennan, owner of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Nemaha township, besides other land holdings outside the state of Nebraska. Mr. Penterman was bom February 19, 1863, in the province of Hanover, Germany, and is a son of Herman H. Wilbrand Penterman and Anna Marie (Adelharit) Penterman, who became the parents of four children, and who passed their entire lives in Germany. The subject of this review left his native land in 1884 and soon after his arrival in the United States he found employment as a farm hand in Illinois. Eventually he engaged independently in farm enterprise in that state, where he continued operations until 1892. He then came to Gage county, Ne- braska, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 15, Nemaha township. Later he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Section 22, and on this property he has made extensive improvements.

On the 4th of December, 1890, Mr. Penterman was united in marriage to Miss Marie Sachtleben, who was born in Germany, October 14, 1867, and who came to America with her parents when she was but one year old. She was a daughter of John Sachtleben, further record of the family being given in the sketch of Henry H. Sachtleben, elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Penterman passed away on the 28th of February, 19Q7. To Mr. and Mrs. Penterman were born seven children : Dorothy is the wife of John Olson, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Edwin is at home; Adele is the wife of Emmit Damrow; and Louis, Ella, Emma, and Louisa are at the paternal home.

FRANK SHALLA is one of the early settlers of Glen wood township, and, though his financial condition was not very flattering when he arrived here, forty years ago, he has by industry and good management become one of the wealthy men and extensive land owners of Gage county.

Frank Shalla was born in the province of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, May 22, 1853, a son of John and Catherine (Skala) Shalla, natives of Bohemia, who, in 1856, came to America and settled in Johnson county, Iowa. There John Shalla bought forty acres of land, and on this was maintained the family home until the removal to Washington county, Iowa, near the town of Richmond, where Mr. Shalla arid his wife made their home on a farm of forty acres during the remainder of their lives.

Frank Shalla was reared on the pioneer farm in Iowa, and in Washington county, that state, he married Miss Mary Malisky, who was born in Bohemia, August 25, 1855, a daughter of Vancel and Wilma (Hraby) Malisky. Her parents came from their native land to America in 1865 and spent the rest of their lives in Washington county, Iowa.

In 1879 Mr. and Mrs. Frank Shalla came to Gage county and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild, unimproved land in Glenwood township, - on what had been the Otoe Indian reservation, which had been recently opened for settlement.

He filed entiy on a quarter-section, and agreed to pay four and one-half dollars an acre for the land. His cash capital was three hundred dollars, and after purchasing lumber for a home, and a cow, some tools, and feed for his team, his money was all gone. Some time later, when a payment was to be made on the land and other persons were about to lay claim to the place, Mr. Shalla went to Beatrice and borrowed four hundred dollars from Mr. Hugh J. Dobbs, the author of this history, and thus he was able to protect his interests and save his farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Shalla were among the first settlers to locate in their present neighborhood, and neighbors were few and far between. It might be interesting to the present generation to know something concerning the conditions that existed then and something about the hardships of those early-day pioneers. The first home of Mr. and Mrs. Shalla was a rough board shanty, fourteen by eighteen feet in dimension and ten feet high. The lath was split by hand from hickory and ask logs and was plastered with yellow clay, which was then whitewashed. A very comfortable home was thus provided, - one that was warm in winter and cool in summer. To get money to provide food for his family Mr. Shalla would leave his wife and two children alone and go thirty-five miles to find work. But the thought of some day having a good home of their own helped him and his devoted wife to overcome all obstacles, and they have lived to see the country converted into beautiful farms with good homes, and dotted here and there with thriving villages and towns. In this work of transformation Frank Shalla and his family have contributed their full share. Mr. Shalla to-day is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of splendid land, equipped with a good set of buildings, and he has also divided six quarter-sections of land among his children.

Mr. and Mrs. Shalla have become the parents of eleven children: John M. is a successful farmer of Paddock township, as is also Frank R. ; Vancel was killed by a train, in 1906, leaving a widow and two children; Tony is in Glenwood township and Milton at Odell; Mary is the wife of Ed. Pribyl, of Marshall county, Kansas ; William and Joe reside in Glenwood township; and Charles and Christina are still at the parental home. One child, named Joe, died at the age of ten months.

In politics Mr. Shalla is a Democrat, and, though he has never aspired to or held public office in the generally accepted meaning of that term, he has not been remiss in the duties, of a voter and citizen, and has given efficient service as moderator of the school district, treasurer of the same and as road overseer. The success that has come to Mr. Shalla is the result of his own industry and intelligently directed efforts, and his life has been so ordered that he can look upon the past without regret and forward to the future without fear.

RICHARD WHITTON. - The subject of this memoir was one of the honored pioneers and public-spirited citizens of Barneston township. He was born at Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, February 17, 1846, and was a son of William and Hannah Ann (Buckley) Whitton, who immigrated to America in 1848 and after a short stay in Philadelphia established their home in Watertown, Wisconsin. The father died when Richard was sixteen years old. The son remained with his widowed mother, helping her to care for a family of five children until he was 27 years old. He then left home and went to Illinois, where he worked on a farm. He told his mother that if she ever needed help to let him know. She called on him just once and he sent her fifteen dollars, the sum she asked for.

in Barneston township. This section of the county had but recently opened for settlement and was a part of the Otoe Indian reservation. He bought forty acres more when he was able, made good improvements on his land and continued to be engaged in farming until his death, June 3, 1915. He was a charter member of the Protestant Episcopal church at Wymore, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, w ith which he became affiliated when he was twenty-one years of age.

August 13, 1884, recorded the marriage, at Wymore, of Mr. Whitton to Miss Lucinda Mathews, who was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, December 22, 1860, a daughter of Ansel K. and Barbara (Dias) Mathews, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and who, in 1868, became residents of Fremont county, Iowa : in 1882 they settled in Barneston township. Gage county, Nebraska. They were residents of Wymore, this county, at the time of their death.

Mr. and Mrs. Whitton became the parents of six children: Richard Ansel Harrison married Sadie Bucy, and they reside in Colorado; Celia Etta, is the wife of Dell B. Colgrove, of Paddock township; Hannah Barbara, is the wife of Willard Fowler, of Atchison, Kansas ; Misses Julia Fern, Ruth Elizabeth and Laura Rose Estelle are with their mother on the old farm.

Richard Whitton was a very public-spirited citizen, always ready to serve his community when duty called him. He was school treasurer for twenty-one years, and a moderator for over thirty-one years. He was township treasurer several years ,and active in the public afiFairs of the county.

GEORGE F. RICHARDS. - In the spring of the year 1872 it was no stately caravan that made its appearance in Gage county to herald the arrival of the late George F. Richards, for, with his wife and children, he had made the overland trip from Rock Island county, Illinois, with the then familiar transportation equipment of team and covered wagon, - virtually the old-time "prairie schooner" outfit. Mr. Richards here purchased of his brother-in-law, Noyes Elliott, an embyonic farm of eighty acres, in Rockford township. After making plans for the reclamation and improvement of this property Mr. Richards returned with his family to Illinois, and the little itinerant group transported by the same team and wagon arrived at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in time to celebrate at that point the 4th of July. The journey was thence continued back to the old home in Illinois, and in the following autumn the journey to Gage county was again made and the home was established on the pioneer farm. Mr. Richards utilized characteristic energy and circumspection in the development of his farm, and the little oneroom house which he erected as the family domicile is now an integral part of the commodious and attractive house which marks his old homestead and which is still occupied by the venerable widow of Mr. Richards, she having here maintained her residence for the long period of more than forty-five years. Mr. Richards continued as one of the representative farmers and valued citizens of Rockford township until his death, which occurred November 27, 1893, and he is entitled to this tribute for the effective part which he played in connection with the civic and industrial advancement of Gage county. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party and he was a man whose character and ability gained to him unqualified popular esteem.

In Rock Island county, Illinois, Mr. Richards settled when he was a young man. He was born in Clermont county, Ohio, May 31, 1837, a son of James and Rachel (Disney) Richards, who were natives of .Maryland and who became pioneers in the Buckeye state, where they passed the residue of their lives. In Rock Island county, Illinois, Mr. Richards continued his association with agricultural enterprise until his removal to Nebraska, and there, on the 12th of August, 1858, he wedded Miss Hannah Elliott, who was born in Alleghany county. New York, February 17, 1841, and who was but three years old when her parents removed to Illinois, in 1844, and settled on a farm in Rock Island county, near the Mercer county line. They made the long overland trip with team and wagon and while en route over the Illinois prairies, when in the vicinity of La Salle, they gained news of the capture of the murderers of Colonel Davenport, who had been killed on July 4th of that year. Mrs. Richards was reared under the influences of the pioneer farm in Illinois and thus was the better fortified when, in later years, she was called upon to meet the trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life in Nebraska, where she bravely took up her duties as chatelaine of the modest little home and cared for her family with unceasing devotion. This venerable pioneer woman recalls many interesting incidents relative to the pioneer days in Gage county, and not the least of these was that the first crop which her husband raised on the new farm was entirely destroyed by grasshoppers. She has lived to enjoy the opulent prosperity that how marks this favored section of the state and in the tranquil evening of her life finds that her "lines are cast in pleasant places." In this concluding paragraph is given brief record concerning her children: Sarah, who became the wife of Frank W. Lillie, is deceased; Silas F. is a prosperous farmer in Sherman township and is individually mentioned on other pages; Clarence is a resident of the city of Omaha; Nellie died at the age of sixteen years ; Jennie is the wife of John Leming, of Belgrade, Nebraska ; Louis is a representative farmer in Sherman township and is the subject of a personal sketch elsewhere in this volume; and the seventh child died in infancy.

LOUIS KLOEPPER. - In Clatonia township Mr. Kloepper is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres and he has long been numbered among the substantial farmers of the county that has been his home from childhood and to which he came with his parents prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood. In later years he has giyen special attention to the breeding of red polled Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey swine, and in this department of farm enterprise he has been notably successful.

Ohio, on the 31st of March, 1862, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Reller) Kloepper, concerning whose nine children the following brief record may be given: Henry is a resident of Holt county, this state; John is deceased; William is living retired in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska; Mrs. Lena Gutzmer and her husband reside in Lincoln, Nebraska ; Herman is a resident of Clatonia township; Charles is deceased ; Louis, of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Frank is deceased ; and Mrs. Anna Sable is a resident of the state of Kansas. The father was born and reared in Hanover, Germany, the year of his birth having been 1835, and he was a young man when he came to America and established his residence in Ohio. There he followed various lines of work until 1866, when he set forth with his family for Nebraska Territory. Proceeding to St. Louis, the family came by steamboat up the Missouri river to Nebraska City, and from that point the journey was continued by team and wagon to Martel, Lancaster county. There the family remained one year and the father then took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in what is now Clatonia township. Gage county. This land, constituting the southeast quarter of Section 33, he broke up by means of ox teams, and the original family home was a primitive dugout of the type used by many of the other pioneer settlers, Nebraska City at that time being the nearest market, and a week or more being required to make the trip to and from that trading point with the ox team. Henry Kloepper and his brave and devoted wife passed through the hardships and trials incidental to droughts and grasshopper scourges in the early days, but looked with hope and confidence to the future and finally found their efforts crowned with peace and prosperity. Mr. Kloepper continued as one of the honored pioneer farmers of the county until his death, in 1895, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the German Methodist church. Mrs. Kloepper was born in Germany and was a young girl when she made the voyage to America and joined her brother in Ohio, where her marriage was later solemnized. She was nearly

Louis Kloepper was about four years old at the time of the family removal to Nebraska and was reared to maturity on the pioneer farm in Clatonia township, his early education having been gained in the primitive log-cabin school house and by instruction received in the home of John Henry Steinmeyer. As a boy he assisted in keeping the oxen in the furrow while his father was plowing and with increasing capacity he assumed his full share of the labors of the farm. In 1887, after having previously farmed on land rented from his father, he purchased from the latter his present well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and thus he has continued a resident of Clatonia township since his boyhood, the while he has won success and independence through his well directed industry. He is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and he and his wife are active members of the German Methodist church in Clatonia township, he being a trustee of the same.

In August, 1887, Mr. Kloepper wedded Miss Carrie Menke, daughter of the late Henry Menke, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume. Mrs. Kloepper was born near Portsmouth, Ohio, February 9, 1866, and was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Gage county, Nebraska. Arthur, firstborn of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Kloepper, died at the age of twenty years ; Lulu remains at the parental home, as does also Norma; and Jennie died at the age of two years. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Kloepper adopted two children, Henry and Grace, whom they are rearing as their own and who accord to them true filial affection.

RAYMOND LANCASTER. - The family tree of Raymond Lancaster is rooted in the mother country of England, from which the grandparents migrated to America and settled in Macoupin county, Illinois. The family tree has spread out amongst the American bom to such an extent that it is now more American than English in its branches. Ray- mond Lancaster is a son of William and Mary (Hovey) Lancaster. William Lancaster was a son of Frank and Harriet Lancaster, and was a lad of six years when his parents came from England to this country. The parents used their talents and energies in winning to fertility the willing soil of Macoupin county, Illinois, in which state they passed the remainder of their lives. They left their sons and daughters to play equally useful parts on the stage of life's activities. Their son William married Mary Hovey, who was born in Massachusetts and came to Illinois with her parents. William and Mary (Hovey) Lancaster became the parents of seven children, five of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster continued their residence in Illinois until their death.

Raymond Lancaster was born June 21, 1865, in Macoupin county, Illinois. There he attended the district schools, and early began to assist his father in the work of buying and feeding large herds of cattle for the market. When he started out from the parental home he followed the same line of enterprise in an independent way. In 1887 he came to Gage county, Nebraska, where, in company with his brother Edward, he engaged in feeding cattle, near Hplmesville. In 1900 he purchased two hundred acres of land, in Section 20, Rockford township, and here he has since successfully given his time and attention to general farming.

In Gage county, in 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Raymond Lancaster to Miss Nettie Cripe, who was bom April 6, 1868, in Macoupin county, Illinois. She is a daughter of Adam and Susan (Troyer) Cripe, who are residents of Rockford township. Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster have four children: William A. .is married and has two children. Dean and Everett; Ruth is at the parental home; Leta is the wife of George L. Harris, farmer of Rockford township ; and Arless is at home.

Mr. Lancaster and family are members of the Brethern church, and Mr. Lancaster votes the Democratic ticket. He has never sought political honors, his time being devoted entirely to his farming operations.

S. B. AYRES, a veteran and popular locomotive engineer on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, maintains his home in the city of Beatrice and is familiarly known to his host of friends as "Curly" Ayres. He has the distinction at the present time of being the only living witness of the historic Indian massacre at Fort Kearney,, Nebraska, and his reminiscences relative to other incidents of. the pioneer days are specially graphic and interesting.

Mr. Ayres was bom in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of August, 1848, and is a son of J. L. and Patience M. (Vincent) Ayres, both natives of the state of New York and both of staunch Scottish lineage, both families having been founded in New England in the early colonial period of our national history. After their marriage the parents of the subject of this review removed from the old Empire state to Pennsylvania, where they remained until coming to the west as pioneers, the father having attained to the patriarchal age of ninety-three years and the mother having been eighty-six years of age at the time of her death. J. L. Ayres became one of the very early settlers of Gage county, Nebraska, where he established his residence in 1857 and where he obtained one hundred and sixty acres of land in recognition of his gallant service as a soldier in the Mexican war. He remained on his frontier farm about eighteen years and then removed to Beatrice, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their long and worthy lives, both having been members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he having been first a Whig and later a Democrat in politics. Of the seven children four are living: A. W. is a prosperous rancher and cattle-grower near Douglas, Wyoming; George is a hardware merchant at Deadwood, South Dakota; S. B. is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Amanda Reed is the one surving daughter.

S. B. Ayres was a lad of nine years when the family home was established in Gage county, and in the pioneer schools he obtained his educational discipline thereafter, it having been his privilege to walk a distance of four and one-half miles from his home to attend school at Blue Springs. As a youth he became a driver of a stage on one of the oldtime routes, and for some time he was in the employ of the quartermaster's department of the government service. He went farther to the west and for fifteen years was engaged in teaming and other occupations, he having been only sixteen years of age when he left the parental home to assume his independent activities. In 1872 Mr. Ayres identified himself with railway service, by taking a position as locomotive firemen on the Union Pacific. In the following year his ability led to his advancement to the position of engineer and during the long intervening years he has continued as a locomotive engineer on the lines of the Union Pacific, with a record that reflects honor upon him and that marks him as one of the veterans in the employ of this great railroad company. He still owns -his father's. old homestead farm, in Island Grove township, and in his youth he gained wide and varied experience in connection with frontier life. In this connection it may be noted that he was the second person to be engaged as mail carrier in this part of Nebraska, he having taken the mail on horseback from Nebraska City to Beatrice and also between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Beatrice, and to White Cloud, Kansas. He was in close touch with the various Indian troubles of 1864, and with the Apache outbreak in Wyoming, in 1869, besides having been, as previously intimated, a witness of the Indian massacre at Fort !, Kearney. He established his residence in Beatrice in 1884, and in 1890 he wedded Miss Lucy Uter, who was born in Ripley county, Indiana, a daughter of Otto and Hannah (Clark) Uter. Mr. Uter was born and reared in Germany and upon coming to America he settled in Indiana, having learned in his native land the trade of harnessmaker. For a time he was employed at the Long View Insane Asylum, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and finally he came with his family to the west and became a pioneer farmer in Marshall county, Kansas, where he and his wife passed the rest of their lives. Thomas Clark, father of Mrs.

Uter, was bom on the island of St. Helena, and became well acquainted with the great Napoleon when that historic man was held in captivity at St. Helena. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres have two children : Vern Uter Ayres, who was born May 24, 1891, was graduated in the Beatrice high school, attended the University of Nebraska one year and at the time of this writing he is in one of the training camps in which the flower of young American manhood is being prepared for service in the great European war. He is now at Talliaferro Field, No. 1, Fort Worth, Texas. He has been twice promoted, having won his commission as lieutenant at Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, Illinois, and he is now an aeroplane instructor at Talliaferro Field. Prior to entering the governrpent military service he had been for two years a student in the Chicago Medical College. Ruth was graduated in the Beatrice high school, as a member of the class of 1917, and remains at the parental home. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres and their daughter are members of the Christian church.

In politics Mr. Ayres is a Democrat, and he has been long affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, his local membership being in the blue lodge and chapter in Beatrice and the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which his wife served eight years as treasurer. He has been an active member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers since 1878 and has passed the various official chairs in the same.

FRANK WANDERSEE. - The home farm of Frank Wandersee presents the appearance of a little village, and one can hardly realize the changes that have taken place since he and his wife came here, thirty-nine years ago. His life record emphazises what may be accomplished by a willingness to work and a determination to succeed.

Mr. Wandersee was bom in the province of Pomerania, Germany, November 10, 1853. His father, Martin Wandersee, passed his entire life in Germany. Mr. Wandersee does not remember ever having seen his mother nor does he know her family name. He was reared and educated in his native land and when nineteen years of age came to the United States, sailing from Bremen and landing in New York city, after a voyage of eleven days. His wordly possessions were only a few dollars, and it was necessary for him to find employment that would yield him a living. He made his way to Rochester, New York, and for five years thereafter he was employed at farm labor, in the meanwhile learning the language and customs of the country of his adoption. In 1877 he made his way westward to Nebraska, and here for two years he worked at whatever he could find to do, at Beatrice. An old settler, John Ellis, owned considerable land in Gage county, and he prevailed upon Mr. Wandersee to purchase two hundred acres in Section 17, Sicily township. This Mr. Wandersee did in the fall of 1878, and in the spring of 1879, he established himself on the farm. The only improvements at that time were a little upright board shanty -^ made of native cottonwood lumber, the logs having been sawed at Blue Springs - and a prairie stable made of poles set in the ground and covered with hay-. Some time later he sold forty acres of this land, but in a few years he bought an additional eighty acres, so that to-day he is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land. He raises the cereals best adapted to the soil and climate and in his pastures are found a good grade of cattle, each branch of his business yielding him a substantial income.

At Beatrice, in 1-878, Mr. Wandersee married Miss Caroline Wandersee, who was born in the same German province as was her husband, her natal day being July 31, 1850. She was reared in her native land and came to America two years after Mr. Wandersee crossed the ocean. She has been with her husband all of these intervening years, sharing in the trials and hardships of the early days as well as in the hopes realized and the pleasures that have come to them.

Mr. and Mrs. Wafidersee have become the parents of eight children, as follows : Frank H., who married Miss Susan Lewis, is a farmer in Sicily township ; Henry A. married

Miss Augusta Kauffman and is a farmer in Kansas; Edward, Nellie, Ben and Annie all remain at the parental home; Albert died at the age of two and one-half years ; and Emma, who became the wife of J. B. West, died in June, 1917, leaving four children, one of whom, a winsome little child, is in the home of the maternal grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Wandesee were reared in the Lutheran faith and belong to the church of that denomination at Beatrice.

In Sicily township are left but few of the old settlers who were here when Mr. and Mrs. Wandersee settled on the new farm. The success that has come to this sterling pioneer couple was won through their own efforts, as they started out empty-handed. They are folk of genuine personal worth and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

'JOHN H. HELMKE is one of the substantial and honored citizens of Gage county who has accumulated in Nebraska a large and valuable landed estate. In this county he is the owner of four hundred acres of well improved and productive land in Highland township, including his attractive home place, in Section 29, and in Holt county he owns three hundred and twenty acres. On his homestead he has as his efficient coadjutor in agricultural and live-stock enterprise his youngest son, and they give each season an average of one hundred acres to the raising of corn.

Mr. Helmke was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, which has given a fine quota of sterling citizens to Gage county, and the date of his nativity was June 18, 1854. He received his early education in the excellent schools of his native land and there; in accord with governmental rules, he served a term in the German army as a youth. He is a son of Henry and Margaret (Schluter) Helmke, who passed their entire lives in Ger-^ many, where the father was a prosperous Hanovarian farmer : he was born in 1826 and died in 1906, his wife having been born in 1828 and her death having occurred in 1904. Of the twelve children the firstborn died in infancy and the subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth; Alice is the wife of John Freese and they remain in Germany; Henry is a prosperous farmer of Clatonia township, Gage county; Dietrich resides in his native land, as does also Herman ; William is a resident of Murray county, Minnesota; Frederick is deceased; Mrs. Rebecca Schale remains in Germany; Dora and Martha are deceased; and Frederick (second of the name) is a resident of Murray county, Minne- - sota.

John H. Helmke was an ambitious and selfreliant young man of about twenty-nine years when he severed the ties that bound him to the fatherland and came to America, in the spring of 1883. He settled in Lancaster county, Nebraska, and he came to Gage county in 1890. After having been employed the first year as a farm hand he rented a farm in Highland township, where he continued his activities under these conditions for the ensuing four years. He then purchased his present homestead place of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he erected good buildings and made other improvements that mark it as one of the model farms of Highland township. With the increasing prosperity resulting from his indefatigable efforts, Mr. Helmke continued by degrees to make further investments in Gage county land, and here his now extensive farm property is imexcelled in general im.provements, in productiveness and in general evidences of thrift and prosperity. On his Holt county land he likewise has made good improvements, and the same is under the active management of his two sons, As a loyal citizen he has done his part in supporting movements for the general good of the community ; he is independent in political affiliation and he and his wife are earnest communicants of the Lutheran church in Clatonia township.

On the same vessel that transported Mr. Helmke to America in 1883 came Miss Martha Warnke, who was born in Hanover, Germany, December 11, 1862, and their mutual regard reached its climax when, on the 9th of March, 1884, their marriage was solemnized, in Gage county. Their gracious union has been blessed by these children : Ella is the wife of Henry Messman, of Highland township; Margaret, who became the wife of George Oltman, of this county, is deceased, as is also Henry, the next in order of birth; John and Richard have supervision of their father's farm property in Holt county; Lena is housekeeper for her brother John; and Herman and Amelia remain at the parental home. In 1891 Mr. and Mrs. Helmke made a most pleasing visit to their native land, where they renewed the associations of their earlier years, but the experience did not in the least abate their appreciation of America and of the state and county of their adoption.

GEORGE S. HARRIS, who resides in a beautiful home at Blue Springs, is one of the early settlers of Gage county and for many years' was actively engaged in farming and stock-raising, meeting with the success which enables him to lay aside active labor and live ill honorable retirement.

Mr. Harris is a native of Ireland, bom April .6, 1853. His parents, John and Margaret (Monroe) Harris, immigrated from the Emerald Isle to America in 1853 and after a residence of seven years in Ohio settled in LaPorte county, Indiana. John Harris became a successful farmer, and he continued his residence in Indiana until his death. His widow was killed in a cyclone, near Holmesville, Nebraska, in 1904. Both were members of the Christian church and were persons of sterling character.

George S. Harris was the third in a family of ten children and was reared on a farm in Indiana, where he attended the public schools until he had attained to the age of seventeen years. He then found employment as clerk in a grocery and dry-goods- store, and he held this position seven years. In 1876 he was united in marriage to Miss Aminta Harpster, who was bom in Seneca county, Ohio, a daughter of Frederick Harpster.

In 1877 Mr. Harris and his young wife came to Gage county, Nebraska, and here he secured a lease on eighty acres of state land. In the spring of 1878 he settled on the land and began farming. He later bought the property and there he continued operations until 1883, when he sold the farm and purchased one hundred and sixty acres near Barneston. This place was the stage of his activities as a farmer and stoclt man until he retired to Blue Springs, in 1897. For ten years after coming to Blue Springs he bought and shipped stock. Mr. Harris is to-day the owner of two good farms, - one of two hundred and twenty-two acres in Blue Springs township, and a tract of two hundred and forty acres in Rockford township. In the early days he hauled hogs to Marysville, Kansas, thirty miles away and sold them for two dollars and seventy-five cents a hundred weight. Rather than sell corn for fifteen cents a bushel he fed it to his live stock and no doubt reaped a better return than from its sale. In 1898 Mr. Harris was associated in the organization of the Blue Springs State Bank, of which he has since continued a stock-holder and director.

Mr. Harris is a Republican in politics and efficiently served as member of the school board. Fraternally he holds membership in the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, with which latter fraternity he has been affiliated since he was twenty-one years of age. He holds office in each of the lodges. With no unusual advantages at the beginning of his career, by industry and good management he has accummulated a competence ^which places him among the men of influence in Gage county.

Mr. and Mrs. Harris are the parents of two daughters: Ada is the wife of Homer Knight, head miller at Black Brothers' mills at Blue Springs, and they have two children, Elwood H., and Helen M., and the younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris is Mabel, who still remains at the parental home.

THEE T. JURGENS, who has won independence and prosperity through his own ability and well directed eflforts, is now the owner of a valuable landed estate of five hundred and sixty acres in Gage county, and his attractive homestead farm is in Section 36, Hanover township. He was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, November 20,

1868, the third in order of birth of the five children born to Thee H. and Anna (Dutzman) Jurgens, the former of whom was born in 1833 and the latter in 1830. The parents were in most modest financial circumstances in their native land and finally, about 1882, they came to America and established their home in Gage county, where the father still resides, the mother having passed away in 1913. After farniing on rented land a number of years Thee H. Jurgens purchased eighty acres in Hanover township, where he reclaimed and improved a good farm, the same being now owned by his youngest son, John T., with whom he makes his home. He is one of the honored pioneer citizens of Gage county and is an earnest member of the German Lutheran church, as was also his wife.

Thee T. Jurgens early began to make his own way in life and of the family record in his youth it may be said, as Abraham Lincoln spoke of his own family, that it constituted "the short and simple annals o.f the poor.'' He was afforded in his native land but limited educational advantages, but in the intervening years he has profited fully by the lessons gained under the direction of the wise headmaster, experience. After the family home had been established in Gage county Mr. Jurgens herded cattle on the prairies and worked as a farm hand, taking no time for recreation but working diligently and with ever quickening ambition. Finally he rented a farm, and later he made his first purchase of land, - a tract of eighty acres, in Hanover township. This was the nucleus around which, with increasing prosperity, he has evolved his present well improved and valuable landed estate of five hundred and sixty acres, and on his homestead place he erected in 1915 his present commodious and attractive house, which is modern in design and appointments. The other farm buildings are of excellent order and the entire appearance of his farm property gives evidence of thrift and prosperity.

father, William Johnson, settled about 1872 and where he became a substantial farmer: he was born in Germany and upon coming to America settled in Illinois, where he remained until his removal to Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Jurgens have nine children, all of whom remain at the parental home: Thee J., Anna, William, Henry, Marie, Grace, Tina, Theda, and Elsie.

Mr. Jurgens is a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party and has held various township offices, including that of treasurer. He and his family are active members of the German Lutheran church and the pleasant home is known for its gracious hospitality and good cheer.

WILEIAM R. ROOT was one of those strong and resourceful young men who did well his part in connection with civic and industrial development and progress in Gage county in the pioneer period of its history, and he was one of the substantial landholders and farmers of the county at the time of his death, which occurred on the 29th of September, 1915.

Mr. Root was born in the state of Pennsylvania, April 18, 1855, and was there reared and educated. At the age of eighteen years he turned his face to the west and made his way to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he found employment at farm work and where he later engaged in farming in an independent way. There he continued his residence until 1878, when he came to Nebraska and established his permanent home in Gage county. He purchased eighty acres of unimproved school land, in Section 36, Rockford township, and here he developed and improved a fine farm, the while he bore with fortitude the discouragements and trials that faced him in his advancing course, and with determined purpose continued his worthy endeavors until he had become the owner of a well improved farm estate of two hundred acres. After his retirement from the arduous labors that were so long his portion he passed the closing years of his life in the home of his son Elmer L,., of whom individual mention is made on other pages.

Mr. Root was signally loyal and true in all the relations of life, and thus merited and commanded the high regard of his fellow men. His first wife died when comparatively a young woman and left him with small children, and later he endured the bereavement of losing by death his second wife. His landed estate was devised to his surviving children. Frederick L. and Elmer L. are both representative young farmers of this county and both of them are specifically represented elsewhere in this publication. In politics Mr. Root gave his allegiance to the Republican party.

As a young man Mr. Root married Miss Anna Wenrick, who likewise was born in Pennsylvania, and she is survived by three sons, Frederick L,., Elmer L., and Charles L. For his second wife Mr. Root wedded Miss Mary Brubaker, who was bom in the state of Tennessee and whose parents were pioneers of Gage county. She passed to the life eternal in 1894, and the one child of this union. Grant L,., died at the age of eleven years.

FRED KEAUS. - The subject of this sketch is a well-to-do farmer residing on Section 33, Paddock township, where he owns and operates a valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres. This place has been the home of the Klaus family for the past twenty-six years. The parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Loemker) Klaus, were born in the province of Hanover, Germany and were married there. In 1880 they came to the United States and made their way to Washington cQunty, Kansas, where some of their relatives had established homes on what had been an Indian reservation. After a short stay Henry Klaiis decided to try other means to make a living for his family, and went to Cleveland,- Ohio, where for three years he found employment as teamster for a large casket manufacturer. In 1883 he again came to Kansas and after renting land for a time he there purchased eighty acres. Erecting a little frame house of but one room, he set about to develop a farm. Six years later he crossed the line into Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres. This was an improved farm, though none of

Henry Klaus, who was born December 23, 1840, and thus is now in his seventy-eighth year, still makes his home on the farm. His wife, born August 3, 1833, passed away March 21, 1913. In this family were four children, all bom in Germany. Three are still living, one having passed away in the old country. Mary is the widow of Fred Wasserman and resides with her son in Bameston township. Lizzie is the wife of Fred Schramm, residing in Washington county, Kansas; Fred, the youngest, was born June 18, 1871. He was reared on a farm and has always been with' his father. Several years ago he bought the old home place and he has been operating it since that time.

Fred Klaus married Anna Riggert, who was born in Washington county, Kansas, and is a daughter of August and Minnie (Germer) Riggert, natives of Germany. The parents were among the early settlers of Washington county, Kansas, where the father still resides, but the mother has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Klaus are the parents of eight children, all under the parental roof. Their names are: Martin, Minnie, Anna, Herbert, Ernst, Martha, Sophia and Olinda. The family are members of the Lutheran church and are among the highly esteemed people of the community. Mr. Klaus votes the Republican ticket and has been a member of the school board many years.

THOMAS WILLIAMS. - Coming with his parents to Nebraska in the year that marked the admission of the state to the Union, the late Thomas W^illiams was at the time a young man whose character, education and ambitious purpose well equipped him for assuming the duties and responsibilities of the pioneer. He reclaimed and developed one of the excellent farms of the county and since his death, which occurred April 29, 1913, his widow has remained on the old homestead, in Section 6, Logan township, and has proved efficient and successful in its management.

Thomas Williams was born in England, August 13, 1841, a son of Thomas and Mary Williams, who came to America in 1850 and established their residence in the state of New York, whence they later removed to Walworth county, Wisconsin. The family home was thereafter maintained in the Badger state until 1867, when removal was made to the new state of Nebraska. Thomas Williams, Sr., purchased three hundred acres of land in Gage county and, with the aid of his sons, began the reclaiming and improving of the proprety, both he and his wife having passed the remainder of their lives on this pioneer homestead. The subject of this memoir acquired his rudimentary education in his native land and was about nine years of age at the time of the family immigration to the United States. He thereafter attended school at Waterville, New York, and as he was a man of studious habits, reading wisely and well in later years, he rounded out a broad and symmentrical education. With characteristic vigor and ability he identified himself with progressive farm industry after coming to Gage county, and at the time of his death he was the owner of an -admirably improved and productive farm of one hundred and sixty acres, - the homestead on which his widow still resides and one that is endeared to her by the gracious memories and associations of the past. Mr. Williams was a man of the highest principles and exemplified the best in communal citizenship. His poUtical allegiance was given to the Republican party and while he had no ambition for public office his civil loyalty was shown in his efficient service as a member of the school board of his district. He was reared in the faith of the Church of England and in America continued his affiliation with the United States church of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal, his widow being an active member of the Baptist church, with which she has been identified since her girlhood.