cousin, on May 14, 1860. He came to Valley county, Nebraska, with his father in 1872 and has made his home here since that date. Mr. Babcock obtained his public school education in North Loup, later attending the high school at Hastings. In the fall of 1882, he entered the Alfred University of Alfred, New York, graduating in June, 1884. The following year he took a post-graduate course in the same institution. He later completed his law studies, which he had begun prior to his college years, and was admitted to practice in the general courts of Nebraska in 1886. He is now regarded as one of the leading attorneys in this section of the state.
   On the first of June, 1889, Mr. Babcock was married to Miss Jessie True, a daughter of Professor True, one of the early settlers of Nebraska. They have five children, all living, named as follows: Kate Myra, Oscar True, Edwin Jesse, Archie B., and Arthur S.
   Mr. Babcock is one of the younger men who has in many ways contributed to the development of the North Loup Valley country. He had a varied experience in his younger days, having been at one time a "freighter" in and around the boup Valley.

 

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HEMAN A. BABCOCK.
(Deceased.)

   Heman A. Babcock was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, on May 19, 1842. He was marned to Miss Retta O. Bristol, of Waushara county, Wisconsin, on August 28, 1861, at the town of Dakota, in that county.
   In March, 1864, Mr. Babcock enlisted in Company G, Thirty-seventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out in 1865. He returned to his home in Wisconsin, but in the following fall went to Minnesota, and in May, 1872, he came to the North Loup Valley, where he located on a homestead in section two, township eighteen, range thirteen. He was the first sheriff of Valley county, and later on, 1876-1882, he was county clerk.
   Mr. Babcock, in company with J. E. Hale, Peter Mortensen, John H. Hale and several others, purchased the Ord City Bank in January, 1884, Mr. Babcock becoming the vice president. Later on he became auditor of the state of Nebraska, and since that time held many positions of trust and responsibility. He died at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska, May 29, 1904, leaving a large circle of friends to mourn his loss. He left surviving him, his wife and two sons; E. C. Babcock, who resides in Lincoln with his mother, and R. O. Babcock, now living in Omaha.

 

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WILLIAM AND FRANK KAMRATH.
(Father and Son.)

   William Kamrath, a venerable and highly esteemed resident of Newman Grove, Nebraska, was born in Germany, September 23, 1834, and grew to manhood in that country.
   Mr. Kamrath was married in his native land after attaining his majority, to Miss Minnie Wolfgram, and three children were born to them there, after which they all came to America, making their first settlement in Madison county, Wisconsin, where they remained up to 1872. In the fall of that year the entire family removed to Madison county, Nebraska, and filed on one of the original homesteads lying eight miles northeast of Newman Grove, and were among the original pioneer families of that portion of Nebraska. They succeeded in developing a good farm, and parents and children worked in unison up to 1892, at which time Mr. and Mrs. Kamrath and two younger children moved into Newman Grove, which has been their residence since that time.
   On October 13, 1904, Mrs. Kamrath died, being in her sixty-fifth year. She was a woman of gentle disposition, a good mother and beloved by all who knew her. Mr. Kamrath continues to live in their town residence, and keeps in close touch with his children, several of whom reside in the old homestead neighborhood.
   Frank Kamrath, who is the fourth child in the family of William and Minnie Kamrath, was born in Madison county, Wisconsin, on August 26, 1870, where the family lived for a number of years.
   There were twelve children in the Kamrath family, seven boys and five girls, all growing to be young men and women, and held in the highest esteem in their home places. Frank grew up on the homestead in Madison county, receiving a common school education, and at the age of twenty-one started for himself. He was married on December 9, 1892, to Miss Christina Christianson, at the home of her parents in Platt county, and the young couple settled on a farm on section three, township twenty, range four, Platte county, in the same year. They worked faithfully together, meeting discouragement and occasional failures, but never lost courage, and now have a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres, lying one mile southeast of the city of Newman Grove. The entire place is in excellent condition, having a fine, large, modern residence, good farm buildings of all kinds, and is one of the valuable properties in the neighborhood.
   Mr. and Mrs. Kamrath have a fine family of four children, namely: Annie, Minnie, Amelia and Helen, all of whom are living at home and are attending the local schools. One child died in infancy. Mrs. Kamrath's parents now reside in Madison, and are well known throughout the region as prominent pioneers of Madison county.
   Our subject is a young man of excellent reputation, a thorough farmer, and has many friends. He has made a success of life and is closely identified with the growth and progress

of the agricultural and commercial interests of both Madison and Platte counties.

 

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JAMES BRANDRUP.

   Hartington holds many of Cedar county's successful farmers, and among them is the venerable James Brandrup, who has won a competency from Nebraska soil, and is now living in comfort retired from further active labor in life's wide fields.
   Mr. Brandrup was born in the village of Ries, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, August 17, 1840. He is a son of Claus and Christina (Jessen) Brandrup, who spent their entire lives in the Danish Kingdom. For two years he was a soldier in the war between Denmark and the German Empire, terminating in the cession of his native province to the conquerors. Immediately after his discharge he started in May, 1866, for America; crossing the North sea from Hamburg to Hull, he traveled by rail to Liverpool and there embarked in the "Bavana"' for New York, landing the first of June, his destination being California. He was delayed fourteen days in New York, waiting for a steamer for the Isthmus, which he crossed from Colon to Panama; there he again embarked in a steamer bound for San Francisco. He straightway joined his brother in Lincoln, a mining town in which was a large colony of Danes. There he spent the summer threshing, then went into the mines, and for seventeen years was a prospector and miner with the usual ups and downs of the mining regions; sometimes fortune favored him and sonietimes hard luck pursued him to the bitter end. He spent several months' time in Portland, Gray's river, and Astoria, but returned to the mines of California, where he decided to cast his fortunes in the valley of the great Missouri river.
   In the fall of 1882 he came to Cedar county, Nebraska, and filed on a homestead near St. James, where he lived for eighteen years; during this time he added eighty acres to his holdings, making a comfortable sized farm of two hundred and forty acres. In 1900 he passed the burden of the active management and operation of the farm to younger shoulders, bought a residence with several adjoining lots in Hartington, and is taking life easy, as a man should when he has for so many years worked with the energy and industry Mr. Brandrup has displayed.
   Mr. Brandrup was married in Nevada City, California, to Miss Christina Lotsch, a native of Loit-Kirkeby villages, Schleswig-Holstein; her parents, Henry and Anna (Albrechts) Lotsch, never emigrated from their native land. Mrs. Brandrup came to America in her young womanhood, found a home on the Pacific coast, and was there married; she died in 1905, in Hartington, survived by her husband and four children, deeply mourned by all who knew her. Three sons and one daughter were born to this worthy couple: Jesse, the eldest, is married and cultvating the home farm; Henry is a plasterer in Hartington; Mathias is clerking in Lincoln, while Christina is now Mrs. Charles Livermore, of Obert, Nebraska.
   Mr. Brandrup was in California during the winter of the deep snow and the flood of the following spring, but tales of suffering were still new when he settled in Cedar county. At the time the blizzard of January 12, 1888, broke Mr. Brandrup was drawing water not a hundred yards from the house, and so thick was the frozen ice mist that he had difficulty in reaching his own door; two or three efforts were necessary before be found the way and got in from the raging, freezing storm.
   Mr. Brandrup has been a life-long member of the Lutheran church; and in politics he is a staunch republican.

 

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HENRY LEIBERT.

   The family of which Henry Leibert is a member is described at some length in connection with the sketch of George Leibert, youngest brother of Henry, which appears in this volume. Henry Leibert was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, March 5, 1856, eldest of the nine children of Andrew and Lena (Hoop) Leibert, natives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1848 and the mother about 1851 and they were married in Illinois, where they lived until 1886, and in 1887 they located in Custer county. Both died on the home farm in Custer county, the father in 1903 and the mother in 1901.
   In 1886 Mr. Leibert and his brother Nicholas came to Custer county from Missouri, antedating the coming of their parents about one year. In 1896 the former secured a homestead on the southwest quarter of section nineteen, township twenty, range seventeen, which is still the home place. He was married in Jo Daviess county Illinois, January 29, 1871, to Mary Steinberger, a native of Germany, and daughter of John and Barbara Steinberger. Eight children have been born of this union: Barbara, Andrew and Henry, born in Illinois; Jesse, born in Nebraska; Sadie, wife of H. H. Pilcher, of Custer county, has one child; Lena, George and Hannah. Mr. Leibert is recognized as an industrious and public-spirited citizen and the family have a large circle of friends.

 

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MILTON H. RAWLINGS.

   Milton H. Rawlings is one of the well-to-do men and also one of the best known farmers of Merrick county. He has devoted almost his entire career to the pursuit of farming, and has met with deserved success in his line of work. He has developed a fine farm and is a gentleman of enviahie reputation, enjoying a pleasant home.
   Milton H. Rawlings, son of James and Rebecca (Russell) Rawlings, was born in Bloom-

field, Iowa, November 6, 1853, and was seventh in a family of nine children. He has one brother residing in Saunders county, Nebraska, one in the state of Wyoming, another in Missouri, and still another in California, two sisters who reside in Iowa; the other children being deceased. The parents are also deceased, the father having died in the state of Nebraska, and the mother in Iowa.
   Mr. Rawlings received his education in schools of his home state, and later engaged in farming. In 1878 he went into Mount Vernon, Missouri, where he engaged in the drug and grocery business for two years, then after spending the following winter in Iowa came to Saunders county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1880, coming into Merrick County in 1887, locating in Archer, and engaging in the hardware business for a couple of years. In 1889 he purchased eighty acres of land in section seventeen, township fourteen, range seven, west, which remained the home place three years, and then bought eighty acres of the road in section eighteen, to which he moved and where he lived until the fall of 1899, when he moved to Central City, where he lived two years and then moved to his present farm on section fifteen, where he has since continued to reside.
   On January 6, 1880, Mr. Rawlings was joined in wedlock to Miss Eliza Dooley of Iowa. Mrs. Rawlings died in August, 1898, survived by her husband and three children, whose names follow: Mamie, is married to Elwin Secoy, has two children, and lives in Merrick county; J. Oren, has four children and lives near Archer; and Samuel, who is married and lives in Merrick county.
   Mr. Rawhngs has been prosperous and successful, and owns five hundred and forty-one acres of good land under cultivation, all of which is located in Merrick county. He has served his county four years as supervisor, and also as director of his school district number forty-three, for some years very creditably.
   Mr. Rawlings is a prosperous man of affairs, interested in all pertaining to the welfare of his state and County, and is widely and favorably known.

 

   John P. Hirschman owner and operator of one of the finest farms in Cedar county, Nebraska, has been a resident of that locality for a period of forty years He is well known throughout the northeastern part of the state as one of the foremost farmers and stockmen of the region and after many years of hard work in building up his business, is now prepared to enjoy his remaining years in the peace and comfort he has so well earned, surrounded by a host of friends. Mr. Hirschman was born in Wisconsin in 1862 a son of Fernando and Anna (Marks) Hirschman, both natives of Germany. The parents came from their native country to America in a sailing vessel, spending three months on the way. The father was a native of Austria and the mother of Prussia.
   Mr. Hirschman began his education in his native state and completed it in Nebraska, to which state he accompanied his parents in 1870. They drove through and took up a homestead on what is known as Long Ridge, and there built a sod house, or dugout, which he occupied a few years, then erected a cotton-wood frame house. In the early days of their residence there, St. James, St. Helena and Sioux City were their nearest trading points, and they suffered serious loss from the depredations of grasshoppers, which made it very hard for them to get a start in the new home. The entire family often had to fight prairie fires to protect the home and other possessions. Deer and antelope were frequently seen in those early days and all the surroundings and conditions were very different from those of more recent years.
   Mr. Hirschman was married in 1895 to Miss Ethel Dawson, a native of Iowa, and they are the parents of five children : Fernando L., Olive M., Ada M., Maggie J., and Kermit.
   Mr. Hirschman's home is pleasantly located on section eight, township twenty~eight, range two, east, of Cedar county, and he is recognized as one of the most public-spirited and enterprising of the county's citizens, always ready to lend his influence in the promotion of any worthy object and interested in the general wel fare and progress. A picture of the residence and family group apears on another page.

J. P. Hirschman--Residence and Family Group.

   One of the old settlers of the region where he chose his home in the early days, occupies a well improved farm and valuable estate on section twenty-three, township twenty-nine, range eight, Knox county, Nebraska.
   W. W. Strope is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in Bradford county, in 1851. His father was born and reared in the same township as his son, he being of German descent. W. W. Strope's mother was Scottish. Our subject grew up in his birthplace, living with his parents and assisting in carrying on the home place as a boy, starting out to make his own way in the world when about fifteen years old. He had heard of the fortunes to be made in the west, so started west, where land was cheap and opportunities greater than in the east. His first settlement was made in Wisconsin, where he spent about fourteen years engaged in farming.
   In 1879 he loaded up his goods in a covered wagon and with a stout team, began his journey to Nebraska, camping out along the way at night, and finally reaching his destination in Knox county. Here he filed on a timber claim in 1879 and on a homestead in 1881. His first dwelling

was a sod house, and with his family he went through every phase of pioneer life here.
   As times grew better in their vicinity, Mr. Strope was able to get together considerable stock, make improvements in his buildings, etc., and at the present time he has one of the best equipped and most productive farms in the locality. He now owns three hundred and sixty acres, two hundred acres of this being under cultivation.
   Mr. Strope was married in 1874, to Miss Ella Gerry, who is a native of Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Strope seven children have been born, namely: Ervy May, Franklin Dorence, Maude Luella, Bert J., who died in infancy, Wallace W., Merwin G. and Floyd Ray. The first three are married and occupying comfortable homes of their own, while the last three are living at home. Wallace W. and Merwin G. graduated from the Nebraska State Agricultural College in April, 1911, and have rented and will operate their father 's farm. Mrs. Strope's father, Benjamin F. Gerry, was frozen to death while breasting the blizzard of 1888, having started to the post office at Walnut, a distance of four and one-half miles from his home, and being unable to reach shelter before being overcome by the awful storm.

 

   Nels J. Skoog, a hardy and typical representative of the hosts from Sweden who have done so much to make the Nebraska wilderness blossom as a rose through their earnest efforts to develop the country which they have adopted as a permanent home, is a prosperous merchant of Genoa, Nebraska.
   Mr. Skoog was born in Sweden, on October 18, 1852, and is a son of Nels and Hannah Johnson, his early years being spent in his native vicinity. He was married in the spring of 1874, to Kjersti Jensen, also born and reared in Sweden, and they came to America about 1882, accompanied by a little son. Their first location was in Minnesota, and after a few months in that state, came on to Nebraska, settling in Nance county. Their house was one of the first built in Genoa, and our subject secured employment on the section of the Union Pacific railroad company, and also worked as a day laborer at the Genoa Indian school. He worked in a meat market for a considerable length of time, finally purchasing the business and carried it on for several years.
   In 1889 he bought a quarter section of land in Genoa township, and farmed for about a year, but on account of Mrs. Skoog's poor health was obliged to give it up and again moved to Genoa and purchased his old meat market. He also kept his farm and personally superintended its management, and besides these interests was engaged in the stock business buying and shipping to market. In 1894 he sold his market and bought one hundred and thirty-five acres of partly improved land on section twenty-three, township seventeen, range four, and went into the stock business on a larger scale, feeding from four to five hundred head of cattle annually.
   In 1901 Mr. Skoog organized and financed what was known as the McFadden-Wilson & Skoog General Merchandise Company, and the following year bought his partners' interests and reorganized the concern under the firm name of N. J. Skoog & Son, and they still continue the business. The first year their gross trade amounted to $36,000, and in 1908 were doing an $85,000 business. Their store is the largest in Genoa, having a frontage of forty-four feet by eighty in depth, and at the present time our subject is making extensive improvements in the building, adding to it a very fine ladies' rest room patterned after those of other large establishments in different cities, and which will include every convenience and comfort that can be conceived.
   Mrs. Skoog died in 1898, survived by her husband and two sons, Nels, who is married and with his wife and child lives in Genoa, and August, living with our subject. In January, 1900, Mr. Skoog was married to Anna Pearson, and to them two daughters were born, Esther and Wilma, both at home, and charming little misses. On July 7, 1906, Mrs. Skoog died, her demise being deeply lamented by her sorrowing family and many friends.
   Mr. Skoog was married again on July 8, 1909, to Esther Smith, of Platte county, Nebraska, a lady of very pleasing personality. The family occupy one of the handsome homes in Genoa, and all are popular members of the social life of the little city.

 

   One of the oldest and best established practitioners of northeastern Nebraska is Dr. George W. Ira, of Lynch. He has been prominently identified with the upper Missouri river country since 1866, when he settled at Decatur, Nebraska, to practice his profession after a two years' course at a medical college in Columbus, Ohio.
   After seven years practice here he was appointed to the Yankton Agency at Greenwood, South Dakota, and was afterwards engaged in private practice at Springfield, South Dakota, for some time, which place was across the river from the Santee Reservation.
   In 1875 he was appointed physician at the Santee Agency, remaining at the post for ten years, and the following five years were spent in private practice in Niobrara, during which time he took an advanced course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis, receiving his diploma in the Spring of 1888. Two years later he was reappointed to his old position at Santee, which he held uninterruptedly for fourteen years. In September, 1904, he opened an office at

Lynch, where, in partnership with his son, Guy B. Ira, he is enjoying a lucrative practice, as keenly interested in a complicated case and as efficient in prescribing as he was when he first began his practice, nearly half a century ago.
   Dr. Ira was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on March 21, 1842, and was reared in his native county, where his parents remained during their lifetime. Our subject was first married at Decatur, Nebraska, in 1868, to Miss Gertrude Fuller, to whom a daughter was born, Mary Gertrude, now the wife of Erving Rodgers, of Decatur, Nebraska. Mrs. Ira died about a year after her marriage. In 1872 Dr. Ira married again, taking as his wile Mary B. Hobbs, a native of the eastern states. Of their seven children, six survive, as follows: Guy B., above mentioned; Julia, wife of D. A. Martindale, they living in Omaha; Henry, living with his father here; Edith, who has secured a claim in Mead county, South Dakota, and on which she has established a residence; Clayton, living in Omaha employed by the Baum Iron Company; and Florence, wife of Cyrus Marks, of Rapid City, South Dakota.
   Dr. Ira is a republican in political faith, and he and his family are members of the Episcopal church. He served as United States pension examiner for about twenty years. He affiliates with the Masonic lodge at Niobrara, and is popular both in commercial and social circles in his community.

 

   The gentleman whose name heads this personal history for thirty-five years past has been closely identified with the development and advancement of Boone County, Nebraska. He resides in the village of Petersburg, and is classed among the well-to-do and successful farmers of that region.
   He has the distinction of being one of the oldest settlers in the locality, and is a familiar personage to all who have made their home there since the early days; therefore, a history of Boone county is not complete without a sketch of the life and work of Henry V. Netzer.
   Mr. Netzer is a native of Aberdeen, Ohio, born November 11, 1837. He was the second in a family of eight children born to Sanford and Esther Netzer the former dying about 1890, and the mother when our subject was fourteen years old, at which time he went with his father to Illinois, where they engaged in farming. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C Ninth Illinois Cavalry, and served with his regiment for three years, receiving honorable discharge in September 1864. The principal battles in which he engaged were the actions at Gundell, Memphis and Moscow, besides many other minor encounters with the confederate troops and during his service with the army he saw the various dark phases of a soldier's career.
   Mr. Netzer returned to Illinois after the war was closed, and was married there in 1866, to Elizabeth Bierley, and in the fall of 1876 they left Illinois and came to Nebraska, locating in Boone county on homestead rights in section thirty, township twenty-two, range six, one mile east of where Petersburg now stands, this farm remaining their home place for about sixteen years. They then sold the homestead and purchased several acres in the village of Petersburg, and built a good home, which they have made their permanent residence. Mr. Netzer and wife are among the earliest settlers of that part of Boone county, and have passed through all the trying experiences and hardships of pioneer life.
   Mr. and Mrs. Netzer have had four children, George G., Anna M., Sadie and Dolly, all married and living in different parts of the country.

 

   Four states from time to time claimed the citizenship of John H. Larison, now retired and living in one of the finest and best apportioned modern dwellings in the city of Wayne.
   Mr. Larison was born in Colmubus, Ohio, November 18, 1854, whence the family moved west in the spring of 1854. The grandparents, by whom the boy was reared, settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, while his parents a short time later moved on to Moravia, Iowa. He remained with his grandparents until he was eighteen years of age, when he started out in life for himself. After finishing school he joined his parents at Moravia, where they were keeping hotel, and there secured a clerkship in a store, at which he was engaged several years. His next venture was at railroading at Ottumwa, where he lost a thumb in the service; this awakened him to the danger of railroad life, which he abandoned before anything more serious should happen him.
   At Malvern, Iowa, he entered the service of Mr. J. M. Strahan, who was destined later to become his father-in-law, and in company with that gentleman went to Minnesota to trail a herd of his cattle to the prairies of Nebraska. On this, his first advent to Wayne county, the herd was herded in the valley of Dog Town creek through the summer. Returning, he entered the employ of the Benner stores, and for nine or ten years was engaged in mercantile pursuits.
   In the meantime, he had married, and desiring to do better for himself he came west and invested in farm lands. He had purchased land in Sherman county, Kansas, where he still owns a half section, but in deciding to locate west of the Missouri river, he had in mind the fertile prairies of Wayne county; here in the spring of 1889 he purchased the Peter Oman farm of three hundred and twenty acres five miles north and three miles west of the city of Wayne. Four years later, he bought a town residence and moved in off the farm, which he has cultivated through tenants since. In 1909, he began building what is probably the most imposing private residence in the city, a ten-room Colonial dwelling, equipped with all the most modern improvements, hot and cold water, gas and electric light and steam heat. It

is as elegantly and tastefully furnished as any residence of cities ten times the size of Wayne, of which not the least elegant is the hall clock with its mellow cathedral chime.
   Mr. Larison is a son of Simeon and Ethelinda (Hobbs) Larison, both natives of Ohio; they attained the ages of seventy-six and seventy-two years, respectively, passing away in Nebraska at tlie home of their son. Of their two daughters and four sons, Mr. Larison was second in order of birth.
   He was married in Malvern, May 27, 1887, to Miss Rosetta Strahan, a native of Iowa, and daughter of J. M. and Fannie (Davis) Strahan.
   They migrated originally from Henderson county, Illinois, and after the birth of their daughter, Fannie, returned thither, remaining a few years, and then came again to Iowa, settling in Malvern, Mills county. Mr. and Mrs. Larison have an adopted daughter, Charlotte Bernard Larison, who is a student at the state normal at Wayne. She has an unusual talent in art, delighting in spending her spare moments with her pencil or brush.
   A career is open to her in this calling should she devote her time for a few years to its serious study.
   Mr. Larison had not settled in Nebraska at the time of the great blizzard of January 12, 1888, but encountered it in nearly all of its severity in Malvern, where he had great difficulty in getting from the store to his home. His father-in-law lost nearly a hundred cattle in the storm. Their carcasses were burned on the prairies west of Wayne, where the stock had been herding. Mr. Larison has never lived in a sod house, but has visited in that most comfortable kind of dwelling. At the time they came to the state deer and antelope were driven to the far west, but the plains were covered with their horns, showing the extent to which their herds prospered at an earlier day. The large grey wolf was to be seen occasionally, and on several occasions, when first on the ranges here, Mr. Larison has chased them on horseback eight or ten miles with the usual success when the wolf got tired of the game he leveled out across the prairie, and disappeared.
   But these old days of the frontier have gone.
   Where once was waving grasses on the open plains, crops of grain sway in the wind, comfortable farm houses nestle in their sheltering groves, and cattle peacefufly graze in pastures, where before only wild creatures lived and fed.
   Mr. Larison is independent in politics, voting for whom he believes to be best fitted for the office, regardless of party affiliations.

 

   Fred Wichman is one of the earlier settlers of Stanton county, Nebraska, and has always been intimately connected with all measures for the welfare and development of his community. It is to such men that the undeveloped region, in which they settled, has been transformed to a land of well-cultivated farms and pleasant homes, and citizens who enjoy all the advantages of modern civilization. In the first years they spent in the county, they were obliged to journey to Fremont or Columbus to market their produce, or procure needed supplies. They made use of an ox team in cultivating their farms, and endured many privations and hardships. All the members of the family were compelled to do their share in making the home and carrying on the farm.
   Mr. Wichman is a native of Germany, born in 1849, a son of Charles and Pauline Wichman, and spent his early years in that country, where he received his education. The family left Prussia the latter part of the sixties, and sailed for New York City. They proceeded to Wisconsin, and carried on farming there about five years, then came to Nebraska.
   Upon coming to Nebraska, Fred Wichman took up a homestead tree claim on section seventeen, township twenty-four, range one, and immediately started in to improve, building a frame house, fourteen by sixteen feet, and otherwise preparing for the comfort of the family. During the first few years, their crops were almost wholly destroyed by grasshoppers, and they had to work hard many times to protect their stock and buildings from prairie fires. Mr. Wichman drove a drove of cattle through from Wisconsin, making the entire trip on foot. His father took up a claim on the present site of Norfolk Junction, and erected a log house. When the family first came, there were a good many deer and antelope, and even a few elk. Mr. Wichman is a man of influence and stability in his community, and has a large number of friends. He is one of the best known men of his locality.
   In 1872, Mr. Wichman married Miss Minnie Neno, and six children have blessed this union.

 

   Located very pleasantly in section thirty-four, township twenty-seven, range five, Antelope county, Nebraska, is to be found the esteemed gentleman whose name introduces this article.
   Mr. Rose was born in Menard county, Illinois, November 13, 1865, the son of Christopher and Isabella (Parks) Rose. The mother died when he was a small boy, and he was reared by his maternal grandmother. His Grandfather Parks was a Scotchman, who came to America with his wife and daughter Isabelle, while the latter's hushand was stationed in India, and here the boy was born. The voyage across was a long and hard one, made in an old sailboat from Liverpool to New York. Immediately after landing, they went to Sangamon county, Illinois, where Mr. Parks bought a farm near Springfield, and resided there for several year. Christopher Rose, senior, served as a British soldier for fifteen years during which time he saw service in India, was in Gibraltar and the British Isles. While on duty in the Indies, he became so ill that he was ordered

sent back to the mother country, where he soon passed away among his own people.
   Christopher N. Rose came to Antelope county, Nebraska, in 1895, from the state of Illinois, where he was reared on a farm, and purchased three hundred and twenty acres of good land, which he has improved with a good set of farm buildings, fences and all modern improvements.
   Mr. Rose engages in mixed farming and stock raising, and the recent addition of a gasoline motor to his equipment, to be used for pumping and other farm work, has proved to be a profitable labor-saving piece of machinery, and the excellent condition and appearance of the entire farm bespeaks his prosperity.
   Mr. Rose was married, September 27, 1901, at the residence of a neighbor, Mr. Charles W. Smith, to Miss Elizabeth Arboghast, who was born in Illinois. Mrs. Rose's parents were natives of Germany, who came to America, settled in Illinois, later went to South Dakota in its pioneer days, and there their children were reared. Two children have come to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Rose, Christopher III and Isabella, both of whom are typical bright and sturdy westerners, and the pride of their parents' hearts.
   In political views, Mr. Rose is a republican. He takes a keen interest in local affairs, and since coming to the state has aided materially in its development, and the promotion of the general welfare of his section. Mr. Rose's home and family deservedly merit the respect of the community in which they dwell.

 

   It would be impossible to give a true history of the state of Nebraska without including a sketch of the life of Samuel G. Fulton, who is one of the most prominent old settlers. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, April 14, 1853, fifth in a family of six or seven. His father, Andrew Fulton, was born in Scotland in 1810, and was a farmer. His mother, Margarett (Myers) Fulton, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, but her father was a native of Germany and her mother was of Scotch descent. Our subject's parents were married in 1844, settling in Belmont county, Ohio, and from there going to Monroe county, Ohio, where they were pioneers, having to cut their own roads through the timber when they moved.
   Our subject's oldest brother, William M. Fulton, served the north in the civil war he was almost taken prisoner at Winchester, and participated in the Siege of Richmond, when Lee surrendered.
   Our subject, Samuel G. Fulton, experienced all hardships incidental to the pioneer days, and remembers the hail storms of June 22, 1888, which destroyed all their crops; they got seventy bushels of corn from seventy acres. In the blizzard of that same year, their only cow nearly froze to death. They had to burn hay in those days, and in the blizzard, the snow drifted in around their hay so much they could not find it, and our subject had to carry buckwheat straw tied with a rope, getting lost in the blizzard trying to get to the house.
   Some deer and antelope were to be seen when our subject came, and one deer was seen to pass the house; Indians passing in wagons frightened Mrs. Fulton, but did no damage.
   Samuel G. Fulton was married September 2, 1875, to Miss Isabel Carter, of English descent, and they are the parents of eight children, whose names are as follows: William Forest, James Elwood, Charles Malvern, Samuel Clark, Margaret, Alva, Wallace, and Florence.
   Mr. Fulton now owns four hundred acres of land, and is a highly respected resident, holding the esteem of all who know him. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is independent in politics, voting for the best man.

 

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JENS FREDERICKSEN.

   That diversified farming may be carried on successfully in Howard county, Nebraska, has been demonstrated beyond doubt by the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this review. Although he has retired from active labors, Mr. Fredericksen has followed farming in Loup Fork precinct for many years, and is now classed among the wealthy men of his section, enjoying the respect and esteem of his fellowmen.
   Jens Fredericksen was born in Denmark in July, 1844, and grew up there. In 1872 he left home and started to make his own way in the world, coming to America in that year, and after about two years spent in different parts of the eastern states, returned to Denmark, where he was married in 1875 to Katherine Mortensen. The following year. Mr. Fredericksen came to America, his first location being in Illinois. He remained there for about one year, then came on to Howard county arriving here in the spring of 1877, being joined the following year by his wife and son Peter.
   He immediately took a homestead on section two, township thirteen, range twelve, and after putting up a rough dwelling, started to breaking land and begun farming. The family went through every phase of pioneer life, encountering many hardships and difficulties, but gradually added improvements to their place and as he became able, Mr. Fredericksen added to his acreage until he was proprietor of six hundred acres of fine land, all in firstclass shape, supplied with good buildings, etc. He carried on mixed farming and stock raising, and as he was a good manager, everything he undertook seemed to make money, and he accumulated sufficient property to enable him to retire from actual work himself, now having his two sons, Peter and Carl, in charge of his interests and occupying the farms, while himself and wife reside in Florida.
   Peter Fredericksen is unmarried and lives on the original homestead of his father's, operating

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