NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
On-Line Library

of all encumbrance, a half section of fine farming land. He has considerable real estate outside the county, one hundred and sixty acres in Kearney connty (sic), and eighty acres in Johnson county, Kentucky. He has made extensive improvements, and has a farm to-day in this county that compares with any.

      Mr. Wolvin was married in Michigan in the fall of 1877, Miss Frances Miller, Michigan born and bred, becoming his wife. She is a member of the Baptist Church, and is a woman of much character and attainment. He is a member of the Utica camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is an enthusiastic wood-chopper and log roller for the order. In political matters he holds to populistic ideas, and earnestly supports the doctrine of free silver. He is a man of standing in his own neighborhood, a fact that is made evident by his election to the responsible position of justice of the peace, and his continuation in the office for six years. It is also evident by the farther fact that he has been director of the school district almost continually since his location in it years ago.

      Mr. and Mrs. Wolvin are the parents of four living children, Clyde, Grace, Nina and Raymond. They are attending the district school, and are bright and ambitious young people. 

---

HARLES AXEL MORGAN, a thrifty and successful Swedish American resident of Bradshaw township, York county, Nebraska, was born April 30, 1857, in Krisdale, Sweden, and came to his country when only ten years old with his brother Frank, and his sister Clara. Their father, Samuel Mungusson, had died when they were all very young, and hearing of the inviting possibilities of America, they determined to cross the ocean and seek an opportunity for a broader and larger hope than seemed possible in the mother country. They landed in New York June 23, 1868, and immediately made their way to Galesburg, Illinois, which had already become quite a Swedish center, and where they had an older brother, Swan, already established in business, who gave them a glad welcome. Under his fostering care they attended school, and worked as they could, and were quite ready to do their part in the work of the world by the time they reached their majority.

      Charles Axel Morgan did his first work for the surrounding farmers at a salary of three dollars a month, but as he became familiar with the ways of the country his wages increased until he commanded as high as twenty-five dollars a month. He won for himself a reputation as an honest and capable young man, who could be trusted with farm work, and was not disposed to lightly change employers. So it is said that for the eleven years during which he was engaged in farm labor near Galesburg he only had four different employers. After the passage of these years he went into Henry county, Iowa, and made his headquarters at Sweedburg, where he continued in agricultural pursuits, working for neighboring farmers until the year 1878.

     This is a memorable year in the history of the Morgan family, for it was then that our subject, in company with his two brothers, gathered all their possessions, and stowing them away in two wagons, started for Nebraska with ten horses. They reached York county, February 17, 1878, and were so much pleased with its promise, that they determined to go no farther, but made contracts for the purchase of land. Charles secured the southeast quarter of section 36, township 11, range 4 west, where he at once erected a frame house, and proceeded to the cultivation of his land. He set out many trees, and made the farm attractive, but lived alone until he married some ten years after his arrival in the county. Miss

Mary Etta Burke, who lived with her father, not far away from Mr. Morgan, became his wife, and has made him the father of six children, Frederick S., Eva C., Esther V., Ralph E., Reuben T., and Etta. The two older children of this interesting family are attending both the Swede and the American schools, and the others will follow in due time.

      Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are members of the Lutheran church, and stand well in the community. He is a member of the insurance order of the Modern Woodmen, and has always voted the Republican ticket. They are devoted supporters of the public schools, and have an undaunted faith in the future of Nebraska as the greatest farming and stock raising state of the Union. 

---

EORGE ZAHLER occupies a pleasant rural home in section 24, Reading township, Butler county, Nebraska, which he secured under the homestead law in 1871, and which he has tilled for twenty-seven years, making it a delight to the critical eye, and a source of profit to his careful management. His early life was spent in Germany, and he has brought to his work in Nebraska old world thoroughness and the enthusiasm of youth, and a very large measure of success has crowned his labors.

      Mr. Zahler was born in Prussia in 1844, and when he had reached the age of thirteen accompanied his mother to this country. His father had been killed by a kicking horse when young George was only two and a half years old. He was her only child, and the companionship between them was very close and cordial. They made their home in Stephenson county, Illinois, where they lived until 1871. Mr. Zahler desired to have a home and own a farm, and he felt he could most successfully struggle for it in a new state. By this time he was twenty-seven years old, and had a wife and three children. On their account as well as his own, he struck out for the west and when he reached Butler county had five dollars in his pocket. It was a small sum with which to undertake the founding of a home and the winning of an independent fortune. Yet it was enough. And his is the story of many thousands who faced the same obstacles, met the same discouragements, and overcame them in the same bold and hardy spirit. He built a sod house, and lived in it until he could earn money to put up something better. When he had money he bought what the family absolutely needed, and when he was without money he did not buy. His wife, Mary Lapp, was born in Ohio, and is of German extraction. Her father, John Lapp, was a shoemaker, and, moving west from Pennsylvania, spent some years in Ohio. And from that state he removed to Illinois, where he kept a shoe shop at the house for many years. She was the mother of eight children. Three of these, Elizabeth, John and Annie, were born in Illinois, and five are natives of Nebraska, Grace, Charles, Alfred, Francis, and Edward L. Mr. Zahler is a Democrat, and takes a strong interest in the welfare of the public schools. 

---

HILANDER M. COLBY, is a native of Embden, Somerset county, Maine, where he was born May 22, 1825, and a son of Ambrose Colby. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Colby, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and about 1760 emigrated to America with his two sons, one of whom was Benjamin Colby Jr., the grandfather of our subject. At the age of nineteen years the latter joined the Continental army, and for seven years most valiantly fought to free the Colonies from the yoke of British oppression, remaining in the service until Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. He was an orderly at the battle of Bunker

Hill, or more properly speaking at Breed's Hill, June 1, 1775; was in the detachment that attacked the British war vessel, the Boxer, and carried it into the harbor of Portland, Maine. He also took part in the battle of Monmouth and wintered with the American army at Valley Forge. During his service he was wounded in the leg by a ball, which remained imbedded in the flesh as long as he lived. After the Revolution he settled on a farm near the town of Anson, in Somerset county, Maine, where he continued to live with his oldest son until death claimed him at the extreme old age of ninety-four years. In his family were six children, five sons and one daughter, of whom three sons were soldiers of the war of 1812. These included the father of our subject, who returned to Somerset county, Maine, at the close of the struggle, and there engaged in farming the rest of his life. He was married after the war to Miss Almira Holden, a daughter of Captain Samuel Holden, of the same county, who formerly lived in Groton, Massachusetts. By this union four sons were born--Philander M., Jonas H., Spencer and Helon--and two daughters--Jane, who married Walter Walch and removed to California; and Almira Ann, who married C. J. Talbot, who served two terms in the United States Senate, was afterwards revenue collector at Portland, Maine, and was railroad commissioner of that state until his death, which occurred in 1883.

      The subject of this sketch passed his boyhood and youth upon his father's farm in Maine, and on reaching man's estate he was married, November 28, 1846, to Miss Mary Ann Holden, by whom he has eight children, four sons and four daughters, namely: Matylom W., Ambrose S., Emma U., George C., Ellen C., Orrin P., Gertrude B. and Almira J. All are still living with the exception of Orrin P.

      Mr. Colby continued to engage in farming in his native state until z86, when he removed to Michigan, and carried on the same occupation there until coming to York county, Nebraska, in 1872, taking a homestead on section 24, township 12 north, range 4 west. Here agricultural pursuits also claimed his attention until 1887, after which time he made his home in Bradshaw and was engaged in buying and selling stock until about three years ago. He is an enterprising and progressive business man of known reliability, and commands the respect and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact either in business or social life. 

---

ENRY BARGHAHN is one of the many residents within the bounds of Seward county who started out in life with naught but an abundance of determination and indefatigable industry, and a strong and healthy constitution, and who -have succeeded through their own diligence, energy and economy. He is now actively engaged in agricultural pursuits upon his fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in precinct C.

      Mr. Barghahn is a native of Germany, born September 5, 1840, and is a son of Fredrerick (sic) and Mary (Lutzhia) Barghahn, who, as farming people, spent their entire lives in that country. There our subject was reared and educated in the usual manner of farmer's sons, and on starting out to make his own way in the world worked for fourteen dollars per year.

      With the hope of bettering his financial condition he came to America in 1870 and settled in Clayton county, Iowa, where he worked by the day for three years. In 1873 he became a resident of Seward county, Nebraska, and took up a homestead in precinct C. He had borrowed some money of his father-in-law, and with this he built a small frame house upon his place. Being industrious, persevering and energetic,

he has made a noble record as a successful farmer, and stands to-day one of the substantial and reliable citizens of the county. His farm of one hundred and sixty acres is now under a high state of cultivation.

      In Germany Mr. Barghahn was married, in 1867, to Miss Catherine Maak, who died in Nebraska in 1874, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Clabber. He was again married, in 1875, his second union being with Miss Dora Rahsa, who was also born in Germany, and the children born to them are Leana, Fredie, Henry, Vena and Johnnie. The parents belong to the German Lutheran church, of which Mr. Barghahn was one of the founders. In politics he is independent, always voting for the man whom he thinks best qualified to fill the office, and for several years he was most creditably served as road overseer. 

---

REDERICK C. POWER is one of the pioneer attorneys of York county, and one of the ablest and best known lawyers in the city of York. Mr. Power became a Nebraskan in the year 1879, and since that time has been an active figure in the law courts of the state. He was born in Louisville, St. Lawrence county, New York, June 3, 1855, and is the son of John and Jane (Mulholland) Power, both natives of Ireland, who came to this country in childhood. John Power was a farmer by occupation, and died in the Empire state in 1873. Jane Power, who was the mother of five children, resides in York, Nebraska, with another son and daughter. Frederick, the fourth child, obtained his education in the common schools of his native state and at the academies of Antwerp and Massena, New York. He began the study of law in 1876, under the direction of Judge Neary, of Gouverneur, in the same state, and three years later went west, settling at York, Nebraska. He was there admitted to the bar in 1880 and in January, 1882, formed a partnership with Judge S. H. Sedgwick and commenced practice. This firm continued until 1896, when Judge Sedgwick was elected a member of the district bench. Since that Mr. Powers has practiced alone. He is politically a republican, and has always taken a leading part in county and city affairs. In 1890 he was appointed county attorney, and subsequently twice elected to that office, serving in all five years. Our subject is a member of the A. O. U. W., M. W. of A. and A. F. & A. M., blue lodge, chapter and commandery. In 1884 he married Miss Annie M. Snaith, a resident of Massena, New York, and a daughter of Frank A. and Jane (Home) Snaith. Mr. and Mrs. Power are the parents of one child, a daughter, Jessie H. Mr. Power has been quite successful and enjoys a splendid practice. He is a man of excellent education and liberal views, while his geniality and whole-souled manner have contributed in no small degree to his wide popularity. York county likes to honor her prominent men, and when the history of the lawyers is written, Mr. Power's name will not be far from the top on the list. 

---

AMES L. EMERSON.--Prominent among the energetic, far-seeing and successful business men of Seward county is the subject of this sketch, a well-known grocer of Tamora. He carries a large and well selected stock, and by his courteous treatment to his customers has built up an excellent trade. He claims Indiana as his native state, his birth occurring in Wayne county, August 13, 1854.

     The parents of our subject were Charles and Lorenda E. (Sanders) Emerson, the former a native of Preble county, Ohio, the latter of Indiana. At an early day the father accompanied his parents, Herman and Lucinda Emerson, on their removal to the

Hoosier state, where he was reared and educated. He was bound out to learn the trades of a carpenter and millwright, which he continued to follow in Indiana until 1861. He then responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting in Company H, Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the service for three years and eight months, participating in the following battles: Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and Nashville, where he was under fire for some days, but fortunately escaped without wounds. When discharged he held the rank of corporal. After the war he continued to live in Indiana until the spring of 1870, when he came to Seward county, Nebraska, and took up a homestead on section 24, L township, which he developed into a good farm, continuing its cultivation for some years. He spent the last twelve years of his life in Tamora and for four years most acceptably served as postmaster at that place. He died December 16, 1897, and his wife in 1891, honored and respected by all who knew them. In their family were ten children, six sons and four daughters, of whom three sons and two daughters are now residents of Seward county.

      The subject of this sketch acquired his education in the schools of his native state. Coming with his father to Nebraska, he followed farming here for two years, and then accepted a position as clerk in a store in Tamora, where he remained for eight years. He also spent two years in Seward, but in 1896 embarked in the grocery business in Tamora, which he has since successfully carried on. In 1882 he led to the marriage altar Miss Lorinda Cromwell, a native of Kansas and a daughter of William and Mary (Pierson) Cromwell, who were born in Indiana. The children born of this union are Eva A., Cline L., Clarence, Ruby and Ray S., all living. The parents are leading and prominent members of the Presbyterian church of Tamora, while socially Mr. Emerson belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Woodmen of the World. In political sentiment he is an ardent Republican, and is now efficiently serving his fellow citizens as a member of the school board and as town treasurer. 

---

OHN A. BURKE.--Among the energetic and enterprising farmers of York county, as well as those who have been successful, and whose efforts through life thus far, through their own perseverance, have borne ample recompense, is the subject of this personal history. This well known farmer of Lockridge township was born in Sweden, August 12, 1850, and was a child of six years when brought by his parents to the United States. A sketch of the family is given in connection with that of Gusta F. Burke on another page of this volume.

      Our subject passed his boyhood and youth in Illinois and Iowa, and obtained his education in the public schools of Jefferson county, the latter state. At an early age he became thoroughly familiar with every department of farm work, and is now accounted one of the most skillful agriculturist, of his community. In 1875 he first came to Nebraska and bought a farm in Lockridge township, York county, but did not locate thereon until the following spring His land is now under a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings.

      In Iowa, Mr. Burke was married, in 1873, to Miss Tillie Swanson, who died February 12, 1877, leaving one child, Ella, who is still living. Mr. Burke was again married, in 1879, his second union being with Miss Emma Peterson, a native of Sweden, and this wedding was celebrated in York. To them have been born four sons, as follows: C. Edwin, Frank, Walter and

Irven. The family hold membership in the Swedish Lutheran church, and Mr. Burke was a liberal contributor to the erection of the house of worship in York. He is an ardent Republican in politics, and is an honored member of the Highlanders society. 

---

HOMAS W. SMITH, the Vice-President of the Blue River State Bank, and one of the most widely known business men of McCool Junction, Nebraska, has reached, his present enviable position by his own industry and enterprise. No helping hand has pushed him forward, and no door has been opened for him, save he lifted the latch himself. He has extensive grain, coal and cattle interests, and owns five hundred and five acres of fine farming land. Half of this he farms himself, and the other half he has put into the hands of renters. And this very substantial standing has been accomplished without help and without the aid of fortune. A portrait of this enterprising citizen appears on another page.

      Mr. Smith was born near Montreal, Canada, November 12, 1853, and is a son of Patrick and Catherine (Coughlin) Smith. They were natives of Tyrone and Cork, Ireland, and emigrated to Canada long before their marriage in company with their parents. His father was a farmer, and did well in his new home. He was a wealthy man when he died in 1863. His wife still survives, and is living at Ormstown, Canada, at the very advanced age of ninety years. Thomas Smith lived in Canada until he was sixteen years old, and had a very good common school education. He learned harness making, which was his occupation for a number of years. In 1869 he emigrated to the United States, and locating in Grundy county, Illinois, took charge of a rented farm. There he was married in the summer of 1873 to Francalia Lincoln, a direct descendant of that Israel Sanford who came over in the Mayflower. Her parents were Myron and Sylvia (Page) Lincoln, natives of Vermont and New York. She was born in Canton, New York. Her father died at Streator, Illinois, but her mother is still living at McCool Junction. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of the following children, Gertrude, Myron, Otos, Roy, Leo, Mary, Clifford, Ora, Louise, and Nellie (deceased).

      Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and assisted in the organization of the party in this county. He has been an active party worker, and for many years has been on the county committee. For two terms he was on the county board, of which he was chairman one session. In 1878 he was a candidate for the state legislature, and was defeated by less than two hundred votes in a county that then gave one thousand Republican majority. He was nominated for the state senate and failed of election in a district that gave five hundred Republican majority by fifty-three votes. He has been on the state central committee for six years, and in 1892 he was the chairman of the congressional committee. He is recognized as one of the leading men of the junction, and served several times as a member of the village board.

      The Blue River State Bank is one of the oldest financial institutions of the valley, and was established by Henry Musselman in the spring of 1887, and passed under its present ownership the following fall. The officers at present are: President, George W. Post; vice-president, Thomas W. Smith; cashier, Ralph Stanley. It has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, does a flourishing business and is the oldest bank in the county under one management.

      Mr. Smith is a charter member of the McCool Camp of the Modern Woodmen, and was its first consul. He is also a worker in the Ancient Order of the United Workmen.

. F. LUEBKER, the eloquent and scholarly pastor of the Immanuell Evangelical Lutheran church at Millerton, Nebraska, well sustains a reputation as one of the leading divines of Butler county. He follows in the footsteps of consecrated workers, and it is enough to say that their achievements are not in danger of loss at his hands.

      The pioneer minister of the Lutheran church in Millerton was the Rev. Mr. Haessler, who came here from Lincoln Creek. He was the nucleus of a parish and a church, and was followed by the Rev. Mr. Weller, who is now a professor in the German Lutheran Seminary at Seward, Nebraska. He organized the congregation, and put its affairs into a fair business shape. This was in 1883, and from that time onward the church has had a name to live. Christ Schmidt, who was a student for holy orders, spent some months here, teaching the parish school and preaching in the absence of older men. In 1885 a church and parsonage were erected, and the Lutherans of Millerton had a home. The next year the Rev. Mr. Kipple was called to the pastorate, and he remained until 1889. The church has slowly but steadily grown. It began with fifteen members, and has now about seventy-five heads of families. It has not escaped the common experience of religious movements in new countries. It has contended with hard times and a shifting population, but it has strengthened itself in every way, and is one of the permanent institutions of the county.

      Mr. Luebker was born in Dodge county, Wisconsin, December 15, 1860, and was a son of J. H. and Rosina Luebker, who were natives of Holstein and Wurtemberg, Germany, They were married in New York City, where the senior Luebker was a prosperous shoemaker for many years. In 1856 he came west and bought a farm in Dodge county, Wisconsin, where the early life of the subject of this writing was spent.

      In 1870 he moved to Shewano county in the same state, where he lived for seven years, and here the education of the future minister of Immanuell church began to take shape and tendency. He finished the work of the congregational school, and at the age of seventeen was sent to the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, at Springfield, Illinois. It was more commonly known as Concordia college, and here he took a five years' term. He was graduated from this college in 1883, and was immediately called to the congregation at Iuka, Marion county, Illinois, but was soon called to Hammond, Indiana, where a very important denominational movement gave him scope for the exercise of all his powers of heart and brain. It was a growing center of German life, and a Lutheran congregation, was organized there, of which he was the first pastor. Beginning in a small way, it soon increased to four hundred members, and became one of the most noted churches of the order in that region. He began his work in 1885, and soon had all the departments of his pastorate in running order. A prosperous parish school was organized, and the various societies that help the church put in shape. In July, 1889, he was called to his present position, and, accepting it, entered promptly upon his work. All the interests of the church have prospered in his hands. He is a hard working man, and has full charge of three congregations in Butler county. It means work and care and anxiety, but his heart is in it, and the people know and appreciate his high character.

      Mr. Luebker entered matrimonial relations in August, 1884, Miss Clara Dunsing bestowing her heart and hand upon him. Her father was the Rev. J. Dunsing, of Wanatah, Indiana, well known in Lutheran circles in Ohio, Missouri, and other states. He was a Hanoverian, while his wife came from Burnswick, Germany. To our subject and his accomplished wife have been born
     26

five children, all of whom are living. Their names are Joseph, Alvin, Lydia, Ranata and Arnold. He is still in the very prime of his power and though he has been a minister for sixteen years, he still retains all the enthusiasm of early life. 

---

DMUND M. CHENEY, one of the old settlers of York, was born at Campton, Grafton county, New Hampshire, July 8, 1836. He was a son of Jonathan H. and Lydia (Tuttle) Cheney, who were both natives of New Hampshire. The paternal grandfather was Daniel Cheney, a native of Massachusetts, and of Puritan ancestry. He was a farmer, as was also his son, who was the father of our subject. Jonathan Cheney moved to Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1860, and died there in 1862. He was the father of five children, all of whom are now living. Lydia (Tuttle) Cheney was born in 1800, and died in Iowa in 1891. Our subject was educated in the common schools of New Hampshire, and in the Plymouth High School, and Atkinson Academy. He came to Iowa with his parents in 1860-also attended school one year at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He followed school-teaching for several years in that state, Missouri and Illinois. He was married April 2, 1862, to Miss Sarah Carmean, a daughter of Curtis and Mary (Coddington) Carmean, who were natives of Maryland and Ohio, but who came west and settled at Hillsboro, Iowa, in 1839, and resided there for forty years, being engaged in farming and stockraising.

      To the marriage of Mr. Cheney there has been born one child, Frances C., now Mrs. C. J. Nightman, of York, Nebraska. In 1879 he came to York, Nebraska, and engaged in the coal and ice business for eight years in company with E. A. Warner. He then engaged in the banking and real estate business, and in which he continued until 1886, when, on account of failing health he was forced to retire from business.. He still holds some farm property in Nebraska, Colorado, and California, and also owns town property in York. He served as director of the First National Bank for ten years, and also as a trustee of the York Methodist Episcopal college for five years. He has always been an active worker in the church, and he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church for thirty-six years. For many years he filled the office of trustee in that body, and for seven years was superintendent in the Sunday-school. Politically, he is a Republican, and he has been closely connected with that party since its organization. He has been successful in business, and is highly respected by all who know him. 

---

. W. BATCHELDER, deceased, belongs to a history of Seward county, not only by his sterling integrity and useful career, but by the farther fact that he was one of the earliest pioneers of this section of Nebraska. He very nearly completed the psalmist measure of life, and played throughout his long career a manly part. Fairness and uprightness characterized his every undertaking, and he presented a candid and open countenance to the world. He led a useful as well as a successful career, and his name and virtues are enshrined in the hearts of many friends.

      J. W. Batchelder was born in Alexandria, New Hampshire, August 27, 1828. His parents, Stephen and Hannah Batchelder, were native to that state, and belonged to old colonial families. They sought a more productive field for agricultural labors, and made their home in Illinois, when the subject of this narration was but a child. In that state he grew to manhood. Opportunities for education in those early days were neither numerous nor excellent, but he made the most of what he had, and be

came an intelligent and efficient citizen. He learned the carpenter's trade when a very young man, and followed it some years, but farming was his main business. Illinois seemed too crowded for him, and moving westward he spent a year in Iowa. In 1870 he came to this county, and settled on a homestead a mile east of Bee. He erected a sod house, and passed through all the trials and vicissitudes of pioneering in the wilderness. He made a good farm out of the raw prairie, improved it well, and took rank with the more successful farmers of the county. He removed his residence in 1893 to the growing town of Bee, went into business with his son, and died two years later.

      Mr. Batchelder was married February 18, 1852, to Miss Louisa Whitwood, a native of New York, and a resident of Rockford, Illinois. She was a lady of excellent traits, and died in 1876. Both husband and wife were members of the Presbyterian church, and exerted a decided influence for good by their quiet and well ordered lives and kindly spirit. They were the parents of five children, William H., Whitwood J., Frank C., Edward G., and Flora (now deceased). He was a Republican, but in the later years of his life became a Populist, and was an ardent advocate of their platform. He was justice of the peace for some years, and at different times was assessor and town clerk. 

      EDWARD G. BATCHELDER, the youngest son of this estimable couple, was born in Illinois in 1867. He came west with his parents and had his education in the schools of Nebraska. For the first years of his early manhood he was engaged in farming, but in 1893 he moved to Bee, and opened a hardware store in company with his father. The death of the paternal member of the firm left him alone in the business and he continues it without a partner. He is an accommodating and successful trades man, and enjoys a very extended patronage. He was married in 1893 to Miss Lena Drake, a Wisconsin girl. To them have been born one son, Lyle. He is making progress in the business world, and bids fair to win a large success long before he reaches old age. 

---

MOS MILLER, deceased, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 2, 1823, a son of Conrad and Hannah E. (Ricely) Miller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of Maryland. Conrad Miller was among the pioneers of Fairfield county, Ohio, clearing for himself a farm of about two hundred acres in the woods. He and his wife both died on this homestead in Ohio.

      Amos Miller, the subject of this sketch, was reared on the old homestead, in Fairfield county, Ohio, and was educated in the public schools of Lithopolis, Ohio. After the death of his father, our subject took charge of a portion of the homestead for several years. In the fall of 1854, he removed to LaPorte county, Indiana, and purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, upon which he resided twelve years. He then sold out and moved to Marshall county, Iowa, from there to Iowa county, and from thence to York county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1870. Here he homesteaded eighty acres of land on section 34, of what is now Leroy township. Mr. Miller and family were among the first settlers in Leroy township; in fact, there was not a house to be seen north of their home. He resided on this farm until his death, which occurred July 10, 1892. He was a respected and influential citizen of the community, a man of strong moral character, and strongly resisted the organization of the Masonic lodge at York.

      Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Thompson, September 16, 1847.

Mrs. Miller was born April 24, 1827, in Fairfield county, Ohio, a daughter of John F. and Margaret (Dennis) Thompson, the father a native of England, and the mother a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Miller is still living on the old homestead in Leroy township. She bore her husband four children, as follows: Lyman, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume; Clara, wife of Thomas Pence; Maria, wife of Edward Pence; and Sylvester, who resides in Hamilton county, Nebraska. 

---

AMES MARTIN CAIN, a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of Seward county, is now engaged in both general farming and fruit raising, in which he has been eminently successful. As a business man and citizen he also ranks high and has the entire confidence and esteem of his fellow men, who appreciate his sterling worth and many excellencies of character.

      Mr. Crain (sic) was born on the 9th of April, 1845, in Henry county, Illinois, and is a son of Joseph and Barbara (Heckard) Cain. His paternal grandfather, John Cain, was of Irish descent, while his maternal grandparents, John and Catherine Heckard, were of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, and all of his ancestors were tillers of the soil. Our subject worked on his father's farm until about thirty years of age, receiving his education in the common schools of Starke and Knox counties, Illinois. On the 13th of October, 1875, he was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Jane Cain, a daughter of James S. Cain, a distant relative. In company with her parents they came west soon after their marriage and settled in Saline county, Nebraska. But in 1883 our subject purchased his present farm on section 27, it being the west half of the southwest quarter.

      On his new purchase Mr. Cain planted a fine orchard, containing seventy-five apple, seventy-five plum, seventy-five peach and over one hundred and twenty-five cherry trees; he also set out apricots, over one hundred and twenty-five grape vines and two thousand strawberry plants, and he has now made preparations to set out an abundance of raspberry and blackberry vines. His orchard has been bearing for nearly ten years, and he has all the fruit he can use and also ships to the little towns around. This branch of his business has proved quite profitable and he is now one of the prosperous citizens of the community.

      Mr. and Mrs. Cain have four children, all born in Nebraska: Celia D. is now the wife of John Hartley, a son of Jonathan and Rebecca (Cain) Hartley, and they have two children, Ray and Walter. They now make their home upon a farm in Fulton county, Illinois; Winnie Bell is the wife of John Powell, a farmer of Saline county, Nebraska, Barbara Patty is the wife of Melvin Miller, of Saline county. Walter Clifton, the youngest of the family, is now seventeen years of age and is still at home on the farm, his education being obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood.

     Mr. Cain has always been a stanch Democrat in political sentiment and now votes the Fusion ticket, supporting William J. Bryan at the last presidential election, while his first vote was cast for Governor Seamans. He is a public-spirited and progressive and. gives his support to every measure which he believes will prove of public benefit. 

---

OHN M. WARD is one of the successful, enterprising ane (sic) progressive agriculturists of Fillmore county, his home being on section 13, Geneva township, where he owns a valuable property consisting of three hundred and twenty acres of highly improved, land. Indefatigable industry, and

 

© 2002 for the NEGenWeb Project by Pam Rietsch, Ted & Carole Miller