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Mr. Tarble pre-empted land on section 4, township 14, range 1, and erected a sod shanty, which not only afforded accommodations for himself but also for four horses, while his furniture consisted principally of a bed and a stove. Here he spent the time during the terrible storm of April, 1872, at which time there were only two other settlers in the township. When his wife arrived in 1873, he discarded the sod house and built a little frame dwelling, 22 X 14, which became known as the "big white house on the hill," it being the only frame house for many miles. The first season Mr. Tarble raised a crop of sod corn, but he continued the improvement and cultivation of his land until he had one of the best farms in the locality. Forty acres were set out in trees, and an elegant residence erected at a cost of three thousand, six hundred dollars, while many other improvements were made upon the place, adding greatly to its value and attractive appearance. At one time he owned one thousand acres of land, but has since disposed of much of his property, still owning a little over two sections. He has laid out an addition to Shelby, on College street, and in that place built his present comfortable home in 1894, at a cost of one thousand five hundred dollars. Throughout his active business career he engaged exclusively in farming, and in his undertakings met with marked success.

      Mrs. Tarble, who was an invalid for many years, departed this life June 28, 1896, and was laid to rest in Shelby cemetery. She was a consistent member of the United Brethren church, and a most estimable lady. Having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Tarble reared Ettie Holbrook, who married George Hubbell and died leaving eight children.

      In December, 1876, they were joined in their little pioneer home by Henry Vanderbilt and wife, Laura Martin, who emigrated from their native state--Indiana--to Nebraska in 1875, locating at Juniata, Adams county, whence they came to the home of our subject in December, the following year, in an open lumber wagon. Mrs. Vanderbilt had traded her shoes for meat, and and came all the way barefoot. On their arrival Mr. Tarble went to Columbus, where he bought her a new pair of shoes, and also some cotton flannel for herself and three little girls. Since his wife's death he has lived with Mrs. Vanderbilt, who now has two married daughters, Mrs. Emma Hilliard and Mrs. Mattie Brigham. One of Mr. Tarble's most cherished possessions was a little dog--Minnie--who died at the venerable old age of twenty years. In his political affiliations he is a staunch Repulican (sic), and he is an honored and prominent member of the Grand Army Post at Shelby, in which he has served as quartermaster for many years. He has also served as treasurer of the stock company to build the G. A. R. hall, and as treasurer of the United Brethren church. When the Sons of Veterans organized their camp at Shelby, March 28, 1898, they named it John A. Tarble Camp, No. 4, Sons of Veterans, in honor of our subject, who has presented them with a beautiful flag.

     He has since sold the section where his old homestead was for $22,000. 

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HOMAS C. PRATHER.--The common place duties of daily life, trivial though they may seem to the casual observer, demand for their proper fulfillment the same admirable qualities of character which in a higher degree and under other circumstances attract universal notice and approbation. However it may seem to the superficial mind, our rural communities furnish an excellent field for the development of the traits which go to the making of good citizens and one purpose of this work is the

preservation of records which show the innate worth and dignity of such a life. Reared on a farm, Mr. Prather has always followed agricultural pursuits, and is now one of the most prominent and influential citizens of New York township, York county, Nebraska.

      He was born September 12, 1845, in Clark county, Indiana, a son of William S. and Sarah (James) Prather, who were born, reared and married in North Carolina, where the father engaged in farming until 1826. He was then twenty-three years of age, and with his family removed to Clark county, Indiana, where he followed both general farming and dairying. With the tide of emigration which was steadily moving westward, he went to Adams county, Illinois, in 1852, and made his home there until his death, which occurred in 1872. Our subject is the youngest and the only one now living of his family of five children, two sons and three daughters. The other son enlisted in the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, and died from disease contracted in the service.

      During his boyhood and youth, Thomas C. Prather pursued his studies in the common schools of Illinois, but laid aside his text books at an early age to take up the more practical duties of business life, working as a farm hand until nineteen years of age. Coming to York county, Nebraska, in 1879, he purchased a tract of land on section 12, New York township, which he still owns. He is successfully engaged in general farming and stockraising, feeding about five car loads of stock annually.

      In 1865, in Adams county, Illinois, Mr. Prather led to the marriage altar Miss Sophia J. Bennett, a sister of John Bennett, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. They now have a family of six children: Olive, wife of James Kibby; Sallie; Alice; Lizzie; William E. and Austin J. Mr. Prather and his family hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and have a host of warm friends throughout the county. Since attaining his majority he has affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen eleven years, the Modern Woodmen of America eight years, and the Home Forum two years. He is a recognized leader of the Republican party in this section, has been a member of the county central committee five years, and has done much toward insuring its success. He has also faithfully served his fellow citizens in the capacity of town clerk, and has been quite prominently identified with the interests of his community. 

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ON. THOMAS CARR is one of the representative men of Seward county, belonging to that class whose ability and character have made a deep impression upon the life of this rapidly developing country. In this broad state with its abundant room for individual enterprise, with its hearty appreciation of personal worth and its splendid opportunities for individual achievement, the man of ability finds the very largest sphere for usefulness and the gratification of personal ambition. His abilities will be discovered; his integrity will find appreciation; his public spirit will meet with recognition and he will be forced into prominence against his will. Mr. Carr is an illustration of this fact. However, he has always been ready to respond to any call for public duty, either on battle field or in legislative halls.

      Mr. Carr was born in Washington county, Illinois, August 29, 1844, a son of James and Maria (Bohen) Carr, natives of County Cavan, Ireland. The father, who was a carpenter by trade, came to the United States about 1825, landing in New York City, whence he went to New Orleans, and in 1836 he became a resident of Illinois, where he engaged in farming until life's

labors were over, dying there in 1868. In his family were four sons, of whom two entered the Union service during the Civil war and one died in the service.

      The early education of our subject was received in the public schools of his native county, and was supplemented by a course in Washington Seminary, of Richview, Illinois, from which institution he graduated. On the breaking out of the Rebellion, he responded to the president's first call for ninety-day men, becoming a member of the Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and when that term had expired, he re-enlisted, in 1861, in Company E, Tenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, for three years, participating with that regiment in the following battles: Iuka, Corinth, Jackson, Raymond, Vicksburg, Champion Hills, Missionary Ridge and several skirmishes. He was discharged in August, 1863, but in February, 1864, joined the Second United States Veteran Volunteers and served one year as first lieutenant, after which he was transferred to the Second United States Regular Infantry, serving until 1867 in Mississippi during the Reconstruction period.

      After receiving his discharge, Mr. Carr returned to Illinois, where he continued to live until 1869, when he came to Nebraska and took up a homestead in Seward county, on which he still resides. His first home here was a rude dugout, but it was soon replaced by a good log house with a shingle roof, and later by a more commodious and comfortable frame residence. Here he has successfully followed general farming and stock raising, and has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable competence.

      Mr. Carr was married, in Illinois, in 1867, to Miss Mary Adams, a native of Washington county, Illinois, and to them have been born eight children: Maria, Jennie, Rachel, Mary, James, Robert, Roy and Nona, all living. The family hold membership in the Presbyterian church, while socially Mr. Carr belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He assisted in the organization of the Republican party in Seward county, and has always been one of its most active and influential members, serving for some time on the county and state central committees, and rendering effective service in the interest of his party. For twenty years he has filled the office of justice of the peace to the entire satisfaction of the general public, and in 1885 was elected to represent his county in the lower house of the legislature, of which he was an able member for two years.  

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NDREW F. BLOOMER.--The biographer is conscious of a certain degree of delicacy in attempting to do justice to the subject of this sketch and to the subject of lumber-two live, inexhaustible subjects in one article. To blend them as harmoniously in cold type as they have for years traveled side by side in every day life is a task not entirely within the limits of one article and the space allotted to it in a work of this character. To write the biography of Mr. Bloomer is to write the history of the lumber interests of York county for the past fourteen years. On the other hand, to give a faithful account of the lumber interests for a like period would savor largely, almost overwhelmingly, of Bloomer, the one is so inseparably connected with the other.

      Early in 1884 Mr. Bloomer located at York and established the foundation for his present extensive lumber business, which is said to embrace one of the largest stocks carried west of the Missouri river. Having traveled for a year previous to selecting York as a basis of his operations, during which time he visited the principal points

in the western part of the United States, Mexico and British America, he was enabled to select a location intelligently and not in a this-or-that-or-anything desperation. He recognized in York many advantages in a business way as well as a place of residence and substantiated his judgment by investing considerable sums of money, not only in the trade but also in property to establish a home. The success which has attended his efforts during the years which have intervened has proven the correctness of his judgement. He is now conducting one of the largest lumber establishments in the state, doing a wholesale as well as a retail business, his sales aggregating more than three hundred cars per year.

      Mr. Bloomer is nothing if not original. The many unique and ingenious methods he has employed in advertising his business have been far-reaching in their results. In addition to his name becoming a household word and authority on everything pertaining to lumber and building material throughout York and adjoining counties, it has traveled beyond the confines of this and surrounding states. Probably the distinctive feature or trademark of his business in this respect is contained in his illustrated motto of "Live and Let Live." It appeared simultaneously with the inauguration of his business in York, fourteen years ago, and since that time it has been as closely associated with the business as Bloomer himself. While the illustrated motto first appeared upon a calendar he began publishing in the East and which he has continued for many years, it also finds its way into all printed matter coming from the Bloomer establishment. In an article which appeared in a recent issue of the Northwestern Lumberman, published at Chicago, the following appropriate tribute was paid to Bloomer's calendar: "You all know about the Monkey-cat-rat calendar. That's Bloomer's calendar. He has distributed it for fifteen, years and no strange gods in the shape of slab-sided sheets of cardboard, with their gay girls, yards of roses, battle pictures, and big figures, have inveigled him from the modest little production which he originated years ago. The diminutive menagerie on the calendar may mean one thing or another--nobody knows. It is so modest and unique and has withstood the defacing effects of time so well that when it reaches an office someone cries out, 'Here comes Bloomer's calendar!' and it suits Bloomer when that cry is raised." The above is only one of hundreds of similar notices which have appeared in newspaper throught the country. The press delights to honor Bloomer, and no wonder, for there is no responsive chord in his generous nature that has been developed to a greater extent than his love and appreciation of the printer. This sympathy and brotherly affection for the craft is perfectly natural and no doubt flows from an unseen fountain which came into existence years ago when he, as a boy, partially learned the printer's trade. At any rate it is a fitting tribute to the memory of a loving father's life work.

      There are many characteristics in Mr. Bloomer that would be worthy of record, but space forbids detail. However, his high regard for the comfort of dumb animals must not be overlooked and the practical manner in which he has emphasized his conviction in this respect. Years ago he sunk a well at his office doorway and constructed a trough which has since overflowed with pure, cool and sparkling water. The motto adorning the well " Free drinks for man and beast" is well known to every inhabitant for miles around, and there are probably few horses in the same territory that would not rise up in chorus and call the promoter Blessed if it were in their province to do so. Likewise, also, Mr.

Bloomer has sheds for the accommodation of about half a hundred horses owned by his friends and patrons--a service without money and without price.

      While Mr. Bloomer has been and is a very busy man he has taken time to cultivate the itinerant spirit which has always been a pronounced characteristic of his nature. Although he has traveled quite extensively, he has confined his wanderings to his native country, feeling a loyalty to it in this respect before seeking such pleasures abroad. During the winter of 1887, accompanied by his family, he visited the Bahama Islands and brought home many valuable and interesting specimens which were added to his already extensive collection from the various states and territories. Two years later he made a visit to Alaska and brought home many interesting souvenirs from that country.

      As a citizen Mr. Bloomer has always occupied an influential position among the leading business men and residents of York. He has ever been loyal to the city's best interests and has aided with both time and money in the establishment and development of industrial institutions which have greatly benefited the city. While some of them were not a success financially, their inception and continuance at a loss was largely a labor of love on the part of progressive citizens, who afterward surrendered such institutions to private parties and capital that had in the meantime been attracted to them and which placed them upon a successful and profitable basis. In this connection it is only necessary to mention such concerns as the York Foundry and Engine Company, of which Mr. Bloomer was a stockholder and director for several years. He was also one of the first stockholders and officers of the original board of the York Gas and Electric Light Company, and aside from being a life member he has for a number of years assisted in the maintenance of the York County Agricultural Society. For a long time he has been an active member and stockholder of the York Mutual Building and Loan Association. The Creamery, which was started originally as a butter and cheese factory, the Nebraska Telephone Company, the sugar beet industry, all received substantial aid from him and he even contributed to a street railway project. It is due in no small degree to the loyalty of such men as Mr. Bloomer that the City of York ranks among the best in the state, surpassing many places of double its population.

      Mr. Bloomer is a native of Orange county, New York, where he was born August 21, 1851, being a son of Reuben H. and Almira (Chase) Bloomer, also natives of that state. The Bloomer family number among their ancestors participants in the Revolutionary war and Almira Chase is a descendent of Salmon P. Chase. Reuben H. Bloomer, our subject's father, was formerly a Methodist minister, but failing health compelled him to abandon the ministry. In 1855 he established the Newberg Times, a temperance paper, which he edited and published until his death, which occurred in 1886. He was associated with Neil Dow and many of the prominent temperance workers of those days. In politics he was a Republican. His son, J. Watson, was also interested in that publication for a time, which was afterwards merged into the Newburg Journal and is still in existence.

      The subject of this review grew to manhood in his native state, receiving a liberal education in the public schools of Newburg, supplemented with a business course in the Eastman College. He worked in a printing office for a time and partially mastered the ''Art preservative of all arts," but when about eighteen years of age he drifted west to Chicago. Here he received his first lessons in the lumber business. For several

years he was in the employ of D. F. Chase & Brother, extensive lumber dealers of that city. In 1877 he entered into the lumber business for himself at Wyoming, Illinois, and was thus engaged successfully until 1883 when he disposed of his interests there and a year later located in York, Nebraska. He has occupied one location uninterruptedly ever since, and the success with which he has met during a residence of fourteen years in York county is only measured by his great energy, sound judgment, and enterprising and commendable business methods. He also owns several farms in York and adjoining counties, besides extensive landed interests in Kansas and Colorado. In politics he is a stanch Republican, although he has not sought political preferment nor held office of any kind.

      In 1885 Mr. Bloomer was united in marriage to Miss Eliza P. Miner, a native of Illinois, and at that time a resident of that state. She is a daughter of William M. Miner, a native of Connecticut, and Mary (Bushnell) Miner, who was born in New York. Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer occupy one of the handsome residences of York and their domestic life is an exceptionally happy one. Their home is one of genuine hospitality and its affairs are presided over and executed by a hand that savors of education and refinement. 

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RANKLIN SKIPTON.--In the last half of the present century the lawyer has been a preeminent factor in all affairs of private concern and national importance. He has been depended upon to conserve the best and permanent interests of the whole people and is a recognized power in all the avenues of life. He stands as the protector of the rights and liberties of his fellow men and is the representative of a profession whose followers, if they would gain honor, fame and success, must be men of merit and ability. Such a one is judge Franklin Skipton, who now occupies the bench of Fillmore county, winning high commendation by his fair and impartial administration of justice.

      The judge was born in Henry county, Iowa, May 30, 1859, and is a son of Francis and Sarah (Winter) Skipton, the former a native of Washington county, Ohio, and the latter of Lincolnshire, England, whence she came to America with her parents when eleven years of age. Francis Skipton was a farmer and in 1851 removed to Henry county, Iowa, where he cast in his lot with its pioneer settlers. He died in that county in 1878, but his widow still resides on the old homestead there. On that same farm Judge Skipton spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He attended the common schools and at the age of sixteen entered Hows Academy, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he pursued a three-years' preparatory course. He pursued his collegiate course in the Iowa Wesleyan University and was graduated with honors in 1882.

      For some time thereafter Judge Skipton devoted his efforts to educational work. He went to Washington county, Kansas, where he engaged in teaching school and later removed to Clay Center, Kansas, where he took up the study of law in 1884 under the direction of C. M. Anthony, but continued teaching for several years longer. In 1885 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1889 he came to Fillmore county, locating in Shickley, where he occupied the position of principle of the schools for eight years. In the fall of 1897 he became the Populist candidate for county judge and was elected by a majority of over three hundred, the largest majority accorded any one on the ticket. His election was all the more flattering as his opponent was a very prominent and popular citizen and lawyer.

     Judge Skipton was married December 26, 1883, to Ida T. Stickel, a native of Bureau county, Illinois, and a daughter of David C. and Rebecca (Lamb) Stickel, who are residents of Fillmore county. The judge and his wife have one son, Virgil E. Our subject is a valued and exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity and has had a marked influence upon the life of Fillmore county through his educational work and his official service. His well spent life commands the respect of all and this record would be incomplete without the review of his honorable career. 

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AMES D. BROWN--More than thirty-three years have passed since this gentleman arrived in Butler county, and he is justly numbered among her honored pioneers and leading citizens. Since locating here in May, 1865, he has been prominently identified with her agricultural interests, his home being on section 23, Oak Creek township. His is an honorable record of a conscientious man, who has won the confidence by his upright life of all with whom he has come in contact.

      Mr. Brown was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, December 15, 1822, a son of Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Allerson) Brown. The birth of the father occurred in 1787, in Culpeper county, Virginia, and the grandfather, William Brown, was also a native of the Old Dominion. At an early age our subject removed with his parents to Missouri, where he married Miss Phoebe Crowley, who was born in Ray county, that state, December 31, 1826. Her parents, Jeremiah and Polly (Carey) Crowley, were natives of Kentucky and Virginia, repectively (sic), and her grandfather, John Crowley, was also born in Kentucky.

      Mr. and Mrs. Brown have become the parents of thirteen children, all born in Missouri with the exception of A. J., the youngest, whose birth occurred after the emigration of the family to Nebraska. The family record is as follows: (1) Julia is the wife of J. C. Hatchett, now a resident of Wichita county, Texas, and has twelve children--James S., Joel, Sarah, Lovey, Mollie, Emma, Ella, Kittie, John, Jerry, William and Thomas. (2) Thomas, the second, of the family, is now deceased. (3) Jerry, also deceased, had three children--Marshall, Carl and Bert. (4) Polly died leaving one daughter, Lizzie Warrall. (5) William C. first wedded Mary Jimmerson, now deceased, by whom he had six children--John; James, deceased; A. J.; Phoebe; William and George. For his second wife he married Lottie Conner, and by this union has two daughters--Julia and Mary. (6) Candas, deceased, married a Mr. Riggs, and had seven children--Alfred, who married Lakey Bell, and has one daughter, Mina; Cora, who married a Mr. Cook and has one child, Rosa; James; Orville; Ellen; C. H. and Thomas. (7) Joseph A. married Martha Dowell, and has three children--Aurilla, Ross and Bessie. (8) Emma married Thomas Baldwin and has three children--Melvin, Paul and Grace. (9) Calvin married Mollie Hopkins and has five children--Minnie, Chester, Lucy, Eugene and Dee. (10) John, married Delia Skelton and has two children--Roy and Ina. (11) George, married Serena Jacobs. (12) Ella married William Darnell and has eight children--Charles, Earl, Fern, Josie, Nellie, Hazel, Judd and the baby. (13) A. J. married Metta Cartwright and has three children--Ava Lee, Burnie and Mathew J.

      Early in the year 1865, Mr. Brown, his wife and twelve children started with a party for Oregon, consisting of his son-in-law, J. C. Hatchett, with his wife and four children; Jerry Crowley and family; Robert Lee and family. Their course lay through Butler county, Nebraska, and on arriving here they decided to proceed no further, but
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make this their future home. Mr. Brown selected land on what is now section 23, Oak Creek township, and that tract of unbroken prairie land he has transformed into one of the most desirable farms of the county. His interests have always been confined to farming, wherein he has met with a full measure of success.

      Although well advanced in years, Mr. and Mrs. Brown are still hale and hearty, and in spirit and interests seem yet in their prime. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness and inactivity. They reside on the old homestead where they located so many years ago, and in the broad acres under excellent cultivation, and in the comfortable home, there is no evidence of the wild, unbroken prairies and lonely surroundings which greeted the little band of pioneers on their arrival here. Mr. Brown has always taken an active interest in everything which he believed calculated to advance the welfare of his adopted county, and he is therefore justly entitled to an honored place among the pioneers and representative citizens of this section of the state. Of his descendants, who now exceed a hundred, many are scattered over this and neighboring states, while a large number still surround him in his declining years. 

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. M. STOUT, a well-to-do and prosperous farmer of Arborville township, York county, is one of the men who thoroughly understands the business he is pursuing, and has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable competence. He is the architect of his own fortune, having started in life with but little capital beyond his own industry and laudable ambition to rise in the world.

      Mr. Stout claims Ohio as his native state, his birth occurring in Butler county, August 12, 1831. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Stout, were natives of New Jersey and Vermont, respectively, and his father was also an agriculturist. From Pennsylvania he removed to Ohio, and later became a resident of Indiana, where both he and his wife died. Their family consisted of four sons and three daughters.

      In Indiana, J. M. Stout grew to manhood and under his father's able direction acquired an excellent knowledge of every department of farm work. On leaving that state in 1874 he came to York county, Nebraska, and bought the farm which he now owns in Arborville township. He erected thereon a small house which has long since been replaced by a pleasant frame residence, more commodious and substantial. Having prospered in his new home he is now the owner of three eighty-acre tracts of land, all under the plow, and yielding to the owner bountiful harvests for the care and labor bestowed upon them.

      On the 8th of March, 1855, Mr. Stout was united in marriage with Miss Isabel J. Primrose, a daughter of Allen and Mary (McKain) Primrose, who were natives of Scotland and South Carolina, respectively, and were early settlers of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Stout have a family of four children, as follows: John A., Mary E., now Mrs. A. Peterson; Annie E; and Sanford B. The parents are earnest and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics Mr. Stout is an independent Republican. For five years he has served in school offices to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, but has never sought official honors. He bears a high character for sterling integrity and is held in high regard by all who know him. 

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HOMAS PRICE, one of the self-made men of York county, whose early home was on the other side of the Atlantic, commenced life in Nebraska with only a capital of two hundred dollars, and through his own

efforts has attained to a fine position, socially and financially, among his fellow-citizens. His homestead, one of the most noticeable in York township, embraces a fertile tract of land under thorough cultivation. Both as a business man and a citizen, the proprietor occupies an enviable position in the estimation of the people of the county.

      Born in Wales, March 17, 1852, Mr. Price is a son of Benjamin and Ann (James) Price, also natives of that country, where the father carried on operations as a farmer until 1868, when he brought his family to the new world, landing in New York City. He proceeded at once to Green county, Wisconsin, where they made their home for five years, and in the spring of 1872 came to York county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres on section 2, York township, and took up a timber claim on section 12. He made that place his home until 1889, when, on account of ill health, he removed to Iowa Park, Texas, where his death occurred in 1892. His wife had departed this life in York county, in 1880. In their family were six sons and one daughter, and all of the sons became residents of York county, where they continue to live with the exception of one now deceased.

      Mr. Price, whose name introduces this review, obtained his literary education in the schools of his native land, his school days being over on his emigration with the family to America at the age of sixteen years. In Wisconsin he assisted in the work of the home farm, and to some extent also worked as a farm laborer for others. In December, 1873, he came to York county, Nebraska, and secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres on section 2, New York township, to which he has added eighty acres on section 1, and the southwest quarter of section 36. On locating here the land was all raw prairie, upon which he erected a sod house that continued to be his home for six years, being then replaced by a good frame residence. He has also placed two hundred and forty acres of his land under the plow, and is now successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising, feeding all the grain raised upon his farm to his stock.

      In 1876 Mr. Price wedded Miss Mary E. Denney, a resident of York county, and a native of Iowa. They now have an interesting family of five children, namely: Ann A., Evan O., Ralph B., Frank O. and Hester A. The parents and children are all connected with the Baptist church and in the social life of the community occupy an enviable position. Fraternally Mr. Price is a member of the Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Royal Highlanders. In his political affiliations he has always been a Republican, and was one of the organizers of the party in York county. In the fall of 1892, he was elected sheriff of the county, assumed the duties of the office January 1, 1893, and so acceptably did he fill the position that he was re-elected in 1894, serving in all four years with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. 

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OSEPH H. WISE, the present incumbent of the office of sheriff in Seward county, has already proved himself a capable official in the few months in which he has been before the public. He has push and energy, and any duty the court puts upon him is done without hesitation.

      Sheriff Wise was born in Luzerne county Pennsylvania, September 7, 1856, and was a son to Henry and Ameila (VanBuskirk) Wise. They were natives of Pennsylvania, and were reared to rural pursuits. Very soon after their marriage they sought a home in Sandusky county, Ohio. But not

finding what they desired there, they went farther west and pitched their tent in Scott county, Iowa, in 1868. There the husband and father died in 1885. The wife and mother is still living, and makes her home with her son, the gentleman whose name is introduces this article. They were the parents of two sons and one daughter, and the only one of the children now living is the one whose home shelters the aged widow.

      Mr. Wise attended the common schools of Scott county, and when his school days were over applied himself to the vocation of a farmer. In 1878 he crossed the Missouri, and penetrating far into Nebraska, took up a farm in Adams county and there he lived for four years. In 1882 he came into Seward county and bought a farm in precinct N. This was his home until his assumption of the duties of sheriff, with the exception of about a year and a half which he spent in California. In the fall of 1897 he was elected sheriff of Seward county, and he is proving himself a good official. He has always taken a lively interest in political matters, and in former years has been the assessor, clerk, collector and treasurer of his township. In fraternal circles he is prominent and popular. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. He is a man of fine character and has an excellent reputation for honesty and integrity. 

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TEPHEN C. LANGWORTHY, the president and founder of the First National Bank of Seward, has been associated with many of the most important financial enterprises in this section of Nebraska, and stands in the front rank of the enlightened and progressive citizens of this community. He is known as a shrewd and sharp business man and is ever alert to every wind that blows upon the world of money and commerce. He has been in many parts of the country and has done business in many places, and wherever he has been he has had the standing of an upright and conscientious man who means the right, and subordinates everything to the consideration of justice and honor.

      Mr. Langworthy was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1824, and is a son of Dr. Stephen and Jane (Moreing) Langworthy. The father was a native of Vermont and the mother of South Carolina, her birthplace being near the city of Charleston. The Langworthy family in the United States sprang from three brothers who emigrated from Wales in the early part of the seventeenth century, and settled in the New England states.

      Dr. Stephen Langworthy was the eldest of five brothers; he was educated in the schools of Vermont and it was in that state that he first began reading medicine; he later entered a medical college in Connecticut and was graduated from there. He began the practice of his profession in the western part of New York state; from there he removed to Pennsylvania, where he remained but a short time, and then in company with others made his way down the Ohio river in a flatboat and finally settled at Jacksonville, Illinois, and there he remained for some years.

     From Jacksonville, Illinois, Dr. Langworthy removed to Dubuque, Iowa, which was then but a small trading post, the population of which consisted of a few adventurous spirits seeking new homes in the west, and miners who had been brought there on account of the lead deposits. It was in this place he passed the remainder of his life, dying there in about the year 1847. During his residence in Iowa, the Doctor followed the practice of his profession and was well-known throughout that section of the state. He took a prominent, part in the organization of the county, and was known as one of the leading men of

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