Richardson County, Nebraska - Biographical sketches, 1917 (part 3 of 19)

Upon lieing mustered out of the service Mr. James returned to Xebra^ka and resumed his studies in the State University, from the classical department of which he was graduated in 190J, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He tlien entered the l;i\v department of the university and was graduated from the same in 1904, in which year he came to this county and opened an office for the practice of his profession at Humboldt. In the fall of that year he was elected count}- attorney autl moved his office to h'alls City, the county seat. So satisfactory did his .services in that important official capacity pro\e that he was re-elected in 1906 and continued to serve as county attorney until Januar\- i, 1909. In the spring of that year Mr. Tames moved to Omaha and was there engaged in the practice of his profession for a year, at the end of which time he returned to Falls City and resumed his practice in that city, which ever since has been his place of residence and \\here he has done \ery well, being now one of the bestknown lawyers in this part of the state. In 1916 Mr. James was again elected to the office of county attorne\- and is now serving his third term in that capacity. He is a tirm advocate of law enforcementXiLhis vigorcy^a prosecution of violations of the liquor law made him man\- friends througliout the county. Mr. James is an ardent Democrat and is regarded as one of the leaders of that party in Richardson county. He is a member of the -Methodist Episcopal church and, fraternally, is affiliated with the Masons. the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in the affairs of these several organizations takes a warm interest.

^Ir. James were married on .\pril 28, 1917, at Falls City, to Mrs. Leona (Garrett) Lyon, a widow, and daughter of James H. Garrett, county superintendent of schools of Hooker county, Xebraska. a ]50sition which he has held for a number of vears.

August B. Becker

August B. Becker, one of Arago precinct's substantial landowners and one of the most progressive farmers of Richardson count}^ owner of more than three hundred acres in his home precinct and the proprietor of one of the best-kept farms in the eastern part of the county, his home being a bit over nine miles northeast of Falls City, is of European birth, but has been a resident of this country and of Nebraska since the days of his young manhood, and has done* well in his operations since his arrival here back in 1876, in what was regarded even then as pioneer days. He was born in the grand duchy of Baden on P"ebruary 27, 185 J, son of William and Elizabeth (Redel) liecker. also natives of Baden, tlic former born in i8i() and the latter in

1822, who came to this country in 1878, their elder cliildren having preceded them here, and settled on a farm in the precinct of Arago, this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the former dying in 1892 and tlie latter in 1895. William Becker was a knifesmith in his native land, but after coming here became a substantial farmer. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow : Prof. William Becker, teacher of German in Eden College at St. Louis, Missouri ; Herman Becker, a farmer in the vicinity of Verdon, this county: Mrs. Mary Reschke, of the precinct of Arago: Mrs. Lydia Reschke, of the precinct of Jefiferson: Charles, who is still living in his native land, and Mrs. Anna Schroedel, of Washington county, Illinois. Reared in his native Baden, August B. Becker received his schooling there and there learned the trade of knifesmith, becoming a skilled and efficient cutler. He remained in his native land until he was twenty-four years of age, when, in 1876, he came to this country, coming over on the sailing vessel "Moss," which was only two weeks in making the voyage. His objective point was Nebraska, he having been in previous correspondence with others from Baden who had settled in Richardson county, and when he arrived in this county his slender supply of cash had been reduced to twentyfive dollars. For a time after his arrival here Mr. Becker worked as a farm hand and then rented a farm in Arago precinct and was engaged in farming during the period of the grasshopper scourge on the plains, a not very encouraging experience to a newcomer. He bought his present home farm in 1884 and after his marriage in the spring of 1879 he established his home on the farm and has ever since been engaged in farming and stock raising, long having been regarded as one of the leading farmers and stockmen in that part of the coimty. Mr. Becker now owns a very well-improved farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres in section 16 of the precinct of Arago and is also the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres in section 25 of that precinct. He has a fine house and an excellent farm plant, situated about the center of his home place, and he and iiis family are very pleasantly and very comfortably situated there. The Lutheran church and cemetery are located on his farm. IMr. Becker is a practical farmer and an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has done very well in his operations. He has taken an interested part in the general civic affairs of his home community ever since acquiring citizenship here and for some time served as a member of the local school board. He and his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and take a proper part in church work, as well as in other

On April 17, 1879, August B. Becker was united in marriage to Lydia Sholl, who was born in New York on December 21, i860, daughter of Philip and Lizzie (Kolsch) Sholl, natives of Germany, who came to this country in 1847 ''"-^ to Richardson county about 1862, becoming substantial pioneers of this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Becker thirteen children have been born, namely: Philip, who is the owner of an eighty-acre farm in section 32 of Arago precinct; August, also a farmer in that same precinct; Heniy, who is now a resident of the state of California ; Ludwick, of Arago precinct ; Lydia. who is at home; Ida, now living in Illinois; William, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Anna. CIn-istina, Otto, Albert and John, at home, and Bernard, deceased.

John Findlay

John Findlay, a well-known stockman and farmer, living in Porter precinct, Richardson county, was born on October 6, 1865, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, the son of Hiram and Christena (Stinley) Findlay, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Germany, who settled in this county about forty-two years ago.

When Hiram Findlay came to Richardson county he settled in Ohio precinct, two miles north of Falls City, remaining there until 1881, when he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 12, Porter precinct. This land was raw prairie and he set to work to reclaim it and presently had a portion of it under crops, at the same time dealing in live stock. As he went along he made extensive impi-ovements on his holding and continued farming to the end of his life. Christena (Stinley) Findlay left Germany when a child of four years old. Mr. and Mrs. Findlay became the parents of the following children: Mrs. Blair, deceased; John, Harvey, living on West Muddy precinct; William, who lives in Porter precinct; Frank, living in Porter precinct; Frank, living in Porter precinct; Evora, the wife of J. Waller and lives at Nemaha, this state; Mrs. Laura Miles, living in Dawson, Nebraska, and one who died in infancy. The parents were members of the Lutheran church and the children were reared in that faith.

age of twenty-three he began working- for himself and rented land for one year, at the end of which time he bought his present farm. The land was broken but there were no improvements. He carried out all necessary improvements and now has his place well cultivated and he has prospered in his farm work and also as a breeder of Duroc-Jersey hogs.

On October 27, 1891, John Findlay was united in marriage to Laura Gunnison, daughter of Aquilla and Mosell (Peck) Gunnison, natives of New Hampshire and Wisconsin, respectively, who came to Nemaha and settled in an early day. To Mr. and Mrs. Findlay the following children have been born : Frank, who lives in Nemaha ; ]\Irs. Evelyn Werth, residing at Cedar Ra])ids. Iowa, antl John. Jnseph and Edwin at home with their parents.

Mr. Findlay, his wife and children are members of the Lutheran church. He votes independently in political affairs, but has never been a seeker after ofifice. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United \\'orkmen at Stella, Nebraska.

Joy M. Ndis

One of the most progressive of Richardson county's younger farmers and stockmen is Joy N. Nims, of "Cardinal Stock Farm," Humboldt, a man whose motto seems to have ever been to do promptly and well whatever was worth doing. He was born at the town where he still resides, September 10, 1877. He is a son of William Nims, who was born June 21, 1843, and died on June 6, 1909. The latter was a son of Luther X'ims, a native of New York state, and he was a son of Ruel Nims. Luther Nims emigrated to Waupun, Wisconsin, and there William Nims was born. The last named came to Nebraska in 1867, and here, in partnership with his brother, Ruel, opened the lirst store in Humboldt, Richardson county, under the iirni name <if Ruel Nims & Company. The first year they were in busi- ;ie^s they hauled their goods from St. Juseph, Missouri. Luther Nims also located at Humboldt, building one of the first homes in the town, .also built the Central Hotel, the first in Humboldt. The slmic store building which Ruel Nims & Company erected here is" still standing. They continued in the mercantile business here until the early eighties, at which time they went tn Gray's Harbor, Washington, where they opened a mercantile establishment in 188 ,v Returning to Richardson county in 1886, A\'illiain Nims engaged in farming south of Humboldt, hut made his home in the village. Li 1897 he went to California and again launched out in mercanlile pursuits. He bought and sold bankrupt stocks of goods in (Dregon and Washington, making his headquarters at Portland. His death occmred in Seattle. Washington., in 1909.

The mother of the subject of this sketch was known in her maidenhood as Sarah A'. JNIorden. She was torn in Canada, September 19. 185 1; was married m 1874 and died, April 30, 1897, in Humboldt, leaving three children, namely: Joy M., of this sketch; Grace, a graduate of Leland Stanford University, who was the wife of Prof. J. G. Brown, a member of the faculty of Leland Stanford University, of Palo Alto, California, died in 1916; Lee. born in i88r, died in 1903 in Portland, Oregon.

Jo}- ;\I. Xims brought the bodies of his father and brother back to Hunii)oldt for interment in the family lot in the local cemetery. He received a common-school education and graduated from Leland Stanford Universit}- of California in 1905 with Bachelor of Arts degree and he was associated wiih his father in all his undertakings. He has been very successful, as a genera! farmer and stock riiser and now owns a finely improved and productive farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Richardson county, known as the '"Cardinal Stock Farm," south of Humboldt and adjoining the city. On his place is to be found two complete and substantial sets of buildings - one mile south of town. In connection with general farming he is a l>reeder of pure-ljred Poland China hogs of the big type. He keeps an average drove i)f two hundred head, and has raised and marketed as high as four hundred head annually. He is one of the best-informed hog raisers in the county and has splendid success with tiiem. Owing to their superior qualities he finds a very ready market for his swine. Everything about his place indicates good management.

Mr. Xims was married on December 10. 1913, to Effie Richards, whu was Ijorn at Tdue Springs, Nebraska, where she spent her childhood and attended school. She is a daughter of J. T. and Mary (Parsons) Richards, who are now residents of Humboldt. Mr. Richards was formerly engaged in the hotel business, but is now farming. Mr. Nims' mother was a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Humboldt. She came to HumlK)ldt in 1867 and established the first millinery store in the village.

Tohx William Hellmaxx

John William Hellmann, well-known and substantiaf farmer and stockman of Richardson count)^ proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres in section 22 of the precinct of ^\rago and of a quarter of a section of land in Alorris county, Kansas, is of European birth, but has been a resident this country and of Richardson county since he was seventeen years of age. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of Osnabruck, capital of the district of that name, in the then kingdom of Hanover, April 4, 1866, son of Christ and Mary (Nolte) Hellmann, also Hanoverians, who came to the United States with their children in 1883 and proceeded on out to Nebraska, arriving in Richardson county on August 5 of that }-ear. About three years after his arrival here Christ Hellmann bought a sixty-acre farm in the precinct of Arago, there established his home and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, influential pioneers of that section of the county. Christ Hellmann was born on July 13. 1833, and died on December 17, 1901. His wife was born on November 6, 1828. and died on November 27, 1899. They were married on December 19. 1863. and were the parents of three children, of whom the subject of this sketch was tlie first-born, the others being Mary, wife of H. Zimmerman, of the precinct of Arago, and Anna, deceased.

As noted above, John William Hellmann was seventeen years of age when he came from his native Hanover with his parents in 1883 ^"d settled in this county. As the only son of the family he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home farm in Arago precinct and at the same time, during the winters, thoughtfully pursued his studies in the district schools of that neighborhood, supplementing the same by a further course in the high school at Faljs City, preparing himself for teaching, after which he taught school and in 1893 began teaching school in the district schools of this county and was thus engaged until 1898, meanwhile continuing his farming operations during the summers on a farm he had rented and after 1898 gave his whole attention to the farm. On July i, 1900, Mr. Hellmann bought the northwest quarter of section 22 in the precinct of Arago and after his marriage in the following October established his home there and has ever since resided on that place, that quarter section having been the nucleus of his present well-improved and profitably cultivated farm of two hundred and forty acres in that section. In 19(6 Mr. Hellmann sold an "eighty" of his landholdings in this county and bought the southwest quarter of section iq. in Parker townshiji, Morris county, Kansas, which he is beginning to develop in admirable shape. His home fann plant is arranged widi a view to the greater convenience and efficiency of management, his operations being carried on in accordance with modern methods of agriculture. He is a Republican and has ever given his thoughtful and intelligent attention to local civic affairs. From 1892 to 1900 he served as clerk of the precinct of Arago, was also for some time justice of the peace in and for that precinct and has also ser\cd as assessor and as overseer of highway construction.

On October 10, 1900, John William Hellmann was united in marriage to Elizabeth Redeker. also a Hanoverian, born near the city of Osnabruck on April 13, 1874, and who was but nine years of age when she came to this country with her parents, Herman and Katherine (Kahle) Redeker, in September, 1883, the family settling in Atchison county, Missouri. Herman Redeker and his wife are still living over in Atchison county, residents of the \^"estboro neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Hellmann have five children, Carl and Walter, who are students at St. Paul Lutheran College at Concordia. i\Iissouri, and Minnie, \Mlliam and Fred. The Hellmanns are members of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church and ;\Ir. Hellmann is the present secretary of the congregation, both he and his wife taking an active interest in church affairs, as well as in the general good works and social activities of the community in wliich they li\e and to wliose welfare tiiey are so de\'oted. Mr. Hellmann has one of the finest private libraries in his section of the county. He is a constant reader and student, who keeps abreast of the times, and keeps himself well informed on literary and educational matters.

Frederick E. Nitzsche

Frederick E. Nitzsche, proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred acre, in section 23 of the precinct of Arago and one of the best-known residents of that part of Richardson county, is a native of the great Empire state, but has been a resident of this county since he was two years of age, with the exception of four or five years in the latter eighties and early nineties spent in homesteading in Logan county, Kansas. He was born in the city of Buffalo, New- York, August 30, 1856, son of Frederick and Augusta Nitzsche, natives of the kingdom of Saxony, the former born on January 21, 1820, and the latter, June 21, 1823, who were married in their native land and in 185 1 came to the ITnited States, locating in tlie city of Piuft'alo, where they remained until

Upon locating at Arago, the elder Frederick Xitzsche l;ecame engaged as a freighter, hauling freight by ox-teani from the river landing to the stores in Arago, and continued to make his home in that village until 1871, when he settled on a farm in the precinct of Arago, the place now owned by the subject of this sketch, and there spent the remainder of his life, becoming a well-to-do farmer. Upon taking ix)Ssession of that farm he established his liome in a log cabin there and that humble abode served as a place of family residence until 1882, when he erected the substantial farm iiouse which still serves as a place of dwelling tliere. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and helped to organize a congregation of that communion at old -Vrago about 1868. ^Irs. Nitzsche died on September 20, 1871, and Frederick Nitzsche survixed her many years, his death occurring on June lo, 1910, he then being past ninety years of age. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the sul)ject of this sketcii was the fifth in order of birth. One of the sons, Ciiarles Xitzsche, ran away from home to join the Union during the Cixil \\'ar and went to the front with a -Missouri regiment. During- his service he was captured by the enemy and served for five months in Andersonville prison before being exchanged.

As noted above, Frederick E. Nitzsche was but two years of age \\hen his jiarents came to this county back in territorial days and he grew to manhood in the village of Arago and on the home farm in that vicinity, receiving his schooling in the little old log school house at Arago. He was a valued assistant in the labors of helping to develop the home farm after the family settled there in 1871 and after his marriage in the spring of 1883 established his home there and ))egan to farm the place on his own account, renting the same from his fatiier. In 1887 he entered a homestead tract in Logan count}', Kansas, and nuived to the same, making his home there until 1892, when he sold out and returned to the old home place in this county. In 1911 he bouglit from the other heirs their interests in the home farm and has since owned the same, a well-improved and profitably cultivated tract of two hundred acres in section where he and his family are \ery comfortably situated. Li addition to his general farming, Mr. Nitzsche has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing very well.

On March 29. 1883, h'rederick K. Xitzsche was united in marriage to Louisa Bickel, who also was born in the city of Buffalo. Xew York, June 29, 1865, daughter of George J. and Anna ( Miller ) Bickel, natives of Germany, and who was 1)iit a child when her parents came West and became pioneers of Richardson county. George J. Bickel died here in 1876 arid his widow is still living in this county, now a resident of Falls City, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. Mr. and Mrs. Nitzsche have nine children, namely : Arthur E., now a resident of Grand Island, this state; Rena, wife of H. Brinegar, of Rulo, this county: George, of California, and Katherine, Martha, Louisa, Fred J., Gertrude and Leonard, at home. The Nitzsches are members of St. Paul's Lutheran church and have e\er taken an interested part in church work, as well as in other neighborhood good works and in the general social activities of the community in which they live. Mr. Nitzsche is an independent Republican and gi\es a good citizen's attention to the general political affairs of his liome countv, an earnest advocate of local sood Government.

Jeremiah Kanaly, a well-to-do landowner and retired farmer and merchant of Richardson county and one of the best-known men in the county, now living at brails City, where he has a splendid home, is a native of the great Empire state, but has been a resident of this county ever since he was thirteen years of age, with the exception of two years spent rather disastrously in the neighboring state of Kansas homesteading back in the old grasshopper days. He was born in New York state on January 15, 1853, son of Robert and Mary (Dillon) Kanaly, natives of Ireland, who later Iiecame residents of this county and whose last days were spent in the \illage of Rulo.

Robert Kanaly was born on August 23, 18 17, and his wife. Alary Dillon, was born in 1820. They were married in their native Ireland and then came to the United States, locating in the state of New York, where they remained for a few years, at the end of which time, in 1855, they moved to the state of Illinois, where they remained until 1866, in which year they came to Nebraska and located at Falls City, thus having been among the earliest settlers of that place. Robert Kanaly was a blacksmith and he opened a blacksmith shop at Falls City. He and his wife were earnest members of the Catholic church and the first mass ever said in the parish (if l-'alls City was celebrated at tlieir l;ome in th.e fall of 1867. a priest from Rulo lieing the celelirant and several families ]iresent, the Kanalys, the two

Farrell families and the famil\- uf Georj,re Roy being among those nowrecalled. In 1869 Robert Kanaly moved with his family to Rulo, where he opened a blacksmith shop and in the neighborhood of which place he presently bought a farm, he continuing to run his blacksmith shop and his sons operating the farm. Robert Kanaly and his wife spent their last days at Rulo, his death occurring on May 14, 1892, and hers, August 9, 1901. They were the parents of seven children, of whom four grew to maturity, those besides the subject of this sketch being John, of Rulo; Patrick, who died at the age of twenty-one, and Martin, who is farming on his well-kept place one and a half miles north of Rulo.

Jeremiah Kanaly was but three years of age when his parents mu\cd from New York to Illinois and he was thirteen when they came to this county and settled at Falls City. There he continued his schooling and upon the family's removal to Rulo he helped on the farm until he was eighteen years of age, meanwhile continuing his schooling, and then began to WDrk for himself as a clerk in a grocery store at Rulo. After eighteen months of that form of experience he started a grocery store of liis own at Ruin and was thus engaged in business there until 1874, when lie went over into Phillips county, Kansas, and entered a homestead but the grasshoppers came along and ate things up faster than he could raise them, placing an effectual damper on his ambitions as a farmer, and he gave up the homestead after two years of unprofitable struggle and returned to Rulo, where he again engaged in the grocery business and remained tlius engaged until 1881. when he sold his store and ]>()ughl a farm southeast of Falls City. Tile quarter section lie l)ought at that time was wholly unimproved and lie set to work to improve and develop the same, presently having one of the best-improved and most profitably cultixated places in that part of the county, every building, every tree and every shrub on the place haxing been looked after by himself. As he prospered in his farming operatiiMis Mr. Kanaly added to his holdings until he now owns seven hundred anil thirty-four acres in three farms, one of one hundred and lifty-four acres ; one of one hundred and six acres and another of four hundred and eighty acres, thus l)eing accounted one of the iiK^st substantial landowners in the county. In 1903 he retired from tlie farm and moved to Falls City, where he built a fine residence and where he and his family are now living, very comfortably situated. During Iiis residence on tlie farm Mr. Kanaly held variotis precinct offices, such as supervisor and as a school director in tlie precinct nf Jeft'er.son and has ever gi\eii bis earnest attention to the general political affairs of the county. He has seen this region develop from pioneer days to its present high state of progressive development. At the age of seventeen he helped in the construction of the old Burlington & Missouri River railroad and after he moved on the farm, when the Missouri Pacific road was being built out this way, he worked as a teamster in the construction of that road. He and Samuel M. Philpot, formerly of Humboldt, were pals from boyhood, having clerked together, homesteaded together and gone broke together. Though Philpot was a Presbyterian and a Republican and Kanaly a Catholic and a Democrat, their political and religious differences, e\'en in the days long gone when such differences were more acute than they are now, never had any disturbing effect on the perfect cjuality of the fine friendship that bound them together. Another of Mr. Kanaly's activities in the early days of Rulo was the handling of the bvrik of the pine lumber that was brought up the river for the establishment of the first lumber yard in Salem. He thus very properly may be regarded as one of the real old timers of Richardson county and he has a wide acquaintance throughout this part of the state.

On January lO, 1875, Jeremiah was united in marriage to Elizabeth Murphy, who was born in Iowa on January 16, 1856, daughter of Michael and Ella (Tobin) Murphy, natives of Ireland, who settled in Iowa upon coming to this country, later, in 1870, moving to Kansas and settling in Nemaha county, where they lived until 1875, when they came up into Richardson county and further and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. To this union nine children have been born, namely : Robert, who is living on a farm three miles north of Falls City; William, who is farming the old home place in the precinct of Jefferson; Elmer, who is on the Miles ranch; John, a farmer, of Wessington, South Dakota; Thomas, who is on the home place ; Lawrence, of Wessington, South Dakota ; Frank, who is connected with the plant of the Ford Motor Car Company at St. i'aul, Minnesota: Helen, wife of Frank P.ucholz, of Falls City, and Alfred who is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Kanaly have thirteen grandchildren, in whom they take much delight. The Kanalys are members of the Catholic church and have ever taken a warm interest in parish aft"airs. Mr. Kanaly contributed very material assistance in the erection of the fine Catholic church at Falls City and has also done his part in promoting the general good works of the community, helpful in many ways in advancing the general welfare of the community of which he has been an active member since the days of his boyhood back in pioneer times.

It is not the kind of work, but the kind of spirit with which it is done that dignifies and exalts human service. This is a thought that should put heart into every worker, put cheer into his service and fill him with a large degree of satisfaction in doing the work that nature seems to have, in a way, appointed for him. Thomas ]\I. ^^'ilkinson, one of the most extensive farmers and stockmen in Richardson county, is a man who gets satisfaction out of his daily tasks. He was born on March 27, i860, in ^Metcalfe county, Kentucky, being the first child born after the organization of that county. He is a son of William and Nancy B. (Hughes) ^Wilkinson. The father was born in ^\'est \'irginia in 1814 and died in 1890. The mother was born in Kentuck\- in 1821 and died in 1893. She was a daughter of Jesse and ]\Iary (Roundtree) Hughes, both natives of Virginia. William and Nancy IS. Wilkinson were the parents of nine children, namely: John D. is deceased; Robert G. lives at Orvin, Nebraska; Julia is the wife of Charles Henderson, of A'erdon, Richardson county; AA'illiam M. lives in Beatrice, tliis state; Bettie, who married Charles Brown., is deceased; Thomas M., of this .sketch; Charles lives at Haddani, Kansas; Gilbert is deceased; Laura is the wife of Ldward Tracy, an attorne}- at A'ictoria, Texas. William Wilkinson, the father, was a son of AMlliam Wilkinson, a native of Virginia, from which state lie moved to Kentucky in an early day, about 1825, where they took charge of a [ilantation. on which they carried on general farming and tobacco raising and there they spent the rest of their lives, and there the father of the subject of this sketch grew up. married and made his home until 1865, when he removed with his family of seven children to St. Joseph, -Missouri, reaching there about the middle of .\pril of that year. A few ninnths later the faniih- came on to Rulo, Nebraska, traveling up the Missouri river l)y boat. There tliey bought a team and drove to the. present site of A'erdon. l.il>crt\- precinct. ^^'illiaIn \\'i!kinson bought one hundred and sixty acres in Liberty precinct and liy hard work and ])erseverance he developed ;i good farm from the raw prairie land, l)uilding first a small rude house, but later made excellent improvements on his place. He first rented the. land where the ])resait town of \'erdon now stands, and in 1866 bought a farm of one hundred and sjxtv acres for which he paid five hundred dollars. He broke ten acre; of it witli oxen, which, to a Kentuckian. looked like quite a large field, for he w.is of tlie old Southern type that wanted little more than a home and a li\ing. Howexer, he was a good business man and .succeeded.

becoming well established here. He helped to organize the first district school of Libert}- precinct. His nearest trading post was Brownville for years, which furnished a poor market for his products. He raised sheep in large numbers and in the fall of the year, after the annual shearing, would haul the wool to Oregon, Missouri, and sell it or exchange it- for dress goods from which his wife made most of the clothing for their children. Soon after he established his home in this locality, now over a half century ago, Indians, sometimes numbering as many as five hundred in a band, would visit his home and often steal much of his belongings. But when he would come liome and find them there he would not be long in driving them off his place. The Indians continued to linger in Richardson county until 1880.

Thomas M. Wilkinson assisted his father to develop the home farm in Liberty township and lived at home until he was twenty-one years old. He received such educational advantages as the pioneer schools afforded, remaining in school until he was eighteen years old; and then entered college at Peru, Nebraska, pursuing a general course. After finishing his education he returned home and engaged in farming until his marriage, in 1886, after which he went West and took up a homestead of "one hundred and sixty acres in Box Butte county. Nebraska, and also took up a tree claim and pre-empted. l"or some time he engaged in the cattle business there on an extensive scale, fencing sixteen sections for grazing purposes, not however without notifying the government of his act and of his willingness to remove the fencing upon its request. During his residence in Box Butte county he became owner of eight hundred and eighty acres and had a lease of three school sections. He l)ought and shipped cattle in large numbers to feeders. Selling out in 190 J he returned to Richardson county and bought the ranch he now owns, which consists of nine hundred acres in Grant and Nemaha townships, and he has l)een very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser and feeder on an extensive scale. He feeds about one hundred head of cattle annually and ])roduces over four carloads of hogs annually. He lived on his farm until iqio, when he moved to Dawson, where he has since resided, owning a fine home there. His land is well improved and under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Wilkijison is a stockholder in the telephone and electric light companies at Dawson, also the Farmers Union and local grain elevator. He is a director in the telephone company and takes an active interest in local public affairs and aids in all movements having for their object the general welfare of his town, precinct and county. Politically, he is an independent Republican. He is a member of the Evangelical church and he belongs to the Inde- (53)

]3endent Order of Odd Fellows. Air. Wilkinson has oiveii evidence of his love of country by a liberal purchase of Liberty bonds and donated to the Red Cross movement. He is chairman of drainage di^rict No. i.

Mr. AVilkinson was married on March 6, 1886, to Arminta Triggs, who was born in Richardson county, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of Isaac and Lucinda (McGinnis) Triggs, natives of Ohio and Kentucky, respectivel}-. Her parents came to Richardson county, this state, and here they were married and established their liome and reared a family of four children.

To Mr. and ]Mrs. Wilkinson five children were born, named as follows : Roy. deceased; Edna, the wife of Guy Snethen and they live in Grant precinct on the ranch.; Ethel, the wife of H. Auxier and they live in Grant i)recinct, and Laura and .\lice, both at home.

Dan T- Riley

Dan J. Riley, cashier of the Dawson Bank of Dawson, this county. was born in that village and has lived there all his life with the exception of about eight years- during which time he was engaged in the practice of law at Omaha, i-eturning to Dawson in 1908 to take the place of his late father in the bank. He was born on July 7, 1875, son of M. and Bridget (Ryan) Riley, natives of Ireland, who had come to this country with tlieir respective parents in the days of their cliildhood, the families settling in Connecticut.

M. Riley was born in August, 1848, son of Bryan Riley, and he grew up in Connecticut, remaining there until 1867, when lie came to Nebraska and settled on a farm in Grant precinct, this county, one of the first settlers in that precinct. When the Dawson townsite was laid out he moved to that place and there engaged in the lumber business, shortly afterward taking up the general mercantile business there, as a member of the firm of Mead, Riley & Company, which presently was succeeded by the firm of Mead & Riley, Mr. Riley later becoming sole proprietor. In 1887 he assisted in the organization of tlie Dawson Bank and was made cashier and active manager of the same, the affairs of the bank being carried on in his store, but in the early nineties the bank outgrew the store and he thereafter devoted his whole attention to the bank, which in 1895 erected its present .substantial bank building, and Mr. Riley continued serving that bank as cashier and manager nntil his death in April, 1908. From the days of' the very beginning of Dawson M. Riley was one of the most actixe and influential factors in the affairs of that flourishing village and in addition to his extensive commercial and banking interests took an earnest interest in civic affairs, having served as a member of the town board, as a member of the school board and as village treasurer. He was an earnest member of the Catholic church and helped in the erection of four churches of that communion in Dawson, the first church erected by the Catholics there having been destroyed by fire, the second destroyed by a cyclone and the third destroyed by fire. To M. Riley and wife five children were born, namely : Dr. Bryan M. Riley, now located at Omaha; Dan J. Iviley, the subject of this biographical sketch- Mary E., Nelle T. and Tom R., of Omaha, the latter of whom is president of the Bank of Florence.

Dan J. Riley grew up at Dawson and upon completing the course in the high school there entered St. Mary's College, from which he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1896. Thus admirably ec^uipped by preparatory study, he entered the law department of Nebraska State University and was graduated from that institution in 1900. In that same year he opened an office for the practice of his profession at Omaha and remained there until after his father's death in 1908, when he was elected cashier of the Dawson Bank and returned to his home village to take his father's place in the bank and has ever since been thus engaged, one of the best-known bankers in Richardson county. As noted above, the Bank of Dawson was established in 1887, the organizers being M. Riley, B. S. Chittenden, Daniel Riley, M. B. Ryan, Thomas Fenton, Morgan McSweenexand L. A. Ryan, with a paid-in capital of ten thousand dollars. The first officers of the bank were as follows : President, M. B. Ryan ; \'ice-president, B. S. Chittenden; cashier, M. Riley, the directors being these officers and the others named in the above list. The present officers of the bank are as follow: President, Daniel Riley; vice-president, L. M. Ryan; cashier, Dan J- Riley; assistant cashier, Tom R. Riley, the board of directors including these officers and Bryan Riley and Thomas M. Ryan. The bank statement in ^larch, 1917, revealed the bank's condition at that time as follows: Capital, $25,000; surplus, $26,000, and deposits, $280,000.

In 1911 Dan J. Riley was united in marriage to .Virna Rush, of Omaha, and to this union two children ha\e been born. Nan and Michael Rush. Mr. and Mrs. Riley are members of the Catholic churcli and take an interested part in parish affairs, as well as in the general good works of liie communitv and in tiie social and cultural activities of tlieir liome town.

Air. Riley is a Republican and served as postmaster of Dawson from 1896 to 1900 and for three years was secretary of the State League of RepubHcan Clubs. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and (jf the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in the afifairs of both of these organizations takes a warm interest.

Albert Maust, dealer in grain and live stock at Ealls City, proprietor of a string of prosperous elevators hereabout and an extensive landowner in Richardson county, was born at Falls City and has lived there all his life. He was born in a house which still stands two doors south of the Union Hotel on July 27, 1876, son of Elias A. and Savilla (Miller) Maust, pioneers of this county, both of whom were born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and who are still living at Ealls City, which has been their place of residence since 1870.

Elias A. Maust, an honored veteran of the Civil War ;Hid for many years one of the leading citizens of Falls City, was born on a farm in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 2^, 1839, son of Abraham and Magdaline ( Longenecker) Maust, the former of whom was born in that same county in 1793 and the latter in 1795. Abraham Maust was a grandson of Jacob Mast, a native of Switzerland, who came to this country in Colonial days and settled in western Pennsylvania, where he reared a family of four sons and two (laughters. The name in the next generation gradually came to be written Maust and has so continued, llie immigrant, Jacob Mast, was a member of the Mennonite church and the family, which is now strongly represented in western Penns\lvania, has ever maintained the tenets of that simple faith. Abraham Maust became a farmer in Somerset county and there spent his last days, liA'ing to the great age of ninety-one years, eleven months and five days, the last sixteen years of his life being spent in suffering and in total blindness. He was married in 1817 to Magdaline Longenecker, who was one of the nine children born to Peter Longenecker and wife, also Mennonites and natives of Somerset county, and to that union were born fourteen children, nine sons and five daughters. The mother of these children died in 1854 and Abraham Maust later remarried, but thai second union was without issue.

vania, Elias A. Maust received his schooling in the scliools of that neighhorhood and from tlie days of liis hoyhood was a vahicd assistant to liis father and his l)rothers in the labors of improving and developing the home place, and was living there when the Civil War broke out. On October 24, 1862, he enlisted for service in Company K, One Hundred and Seventyfirst Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and with that command served until it was mustered out ten months later. 1/pon tlie completion of his military service he returned to his home in Somerset county and after his marriage there in the fall of 1865 continued to make his home in that county, engaged in farming there for two years, at the end of whicii time he came \Vest and located at Waterloo, Iowa, wliere he remained until 1870, when he came down into this part of Nebraska and became engaged in farming in the vicinity of Falls City. A year later he left the farm and moved to the then promising village of Falls City, where he erected a grain elevator, the first to ht erected in this section of the state, and engaged in the grain Ijusiness. He presentl}- extended that business by adding coal and live stock to his line and it was not long until his business operations were extending over a broad field, and he continued actively engaged in that line of business until his, eventual retirement. In 1891 he erected a handsome modern brick house one block east of Stone street and h,e and his wife are now living there. It was on November 2/, 1865, that Elias A. Maust was united in marriage to Savilla Miller, who also was born in Somerset count}', Pennsylvania, July 27, 1849, daughter of Moses W. and Catherine (Livengood) Miller, and to this union three sons have been born, the subject of this sketch, the youngest, having had two brothers, one of whom, Irvine C. ;Maust, dealer in coal and ice at Falls City, is still living, and the other of whom, Norman, died in his first year.

Following his graduation from the Falls City high school, Albert ]\Iaust attended the Nebraska' State University for tliree years and then began buying grain for his father and brother and was thus engaged for five or six years, or until his father's retirement from business, after which he remained associated with his brother in the business until 191 1, when he began buyinggrain and live stock on his own account and has prospered in that line, now having four elevators, one at Falls City, one at Straussville, one at \'erdon and one over the state line, in Reserve, Kansas. In addition to his extensive grain and live-stock interests Mr. Maust is the owner of fifteen or twenty houses in Falls City and has a valuable tract of sixty acres of land a<ljoining the city, for wliich he recently paid f\ve hundred dollars an acre. Mr. Alaust is a Republican and has given considerable attention tf' local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.

On April 30, 1905, Albert -\Iaust was united in marriage to Xancv Bryant, who was born at Adrian, Missouri, in 1886, daughter of Reuben and Marguerite (Cooper) Br^^ant, also natives of Missouri, who are now living at Drexel, that state, and to this union three children have been born. Maggie, who died in infancy: Ruth, born on July 2, 1910, and Albert, Jr., May 23, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Maust have a very pleasant home at Falls City and take a proper part in the general social activities of their home town. Mr. Maust is a Mason, affiliated with all the branches of that ancient order, and is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Knights of Pythias and in the affairs of these several organizations takes a warm interest.

Xormax Benton Judd

Norman Benton Judd, register of deeds for Richardson county, former county assessor and formerly and for years one of the best-known horse breeders in this part of Nebraska and a substantial farmer of the Dawson neighborhood, is a native of Illinois, but has been a resident of this county since 1882 and may therefore very properly been regarded as one of the old settlers of Richardson county. He was born on a farm in Marshall county, in the north central part of Illinois, Marcli 8, 1851, son of John and Jane ( Brciwn ) Judd, tlic former of whom was a native of the North Carolina and the latter of Peimsylvania, wliose last days were spent on that farm.

John Judd was 1>orn in Asheville, North Carolina, in June, 1825, a son of Thomas and Nancy (Darnell) Judd, natives of that same state, who moved to Marshall county, Illinois, in 183 1, and settled on a tract of land they secured from the government and there spent the remainder of their lives, u.seful and influential pioneers of that section. Thomas Judd dying in 1S50. Tlie Judds are of English descent, the father of Tliomas Judd having lieen an I'jiglisliman w iio settled in .\<irth Carolina ujion coming to this country. Jolm Judd was the fourth in order of l)irdi of the ten children. ti\c sons and ti\e daughters, liorn to his parents and he was but six )ears of age when the family settled on the pioneer farm in Illinois. There he grew to manhood and married Jane Brown, who was born in Fayette county. Pennsylvania, in iSjj. daughter of Charles Brown and wife, the latter of whom was a Forsythe, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and of England, who moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois about 1830, also settling in Marshall county. After his marriage John Judd established his home on a farm in that county and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1889 and hers in 1891. They were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having an elder brother, Leroy Judd, now living at Lincoln, this state, and a sister, Mrs. Theresa Galbraith, of McCallsburg, Iowa.

Reared on the home farm in Illinois, Norman B. Judd received his schooling in a little log school house in the neighborhood of his home, the school terms at that time being limited to twelve weeks in the year. From his boyhood he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of the farm and remained at home until his marriage in 1871, he then being somewhat under twenty years of age, when he began farming on his own account, renting land in his home county, and there he continued farming until 1882, when he came to Nebraska and located at Dawson, this county, where he became engaged in the breeding of horses and soon had one of the best-established stables in this part of the state. Mr. Judd was the first man to bring into Richardson county pure-bred Clydesdale and English Shire horses and with this substantial type of sires he was soon successful in working a real revolution in the strain of horseflesh for general heavy draft and farm-purpose animals and the farmers of the county have often expressed to him their gratitude for the measures he thus early took to stock this region with these very desirable t3'pes. For twenty-two years Mr. Judd was engaged in horse breeding at Dawson and he made his home there for twenty-five years, or until 1907, in which year, as the nominee of the Democrats of Richardson county, he was elected county assessor. Upon entering upon the duties of that important office ^Ir. Judd moved to Falls City, the county seat, where he since has made his home. He served as assessor for five years and in 1915 was elected register of deeds, which office he now occupies, one of the most popular officials about the court house. Mr. Judd is a Democrat and has for years been looked upon as one of the leaders of that party in this county. For twenty-two years he served as a member of the school board in Dawson district and during that long period of faithful service did much to advance the interests of the schools of that progressive little village. Mr. Judd is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, has held all the offices in the lodge with which he is affiliated and for fifteen years was "financier" of the same.

was united in marriage to Cliarlotte Stratton, who was born in Indiana and who died in 1881, leaving two cliildren, William O., who is now engaged in the hardware business at Atchison, Kansas, and !Mrs. Ethel M. Crocker, of Omaha. On May 8, 1884, two years after coming to tliis county, Mr. judd married, secondly, Alice McAvoy, who was also torn in Indiana. ;Mr. and ;\Irs. Judd are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general good works of the community at large.

Mark T. Durfee

;\Iark J. Durfee, the proprietor of a tine farm of one hundred and sixtysix acres in section 28 of Arago precinct and one of the best-known farmers and stockmen in that part of the county, was b'orn in Rulo precinct and has lived in this county all his life. He was lx)rn on January 12. 1874, son of Edmond J. and Delia ( Carr) Durfee, the former of whom, a native of Iowa and a pioneer of Richardson county, is still living, now a resident of Falls City and furtlier and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume.

When nine \ ears of age Mark J. Durfee met with a serious accident whicli interfered much with his schooling. He stepped in a hole in a plank fliKir and so seriously injured his left leg that for nine years he was crippled, .1 i)art of that time being spent in a hospital at St. Joseph. He grew to manhood on the home farm near the Alissouri river and in time became a farmer on his own account, renting a farm. His father gave him eighty acres of land, he having previously bought an adjoining eighty and a little more, now moving a well improved and profitably cultivated farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres. In 1912 he erected his present handsome residence and he and his family are "very comfortably situated. For years Mr. Durfee was an extensive lireeder of Shorthorn cattle, but of late years has not done so much in the way of live stock, giving his particular attention to grain farming.

On February 8, 1900. Mark J. Durfee was united in marriage to Edna E. iJc\\"ain, who was born at Rulo, this county, Ma\- 23, 1884, daughter of Edgar E. and Martha (Marcum) ^IcWain, natives, respectively, of New York and of Missouri, pioneers of Richardson county, the former of whom. a cririienter and farmer, died in 1906, at the age of forty-five years, and the latter nf wimni is now living witli her son. Olin McWain, in the Rulo neigh- horhood, and to tliat union were born seven children, Clarence, Gertrude. ICverett, Ethel, Li la, Harold and RajMiiond. The mother of these children died on October 2t,, 1916. Mr. Durfee is an "independent" in his political views. He takes an active interest in the agricultural affairs of this section and is a member of the Farmers Union and of the Central Protective Association, in the affairs of which iireanizations he takes a warm interest.

William L. Redwood, of Falls City, manager of the Home Building and Loan Association of that city and actively engaged there in the real estate, loans and insurance business, is* a native of the neighboi-ing state of Iowa, but has been a resident of this county since he \vas four j^ears of age, and has therefore been a witness to the development of this region since pioneer days. He was born on a farm in Clay county. Iowa, March 9, 1875, son of Stewart L. and Mary K. (Stutson) Redwood, who became pioneer residents of Richardson county and the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Falls City, where she is \-ery comfortably and veiy pleasantly situated.

The late Stewart L. Redwood, an honored veteran of the Civil War and for years One of the best-known and influential residents of Richardson county, was born in New York City on December 14, 1844, son of William R. Redwood, who was of English descent, and who Carried a lady of English birth. Stewart L. was reared in the \icinity of the metropolis, where he was living when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted for service in 1863 ^s a member of Company A, Eighth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and with that command served until the close of the war. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Redwood completed his schooling and then for a time was engaged as a clerk in a drug store, but presently decided to come West and "grow up witli the country." He proceeded on out to Iowa and in Clay county, that state, exercised his soldier's right to homestead, entering a tract of land in that county, upon which he established his home after his marriage which took place shortly after he had located there. There he remained until 1878, in which year he disposed of his holdings in Iowa and moved to Texas. He did not remain long in the latter state, however, presently moving thence to Missouri, but he found conditions there no more to his liking than he had found in Texas and in 1879 he came over into Nebra.ska and settled on a farm in the pre- cinct of Speiser. this county, later moving to another place in the precinct of Nemaha, on which later place he remained until 1907, in which 3'ear he retired from the farm and moved to Falls City, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on August 31, 1916. During his residence on the farm in this county Mr. Redwood had been developing a quite extensive real-estate and loan business and after his removal to Falls City devoted his time in great part to that line. In addition to his land holdings in this county he was the owner of land in Kansas and in Gage county, this state. Politically, he was a Democrat, by religious persuasion an Episcopalian and, fraternally, was affiliated with the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Since his death his widow has continued to reside in Falls City, where she .has a very pleasant home. She was born, Mar}- K. Stutson, at Flint, Michigan, December 21, 1851, daughter of Lester P. Stutson, who later moved to Iowa, where she was living at the time of her marriage to I\Ir. Redwood. To that union two childr-en were born, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Eleanor M., who is making her home with her mother in Falls City.

William L. Redwood \\as but a child when he came to this county with his parents and he grew up on the home farm receiving his schooling in the district schools in that neighborhood and in the higli school at Falls City. From the days of his boyhoi;>d he was a valuable assistant to his father in the labors of devaloping and improving the home place and also early became interested with his father in the latter's real-estate and loan undertakings. When the family moved to Falls City he gave his whole attention to this business and since his father's death has been carrying on the business alone, having built up a valuable connection in that line, becoming line of the well-known real-estate, loan and insurance agents in this part of the state. IMr. Redwood also is manager of the Home Building and Loan Association of Falls City and in that connection has done much to advance the building interests of his home city. He is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. In addition to his business interests Mr. Redwood is the o\\ner of an eighty-acre farm in this county and some city property, besides stock in the State Bank of Falls City, and is accounted as one of the city's progressive and public-spirited citizens.

On October 2, 1901, \\"illiam L. Redwood was united in marriage to Lucy M. Bacon, of Middleburg, Xemaha precinct, this county, daughter of Asa Bacon, a former well-known resident df this countv, now living in

Woodson county, Kansas, and to this union have been born four daughters, Agnes, Flora, Irene and Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Redwood have a very pleasant home at F'alls City and take a proper part in the general social and cultural activities of their home town and of the community at large. They were members of the Christian church and Mr. Redwood was a member of the executive committee of the local congregation when the present splendid edifice of the Christian church was erected at Falls City. He is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same.

Wilson S. Korner

The late Wilson S. Korner, for years one of Richardson county's bestknown and most substantial landowners, grain buyers and merchants, who died at his home in Falls City in the summer of 191 3, an honored veteran of the Civil War, whose widow is still living at Falls City, was a native of the old Buckeye state, but had been a resident of this county since 1871 and was therefore very properly entitled to be regarded as one of the old settlers of the county. He was born on a farm in Seneca county, in the north central part of Ohio, May ^ 18, 1844, son of Levi and Elizabeth (Stout) Korner, natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in L^nion county on January 8, 1813, whose last days were spent in Ohio, the former being past sixty years of age at the time of his death. Levi Korner was twice married and by his second wife, Elizabeth Stout, the father of four children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the eldest.

Reared on the home farm in Seneca county, Ohio, Wilson S. Korner received his schooling in the schools of his home neighborhood and was li\'ing there when the Civil War broke out. When" eighteen years of age, in 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army and went to the front as a private in Company D, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with that conimand served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge on July 3, 1865. During that period of service Air. Korner participated in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including those of the siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Chanc^llorsville and Chattanooga, and for stMue time was a prisoner of war, detained in Lil)b\- Prison.

to his home in Ohio and was ihere married in December, 1866. After liis marriage he continued farming there until in February, 1871, when he came to Nebraska and estabhshed his home in Richardson county, he having previously bought a C|uarter of a section of land one and one-half miles west of Falls City.' He improved that farm, set out a grove and there remained until the year 1876, when he moved to Falls City and became engaged as grain buyer for the Heacock Milling Company, later engaging in the hardware business in that city and in this latter enterprise continued successfully engaged until a few years before his death, his death occurring in Falls City on July 2, 1913. During his later years he served as president of tlie Southeastern Nebraska Telephone Company. Mr. Korner a Republican, a Methodist and a ^lason. He had become a Mason in the lodge at Bellevue, Ohio, during the days of his young manhood and never transferred his membership from the same.

On December 16, 1866, Wilson S. Korner was united in marriage tn Adaline Schock. who was born in Sandu.sky county, Ohio, April 17, 184(1, daughter of \\'il]iam and Sarah (Heater) Schock, wlio were married on February 9, 1843. William Schock was born in Union county, Penns\l- \ania, February 21, 1821, and died at his home in I'alls City, Nebraska, November 2/, 1901. He was a successful farmer in Ohio and in 1875 retired "from farming and came to Nebraska, thereafter making his home in Falls City and spent his last days at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Korner, at Falls City. He became a substantial landowner in Richardson count} . served for some time as vice-president and later as president of tl:e Richardson County Bank and was a member of tlie l)oard of directcn-s of tlie local cemetery association from the time of its organization until his death. He was a member of the Methodist church and took an active interest in local charity \vork. His wife was born in Union county. Pennsylvania, September 6, 1824, and died at Falls City on Januar\- 12. 1893. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Korner was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow : Elizabeth, widow of N. Stewart, li\ing near Seneca, Kansas ; George W., of Falls City ; Charles, deceased ; Amanda, wife of R. A. Stetler. of Long Beach, California: Mrs. Ida Holland, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume: William A., a substantial farmer (if the precinct of Falls City, this county, and Lincoln, deceased.

ToWil'snn .^. and Adaline (Schock) Korner one child was born, a daughter, I'.thel. who married H. Morrow, now of Charlotte, North Carolina, and has one child, a daughter, Lucretia, born in 1903. Both the Korner aufl the Schock families have preserved a chronological histor\- of the resjiec- tive families, dating- back in Germany and in Switzerland to royal lines. Mrs. Korner is the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of land in King county. Kansas, and two modern houses in Falls City. She is an active member of the Methodist church and of the local corps of the \\'oman's Relief Corps, as well as a member of various clubs and social societies in Falls City and has for years been one of the most influential workers in the social and cultural activities of that city, helpful in many ways in promoting movements designed to advance the common welfare.

Wilson Meeks Maddox

The late Wilson M. Maddox, who died at his home in Falls City in Januarv J4, 1903. antl who for years was one of the most prominent citizens of that place, a well-to-do merchant, an honored veteran of the Ci\il War, former sheritY of Richardson county, a former deputy United States marshal, a member of the Nebraska territorial Legislature back in 1854-55 and one of the real pioneers of this state, was a native of the old Buckeye state, but had been a resident of Nel)raska since back in the middle fifties and had consequently seen this state develop from its original wilderness to its present highlv-developed condition. He and his wife were the first couple married in the region now comprised within the bounds of Richardson county anil his widow, who is still living, an honored resident of Falls City, has many a thrilling tale to tell of con(litif)ns here back in the days of the Lidians and of the unbroken plains.

Wilson ]\1. Maddox was born in Hillsboro. Highland county, Ohio, -August 5, 1825. a son of Michael and Frances ( Schoolmaker ) Maddox. natives of Virginia, who UK^ved to Ohio in 1800 and who later moved with their family from Ohio to Indiana in 1837. The Maddox family is one of the olde,st families in America, the first Maddox to come here having been a member of the second colony of Pilgrims that settled in New England in 1621. Wilson M. Maddox was but a boy when his parents moved from Ohio to Indiana and in the latter state he grew to manhood and married Mary I'lount, who died shortly afterward. In 1853 he sold his farm in Indiana and moved to Pella, Iowa. In 185-I he came West and located at the then frontier town of Nebraska City, which at that time was becoming a promising river town. Mr. Maddox was a man of energy and push, had received a good education and upon locating in the frontier town immediately began taking

;in active part in public affairs. In that same year he was elected a member of the first Nebraska territorial Legislature and served in the session of that year and in the session of 1855, doing well his part in the then initial legislative affairs of what then was a vast territory extending from the Territory of Kansas to the Dominion of Canada and to the Rockies on the west, which in 1854 had been created a territory as distinctive from all that vague and almost wholly unexplored region theretofore known as the Indian country. In 1856 he moved to Richardson county. INIr. Maddox had given considerable study to the law and for some time after settling in Nebraska City and later after coming down to tliis county, was admitted to the bar in 1871, and practiced law, becoming one of the best-known and most influential residents of this country in the pif)neer days. He took an active part in the work of the upbuilding of Nebraska City and as a real-estate agent did a valuable work in helping to locate homesteaders throughout this state when the tide of immigration presently began definitely to set in out this way. In the fall of 1855 he married, secondly, in the village of Archer, the first county seat of Richardson county, but continued to make his home in Nebraska City until the following May, when he came down the river and pre-empted a tract of land near the home of his wife's father, Judge Miller, a member of the Archer townsite company and the first probate judge of Richardson county, and estal)!ished his home there, remaining on the farm, to which he added other land, until after the close of the war, when he moved to Falls City, where he spent the remainder of his life.

In 1862 ^^'ilson ^l. ^laddox enlisted for service in the Union armv as a member of the Fourth Missouri Cavalry and was made a lieutenant of his company, which was mustered in at St. Joseph, and with which he served for a year, principally on cavalry outpost duty, at the end of which time, on accoimt of physical disability, he resigned his commission and returned home, as noted above, moving to Falls City in 1865. For a number of years thereafter Mr. Maddox was engaged in mercantile business and was then elected sheriff of Richardson county in 1864, in which capacitv he served for two years. He later was appointed deputy United States marshal for this district and in that capacity served for two years, in the meantime continuing his law practice and also continuing engaged more or less in the trading and realestate way. In 1871 he was again chosen a member of the Legislature. Mr. Maddox finally engaged in the hardware business at Falls City and continued thus quite successfully engaged until his retirement in 1893. He died at his home in that city on January- 24, 1903, lieing then past seventy-eight vears of age. Mr. Maddox was ;l niem1)er of die Methodist Episcopal church, as is his widow, and was an active Freemason, having joined the Masonic order Jjefore his enlistment in the army, and was a charter member of the first lodge of Freemasons organized in Richardson county. He took an earnest interest in both church and lodge affairs and was ever helpful in all local good works, doing much in his long and active life to promote the interests of his home town in a religious, social, commercial and cultural way.

As noted above, Wilson, M. Maddox and his wife were the first white couple married within the present precincts of Richardson county. It was on October 4, 1855, that Mr. Maddox was united in marriage, at old Archer, first county seat of Richardson county, to Margaret A. Miller, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. W. D. Gage, a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church at Nebraska City, whose daughter had married a brother of Mrs. Maddox. Mrs. Maddox, who is still Hving at her pleasant home in l'~alls City, is a native of Kentucky, born in Knox county, that state, February 4, 1835, daughter of Judge John C. and Eliza1>eth (Campbell) Miller, the latter of whom was born in that same county, not far from Cumberland Gap. Judge John C. Miller, one of the eariiest and most influential pioneers of Richardson county, was a native of South Carolina, born in 1804. He was married in Kentucky and continued to make his home there until 1845, when he came West with his family and settled in Lafayette county, Missouri; later Jie settled at Rockport, Atchison county, Missouri, moving thence, in 1855, across the river into the then newly created Territory of Nebraska and settling on a tract of land he had pre-empted at the site of what presently came to l)e the first ciumty seat df tliis county. He was a member of the .\rcher tnwnsite company, lielped lay out the town, which long since has lost its place on the map, ami was the first probate judge of the county when Richardson count\- presently was organized as a civic unit, and for years tciok a prominent part in the early affairs of this county, further mention of which is made in the historical section of this work. One of his daughters, -Mary, married the first sheriff of the county, Elias McMullen. Judge Miller and wife were the parents of twelve children, those besides Mrs, Maddox being as follow: Mrs. Harriet C.atron. deceased; James F., Union veteran, deceased; George \V., deceased; ]\Iary K., wife of Will Maddox, deceased; Mrs. China M. Thompson, deceased; William S., who is now Hving in Oklahoma; Robert O., who died in 1916; Clay, Sarah and Laura, who died in infancy, and John J., who served in the Union army and died in the service.

To Wilson M. and Margaret A. (Miller) Maddox six children were bom, namely: Frances E.. wife of John W. Powell, of Falls City; May, who is now at liome : Mrs. Anna L. Crum. of Montpelier, Indiana; Zillah, wife of George Dietsch, of Hastings, this state; Oscar H., of Missoula, Montana, and Grace, who is at home with her mother. Mrs. Maddox has a very pleasant home at Falls City and is quite comfortably situated in the beautiful "evening time of her life." She has five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, Mrs. I'owell having one child, a daughter, Lela, who married James Mullen and has a daughter, Marjorie Frances; Mrs. Crum, one daughter, Floss; Mrs. Dietsch, one daughter, Margaret, born in Falls City, and Oscar H. Maddox, two sons, \\^ilson M. and James Frederick. Though now in the eighty-third year of her age, Mrs. Maddox is vigorous mentally and ph\sically and retains vivid recollections of the pioneer days hereabout, she ha\ ing Ii\ed here since the days when this w-as practically all Indian country. .She was nineteen years of age when she came here with her parents back in territorial days and she recalls having ridden over the country from old Archer west to the present limits of the county, without seeing a house throughout the trip. She rode horseback from Archer to Salem to go to church and often took long horseback trips attending camp meetings; but, despite the romantic glamor in which the memory of those distant days of the free days of the open range and the wild life of the plains is set, she is quite content to do her riding in an automobile nowadays, and rejoices as she rides abroad to note the amazing progres!^ which has been made in all ways throughout this region since she came here, a pioneer lass from the hills of her native Kentuckv.

Frank A. Ntms

Not too often can we of the present generation revert to the lives of the sterling pioneers who, by their heroic courage and self-sacrifice, paved tlie way for our own modern civilization, making possible our fine farms and thriving towns. One of these sturdx' men in Richardson count)', who is deser\fing of special attention here, is Franlc A. Ninis, now living in retirement in his cosy home in Falls City, after a life of successful endeavor of forty years in this locality.

^ilr. Xims was born in W^aupun, Wisconsin, August 17, 1863. He is a son of John and Betsey (Bacon) Nims. The father was born in 1829, and was a son of Luther Nims, whose death occurred in 1864 ^t the age of thirtynine years. John Nims was one of the early settlers of Waupun. Wisconsin. His death occurred in New York state while on a visit to his old home. His wife was a native of Cattaraugus county, New York, and was of English descent, her ancestors having come to America in Colonial days. Betsey (Bacon) Nims was born on January 8, 1831, and died March 10, 1912, in Falls City, Nebraska. She was a daughter of Leander and Sarah (Hilbert) Bacon, natives of the state of New York and early settlers in the vicinity of Waupun, Wisconsin. After the death of John Nims, his widow moved with her only child, Frank A. Nims, of this sketch, to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, the mother teaching school there several years; then moved to Ohio in 1867 and taught one term in Ashtabula county, where her father, Leander Bacon resided. Leander Bacon had sold out in Wisconsin and had located in Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he operated a large dairy farm and manufactured cheese. Airs. Nims assisted him in the manufacture of cheese for some time. In 1874 she and her son came to Nebraska, seeking a new location. Two )'ears later they located in Richardson county, buying a farm in Xemaha precinct, where the mother made cheese for the market for a number of years, the son, Frank A., taking care of the herd of cattle which they kept on the home place. He was thirteen years old when they built a comfortable residence on the place, also made other improvements. They were successful in their farming and dairying operations, and when he became of legal age the son took charge of the farm, which consisted of four hundred acres of good land. They sold two hundred and forty acres, keeping the west one hundred and sixty acres. One hundred and sixty acres were sold to AVillard Burgett and eight}^ acres to Walter Colson. Part of the remaining quarter section of land became the site of the village of Nims city. j\Ir. Nims continued active farming with uniform success until September 8, 191 1. He raised cattle on an extensive scale; he also raised good horses. He remodeled his dwelling, making it both convenient and attractive.

Mr. Nims was married on September 8, 1884, to Etta Archer, who was born in Nemaha county, Kansas' a daughter of Jerome Archer and Althea fWestcott) Archer, natives of Pennsylvania. They were early settlers in Xemaha county. Kansas. Jerome Archer came to Kansas in 1859 and died in January, 1915. Airs. Archer, who resides in southern Kansas, was born September, 1842.

Politicallv, Mr. Nims is a Republican and fraternally he belongs to the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the German Hall. He has lived to see Richardson county developed from a wild state, a vast, little-improved plains country to its present-day prosperity and wealth and he has plaved well his part in this great transformation. (54)

John Philpot

John Philpot, well-known farmer and poultiynian at Humboldt and a resident of this county since iS"/, is a native of Ohio, born on March ij, i860, son of I^ubert and Susan (\\'est) Philpot, also natives of that state, who came to Nebraska in 1882 and settled on a farm two miles south of Humboldt, where Robert Philpot died in 1899. John Philpot was the fifth in order of birth of the nine children born to his parents, the others being as follow: James, also of Humboldt; S. M., a former wellknown lumberman of Humboldt, now deceased; Mrs. Belle .Vdams, of Ohio; Hugh, who died on his farm six miles north of Humboldt and whose widow is still living there ; William, a carpenter at Humboldt ; Mrs. Tina Crawford, of Montana; Mrs. Lizzie Cope, of Humboldt, and Charles, who died at the age of twenty-one years.

When John Philpot was seventeen }ears of age he left his home in Ohio and came West, locating in Richardson county, where he has lived ever since, with the exception of three years spent in Colorado. It was in 1877 that he arrived here and upon his arrival he began working as a farm laborer and was thus engaged until his marriage in 1886, when he rented a farm and began farming on his own account, remaining on that [)lace until iQO'), when he b(night an eighty-acre farm northeast of Humboldt and lived there until he traded that place for a twenty-acre tract adjoining the city, where he since has made his home. In 1914 he erected a handsome residence there and he and his family are very comfortably situated. In addition to his general farming Mr. Philpot for some years gave ])articular attention to the raising of live stock and did quite well in that line. Since taking up his residence at the north edge of town he has given much attention to the raising of poultry, with particular reference to the Rose Comb and Brown Leghorn varieties and has built up quite an extensive poultry concern there. He and his nephew, Ralph R. Philpot, have latel\- engaged in the fence-post business on quite an extensive scale, utilizing grownup hedge timber for this purpose, and have developed quite a profitable business in that line, also doing (|uite a business in cordwood. Mr. Philpot is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public ofifice.

In 1886 John Philpot was united in marriage to Anna Leatherman, wlio was born in Indiana in 1866, daughter of ^^"ashington and Useba (Sinford) Leatherman, the latter of whom died in Indiana, Washington Leatherman later coming to Nebraska and settling in Richardson count}-, his daughter.

Anna, keeping house for him here until her marriage to Mr. I'hilpot. Mrs. Philpot has three brothers, Edward, now living in Colorado; Fred, who is eng;iged in the live-.stock business in Indiana, and Daniel, now a resident of Dunavant, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Philpot have six children, namely: May, who married Frank Fergus, of the precinct of Porter, this county, and lias three children, F'rank, Earl and ^largaret; Iva, who married Archie Yarling, also of Porter precinct, and has one child, a daughter, Bernice; Fay, who married Laurence Oberly, also of Porter precinct; Effie, wife of Paul Moritz, of Porter precinct, and Tlielma and Enid, who are still at home with tlieir parents. The Philpots are members of the Presbyterian church and take a warm interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in the general good works and social activities of their home town and the community at large. Mr. Philpot is a member of the local lodge of the Modern W'oodmen of America and takes an active interest in the affairs of the same.

Dr. James F. Kelly, well-known young physician of Dawson, is a native of the city of Boston, biit is a product of the West, having been reared and educated at Omaha. He was born at Boston on February i, i8gi, while his parents, residents of Iowa, were in that city. His father, John Kell}-, was reared in Ireland and when a young man came to this country, in the earlx eighties, and made his way to Des Moines, Iowa, where he presently married and made liis home. During the Cleveland administration he became connected with the postal service, with headquarters at Omaha, and it was wliile thus engaged that he returned East with his wife, and made a stay of one \ear in Boston, Massachusetts, during which residence the subject of this review was born. John Kelly died at Omaha on February 14, 1892, and his. widow is now living in Iowa. She was born, Margaret Meade, in the -tate of New York, daughter of John Meade, a native of Ireland, who came to this country, locating in New York and moving thence to Iowa, homesteading a tract of land in Johnson county in 1850 and becoming a large landowner.

Reared at Omalia, James F. Kelly received his early schooling in tiie parochial schools <if that city, supplementing the same by a course in the Creighton high school and university. He then entered Creighton Medical College and was graduated from that institution in 19 15. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Kelly received the appointment as an interne in St. Joseph's linspital at Tacoma. ^^'ashington, and was later made an interne in St. Joseph's hospital at Omaha, thus receiving some excellent practical experience in the practice of his profession before actively engaging in that practice. On August 1, 1916, the Doctor located at Dawson, where he opened an office for the practice of his profession and where he already has built up an extensive practice, lie is a member of the Richardson County Medical Society and of the Nebraska State Medical Association and in the deliberations of these bodies takes an active interest. Politically, the Doctor is a Democrat, but on local issues is inclined to be "independent." He is a member of the Catholic church and takes a proper interest in parish affairs, while, fraternally, he is a member of the Knights nf Columbus and of the medical Greek-letter fraternity. Phi Iota Sigma.

George E. Taylor

The late George E. Ta\ior, for \ears one of the Iiest-known and most substantial farmers of Arago precinct, this county, and an honored veteran of the Civil War, who died in 191 _', was a native of Illinois, but had been a resident of this section of the country since 1868. He was born on a farm in the neighlaorhood of ^lason City, Illinois, February 28, 1843, son of Jesse and Mary (Harding) Taylor, and was the eldest of the ten children born to that parentage, eight sons and two daughters. Jesse Taylor was a native of Illinois and his wife was a native of Virginia. About 1885 thev came to this county and located at Rulo, where their last days were spent.

George E. Ta\i()r was reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Mason City, Illinois, and was lixing there when the Civil \\'ar broke out. lie then l)eing eighteen years of age. One day in 1861. not long after the first call for volunteers, lie dro\c to town witli a load of wheat, completed the business transaction and then went to tlie recruiting station and enlisted his services in l)ehalf of tlie Uninn. He went to the front as a member of Company F. i'lighth Illinois Regiment. \'olunteer Infantiy. and with that command served until he \\as honoralil}' discharged following a serious wound received at the battle of Sliildli. I'rom the battlefield at Shiloh he was removed to a camp hospital, whenct. .ifter he had recovered sufficiently to endure a transfer, he w;is removed to his home In hi> ])arents, who had come after him.

on the home farm in Illinois until 1868, when he came out to this part of the country and bought a tract of three hundred acres of land one mile north of Hiawatha and proceeded to improve the same, making the town his place of residence. He later traded that farm for property in Rulo. this county, and while living there, in 187 1, was married, presently selling his town property and moving to the farm in section 36 of the precinct of Arago, on which lie spent the remainder of his life. Ijecoming a substantial and well-to-do farmer, his death occurring there on February 10, 1912. Mr. Taylor was an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the affairs of which patriotic organization he took a warm interest and was also ,1 memlier of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On ]\ larch 19. 1871, not long after coming to this count}-. George E. Taylor was united in marriage to Sophronia Elshire, who was born in Madison county, Indiana, JNIay .4, 1848, daughter of Ephrahn and Maria ( Hoppes ) Elshire, also natives of Indiana, who were the parents of eight children, of whom ]\Irs. Taylor was the third in order of birth. Ephraim Elshire came to Xebraska with his family in i860 and settled on a brush-land farm in the precinct of -\rago, this county, where he built a log cabin, broke up his land w ith oxen and established his home, exentually prospering so largely that he became tlie owner of a tract of four liundred acres of choice land in that precinct. In the division of the Elshire estate Mrs. T.iylor became the owner of two hundred and fort}' acres of that farm, which she still owns, l.iesides her home farm of five hundred and ten acres in section 36. Ephraim Elshire, who Nvas born in 1820, died at his home in this county on ]\Iarch 14. 1897. His widow survived him a little less than a year, her death occurring on February 7, 1898. She was born in 1823. For some time after coming out to this ]iart of the country Ephraim Elshire was employed as a freighter on the old trail from St. Joseph to Denver, in the company of such other wellknown plainsmen as James Hosford, Eouis Philliiis and Charles Gagnon, also of Rulo.

To George E. and Sophronia tFJshire) Taylor were I)orn six children, namely: Airs. Bertha Rickard, of I'ittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Gertrude Kanal}-. wife of Martin Kanaly, a farmer, of Falls City, this county; Mrs. Jessie Keobrich, of .\tchi.son. Kansas: Edward Taylor, of Cleveland, Ohio: Fred Taylor, of Falls City, and George Ta}lor, who is managing the home place for his mother. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Alethodist Episcopal church, as was her huslxmd, and has ever taken an active part in the good works lit tile community in which she has lived since pioneer days.

S54 Richardsox Colxtv. Nebraska

John Lichty, of I-'alls City, secretary and manager of the Richardson County Farmers Mutual lure and Lightning Insurance Company of Falls City and former representative from this district to the Xehraska state Legislature, is a native of the old Keystone state, but has been a resident of this county since 1870 and may therefore very properly be regarded as one of the "old settlers" of Richardson county. He was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1851, son of Solomon and Mary (Meyers) Lichty, both natives of that same state, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, who emigrated to Illinois in 1856 and settled on a farm in Carroll county, that state, where they spent the remainder of their lives.

John Lichty was Imt five _\ears of age when his parents mo\-ed from I'ennsylvania to Illinois and in the latter state he grew to manliood. reared un a farm and receiving his schooling in the public schools. There he continued to reside until he was nineteen years of age, when, in 1870, he came to Nebraska, having borrowed one hundred and fifty dollars \\ith which to makt the trip to Falls City and enable him to look about a bit with a \iew to getting a Xebraska farm. He was so well pleased with conditions here that almost immediately after his arrival here he bought a small farm in the precinct of ( )bio, eight miles northeast of Falls City, [jroceeded to dcvchip the .same and after his marriage in the fall of 1873 established his h mie there. I'rom the very beginning of his farming operations in this county Mr. Lichty ))rospered and as he did so gradually added to his land holdings in < )hio precinct until lie became the owner of a well-improved arid profitably cultivated farm of ri\e hundred and twenty acres there, and there he made his home uiUil his retirement from the active labors of the farm and remo\al in J 900 to Falls C ity, where he has since made his home and where he and his wife are very comfortably situated. Since his retirement Mr. Lichty has disposed of his old home farm to his children, but is still the owner of eighty acres in the ])recinct of Barada. of two hundred ,ind fifteen acres in Brown county. Kansas, and a fine bearing apple orchard of thirt\-liv'? acres. Mr. Lichty is a Bryan Democrat and an ardent supporter of the X^eliraska "drys," an earnest ad\iicate of stale-wide ])rohibition. in 1000, the \ear of his removal to Falls City, he was elected to represen.t this district m the Xel)raska General .\.-.sembly and in the session of 1901 re'idercd admirable service in the House, one of the committees on which he served having been the important comniittee on judiciary. He and his wife are members of the Brethren church ruid have e\er gixen their earnest attentii^n to conununity good works.

It was on November 13, 1873, a'jout three years after his arrival in this county, that John Lichty was united in marriage to Ann Ashenfelter, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Josiah and Margaret Ashenfelter, natives of Pennsylvania, who had settled in Illinois and who afterward cr.me to Nebraska, and to this union six children have been born namely : Albert H., who was graduated from Ashland College, later took up the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, in which work he displayed such marked aljilit}' that he was rapidly advanced and is now the state secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association in the state of Ohio, with ofifices in Columbus; Lillie Alverta, a professional nurse, who is the wife of C. \\'. Stump, of Hastings, this state: Frank S., who now owns and operates the old homestead farm in Ohio precinct; Daniel J., who died at the age of three years; Guy C, who is farming in the precinct of Barada, and Esta Marie, now a student in Ashland College (Ohio), a member of the class of lyiS.