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Iowa. The business interests of the county. had been poorly managed, and it was paying ten per cent. interest on its obligations. This rate was lowered to six per cent. through the interposition of Mr. Schneringer. He also proposed the sale of the lots in the town of York which belonged to the county, and which would prove the beginning of a fund for the erection of a court house. This proposition was adopted, and returned such satisfactory results, that only a small tax was necessary to secure the erection of a building, which was greatly needed. In many other ways our subject has left the stamp of his personality on the history of the county, and has proved himself a public-spirited and helpful citizen of the community.

      Mr. and Mrs. Schneringer are the parents of eight children, of whom six are now living: Carl Blaine, Emma Alice, Fred N., Blanch M., Claude and Clyde W. Carl Blaine, the oldest son, is now in the United States army, and is in service at the present time in the Philipine (sic) Islands. He is only eighteen years old, and was the first to enlist from the township of Bradshaw. He belongs to Company A, First Regiment. Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and, as might be expected, his parents are very proud of their "soldier laddie." Portraits of father and son are presented in, connection with this sketch.

      Mr. Schneringer votes and acts with the People's Independent party, and is a strong supporter of its principles. He believes, as he puts it, in a free country, freedom in voting, honesty in politics and in the free and unlimited coinage of silver. He is a member of the Masonic order, and belongs to the York Lodge. He is also a member of the Royal Highlanders. His wife does not belong to any secret order, but was an active and devoted member of the Congregational church in Bradshaw. When that church was destroyed by the cyclone of 1890 the congregation scattered, and the old organization was lost. Many of the members united with other organizations, but Mrs. Schneringer kept her name there, and preferred to be known as a Congregationalist still. With their children, both husband and wile are attendants upon religious services and contribute both time and money to the support of the gospel. In 1892 Mr. Schneringer removed to Bradshaw, and has made his home in that place for the past six years. 

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LIVER C. WELLS, one of the valiant defenders of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war, and a representative farmer of Fillmore county, residing on section 31, Belle Prairie precinct, was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, July 22, 1839, a son of John B. and Jane (Winchester) Wells, who were natives of Maryland, and soon after their marriage located in Indiana. The father, who was born in 1813, is now living retired in Rock Island, Illinois, but the mother, who was born in 1817, died about thirty-five years ago and was laid to rest in the Rock Island cemetery. The children born to them were Frank S., the present postmaster of Bruning, Nebraska.; Calvin. R., who was killed by a horse at the age of nine years; and Oliver C. Our subject had a half brother, Howard Wells, who was at the time of his death serving as postmaster of Rock Island, Illinois, under President Harrison's administration.

      Our subject was reared on a farm and received a fair country school education. Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted in 1861, at the age of twenty-two years, in Company H, Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years and nine months with the army of the Tennessee under Generals Grant and Sherman.

      In the fall of 1861, the regiment went

into camp at Milan, Illinois, and from there went to Camp Douglas. Later they spent two weeks at Cairo and then embarked on the City of Memphis, going up the Tennessee river to Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. They participated in the three days' siege at the latter place, meeting with heavy losses, and then embarked on a steamboat at Metal Landing and went to Savannah, Tennessee. Later they took a boat for Shiloh, and during the battle at that place, April 6, 1862, our subject served as color guard. Here both sides suffered a heavy loss, but the Union army was finally reinforced and the Confederates fell back. After a few days' rest the regiment was ordered to Corinth, where the rebels were finally overpowered after their water supply had become very low, and later evacuated. Our subject's company was then ordered to Jackson, Tennessee, and were engaged in guarding the railroad there, and in that vicinity through the summer of 1862; took part in Grant's raid down the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to and beyond Holly Springs, during the latter part of 1862. After that place was destroyed they fell back to Memphis by way of LaGrange. After a few weeks' rest in Memphis they embarked on a steamer, February 22, 1863, for Vista Planta, on the Mississippi river, and, after spending two weeks at that place, proceeded to Lake Providence, where they assisted Grant in cutting the levee. They next went by boat to Milligan, where a two months' furlough was granted to secure volunteers to run the blockade at Vicksburg. They then marched down the Louisiana side of the river to Hard Times' Landing, crossed the river on transports which ran the blockade in the night of April 30, and then went into camp on the east side. Soon afterward they began their march toward Vicksburg, and at 10 o'clock, May 1, overtook the rebels, and a bloody battle was fought, resulting in severe losses to both sides. The rebels, however, were repulsed, and on the 12th of the same month were again overtaken at Raymond and at Jackson on the 14th of May. Battles were fought on the 16th and 17th of that month, and from Black river to Vicksburg, a distance of twelve miles, there was continuous fighting. It was General Grant's intention to take the fort by assault, but his first attempt was a failure, though the second was a success. Mr. Wells was in this siege for forty-seven days, and with his regiment was then detailed by Grant to undermine Fort Hill, which they successfully accomplished. The city surrendered July 4, 1863, and our subject's regiment was selected to lead the troops into the place arid raise the flag on the court house. As provost guard they remained there that summer. Mr. Wells took part in the battle of Black river and the Meridian raid, and after spending his thirty days' furlough in Freeport, Illinois, went to Cairo and later to Clifton, Tennessee, taking with him two thousand two hundred head of beef cattle for Sherman's army. On the 22d of July, 1864, he was detailed as sergeant to guard the armory, and when the regiment moved toward the front was detailed as caterer. He was soon afterward relieved, however, then proceeded to Savannah, and was with Sherman on his celebrated march from Atlanta to the sea. This march vividly pictured by our subject, as a continuous fight through swamps and in pouring rain. He was present at the surrender of General Lee, and participated in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia, where the soldiers marched forty abreast and were seven hours in passing down Pennsylvania avenue. At Louisville, Kentucky, he was honorably discharged, was given his full pay at Chicago, and returned to his home in Rock Island, Illinois, with a war record of which he may be justly proud, for he was a brave soldier, always found at his post of

duty, valiantly fighting for the old flag and the cause it represented.

      In Rock Island, Mr. Wells married Miss Maggie Little, who was born in Mercer county, Illinois, August 31, 1844. Her parents, William and Elizabeth (Ray) Little, were born, reared and married in Ireland, and on coming to America settled in Mercer county, Illinois, where both died, the former at the age of seventy-four, the latter at the age of sixty-eight, and their remains were interred there. They were well-to-do and highly respected citizens of the community in which they lived. Their children were Anna, Lucinda, Francis, William, David, Robert, Eveline and Maggie. Our subject and his wife have four children, namely: Ida, now the wife of John Oldham, a successful young farmer of Fillmore county; Lucy J., wife of Sherman Edwards, also a prosperous farmer of the same county; William J., who married Rosa Mitchell and is engaged in farming in Fillmore county; and Ernest E., at home.

      After his marriage. Mr. Wells continued to engage in farming on rented land in Illinois for about seven years, and then spent three years in Linn county, Iowa, but on the eighteenth of February, 1879, came to Fillmore county, Nebraska, where he has since made his home. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw land at five dollars per acre, and has since devoted his energies to its improvement and cultivation.

      Through days of adversity and discouragement he did not give up, and is now able to enjoy with more pleasure the comfortable home and competence he has secured by years of arduous toil. His children have been provided with good educations in the schools of this state and have become useful and respected members of society. Mr. Wells cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and has since been unswerving in his support of the men and measures of the Republican party. His loyalty as a citizen and his devotion to his country's interests have ever been among his marked characteristics, and the community is fortunate that numbers him among its citizens. 

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ARTIN MADSON.--This well-known resident of precinct K, Seward county, is a native of Denmark, and in his successful business career he has shown the characteristic thrift and enterprise of his race. Beginning with no capital except that acquired by his own industry, he has succeeded in gaining a handsome property, and is to-day one of the most prosperous citizens of his community.

      Born in Roland, Denmark, September 29, 1837, Mr. Madson is a son of Hans and Bertha Madson. The father owned a small piece of land which the family cultivated, but his principal occupation was weaving. He died at the age of forty years, when our subject was a child of three, leaving his widow with four small children to support, the eldest only eight years old. She accomplished this by cultivating the few acres of land left her by her husband, and also by spinning. She died at the old homestead in 1882, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years.

      As soon as he was old enough, Martin Madson began caring for his good mother, who had so tenderly cared for him in early life, and worked at any occupation which he could find to do, but principally at farm work. Having often heard of the remarkable advantages afforded young men in America, he decided to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic, and one foggy morning, at the age of twenty-eight years, he left home with all of his earthly possessions in the little sachel which he carried in his hand. Owing to the great fog which had settled over everything, the steamer was afraid to leave the port of Nysted, on the

East sea, for a few days, but finally weighed anchor April 1, 1867, with Mr. Madson on board, bound for the new world. After touching at German and English ports, the passengers were landed at Liverpool, where he embarked on the great steamship Minnesota, and after a passage of seventeen days landed in New York, April 30. By rail he proceeded to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he worked as a farm hand until the following fall, and then went to the Lake Superior region, where he worked in the iron mines until 1870. Having saved some money, he started for Nebraska, where he understood any man could get a farm by living upon it and improving the same. He landed in Seward when that city contained only two or three houses, but plenty of land around on which to build others. Selecting the east half of the northeast quarter of section 32, township 10, range 2 east, Seward county, he constructed a dugout in the banks of a ravine, in which he lived for two years. Having no team of his own, he worked for others, that they might break the sod upon his new farm. The second year, however, he was able to purchase a team and wagon, and went to work in earnest to make a home for himself and another, he knew not whom at that time. Abandoning his dugout the third year, he erected a sod house 14X 24 feet, in which he lived with his brother-in-law and sister quite comfortably for two years. His brother-in-law then secured a farm of his own, and with him our subject boarded for a year.

      Having had some one to keep his home neat and comfortable, he was loath to go back to his old mode of life, and cook his own meals. Therefore, with some money he had saved he bought a draft and sent it in a letter to a bright-eyed, laughing girl he had known in the old country when a young man, and invited her to come to America and share his new home, name and property. This was Miss Carrie Peterson, and on the 12th of November, 1877, they were united in marriage. To them have been born four children, of whom three are now living: Martin, Bertha and Christina B., the oldest now nineteen, the youngest eleven years of age. They are being provided with the best educational advantages the schools of the community afford.

      After his marriage Mr. Madson took his bride to the farm on which they have since resided, it being a well cultivated tract of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the village of Goehner, and improved with a good residence and substantial outbuildings. Besides this property he owns some other land, in all six hundred and forty acres, all of which has been acquired through his own labors. He is an ardent Republican in poltics (sic), having cast his first vote for General Grant, his last for Major McKinley, and both he and his wife are earnest and faithful members of the Presbyterian church. 

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DAM EVERTS, an energetic and progressive agriculturist living on section 6, Waco township, York county, is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth occurring in Fulton county, February 5, 1818. His parents, Adam and Catharine (Fonner) Everts, were also natives of the Keystone state, while his maternal grandfather was of German birth, an early settler of Pennsylvania, and a soldier of the Revolutionary war, fighting under General Washington. Throughout his entire life our subject's father followed the occupation of farming in his native state, and there his death occurred when he had reached the age of eighty-three years; His estimable wife also died in Pennsylvania. They reared a family of twelve children, namely: George, Elizabeth, Barba, Catharine and Anna, all four deceased; Adam; Isabel, deceased; Maria; Sarah and Susan, both deceased; Polly and Rebecca. Of these George and four of his sons were

faithful defenders of the Union during the Civil war.

      Mr. Everts, of this review, was reared on the old home farm in Pennsylvania, and continued to remain under the parental roof until he attained the age of twenty-seven years. In August, 1855, he was united in marriage with Miss Sophia Cline, who was also born in Fulton county, Pennsylvania. January 19, 1827. Her parents, Conrad and Elizabeth (Dishong) Cline, spent their entire lives in that state, and reared a family of eight children: Abram; Mary and John, both deceased; Eliza; Susan, deceased; Mrs. Everts; Peter and Uriah. One son, John, was a soldier of the Civil war. Mrs. Everts grew to womanhood upon a farm in her native township, and there acquired a fair literary education. By her marriage she has become the mother of eight children, who in order of birth are as follows: Calvin U., a resident of Missouri; John, at home; Mrs. Katie Reed; Joseph C., of York county, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary Schloniger; George, of York county; Grafton, of Lincoln, Nebraska; and Mrs. Roxy Bushard.

      After his marriage, Mr. Everts continued to live in Pennsylvania until 1864, when he moved by wagon to Richland county, Ohio, where the following five years were passed. He then made his home in Peoria, Illinois, and the year 1872 witnessed his arrival in York county, Nebraska. His first homestead was on section 4, New York township, on which he built a little frame house, but after proving up his claim he removed to his present fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 6, Waco township. He spent one year in Chase county, Nebraska, where he pre-empted three hundred and twenty acres of land, and on selling that tract returned to York county, where he has since resided uninterruptedly. With the exception of two years, when engaged in milling, his entire life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and the neat and thrifty appearance of his farm testifies to his skill and ability in his chosen calling. The place is adorned with beautiful shade trees and shrubs, the fields are well-tilled, and the buildings are models of convenience and comfort. The year of the grasshopper scourge he raised one thousand five hundred bushels of wheat, but those insects destroyed his corn. He has been officially connected with the Christian church at Waco, of which he and his wife are leading members, and has filled the office of road overseer to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. Politically he is a Populist. 

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OSIAH JEROME JUDEVINE, a "homesteader" on section 22, Savannah township, Butler county, was born in Charleston No. 4, Sullivan county, New Hampshire, June 19, 1823. He is the son of Josiah Judevine, born in 1787, a manufacturer of cloth at Barnett, Vermont. His grandfather, Calvin Judevine, came from England before the Revolutionary war, and settled in Sullivan county, New Hampshire. The Judevines were active in the fight for the independence of America.

      Our subject is the youngest of four children, his father having died in his youth; he was raised by his mother's sister, Sallie Field Simms, at Lemington, Essex county, Vermont.

      His mother, Zerua Field Judevine, was born at Brockton, Massachusetts, and died there about the year 1870. He was educated in a log house district school. When twenty years old he left Essex county and went to Kentucky and worked on the Ohio river. Returned to Charleston, going from thence to Brockton, Massachusetts, where he worked for six years at the shoe bench. During this time, April 17, 1849, he was married in Providence, Rhode Island, to Mary Ellen Hamilton, daughter of William Hamilton, who was born in Burlington,

Vermont, of English ancestry and formerly an officer in the English army, later served in the United States army during the war of 1812. Was stationed at Erie, Pennsylvania, during the operations of Commodore Perry. His wife's mother having died when Mary was born, she was adopted by Dr. Samuel Shaw, and reared by him.

      In November, 1849, our subject came, with his wife, to Columbia county, Wisconsin, took land at West Point, Wisconsin, and carried on the occupation of farming for a period of fifteen years. Here a son, F. C. Judevine, was born, in 1852, the only child.

      In 1859, our subject went overland to Pike's Peak, and on his return passed through Butler county, Nebraska, saw the beautiful Platte-valley, and this eventually led to his locating here.

      In 1864 he moved to Chickasaw county, Iowa, farmed five years, and in October, 1869, he settled in Butler county, Nebraska. He has always held advanced ideas on political and social matters, and has the courage to express his convictions. He has been a large contributor to the newspapers, a prominent man in the advancement of the interests of his community. His son, F. C. Judevine, was married to Mollie Page, and they are the parents of five children: Royal, Frank, Clifford, Ethel and Ettie. He is now one of the prominent farmers of Butler county, and has himself been a factor in the development of the country. 

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ILLIAM ZWIEG, who resides on section 8, Beaver township, York county, Nebraska, is a native of Prussia, where he was born August 22, 1843. He was brought to this country when only five years of age, and bears himself with true American vigor and determination. For almost thirty years he has been a resident of the state, and has slowly won his way to comfort and independence. His farm manifests a thorough husbandman, and it has proved highly renumerative under his practical management.

      William Zwieg is a son of William and Mena (Charlie) Zwieg, who were natives of Prussia, and came of a long line of German ancestry. They belonged to the agricultural class, and feeling that America offered them far better inducements than their own fatherland they crossed the Atlantic in 1848, and established themselves the same year on a wild timber farm near Williamstown, Dodge county, Wisconsin. By unremitting toil it soon became a pleasant home, and there they spent the remainder of their days. She died in 1855 and he passed away July 4, 1876. They had eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first born, and the second child, Louisa, is dead. The others were Mena, Augusta, Harmon, August, Anna and Bertha.

      On this Wisconsin farm young William passed his early days, and grew to a strong and sturdy manhood. He was educated in both English and German, and was thus doubly armed for life's conflicts. He was needed at home, but the serious situation of the Union cause in the summer of 1864 inspired him to enlist in the Federal army. He was assigned to Company E, First Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry, and joined his regiment at Louisville. He saw some severe fighting, particularly at Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The regiment was under the command of General Wilson, and was actively engaged on patrol and guard duty, with severe skirmishing thrown in whenever possible. He was mustered out at Nashville July 19, 1865, and returned home without a scratch, though he had passed through many dangerous experiences.

      On the conclusion of peace our soldier lad was swallowed up in the great home tide, and soon resumed peaceful pursuits.

He remained on the farm assisting his father and caring for younger brothers and sisters, until he had passed his twenty-fifth birthday, when he decided to set up for himself. He was united in marriage in the month of September, 1867, to Miss Augusta Schnurstin, a native of Dodge county, Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1869 the newly wedded couple came to York county, Nebraska, and settled upon the homestead, which under their careful management has grown into a farm of four hundred acres, thoroughly improved, well provided with buildings and machinery, and presenting satisfaction to the farming vision. They brought with them some seven hundred dollars, but thought it best to begin in a "dug-out" home, until the return from the land should warrant it. The first year on the place he raised good sod corn,, twenty-five bushels to the acre, and the following year he had a large yield of wheat, oats, potatoes and corn. Twenty acres of natural timber form a valuable portion of his real estate. The farm has improved in value and attractiveness every year. He completed a handsome residence in 1884 that cost him $1,500, and from time to time he has added other improvements and conveniences that make this one of the most attractive homes in the county. He is an advocate of mixed farming, and shows with the pride of an enthusiast as fine a herd of short-horns as may be found in the county.

      Mrs. Zwieg died May 8, 1896, and her death was a great blow to her devoted husband. She was a member of the Lutheran church, and was the mother of nine children, whose names were Ida M., Frank W., Emma, Charles, Willie, Henry, Anna, Malinda, and Mary. She was an active and energetic housewife, a good wife, and faithful mother, and was highly respected by her friends and neighbors.

      Mr. Zwieg is a member of the Grand Army post at Waco, and enjoys the liveliest satisfaction in meeting with the companions of the tented field of long ago. In politics he is a Populist, but attends first of all to his own duties, and is not very active in party affairs. He is interested in all matters that relate to the good of the schools and has served on the school board of the district in which he lives for the last twenty-five years. 

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. F. GARRISON is one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Ohiowa, Fillmore county, Nebraska. Mr. Garrison makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Quinlan, and was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1820, a son of Mathias and Susannah (Seeley) Garrison, who moved from New Jersey to that county. His parents both died in Pennsylvania, the mother when he was only eight years old. Their children were Elizabeth, Elsie, John, William, Nathan, Susannah, Rachel and M. F., the subject of this article. A romantic story connected with the early history of this family is as follows: The great-grandmother of Mr. Garrison was Lady Charlotte Douglas, who belonged to a prominent and aristocratic family of Scotland. On account of her high station, great beauty and many admirable qualities, she was stolen by a captain who had determined to win and marry her. Failing in this, however, he sold her to an American planter, George Fortner, who soon fell in love with and married this virtuous and lovely woman. To them were born three children, one son and two daughters, and Mr. Garrison's grandfather, a farmer of New Jersey, married one of the daughters.

      M. F. Garrison received only a limited education in the subscription schools of his native state, but his business training was not meager, as he obtained an excellent knowledge of farm work and also of the

mason's and bricklayer's trades. Deterniined to try his fortune in the west, in 1845 he left Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and started for Illinois by team. On his arrival in Lee county, which was then a new country, he turned his attention to the pursuits with which he was familiar, and there purchased eighty acres of land. By his economy, industry and good management he was soon on the highway to prosperity, and became one of the wealthiest and most substantial farmers of that county, where in 1870 he owned a valuable farm of two hundred acres under a high state of cultivation and improved in modern style.

      In Dixon, Illinois, Mr. Garrison was married, October 1, 1848, to Miss Mary E. Girton, who was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1817. Her mother, Elizabeth (Runion) Girton, died in Pennsylvania. The father and family later migrated to Illinois, where he died at the age of ninety-two and was buried at Dixon, Illinois. Mr. M. F. Garrison continued his farming operations in Illinois very successfully until 1878, when he sold his property and went to Fillmore county, Nebraska, where he purchased nine hundred and sixty acres of the finest prairie land in Franklin township. With the exception of about a half section the entire tract was raw land, and to its improvement and cultivation he devoted his energies with marked success and continued his farm operations until 1890. Soon after the death of his wife, however, he moved to his present home in Ohiowa, and has since lived retired in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. He has been called upon to mourn the loss of his estimable wife, who died in Ohiowa, in 1890, at the age of seventy-three years. She was a devoted wife and mother, and a sincere Christian, and her death was deeply mourned by all who knew her. She was laid to rest in the Ohiowa cemetery. She left two daughters. Martha J., the older, is the wife of E. F. Medler, of Ohiowa, and has the following children: Warren F., married to Miss Eva Holland; Clara M., married to Millard Bigelow; Arthur W.; Clyde A; Edgar Iv!. and Elsie, all at home and constituting a happy family circle. The younger daughter is Mrs. M. A. Quinlan. Mr. Garrison is a strong advocate of the principles of the Populist party and cheerfully gives his support to all measures which he believes calculated in any way to advance the interests of his adopted town and county. His life is a living illustration of what ability, energy and force of character can accomplish, and it is to such men that the west owes its prosperity, its rapid progress and advancement. He has accumulated a handsome property, which he has divided between his two daughters, and with the younger, Mrs. M. A. Quinlan, he now finds a pleasant home.

      Miss Mary A. Garrison was born in Lee county, Illinois, in 1859, October 14, and was there reared to womanhood. She accompanied her parents on their removal to Nebraska in 1878, and on the 1st of November, 1880, gave her hand in marriage to James W. Quinlan, who was born in Indiana, March 1, 1853. His parents, Laurence and Mary (Palmer) Quinlan, were natives of Ireland and England, respectively, and on their emigration to America located in Indianapolis, Indiana. They were married in that state and continued to make their home there until 1856, when they migrated to Clinton, Iowa. In 1866 moved to Quincy, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their days in retirement until their death, and are laid to rest in Quincy, Illinois, cemetery. Their children were Daniel, Mary, Kate and James W.

     During his early life, James W. Quinlan assisted in the operation of the home farm, and on leaving the parental roof, at the age of twenty-two years, he came to Exeter,

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