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law, as he is satisfied to remain here. He has his place well improved, and his first house, which was of logs, has been replaced with a comfortable log residence. He contemplates building a fine frame residence in the near future.

     Mr. Hobbs was married in 1888 to Mrs. Estella Loney, born in Wisconsin in 1868, of American stock. They have a family of six children, namely: Ada, Ethel, Alice, Harry, Ernest and Mabel (twins). All were born and raised on their present homestead in Sheridan county, Nebraska.

     The entire time and attention of Mr. Hobbs is devoted to the care of his farm and home and he has never sought any office, but takes a keen interest in all affairs of local or state importance. He is an Independent voter. Portraits of Mr. Hobbs and his family will be found on another page of this work.

     Mr. Heath is widely known throughout this section of the state of Nebraska as a gentleman of firm character and high standing, and a reliable breeder of thoroughbred stock whose statements can be relied upon at all times.

     Mr. Heath was born in Cerro Gordo, Illinois, in 1862. He grew up in Illinois, and in 1884 he came to Nebraska with his father, Frederick Heath, the family coming from Piatt county, Illinois. Our subject took up a homestead in Lincoln county, where his two brothers, John and Clyde, are both well known ranchmen and stock raisers, locate near Wallace. In 1893 Mr. Heath began a herd in Harlan county, in partnership with A. B. Heath, a cousin, who for many years was known to every farmer and stockman through his work on the Nebraska Farmer, a leading stock and farm paper that is widely read throughout the state. On his ranch of five hundred and thirty-six acres our subject now has ninety head of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, with the pure bred Scotch bull Lancaster Royal, at the head of his herd. The animal is one of the best in the country, and his get are eagerly sought after by all admirers of that breed.

     Mr. Heath has never bred for exhibition purposes, but for the farmers' needs in raising the grade of their herds. He also has from fifty to eighty pure bred Poland China hogs on his ranch, mostly of the Perfection strain. Mr. Heath also owns the imported Percheron stallion Malin.

     In 1890 Mr. Heath married Miss Bertha Borden, daughter of Alonzo and Adelia Hagadorn Borden, early settlers in Lowell, Kearney county, Nebraska, the family coming from Davis county, Missouri, in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. heath have two children, namely: Loren and Lloyd.

     Our subject learned the grocer and butcher business while working with his father. He also mastered the carpenter trade, which occupation he followed for four years before coming to this country. In 1871 he immigrated to America, landing in New York city, and going to Rochester, New York, following his trade as carpenter for four years. He then came west to Danville, Illinois, farming and doing carpenter work. From this place he went to Davis county, Iowa, returning after two years to Illinois, where he spent two more years. He then went to Monona county, Iowa, living for a time in Onawa and Sloan, continuing at the carpenter business.

     It was in the year 1884 that Mr. Boulden first came to the state which he has since made his home. He located at Norfolk, followed his trade at this place until 1886, when he came to Dawes county, driving in with a team and covered wagon. He built a log cabin in Evergreen precinct, continuing his work as a farmer and carpenter. For a period of seven years he witnessed the drouths (sic) and the many hardships so well known to the early

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settlers in western Nebraska, during which time his unremitting efforts were rewarded with but three half crops. He then sold out for seven hundred dollars, traveling west through Idaho and the other western states. However, the possibilities of Dawes county were ever in his mind, so he soon returned, taking a homestead in sections 34 and 35, township 30, range 41, a place now containing many modern improvements, the work of his own hard labor. He has erected substantial buildings, a windmill and well, and has a new barn forty-six by sixty feet. He now has a ranch of nine hundred and sixty acres of good land, one hundred and sixty acres of which are leased. There is an abundance of good timber on his place.

     Mr. Boulden was married in 1878 to Miss Nancy A. Collison, daughter of Edward and Mary (Cameron) Collison. Her father was a prominent farmer of Iowa. Her mother was of English and Dutch lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Boulden are the parents of one boy, John David, born in Monona county, Iowa, in 1881.

     Mr. Boulden has always taken an active interest in local affairs in Dawes county, where for years he has served as school officer and as justice of the peace. He has proved himself an enlightened and public-spirited citizen, and has done his full share and even more in the great work of improving the county, and in making it a home for an earnest and progressive people.

     Mr. Mooney is a native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he was raised and educated. His father, Isaac G. Mooney, was a New Englander, and our subject received a good old-fashioned training, and at an early age became interested in railroad work, beginning when but a boy of eighteen years of age and has followed that occupation ever since. He came west and located in North Platte, Nebraska, in 1886, being employed by the Union Pacific railway as a brakeman for one year, and at the end of that time was promoted to the position of freight conductor, and worked in this capacity for several years. He was faithful in the discharge of his duties and won the confidence and trust of his employers, and has been very successful during all his railroad career. In 1898 he began as a passenger conductor, and has held this position since that time, at present running on the Los Angeles Limited, and is well known to all the patrons of the road as a popular and accommodating public official whom it is a pleasure to know. Mr. Mooney has a large ranch comprising nine hundred and sixty-five acres of fine land situated in Lincoln county, near North Platte, and he spends all of his spare time at this place, planning improvements and intends to build up a model farm.

     Mr. Mooney's brother Frank is a conductor on the Boston & Maine railroad, with headquarters at Concord, Massachusetts, and another brother, W. R. Mooney, of Nashua, New Hampshire, holds the position of superintendent of the northern division of the Boston & Maine railway. Both are old railroad men and have been very successful since beginning the work.

     Mr. Mooney married Miss Laura A. Mapleback, of Boston, Massachusetts. Their union has been blessed with three daughters, whose names are: Bernice, Byrl and May.

     They have a pleasant and comfortable home, and the family is highly respected in their community. Mr. Mooney belongs to the Mason's blue lodge chapter.

     Mr. Sprague was born in Scotland county, Missouri, in 1847. His father, Harrison H. Sprague, was a farmer by occupation, of American birth, and was among the pioneer settlers in Missouri, also one of the first white men to settle along the Mississippi river. He married Miss Katherine Kirkpatrick, also of American stock. Our subject was reared and educated in Missouri, helping his parents in the farm work, and lived at home until he was seventeen years of age. In 1862 he enlisted in the Twenty-first Missouri Infantry, later

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serving in the Fifty-first Missouri, and his first battle was at Shiloh. He was with his regiment along the Mississippi river, at Tupelo, and took part in numerous skirmishes with the enemy.

     After leaving the army Mr. Sprague followed farming constantly, living most of the time in Missouri, In 1882 he came to Nebraska, locating south of the town of Lincoln, and there was engaged in the stock and livery business for ten years, buying, selling and shipping stock to the markets, dealing in horses, cattle, and hogs, and did an immense amount of business during that time, and making money,. In 1892 he came to Dawes county, taking up a tract of government land, starting at the bottom and building up a farm and home. The land was perfectly wild prairie land, with not a single improvement, and he worked hard and faithfully to develop this into a fertile farm, succeeding to a marked degree. He now has a ranch of twelve hundred and eighty acres, all fenced and cross-fenced and everything in good shape. He has good buildings of all descriptions, with a large and comfortable house. The farm is located partly in section 32, township 32, range 50, and all his buildings are on this section. He has one hundred acres planted to alfalfa and raises splendid crops each season. He is extensively engaged in the stock business, dealing in horses on a moderate scale.

     For the past ten years Mr. Sprague has been an invalid and hardly able to do any work, but has kept at it bravely and by sheer force of will has done what very few would have thought it possible any one could accomplish in his condition. A short time ago he submitted to an operation and this was completely successful, leaving him a perfectly well man, and he is now as happy and contented as one would naturally be at again recovering his health.

     Mr. Sprague was married in Missouri in 1871 to Miss Sarah Dean, born in Virginia but reared in Clinton, Henry and Scotland counties, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Sprague are the parents of five children, who are named as follows: Iona, married, wife of Charles Naylor, county clerk of Dawes county, Nebraska; Marietta, Edgar, Arthur and Harry. All are bright and intelligent, and their parents have given them each the advantage of a good education, and the family are well known and highly esteemed in their locality.

     Our subject has always been active in local affairs and given his time and influence toward the betterment of conditions socially and educationally. He is a Republican.

     Mr. Tomlin was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1854, of English stock. His father, Robert Tomlin, was a civil engineer by profession, and in later years followed farming, while his mother was Miss Hester Braxton, of good old English blood. Our subject was raised and educated in Virginia, and in his younger years was in the sawmill business there. In 1884 he went to Colorado and spent three years on a ranch, leading a regular cowboy's life. Then for six years he was employed as a traveling salesman for the J. L. Case Threshing Machine Company, also for the McCormick Harvester Company, traveling all over the west and in northern Nebraska. In 1891 he started in the ranching business for himself, locating in Dawes county, where he bought a tract of land in township 32, range 50, and three years later moved, on the place. He has built up a good ranch and farm, which is situated on Ash creek, in section 30, his place containing a thousand acres of land. He has erected good buildings, barns and corrals, valued at from three thousand to four thousand dollars, also installed irrigation plants costing two thousand dollars. His principal products are horses, cattle and hogs, and he engages in grain raising to quite an extent. He has one hundred and thirty acres of alfalfa and one hundred acres of irrigated and prairie hay land. He makes a specialty of draught horses, starting with two good brood mares in 1892, and now has a herd of forty of the finest draught horses in the state and takes great pride in his horses. He is deeply interested in this branch of ranching, and intends to continue horse raising, finding it very profitable financially. He has a number of range cattle, and usually has more than he can summer. He has built up a fine ranch and farm, and his land here is as valuable acre for acre as it is in eastern Nebraska. His success is the result of his own individual labors, and he has accumulated his property through good management and strict attention to business.

     Mr. Tomlin was formerly a student of alfalfa culture, and one of the first to introduce it in his neighborhood. He had seen it grow-

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ing in Colorado and was an enthusiastic missionary for alfalfa raising here, also raising a great deal for seed. One season he cut his first crop of the grass for hay and second crop was for seed, going seven bushels per acre, for which he obtained six dollars per bushel. This was off a patch of seven acres.

     Referring again to his horse business, our subject's entire herd is the increase of two brood mares which he purchased in the early nineties. He still owns one of these mares, and she is the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of his whole string, and they are splendid animals and acknowledged to be the best of their class to be found anywhere. On another page will be found an interesting picture of some Shire horses owned by Mr. Tomlin.

     Mr. Terry was born in Cleveland, Ohio, September 24, 1854. His father, James Terry, was a carpenter by trade, of English birth, and his mother's maiden name was Mary Marshall, both born and reared in England, their marriage occurring in that country shortly before coming to America. They had a family of seven children, of whom our subject is the third member. They settled on a farm in Washington county, Wisconsin, and remained there up to 1874, when they moved to Nebraska, locating in York, and later in Seward and Saunders counties. Our subject attended school at Hartford, Wisconsin, remaining under the parental roof tree until the spring of 1882, when he started out for himself, coming to Brown county and taking up a homestead in the northwest quarter of section 9, township 30, range 23. He drove through from Saunders county, with his wife, and after being here for a time made another trip there, and brought his parents to this place. His first dwelling was a sod shanty, and later a dugout in which the family lived for some time. He had only one team and a cow to start with. Like others, he saw hard times during the drouth (sic) periods, losing entire crops, and for several years was unable to raise anything. The only loss he ever suffered from hail was twenty acres of grain in 1903. After the dry years had passed he began to get ahead and gradually improved his place, adding to his acreage until he now owns four hundred and eighty acres of good land, with two hundred and twenty-five of this cultivated. He has put up good buildings, has a complete set of modern farming machinery, and everything is fitted up for running a model farm.

     Mr. Terry was married December 24, 1880, to Miss Amanda Bowlar, daughter of Archibald Bowlar, an old settler of Lancaster county, Nebraska. Six children have been born of this marriage, who are named as follows: Archie L., Clyde E., Emma E., Jesse, LeRoy A. and Frank R.

     In 1897 Mr. Terry was elected county commissioner, and re-elected in 1900, serving in all five years. He has served on the school board for a number of years, and takes an active interest in all matters that tend to the betterment of conditions in his locality. He is an independent voter, with leanings toward the Republican party. The family are all members of the United Brethren church.

     Mr. Kimbel was born in Kentucky, January 7, 1827, and lived there until he was seven years of age, then went with his parents to Missouri, where they were among the early settlers and homesteaders. Some years were spent in Illinois, and about 1852 he went to California, traveling overland, the occasion being his bridal tour, the bride being Miss Sabra Van Leuven, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. They remained in California for seven years, then went to Missouri, locating in Jackson county, and from there to Council Bluffs, taking up their residence at the latter place in 1865.

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There the family was reared, and in 1882 all came to Cheyenne county, Nebraska, remaining there for a short time, then moved into Deuel county, where they settled permanently in 1890. Mr. Kimbel has made his home with his son, Israel, since 1882, they having their interests together to a large extent. Mrs. Kimbel died in 1865 while the family lived in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Kimbel had a family of six children, as follows: Ellen, Janie (deceased), Sabra, Mary, Rosetta and Israel, all of whom are married and settled in comfortable homes of their own. An extended sketch of Israel Kimbel will be found on another page of this volume.

     Mr. Doing was born in New York in 1844. He is a son of Joseph F. Doing, a native of New Hampshire, of English descent. He married Melissa Patterson, of Scotch-Irish descent, also a native of New Hampshire, setting in New York state soon after having married. Our subject was raised there, and lived in the east until he was twenty-seven years of age, with the exception of some time spent in Indiana, where he was educated. He enlisted in the Fourth Indiana Artillery in September, 1861, and served in the Civil war for three years and three months. He saw hard service through the state of Tennessee and the south, taking part in the battle of Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Chichamauga and Missionary Ridge, besides numerous other engagements throughout the southern campaign.

     Mr. Doing came to Nebraska in 1871. He at once took up a government claim in Furnas county, and remained at that place for over five years. For four years he lived at Medicine creek, where he served as postmaster, still holding his old commission papers. He has done considerable hunting in the west, and in the early days was quite a shipper of buffalo to Chicago and other points. In 1893 he came to Wheeler county and purchased a farm near Ericson. He still owns this place and lives on it, having built up a good home and valuable estate. The land is all good farming land, and he raises splendid crops of corn, oats and wheat, and uses a large portion of his land for hay and pasture for his stock, as he keeps quite a number of horses and cattle. He is a prosperous agriculturist and progressive in his methods of farming and ranching. Our subject has also been quite a trader with the Indians. He states that at one time, he had a pony that he sold to old Chief Spotted Tail for the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and has made numerous other trades with different members of the tribe.

     In 1888 Mr. Doing was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Kirby, a daughter of Nicholas and Bridget Jane (Davy) Kirby. She was born and raised in Muscatine county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Doing have a family of five children, who are named as follows: Hiram C., Effie M., Hazel M., Francis L. and Grace. Mr. Doing is quite a strong Socialist in his views. He is prominent in local affairs and has served on the school board for many years. He has also served as sheriff of Frontier county, Nebraska, and as assessor of his home township in Wheeler county, Nebraska.

     Mr. Dillon was born in Mahaska county, Iowa, August 13, 1859. He was the eldest of a family of seven children, and now has three brothers and one sister living. The mother is dead, but the father now resides in Florida. Mr. Dillon grew up in Iowa, following farming during his young manhood, and in 1882 came to eastern Nebraska, making Grand Island his headquarters for about two years. There he devoted his time to any work which could be had. He then returned to Iowa, and after spending about two years there, came back to Nebraska, locating in Cheyenne county in September, 1886, in that part which is now known as Kimball county. His wife came to Nebraska in the spring of 1887. He at once took up a homestead on section 24, township 16, range 56, proved up on the land, and in 1905 filed on a Kincaid homestead in section 2, and now has a ranch of four hundred and eighty acres, consisting of the home ranch, of which he cultivates about one hundred acres. He has all good improvements in the way of

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buildings, fences, etc., and previously ran quite a bunch of cattle, but now devotes his time exclusively to the horse business and has a drove of about one hundred head. Every appointment of the farm bespeaks good management and care in its operation, and he is one of the well-to-do and prosperous farmers of his locality. Mr. Dillon dug his first well with a pick and shovel in 1890. This well was dug two hundred and fifty-two feet, and is one of the best on the north divide. His first residence was a half dug-out and rock-combined and had a dirt roof. Here they witnessed their first blizzard, which was a two days' storm. They had to bring their poultry and horses in the house to save them, but were forced to leave their cow out in the storm.

     In the spring of 1886 Mr. Dillon was married in Mahaska county, Iowa, to Dora B. Minnick, a native of that county, where her parents were among the prominent old settlers. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dillon, of whom two are now living, Ralph W., and Ruth May, Howard H. and Macy Bell both died in 1908.

     Mr. Dillon takes an active part in neighborhood affairs, having held the office of county commissioner for one term, also other offices in his township. In political sentiment he is an Independent.

     G. W. Donner was born in Boston, England, in 1874. His father, Robert Donner, came to America in 1875, locating in Antelope county, Nebraska, where he began farming, following this for a year, then worked on ranches in Cherry county for about six years. He filed on section 4, township 33, range 41, as a pre-emption in 1883, making his actual residence on his Sheridan county claim in 1884, when he sent back to England for his wife, who came on and joined him during the latter part of that year. He then turned this pre-emption into a tree claim and filed on a homestead, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1903. When he started on this farm he was obliged to freight all his building material and supplies from Valentine, and did nearly all the work of putting up his buildings himself. His wife still makes her home in Nebraska, but is now on a visit to England. G. W. Donner has two brothers and three sisters, all of whom excepting one sister lives in America. G. W. Donner came to this country in 1888, making the trip alone from England, his father having come ahead of him in 1875.

     G. W. Donner began farming on a small piece of land and kept adding to it until he is now proprietor of one thousand two hundred and eighty acres, which land was partly held by his father until the latter's death, when it was divided among the children, this portion of the estate being the share of our subject. He farms about two hundred and fifty acres, and the balance is hay and pasture land, as he handles considerable stock all the time.

     In 1904 Mr. G. W. Donner was married to Miss Iva Davies, who was born in Iowa in 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Donner have no children. Mr. Donner is a stanch Republican, as was also his father.

     Mr. Phillips was born in McDonough county, Illinois, in 1867. His parents were of American blood, farmers by occupation, and the father, Steven R. Phillips, came to Nebraska in the early days and was one of the pioneers in Seward county, settling there in the year 1871. He married Mary E. Straickler, of McDonough county, Illinois. His father resides at the present time in Seward county, Nebraska, where the mother died in November, 1906. When our subject was five years of age the family filed on a homestead in Seward county, Nebraska, where he grew to up (sic) his boyhood days spent in doing farm work, handling ox teams, etc. In 1894 Mr. Phillips came to Sioux county and took up a homestead in section 31, township 32, range 54, which region was then a very thinly set-

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tled part of the state, and he settled in Highland precinct. His first dwelling was a frame house, twelve by eighteen feet, in which he spent a number of years, and then put up a log house. He had a very modest start, almost his sole possessions being five head of horses, and during the first few years he had very poor luck in his farming operations. In 1898 he had the misfortune to be burned out, losing his granary, containing five hundred dollars' worth of grain, chicken house, and other property. After the passing of the Kincaid law our subject located on his present farm, and here he has been successful in building up a fine property. His ranch contains two thousand acres. This place is located eleven miles east of Harrison. He is engaged in both stock raising and farming, and is making plenty of money. His ranch is well supplied with good buildings, and he has timber groves, also a bountiful supply of good water for all purposes. A picture of Mr. Phillips' residence will be found on another page.

     Mr. Hale is a native of Crawford county, Wisconsin, where he was born on a farm November 11, 1865, and there his youth and early manhood were spent amid rural scenes, with experiences calculated to bring to bear on life the powers and faculties that make for a strong and sturdy character. William Hale, the father of Melvine, was born in New York, from which state he served three years in the cavalry of the United States army, making a record of which his friends are justly proud. He came to Nebraska in 1871, and was located for some years in Hamilton county, but seven years later removed to Custer county, where he is still living, full of years and honor. His wife, Hulda Green, is of American descent, and was born in Indiana.      

     Melvine Hale, the fifth in a family of eleven children, was reared and educated under the parental roof, but began life for himself at a very early age. On beginning life for himself he was engaged on stock ranches in western Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana for more than fourteen years. In 1889 he came to this section of the state to enter a homestead claim in section 29, township 30, range 29, a tract of Cherry county land which he improved, and then sold in 1904. July 19, 1906, he bought the relinquishment of a claim under the Kincaid homestead law in section 24, township 35, range 27, containing three hundred and twenty acres, and owns an additional one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, township 35, range 26, which is devoted to crops, the home tract being used for grazing and the production of hay. At the present time he is keeping about a hundred head of cattle, with some twenty horses, a work for which his large experience on the western ranches gives him a peculiar fitness. He has a substantial stone residence, with other buildings for all his requirements, and the very considerable success that is attending his efforts is not a matter of wonder when one considers his preparation and determination.

     Mr. Hale was married April 15, 1890, to Miss Nellie Spain, a daughter of S. Q. and Mary (Morgan) Spain. She was born in Iowa in 1870, coming to Nebraska with her parents, who were among the earlier pioneers of Cherry county, where her father was postmaster at Simeon for two years. Mr. and Mrs. Melvine Hale are the parents of five children: Daniel Ernest, Grace, William, Sanford Q. and Mary.

     In matters of general politics Mr. Hale may be counted on as a Republican. He has never held any public position, but has felt that his home and farm afford ample room for all his activity and energy. In local affairs and in school interests he favors everything for public improvement and general progress.

     Mr. Hale's varied experiences have taught him the value of a home, though in winning and making it, he has passed through all the hardships of life on the frontier, and of the years that have gone into history as the "hard times in western Nebraska." He has at times traveled fifty miles to Valentine for provi-

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