The soil of Phelps County is, in general, a dark sandy loam, underlaid with clay, almost all of which is capable of cultivation. Six per cent of the land is made up of a sandy, untillable soil, which is utilized for grazing purposes. Phelps County is situated on the divide between the Republican and Platte Rivers, its surface being made up of a level plain and the valley land along the Platte. Wells are from 5 feet to 250 feet deep, in accordance with the elevation. The occupations are farming, stock raising and dairying The cereals are the principal products. Winter wheat occupies 85,000 acres, corn 60,000 acres, oats 10,000 acres and rye 15,000 acres. Corn and hogs are the chief exports, and recently 2,252,800 bushels of corn and 42,840 hogs were shipped from the county in a single year. Land has doubled in value during the last few years. The value of live stock is estimated at $1,532,199. Phelps is populated with 10,772 people and its county seat, Holdrege, has 3,007 inhabitants. County organization took place in 1873. There are 45.39 miles of railroads. The county is divided into seventy-six districts and there is no unorganized land. There are seventy-seven school buildings, two of which are built of brick; sixty of the schoolhouses are well supplied with apparatus. The county contains 3,522 school children. The early history centers around the old freight and emigrant road, and the first settlements were trading ranches on the route. In the spring of 1873 there was a large immigration, which was confined mostly to the northern part of the county.

      C. J. BEEDLE was born in Hancock, Illinois, April 21, 1861, and was educated in Crawfordsville College and Iowa Wesleyan University. In 1884 he came to Nebraska, where he has since resided. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and has practiced law in HoIdrege since that time. In 1882 he married Miss Emma Johnson. He has been importuned twice to take the nomination for State Senatorship, and at present is serving his second term as County Attorney.

      J. N. GUSTUS was born in Sweden, July 7, 1855, and in 1868 came to Illinois with his parents. In his twenty-seventh year he came to Nebraska, where he has since remained. In 1883 he married Miss Jennie Myrtengreen and

they have four children. He has been County Supervisor three years, justice of the Peace, Assessor in 1899, and since 1900 has served as sheriff of Phelps County.

      L. C. HUCK was born in North Germany in the year 1854 and when he was two years of age his parents came to the United States. He settled in Nebraska in 1887, having lived in New York State prior to that time. He was elected to the office of Clerk of the District Court in 1891 and has served in that capacity for twelve years, being a member of the Populist party. In 1879 he married Miss Henrietta Lawrence and they have three children.

      ELIAS W. BEGTHOL was born in Schuyler County, Illinois, November 24, 1845. In 1870 he came to Shenandoah, Iowa; in 1880 removed to Lincoln and settled in Holdrege in 1885. Was admitted to the bar in 1891, was elected County Judge in 1901 and re-elected in 1903. He served in Company I, 137th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the battle of Memphis, Tennessee. At present he is Grand Captain General of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar, of Nebraska.

      P. O. BILLING was born in Sweden in February, 1866, and in 1892. came direct to Phelps County, Nebraska. He is a graduate of the Polytechnical Institute of Matmo (sic), Sweden, and by trade an architect and builder. Mr. Billing served as Surveyor of Phelps County from 1896 to 1901 and was re-elected to that office in 1903.

      FRANK A. DEAN was born in LaSalle, Illinois, September 28, 1855, and was educated in the Illinois State University, graduating in the class of 1878. Two years later he came to Nebraska and engaged in the hardware business. In 1879 he married Miss Cora Riggs. He has been Mayor of Holdrege and is now State Senator, having been elected on the Republican ticket.

 

      The first settlement in Pierce County was made on the north fork of the Elkhorn River in 1866. The settlers were a part of a German colony from Wisconsin, and the principal men were A. J. Huebner, August Nenow and Christian Huebner. In 1870 R. S. Lucas and J. H. Brown settled on Willow Creek, forming the nucleus of the present county seat, Pierce, which now has a population of 770. In 1871 William B. Chilvers settled on Dry Creek, where Plainview now is. There were two important hindrances to early immigration--the holding of the most desirable lands by nonresident speculators and the lack of transportation and shipping facilities. One of these evils was remedied by the laying of a railway through the county in 1880. The county was organized in 1870 and a courthouse was built within the first year. There are now 59.30 miles of railway. In 1879 there were 684 people in the county. The present population is 8,445. The surface is about half lowland and half highland. The soil is dark and sandy, with an underlayer of clay. Seventy-five per cent of the land is capable of cultivation, and the remainder comprises sandy hills and ridges, which make good grazing land. The north fork of the Elkhorn River, and Dry, Willow and other small streams drain the county. Apples, plums, cherries and bush fruits are successfully cultivated, while cereals, potatoes, alfalfa, timothy and clover comprise the chief crops. Over 800 acres are devoted to the sugar beet industry. Pierce holds second place in the state in its production of farm cheese Land has doubled in value within the past few years, and 200 transfers of land have been recorded recently. The county is apportioned into sixty-six school districts, and there are seventy-six school buildings. No school has a term of less than six months. There are four graded schools in the county.

      W. G. HIRONS was born in Epworth, Iowa, May 10, 1870. In 1895 he moved to North Loup, Nebraska, and two years later to Pierce, where he has since resided. He graduated from Iowa University in 1895 and has been Principal of Schools at North Loup for two years and at Pierce for six years. He now holds the office of County Clerk. May 18, 1904, he married Miss Mary Tawney.

     WILLIAM B. CHILVERS entered life in the county of Norfolk, England, October 19, 1835. He landed in New York in 1851, went to Chicago via the Great Lakes and four years later came to Boone County, Illinois, where he remained until 1871, except for the three years spent in the Ninety-fifth Illinois, Company B.