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June 1, 1846, in Shelby county, Ohio. She was a daughter of Elijah and Lydia T. (Dey) Stoker, the former having been born in West Virginia, January 30, 1810, and the latter born in New Jersey, November 9, 1809. They were very early settlers in Shelby county, Ohio, where he built the first mill at Laramie in that county. Mr. Stocker died on January 11, 1852, and in the following year the family removed to Iowa. They made the trip in a wagon and settled on a farm in Jefferson county, which they broke and improve. They next located in Wayne county, of the same state, where Mrs. Stoker died January 1, 1868. The family consisted of the following children, who were four in number, and were named as follows: Milbern; Ezra, who was a member of Company D, Seventeenth Iowa Volunteers, and was killed in the battle of Champion Hill: Perry was a member of Company E, Thirtieth Iowa Volunteers, and died in the service; and Mary, the wife of our subject.

      After the marriage of our subject, he located in Wayne county, Iowa, where he began to improve the farm, and on March 18, 1871, he and family started in a wagon for Nebraska. They first located in Sarpy county, where they were engaged for one year in farming. In 1872 they took up a homestead on the northeast quarter of section 14, of township 13, range 2 west, in Polk county. The county at this time was very sparsely settled, as it was one mile and a half to their nearest neighbor's place, and they were compelled to go three miles to secure water. Mr. Bense built a sod house, and later he built another one, which in its turn was superseded by a frame structure 14 x 22 feet. He also put up a sod stable, which with all of his crop, was destroyed by fire in 1875. He had the first well on his land that was drilled in that section of the prairie, and the same was at that time a noted and serviceable one. In 1872 he raised some sod corn and potatoes, and the following year he also raised a crop, but in 1874 his crop went to feed that terrible pest, the grasshoppers. But notwithstanding all these hardships and privations, incidental to pioneer life, he has succeeded in bringing his farm to a high state of cultivation, has the same all well improved, and adorned with a large and commodious dwelling which he erected in 1886. On February 13, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Bense took up their residence in the city of Osceola, where they have a cosy and comfortable home. They are the parents of four children, of whom we give the following record: William E., born September 28, 1869; Dora E., born August 3, 1871, and is now the wife of Jesse Cartwright, and the mother of two children, Millie Fay and Roy Albine; Eddie, born July 5, 1875, and died on September 22, of the same year; and Herman S., born February 23, 1890.

      Mrs. Bense is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is an active worker in the same. She is a charter member of the J. F. Reynolds Relief Corps No. 69, W. R. C., of Osceola, of which she was the first chaplain, and in 1896 she was its president. She is also senior vice in the woman's department of the Platte Valley G. A. R. Reunion Association. Mr. Bense is a member of the J. F. Reynolds Post No. 26, G. A. R., of Osceola, of which he is the senior past commander, and officer of the day, having held the same fourteen years. He was the first senior vice of the Platte Valley G. A. R. Reunion Association, and is at present one of the-directors of the same. He is a stanch Republican and has always been an active worker in behalf of the principles of that party, and has been honored by the people with several of the minor offices. He has been a member of the election board for a number of years, and was once the assessor of Stromsburg precinct. The family are honored residents

of the community, and are respected by all for their many sterling traits of character. 

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EORGE W. SHIDLER, M. D., is one of the oldest physicians of York county, having for twenty years followed the practice of his profession in the city of York, of that county. He was born near Hillsboro, Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1849. His parents, George B. and Elizabeth (Garber) Shidler, were both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a carpenter and architect, following that calling in Pennsylvania until 1854, when he moved to Virginia. Three years later he moved to Iowa and settled in Lowell, Henry county, and died there in February, 1885. They were married in Pennsylvania and seven children, four sons and three daughters, were born to them. The mother also died in Iowa, in 1888.

      Our subject was educated in Iowa, attending the public schools and also the Denmark Academy, in Lee county, Iowa. He then taught school and worked with his father until he began the study of medicine, in 1869, in Lowell, Iowa, under Dr. Hobbs, of that place. After studying with Dr. Hobbs for two years and practicing for a short time, he entered the medical department of the Michigan university, in 1871, and attended there one year, resuming practice of his profession in Iowa. In 1875 he entered the medical college at Keokuk, Iowa, from which he graduated the following year. In 1878 Doctor Shidler came to York and has since made this his home and base of operations. He has since taken the post-graduate and polyclinics courses both in Chicago and New York, at different times, and for the past ten years he has attended regularly every two years. After settling in York, the Doctor practiced alone for five years, and from 1883 until 1888 he was in partnership with Dr. J. J. Porter.

      He then practiced alone until 1896, when he formed a partnership with Dr. O. M. Moore, of York. Doctor Shidler was surgeon for the Burlington & Missouri River and the K. C. & O. railroads for several years and was also a member of the insane commission. During President Arthur's administration the Doctor was appointed, in 1883, as a member of the pension board and continued in that capacity uninterruptedly until the present administration of Mr. McKinley. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the American Association, the Missouri Valley Association, and the York County Association, and was president of the latter at one time. The Doctor has also taken an active and wholesome interest in every public project which tended to the progress and development of the city and county or the improvement of its status or the strengthening of the local government. He has been a stockholder in some of the banks of the county. In politics he is a Democrat and is chairman of the senatorial district committee.

      Doctor Shidler was married October 14, 1880, to Miss Alice J. Shirey, a native of Pennsylvania, and their wedded life has been blessed by the presence of two children, George P., who is now sixteen years of age, and Bertha L., who is thirteen years of age. Our subject affiliates with the Masonic fraternity, holding his membership in the Commandery, Knight Templar and the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodman of America and the Maccabees. During the past year he has served a state examiner of the latter order. 

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HILO P. GARFIELD belongs to the vast diminishing number of those who have looked upon Nebraska when it was a

 

wilderness abounding in danger and death, and live to witness its present marvelous prosperity. Could the story of his eventful life be fully told it would require a volume. It would open with exciting scenes and incidents in the period when Kansas was the prize of bloody contention, and the Platte valley the roaming ground of numerous bands of cruel Indians. It would put into its earlier chapters the story of the war as it touched the Nebraska country, and would note the advent of a young man sixteen years of age at the public schools, who has been too much occupied in watching and warding against Indians and wild beasts before that age to take an interest in school work. And then it would show later on how the energy and self-reliance generated in an environment of such danger had carried our subject to a large and honorable success in later life. Mr. Garfield is still a young man, not fifty years old, and bears himself with a jauntiness and vigor that show the natural fire and energy of youth are still unabated in his veins. It is a pleasure to meet him, and hear him recount the story of the old days. He has a pleasant home on section 33, Bone Creek township, and made his first appearance in this county with his parents in 1858.

      Philo P. Garfield was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and was the fourth son of Solomon and Margaret (Blair) Garfield. Solomon Garfield was a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, where he first inhaled the vital air in 1814. He removed in early life to Venango county, Pennsylvania, where his five sons, George, Horace, Azor, Philo and James were born. In 1857 the Garfield and Blair families started west in search of homes and prosperity in the wilderness beyond the Missouri. Their objective point was in Kansas, but that was a year of storm and death, and the way across the Missouri was closed to their eager feet. They spent the winter almost in sight of the Canaan land, and seeking land for homes where liberty and honor might prevail, they came up the river, and reached the Platte valley, and settled near the present location of Linwood, Butler county, on Skull creek. The Indians were still numerous and warlike, and did much to make life a burden to the few white people who had penetrated into these remote regions. The Garfields and the Blairs had many conflicts with wandering bands of marauders, and every one was provided with a gun and taught how to use it at the earliest moment. The Indians usually traveled in small hunting parties, always in uneven numbers, and it was a frequent duty of the lad Philo to seek a point of observation on the bluffs near their house and watch the movements of these dangerous neighbors. He soon learned the language of the prairie, and could hold free conversation with the Indians, a circumstance which afterwards saved his life. He would sit in their wigwams for hours at night, and listen to the braves as they recounted to the younger Indians stories of the prowess of their fathers and the mighty deeds which had won honor and fame for the tribe.

      Though the Garfields and Blairs had many encounters with their lawless neighbors and had been forced in strict self-defense to kill many of them, they held on to their home in the Platte valley until 1863. At that time they removed to Polk county, where they located at what now bears the name of Garfield, and here Solomon Garfield passed away in 1864, dying in peace and quiet in the midst of scenes of danger and death. A year later his widow, Mrs. Margaret Garfield, returned to Butler county and took a homestead in Bone Creek township, section 4, where she found peace and quiet much increased over former years. As might be expected from such a narration, the school privileges of young Philo were very meagre, and he did not go to school

until he had entered his nineteenth year. Perhaps his experiences had tended to develop a finer and stronger strain of manhood than could have been acquired through a more intimate knowledge of books. He is a close observer and a careful student of men, and goes through life with his eyes and ears open, and is certainly a well informed man upon all the topics and issues of the day.

      Mr. Garfield was married in 1886 to Miss C. Liza DeLong. She was a native of Bureau county, Illinois, and was of English descent. She came into the state in 1882, and is the proud and happy mother of two children, Kurtz and Clara. She is an interesting character, and worthily sustains her husband's good name and the hospitality of his generous home. He is a member of the order of Modern Woodmen of America, and is a valued citizen of the community. 

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AMES H. WOODWARD, M. D., one of the better known eclectic physicians and surgeons of this part of the state, has his office and home at Seward, Nebraska, and possesses a practice that covers an extensive portion of the state. He has spent many years in the service of ailing humanity, and brings to the bedside of the sick not only the results of much study and reading, but the fruits of long experience. He exhibits the natural characteristics of a physician, and has met with very substantial success.

      Dr. Woodward was born in Monroe county, Indiana, January 5, 1835, and is the oldest son of James and Malinda (Goodwin) Woodward. They came from Kentucky, and the father was a farmer, and settled in Indiana in the earlier portion of the century. He was a captain in the Mexican war, and commanded a company of Indiana soldiers. He died in Carroll county, Indiana, in 1893 at the age of eight-four. He was the father of four sons, and was a man of much character and force. James attended the public schools in company with the other children of the family, and received advanced instruction from a seminary at Logansport. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, and then began reading medicine at Westfield, Indiana, under the supervision of his uncle, Dr. Harrison Goodwin, and completed his preparation for entering the school under Dr. Taylor, a celebrated physician of Logansport. In 1864 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, and was graduated in 1866. He had already attained sufficient insight into medicine to do minor business before going away to school, and upon his graduation he opened an office at Logansport, and spent the ensuing eight years in professional labor. In 1874 he established himself in this county, and here he has remained to the present day. In 1875 he took a full post-graduate course at the American Medical Institute of St. Louis, and received its diploma of graduation. He has done a general practice in this county up to recent years, but of late has made a specialty of the diseases of women, and is regarded as very proficient in this important branch of medicine.

      Dr. Woodward was married in 1866 to Miss Emma Gifford. She was a native of Indiana, and became the mother of three children. The oldest was a son, Alva. Emma is Mrs. Cummings, and Jennie is Mrs. McDonald. The Doctor was married a second time. Mary J. Stalcup, a resident of St. Louis, became his wife in 1876, and is the mother of two sons, viz.: James C., a soldier in the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and George. They are members of the Christian church, and he belongs to the State Eclectic Medical Society. He is a Republican, and is now filling the office of county physician. President Harrison appointed him to the pension board, and he is widely

known as an honorable and capable physician. His learning and ability have commanded recognition outside the limits of the county. He filled the chair of materia medica and therapeutics for two sessions at the medical department of the State University. He held the chair of abdominal diseases for three sessions at the Cotner Medical College, of Lincoln. He is rich in an inventive genius, and he has devised several pieces of apparatus that are highly regarded by the members of the profession, chief among them being an inductive electrical cabinet and electric female syringe, and on account of this last device he has received a diploma from the Paris Academy of Inventors. The National Electrical College at Indianapolis has bestowed upon him the degree of Master of Electricity, and in 1886 he published an interesting volume upon the subject of the place of electricity in medical practice. 

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ON. JAMES P. MILLER.--It is a pleasure to record the main events in the life of one who has attained an enviable position solely through his own efforts and exertions, and who, though close onto man's allotted three score and ten years, can still look forward to quite a few years of usefulness. Mr. Miller was reared a farmer and throughout the greater part of his life he has made that his vocation, and yet he has found time to devoted to the interest of the state, and as a result of his push and energy he has attained a conspicuous position among the politicians of the state. He is a well-informed man, being particularly well versed on topics of education and economy, and is widely and favorably known as a citizen devoted to his country's best interests.

      Mr. Miller was born in Franklin county, Ohio, April 29, 1834, a son of Jacob and Ruth (Kile) Miller, the former a native of West Virginia, and the latter a native of Kentucky. The father was a farmer by occupation and made his home in his native state until he was twenty-one years of age, and then moved to Ohio. He was married in Ohio, and later moved to Iowa and settled in Henry county, of that state, in 1856, and made that his home until his death, which occurred in July, 1864. The mother moved to Nebraska in 1875, and died in 1890. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living.

      Our subject was educated in Ohio, and at the age of twenty-one he moved to Henry county, Iowa, and there engaged in farming until 1863, when he enlisted in Company D, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and served for two years. He was then given the commission of second lieutenant of the One Hundred Thirty-seventh United States Colored Troops, and assigned top duty in Atlanta, Georgia, and served in that capacity for six months. He participated in the battles of Selma, Alabama, Columbus and Macon, Georgia. He captured the flag of the Twelfth Mississippi Cavalry at Selma, and for this he was given a medal by Congress. At the close of the war, Mr. Miller returned to Iowa, and engaged in farming until 1870. He then moved to York county, Nebraska, and has since made that his home. After locating in this county he engaged in farming for two years, and from 1873 until 1882 he served as sheriff of York county. He then for a time turned his attention to the real estate business and later returned to his farm. In 1892 he was elected state senator from the district in which he lives and served as such for two years, and since that time he has resided in the city of York.

      Mr. Miller was married in 1873 to Miss Mariah Baker, a resident of York county. Our subject is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He organized the Old Settlers Society of York

county in December, 1895, was elected its first president and is now serving his second term as presiding officer of that body. 

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UDGE EDWIN W. HALE.--Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity, it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of the community. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practice law, also qualify him in many respects for duties which he outside the strict path of his profession and which touch the general interests of society. Holding marked precedence among the representatives of the legal profession in Butler county is Judge Hale, who is now occupying the county bench.

      He was born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, March 27, 1865, and is a son of Edwin Hale, who was born and reared in Otsego county, New York. His ancestry can be traced back to England whence emigrated the founder of the family in America, in the year 1650. Edwin Hale engaged in the merchandise business in Utica, New York, until 1848, when he removed to the west, taking up his residence in Waukesha county among its early settlers. There he devoted his remaining days to agricultural pursuits and died on his farm in 1894, at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Susan J. Debnam, is a native of Utica, New York, and is still living in Waukesha county, Wisconsin. Her father, Robert Debnam, was also supposed to be a native of the Empire state and his father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Hale's maternal grandmother was a native of Wales. In the family of Edwin and Susan Hale were four children, three of whom reached mature years.

      The judge is the only son and youngest child. He was reared in the county of his nativity, and acquired his preliminary education in the common schools, after which he became a student in Carroll College, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, in which institution he was graduated in the class of 1885. Being imbued with a desire to make the practice of law his life work, he then entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, and was graduated in 1889. Following this he entered upon his professional career in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where he entered into partnership with John A. Kelley, a connection that was maintained until the spring of 1891, when Judge Hale came to Butler county, Nebraska, locating in David City for the practice of law. Here he formed a partnership with Hon. Arthur J. Evans, and the firm of Evans & Hale continued in a large and lucrative practice until January I, 1894, when Judge Hale entered upon the discharge of the duties of county judge, to which position he had been elected in 1893.

      He was at that time the nominee of the Republican party, and in 1895 he was reelected. In 1897 he became the candidate on the fusion ticket. He possesses the four things which benefit a judge to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly and to give judgment without partiality. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the science of law and his decisions are models of judicial soundness.

      On the 20th of December, 1893, Judge Hale was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Williams, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a daughter of William P. Williams, of that place. They have two sons, Edwin W. and John K., and a daughter, Beatrice D. Our subject is a valued member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and I. O. O. F. In January, 1896, he was commissioned by Governor Holcomb judge-advocate general on his

staff with the rank of colonel. He and his wife hold a very prominent and enviable position socially, their pleasant home being the center of a cultured society circle. While on the bench Judge Hale fully sustains the majesty of the law in private life he is a genial gentleman, who easily wins friends, and to know him is to honor and esteem him. 

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UDGE SAMUEL H. SEDGWICK, a leading attorney of York, is now filling the responsible position of judge of the fifth judicial district of Nebraska with distinguished ability and to the credit of his state. Admitted to the bar he at once entered upon practice, and from the beginning has been unusually prosperous in every respect. The success that he has attained is due to his own efforts and merits. The possession of advantage is no guaranty whatever of professional success. This comes not of itself, nor can it be secured without integrity, ability and industry. Those qualities he possesses to an eminent degree, and he has been faithful to every interest committed to his charge. Throughout his whole life, whatsoever his hand found to do, whether in his profession or his official duties, or in any other sphere, he has done with all his might and with a deep sense of conscientious obligation.

      The judge was born in Dupage county, Illinois, March 12, 1848, and is a son of Parker and Hephsibah (Goodwin) Sedgwick, natives of Connecticut, whence they removed to New York, and later came to Illinois, in 1843. The father was educated in the Empire state for the medical profession, which he successfully practiced in both New York and Illinois, and also engaged in farming. He was twice married and was the father of fourteen children. His death occurred in Wheaton, Illinois, in 1871, and the mother of our subject departed this life in York, Nebraska, in 1882. The founder of the family in the new world was Robert Sedgwick, who was an English official of high standing, having served as governor of Jamaica, and later of one of the American colonies. He came to this country in 1640.

      Like many of our most distinguished citizens, Judge Sedgwick was reared upon a farm and received his primary education in the country schools. In 1861 he entered Wheaton College, of Illinois, from which institution he graduated in 1872, but in the meantime he had spent one year in the law department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. In 1872-3 he conducted an academy in Sharon, Wisconsin. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar at Green Bay, and in the spring of that year opened a law office in Kewaunee county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in practice until coming to York, Nebraska, in the fall of 1878. He has met with most gratifying success in his chosen calling, and in 1895 was honored with an election to the bench, being the Republican candidate for judge of the fifth judicial district of the state. He is absolutely fearless in the discharge of his duties, and favor cannot tempt him from the straight path. He possesses a mind practically free from judicial bias, and he brings to his duties a most thorough knowledge of the law and of human nature, a comprehensive mind, and calm and deliberate judgment. His sentences are models of judicial fairness, and he is a type of the law that respects and protects, not condemns humanity. Aside from his professional and official duties, the judge is interested in the Newspaper Union of York, and is a stockholder in the waterworks and electric light plant. Besides this property he owns two farms in York county.

      In 1878 Judge Sedgwick was united in marriage with Miss Clara M. Jones, of Ogle county, Illinois, and to them were born three children--two daughters living, Cath-

erine N. and Myrna P., and one son who died in infancy. The judge and his wife hold membership in the Congregational church, and their home is the center of a cultured society circle. 

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OL. AURELIUS ROBERTS, an honored resident of Rising City, first settled in Butler county in the summer of 1868, filing a homestead claim to a part of section 18, Reading township. Mr. Roberts was born in Washington county, Ohio, July is, 1835, a son of John Roberts, a native of Bangor, Maine. John Roberts, a son of John Roberts, moved, when a young man, with his parents to Washington county, Ohio. He was a shoemaker during the early part of his life, but later studied medicine and was for many years a prominent physician. He was married in Washington county, Ohio, about the year 1824, to Miss Mahala Miller, a daughter of John Miller. When our subject was about two years of age the family moved to Jefferson county, Iowa, where the father continued his practice of medicine, and where he died in 1848.

      Our subject was reared on a farm in the timber portion of Jefferson county, and during his boyhood received a very meager education, learning to figure and write after he was eighteen years of age. He then prepared himself for teaching, and for five years was engaged in teaching and attending school. He was attending the Baptist College at Burlington, Iowa, when the war broke out, and he left school in April, 1861, and enlisted in Company E, First Iowa Infantry, for three months. During this time he operated in Missouri and was in the engagement at Wilson Creek, and was there when General Lyon was killed. After this battle he returned to Burlington and enlisted in the United States regular army, and was detailed for recruiting service. This continued until July, 1862, when he raised a company of volunteers and was commissioned captain and his company, Company C, Thirtieth Iowa Infantry, was attached to the First Division, First Brigade, Fifteenth Army Corps. He joined Sherman at Memphis, Tennessee, and on the 22d of May, 1863, he took command of the regiment, and the following day he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. At Cherokee Station, Alabama, in September, 1863, Colonel Torrence was killed and left our subject in command of the regiment, and he continued to serve in that capacity until the close of the war. He commanded the regiment at the battle of Lookout Mountain, and the next day at Missionary Ridge his brigade captured John C. Breckenridge's command, but Breckenridge escaped. Our subject was with Sherman throughout the campaign from Atlanta to the sea, and from the latter place to Washington, where he participated in the grand review. He then started with many of his comrades to his home in Iowa, but while en route to Davenport an accident occurred which resulted in the death of one man and seriously injuring twenty-seven others.

      After the close of the war Colonel Roberts found himself fitted for no business except that of a soldier, but he immediately began a business course in the Bryant & Stratton College, at Burlington, Iowa. After finishing his course of study he started business at Sigourney, Iowa, where he was soon after appointed deputy collector of internal revenue under General Belknap. This he made his home until 1867, when he moved to Nebraska. This trip to Nebraska was made for the purpose of visiting his brother, Stephen, at Fremont, and they started together for the Indian Territory, but while going down the Platte Valley, by the way of Oak Creek, they arrived at the Blue River, near Ulysses, and were so favorably impressed with the country that they de-

cided to go no farther, and our subject has since made that his home. In 1870 he was chosen to represent the district comprising Saunders, Seward, Butler, Polk, York and and Hamilton counties and all unorganized territory south and west of the Platte River in the legislature and served two years. In 1878 he left the farm and engaged in the grain and stock business in David City. When the Union Pacific railroad was built to Rising City he moved his business, in November, 1878, to that city and has since made that his home and base of operations. For ten years after locating here he followed the grain and stock business, and then, in partnership with F. E. Leonard, he organized the Commercial Bank, which, however, did not prove a profitable investment. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Rising City.

      Colonel Roberts was first married to Miss Elsada McCray, who died in 1866. March 31, 1869, he was again married at Sigourney, Iowa, to Miss Elizabeth Brooks, and their wedded life has been blessed by the presence of a family of six children, four daughters and two sons: Cornelia, Althea, Claire, Elizabeth, Aurelius and Finley M. Socially our subject affiliates with the Masonic fraternity in the capacity of a thirty-third-degree Mason. He is senior warden of the lodge at Seward, master at Ulysses and for seven years has been master at Rising City. 

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ON. DAVID S. ZIMMERMAN.--A striking example of what can be accomplished by persistent industry and strict attention to business is afforded in the life of Hon. David S. Zimmerman, who holds a conspicuous position among the members of the agricultural district of York county, and who is now representing that county in the lower house.

      Mr. Zimmerman was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, February 10, 1854. His parents, Jacob and Catherine (Allbach) Zimmerman, were both natives of the state of Ohio, but their parents came from Pennsylvania. Jacob Zimmerman was a farmer and followed that occupation in Ohio until he moved to LaSalle county, Illinois, in 1865, and is still making that place his home. He also taught school in the earlier part of his life. Our subject was educated in the district schools and in the Blackstone High School, of Mendota, Illinois. After graduating from that institution, he began farming in Illinois and was thus engaged three years. In the spring of 1880, he came to York county, Nebraska, and settled upon a homestead previously purchased near York. In 1891 he left the farm and removed to the city of York to assume the duties of county treasurer, a position he held for two terms of two years each. He afterward sold the homestead and purchased a tract of land adjoining York City, upon which he still resides. Since retiring from the office of county treasurer, he has devoted the greater part of his time to feeding stock, feeding about ten car loads annually. In 1896 Mr. Zimmerman was elected to the lower house, and is now serving in that capacity. He is a member of several committees, among them the committee on railroads, of which he is chairman, and the committee on finance, ways and means.

      In December, 1877, Mr. Zimmerman was united in marriage to Miss Harriett Salmon, a native of Illinois. In politics our subject is a Populist and assisted in the organization of that party in Nebraska. He is the vice-president of the City National Bank, at York, and is a stockholder of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, which he also helped to organize. He is a member of the business men's fraternity. Our subject is a self-made man, starting in life with no capital except his own mental and

physical ability and the advantage of a thorough high-school education, and when he arrived in Nebraska, he was in debt. He has now become one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the county and has accumulated a comfortable fortune as the result of his thrifty and systematic habits. 

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ON. E. L. KING, a leading citizen of Osceola, and one of the most able lawyers practicing at the bar of Polk county, was born February 4, 1855, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and springs from an old and prominent New England family. His parents were William and Phoebe (Hall) King, both of whom were of English descent. The paternal grandfather, William King, Sr., was a native of Connecticut, whence he emigrated to Ohio in 1806, being one of the first settlers to locate on the banks of the Cuyahoga river. He was a farmer by occupation, and was a soldier of the war of 1812.

      William King, Jr., was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, February 8, 1818, was also engaged in agricultural pursuits as a life work, and manifested his patriotism by enlisting in the United States army for service in the Mexican war, but hostilities ceased before his regiment reached the front. In Niagara county, New York, he was married June 4, 1847, to Miss Phoebe Hall, who was born in Essex county, that state, July 27, 1821, and they made their home in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, until 1867, when they moved to Benton county, Iowa, and located upon an unimproved farm, to the development and cultivation of which the father devoted his energies until his death, which occurred January 9, 1881. The mother survived him five years, dying July 25, 1886. She held membership in the Universalist church, and both had the respect and esteem of all who knew them.

      Of their five children one died in infancy. Those still living are Alasco A., a resident of Benton county, Iowa, who married Carrie Remington and has six children; Minnie, who married John W. Hoon, of Benton county, and has four children; E. L., of this sketch; and Kittie, wife of Frank Burrell, also of Benton county, Iowa, by whom she has five children.

     Mrs. Phoebe King, mother of our subject, was the eleventh in order of birth in a family of twelve children, whose parents were Joseph and Mary (Edmunds) Hall. Her father was born in Charleston, Rhode Island, October 4, 1771, her mother in Clarendon, Vermont, February 12, 1780, and their marriage was celebrated in December, 1798. The former died August 26, 1858, in Bedford, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and the latter October 20, 1846, in Hartland, Niagara county, New York. Mrs. Hall was also eleventh in a family of twelve children born to James and Abigail (Jenks) Edmunds, who were married in 1758. Mrs. Edmunds was born in 1742 and died in Clarendon, Vermont, in 1813, while Mr. Edmunds was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1731, and also died in Clarendon, Vermont, in 1799. He was twice married, his first union being with a Miss Alaison, who died in 1757, leaving one son, William. James Edmunds was a son of James Edmunds, Sr., who with two brothers, William and Andrew, came from England to the New World and located in Rhode Island. He died in 1734 somewhere between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five years, leaving an infant son, James, Jr. His brother William died at sea in early life. James Edmunds, Jr., was left in possession of a good farm two miles from Providence, Rhode Island, which he subsequently exchanged for a house in that city, but eventually lost this property by going security for his father-in-law, and in 1775 removed to Vermont, which state was then considered the "far west." The old

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