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man. He is an Englishman and exhibits many of the best traits of the blood, prompt, energetic, upright and candid. He believes in square dealing, and would scorn to take a mean advantage.

      Mayor Redford was born near London, in the shire of Lincoln, March 7, 1841, and was a son in the family of Robert and Sarah (Forington) Redford, and comes of a long line of English ancestry. Robert Redford emigrated to the United States in 1847, accompanied by his family, and made his home at Geneva, Wisconsin. He was killed by a falling tree in 1850. He was the father of four sons and two daughters. Young Redford obtained his early education under primitive conditions, but the teachers were mostly capable instructors, and he learned some things quite thoroughly. Log schoolhouses have nurtured some strong minds, and men have gone forth from their shadows to sway the destinies of the world. He was a soldier in the Union army, first enlisting in 1861 in Company A, Tenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged for disability the same year. Later he enlisted again in 1864. He served as sergeant in Company F, Fortieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. A portion of the time he was stationed at Memphis, Tennessee. After the termination of the war he returned to Wisconsin, and engaged in farming, remaining in that state until 1878. In that year he purchased a farm near Seward, and was busy in its cultivation for a number of years. In 1884 he removed to the city, and bought a grocery store. He kept this for six years, when he sold it, and made an extended visit to his native land. On his return he opened a furniture establishment, and in this line he was engaged up to September, 1898, when he disposed of the business and is now living retired.

      Mr. Redford was married to Miss Ellen J. Dalton May 20, 1866. She was born in New York, and is the mother of one daughter, Mizzie T. They are members of the Congregational church, and take an active interest in its prosperity. He is an Odd Fellow, and also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. As a Republican he has always been an earnest party worker. In Wisconsin he was elected to the board of supervisors, and in 1884 he was county commissioner in this county, and served two years. He was supervisor from G precinct two years. He was an alderman of the city of Seward for four years, and on the board of education for six years. In 1898 he was elected to the mayoralty. The previous year he ran for county treasurer on the Republican ticket, but failed of election. The career of our subject in this state is instructive and interesting. He brought little money with him, but possessed more important qualities, honesty, industry, ability, and an accommodating genial spirit. He has attained a very substantial success. 

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HARLES HILL, who was one of the very first settlers in Lockridge township, York county, Nebraska, where he has resided since the spring of 1870, is one of the leading agriculturists of the county. His name is indissolubly connected with the growth and development of the general farming interests of the county, as he has always given his aid to any project that would tend to promote the general welfare of the locality in which he resides. He was born in York, England, on June 4, 1840, and is a son of Charles and Mary (Train) Hill, who were both natives of England. The father was a farmer and stockraiser by occupation, and followed that calling in England until 1851. In that year he came to the United States, and located in Clinton county, Iowa, where he resided during the remainder of his life. He died in 1876, in Clinton county, Iowa, and the mother died in England in 1844. They were the parents

of two children, Charles, the subject of this sketch, and one sister.

      Charles Hill received his education in the common schools of Iowa, and at an early age he became engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he has followed throughout his entire life. In i861 he enlisted in Company A, Eighth Iowa Infantry, and served for eleven months in that regiment, at the end of which time he was discharged for disability at Sedalia, Missouri; during that time he did guard duty and saw some active service. In August of 1862, he again enlisted, this time in Company D, Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He participated in the following battles, Arkansas Post, Arkansas, in the winter of 1862, Ringgold, Georgia, known as the battle of Dalton, fought in August, 1863. In the last named engagement he received a scalp wound, which incapacitated him for service for some time. He was then attached to the sharpshooters brigade for that winter. He then accompanied Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea," during which campaign he was detailed as a scout for John A. Logan. He was captured in the winter of 1865, at Hanging Rock, North Carolina, and held a prisoner for three months. However, he succeeded in destroying his papers, and thus avoided being shot as a spy, but was held in Libby prison at Richmond. When he was released the war was over, and he returned to Iowa, where he remained in Clinton county for five years. He then moved further west in the state, and in the spring of 1870 he came to York county, Nebraska. He took up his present homestead, and has resided here ever since. In 1876 and 1877 he went to California, but soon returned to Nebraska. When he first took up the land on which he now lives it was all raw prairie land, wild and unbroken, and there were no settlements near it. His first home was a dugout, which later on gave way to a sod house, and the latter in turn was replaced by a small frame house. The house in which Mr. Hill now lives in is considered to be one of the best in the county. His farm consists of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation.

      Mr. Hill was married on January 1, 1867, to Miss Rosie Echelbarger, a native of Ohio, the ceremony being performed in Clinton county, Iowa. They are the parents of fifteen children, upon whom they bestowed the following names: Nellie K., Lorenzo D., Charles W., George M., Bird E., Owen B., Vena, Orlin V., Merlin I., Mabel, Zetta and Ava, all of whom are now living. The deceased are Eva, Reno and Ina. Mr. Hill uses his elective franchise in support of the principles of the Republican party, though he favors free silver. Though he has taken an active interest in the political welfare of the community in which he resides, he has never sought or held any office, though he assisted in the organization of Lockridge township. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is one of the substantial and well-to-do men of the county, and has amassed all of his wealth by careful and thrifty habits, as when he came to the county, he was entirely without means, and to-day he is one of the leading and representative citizens of the county. He has been rewarded for his labors by the acquisition of a good property, and he retains the unbounded confidence and' esteem of all who know him. 

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EORGE W. GREGG.--It is with reluctance as well as pleasure that we attempt to write the life record of such a man as Mr. Gregg. It affords us pleasure to present to our readers the sketch of one that they will so gladly receive and eagerly peruse but, fearful that we will not do justice to one so worthy of honorable men-

 

tion, we dread undertaking the task. His name is a synonym for honorable business dealing; he was one of the brave defenders of the union during the dark days of our Civil war; and during the twenty years of his residence in Polk county has been a supporter of every enterprise for the public good. His life has been one of honest and earnest endeavor, and he has labored for others with an unselfish devotion that well entitles him to the respect which is so freely given him and to a place among the honored and valued residents of Osceola.

      The Gregg family was founded in America by Samuel Gregg, who emigrated from Scotland in 1699, when but twelve years old, and settled in Philadelphia. When quite young he married an English lady of some note by the name of Gregg. For several generations his descendants married into families of the same name, all being of the Quaker faith and of either English or Scottish ancestry. Of his children, Thomas was born in Philadelphia, in 1721, and in 1743 married a Miss Gregg. Their son Israel was born in the same city in 1747 and was married in 1770 to a Miss Gregg. With their seven children they removed to the wilds of Kentucky in 1784. Of this family Thomas Gregg was born in Philadelphia, in 1780, but grew to manhood in Kentucky, where he married Delilah Owens. After the birth of seven of their children they removed to Franklin county, Ind., in 1808, and there five other children were added to the family. The father of these was the first school teacher in that county, and also organized the first Methodist class there, being the first of the family to leave the Society of Friends, although he still continued to use their form of speech.

      John Gregg, the son of Thomas and Delilah (Owens) Gregg, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1810, and there made his permanent home. He was a blacksmith by trade, but also operated a farm, and was an active and prominent member of the Methodist church. In February, 1833, he wedded Mary A. Bowling, and died December 13, 1840, leaving a wife and three small children, of whom our subject is the youngest. Eliza C., born February 19, 1834, is now the wife of Israel Artz, of Dorchester, Nebraska, and they have six children. Margaret D., born December 8, 1835, married Thomas Wallace and died in November, 1858, leaving no children. In 1843 the mother with her little family moved to Rock Island, Illinois, and for three years lived on a farm in Bowling township, which was named in honor of her father, Ambrose G. Bowling, who served all through the war of 18 12. He owned a rope walk in Washington, D. C., and also one in Alexandria, Virginia, both of which were destroyed when the British burned the capital. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Gregg married for her second husband Rev. J. L. Condon, who was for half a century a circuit rider in the United Brethren church, and they removed to Mercer county, Illinois, and in 1881, to Barton county, Missouri, where she died July 9, 1889. By her second union she had three daughters: Mrs. Martha K. Stoughton, a resident of Iowa; Virginia, wife of Joseph Clegg, of Barton county, Missouri, and Addie, wife of A. Sprouse, of the same county.

      George W. Gregg, of this sketch, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, July 17, 1839, but was reared in Rock Island and Mercer counties, Illinois, acquiring his education in the district schools there. At the age of fifteen he bound himself out to learn the mason's trade, and after serving a three years' apprenticeship, he worked at the same for a time in Berlin, Mercer county, Illinois. On the 8th of August, 1862, he donned the blue and went to the front as a private in Company C, One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The

regiment was first sent to Jeffersonville, Indiana, from there to Louisville and Frankfort, Kentucky, where they did guard duty for a time, then proceeded to Bowling Green and Scottsville, and during the winter were on guard at Gallatin, Tennessee. Leaving there they went to Luverne, Tennessee, and did patrol duty on the railroad between Nashville and Murfreesboro. From Lookout Mountain they went with Sherman on the Atlanta campaign, on the march to the sea and through the Carolinas. Mr. Gregg was in every engagement in which his regiment took part, including the battles of Resaca, Cassville, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Lost Mountain, Pine Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw, Marietta, Atlanta, Savannah, Averysboro, North Carolina, and Bentonville, He was present at the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, April 26, 1865, and as one of " Sherman's Bummers" participated in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia, May 24, 1865. The troops were made brevet citizens of Washington. At Chicago our subject was mustered out in June, 1865, with the rank of orderly sergeant of Company C.

      During his service Mr. Gregg met with a very painful accident. While returning home on a furlough, October 31, 1864, he, with five others, was standing on the front platform of a car and in coming round a curve between Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana, a heavy freight train ran into them, both going at full speed. The car on which Mr. Gregg stood was telescoped by the baggage car in front of it, and both legs being caught under the platform of the latter, he was forced along nearly the whole length of the coach telescoped. There he lay wedged in and crushed for an hour and a half before assistance could reach him. His eyes were filled with blood, a body lay across him and another hung suspended over him. When consciousness returned he threw the body off him, and taking hold of the bell rope pulled himself out, but was too weak to stand. Some outsiders then pushed forward a rail which he caught and they pulled him out from under the wreck. His head was badly cut on the right side, including the upper part of his ear; several ribs were torn loose; and the flesh of his legs was so mangled that in some places the bones were exposed, while some small bones in his foot had to be removed. He was the first man taken from the wreck; twenty-five were removed in a helpless condition; and twenty-eight killed outright. Being taken to Lafayette, he received excellent care, and was finally taken to the train, against the orders of the surgeon, and returned home, reaching there just as the second dispatch saying that he was dead, arrived. He was finally nursed back to health by his loving wife and family.

      For two years after the war Mr. Gregg worked at his trade and then purchased a dry goods store in Berlin, Illinois, but after conducting it for a year, he sold out and removed to New Windsor, that state, where he engaged in the hardware business for four years. He next owned and carried on a drug store for a year, and on selling it purchased another drug store, which he finally disposed of. He was postmaster of New Windsor under President Grant, resigning that position in 1879 on coming to Nebraska. He first located on Gospel Ridge, subsequently lived for one year in Osceola, and then traded his home there for the farm of eighty acres on which he now resides. He has made all of the improvements upon the place, and since 1883 has engaged in the nursery business, devoting fifty-five acres to orchard and nursery stock, the remainder to farming. He has over six thousand fruit trees bearing, and in 1896 sold seventy-five bushels of cherries from two hundred and forty trees.

      One of the most important events in the life of Mr. Gregg was his marriage,

which was celebrated July 4, 1862, Miss Amy Shaw becoming his wife. She was born in Berlin, Illinois, February 9, 1839, a daughter of Levi and Martha (Metzler) Shaw, early settlers of Mercer county. Her father was a soldier in the Black Hawk war. For thirty-four year Mr. d Mrs. Gregg traveled life's journey sharing its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity, and she ever proved to him a faithful helpmeet. She was a kind and affectionate wife and mother, was always ready to lend a helping hand to the poor and needy and her pleasant and agreeable manner gained her the love and respect of all with whom she came in contact. Her death, which occurred July 29, 1896, left a vacancy not only in the home, but also in the community where she was so much adored. The funeral services were under the auspices of the Eastern Star, the Daughters of Rebecca, and the Woman's Relief Corps. of Osceola, of which she was a prominent member, and she was laid to rest in the cemetery of that city.

      On the 25th of July, 1887. Mr. and and Mrs. Gregg had celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, two hundred guests being present and Hon. John H. Mickey acting as master of ceremonies, and it was the most notable event of the kind which ever transpired in Polk county. They were re-married in their own door-yard, standing beneath the old flag as they had done twenty-five years before. Refreshments were served on large tables spread under the trees, which were beautifully decorated with over one thousand United States flags. Mr. and Mrs. Gregg were the recipient of many beeautiful (sic) presents, including a handsome, solid silver service, the gift of one hundred and one personal friends, silver berry casket, berry spoon and vase.

      The children of this worthy couple are as follows: Inez Leola, born April 14, 1866, is now the wife of J. R. Burns, of Osceola; Claudie Llewellyn, born August 6, 1869, died June 3, 1870; Harley Lionel, born August 10, 1871, is a graduate of the Omaha Medical College and is now a practicing physician of Silver Creek, Nebraska. He married Helen Gushee. George W., Jr., born June 9, 1874, was principal of the Gresham schools. Laurel Lavergne, born August 6, 1876, is a graduate of Bryant's Business College, and is now a member of Twenty-second Regulars, United States Infantry. John Levi, born July 17, 1880, died August 14, 1882. All of the children you have reached years of maturity are graduates of the Osceola high school and have successfully engaged in teaching for several terms.

      Mr. Gregg is a charter member of the G. A. R. Post, of Osceola, has served as its commander, and in 1893 attended the national encampment at Washington, District of Columbia, taking part in the grand review. He is also a charter member of the Odd Fellows lodge of Osceola, in which he has filled all the chairs, is a member of the Masonic order, and held office in Sherman lodge, of Berlin, Illinois. He also belongs to the Pilgrim Knights, the Eastern Star, and Daughters of Rebekah, his wife also being a member of the last two. She was a charter member of the Woman's Relief Corps, and was conductor at the time of her death. Politically Mr. Gregg is an ardent Republican, and gives his support to all measures which he believes will advance the moral, educational or material welfare of his county or state. He has been a member of the school board of Osceola, is president of the Cemetery Association, president of the Agricultural Society for two years, and treasurer of the same for one year.

      Mr. and Mrs. Gregg, some ten years before her death, conceived the idea of planting orchards for benevolent purposes, and have since dedicated one each to the follow-

ing societies: Thanksgiving day, November 27, 1890, each member of the family--eight in all--set out a tree for Rising Star lodge, No. 75, I. O. O. F., and Osceola Rebecca lodge, No. 88; dedicated as Fraternity Orchards Nos. 1 and 2, July 9, 1897. On Christmas day, 1890, each member of the family set out one apple tree, and on St. John's day, November 27, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg set out four more, making twelve in all, dedicating this to Masonic lodge, No. 6, F. & A. M., and Eastern Star lodge, No. 24, as Fraternity orchards Nos. 3 and 4. January 1, 1891, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg set out five apple trees dedicated to the Merry Workers of the Presbyterian church on June 24, 1897, as Fraternity Orchard No. 5. April 7, 1893, they set out twenty-one apple trees, fifteen of which were set in a circle forty-five feet in diameter. There is one in the center, with five around it, representing the five points of a star, the emblem of the Twentieth Army Corps, of which Mr. Gregg was a member. This was dedicated to the G. A. R. and W. R. C., of Osceola, July 17, 1897. Each tree one-half way round the circle is named for one of the noted army nurses, the remainder for prominent generals of the Army of the Tennessee, while the center tree is named Lincoln, and those at the five points of the star-Grant, Sherman, Thomas, Logan and Sheridan. This is Fraternity Orchard Nos. 6 and 7. Between each tree and the next of this circle are two rose bushes, while a fence of roses form the lines of the star, and inside are two snowball bushes, three hydrangeas and five peonies, making one of the most beautiful spots to be found anywhere in this section of the state. 

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UDGE BENJAMIN O. PERKINS. Among those whose lives are an essential feature in the history of Butler county, Nebraska, the name of Judge Benjamin O. Perkins, president of the City National Bank, of David City, should be recorded as one of the first. He adopted Butler county as his permanent home in 1869, and since that time he has been identified with its every best interest, and in its unprecedented development in all lines he has been one of those to point the way and to his guiding hand and counsel much of the credit is due for the prominent place his county now maintains among its neighbors in finance, commerce, education and general progress.

      Judge Perkins was born in Sangamon county. Illinois, January 3, 1825, the second son and second child of Solomon and Mary (Ogle) Perkins, the former a native of Kentucky, of English descent. He was reared in Illinois, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. Our subject's mother was born in Illinois, and was of English descent. Solomon and Mary Perkins were the parents of twelve children,--six sons and six daughters.

      When Benjamin O. Perkins was but a child his parents removed to Warren county, Illinois, and when he was eight years old they went to Des Moines county, Iowa. Here he assisted on the farm and attended the public schools until he reached his majority. He then went to Adams county, Illinois, but after a short time proceeded to Monroe county, Iowa, and thence to Warren county, Iowa.

      In 1869 our subject determined to find a home farther west, and crossing the Platte river on March 2d, of that year, he located eight miles north of the present site of David City. The scattered population recognized his worthy qualities at once, and he was elected probate judge the same year that he located in the county,--1869, when there was a total of seventy votes polled. At the time David City was organized he located there and built a hotel, one of the first houses erected within its limits. This

structure was composed of a part of the old court house at Savanna, which the judge moved to David City. He conducted this hotel about three years.

      In 1882 Judge Perkins opened the David City Bank, a private institution, which he conducted until 1888, when by the consolidation of the Merchants & Farmers Bank with the David City Bank the present City National Bank was established. Of this new financial institution Benjamin O. Perkins became president; Edward E. Leonard, cashier; and James Bell, vice-president; capital stock, $50,000. Its present officers are Benjamin O. Perkins, president; Chas. O. Crosthwaite, cashier; and Arthur Myatt, vice-president; capital stock, $50,000.

      In addition to his banking business Judge Perkins is an extensive land-owner, his holdings aggregating about six hundred acres. Before disposing of some extensive tracts a few years ago, he was the owner of about two thousand acres. The judge has always been public spirited and enterprising. He has built many of the substantial buildings of David City, and has contributed more than his share to the work of placing the city on its present solid basis of prosperity and progress.

      The marriage of our subject to Mary A. Leggett occurred in the year 1865. Mrs. Perkins is a native of Illinois, and was reared in Marshall county of that state, in the village of Henry. Judge and Mrs. Perkins are the parents of three children, named as follows: Minnie; Maggie, wife of Charles Stoops, of David City; Benjamin O., jr., bookkeeper in the City National Bank, David City.

      In political sentiment Judge Perkins was in early life a Whig. On the organization of the Republican party he adhered to its principles, to which he has since given his support. He was chosen Probate judge of the county in 1869, was twice a member of the city council, and served as mayor of David City two terms. From his long residence in the county he has become well and favorably known in every part of it, and each year adds to the full measure of esteem and regard. 

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RANK G. SIMMONS, the editor of the Seward Reporter, was born May 31, 1854, in New York City. He was a son of Henry A. and Emma M. (Cooke) Simmons. His father came from Massachusetts, and his mother was a daughter of New York. He attended the public school of his native city until he reached his twelfth year. His mother died when he was only four years old, and at the death of his father in the Union army in 1865, he was cast upon his own resources. He work for a time in New York, and went to Illinois in 1867, where he found employment on a farm until 1874, attending school during the winter season and later taught school, and spent several years in this capacity in this county, having come to this county in 1874. A six months' course at a commercial school completed his instruction and in 1877 he entered the Reporter office and succeeded to the ownership five years later. He has taken an active part in politics and all matters of a public nature. He has held various important official stations. He was clerk of the Nebraska Institution for Feeble-minded Youth in 1887 to 1890; deputy collector of internal revenue from 1890 to 1894, and became postmaster of Seward, April 1, 1898. He has always retained editorial control of his paper, and has made its columns the exponent of a stalwart Republicanism. He is a member of the Nebraska Press Association, and was its secretary for three years, and its president for two years. He was active in the organization of the Nebraska Federation of Republican Publishers, and was its first president. Mr. Simmons was married January 1, 1879, to Miss Anna W.
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Boughton. She was born and raised in the Badger state. They are the proud parents of a family of five children, all of whom are living. He is prominent in the Masonic order, and that of the United Workmen, having held numerous positions of importance in both societies. 

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ELMUTH F. PUTLITZ is an old and honored citizen of Fillmore county, who has for several years most successfully filled the office of clerk of the district court. He lives at Geneva, and has a circle of acquaintances that includes the county, and all who know him best have the profoundest respect for his high personal character and acknowledged integrity.

      Mr. Putlitz is a native of the Prussian province of Silesia, and his industrious habits and upright disposition reflect no dishonor upon his German ancestry. He comes of good stock, and his life is in evidence that he has lived up to the standard. He was born March 8, 1852, and his parents, France and Augusta O. (Mast) von Putlitz, were also Silesian born and bred. His father belonged to the order of the German nobility, and was a man of character and consequence in his day. He served for many years in the Prussian regular army, and rose from a very subordinate position to the rank of major. When too far advanced in years to continue in the field, he was put on the retired list, and spent his last years as an honored veteran of the great struggles that lifted his own country to the front place among the German states and its king the " Kaiser von Deutchland." The old soldier and his wife have long since been numbered with the dead.

      Helmuth Putlitz spent his childhood and youth in his native town where he was liberally educated, both in the village school and in a military establishment where he was prepared for a soldier's life. But his tastes did not lead in that direction, and at the age of nineteen he shipped on board a merchant vessel, "before the mast," and went to sea as an able-bodied sailor. His first voyage was a long and disastrous one. It brought him to the Sandwich Islands, and while passing round Cape Horn the ship encountered such severe weather that the extreme cold was the cause of much injury to many of the sailors. Mr. Putlitz froze his right hand so seriously that he has never recovered its perfect use. This misfortune satisfied him that he had experienced all the vicissitudes of a seafaring life which he cared to invite, and his career upon the ocean was not prolonged. A subsequent voyage brought him to the harbor of New York, and having long cherished a desire to locate in this country, he went ashore, and did not return to the ship, which sailed without him. He remained in that city about a year, and sounded the depths of privation and hardship. He did not lose heart, however, and when he could, left the overcrowded streets of the great metropolis, and penetrating far into the interior made his home in the vicinity of Monmouth, Illinois, where he spent at least two years engaged in working for farmers near that city. By this time habits of thrift and economy had produced their natural results, and he was in a condition to think about a farm and a home for himself. This he wisely sought in the newer west, and coming into this state found a desirable location in Fillmore county. His preliminary exploration was made in the fall of 1874, and in the following year he permanently settled upon a quarter-section of railroad land in Madison township. This was wild prairie when it passed into his hands, but to-day it is a beautiful and well-kept farm with solid and substantial improvements that represent years of unflagging labor.

      The wedding of Mr. Putlitz and Miss

Heiderstaedt occurred in 1875, and has proved a most happy union. She is the daughter of Frederick and Martha (McClintock) Heiderstaedt, and was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where her parents had their home for a number of years. They were early settlers of Fillmore county, and passed to their reward some years since. Her father was of German extraction, and her mother was born in Carew, Ireland. They were honorable upright people, and left their children the heritage of a good name. To Mr. and Mrs. Putlitz have been born five children, whose names are Francis F., Helmuth W., Martha, Harry and Wanda. He has been for many years a prominent Democrat, and an influential member of the councils of the party in this county, but of late years has been closely and intimately identified with the Populist party. He embraced its principles unreservedly and has brought to their support all the energies of his active and earnest spirit. In 1886 he was a candidate for representative in the state legislature, and after a spirited contest was defeated though his vote exceeded that of any other candidate on the ticket. In 1891 he was nominated by the Populists for clerk of the district court, and was endorsed by the Democrats. He was elected by one hundred and twenty-five majority in a county which up to that date had been largely Republican. In 1895 he was renominated for the same position and again elected, this time by a majority considerably increased over that of four years before. The administration of this responsible position has been beyond criticism, and has won for him a host of friends quite outside of business or political associations. Mr. Putliz (sic) is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order United Workmen, and is a valued associate in these fraternal movements. He and his wife are regular attendants at the Episcopal church, of which she is a member. They hold a good place in the affairs of the community, and take a full share in its social and benevolent activities. 

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ERMAN F. BENSE.--A prominent position among the citizens of Osceola, Polk county, Nebraska, is held by the gentleman whose name introduces these paragraphs. He was born in Hanover, Germany, December 9, 1837, and is a son of John B. and Sophia (Evis) Bense, and they were both natives of the same place, and he was a farmer by occupation. John B. Bense emigrated to America in 1837, and located upon one hundred and sixty acres of wild land, in St. Louis, Missouri. The rest of his family joined him there in 1838, and made that place their home until 1845, when they removed to Iowa. They settled upon forty acres of wild land in Jefferson county, upon which they opened up a country store, and hauled their goods in a wagon from Burlington, which was forty-five miles away. Mr. Bense established a postoffice there in 1851, which he named Germanville, and held the office of postmaster until his death. He also improved his farm and added to it as circumstances would permit, at the same time keeping up the work of bringing the same to a high state of cultivation, which it finally attained. He died in May, 1858, and his wife died in 1879. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity, and of whom we have the following record: Henry was killed in California in 1851; Anna M., the wife of Jacob Knerr, a soldier; Herman F., the subject of this sketch; Margaret, the wife of Henry Conover, also a soldier; Bernard, who was a soldier in Company K, Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was killed in the service in May, 1862; Mary, the wife of A. N. Stafford, a soldier; John F. and Charles C., twins. The parents were members in good stand-

ing of the Lutheran church, and the'father held the following local offices: Township supervisor, assessor and road overseer.

      Herman F. Bense was an infant when he crossed' the ocean, from his native land, and learned to walk on the ship. He landed at New Orleans, in 1838, with his parents, and was raised in Iowa on a farm. He learned the trades of blacksmithing and engineering, and ran an engine in Iowa until the outbreak of the Civil war.

      On July 19, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was made second corporal in his company. On August 6, they left the state on the steamer Jennie Whipple, and landed at St. Louis, where they were quartered in Jefferson barracks, until they were ordered to join General Lyon, at Wilson's creek. The regiment went to St. Louis, where they drew guns and ammunition, and proceeded to Pilot Knob, upon leaving which they went to Ironton. They then marched to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, from whence they went to Fort Holt in Kentucky. They were the first regiment to arrive there and they established Camp Crittenden eight miles away, where they drew their first uniforms. From here they went and established Fort Jefferson, and then proceeded to Norfolk, from whence they marched to Birds Point. On November 6, they embarked on a steamboat for Columbus, Kentucky, and on the next day fought the battle of Belmont. After the battle they returned to Bird's Point, and on November 16 they encamped at Benton barracks, in St. Louis. On January 12, 1862, the regiment received orders to march, but Mr. Bense was laid up with inflammatory rheumatism, which necessitated his remaining in St. Louis at the Fifth Street Hospital. On the 4th of the following month, however, he rejoined his command at Smithland, Kentucky, and proceeded to the capture of Fort Henry, after which came the battle for the capture of Fort Donelson, in which the brigade to which he belonged was selected to lead the assault. Corporal Bense had been made sergeant just before the battle of Belmont, and on the last day of the fight before Fort Donelson, the Seventh was in the charge upon the works, and Color Sergeant Bense was the second one to reach the works with his colors, At the surrender of the fort his brigade was the first to enter. After the departure of the troops Mr. Bense was placed in charge of the sick and left at the fort, but he soon got them to the regiment again and proceeded to Pittsburg Landing. He took part in that memorable battle, which lasted two days, and the regiment to which he belonged was in the "Hornets' Nest." In the first day of the battle Mr. Bense was slightly wounded on the foot by a shell, and the second day he was struck on the leg by a spent ball. Next followed the siege of Corinth, after which the Seventh took the advance in pursuing the enemy, but were unable to get any water to drink until they reached the Tombigbee river. The regiment then returned to Corinth, and participated in the second battle at that place. During the summer of 1863 the regiment was ordered to Moscow and Lagrange, Tennessee, after considerable skirmishing and scouting around Corinth. Later they went to luka for a few days, and then marched to Eastport, Tennessee, and from thence they went into winter quarters at Pulaski, in the same state. From there the regiment was sent to Prospect, where Mr. Bense was chief of scouts for a time. In July of 1864, the regiment was ordered to Chattanooga, where he was mustered out, by reason of the expiration of his term of enlistment. He drew his money at Louisville, Kentucky, and proceeded to his home in Iowa, where he joined a militia company, of which he was chosen captain.

     Herman F. Bense was married April 6, 1865, to Miss Mary Stoker, who was born

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