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and his wife were both devoted members of the Christian church, took an active part in its work and assisted in every possible way in advancing its interests. She was a faithful wife and loving mother, who always had a smile and a word of kindness for those around her and looked carefully after their spiritual as well as their physical welfare, instilling the highest type of morality into their minds. She made for her family a model home, but when he who giveth and taketh away called her to the home beyond she was prepared to go, leaving a world of care for a brighter one on high. Although a native of one of the southern states the father was a very strong advacate of antislavery and on the formation of the Republican party joined its ranks. At different times he filled all of the township offices with credit and honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He can look back over a long and useful career with no regret for duties left unperformed or for any important errors committed, as his life has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact either in business or social life.

      William Q. Dickinson is one of a family of nine children, one of whom, Harry, died when quite young, prior to the mother's death. Besides our subject his brother James M. and sister, Mrs. Ellen B. Johnston live in Seward county, Nebraska; Mrs. Isabelle Rowell and Edwin J. reside in Fresno county, California; Annie C., Frank H. in Illinois and Charles H. lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

      Mr. Dickinson, of this review, was born near Danvers, McLean county, Illinois, August 25, 1853, and at the age of seven years commenced assisting in the labors of the farm, driving a one-horse cultivator with which he had to make two rounds for a single row of corn. Farm work was much more ardous in those days than at the present time with the improved machinery of to-day. He obtained a good practical education by attending the public schools of Danvers and also spent one year in college. Until he attained his majority he remained on the old homestead and later operated rented land in Illinois until the fall of 1878, when he was attacked with western fever and came to Nebraska on a prospecting trip through Seward and Butler counties. While here he met with a rather unpleasant experience. One day he and three friends, Messrs. Phil. and Nick Wullenwaver and Andrew Shorthose, went to David City, and on their return home a prairie fire was observed. The following day Sheriff Hill, of Butler county, arrested the three young men for starting the fire. They appealed to the county court and Mr. Dickinson asked for a separate trial. The jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to thirty days in jail and a five-dollar fine was imposed. The case was then appealed to the district court, but on account of the jurisdiction of the lower court in such cases it was ruled out and nothing more was ever done about the matter. They were then sued for damages in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. This case was fought for two years when it was dismissed, the plaintiff paying all costs. This did not deter Mr. Dickinson from locating in this section, and in 1879 he purchased at a sheriff's sale eighty acres of land for five hundred and fifty dollars. After living upon the place for two years, he exchanged it for two hundred and forty acres of land in K precinct, Seward county, where the former tract was also located, and to the cultivation and improvement of the latter has since devoted his energies with marked success, converting it into one of the most attractive and desirable farms of the community. He is a pleasant, genial gentleman, very popular with all who know him. In politics he is a Republican and has filled a number of township offices and has served


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in all nine years on the board of county supervisors and was chairman two years. He has also served on the Republican county central committee. He was married February 10, 1881, to Miss Bell Warlow, a native of McLean county, Illinois, and a daughter of Richard A. and Elvina (Bozarth) Warlow. They came from New York and Kentucky, respectively. 


Letter/label or barILLIAM L. KIRKPATRICK, although he is still a young man and has been but a short time engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, has gained quite a conspicuous position among the members of the bar, in York county, and is recognized as one of the young men who will some day be one of the prominent attorneys of that section of Nebraska.

      Mr. Kirkpatrick was born in DeKalb county, Illinois, October 26, 1868, a son of Smiley and Anna Kirkpatrick, the father of Scotch descent and the mother a native of Pennsylvania. Smiley Kirkpatrick was a farmer by occupation, moved to Illinois in 1850, and is now living in Mendota, of that state, retired from active life.

      Our subject was educated in the common schools of Aurora, Illinois, and after graduating from the high school of that place, he spent three years at home. In 1892 he went south and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and graduated from the law and literary departments of that institution in 1895. He began the practice of law in Chicago. In 1896 he went to York, Nebraska, and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in that city. He was first admitted to the bar in Tennessee in 1895, and later in that year was admitted to the bar of Illinois, and to the bar of Nebraska after locating in York. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a man of marked ability, is enterprising, intelligent and progressive, and every enterprise calculated to benefit his adopted city or county receives his earnest support and encouragement. He is a man of high moral character, and strict business integrity and has been quite successful in all his undertakings. 


Letter/label or barAMES S. CAYWOOD, who has for many years been a resident of section 8, Hays township, is one of the oldest pioneers of York county, and has been identified with its progress and growth since May 31, 1871. His homestead claim to the eighty acres where his residence stands bears date of filing, June 2, 1871, and through all the intervening years he has lived and labored with credit to himself and honor to his community. He drove through from Butler county, Iowa, and had the company of his wife to lighten the monotony of the journey. It was a wild and yet an inviting country that met their eyes when they drew near their future home. The prairie was beautiful with wild flowers, and deer and antelope could be seen in great numbers not far away. Mr. Caywood at once began the making of a home. He built a board shanty 12 x 18 feet, and added to it the following year a sod addition 12 x 14 feet. This, as all the homes of that day in this country were, was a crude affair, but it sufficed, and presently gave way to a much more commodious and attractive home in which the family may now be found. Mr. Caywood now owns two hundred and forty acres, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation. With the exception of about fifty acres he has broken and improved his land from raw prairie, and the farm as it stands to-day represents a vast amount of hard labor and untiring zeal. He has had hardships to undergo, and hard times to pass through, but he has kept on laboring and the day has dawned for him.

      James S. Caywood was born in Chemung county, New York, September 1,


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1849, and is a son of David and Mary (Boyer) Caywood, who were New Yorkers born and bred. In the fall of 1864 his parents removed to Butler county, Iowa, where they spent their remaining years in peace and comfort. He was about fifteen years old at the time of their westward movement, and finished his school days in his adopted state. He was bred a farmer, but learned the trade of a carpenter under his father's instructions. He was married September I, 1870, to Miss Hannah E. Mambert, in Butler county, Iowa. She was a daughter of Van Rensselaer and Mary (Davis), Mambert, and was born in Hudson county, New York. Her parents were also natives of the same state. She was the mother of two children, Mary June and Francis Marion, and died in this county June 19, 1889. Mr. Caywood subsequently married Mrs. Lillie A. Hecox Palmer, widow of the late James S. Palmer. She is a lady of refinement and strong character, and has helped make her husband's home attractive and welcome to a wide number of friends and well wishers. He is a man of social instincts, and delights in the company of men, and is a Mason, a Modern Woodman, and a member of the Home Forum. He is a Populist, and has taken a deep interest in the steps of the progressive development of that party. He has served several times as a delegate to its various county and state gatherings. During the days of the Farmers' Alliance he at one time was president of the Hays township organization. He is a man of more than ordinary ability and is very highly spoken of by all who know him well. 


Letter/label or barAMES MILLER PALMER.--An honorable position among the farmers of Ulysses township, Butler county, is willingly accorded to this gentleman by his associates. He occupies one of the well-developed farms of the county and his home, which is one of the most pleasant and attractive in the township, is situated just outside the corporation of the town of Ulysses, and he is a man who is greatly respected in the community where he has spent more than a quarter century of his life.

      Mr. Palmer was born in Windham county, Connecticut, January 27, 1835, a son of Alfred Palmer, a native of the same county, born in the year 1807. Our subject's grandfather, Ephraim Palmer, was a. son of Joseph Palmer, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was a descendant of Seth Palmer, whose father, Walter Palmer, came from England and settled in Stonington, Connecticut, in colonial days. Our subject's ancestors were engaged in agricultural pursuits on the old farm, which consisted of one hundred acres, and on which our subject was born, but the land was very stony and he desired to obtain a farm that was more tillable. Accordingly, when he obtained his majority, he left the old home, went west, and located in Clayton county, Iowa, where he worked in a saw mill one winter. In the following spring he started with an ox team for Minnesota and filed a claim to a piece of land in Blue Earth Valley. This tract of land did not prove satisfactory, however, and the following year he moved to Cass county, Nebraska. This was in the spring of 1857, and upon reaching that county he became acquainted with the Towner family, the head of which was the father of Abe Towner, with whom he afterward went to California.

      Two years after his settlement in Cass county, our subject started, in company with Abe Towner, for Pikes Peak over the old Pikes Peak trail, which passes through Butler county, Nebraska. This was our subject's first acquaintance with this county, and while it was not very extensive, it furnished a general knowledge of the character of the land which was destined to become
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his future home. At that time there was no evidences of civilization or settlement there whatever, but was a wild and undeveloped prairie. As they continued their journey to Pikes Peak they continually met people who were returning and reported unfavorably until they reached Fort Kearney, when they decided to change their course and make up a train for California,

      Our subject stopped in the Rogue river valley in Jackson county, Oregon, and engaged for a time in the stock business, meeting with varied success and much experience. At one time he met with and vanquished the King of the Mountains," a grizzley bear, and years afterward, while traveling through the same territory on a pleasure excursion with his wife, he pointed out to her the exact spot where the battle occurred. After spending about nine years in the west, Mr. Palmer returned, overland, to Nebraska, and when he reached Butler county, he found his old friend, Abe Towner, married and settled on a farm in the Big Blue Valley, and he, thinking it a wise course, decided to follow his example. Accordingly in May, 1867, he filed a homestead claim to a portion of section 22, township 13, range 2, now Ulysses township, and built upon it a log cabin out of the timber which grew plentifully in this locality. Here he lived alone for a time, or until in July, 1868, when he was united in marriage with Miss Prudence C. Roberts, whom he had met the previous winter at the home of his neighbor, Mr. Shields, where she was visiting. Her home was near Seward, where her father, John Roberts, had settled in 1866.

      At the time of Mr. Palmer's settlement in Butler county there were but three other families in this part of the county, viz: Shields, Towner and Reeds. While he has been across the plains and has had much frontier experience, he unhesitatingly states that this was at that time the most dreary country he has ever seen. For the first year in the county he paid no tax, as the county had not yet been organized, an experience that has not been repeated. The log cabin which he first erected on his farm was his home for several years and his oldest son, Alfred R., was born in it; but it, too, had to give place to the evidences of the growth of the country and prosperity, and its place is now occupied by a fine modern farm residence which stands just outside the limits of the town of Ulysses. Notwithstanding the prosperity which has been the lot of our subject and the neat and attractive home which he has won as a result of years of persistent and welldirected effort, he holds that the happiest hours of his life were spent under the roof of his old log house.

      Mr. Palmer's family consists of three sons, Alfred R., Frank and James M., Jr., who died in 1892, and two daughters, Carrie, wife of George Dobson, and Blanch G., who is attending school. Mr. Palmer was one of the founders of the town of Ulysses, has been prominently connected with many of its leading enterprises, and in many ways has been identified with the growth and development of the county since its early settlement, and at one time served as county commissioner. He is a member of the Congregational church 


Letter/label or bar.OSEPH A. BUCKMASTER.--There are numerous fine farms in York county which will compare favorably with any others in the state as regards production and also as to the improvements which have been made upon them. Many of these places are owned by men comparatively young in years, who started in the world with but little more than an unlimited amount of energy and perserverance (sic), and are succeeding to an eminent degree in building up a comfortable home and competence.


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As a representative of this class of agriculturists we take pleasure in presenting Mr. Buckmaster, whose home is on section 6, Baker township.

      He was born in Adair county, Missouri, February 25, 1861, a son of George W. and Sarah (Chantry) Buckmaster, the former a native of the state of Delaware, the latter of Chester county, Pennsylvania. In 1839, when a young man, the father removed to Iowa, being among the pioneers of that state, and there he was married. He engaged in farming in Van Buren county, Iowa, for some time, and from there went to Missouri, where he also followed agricultural pursuits until the Rebellion. Joining the Union army in 1861, he was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, being shot in the leg, and died from the effects of his wound at a hospital in St. Louis, May 1, 1862. He left a widow and eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom our subject is the youngest. In the fall of 1862, Mrs. Buckmaster with her children removed to Guthrie county, Iowa, where they resided until the fall of 1870, coming to York county, Nebraska, in October of that year. She homesteaded the northeast quarter of section 6, Baker township. At that time only two buildings were standing on the site of the present city of York, one of sod, the other frame. The Buckmaster family lived in a sod house for a few years, and in common with the other early settlers endured all the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life. Their first crops was destroyed by hail and grasshoppers; their nearest railroad point was Lincoln, and during the first winter spent in Nebraska, corn and feed for the stock had to be hauled from Weeping Water, a distance of seventy-five miles. Mrs. Buckmaster finally sold her farm, which at that time was well improved, and now makes her home with her children, who are located in different states.

      Joseph A. Buckmaster was only ten years old when he came with the family to York county, and his work here was herding cattle on the prairies. He remained at home assisting his mother until twenty-four years of age, having charge of the homestead from the time he was sixteen years old. He than bought eighty acres on section 6, Baker township, and farmed the same for three years in connection with the operation of the old homestead which he rented from his mother. In 1893 he bought eighty acres, upon which his residence now stands, and has made his home thereon since the fall of 1894. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres, all under a high state of cultivation. and also has a steam thresher and corn sheller, and does an extensive business in that line. He is one of the most energetic and successful farmers of his community, and as an upright, honorable business man commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact. In politics he is an independent Republican, has acceptably filled several township offices, and socially is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Charleston.

      On the 31st of December, 1889, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Buckmaster and Miss Ella M. Selover, a native of Iowa, and daughter of Martin and Julia H. (Spalding) Selover. Four children bless this union: Lloyd M., Percy A., Esther B. and Howard E. 


Letter/label or barIRNEY S. WISE, a representative and prominent agriculturist of Seward county, successfully following his chosen calling on section 7, I precinct, was born in Oakland county, Michigan, December 3, 1846. His father, Thomas Wise, was a native of Pennsylvania and a miller by trade. He married Miss Marietta Bartley and to them were born five children, three sons and two daughters. From Pennsylvania, the father


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removed to Illinois and later to Michigan, but subsequently returned to the Prairie state, where he spent the remainder of his life engaged in agricultural pursuits. He died at the age of eighty-two, his wife at the age of sixty-nine, and both were laid to rest in Union cemetery, Winnebago county, Illinois.

      Birney S. Wise was reared on a farm and pursued his literary studies in the schools of Michigan and Illinois. On the 14th of July, 1875, was celebrated his marriage with Miss Ida Green, who was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, November 17, 1858, and was educated in the public schools of that state, completing her studies in Davis, Her father, William Green, was born in Ohio, in March, 1831, was educated in the public schools of that state, and learned the carpenter's trade. He married Samantha Harvey and to them were born twelve children, of whom eleven are still living. For thirty years the parents made their home in Davis, but are now living in Rockford, Illinois, the father at the age of sixty-seven, the mother fifty-nine. Their children are all married and have good homes of their own.

      In the fall of 1875, Mr. Wise and his bride came to Seward county, Nebraska, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land in I precinct at seven dollars per acre. The railroad had just been completed to Seward, but the country round about was mostly wild and unimproved and our young couple experienced many hardships in their attempt to make for themselves a home in this new country. Their first residence here was a little house 14 x 20 feet, but at length prosperity crowned their combined efforts and their land was freed from debt. In 1892 Mr. Wise bought an adjoining eighty acres for two thousand eight hundred dollars, and now has an excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and converted into one of the most attractive and best improved places in I precinct. In their beautiful home he and his estimable wife delight to entertain their many friends. Politically he is an ardent Republican and cast his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant.

      Mr. and Mrs. Wise have two sons: Victor Ward, born May 20, 1876;and Guy Everett, born June 12, 1877. The older completed his education in the Lincoln Normal University and now devotes his time and attention to. the operation of the home farm. Guy Everett is one of the most successful teachers of Seward county and stands second to none in his profession. He was principally educated in the schools of Seward, but was also a student in the Lincoln Normal University, where he completed the first year's work in eight months, and the second in two months. Mr. and Mrs. Wise take a just pride in their children, who are now filling useful and honored positions in life. Socially the family is one of prominence in the community in which they live. 


Letter/label or barOHN H. PARKER.--Among the men who are gaining a good support by tilling the soil of Thayer township, York county, and incidentally laying aside something for a rainy day, there is no better representative than the gentleman whose name introduces this brief sketch. He is one of the pioneers of York county.

      Mr. Parker was born in Woodford county, Illinois, May 18, 1838, a son of Wanton and Rosanah (Lemon) Parker, both of whom were born in Ohio. Our subject's grandfather, Archileous Parker, was a native of New York. Wanton Parker was a physician and surgeon by profession, was reared and educated in Ohio, and began practice in 1819. He afterward moved to Illinois and continued in practice there until his death, which occurred as the result of an attack of


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the cholera in 1849. Of his family, two sons and three daughters are now living. The mother died in Illinois, in the year 1838.

      Our subject was educated in Illinois and began farming when quite young. August 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Ninety-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until August 9, 1865. During his service he participated in the following engagements: Prairie Grove, Choffeli, siege of Vicksburg, Fort Morgan, Brownsville, Texas; Peninsula, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; Spanish Fort. Mr. Parker served in the capacity of corporal, and returned to his home at the close of the war without a wound. In the following spring he removed from his home in Illinois, to Iowa county, Iowa. He made his home in Iowa for three years, and in 1868 he came to Nebraska, and the following spring settled in York county, located a homestead in section 34, Thayer township, and still owns this property. He has placed upon it a fine line of improvements, placed it in a high state of cultivation and is now the owner of one of the fine farms of Thayer township, on which he is carrying on a general farming and stock raising business.

      The estimable lady who presides over the household affairs of our subject, bore the maiden name of Miss Sarah Price, and became his wife September 8, 1859. She was formerly married to David Stillwell, who died soon after their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Parker are the happy parents of a family of four sons and two daughters, upon whom they have bestowed the following names; Lemon H., John H.. Orin H., Rosie M., Albert L. and Edith L., now Mrs. R. Chambers. The above named children are all living, but one, Sarah B., who was born in 1860, died at the age of five weeks. The family are all members of the Christian church. In politics, Mr. Parker is a Republican and has performed the duties of some of the local offices, among them being the office of justice of the peace. Our subject was one of the earliest settlers of York county, assisted in the organization of the county, holds the first tax receipt issued by the county and the first ballot box used in York county and the first election was held in his home. As a farmer he has been quite successful, is a very pleasant neighbor, genial, warm-hearted, and has an agreeable family. 


Letter/label or barAMUEL E. CAIN, a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of New York township, York county, is a native of Illinois, born in De KaIb county, September 10, 1859. His parents, Samuel and Ann (Cox) Cain, were both natives of Ireland, and were brought by their respective families to the United States at an early day. The paternal grandparents of our subject were born in England, whence they removed to Ireland, and it was in 1832, that they crossed the Atlantic and took up their residence in Washington county, New York, where they engaged in agricultural pursuits for several years. About 1857 they removed to De Kalb county, Illinois, where the grandfather's death occurred. In his family were four sons and two daughters who reached years of maturity.

      Our subject's father, Samuel Cain, Sr., was reared and educated in the Empire State and was there married to Ann Cox. He, too, went to De KaIb connty (sic), Illinois, and in 1885 came to York county, Nebraska, where he engaged in farming for one year, but now makes his home in the city of York. Our subject is the only one of his three children now living.

      Samuel E. Cain, of this review, is indebted to the schools of Sandwich, Illinois, for his educational privileges. During his youth he learned the carpenter's trade, which he continued to follow in his native


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state until 1882, when he came to York county, Nebraska, and bought the farm in New York township, on which he still resides. He has been very successful in his farming operations, and his place is now one of the most highly cultivated and best improved farms in the locality.

      On the 7th of of March, 1882, in Illinois, was consummated the marriage of Mr. Cain and Miss Emma Ehrler, a daughter of William and Minnie (Decker) Ehrler, both natives of Germany and still residents of Illinois. The father came to the new world in 1848, the mother in 1852, and he aided his adopted country in her successful struggle to preserve the Union, being a member of an Illinois regiment. To Mr. and Mrs. Cain were born two children, but Harry V. is the only one living.

      Mr. Cain is a man of remarkably good judgdment (sic), sound common sense and ability, which traits have made him prosperous and influential. In politics he is a hearty supporter of the policy of the Rupublican (sic) party, and has efficiently served as towship (sic) treasurer and filled other minor offices. He is a Knight Templar Mason, belonging to Joppa Commandery, of York. 


Letter/label or barENNIS A. STUBBS is one of the active, prominent and enterprising citizens of Baker township, York county, being successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits on section 5. He comes from the far-away state of Maine, his birth occurring in Hancock county, December 14, 1848. His parents, Reuben and Margaret (Varnum) Stubbs, were also natives of the Pine Tree State, and the former was of English descent, and a farmer by occupation. In October, 1853, they removed to La Salle county, Illinois, but the following spring took up their residence in Lee county, that state, where the father purchased a farm. Three years later he sold that place, however, and moved to Carroll county, Iowa, where he also bought a farm. In 1869 he located upon a farm in Montgomery, Iowa, and there passed his remaining years, dying in February, 1881. His widow has since become the wife of Charles D. Jackson and resides in Bradshaw, York county, Nebraska.

      Mr. Stubbs, whose name introduces this review, was about five years old when the family removed to Illinois, and his boyhood and youth were passed in much the usual manner of farm boys of his day, his education being acquired in the common schools. Leaving home at the age of twenty-three years, he went to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and continued to reside until February 1880, when he removed to Fillmore county,. Nebraska. The following October, however, he took up his residence in York county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres on section, Baker township, on which he has since lived. Only about forty acres had been broken at that time, but no other improvements made. To its development and cultivation he has since devoted his energies with most gratifying results, and today the entire tract has been placed under the plow with the exception of thirty-five acres used as pasture land. A comfortable residence has been erected, a good orchard set out, and many other improvements have been made which add greatly to its value and attractive appearance. In political sentiment, Mr. Stubbs is a free silver Republican.

      On the 26th of October, 1876, was celebrated his marriage with Miss Jeanette Downey, who was born near Quincy, Illinois, a daughter of Augustus and Nancy (Ludington) Downey, the former a native of Canada. As her mother died when she was an infant, she lived with her grandmother in McDonough county, Illinois, until about four years old, when she returned to her


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father, who had married again. She taught several terms of school and while following that profession in Montgomery county, Iowa, became acquainted with Mr. Stubbs. They have become the parents of eleven children, all living at home, namely: Florence F., now Mrs. J. E. Selver; Sadie L., Clarence E., Lola L., Perry F., Kenneth R., Gertrude, Nellie, Esther, Bernice and Downey. 


Letter/label or barACOB D. BAER, one of Butler county's well-to-do and popular citizens, who is now making his home and base of operations in section 6, Olive township, settled in this county in the spring of 1876. He was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1844, a son of Jacob T. Baer, who was also a native of Pennsylvania, being born in that state in the latter part of the last century, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. The Baer family is of Swiss origin. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Miss Elizabeth Grimm, was of German descent, and was a sister of Joseph Grimm, a minister of the United Brethren church, who was for many years connected with the Baltimore conference.

      Jacob D. Baer, the subject of our sketch, is the second son and seventh child in the order of birth in the family of which he is a member. He has one brother, David W. Baer, living in Butler county. When he was a mere boy, seventeen years of age, he enlisted in company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania infantry, and was mustered into the service three days prior to his eighteenth birthday, and was attached to the Third Division, Fifth Army Corps, under Fitz John Porter.

      From Arlington Heights, where he was in reserve, he was sent south along the Orange & Alexander Railroad, where he received his first experience in actual warfare. He did not participate in the battle of Antietam, and his first hard fought battle was at Fredericksburg, where his corps made its memorable charge, losing nearly half its force. Mr. Baer also participated in the battle of Chancellorsville, in which Stonewall Jackson was killed. Mr. Baer's term of enlistment had expired before this battle, but he prolonged the time to nine months and twelve days to cover this engagement. Being discharged from the regular service, he then for a time occupied positions in the quartermaster's department and in the commissary department, hot desiring more active service he re-enlisted, this time in Company G, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was mustered in August 24, 1864. He was now in the First division, cavalry corps, under Sheridan, and was one of the company who escorted Sheridan to the fort at Cedar Creek on his heroic ride from Winchester, of which the poet wrote, "Up from the South at break of day," etc. From here our subject followed up the Cumberland Valley, and at Gordenville he had a horse shot under him. His command reached Waynesboro, Virginia, too late to effect Early's capture, and from here the cavalry was sent to join Grant at Petersburg. Our subject was mustered out of service at Clouds Mills, Virginia, and returned to his home in Pennsylvania in June, 1865.

      December 19, 1867, Mr. Baer was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. Miller, of Washington county. Maryland, and they have become the parents of a family of eleven children, five of whom were born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and the others in Butler county, Nebraska. They are as follows: Elizabeth C., now the wife of Jonas Eshleman, of Butler county, Nebraska; Martha A., wife of Jacob Eshleman, of Polk county; John Wesley, now living on the home farm; Mollie V., now now the wife of George W. Morgan, of Wheeler county; and Eva E., wife of


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George J. Whitney, of Butler county, Nebraska. Those born in Butler county, Nebraska, are as follows: Emma Lela, wife of John Lawson, of Butler county, Nebraska; Jacob Leslie, Joseph E., Harvey Erastus, Ella and Benjamin Harrison. Upon arriving in Butler county, Nebraska, Mr. Baer at once filed a homestead claim to the farm he now occupies. He is public spirited and progressive and has aided materially in many ways in developing the community in which he has lived and the upbuilding of its better interests. He has always affiliated with the Republican party and on that ticket has been elected to various offices in the township and school-district. Socially he affiliates with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a charter member of the A. Lincoln Post No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic, of David City. 


Letter/label or barUDGE THOMAS H. SAUNDERS. Deeds are thoughts crystallized and according to their brilliancy do we judge the worth of a man to the country which produced him, and in his works we expect to find the true index to his character. The study of the life of the representative American never fails to offer much of pleasing interest and valuable instruction, developing a mastering of expedients which has brought about most wonderful results. The subject of this review, Judge T. H. Saunders, is a worthy representative of that type of American character and of that progressive spirit which promote public good in advancing individual prosperity and conserving popular interests. His portrait is presented in connection with this sketch.

      The judge is a native of Troy, New York, born April 2, 1837. His parents were Thomas and Helen (Hannigan) Saunders, the former a native of New York and the latter of Connecticut. For many years they were residents of Troy, New York, where the father followed the shoemaker's trade until his death, which occurred in 1849. His wife, long surviving him, passed away in 1889. They were the parents of four children, namely: John, deceased; Catharine; Thomas H.; and Jennie.

      In the city of his nativity Judge Saunders was reared to manhood, and acquired a limited education in the public schools and under private instruction. However, observation, extensive reading and a retentive memory have made him a well-informed man and he is now a gentleman of broad general culture. At the early age of twelve years he started out to make his own way in the world and served an apprenticeship to the carriage-maker's trade. Through the years of his early manhood he followed that pursuit, and his business career was marked by abiding industry and resolute purpose. He was married September 27, 1858, to Mary E. Hayner, a native of New York and a daughter of Nicholas Hayner, also of the Empire state. They resided on a little farm near Troy at the time of the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, which event in the history of the nation changed the entire current of the life of judge Saunders.

     Responding to his country's call for troops, September 27, 1861, he became a private of Company F, Second New York Infantry, was sent to Newport News and then, under command of General Wool, went to Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia. He was under General McClellan in the Peninsular campaign and took part in the battles of Seven Pines, the Wilderness (in which battle he was wounded by a gunshot through the left arm), Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville, together with all other engagements of the Army of the Potomac until May it, 1863, when he was transferred to Company D, First Regiment, Excelsior Brigade of New York troops, commanded by General Daniel E. Sickles. Thus he

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