Twentieth Legislature of Nebraska --1887

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In this body the farmers and stockgrowers largely predominate, numerically. They number over forty. The merchants, including lumber, agricultural implement, grain, and drug dealers, number about thirty. The lawyers aggregate just the fatal "thirteen." They are the birds of passage, and they plume themselves for high flights - of fancy. The farmers and stockmen are a substantial element. They move with calmness and deliberation, like a massive Short-horn. When they pull together something has to come. The merchants are a speculative lot of fellows. They sometimes present their bills before they are made out. Some of them are laid on the table and others are laid out. The real estate members are an even quartette. They are as musical as some of the others yet they are good singers. When it comes to dirt they are on top every time. Some of them have been down to bed-rock, but they are now in the upper crust. There are four bankers in the House, and the most of their bills represent dollars. They are the financial managers of the one hundred, and they teach them the art of making money and curtailing expenses. The physicians and druggists are a stand-off - three each. Most of the members have been candidates for the hospital as it is, and if there had been a few more pill-dispensers and drug venders an appropriation for a state hospital would have been in order. The journalists of the House are a very happy couple. They will see that the appropriation for printing the laws is ample, and placed where it will do the most good. Once in the hands of the printers, it may then be considered in general circulation without further debate. The entire Legislature only developed one dentist, yet nearly all the members will have a new set of eye-teeth cut before they leave here. Of course the dentist will be assisted by the Omaha charter doctors, the railroad doctors, the prohibition doctor, the woman suffrage doctor, and other able members of the fraternity. It is a government contract and must be well done. It had been discovered that there is one pedagogue in the House. He lays down the rule with hammer and tongs. His theory is to spare the child and spoil the rod. One member is a blacksmith. He is doing dentistry work on harrow teeth, and himself and the dentist are in cahoots. The blacksmith turns out the teeth, the dentist fits them in, and the members furnish the jaw. Ohio heads the nativity list with seventeen, including Speaker Harlan; New York and Pennsylvania ten each, Illinois seven, New Jersey and Virginia three each, Indiana four, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri two each, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland one each; seven members of the house are natives of Germany; England, Scotland and Ireland, four each; Canada, Sweden, and Denmark, two each, and Bohemia, Holland, and Nova Scotia one each, Seventeen states and ten foreign countries are the widely disseminated birthplaces of this body of one hundred men. Then are Seventy-one Republicans, twenty-eight Democrats, and one Independent; a Republican majority of forty-two, giving the Independent to the Democrats. In the Senate there are twenty-five Republicans and eight Democrats, a Republican majority of seventeen. On joint ballot the Republicans have a

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majority of fifty-nine, conceding the Independent to the Democrats. The senior member is the Sen. Pierce G. Wright. He was 70 years old the 15th day of last November. Hon. David Knox is the second oldest member, 65 on Jan. 14th last. The junior member is the Hon. C. J. Smyth, 26 the 4th of last December. The Hon. Wm. H. McCann is the second youngest member, 27 the 31st of last May, and the Hon. Chas. C. Gafford is just forty-nine days older. The ages of the one hundred average 42 1/2 years, and they are all married but an even half dozen. There is not a widower among them. For such a diverse combination they are a very well-behaved assemblage.
HON. OTTO ABRAHAMSON, Axtel, Kearney county, is a native of Linkoping, Sweden, born April 19, 1839. He remained in the old country until 18 years of age, when he emigrated to the United States and stopped in Jefferson county, Iowa, in 1867. After a year there he went to Henderson county, Ill., and was there three years, then went into the army, enlisting in the Tenth Illinois Infantry. He served four years and participated in all the hard battles and campaigns of the regiment. July 4, 1865, at Louisville, Ky., he was mustered out. He then came north and settled in Henry county, Iowa; farmed three years, then engaged in the mercantile business. There he continued up to 1876, when he sold out and came to Nebraska and located in Kearney county, where he has since followed farming and merchandising. He is the owner of several valuable farms, aggregating 810 acres, and he also carries on his store. Mr. Abrahamson is a thrifty and enterprising business man, an honest and popular citizen, and he will faithfully serve big constituents and the state in his present capacity. His politics are Republican.

HON. ALFRED W. AGEE, Aurora, Hamilton county, was born in Morgan county, Tennessee, Nov. 18, 1850. In January, 1861, his parents removed to Pike county, Ind., and there he remained until 1872, then came to Jacksonville, Ill. He had previously attended the common schools, and finally the Oakland City Normal Institute for several

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terms. Subsequently he taught school three or four years, studied law, and in 1874 came to Nebraska, settled in Aurora, and was there admitted to the bar. In 1882 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the state, served his term out, but continned the practice of law. He had three brothers in the war and would have been there himself had he been old enough. One brother died in the service, another was severely wounded at the battle of Champion Hill, and the third came out with honorable scars and the record of many hard fights. Mr. Agee's parents are both dead. He is a straight Republican, and in the senatorial battle that culminated last month in the defeat of Senator Van Wyck and the election of Senator Paddock, he supported the latter. Mr. Agee is a devoted friend of the ex-soldiers who suffered so much in the cause of their country, when the salvation of the government and perpetuity of the union rested upon their shoulders. He is pushing a bill for a soldiers' and sailors' home in Nebraska, where that class of unfortunates may be properly cared for. It is designed to make the institution as near self-sustaining as possible, and those who are able to do physical labor will be given an opportunity to cultivate the land belonging to the home. Mr. Agee is an active and energetic member, and one of the able men of the House.
HON. R. M. AIKIN, Nelson, Nuckolls county, was born in Martinsville, Morgan county, Ind., March 23, 1841. In 1854 his parents settled in Marshall county, Ill., remained there about two years, then removed to La Salle county. Mr. Aikin lived with his parents until the war broke out, then enlisted in the Thirty-third Ill. Infantry, Co. B. He was in south-east Missouri, a member of the Thirteenth Army Corps, and with Sherman to the Gulf in the Nineteenth Corps. He was in active service all the

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time, in many hard fights and deprivations. In October, 1864, he was mustered out. The spring of 1866 he located in Osceola, Clark county, Iowa, and was there married to Miss T. L. Stansbury. The spring of 1872 he came to Nebraska and located near Nelson, and took a homestead, purchased more land, and blocked out a home. Mr. Aikin was a member of the House in 1885. He is in a fine section of country and the people are making it blossom. The incubus of a foreign land-holder that has fastened upon more than 40,000 acres of the cream of the county must be eradicated. Such a blot should not be tolerated in a free country. It is a stain upon the commonwealth of Nebraska and in violation of the spirit and intent of our government. Let the people and the press denounce the system and the law apply the remedy. Me Aikin has a well stocked farm of 320 acres, votes the Republican ticket, and is surrounded by enough of the temporal blessings to make himself and family comfortable and happy.
HON. T. J. ALEXANDER, Johnson, Nemaha county, was born in Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1845. He was raised on a farm, attended the Shirleysburg Seminary, and in September, 1862, enlisted in the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry and went into the war. For a time he was under Gen. Gregg, and subsequently under Gen. Sheridan. He was in about all the hard-fought battles of the front Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Petersburg, Richmond, and other great battles of that time. At Farmville he was taken prisoner, and for three days and nights marched with the rebels without food. At the end of that time Lee surrendered and he was set free. The war over, he was mustered out and returned home. He then engaged in teaching school for several years, and in 1867 settled in Andrew county, Missouri,

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where he took an active part in the free schools of that section, so recently disrupted by the war. Teaching was his principal occupation for about ten years. For a time he followed farming, and in 1880 settled in Tecumseh, this state, remained there eighteen months, then located where he now resides. At Johnson he has followed general merchandising, and is one of the successful and popular business men of that section of the state. He was elected on the Republican ticket by a round majority, and will faithfully and fearlessly represent his constituency in this body.
HON. HENRY C. ANDREWS, Kearney, Buffalo county, was born on the island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Oct. 19, 1845. His parents immigrated to Iowa when he was 13 years of age, and settled in Ringgold county. In the early part of the war he enlisted in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, Co. D. At Jonesboro he was captured, and for nine months was a prisoner in Andersonville. Previous to his capture he was in many hard-fought battles, skirmishes, raids and marches. When captured he was in Stoneman's raid under McCook. From Andersonville he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida, and at the end of the war, May, 1866, was released. He then returned home, taught school, was superintendent of schools, clerk of the courts, studied law and was admitted while teaching, and in 1873 came to Nebraska, and located in Kearney, in the practice of law. He is a straight Republican, and at the battle of the Otoes assisted in downing the Chief of Two Horses.

HON. PHILIP ANDRES, Omaha, was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, February 17, 1842, and with his father, who was a political refugee, came to the United States in 1849. He was educated in the American high schools of New York, and resided in that city until ten years ago, when he came west, and located in Omaha.

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While in New York he was identified with the Tammany wing of the New York Democracy, and received an appointment from Samuel J. Tilden, which position he held until he came west. He early took an interest in educational matters and has since been closely identified with institutions of that character. He holds official positions in several German-American educational associations, and is well versed in both German and English. Mr. Andres is president of the Missouri Valley Turners' Association, which district embraces Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. He has held several responsible official positions in the local affairs of the city, and was elected on the Democratic ticket by the largest majority of any of his colleagues in he district. His present occupation is real estate and insurance.
HON. W. E. BABCOCK, Cambridge, Furnas county, was born in Fulton county, New York, July 27, 1845. When he was 5 years of age his parents removed to Steuben county where he was raised. He attended Franklin Academy, from which he graduated in 1866. That year he left the old home and came to Pontiac, Ill., farmed summers and taught school winters. In the spring of 1871 he went to Helena, Ark., and was down there nine years taught school, was deputy sheriff, tax collector, assessor, and filled other local offices. He then engaged in the mercantile business, which lasted about six years. In the spring of 1880 he came to Nebraska, and located in Cambridge. He was one of the organizers of the Republican Valley Bank at that place, and also engaged in the hardware trade. He has since disposed of his banking interest to his partner, and now devotes his attention to the hardware business. He has branch stores at Mooreville, Neb., and Akron, Col. Mr. Babcock votes the Republican ticket, and thinks the Republican Valley the ne plus ultra of beauty and fertility.

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   HON. ORESTUS G. BAILEY, Bloomington, Franklin county, is a native of Fort Ann, Washington county, N. Y., born July 20, 1845. His father was a farmer, and the son lived at home until 17 years of age, then went into the army, Co. F, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth N. Y. He was in the service nearly four years, Tenth army corps, and a short time in the Eighteenth; many hard fights fell to his lot, and a buckshot went through his wrist. After he was mustered out at Albany, he went home and subsequently became a sailor on Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence river. He followed that kind of a life for ten years. In 1877 he immigrated to Nebraska, located on a homestead in Franklin county, and slept every night on the place until he came here. He is married to that old homestead, and expects to leave his bones there. Of course he votes the Republican ticket, and believes politics not necessarily a bar to honesty.
   HON. HARLON BAIRD, Homer, Dakota county, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, April 23, 1823. He lived in his native state until 16 years old, then with parents removed to Indiana, and remained there six years. In 1852 they settled in Clarksville, Butler county, Iowa, and in 1856 Col. Baird came to Nebraska. He was where Omaha now is before there was a house on the spot. Subsequently he assisted in recruiting four companies of Nebraska troops; in 1861 took them over to Iowa, and there they were consolidated with troops of that state, organized into a regiment of cavalry and went into active service. He was commissioned Capt. of Co. D, and in 1862 was promoted to the position of Major, and in 1863 Lieut.Col. August, 1865, he was mustered out at Clinton, Iowa. The command was in the midst of the hard fights, and suffered the decimation incident to the great
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struggle. Col. Baird had a half-dozen bullet holes in his uniform, but only one bullet made a lasting impression. The regiment participated in the principal battles of the Cumberland and other campaigns. After he was discharged he returned to his Nebraska home in Dakota county, and engaged in farming and stock raising, which he still follows at the old place. He was a member of the State Senate, the session that located the capital at Lincoln, and is truly a pioneer. Mr. Baird is a veteran Republican, and a conscientious, prudent, and conservative member on the floor of the House.
HON. JOHN R. BALLARD, Fairmont, Fillmore county, was born in Hendrix county, Ind., June 30, 1831. His father was a farmer, and the son was raised to the business, was in the public schools, and eventually took up merchandising. In October, 1871 he came to Nebraska, pre-empted a piece of land, where he now resides, and has put it in a fine state of cultivation. He is a thorough farmer, has planted his lands with groves, orchards, small fruits, and surrounded himself with the comforts of a thrifty home and the blessings that respond to the hand of industry in this fertile country. He has 800 apple trees, cherry trees, and other fruit-bearing shrubbery. In addition he keeps quite an apiary, has some fine stock - horses, cattle, and is a breeder of pure Poland-China hogs, and other domestic creatures. Mr. Ballard recommends alsike clover for bees, and it is also of much value for stock, and as a fertilizer. He did not seek this office, the people sought him, and he was nominated without his consent, elected by 418 majority, a high complement to the man, indicating his popularity and true worth as a citizen.

HON. J. H. BARRETT, Wisner, Cuming county, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, Sept. 13, 1846. His parents im-

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migrated to America in 1854, locating in Clinton county, Iowa, on a farm. At the age of 17 he took a course in Cornell College, then went to Chicago and engaged in merchandising. From Chicago he came to Dunlap, Iowa, in 1870, and opened a general merchandise store. He continued there until 1882, when he came to Nebraska and engaged in the live stock business, which pursuit he still follows. He has a large stock farm in the Elkhorn Valley, owns several hundred head of fine cattle, is breeding choice horses, and is making good headway in the acquisition of the ordinary western temporal blessings. Mr. Ballard (sic) is chairman of the committee on agriculture in this body, and is heartily and prominently identified with the stock and agricultural interests of the state. A Republican in politics, he is an earnest promoter of the industrial interests of the state.
HON. WM. G. BENTLEY, Ashland, Saunders county, was born in Westmoreland county, Va., Dec. 2, 1844. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland, educated in the common and boarding schools of that state, and trained to business and self-support. He early engaged in business for himself in Baltimore, but during the war returned to Va., and went into the Southern army. He was in that capacity for four years, and was several times wounded. An independent scout much of the time, he was a general daredevil. His only brother was in the service too, but on the other side, and that's the way they evened it up. After he returned from the war he went to Baltimore, and finally into business. In 1876 he came to Iowa, and took a position as book-keeper for a lumber firm, and in 1878 he located in Ashland in the lumber business. He is a traditional Democrat of the anti-bellum school.

HON. C. H. BICK, Seward, Seward county, was born in Prussia, Germany, Oct. 14, 1842. His parents im-

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migrated to the United States in 1852, when he was but 10 years of age, and settled in Sauk county, Wis. He there attended the English schools, and when the war began enlisted in Company D, Ninth Wisconsin, and served nearly four years. He shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the regiment in all its marches, seiges, conflicts, and carnage. In 1865 he was honorably mustered out, returned to Wisconsin, followed farming until 1869, then came to Nebraska, and located in Seward county. Since settling in the state he has steadily adhered to his farming interest and has prospered. He has one of the finest farms in Seward county, well stocked with domestic animals, and has 360 acres under a fine state of cultivation. He has recently completed a commodious and comfortable residence, and is one of the representative farmers of the state. Mr. Bick was a member of the House the session of 1881, supports the Republican ticket, and is an honorable and faithful member.
HON. GEO. G. BOWMAN, Columbus, Platte county, was born in Upper Sandusky, Wyandotte county, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1849. He was educated at Oberlin College, in the scientific department, studied law and was admitted in 1872. In 1879 he came to Nebraska and located in Columbus, where he has since followed the practice of his profession. Politically he is a straight Republican, and was for Senator Paddock all the time, He did good work when the fight waxed hot and the opposing forces were storming the parapets. Mr. Bowman is an active member, an untiring worker on the floor of the House, and he commands the esteem of the entire body. In his law practice he enjoys a liberal patronage, and is popular in all his official, social, and business relations.

HON. WM. W. BROWN, Culbertson, Hitchcock county, was born in Newark, N. J., August 5, 1854. He has been

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in the state twenty-four years, settling with his parents in Omaha in 1862. In 1866 his parents removed to Nebraska City. From the time he was 13 years old he was a newspaper rustler there, and continued for ten years. In 1881 he returned to Omaha, was in the internal revenue department two years, and in 1883 went into the lumber business at Culbertson. He is a stalwart Republican and represents six counties - Hitchcock, Hayes, Dundy, Frontier, Gosper, and Chase, about 5,000 voters. Mr. Brown is a faithful worker in his present position, and he did valiant service in the election of Senator Paddock.
HON. J. L. CALDWELL, Lincoln, Lancaster county, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, May 23, 1853. He attended various schools, studied law in New Lisbon and Cleveland, and in 1879, came west as far as Marshalltown, Iowa. He there went into the law office of Boardman & Brown for two years, and then paddled his own boat. In 1878 he settled in Lincoln. His shingle reads: "Caldwell & Houston, Attorneys-at-Law, 1819, Richards' Block." Mr. Caldwell is one of the active members of the House, a ready talker, and one of the busiest of the busy.

HON. JOHN H. CAMERON, Herman, Washington county, was born in Scotland June 20, 1843. His parents immigrated to the United States when he was a child, and settled in Grant county, Wisconsin. Thee (sic) he was raised. Early in the war he enlisted in Company C, Second Wisconsin Cav., and went out on the Mississippi campaign, and was all along that great valley wherever there was work to be done. August, 1865, he was mustered out, returned home, and in April, 1866, came to Nebraska and located in Washington county. He has followed farming since, and is in a fine section of country. Mr. Cameron was elected on the Republican ticket, but had a hard tussle.

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Three or four tickets in the field, knifing each other, was a sort of quadrangular duel that is not pleasant to dwell upon. However, being an old soldier and familiar with the tactics, he pulled through and lives to give them another whirl.
HON. S. L. CANNON, Westover, Custer county, was born in Nodaway county, Mo., Nov. 9, 1845. In 1855 his parents settled in Nebraska City. They remained there four years, then removed to Cass county. He enlisted in 1862 in the Second Nebraska Regiment, and went up into Dakota and Minnesota after the hostile Sioux. It was a year before he was mustered out. He was all around this section of country before Lincoln was thought of, or a sod was turned west of the river counties. Mr. Cannon was five years in the laud office at Lincoln. It will be three years in April since he moved up into Custer county. He there follows farming and stock growing. It is a new section of country, but coming to the front like the bills of Lebanon. He owns 320 acres of land, has been a member of the county board for two years, and is making commendable progress in the acquisition of temporal blessings. He affiliates with the Republicans.

HON. A. V. COLE, Juniata, Adams county, was born in Huron county, Ohio, Jan. 14, 1842. His parents died when he was a child, and he was jostled about from pillar to post until he was large enough to fight his own battle, and he has been battling for himself from that day to this. When a helpless child he was shifted off to Canada, back to Ohio, thence to Wayne county, N. Y., and at 10 years old was bound out until 21 years of age. He put in five years of the time and then put out. It was a species of involuntary servitude, and the boy rebelled. At 17 years of age he went to Lenawee county, Michigan, and at the

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age of 19 enlisted in the Fourth Michigan Infantry. During 1861-62-63 he served in that regiment, and in 1864-65 in the Sixth Michigan Cav., Custer's old brigade. At Cold Harbor, Va., he was severely wounded, the bones of his left arm being shot away above the elbow, resulting in total disability of the limb. He was in many of the great battles and saw the dead heaped one upon another. July 6, 1865, he was mustered out, returned to Michigan, and subsequently attended Eastman's National Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated from that institution with a splendid business education in 1866. He then returned to Michigan and engaged in general merchandising. This continued up to 1871, when he sold out and immigrated to Nebraska, settling in Adams county on a homestead. There he resided until the spring of 1873, when he obtained a government title to his land, and moved into Juniata. He there opened a store and carried on a general merchandising business. This lasted until January, 1883, when he sold out and went into the real estate and insurance business. He has been on the board of county commissioners for four years. In 1885-'86 he was Department Commander of the G. A. R., of Nebraska. He is Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Nebraska Guard, and was a member of the House in 1885. Mr. Cole was a prominent candidate for the Speakership the present session, but gave way in behalf of Mr. Harlan. He has valuable property in Adams county, and is a representative citizen of that rich and beautiful section of the state.
HON. J. A. COPE, Burchard, Pawnee county, was born in Morgan county, Ohio, June 4, 1840. He was raised a farmer and lived with his parents until he was 19 years old. He then struck out for the west and in 1859 settled down on a piece of land in Juneau county, Wis., and for

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eleven years followed farming there. On the 30th of August, 1862, he enlisted in the Twelfth Wis. Infantry. He participated in the Atlanta campaign and was in the hard fights of Vicksburg, Chattanoga, and a dozen other red-hot battles. June 15, 1865, he was mustered out and sent home. In 1870 he pitched his tent in Pawnee county, Neb., on a piece of land, and he has been hammering away there from that day to this. He now has a half section of fine land and is well fixed. He was a member of this body in 1885, votes the Republican ticket, and supports more altitude than any man in the Legislature - 6-5 3/4 with his boots off. His fighting weight is 265 pounds, but when he has nothing else to do he can put on a quarter of a ton. Mr. Cope is the very embodiment of physicial (sic) development and manhood.
HON. WM. S. CRAIG, Craig, Burt county, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, July 24, 1846. Mr. Craig was educated at the Hopedale College, Ohio, and obtained a commercial education at Duff's Commercial College, Pittsburg, Pa. In 1870 he came to Nebraska and settled in Burt county, a farmer and and (sic) stock grower. He was raised a farmer, and at an early day he secured quite a large tract of land in Burt county, and thus laid the foundation for a fine stock farm. His place embraces an area of about 2,000 acres, well watered, and with nearly 500 acres under cultivation. He is raising cattle, horses, and hogs, feeding and handling quite extensively. He is one of the thrifty and enterprising farmers and stock growers of that fine county, and a popular citizen of the upper country. Mr. Craig is a sterling Republican and a working member on the floor of the House. He was a zealous supporter of Senator Van Wyck.

HON. MORGAN CRANE, Taylor, Loup county, was born in Upper Canada, near London, Nov. 30, 1832. His par-

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ents, however, resided in McHenry county, Ill., but went over to Canada on a visit, therefore the subject of this sketch is a Canadian by an accident of birth. At a very tender age he was brought back to Illinois; there remained up to manhood, and in January, 1854, was married there. His father settled in Illinois as early as 1836, thirty-five miles from Chicago. He was a native of Vermont. In 1854 Mr. Crane came out to Iowa, purchased a piece of government land in Jackson county, and blocked out a farm. There he put in his time until the war came on, and in Sept., 1861, enlisted in Co. B, Ninth Iowa Infantry. The regiment went to St. Louis, participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, then with Gen. Curtis went to Helena, and so on down the river to Sherman and Grant's great armies. They were in the Vicksburg campaign, back to Jackson, up to Chattanoga, at the battle of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and so on to the end of the war. Mr. Crane was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, by reason of wounds and general physical disability. He was in the capacity of spy for Gen. Curtis in Missouri much of the time, and consequently was peppered with bucksho (sic) on several occasions, until he was loaded down with more than he could carry, so had to retire. The spring of 1866 he came to Nebraska and located on the Little Blue with his wife and four children. They camped awhile where Lincoln now stands and contemplated the desolate scene. It was then termed the Salt Basin. In 1883 Mr. Craine sold out his Little Blue property and moved up into Loup county, where he and his sons could have more room to raise cattle and spread out. He thinks he has struck it rich up there, as cattle and other stock flourish as if they were in the garden of the Lord. When he lived down on the Little Blue he was surveyor of Jefferson county, justice of the peace at Steele City for eight years, organized the

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first Masonic lodge there, and was its Master until he came away. His religion is Masonic, politics Republican, and G. A. R. military.
HON. JOHN A. DEMPSTER, Geneva, Fillmore county, was born in Dundee, Kane county, Illinois, September 28, 1840. He was raised down there, a farmer boy, attended the district school, and when the war broke out went into the army, enlisting in the Fifty-second Illinois. He was in seventeen of the hardest fought battles of that memorable period, and served four years; was with Sherman to the sea, and was mustered out in July, 1865, a hospital steward. He then returned to Illinois, went into a drygoods store as clerk, and was subsequently married in Elgin, Ill. He farmed for a time there and then moved to Rochelle, Ill. In 1871 he came to Nebraska and took a homestead in Fillmore county. He has been superintendent of public instruction six years, postmaster of Geneva four years, and since 1875 has been in the mercantile business. At the present time he is merchandising, dealing in real estate, and is one of the solid men of that county. He owns a half dozen fine farms, 880 acres improved, town property and other valuable interests. He has made all these things since coming to the state, and of course has a warm side for Nebraska. He thinks no other state will lift an honest, economical, and industrious man out of the depths of poverty as quick as this. Mr. Dempster is of Scotch origin, a Republican as old as the party, and he is here to do the greatest good to the greatest number to the exten (sic) of his ability.

HON. JOHN W. DICKINSON, Waverly, Lancaster county, was born in Grant county, Wis., September 22, 1845. His father was a farmer and the son lived at home until he went into the army. He attended the common schools and the Platteville Academy, and enlisted in the Forty-third Wis-

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consin in 1864, Gen. Cobb's last regiment, Company B. The regiment went south into Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, and participated in the finishing touches of the war. Early in July, 1865, he was mustered out in Milwaukee. Soon after he came west, and stopped awhile in Omaha. He was there the year the Capital was located at Lincoln, so he followed the fortunes of war out into Lancaster county, and took a homestead near where Waverly now stands. He has since followed farming and the stock business. At the present time he is in the grain and stock business in company with S. Walker, in Waverly. Mr. Dickinson is a veteran Republican and represents the straight ticket.
HON. WM. H. DILLER, Diller, Jefferson county, is a native of Cumberland county, Pa., born May 7, 1846. He was educated at the common schools and Greason Academy, and subsequently taught school in his native county for the period of three years. During the rebel raid into his state he took up arms and assisted in running them out, and in maintaining the honor and dignity of the Keystone State. In 1878 he came to Nebraska and located in Fairbury, Jefferson county. He there engaged in the stock raising business for a time, then moved out into the eastern part of the county and opened up a farm of, 480 acres the fall of 1885, and now has it under a fine state of cultivation. His town was named for him, and he has valuable interests there. He is now engaged in the grain and live stock business at that point and has been largely instrumental in building up the town. He has acceptably filled responsible local offices, and is a popular citizen. Mr. Diller is a straight Republican, anti-Van Wyck, and upon these issues he was elected, and he stands by his colors.

HON. GEO. W. EGGLESTON, of Bennet, Lancaster county, is a native of England, born in Grantham, February

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23, 1850. His parents immigrated to the United States when he was a child, and settled in Ohio. They were there but a few years when they came west and stopped in Peoria, Ill. The next westward march was to Springdale, Iowa. In 1873 Mr. Eggleston located in Bennet, and has since been in the grain and coal business there. He is a Republican and votes the straight ticket.
HON. CHAS. F. EISLEY, Norfolk, Madison county, is a native of Wirtemberg, Germany, born July 3, 1838. He lived in the old country until he was 15 years of age, then immigrated to the United States in 1853, and stopped three years in Pennsylvania and learned the trade of confectioner in Pittsburgh. He subsequently came to Iowa, Cedar county, and for a time farmed. In 1858 he settled in Nebraska, locating in Washington county, now Dodge county, where he took land, farmed, and homesteaded when the law went into effect. He eventually went into the hardware trade in Hooper, and more recently in Norfolk, where he still carries on the business. He has no reason to complain. Mr. Eisley is a Republican.

HON. CHAS. C. ELLIS, Sterling, Johnson county, was born in Monmouth, Kennebec county, Maine, June 7, 1842. He attended the common schools, grew up on a farm, and when the war broke out enlisted in the Seventh Maine Infantry and served nearly three years. He was in many of the hard-fought battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and others; was taken prisoner, and for six months confined in Libby, Andersonville, and Florence. He experienced his full share of the hardships of that memorable period. After the war he went to Central America, and for three years had charge of a hotel in Nicaragua, brought about by the death of an uncle. From there he returned to Maine, resided in Boston, Mass., for a time,