life in Knox County, following the profession of abstracter of titles. He was educated at the Friends' Select School of Granville and in the Ewing High School. He is affiliated with the Democratic party, and has been Deputy County Clerk for four years. Mr. Cook is a single man and homesteaded in Knox County.

      W. R. ELLIS was born September 10, 1869, in Madison County, Nebraska. His father came to Madison County in 1867, and W. R. Ellis was the first white boy born in this county. His mother taught the first school in the county. Mr. Ellis attended the common schools and the Normal College at Madison, Nebraska, and studied law in the office of Senator Allen. He was married to Miss Edna Cooper in 1894, and they have two sons. In 1896 he moved to Knox County, where he has a good practice. He served as Attorney of Knox County from 1899 to 1903.

 

      In 1857 the first permanent settlement in Lancaster County was made on Salt Creek fifteen miles south of Lincoln. These earliest residents were John D. Prey and family, consisting of a wife, daughter and three sons, John W., David, and William. This same year, claims were taken along upper Salt Creek, extending from Hickman to Saltillo. The first settlement near Lincoln was made by Capt. W. T. Donovan and family in the summer of 1857. Capt. Donovan came from Pittsburgh, Penn. to Plattsmouth on the Missouri in command of the steamer "Emma." He settled on the west bank of Salt Creek near the mouth of Oak Creek. At this time, Salt Creek was the boundary line between the tribes of Pawnee and Otoe Indians. There were a few conflicts between the settlers and the red men, but few lives were lost. The first native white child of the county was Morton Donovan, while a son of Mrs. Michael Shea was the second child born here. The first school in this county was taught by Robert F. Thurston in a dugout at Yankee Hill, on the present site of the Hospital for the Insane. The progress of the early schools was interrupted by Indian troubles. In the fall of 1867 a small stone school house was erected in Lincoln on the corner of Eleventh and Q Sts. This first Lincoln school was taught by George Peck, with about 35 pupils in attendance. There are now 22,045 children in the county of school age. Lancaster has 16 graded schools supplied with 254 teachers which is a record not equalled by any other county. The county was organized in 1859, with an area of 864 square miles. The population is 64,835, while the inhabitants of Lincoln, the county seat and state capital, number about 45,000. The land is for the most part a rolling prairie, while valley land occupies about 15 per cent of the surface. The soil on the higher lands is a gray loam and in the valleys a dark loam with a clay subsoil. 162,381 acres are devoted to the raising of corn and 75,618 acres to the raising of oats. Hogs and corn are the principal farm products. About $190,000 is yearly expended for farm labor. Land has increased in value from $5 to $15 per acre in the last few years, and 9,35 land transfers were made in the last two years, prior to 1903. All kinds of hay, small grain and corn are raised, and Lancaster ranks first in the state in her production of milk, butter and eggs. There are as many as 500 acres of sugar beets raised in the county in a year. Salt Creek is the principal stream, and other creeks are Oak, Middle, Haines and Antelope.

      JAMES L. CALDWELL was born on a farm near Columbiana, Ohio, May 23, 1853. In 1857 he moved to Iowa but returned to Ohio in 1861. In 1873 he moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, and settled in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1878. He received his education in various schools in Ohio. He served as a Councilman in Lincoln and was a member of the Legislature in 1887 and 1889. He was a special assistant to the United States Attorney in 1901 and 1902. Mr. Caidwell is a member of the Republican party and has served two terms as Attorney of Lancaster County.

      WALTER L. DAWSON was born March 20, 1865 at Lafayette, Indiana of American parentage. He came to Nebraska in 1873 and has been engaged in clerical work. He attended the Business College at Fremont, Nebraska, is a member of the Republican party and has been elected County Clerk on that ticket. He has been a book-keeper in the Land Commissioner's office and has served as Deputy County Treasurer, Deputy County Clerk

and Secretary of the Republican County Committee.

      J. D. MOORE was born in June, 1847 in Thedford, Vermont. His parents were D. F. Moore and Esther Moore. He received his education in the high school of Rockford, Illinois. Since January 1902 he has been Register of Deeds of Lancaster County. He is a member of the Republican party.

      NICHOLAS RESS is a native of Germany, having been born in Ibind, June 1, 1867. In 1881 he came to Illinois and three years later located in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a bookkeeper by profession, having received his training in the Gem City Business College of Quincy, Illinois. He is a member of the Republican party and served as Deputy Sheriff if Lancaster County.

      BENJAMIN F. KNIGHT was born May 11,1854 in Morgantown, Indiana. He received his education in the high school of Morgantown and in the Northwestern University of Indianapolis, Indiana. From Indiana he came to Nebraska March 13, 1884 and has engaged in farming. He is a member of the Republican party and was elected County Treasurer of Lancaster County on that ticket.

     O. R. BOWMAN was born of American parentage October 30, 1869 in Bureau County,