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     John Hopwood Mickey is a native of the Hawkeye state born six miles west of Burlington , Iowa , September 30, 1845. His father, Oliver Perry Mickey, was a pioneer in Iowa, locating there in 1836. His mother in maidenhood was Betsy Ann Davison, of English extraction. In 1847, two years after the birth of Governor Mickey, the family removed to Louisa county, Iowa, and there in the common schools of the day, the governor to be received his early education, well directed by careful parents who zealously guarded the moral environments of their growing children. In 1863 Governor Mickey enlisted as a private, in Company D, 8th Iowa cavalry, and until the close of the war, with his regiment was in service in eastern Tennessee and with Sherman in his campaign until the surrender of Atlanta, and with Hood and Thomas in their Tennessee campaign. He was honorably mustered out of service in August, 1865. He returned to his Iowa home and for two years was a student at Wesleyan college at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Upon leaving college, he engaged in school teaching and during the vacation periods he devoted himself to farming. On September 10, 1867, he was married to Miss Morinda McCray of Des Moines county, Iowa. One year after with his worldly wealth, the material part of which he loaded into a prairie schooner, he set out for Polk county, Nebraska, and on the 3rd of September, 1868, he had reached the banks of the Blue river and there filed upon homestead. At that time there was only one family living in Polk county, though quite a number of claims bad been taker, up by homesteaders. Governor Mickey remained upon his homestead until November, 1872, when he removed to Osceola, then a town consisting of a court-house and a small store.

      The town could not, at that time, boast of a first settler as there was not a single residence in the town and there was much interest attached to who should be the first settler. Mr. Mickey, with his wife, their baby, and a two-horse team and lumber wagon laden with household effects,
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started for the town and at the same time another pioneer. W. F. Kimmel, started over the same road for Osceola. It was a race between the two parties as to which would reach the place first. Their horses ran neck by neck the last two miles of the road but as they neared the town, Mr. Kimmel having the lighter load, and perhaps the best team of horses, left Governor Mickey a little in the rear and thus was the Governor robbed of the honor of becoming Osceola's first settler. This race was Governor Mickey's first and last horse race.

      In 1870, two years before the location of the county seat at Osceola, Polk county was organized and Governor Mickey was elected the first county treasurer, an office he held for nearly ten years. In November, 1880, he was elected a member of the Legislature and during the term in which he served he was one of the leaders in the house. He was active in behalf of and gave his ardent support to the Slocumb bill for the regulation of the sale of liquors.

      In May, 1879, the Osceola Bank, with a capital stock of $5,000 was opened by Mr. Mickey. This bank, through the careful management of Mr. Mickey, has been one of the successful institutions of its kind in the state, and in 1903 had a paid up capital of $37,500. Ever since its organization Mr. Mickey has been its president. During the financial stringency of 1893, when financial institutions throughout the country were threatened with disaster, Mr. Mickey's bank survived the storm and was the means of assisting many of the business houses and farmers of Polk county in maintaining such credit as enabled them to survive during the depressed times.

      Governor Mickey from his early manhood has been a Republican of the unswerving kind, though his father was a Stephen A. Douglas Democrat. Governor Mickey's first vote was cast for Lincoln in 1864, when he was only nineteen year's of age, the State of Iowa having passed a special act enabling all soldiers to vote irrespective of age. In justice to Mr. Mickey it may be said that his ambitions for political honors have never been over zealous, but his ambitions to serve the people, his state and his country to the utmost of his power have always been prominent. To this conscientious sense of dirty is due his ascendency to the gubernatorial chair. His selection for the nomination of Governor came to him without any personal effort of his own other than his abeyance to the desires of the Republican party of the state, voiced through the members of the convention which nominated him. The conduct of his campaign in Nebraska

was beyond criticism. The fight made in his behalf was a clean fight and his election was a victory, not alone for his party, but for all citizens of the state who advocate careful administration of public affairs and untrammeled and unbiased exercise of executive prerogatives.

      Governor Mickey is a member of the Methodist church at Osceola, has been a trustee of his church for many years and superintendent of the Sunday school. In the support of his church and in matters of charity he has always been unostentatiously liberal.

      The church at Osceola was erected at a cost of $15,000, toward which amount Governor Mickey donated $5,000. Within the last dozen years he has contributed more than $11,000 to the Wesleyan University at Lincoln, and there is hardly a state enterprise of his church in Nebraska toward which he has not given liberally, including a subscription of $500 to assist in the erection of the Methodist hospital at Omaha. While he is a staunch supporter of his own church, he is liberal in assisting other denominations and is broad-minded in his religious views. For some years he has been the president of the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska Wesleyan University at University Place near Lincoln.

      Governor Mickey has been twice married. His first wife died December 23, 1886, leaving him five children. On Dec. 8, 1887, he was married to Flora C. Campbell, of Norden, Nebraska, who is the mother of four of his children, his family consisting of nine, all of whom are living--five boys and four girls. The eldest son is Oliver E. Mickey, thirty-three years of age, and is the cashier of his father's bank. Harlan A., age thirty-one, of Keya Paya county, and Evan S., age twenty-nine, who is his father chief clerk. The eldest daughter, Bertha E., is the wife of H. O. Smith, of the Burlington ticket office at Lincoln. Mary N., the second daughter, is a student at the Wesleyan University at Lincoln. Benjamin H., age fourteen; James H., age twelve, and the two youngest daughters, Flora Elizabeth, age eight, and Norma Adeline, age three, complete the family list of the Governor's household.

      Governor Mickey was inaugurated January 6, 1903, and is with his family, making his home at the state executive mansion.

      Edmund George McGilton, Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, has the distinction of being one of the large men among the state officers, not alone with his six foot four of height, but as well in his broadness of view

and his ability and capacity for work. He was born at EauGalla, Wisconsin, February 10, 1859. His father, John McGilton, was born at Moores, Clinton county, New York, and spent his boyhood days in Canada. In 1854 he removed from Canada east to northern Wisconsin, where he was one of the pioneers and where he commenced in the lumber trade, operating a number of saw mills. The mother of Lieutenant Governor McGilton, in maidenhood, was Gracia Eleanor Burke. Both parents were of sturdy stock and of strong character. On his maternal side Governor McGilton descends from one of the oldest families in America, founded by Richard Burke of Sudbury, Massachusetts, who was born about 1640, and died at Sudbury about 1693. His oldest son was also named Richard and his son Jonathan was born at Stow, Massachusetts, in January, 1701 and died at Windsor, Vermont, May 10, 1875. Jonathan married Thankful Wait, May 10, 1731, and ten children were born of this union, Jesse Burke being the fourth child. He was born at Brookfield, Massachusetts, April 8, 1738, and was one of the pioneer settlers at Winchester, Vermont. He raised the first military organization in that vicinity of which there is any record, and of which he became captain. This was prior to the commencement of the Revolution. Captain Burke was a close friend of Ethan Allen and his house the quarters of the latter. Captain Burke served with distinction in the Revolution, and died January 10, 1811, aged seventy-three years. His remains were interred in the old grave-yard at Winchester. The youngest son of Captain Burke was Eligah Barke, born at Westminister, Vermont, March 3, 1774, and died March 31, 1843. He was a farmer, and was among the first to introduce the raising of Merino sheep in Vermont. He married Grace Jeffers in September, 1795. One of his sons was Edmund Burke, born January 13, 1809, who became prominent as a lawyer and editor and served three terms in the United States Congress, and under President Polk was Commissioner of Patents for four years. Another son of Eligah Burke was Thales, born in Westminister, Vermont, January 31, 1811, married Margaret Cascaden, October 30, 1834, and became a pioneer settler in Eau Galla, Dunn county, Wisconsin. The first daughter born of this union was Gracia Eleanor, the mother of Lieutenant Governor McGilton, who was the second born of a family of four children.

      Edmund G. McGilton received a thorough education in public and private schools, entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and in 1883, was graduated in the literary and classical courses. He them

entered the law school of the same university and was graduated therefrom in 1885. Immediately after his graduation and admission to the bar he engaged with the receiver of the Northwestern Car Co., at Stillwater, Minnesota, and was employed in the collection and security department, where he remained until January, 1888, when he removed to Omaha, Nebraska, and there, with a classmate, H. P. Stoddard, opened up an office and commenced actively in the practice of law. At the end of two years this partnership was dissolved and Mr. McGilton was alone in practice until 1892, when he formed a co-partnership with Cavanaugh and Thomas under the firm name of Cavanaugh, Thomas & McGilton. This partnership was dissolved in 1884, Mr. McGilton withdrawing, and a year later, he joined the firm of McCabe & Elmer, and until 1887 the firm was known as McCabe, McGilton & Elmer. The latter year Mr. McGilton purchased the interests of his partners and since then has been attending to his practice alone. Mr. McGilton has been more than ordinarily successful as a lawyer, and is one of the tax-payers in Omaha, where he owns a pleasant home. For some years he has been a member of the Omaha Commercial Club, and for one year was a member of the Executive Committee of the same. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar and Shriner and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He inherited his Republicanism from his father and has always been an ardent supporter of his party's principles. He has never been an office-seeker. The only office he ever held, and one which was not a sinecure was superintendent of schools at Menominie, Wisconsin, which position he occupied for one year, with twenty-two teachers under his control. This was prior to his graduation from the University of Wisconsin. He has never held a state or county office until he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the State of Nebraska.

      Lieutenant Governor McGilton was married in April, 1880, to Lina A. Williams, and has but one child, a daughter.

      George W. Marsh, now serving his second term as Secretary of State, was born January 14, 1851, in Saline county, Missouri, his parents being among what is provincially known an Pennsylvania Dutch, with Scotch blood on his paternal side. When he was seven years of age his parents located on a farm near Falls City. Both parents are dead. His father and two brothers served as soldiers in the Civil War. Mr. Marsh received

his early education in the pioneer schools of Nebraska, which he attended during the winter months, spending his summers at work on the home farm. After leaving the public schools, he took a two years' course in the State Normal School at Peru, where he equipped himself for teaching school, which was his vocation alternated with farming until 1884. The latter year he disposed of his farm, because a resident of Shubert and there engaged in the drug business. In 1889 he was elected county clerk on the Republican ticket and two years later was re-elected by an increased majority. At the end of his second term as county clerk he was elected county treasurer and was re-elected to the office, serving two full terms. After leaving the county treasurer's office he engaged is the mercantile business which, in a few years, he disposed of and because part owner and editor of the Falls City Journal.

      Mr. Marsh, from his early manhood, has been an active worker in the political field and has served as chairman of the County Central committee of Richardson county and also as Congressional Committeeman for his county. His second nomination for Secretary of State was unanimous and his election was by an increased majority.

      In 1877 Mr. Marsh was married to Miss Anna R. Stephens, and has four children, Nellie M., aged sixteen, Wayne, aged twelve, Benton, aged ten, and Master Arthur, aged five years. Since 1900 he has been, with his family, a resident of the City of Lincoln.

      Charles Weston, Auditor of the State of Nebraska, is a native of the City of New York, where he was born July 4, 1854. When he was one year old his parents removed to Champaign county, Illinois, where his youth was spent on a farm and in attendance at the public schools. His elementary education was received in the schools of Champaign and Chicago. In 1872 he entered the University of Illinois and was graduated from that institution in 1876. In 1888 Mr. Weston was admitted to the bar by the Illinois Supreme Court, and for some years practiced law in Chicago. In 1884 Mr. Weston became a resident of Washington Territory, and there, for a while, was the editor of the Lewis County Bee. In 1886 he settled in Nebraska and, for some years, has made his home at Hay Springs, in Sheridan county, where he is engaged extensively in stockraising. He has also been interested in the mercantile and banking business. In 1891 he was elected a Regent of the University of Nebraska,

a position which he filled with high satisfaction to the people and the people of the state. Mr. Weston has been all active factor in Republican politics in Nebraska and in a local way, has been prominent on the School and Village Board at Hay Springs. His re-election to the office of Auditor was by a largely increased majority, which bears evidence to the satisfaction he has given as a public servant of the people of the state.

      Mr. Weston's family consists of a wife and one daughter fourteen years of age, whose education in being carefully looked after by her father.

      Peter Mortensen, Treasurer of the State of Nebraska, is a native of Denmark, was born October 19, 1844. He came to America in 1870 and to Nebraska in 1872, locating is Valley county, where he commenced farming. In 1875 he was elected county treasurer of Valley county and served until 1884, filling the office nine consecutive years. After retiring from the treasurer's office he commenced in the banking business at Ord. In 1885 upon the organization of the First National Bank he became its assistant cashier, which position he retained until 1898 when he became its president and continues in this office. From 1888 until 1901 he was one of the heavy stockholders in the Woodberry Milling Co. of Ord. He in an extensive real estate owner and devotes much of his attention to agriculture and stock-raising.

      In the election of 1905, in his own county he ran ahead of his ticket 499 votes, while the nominal majority is about 114. Mr. Mortensen has always been a Republican and an active worker for his party's good. He has never been an office-seeker and this in his first election to any important public office. Mr. Mortensen was married in 1978 to Jennie Williams of Lee county, Illinois, and is the father of one son.

      William K. Fowler, Superintendent of Public Instruction, is of sturdy Scotch peasantry ancestry, both his parents being natives of Scotland, and emigrants to this country about 1850. Superintendent Fowler was born in New Jersey, in 1864. His early education he received in the public and grammar schools of New York City, and graduated in 1879 with the highest honors of his class and entered the College of the City of New York, standing sixth in rank out of about twelve hundred applicants. In this

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college he studied for one year, then entered the employ of a commercial firm in New York City, with which he continued until 1883, when he located in Nebraska, joining his brothers, who were farmers in Dodge county, near North Bend. In the fall after his arrival, he began teaching a district school in the southwestern part of Dodge county, and for two years school teaching was his occupation in Dodge county. He then entered Monmouth College, Illinois, where he spent one year in study. In the spring of 1880, Mr. Fowler was elected principal of schools at Scribner, Nebraska, where he taught until December, 1887, when a severe epidemic of diphtheria necessitated the closing of the schools for an indefinite period, which allowed Mr. Fowler to visit Scotland and England during the year 1888. While on this visit he took a special coarse in the University of Edinburgh. He returned to Nebraska in the spring of 1888 and became the publisher and editor of the Scribner News and later of the North Bend Argus. In August, 1890, he was unanimously called by the Scribner Board of Education to again assume the principalship of the Scribner schools, a position which he held for three consecutive years, giving such administration of school affairs as permanently fixed his standing among the leading educators of the State of Nebraska. In the summer of 1883, with many competitors in the field, he was unanimously chosen Superintendent of the Blair city schools and, after two years of service, the Board of Education of the City of Blair expressed their high satisfaction with his work by re-electing him for a period of three years and increasing his salary $100 per year. Again in 1888, he was re-elected for another three-year term, but his reputation as an educator became known so well outside the limits of Dodge and Washington counties that when the Republican state convention met in 1900, he was selected for the nomination of State Superintendent of Public Instruction and elected to the office by a plurality of about 4,000 votes. Two years in this office resulted in such an improvement in the conditions of the school system in Nebraska that he was the unanimous choice of his party's convention in 1901, and at the ensuing election he was returned to office by the handsome plurality of 10,070 votes, which is evidence of the high estimation in which he is held by the people of Nebraska and is an expression of their hearty approval and appreciation of the admirable work he has accomplished along educational lines and in elevating the standing of the public schools of Nebraska.

      Superintendent Fowler for two years has served an president of the High School section of the Nebraska Slate Teacher's Association. For two

years he was clerk of the Educational Council of which he is still a member, and for three years was a member of the Executive Committee of the State Teachers' Association. Since 1892 he has been an active member of the National Educational Association and is also a member of the National Department of School Superintendents. In all matters pertaining to education he is a diligent student and in ever active in every enterprise designed for the betterment and advancement of educational affairs.

      Mr. Fowler was married in 1880 to Miss Adda Parker, of Scribner, and they number in their family four bright children, two boys and two girls, Marie, Kirk, Frank and Florence.

      Frank N. Front, Attorney General, is a native of New Jersey, where he was born in 1870. When he was three years of age his parents removed to Stark county, Illinois. There his preliminary education was received in the public schools. At an early age he commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Wright at Toulon, and when he was twenty-three years old was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Illinois. For six years he followed his profession in Illinois, and in 1881, came to Nebraska and located at Blue Springs, where he remained seven years, during which time he was city attorney. In 1880 he became a resident of Beatrice. In 1897 he was appointed city attorney of Beatrice by Mayor Bourne and held this position for two years with the utmost satisfaction to citizens of the city. In 1898 he was elected to the State Senate from the Twenty-first District and during the 26th Session, was chairman of the Committee on Revenue and Reform Schools and other Asylums. He was also a member and chairman of the Cornell Investigating committee. His nomination for Attorney General in 1902 was unanimous and he was returned to office by an increased majority of more than 10,000 votes. Attorney General Prout enjoys the respect of the legal fraternity of the state of which he has been a member for so many yearn and noted for his integrity, high character and ability. He has always been loyal to the Republican party and an earnest and tireless worker for his party's good. As a practitioner General Prout is able, loyal and vigilant. As a lawyer he in an original thinker and investigator. When attorney for the City of Blue Springs, the Omaha & Republican Valley Railway company refused to build a station and to stop trains at that place, except upon terms with which the city could not comply. Mr. Prout applied to the Supreme Court for a

writ of mandamus to compel the railroad company to build a station and furnish other railroad facilities for the people of Blue Springs, and this relief, for the first time, was granted after a hard-fought legal battle. This celebrated case is reported in volume 10 of the Supreme Court reports, on page 510.

      His biennial report is one of the models of its kind--it being a complete digest, indexed, of every case, both civil and criminal, that came before his office, and is the first of its kind ever published. General Prout is married, and has one daughter.

      George D. Follmer, Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, now serving his second term, was born in Monour county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1844. When thirteen years of age his environments necessitated that he leave the public school and start out on life's battle. He began his career as a clerk in a general store at Danville, Pennsylvania, where he remained for five years. Then he removed to Hazelton, Pennsylvania, and for two years was a clerk for Engel & McHale, proprietors of a general merchandise store. In 1864 he became a clerk in the wholesale store of John Gotshall & Co., at Oil City, Pennsylvania, and remained there until 1867, when, in company with P. W. Montgomery, he engaged in the general merchandise business at Red Oak, Iowa. In the summer of 1870, he sold out his interests and in January, 1871, removed to Nebraska and located on a homestead in Nuckolls county, filing upon his claim in February of that year. Subsequently, he bought a tract of land in the Little Blue river valley in the same county, which is still his home. Mr. Follmer, in private life, is a farmer and stock-grower and has been considerably interested in the real estate business. In 1871, upon the organization of Nuckolls county, he was appointed county treasurer and by re-election to the office, served until January 8, 1870. This was the only office of any important character he ever held, until 1900, when he was elected Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings. His nomination in 1901 was unanimous and his election was by an increased majority over the vote of 1900.

      Mr. Follmer was married in 1874, to Miss Eva M. Smith, of Grant, Iowa. They have a family consisting of four sons and three daughters, all of whom have been afforded every educational advantage. Since his first term as a state officer, Mr. Follmer and family have been making their home in Lincoln.

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