his family is among the popular members of social and educational circles.
   Mr. Bishop is a native of Guilford, Connecticut, and a son of Jonathan and Fannie M. (Griswold) Bishop, the former a descendant of John Bishop, who was born in Guilford, Kent county, England, and it was after that town that our subject's birthplace was named. He was born in the first stone house ever erected by the English in New England, which was owned by the Bishop family for three generations. His boyhood was spent in that vicinity, and he was married there in 1867 to Ellen A. Stone, a daughter of Charles M. and Ellen M. Stone, the former a descendant of James Stone, who was a member of the first colony settling in Guilford, Connecticut. The mother of Charles M. Stone was a descendant of Governor William Leete, one of the first executives of that state.
   In the spring of 1868, Mr. Bishop and his young wife migrated to Linn county, Missouri, where they purchased a farm and cultivated it for ten years, during which time he ran a planing mill for one year. In 1878 they returned to the old home place in Guilford, and spent a year visiting relatives, and rid their bodies of malaria acquired in Missouri. The following year they returned, bringing with them two young men who wished to locate in the west, and, shortly after, they sold their farm, and, loading their goods on wagons, came across the country to Pierce county, Nebraska, being seventeen days on the road, spending the nights camped out under their wagons, except two or three, when they were able to find lodging with friendly settlers along the way. They reached Pierce on April 1, 1879, the town at that time consisting of just seven buildings, and the. population comprising ten men and three women. Mr. Bishop was interested in a tract of thirty-two hundred acres of land, situated eleven miles north of Pierce, which was subsequently made into a fine ranch. Lumber for the ranch house was hauled a distance of sixty-five miles, from Wisner, then the nearest railroad point, and except for the help of a carpenter for one week, Mr. Bishop did the entire work of building. During these first years on the ranch, Mrs.' Bishop often spent many days with only a dog for companionship. There were but four neighbors between their ranch and Pierce, and their nearest neighbor north was twenty-four miles away. For a number of years not a friendly light could be seen from their windows at night.
   They engaged in cattle and sheep raising during the first years, and later engaged in horse and mule breeding. Remaining on the ranch for eight years, they built a good residence in Pierce, and have made that their home since that time. The ranch has been sub-divided in a number of smaller farms, each supplied, with a complete set of buildings, and the entire tract is now under cultivation.
   In October, 1880, the country in their vicinity was swept by a terrific blizzard. Mr. Bishop was away from home, accompanied by a neighbor, whose unfinished house was open to the weather. The neighbor's wife and foster daughter, five years old, being in the unfinished house, Bishop sent for them, and found the two nearly frozen, with the child in convulsions. She had them brought to her house, and succeeded in getting the frost warmed out of them, they coming out of their experience with no serious results.
   After locating in Pierce, Mr. Bishop became interested in different enterprises, dealing largely in lands, and at times having as much as five thousand acres under his control. He has been one of the leading business men since coming here, and has also held various public offices serving as county surveyor for twelve years and precinct assessor for many terms. He is a member of the Congregational church, while his wife is an Episcopalian. In politics he is a staunch republican. He has been a Mason since March 9, 1886, and is a charter member of Evergreen lodge, number one hundred and fifty-three, which he served several years as Master, and many years as treasurer. He is also a charter member of the Norfolk lodge of Elks.

 

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HANFORD N. SMITH.

   Hanford N. Smith, who resides in the beautiful and progressive city of St. Paul, is a man who enjoys to the fullest extent the confidence and respect of all with whom he has to do since locating here many years ago.
   Mr. Smith was born in Tompkins county, New York, August 7, 1832, making him one of the oldest men in this section of the country. He spent his boyhood in New York state, at the age of twenty-two years going into northern Wisconsin, where he spent the winters in the lumber camps, and during the summers sailed the great lakes, having a captain's commission. He's one of the pioneer sailors, and well remembers the difficulties encountered in navigation during the earlier days. He next went to California, and entered the mining region, spending about two years in the west, then returned to Wisconsin, and again sailed the lakes, following this work up to about 1861.
   At the breaking out of the war, Mr. Smith enlisted in the Wisconsin Infantry, Company E Fourteenth. regiment, and served until the close of the struggle. He saw much hard service as a soldier, the principal battles in which he participated being the battle of Shiloh (after which action he was made commissary sergeant of the Fourteenth Wisconsin Regiment as a reward for conspicuous bravery on the battlefield); the battle, of Iuka, Corinth, a three-days' engagement, and the battle of Vicksburg, a siege of forty-seven days. After the surrender of Vicksburg, his regiment was discharged, this occurring on

December 12, 1863, and on the same day Mr. Smith re-enlisted, although his furlough of thirty days was spent in Wisconsin and New York state. He was married in January, 1864, while on this furlough, to Harriet Garrison, of Tompkins county, New York, and after several days' visit with friends in the vicinity of his birthplace, returned to his post in the army, later taking part in the battles of Fort Duressa, Champion Hill, Yellow Bayou, the engagement with Price and Marmaduke, near Kansas City, Missouri, which resulted in the capture of. Marmaduke, and the action at Nashville, Mobile, besides many other minor skirmishes.
   After leaving the army, Mr. Smith returned to Wisconsin, taking up his old work on the lakes, and continued up to December, 1872, at which time he had the misfortune to have a bad wreck, and this decided to give up the perilous business of sailing. He looked about for a new location, and finally decided on Nebraska, coming here in February of 1873. He took up a homestead on section eighteen, township ten, range thirteen, of Howard county, and there remained for several years, succeeding in building up a fairly good farm.
   In 1876, he went into the Black Hills, where he engaged in mining, putting in about a year in that region, then returned to Nebraska, settling in St. Paul, where Mrs. Smith died, December 20, 1877
   Mr. Smith has been one of the prominent business and public men of his region for the past forty years. He has held various high offices of his county, being elected county superintendent of public instruction in 1874, and serving for two years. In 1894 he became assessor, holding office for five years, and after a lapse of ten years was again elected for a two-year term. He has also served as water commissioner for one term. For many years he was justice of the peace, and through these different positions has become familiarly known to every resident of the county, and gained the respect and esteem of all by his straight-forward actions and sterling integrity.
   Mr. Smith was married the second time, May 20, 1884, to Mrs. Laura Oglesbee, of St. Paul, and to them have been born three children: Hanford Nelson, Jr., Addie May and Clara, all of whom are married and settled in comfortable homes in St. Paul, where they are surrounded by a host of warm friends.

 

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JACOB D. KOCH.

   Among the early settlers in the eastern part of Nebraska, who came here when the place was still practically a wilderness, and out of its wild state succeeded in building up a good home and valuable possessions, is the gentleman above named. Mr. Koch has spent all but five of his span of fifty-nine years in Nebraska state, which well entitles him to the name of old settler. He is recognize as one of the leading oldtimers and worthy. citizens of his locality.
   Jacob D. Koch, son of Joseph and Mary (Rheinfrank) Koch, was born in Pike county, Ohio, July 18, 1851, and was second in a family of thirteen children. He has six brothers and four sisters residing in Nebraska, the other children being deceased, as are also the parents. The father died on his home farm in Cass county, Nebraska, in February of 1903, the mother also passing away in Cass county, her death occurring in the year 1896.
   In 1856, Mr. Koch, subject of this sketch, with his parents, drove overland from Ohio to Nebraska, locating in Cass county. Here Mr. Koch received his education, and later engaged in farming. In 1882, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres on Mira Valley of Valley county, in section twenty-one, township eighteen, range fourteen, which is still his home place. He now has two hundred and forty acres in the tract.
   In September of 1872, Mr. Koch was united in marriage to Miss Mary Janssen, a native of Germany, born near Marienhoff, East Fresin. In 1869, she came to America with her father, Reinhardt Janssen, who settled in Cass county, Nebraska, near Plattsmouth. Her mother was Mary Hoester before marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Koch were born eight children, two of whom died in infancy: Joseph R., who is married, and has four children; Andrew, also married, has two sons; Edward, married, has one child, and James, married, has four children, all of Valley county, and Harry and Fred, who reside under the parental roof.
   In the spring of 1883, Mr. Koch moved, with his wife and children, on the Valley county farm. Mrs. Koch died, June 12, 1889, on the home farm, survived and deeply mourned by her husband and six children.
   Mr. Koch is a prosperous, successful man of affairs, owning a fine stock and grain farm of two hundred and forty acres. He makes a specialty of Galloway cattle. Mr. Koch was instrumental in organizing his school district, number nine, of which he served as director for some years. Mr. Koch has resided in Nebraska for fifty-four years, and has passed through much of Nebraska's history, and is widely and favorably known.
   On January 12, 1896, in Cass county, Nebraska, Mr. Koch was married to Johanna Janssen, sister of his first wife. Mr. and Mrs. Koch have had two children, sons, namely: Jacob Daniel and George William, who reside at home. Mrs. Koch's father died in Nebraska in 1878, and her mother passed away in 1862 in Germany.
   In 1906 Mr. Koch built a new home on his farm, and the farm is well improved in every way. Mr. Koch and family are highly esteemed and respected, and are surrounded in their home by a host of good friends and neighbors. In politics he is a republican.

   In the dry year, 1894, Mr. Koch raised a little corn in the low places, but not enough to be profitable, and in 1896 lost nearly all his grain by hail.
   Mr. Koch lived for a time in a log dug-out in Cass county, but has enjoyed having a much better dwelling since coming to Valley county.

 

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WILLIAM HAASE.

   The gentleman above mentioned is a native-born Nebraskan, having been born on a farm in Madison county locality, January 8, 1872. Since attaining his maturity, he has been closely identified with every movement for the benefit of the region, and assisted materially in its development and growth, as did his father before him. Mr. Haase resides in Norfolk precinct, in section eight, township twenty-four, range one, where he has a pleasant home and valuable estate.
   Mr. Haase is a son of Fred and Louisa (Raasch) Haase, the father being a native of Germany, who left his native land when he was but fifteen years of age, embarking on a sailboat, and being on the sea eight weeks.
   In 1868 he came to Nebraska from Wisconsin by the usual route of those days-driving by ox team-locating in Madison county, where he took up a homestead, and on this land built a log house. Here he experienced many hardships in those very first days of settlement, some forty odd years ago. The grasshoppers destroyed all the crops during the first years, which was very discouraging to the new settlers in the almost unpopulated country, where work, food and money were scarce. They also fought prairie fires many times to save their homes and lives. Deer and antelope were plentiful then, and frequently could be seen grazing in large herds.
   Our subject remembers many of these incidents, and relates many interesting instances of the earlier days, when he was but a young lad. In 1891 Mr. Haase was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Doomer, who is a native of Nebraska, and daughter of William and Rosie (Miller) Doomer. Mr. and Mrs. Haase are the parents of the following named children: Alvina, Adolph, Elsie, Eimel and Leona. They are a fine family, and in their pleasant home are surrounded by a host of good friends and acquaintances.
   Mr. Haase is one of the younger old settlers in Madison county, and has a bright future before him. He now owns three hundred and ninety acres of fine land, three acres of which he has set to trees. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and is a democrat.

 

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DAVID W. LOCKER.

   For nearly forty years the gentleman named above has been identified with the farming interests of Greeley county, and during this time he has acquired a valuable estate of nearly five hundred acres by dint of his industry and thrift. He is now retired from active management of his possessions, and is living in the city of Scotia, one of the substantial and highly esteemed citizens of the community.
   David W. Locker, the son of John L. and Harriet (Glass) Locker, was born in Dayton Ohio, on the 18th of December, 1846. He was the eldest of seven children, six of whom are now living. The father was a native of Bishopsheim, province of Baden, Germany, who came to this country in 1842. He died in his eighty-fifth year, on the first of February, 1905, while the mother, in her eighty-seventh year, is still living in Scotia.
   The first few years of Mr. Locker's life were spent in Dayton, Ohio, and Niles, Michigan, when the family moved to Lake county, Indiana, and there he grew to manhood, receiving his education in the local schools. When only fifteen years of age, in 1862, our subject did what so many other patriotic boys did - enlisted at Indianapolis; in the Twenty-fourth Indiana Battery, Light Artillery, and served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge on August 3, 1865. During his three years of service, young David was in many decisive and dangerous engagements. At one time the detachment followed closely on the heels of Morgan and his men on his memorable raid through Kentucky and Ohio. His battery marched over four thousand miles during its service, and at one time traversed three hundred miles from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Tunnel Hill Georgia, to take part in that campaign. He was present at the siege of Knoxville and the fall of Nashville, and took part in minor engagements at Horse Shoe Bend, Cumberland River, Kentucky, Sweetwater, Tennessee, Resaca, and at the fall of Atlanta at the close of that memorable campaign. He served under Thomas the latter part of the war, and was under his command when peace was declared.
   After the war was over, Mr. Locker returned to the old home in Indiana, but soon after went to Chicago, Illinois, where he learned carpentry, and worked at his trade for twelve years. The realizing that greater opportunities were to be found in the west, he went to Kansas in 1871, but remained there only a few months. He then went to the Indian Territory, but remained there only eight months. Next he proceeded to Arkansas, where he spent two years, and then finally decided to locate permanently in Greeley County, Nebraska. He took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, and also a timber claim of equal size adjoining, in section six, township seventeen, range eleven.
   On January 24, 1880, in Lake county, Mr. Locker married Miss Mary Brandt, a native of Hanover, Germany, who came to America with her parents, Dietrich and Anna (Bishop) Brandt, when only three years of age. Her parents were

natives of Hanover and Bremen respectively.
   Mr. and Mrs. Locker have had four children born to them: Edward H., living in Greeley county, on part of the old farm; Ella, now Mrs. Henry Thurnagle, of Grand Island; Anna J., now Mrs. Arthur Schilling, of Greeley county; and William D., who, with his wife and one child, is now living on the old homestead.
   Mr. Locker has been associated with all movements of public interest ever since his first residence in the county. He was instrumental in organizing school district number twelve, serving on the board for fourteen years. He has also served the public for two terms as supervisor in the county board. For the past three years he has also been president of the Scotia Independent Telephone Company.

 

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MAGNES OLSEN.

   Magnes Olsen, retired farmer of Hartington, is one of Sweden's creditable contributions to American citizenship. He was born where Charlottenberg now stands, then only a farming district, on August 22, 1833. His father, Ole Dahl, died before Mr. Olsen emigrated to America, and his mother had been dead some years at that time. Mr. Olsen farmed in the old country until his migration to America in 1868. In his journey hither, he crossed the North Sea from Guttenberg to Hull, thence by rail to Liverpool, when he embarked on the "City of Paris" for New York, which was reached after a voyage of twelve days. He came west, reaching Chicago on the 24th of June, whence he journeyed to Lisbon, Illinois, and worked eleven days in the cornfields there for money to take him to Madison, Wisconsin, where many of his countrymen had settled. Here he lived for five years, farming most of the time prior to his migration to Nebraska.
   A colony of friends made the trip overland with ox teams, the journey extending into the sixth week before their destination was reached. Mr. Olsen settled on a homestead a mile northwest of where Hartington now stands. He has herded cattle many times over the present townsite when there was nothing here but waving prairie grasses. He lived on his homestead seven years, and then sold, buying a quarter section ten miles southwest of Hartington, on which he resided until 1910, when he retired from active farming, and moved to town.
   Mr. Olsen was married in Norway, February 15, 1858, to Miss Bertha Jansen. On his migration to America, the wife remained. in the old country for a year, while Mr. Olsen earned and saved enough to send for her and the children, and a joyous reunion it was, after the absence of a year. Ten children were born to them, of whom only one is deceased. The living are: Olaf, farming five miles north of town; John resides in Hartington; Mary is the wife of Steve Seim, a retired farmer, who is street commissioner of Hartington; Chris lives in Laramie, Wyommg; Dina is married to Mike Markeson, who resides in Lawton, Oklahoma; Peter is living in Hartington; Julius in Omaha; and Simon and Edward, the youngest, have homesteads in Lyman and Tripp counties, South Dakota. Clara, the deceased child, was born next after Julius.
   The early days in Nebraska were fraught with many trials; markets were distant, and prices low; grasshoppers destroyed the crops for three years, leaving little or nothing in their wake. In 1880, Mr. Olsen made eighteen trips to Yankton and two to Vermillion, disposing of his crop and freighting provisions back to Cedar county. Deer and antelope were plentiful in the sixties, but it was but a short time until they were all killed or driven off.
   There was much suffering at times during the severe blizzards, and in that of January 12, 1888, John was away from home, teaching school. Wheat and other grain found a market at St. Helena, whence it was shipped to St. Louis by boat. The price of it was paid half in cash and half in trade at the store. The Indians were fairly good neighbors on the whole, but occasionally sold a settler his own axe if he were neglectful in bringing it in when staking out his cattle. Mr. Olsen lived during the first winter in a sod house with a hay roof, but built a better dwelling the following spring.
   Church services were not so numerous in the early days, though there was a congregation near Hartington. Mr. Olsen and others drove forty miles across the country to the southwest to organize a congregation, with the Reverend N. G. Tvedt. Religious fervor was not at ebb tide, even if the settlements were small and few between.
   Mr. Olsen is independent in politics, and, like most all Scandinavians, is a member of the Lutheran church.

 

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WILLIAM LAUB.
(Deceased.)

   William Laub, deceased, was for many years one of the leading citizens of Merrick county, Nebraska, and to his efforts were due much of the prosperity enjoyed in that region. He was a man of strong character and during his lifetime enjoyed the esteem and respect of all with whom he came in contact, and his memory is cherished by a host of warm friends throughout the country.
   William Laub, son of Phillip and Anna Laub, was born in Germany, province of Bavaria, March 29, 1843, and was third in a family of eleven children. Three brothers reside in Merrick county, Nebraska; one sister in Omaha; one sister in Kansas, and the others are deceased, as are also the parents. In 1848 our subject came with the family to America locating in Illinois where

Mr. Laub received his education and later engaged in farming.
   In the spring of 1871, in company with his brother, Frederick Laub, came to Merrick county Nebraska, and timber-claimed one hundred and sixty acres in the north-east quarter section thirty-two, township thirteen, range seven, west, which remained the home place until April of 1900, when Mr. Laub retired from the farm and moved to Central City where he built a fine house, living there until the time of his death, November 17, 1907. He was survived by his wife and six children: Alvin S., who is married and lives in Central City, has one child; John P., married has two children and resides in Chapman; Wilham Edward, deceased April 15, 1909, survived by his wife and three children who reside in Chapman, Nebraska; Mary Elida, married to Thomas Costello, has three children and lives in Cozad, Nebraska; Alice Rachel, married to Harry Parsons, lives in Central City; and Daniel Earl, who is married and lives on the old timber claim.
   Mr. Laub served on the school board of his district number fifty for a number of years, and later was also a member of the city council in Central City. He was prosperous and successful, and owned nine hundred and sixty acres of stock and grain farming land in Merrick county, and also splendid city property.
   On October 1, 1874, Mr. Laub was married to Margaret Donovan of Pennsylvania who came to Nebraska in 1868. Mrs. Laub lives in the Central City home surrounded by a large circle of friends.
   Mr. Laub was a man of affairs, interested in all pertaining to the welfare of his state and county. He passed through the trying experiences and discouragements of frontier life, and was the first man to ship a car-load of grain out of Chapman.
   Mrs. Laub is carrying on the large stock and farming interests left her by her husband.

 

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THOMAS STOURAL.

   Prominent among Knox county, Nebraska, old settlers is Thomas Stoural, who since the fall of 1873 has made this region his home, and who has done his share in the developing of the agricultural resources of this section of the county. Mr. Stoural lives on section eleven, township thirty, range six, where he has built up a valuable property. through his industry and good management.
   Mr. Stoural is a native of Bohemia, born in 1857, and is the son of Albert and Magdaline Stoural. When but a young man, our subject left his native home for America, to make a fortune for himself. After landing in the United States, in 1870, Mr. Stoural first came to Chicago, Illinois, where he stayed two years and worked out. He then came to Knox county, Nebraska, with his parents, where they took up homesteads and tree claims. First our subject built a sod house in which he lived five years, then building a good frame house.
   Mr. Stoural has struggled and worked faithfully to build up his home and gain a competence for himself; and in the earliest days of his settlement here he endured many hardships and dangers. For the first few years he worked out in Knox county to make money to keep up his homestead. He suffered severe losses through the grasshopper pests which destroyed all his crops during the first years of his residence on the homestead. The Indians were a source of uneasiness to the settlers of the region in those days, and they experienced many a scare from them, but the Indians were not so hostile to the settlers of this locality as they were to other portions of Knox county.
   Mr. Stoural was united in marriage in 1884, to Miss Antonia Divis, and they are the parents of seven children, named as follows: Minnie, Emanuel, Clara, George, Frank, Martha and Thomas.
   Mr. and Mrs. Stoural and family are highly esteemed and respected by all who know them. and they are one of the substantial families of the community.

 

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FRANK BIRCH.

   Frank Birch, one of the oldest settlers of the region where he chose his home in the early days, occupies a good home and valuable property in section twenty-nine, township twenty-six, range three, in Pierce county, Nebraska. He has done his full share in the upbuilding of his locality, and is well and favorably known throughout this part of the state.
   Mr. Birch is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, born December 8, 1855, and is the son of Thomas and Mary (Williams) Birch. Our subject's grandfather was a native of Vermont, where he followed the occupation of ship building. The father, Thomas Birch, was born in New York state, and after he was grown to manhood and married, he was drafted in the army, and died in a short time of wounds received in the battle of the Wilderness in 1863, our subject being but a small boy at that time. Mr. Birch's mother was born in 1836 and died in 1900. Her father was born in England and ran away from his native land and came to America.
   Mr. Birch grew up in New York state, where he received a common school education and was early obliged to make his own way in the world, his father dying when the boy was six or seven years of age, he was bound out for his board and clothes, receiving but a scant amount of either.
   When nineteen years of age, he bought the remainder of his time, seventeen months for ten dollars per month and began life for himself.
   In 1879 he came to Nebraska and secured land in section twenty-nine, township twenty-six, range three, it then being an entirely undevel-

oped country. He filed first on a timber claim and later on a pre-emption, and here he built a board shack, in which he lived for a time. As his means increased he erected good barns and other buildings, besides a substantial nine room house. We show a view of the premises with its fine surrounding grove and orchard on another page of this work.
   Mr. or Mrs. Birch was in charge of Birch postoffice for fifteen years. This office was established on his farm when star routes were the order of the day. Mr. Birch is now in very comfortable circumstances, but passed through many hardships and privations during his early settlement here.
   Mr. Birch was united in matrimony January 30, 1884, to Miss Jane Woodward, also a native of St. Lawrence county, daughter of Richard and Caroline (Coleman) Woodward, natives of England and Canada, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Birch are the parents of four children: Minnie, who graduated from the Wayne Normal in 1908 and received a three-year certificate, is the wife of Lee Graeser; Harry, graduated at Wayne in April, 1911; Homer, now attending the Wayne institution, and Allan.
   Mr. Birch has a fine farm of three hundred and fifteen acres, seven acres of which is a fine grove of trees. This place is known as Elmwood Dairy Farm, with fifteen to twenty cows supplying cream throughout the year. Mrs. Birch is a member of the Free Methodist church. In politics Mr. Birch is in dependent of party lines.

"Elmwood Dairy Farm," Residence of Frank Birch.

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J. L. BUFFINGTON.

   Mr. Buffington is one of the well known old timers of eastern Nebraska, having come here when the country was a barren prairie, and when it was being settled by those brave pioneers who came here prepared to suffer all kinds of hardships and privations in order to make a success and acquire a home and fortune. Many of these pioneers have remained and seen the wilderness develop into a fertile tract, and are now the owners of fine farms and are leading citizens of their locality. Mr. Buffington resides on section twenty-one, township twenty-four, range eight, in Staunton township, where he owns three hundred and twenty acres of good land, having twenty acres of fine orchard and grove trees.
   Mr. Buffington is a native of Ohio, born October 9, 1850, in the same house that his father, George Buffington, was born in. From Ohio Mr. Buffington moved to Illinois where he was employed by the Panhandle railroad as boiler-maker and machinist for fifteen years. Mr. Buffington's father served in the Civil war, enlisting in 1863 in One Hundred Sixty-first Ohio Volunteers under General Seigel. In 1877, our subject came to Washington county, Nebraska, and from there he went to Holt county in 1885 where he took up a homestead in section twenty-four, township twenty-four, range thirteen, building on this land a sod house.
   Mr. Buffington was united in matrimony, April 11, 1879, at Blair, Washington county, Nebraska, to Miss Catherine Thyme. Mr. and Mrs. Buffington have one child, Minnie, who is the wife of Allen Wilson, living in Stanton township. They have two children, Clarence J. and Katie E. In 1889, Mr. Buffington with his family came to Antelope county, Nebraska, and bought his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which, as before stated, there are twenty acres of trees.
   Mr. Buffington is of English descent, his ancestors having come from England, although his father and mother were born in Ohio. They had five children: John, Sarah, Ellen, Jacob and Carrie.
   His brother John served five years in the war of the rebellion, enlisting in 1861 and serving until '65. He was wounded twice. He died in 1896. His sister Carrie, the youngest, died in 1859. His other sisters are still living; his sister Sarah now resides in Blair, Washington county, Nebraska. Sister Ellen lives in Herman, Washington county, Nebraska.
   On January 12, 1888, Mr. Buffington who then lived in Holt county, started to walk to town to get some thread for his wife. When but two and one-half miles from home he was overtaken by that famous blizzard of that day and forced to return; when he was about sixty rods from the house (which was made of sod) he was so blinded by the storm that he lost his way and was driven into a grove which was near the house. Here he thought he would be able to locate the house but failed and became so exhausted that he laid down on what he supposed to be a snow drift, when a very strong gust of wind turned him completely over and when he stopped rolling found himself lying up against the house which he had been looking for, into which he hurried utterly exhausted from his experience with the blizzard, said to have been the worst in the history of Nebraska.
   Mr. Buffington is a broad minded man and one who has won the respect and esteem of all by his many sterling qualities. A view of the family home is presented on another page of this volume.

Home of J. L. Buffington.

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JOHN PORTERFIELD.

   John Porterfield, an energetic and thrifty resident of Fullerton, has for many years followed the occupation of contractor and builder in Nance county, and in this work has accumulated a comfortable property, and gained the esteem and respect of his fellowmen. In the past year he has become acting manager of the Edmunds Creamery company's station in Fullerton, which position he is now filling to the satisfaction of his firm.
   Mr. Porterfield is a son of James and Eliza

Porterfield, born March 2, 1844, in Dover, Illinois. He was reared there, following farming during his younger years, and on August 27, 1867, was married to Frances A. Belden, of New York state, who had been a teacher in the public schools of that state for several years. The year following their union they settled in Atchison county, Kansas, there engaging in farming, and remained for a number of years. He then learned the stone masonry trade, also that of builder, and started in the contracting business, going to Genoa, Nebraska, in 1882. He only lived in that city for one year, then moved to Fullerton, which has been his permanent residence since that time. Here he has followed his trade and become one of the prominent business men of the section, handling many large contracts, and proving his ability and true worth as a master of that vocation. In the winter of 1909. Mr. Porterfield began buying cream, poultry, and eggs, since which time he has been continuously employed in that line of work.
   Mr. and Mrs. Porterfield have had eight children, six of whom are now living, namely: James C., of Boise City, Idaho; Alice, wife of Franklin Hollensteiner, living in Missoula, Montana; Cynthia, wife of Chas. E. Carter, they living in Fullerton; Helen, now Mrs. Roy Wilbur, also of Missoula, Montana, and Mabel and Marion, twins. The latter lives at home, and is a teacher in the Fullerton schools, while the former is the wife of E. H. Davis, and resides in Wolbach, Nebraska. The entire family are well known, and enjoy a large circle of friends.
   In 1895 Mr. Porterfield was elected police judge of his county, and served ten consecutive years, or five terms. He was president of the school board for a number of years, also serving in that body in various other capacities. In 1884 he held the office of street commissioner, and also marshal of the village, and, in fact, has, during his career in Nebraska, been almost constantly in the service of the people.

 

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DR. H. A. SKELTON.

   To find office equipment equal to that of a city hospital, a country physician who almost annually takes post-graduate courses, thus keeping abreast of the times, in the far west in a practically new country, is a surprise indeed. A hasty visit to the office of Dr. H. A. Skelton, of Spencer, will give one that surprise, and convince him of the unusual.
   Dr. Skelton's first recollections of Nebraska date back to the latter part of December, 1881, when his father, J. B. Skelton, an attorney from the middle west, settled in O'Neill, and began the practice of his profession. He was born in Indiana, where he read law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced at Princeton, in Gibson county, for a number of years. He attained the age of sixty-six years, passing away in 1896 at Monette, Missouri, where he had resided for some years prior to his demise.
   H. A. Skelton was born in Princeton, Indiana. on May 16, 1867, and there attended the city schools from which he graduated in 1883.
   lnstead of following the lines of least resistance and adopting his father's profession, the boy had a strong bent for the art of healing, and wisely yielded to the impulse, as after events proved. He began the study of medicine in 1886 under the tutelage of Dr. J. E. Shore, remaining with this precepter for five years. He then attended the lectures in Drake university at Keokuk, Iowa, graduating in 1891, after which he immediately began his practice at Page, Nebraska. He continued at that point up to 1902, then came to Spencer, being received with favor from the first, since which time he has enjoyed a wide and lucrative patronage. One secret of his success is the fact that he has not allowed himself to stagnate, being ever on the alert to absorb new ideas in recognized medical therapy, thoroughly familiarizing himself with advanced science through a course in the Chicago Clinic in 1899, and again in 1900 and 1901. In 1904, 1907, and 1909 he took up a higher course of study in the Polyclinic college, and it is his intention to spend some time each year in the famous medical schools of the country, to better fit himself for coping with the ills flesh is heir to.
   Dr. Skelton has in his office equipment one of the largest static electrical machines known to the medical profession, including all of the latest attachments and improvements. In 1909, feeling that there was great need of a place where special cases might be under the constant care of a physician, Dr. Skelton established a hospital in Spencer, which is the only one along the line of the Northwestern, north of Norfolk, and to show that his judgment is correct, it is interesting to know that there is seldom a vacant bed in the institution, which is a boon to suffering humanity. along the borders of the two states and a source of gratification as well as revenue to the physician.
   Dr. Skelton is descended from a long line of patriotic ancestors, his father serving during the entire period of hostilities in the civil war, while his maternal grandfather, Colonel Duncan, was a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and located in Evansville, Indiana, in 1813. He was a kinsman of the Logans in the old north state, ancestors of the famous cavalry officer, "The Black Eagle", whose father moved further west and settled in Jackson county, Illinois. Colonel Duncan fought in the battle of Tippecanoe in the war of 1812, and drew a pension for his services until 1898, when he died, having most attained the century mark. On his paternal side, a great-great-grandfather was a colonel in the Revolutionary war, also the war of 1812, besides serving in the famous battle in northwest Ohio. He was a native of Lexington, Kentucky, passing away, at

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