HE thirty-ninth district, consisting of the county of Polk, is represented in the house by Hon. William Welch, of Osceola. He was born in Ohio in 1841, and his father was a pioneer in that state. William served as a private soldier in the war of the rebellion and came west in 1865, located in Iowa and remained there for ten years. in 1875 he married Miss Emma T. Lodge in a sod house in Polk county, Nebraska, where they immediately began housekeeping. They have two children living. Beginning with the Lincoln campaign in 1860 Mr. Welch voted the republican ticket and so continued to do until the rise of the populist movement in Nebraska. Led by his desire for reform he supported the union labor ticket in the presidential campaign of 1888. Since the organization of the populist party he has been closely identified with that movement, and was nominated on that ticket as the legislative candidate in the last campaign. He has always been a farmer, and is deeply interested in all economic movements looking to the betterment of the agricultural classes. He is, however, a man of broad and patriotic views and enjoys to the highest degree the confidence and respect of his constituents. He is a member of the committees on accounts and expenditures, university and normal schools, mines and minerals, and live stock and grazing.

HE sixty-fourth district is represented in the lower house of the twenty-fifth session of the legislature by Hon. Charles F. Wheeler, of Precept. His parents were Minnesota pioneers and he was born in that state April 18, 1860. His father was a millwright and an inventor, and served as a gallant soldier in the war which broke out when his son was an infant. In 1878, the father having died four years before, young Wheeler came with his mother to Nebraska, locating in Furnas county where he has since resided. He is a farmer by occupation, and is in full sympathy with the aims and objects of the populist party. He was elected to the office of county treasurer in 1891, and two years later was re-elected. In the campaign of 1896 he was nominated by the populists, endorsed by the friends of fusion in his district, and after an earnest campaign was elected by a good majority. He was married July 22, 1884, to Miss Ollie Robbins, of Harlan county, and their little family consists of two native Nebraska girls, of whom their parents are very proud. Representative Wheeler is a man of convictions, intellect, and clean conscience. He is highly esteemed by his neighbors and political associates. His committees are privileges and elections, finance, ways and means, and penitentiary.

HE fusion representative of the forty-seventh district in the lower house, Hon. Charles A. Wiebe, was born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, July 28, 1860. When two years of age he came with his parents to Nebraska, where his father, Fred A. Wiebe, formed a partnership and located in the general merchandise business on the old government trail one hundred and fifty miles west of the Missouri river. This pioneer establishment was known throughout the state as the "0. K. Store." In 1867, when the Union Pacific was under construction and the town of Grand Island was located, the "0. K." firm moved there with their families and continued in business. Here young Wiebe, our legislator, grew up with the country. He has followed almost continuously the general merchandise business, and is now manager of a large department store. Politically he has always been a democrat, and heartily endorsed the Chicago platform of 1896. He has served as a member of the board of supervisors of Hall county. In 1883 he married Miss Florence H. Austin, of Montreal, Canada, and they have one son. He is a popular, influential, and safe business man. He received the unanimous nomination of the democratic and populist conventions, and was elected after a well-fought campaign. He is a member of the committees on railroads, cities and towns, labor, and the sifting committee.

ON. THOMAS M. WIMBERLEY, one of the representatives in the house from Lancaster county, was born at Macon, Illinois, October 2, 1859. His parents removed to Iowa the next year, and settled on a small farm in Lucas county, where they resided for many years. In 1874 the family came to Nebraska, settling on a farm in Seward county, and later located at Ulysses, Butler county, where the parents still reside. Thomas attended school at Seward for two years, and afterwards taught for some time. He entered the State University in 1878 and remained for three years. He was married December 3, 1882, to Miss Ina E. Haynes, at Ulysses, and one daughter, Bertha, is the jewel of their home. He engaged in the banking business at Bellwood, afterwards at Curtis, in the western part of the state, and came to Lancaster county in 1893, located at University Place, accepting the position of cashier of the Windom Bank, which office he still holds. He is a graduate of the Nebraska Wesleyan University, of which he is now a trustee, and is held in high esteem by his fellow churchmen, college associates and the people of his county. Notwithstanding the fact that this is Mr. Wimberley's first legislative experience, he has shown himself to be a useful, active, and successful member. He is chairman of the library committee, and a member of the committees on engrossed and enrolled bills, and banks and currency.