NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
On-Line Library

daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Whitman) Walker. Her mother's parents were of Puritan stock, whose ancestors came from England about the time of the Mayflower company. Alice A. moved from Rhode Island to Sterling, Connecticut, where she received her education in the public and select schools. During the four years next preceding the year in which she went west, she was in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was engaged in teaching and dress-making. She went west with her uncle and aunt and located in Nebraska in 1870. In the fall of that year she was united in marriage to Mr. Frederick Irwin, a homesteader in that locality. Mr. Irwin died in 1880, and is buried in the David City cemetery. In the fall of 1883, she was again united in marriage to her present husband, Mr. Alonzo Andrews. 

ALONZO ANDREWS was born in Uppingham Center, Fulton county, New York, November 15. 1833, a son of Subina Andrews. His father was a native of Maine and moved to Saratoga county, New York, when a boy and was reared on a farm in that county. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and his ancestors participated in the Revolutionary war. He reared a family of seven children, of whom our subject is the youngest son. One sister, Elizabeth Wheeler, is now living at Fort Atkinson, Holt county, Nebraska. Mr. Andrews worked on the Erie canal from the time he was ten years of age until he was eighteen. He then, in 1857, went to Illinois and located in Kendall county. Two years later he went to Missouri, but, owing to his support of the Union cause, he was forced to leave there upon the breaking out of the Civil war. He then went back to Oswego, Illinois, and enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, in the spring of 1862, and served three years. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, the charge of Kenesaw Mountain, battles of Dallas and Resaca, was with Sherman on his march to the sea, and participated in the Grand Review at Washington, District of Columbia. After being discharged from the service of the government he returned to his home in Illinois and was there married to Miss Alice Severance, July 6, 1866. Two children were born to this union, Mary Elizabeth and Van D. Mrs. Andrews died in Oswego, and four years later our subject was married to Martha A. Colgon, of Plainfield, Illinois. To this union were born three children, Lorana, William S. and Lettie A. His second wife died when the last-named child was about twenty months of age.

      In 1881, Mr. Andrews moved from Illinois to Holt county, Nebraska, and two years later he moved to Butler county, Nebraska. Mr. Andrews and his present wife have no children, but they adopted and reared a daughter, Sarah, who was married November 16, 1893, to Mr. Bernard H. Mais. They have two children, Daisy E, and Henry B. 

---

ARL J. G. HOFMANN, one of Seward county's representative citizens, and one of the leading instructors of Malcolm, was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 25,. 1866. the second and youngest son of G. Christian and Elizabeth (Bom Horn) Hofmann. The older brother is still living in Germany. The father died prior to our subject's birth, and the mother subsequently moved to the city of Neustadt Aisch to give her two sons an education in the city schools. Mrs. Hofmann is still living in Germany and has reached the age of sixty-six years.

      Mr. Hofmann attended the city schools as stated in the preceding paragraph, from 1872 until 1875. From the year last named until 1880, he attended the Latin school, preparatory to entering college, and from

1880 until 1884 he prepared for the seminary in college. Also from 1876 until 1884, he served as chorister of the Evangelical Lutheran church. In 1884 he entered the seminary at Altdorf and two years later he graduated with honors and began teaching. After following the practice of his profession in Germany for two years, in 1888 he migrated to America, leaving Bremen March 12, and landing in New York on the 26th of the same month. From New York he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and for a time made his home with a friend in that city. He then secured a position from the St. Paul congregation, of Lincoln, Nebraska, as teacher, and began his work in that city January 12, 1890. While here he cultivated the acquaintance of Miss Louisa Greiner, to whom he was married in May of the same year, Mr. Hofmann's success in this school was something remarkable, for he entered upon his duties with but two scholars, and left the institution with an enrollment of seventy-five. In April, 1891, he moved to Mississippi and continued the continued the practice of. his profession for two years in the town of Merrell. In August, 1892, he returned to Seward county, Nebraska, and began teaching in the Trinity of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, which has about eighty-two children enrolled, and has now been employed continuously for five years in this place. Mr. Hofmann is a man of marked ability as an instructor, and wherever he has been he has made many friends by his push and energy.

      Mrs. Hofmann, wife of our subject, is a daughter of Godfred and Louisa (Wiedner) Greiner. She was born in Shormdorf, Germany, and emigrated from thence to America at the age of eighteen years, having received her education in the land of her nativity, and was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran church at the age of fourteen years. Upon arriving on the American side of the Atlantic, she landed in New York, went from there to Philadelphia, and from thence to Nebraska, where she met Mr. Hofmann, to whom she was married at the age of twenty-six years. She was called to mourn the death of her father before leaving Germany, but her mother came to America and located in Seward county, Nebraska, near Staplehurst, where she died at the age of about eighty years. She was a faithful and devoted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, having joined that denomination in Germany at the age of fourteen years, and to the day of her death she was true to its principles and was known by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance, to be one of its earnest and valued members. Mrs. Hofmann is the second in the order of birth of a family of thirteen children, only three of whom are now living. One brother married Miss Anna Fisher and is now living near Staplehurst, and the other is making his home in Omaha, Nebraska. Our subject has an adopted child, Lydia B. 

---

ENRY C. MOUNTS.--While it is true many people are seeking to accumulate vast fortunes by selfish and unscrupulous means, there is nothing more worthy of praise than the quiet and steady pursuit of some honest calling and the determined exercise of industry, economy and sagacity which enables a man to acquire a home and competence. The subject of this biography, now a prosperous farmer residing on section 36, Hamilton precinct, Fillmore county, is a man whose brave struggle with early adversity has brought him a competence without sacrifice of principle.

      Mr. Mounts was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, August 27, 1844, a son of Joseph and Susan (McFault) Mounts, natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, respectively. The father died in 1867, at the age of sixty-four years, the mother in 1888, at

the advanced age of eighty-nine. In their family were seven children, of whom four are still living. Reared in his native state, our subject early acquired an excellent knowledge of farm work, but his literary education was limited to a short attendance at the common schools.

      Leaving Indiana, in 1878, Mr. Mounts came to Fillmore county, Nebraska, and in Bryant precinct purchased a quarter section of school land, for which he paid one thousand dollars. To the cultivation and improvement of this place he has since devoted his energies with marked success, has set out fruit and ornamental trees, has erected good and substantial buildings, and has made the place one of the best and most attractive in the locality. He is a shrewd business man and able financier, as well as one of the most skillful farmers in Fillmore county, and always carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Republican party. In manner he is very pleasant, and he has made many warm friends during his residence in this state. 

---

OBERT M. LYTLE, an honored pioneer of York county, is the owner of one of the most valuable homesteads of Morton township, and has distinguished himself as one of its most active and enterprising citizens. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Center county, September 6, 1840, and is a son of William and Catharine (Smith) Lytle, also natives of that state. By trade the father is a miller and iron worker. In 1854 he emigrated to Scott county, Iowa, and now makes his home in Des Moines, that state. Our. subject is the eldest in his family of five children--four sons and one daughter.

      Robert M. Lytle is indebted to the public schools of Pennsylvania for his early education, his home being in that state until fourteen years of age, when in 1854, he accompanied his father on his renoval (sic) to Iowa. There he engaged in farming until the fall of Fort Sumter. He was among the first to respond to his country's call for aid, enlisting in April, 1861, in Company B, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and with his regiment participated in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh. After one year of service he was discharged on account of wounds received at Donelson, but in September, 1862, again enlisted, this time being mustered in as second lieutenant of Company C, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer infantry, with which he served for three years. During the engagement at Prairie Grove, Arkansas, he was. wounded by a shot passing through his thigh. He was in the siege of Vicksburg and Esperanza, Texas, and the battles of Fort Morgan, Mobile and Fort Blakely, Alabama,--the last engagement of the war. When finally discharged Mr. Lytle was holding the rank of first lieutenant and was a most popular and efficient officer.

      Returning to his home in Iowa, he engaged in farming there for five years, but in 1871 we find him numbered among the pioneer settlers of York county, Nebraska, having taken up a homestead claim on section 32, Morton township, and erected a sod houses, 18x22 feet. Three years later that little pioneer home was replaced by a more commodious and comfortable frame residence. Mr. Lytle has given his close attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land, and now has one of the best farms in the locality.

      In 1866, in Iowa, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Lytle and Miss Caroline, daughter of James Lytle, of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. They have a family of eight children, as follows: Roland J.; Annie M., now Mrs. Dickey; Nellie M., now Mrs. Isaac White; Dudley B.; How-

ard R.; Stanley W.; Charles C. and Kate O. Fraternally Mr. Lytle is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is an unswerving supporter of Republican principles, and takes quite an active interest in the success of his party. He has efficiently served as school director in his district, and has done much to elevate the standard of schools in his township. 

---

OSIAH LOCKE is one of the best known and most prominent citizens of Osceola, Polk county, Nebraska, where he is living in peace and retirement. He was born in Falmouth, Maine, April 5, 1841, and is the sixth child in order of birth of a family of ten children born to Abijah and Mary (Hall) Locke.

      The editors take pleasure in presenting a brief history of the Locke family in America, of which there are two distinct branches, one in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire. It was supposed that the heads of the two families were brothers. Our subject is a direct descendant of the New Hampshire branch, his immediate ancestor was John Locke, who lived in New Hampshire about 1640. His son, Nathaniel Locke, the great-grandfather of our subject, died April 18, 1780, at the age of eighty years and six months. His wife, Mary Locke, died March 2!, 1802, at the age of eighty-three years and eight months, having been the mother of the following children: Jonathan, John, Mary, Rebecca, Abijah, Dorothy and Josiah. Josiah Locke was the youngest member of the family and the grandfather of our subject. He was born May 12, 1757, and died April 12, 1841. He married Miss Elizabeth Gilpatrick, a member of the family of that name, who subsequently left off the " Gil," and the family are now known as the Patricks. Josiah and Elizabeth (Gilpatrick) Locke were the parents of eleven children, of whom we have the following: Mary, Eliza, Deborah, Johanna, Nathaniel, Abijah and Dorothy. Abijah, the first, died in infancy; John, Mary, the second, and Matilda. Grandfather Josiah Locke was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and the command to which he belonged marched to what was then know as Bajaduce, but is now called Castine, Maine. When the continental soldiers arrived there the English had decamped, so the Americans then returned to their home. Mr. Locke, in company with three other men, built and equipped a vessel for service in the war of 1812, but two of them were unable to carry out their part of the bargain, so the entire cost was shouldered by him and one of the others. His son, Nathaniel, went as mate of the vessel, which was captured by the English. Nathaniel was kept a prisoner on board one of the English prison ships for six months, and was then transferred to the Dartmore prison, where he was detained for another six months, in company with others who were captured at the same time. At the end of their year of captivity they were released and sent home, and Nathaniel settled in New Brunswick, where he married. Two of his daughters still survive, and were married, one to a Mr. Foster and the other to a Mr. Pulsifer.

      The father of our subject, Abijah Locke, was born at Falmouth, Cumberland county, Maine, on September 8, 1801. He grew to maturity in his native place and in his early manhood he was a coaster. He was married on December 31, 1828, to Miss Mary Hall Morse, who was born February 13, 1810, in Freeport, Cumberland county, Maine. The bride was a daughter of Leonard and Sarah (Porter) Morse. The former was a student at Harvard College, from which he graduated and took up the practice of law. He died at Freeport, Maine, in 1818, but his widow subsequently

married a James Simonton, and died at Camden, Maine, in October, 1885, at the age of seventy-four. After his marriage, Abijah Locke followed agriculture pursuits in the summer, and in the winters he hauled ship timbers. He was engaged in the above mentioned occupations during the time he was a resident of Falmouth, Maine, which was thirty-one years. In 1841 he moved to Camden, Maine, where he made his home for one year, and in 1842 he removed to Charleston, in the same state, where he lived until 1858, and then removed to Milo, also in Maine. He made his home in the last-mentioned place until 1869, and then went. to Iowa, settled at Clarence, Cedar county, where he resided for three years. On the 10th of April, 1872, he located a timber claim on section 30, of township 13, range 1 west, in Polk county, Nebraska, and resided on the same until he sold out, October 24, 1883, and removed to Arcata, California, where he died, October 11, 1887. His wife died at Wayland, on May 2, 1883, after having borne her husband ten children, of whom we give the following: John M. now a resident of Winnebago county, Illinois; Elizabeth Morse Herrick, of Charleston, Maine; Sarah P. Locke, now a resident of Arcata, California, who proposed the name Wayland for the postoffice which was located at the place where her mother died, was a homesteader on section 30, of township 13, range 1 west, in Polk county, Nebraska, on which she erected a sod shanty in 1872; she complied with all of the requirements, proved up on the tract, improved the same and then sold out. She accompanied her father to California, and was with him at the time of his death, this being her second trip to the coast, as she had previously made a trip from Nebraska to California and return, without any companions. She is unmarried and an active worker in the Methodist church; Stephen D., a resident of California since 1849; Susannah M. Hardy, who resides in Mt. Vernon, Washington; Josiah, the subject of this biography; Deborah, deceased; Eleanor H. Lord, of Arcata, California; Leonard M., of Garfield, Washington, and William F., deceased. The parents were members in good standing of the Congregational church, and two of their sons, John M. and our subject. served in the great Civil war. The names of the descendants of Abijah Locke and their children are as follows: John M. became the father of two children, Richard F. and Sarah E. Elizabeth M.'s children were John L., Mary J., Rodney I., Lincoln, Susie H., and Daniel A. Stephen D. has eight children; the names of two of them were Walter P. and Mary G., (deceased). Susannah M.'s children were George F.. Susie (deceased), and Louis M. Josiah, our subject, has no children. Eleanor H. became the mother of Oscar W., Lewis M., Charles W., S. Bessie, Benjamin H., Frank D. and Edward Locke. Leonard M.'s children were Janet B., Susie H., Walter P., T. Chester, Sarah C. and Mary.

      Josiah Lock, the subject of this sketch, was educated in Charleston, Maine. He attended the common schools of the district, and during his early life he followed agricultural pursuits. On November 4, 1864, he enlisted in Company H, Eleventh Maine Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He served three years and with his regiment participated in the following engagememts (sic): Lee's Mill, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Seven days battle in Virginia, Glendale, and others of the same day, Malvern Hill, Siege of Fort Wagner, Drury's Bluff, Bermuda Hundred, Petersburg, Second Bermuda Hundred, Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plain, Weldon Railroad, Walthal Junction, Chester Station, Richmond Pike, Warebottom Church, Deep Bottom, Fazzell's Mill, Newmarket Road, Darbytown Road, Charles City Road and Johnson's Plantation. Dur-

ing the campaign of 1864 in General Terry's division of the Tenth Army Corps, in the Army of the James, the regiment was known as the "fighting regiment" and never was beaten by the enemy. They they (sic) took part in engagements on fifty-nine different days, and marched thousands of miles in discharging their duty as soldiers. Mr. Locke was a first-class soldier, and received his honorable discharge at Augusta, Maine, on November 18, 1864.

      In the spring of 1865, he went to Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, where he remained for a short time and then located at Pit Hole City, where he operated a meat market for eighteen months. When Mr. Locke arrived at the last-mentioned town it had only one log house, but in the space of six months there were seven thousand inhabitants in the town. He next started overland to Delaware county, Iowa, where he arrived in September, 1866, and in the same year he purchased eighty acres of laid in Cedar county, of the same state. In the following December he went to Mille Lacs, Minnesota, where he worked in the pineries, until the next spring, when he returned to his farm and opened it. The next winter he worked in Jones county, Iowa, in the timber, and in the spring again returned to his farm. Josiah Locke was united in marriage on March 4, 1869, in Delaware county, Iowa, to Miss Louisa Anna Bond, who was born in Farmersville, Cattaraugus county, New York, February 8, 1845. The bride was a daughter of Henry F. and Martha (Ingalls) Bond, a brief sketch of whom will be found in the biography of O. M. Bond on another page of this volume. She was reared in her native town until she was twelve years of age, when she accompanied her parents to Iowa in the fall of 1856. She received her education in the schools of New York and Iowa, and later taught school for six terms, while living in the last mentioned state. Mr. and Mrs. Locke have never had any children. They made their home in Cedar county, Iowa, until the fall of 1872, when they sold their farm, which was then fully improved, and then settled on a homestead which he had taken in May of that year, which was located on the southeast quarter of section 30 of township 13, range 1 west, in Polk county, Nebraska. The land was all wild and unbroken, and it was necessary to go to Columbus for lumber, with which he built a frame house into which he moved just before the great snow-storm of 1873. The house was the second one on the road from Seward to Osceola, a distance of forty-five miles, and it is still to be seen on the farm. At this time the county was very sparsely settled, and they had many visits from wandering bands of Indians. Mr. Locke started at once to break his land, and he now has a fine estate of two hundred and forty acres of land, all of which is under cultivation. The place has a full line of improvements, and is adorned with a fine orchard containing one hundred trees, and also a grove containing fifteen acres of shade trees. He carried on a general farming and stockraising business, dealing largely in fine and blooded stock, one of which is an imported English shire horse, named "Sampson X," which weighs nineteen hundred pounds. It took the first premium and sweepstakes at the Polk County Agricultural Fair, and also took a prize at the Omaha Horse Fair. He also owned a fine roadster, "Phil M," with a record of 2:32 1/2, but who had trotted in 2:24. He fattened seventy-eight head of cattle and one hundred hogs of his own raising in one season, and also raised on his own farm all of the cord that was necessary to fatten them, with the exception of one hundred bushels. He was a model farmer and had the best kept farm in his locality, when he resided upon it. In March, 1896, they moved from their farm and took up their residence in Osce-

ola, where they have a neat and cozy little home.

      Mr. and Mrs. Locke have membership in the Christian church at Wayland, Nebraska, and are earnest workers in the cause of Christianity. Mrs. Locke was president of the W. C. T. U. at Wayland, Nebraska, four years, and was also a delegate to the state convention of the same, which was held at York, Nebraska, in 1894. She is also a member of the J. F. Reynolds Relief Corps, No. 69, of Osceola, and attended the National encampment of the G. A. R. which was held at Portland, Maine, in 1885. Mr. Locke is a leader of the G. A. R., in this part of the state, and was a charter member of the J. F. Reynolds Post, No. 69, of Osceola. Nebraska, and was also a charter member of the B. F. Stephenson Post, No. 132 of Gresham, Nebraska, of which he was first adjutant of the same, and also served as commander of the same. He also served for two terms, or six years, as commissioner for soldiers relief in Polk county. In 1883 he was a delegate to the National encampment at Denver,. Colorado, also delegate to the same which was held at Portland, Maine, in 1885. He also attended the state encampment at Lincoln, Nebraska, in February, 1883, in the capacity of a delegate, and in 1892 he was an attendant at the National encampment held at Washington, D. C. Mr. Locke is also very prominent in the Masonic order, of which he became a member in the fall of 1864, at Milo, Maine. He was a charter member of the Blue Lodge, Osceola Lodge, No. 65, of which he has been junior Warden, and is also a charter member of the Blue Lodge, Morning Star Lodge, No. 197, of which he has also been junior Warden, and of which he has been Past Master. Both Mr. and Mrs. Locke have been members of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he was a delegate to the Grand Lodge at Omaha. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, which he has always stanchly supported at the polls. He has held numerous local offices, and was moderator of school district No. 33. Mr. Locke has also been a member of the Polk County Agricultural Society, president of the Farmers Club, and has also been superintendent of the horse department at the county fair, at the same time he also held the offices of judge of the speed ring, and time judge. In 1883 he put in six weeks in traveling, and made a trip to California and return, in that time. Mr. and Mrs. Locke retain the entire confidence and esteem of all who know them and they are highly respected for their uprightness of character and integrity. 

---

RS. ISABELL JOHNSON.--Nebraska owes its high standing among the states of the Union to the high character, dauntless spirit and perseverance of her pioneers. To them is due her wonderful progress along all lines of endeavor, having transformed the wild prairies into fine farms thriving villages and magnificent cities. Among these brave, far-sighted and hardy pioneers is the West family, of which Mrs. Johnson is a worthy representative. She was born in Maryland in 1836, and is the oldest daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Hufmaster) West, who with their family settled on the West Blue, in Seward county, at a point now known as West's Mills, in 1859. The party consisted of the parents and six children, Isabel, Cornelius, Thomas, Jr., John, James and Charles, besides a young man by the name of Orion Johnson, who afterward became the husband of Isabell West. The family was founded in the United States over a century ago by her great-grandfather, Cornelius West, who came from the north of Ireland and first located in Pennsylvania, but late's (sic) removed to New Jersey. For some years the grandfather, James West, lived on a large plan-
   50

tation near Pittsburg on the Monogahela river; and there the father, Thomas West, was born. When seven years old he was taken by his parents to Maryland, where he grew to manhood and married Miss Catherine Hufmaster. Leaving Maryland, in 1845, they removed to Ogle county, Illinois, and settled on the Rock river, but from 1852 until 1859 they made their home on the Maquoketa river in Iowa, coming to Nebraska in the latter year. They have thus been pioneers of three states, always going ahead of the railroads.

      In 1859 the West family started from Jackson county, Iowa, for the gold fields, traveling by way of Plattsmouth, where they crossed the river. There they met a party of surveyors returning from the Blue river valley, and as they gave such glowing accounts of its fertility, Mr. West decided to locate here and make for himself and family a home. Leaving the beaten trail, they came to the locality where Mrs. Johnson now lives, in Seward connty (sic), which section at that time had no white settlers. The only people on the river were the Vifquains, who had a place near the junction of the West and Big Blue rivers. The West family went up the river until they found a suitable spot, and there stopped and built a log house late in the summer of 1859. They had with them five cows, four oxen, one horse, four wagons, and plenty of provisions, and the first winter they lived comfortably, but in March of the following year the Indians burned their home and nearly everything they possessed. This was the beginning of a long series of depredations intended to drive the white men away, but in this they were unsuccessful, for the sturdy pioneers possessed plenty of perseverance and determination. The Indians stole their cattle, destroyed their crops and threatened their lives, but to no purpose. The second winter the family nearly starved, having nothing to eat but hominy for sixteen days, but they stuck to their home, having rebuilt the cabin. In 1864 Mr. West built a sawmill and later erected a gristmill, which brought people to their place from many miles around, and was an important factor in the upbuilding and development of this region. The family has always been widely and favorably known, standing deservedly high in the esteem of their fellow citizens.

      It was in 1861 that Miss Isabell West gave her hand in marriage to Orion Johnson, and they have become the parents of two children, Thomas, and Ida, now the wife of William Hayes.

---

. M. LEFEVER is one of the most prominent and substantial citizens of Hamilton precinct, Fillmore county, Nebraska, and is the owner of an elegant farm on section 1, one and one-half miles from Strang The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in the individual and is the means of bringing to man success when he has no advantages of wealth or influence to aid him. It illustrates in no uncertain manner what it is possible to accomplish when perseverance and determination form the keynote to a man's life. Depending upon his own resources, looking for no outside aid or support, Mr. Lefever, with the assistance of his estimable wife, has become one of the most prosperous and wealthy citizens of his community.

      He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and is a son of Daniel and Frances (Martin) Lefever, who were also natives of Lancaster county, as were the grandparents on both sides. The father died on the old homestead in the Keystone state, at the age of seventy six years, the mother at the age of sixty-four, and both were laid to rest in the cemetery of Landis Valley, Lancaster county. In their family were fourteen children, of whom ten are still living.

      During, his boyhood and youth, D. M. Lefever attended the common schools of his native county, and continued to reside there until twenty-four years of age. In 1874 he removed to Illinois, where the following six years were passed, and in January, 1880, took up his residence in Hamilton precinct, Fillmore county, Nebraska, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of railroad land, paying for the same one thousand five hundred dollars. To the cultivation and improvement of his land he at once turned his attention, and soon acre after acre was placed under the plow until the place was converted into one of the most productive and valuable farms of the township.

      Returning to his native county, in 1889, Mr. Lefever was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Rohrer; who was born there in 1862, and who attended the public schools of the county for some time. She is a very accomplished lady and a most amiable and happy wife. Her parents were Henry and Eliza (Harnish) Rohrer. Her father died in Lancaster county at the age of sixty-one years, and her mother is still residing on the old homestead there at the age of seventy. Of the seven children in the family, four are still living and all make their home in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, with the exception of Mrs. Lefever. Our subject and his wife have an interesting family of three children: Paul, Maude and Nora, who are all attending school.

      Immediately after their marriage Mr. Lefever brought his bride to the beautiful home he had prepared for her in Fillmore county, Nebraska, where they at once began housekeeping, and by their united efforts they have prospered in their adopted state, being now the owners of seven hundred and twenty acres of some of the finest and best improved land in the county. On coming to Nebraska, Mr. Lefever's capital consisted of but one thousand dollars in cash, but he has continually prospered; his land is all free from incumbrance; he has money out on interest; his farms are well stocked; and his granaries and corn cribs are full of grain, which at the present time would bring five thousand dollars in cash. This property has all been acquired through the industry, perseverance, economy and good management of himself and wife. Wheat has bean his principal product, and with the exception of a very few years, he has always harvested an excellent crop.

      Politically Mr. Lefever is a stanch Republican, of the Abraham Lincoln type, and he is one of the most prominent and influential men of his locality. They move in the best social circles of the community in which they live, and occupy an enviable position. Those who know them best are numbered among their warmest friends, and no citizens of the county are more honored or highly respected. 

---

ILLIAM H. NEWCOMER is one of the representative and general farmers of York county, Nebraska, in Thayer township of which he has a very fine farm. He has been a conspicuous figure in the development and extension of the great agricultural and stockraising interests of the county. He is one of the early settlers of the township in which he resides, and has done much toward bringing it to its present prosperous condition.

      William H. Newcomer is a son of Daniel and Abigail (Leckrone) Newcomer, who were both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer by occupation, and followed that profession in his native state until his death, which occurred in 1869. His wife still survives, and at present resides in Pennsylvania. They were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters. William H. Newcomer, of whom this sketch is written, was born in Fayette

county, Pennsylvania, July 36, 1846, and is the only one of the family who resides in the west. He received his rudimentary education in the common schools of the native state, and at an early age he began following agricultural pursuits. He continued in this line of work in Pennsylvania, until 1875, when he located in Knox county, Illinois. He remained in the last named place for two years, and then removed to Henry county, where he remained until he took up his permanent residence in York county, Nebraska, in 1879. He purchased a farm in Thayer township, which at the time he purchased had nothing on it but a sod house, and there were but eighty acres of it under cultivation. Nothing daunted by the almost herculean task before him, Mr. Newcomer set to work to develop his farm, and today it has been brought to a state of cultivation that is well nigh impossible to excel. It is given over to general farming, which our subject carries on according to the most improved methods, thereby winning reward for toil and forethought. The farm is provided with excellent improvements, and the dwelling is one of the best homes in the country. The farm now consists of six hundred and forty acres of fine arable land, all of which is under cultivation.

      Mr. Newcomer was married in Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1868, to Miss Catharine Henderson, a daughter of Stewart and Eliza A. Henderson, who were both natives of Pennsylvania, though they afterwards removed to Illinois, where the father died, and the mother still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Newcomer are the parents of eight children, six of whom are now living, viz: Mary A., Dora A., William H., Edith P., Carrie M. and Blanche V.; Eliza N. and Elizabeth are deceased. The family are all members in good standing of the Lutheran church. Socially, Mr. Newcomer is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In his political life he is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party, and stands well in the community, though he has never sought political preferment. Mr. Newcomer has followed general farming and stock raising, and has enjoyed well-merited success as a crown to his persistent and untiring energy, with which he labored to overcome all difficulties. He is considered one of the most substantial and highly esteemed citizens of the county, and is respected by all who know him for his many sterling traits of character. 

---

AVID BELSLEY, who is now successfully engaged in the grain business at Bellwood, Butler county, as a member of the firm of Belsley, Allen & Co., has led a life of honest effort. Throughout his career of continued and far-reaching usefulness his duties have been performed with the greatest care, and business interests have been managed as to win him the confidence of the public and the prosperity which should always attend honorable effort.

      Mr. Belsley was born in Woodford county, Illinois, November 26, 1855, and is a son of Joseph Belsley, a native of France, born in Alsace-Lorain, in 1812. As a young man he came to this country in 1832 and settled in Woodford county, Illinois, near Spring Bay, before the Indians had left that region. At that time he was poor, but being industrious, energetic and persevering, due success was not denied him, and at his death was quite wealthy. In Peoria county, Illinois, he married Miss Barbara Engle, daughter of Peter Engle, and they became the parents of seven sons, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth.

     In the county of his nativity David Belsley was reared to agricultural pursuits, and there engaged in farming on his own account for some time after reaching manhood. He was married in Woodford coun-

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