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now holds, and is also a member of its board of directors. He has taken a postgraduate course in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, and one in the Chicago Polyclinic Medical College. Talent and culture have gained for him a most prominent position among his professional brethern, and he is today an honored member of the Seward County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Eclectic Society and the National Eclectic Medical Association. Although his residence in Pleasant Dale has been of short duration, he has already built up a large and lucrative practice, and he receives many calls to treat difficult cases in the city of Lincoln as well as neighboring towns, for his reputation extends throughout this section of the state.

      Socially, the Doctor is a leading member of the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., of Milford, in which he has passed all the chairs and is now past master. He also belongs to Lincoln Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., and Mt. Moria Commandery, No. 4, K. T., also Sesostros Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and Delta Lodge of Perfection, Scottish Rite .Masons, Lincoln, Nebraska, and will receive his thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry in March, 1899. He is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of Amer-America (sic) and the Knights of the Maccabees. Religiously, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Pleasant Dale and is a member of its choir. He received the nomination for county coroner in 1897, but with the other Republican candidates, was defeated, as the party was in the minority. 

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ORRIS C. STULL. In this enlightened age when men of energy, industry and merit are rapidly pushing their way to the front, those, who, by their own individual efforts, have won favor and fortune may properly claim recognition. During pioneer days, when Nebraska was entering upon its era of growth and development and Polk county was laying its foundation for future prosperity, there came thither from all parts of the country poor men but honest, and with a sturdy independence and determination to succeed that justly entitle them to representation in the history of this region. Among this class is numbered Mr. Stull, who was for many years actively identified with the agricultural interests of Polk county, carrying on operations on section 14, township 15, range 2, Valley precinct, but he is now living a retired life in Lincoln.

      A native of McKean county, Pennsylvania, he was born February 20, 1837, and is a son of Andrew and Eliza J. (Corwin) Stull. The paternal grandfather was a resident of the Keystone state, but the maternal grandfather, who was one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, made his home in New York. The parents of our subject were married in Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Illinois in 1840, settling at Marengo, McHenry county, where the father and his brother purchased a claim, which they later improved. In 1870, having retired from farming, the former removed to Columbus, Nebraska, where his wife, who was a consistent member of the Baptist church, died in 1880. Later he went to Atlantic City, Iowa, where his death occurred. In the family of this worthy couple were six children: Dr. Theodore, now deceased, who was assistant surgeon of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry in the Civil war; Morris C., of this sketch; Ghordis, a resident of McHenry county, Illinois; Mrs. Olive C. Peeler, of Atlantic, Iowa; Charles, deceased; and Mrs. Charlotte Bonesteel, of Great Falls, Montana.

      Morris C. Stull was reared in McHenry county, Illinois, and his early education acquired in the district schools, was supplemented by a course in the college at Marengo, that state. On leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he began life for him-

self by working at farm labor by the month during the summer and teaching school in the winter in Livingston county, Illinois. He manifested his love of country by enlisting September 18, 1871 (sic), in Company G, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, which was organized at St. Charles, Illinois, and first sent to Washington, District of Columbia. Crossing the Potomac they went into winter quarters near Alexandria, and after the engagement at Williamsburg, Virginia, and the seven days battle, Mr. Stull was detailed to help nurse his brother, thr (sic) Doctor, who had typhoid fever. On re-joining his regiment he took part in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, under General Burnsides; Chancellorsville, under General Joe Hooker, and as a member of the Army of the Potomac was under the command of McClellan, Burnsides, Hooker, Meade and Grant, respectively. His term of enlistment having expired, he was mustered out at Chicago in the fall of 1864. During a cavalry charge at Upperville, Virginia, a ball had passed through his right ear, and the next morning after the battle of South Mountain, while in a hand to-hand engagement, he received a slight sabre wound in the left shoulder, but fortunately he was never taken prisoner, though when on his way with his brother to the hospital at Savage Station, Virginia, he came very nearly being captured.

      On his return home, Mr. Stull worked on his father's farm two years, the following two years were passed in Livingston county, Illinois, and for the same length of time he lived at Forest, that state. On the 1st of March, 1865, he married Miss Martha Maria Huntoon, who was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, June 19, 1840, a daughter of Alonzo and Marcia Evelyn (French) Huntoon, natives of Vermont. They were married in Vermont, emigrated to Tazewell county, Illinois, in 1837, and in 1878 removed to Crawford county, Kansas, where the father died in 1887, but the mother is still living. Their children were Mrs. Minerva Arnold, a resident of Girard, Kansas; Mrs. Martha M. Stull; Mrs. Jeanette Munroe; Dr. Alonzo F., of Duluth, Minnesota; and Mary, deceased.

      Coming to Polk county, Nebraska, in 1870, Mr. Stull secured a homestead and broke twenty acres of land, after which he returned to Illinois for his family, who arrived in 1871 and some time lived in a little shanty 16 x 22 feet, and one story in height. At first their nearest neighbor lived two miles east of them. On coming to this state Mr. Stull had to borrow money of his father, giving his note at ten per cent interest. To the cultivation and improvement of his land he devoted his energies untiringly, setting out a grove of sixty trees, planting a thirty acre orchard, and making many other improvements, including the erection of a commodious residence in 1886. He has met with excellent success financially and is now the owner of twelve hundred acres of valuable land mostly improved.

      To Mr. and Mrs. Stull have been born five children: Charles Clifford, born in February, 1866, completed his education at Doane college, Crete, Nebraska, and married Jennie Snodgrass, by whom he had two children--Marcia Evelyn and Helen Margaret; Bertha Bianca and Arthur Alonzo graduated from the same institution, the former in 1893, the latter in 1895; Dell Deronda is a member of the junior class in the high school at Lincoln; and the youngest of the family died in infancy. Bertha B. and Arthur A. are now students in the law department of the State University of Nebraska. Mr. Stull is a prominent and honored member of J. F. Reynolds Post, G. A. R., of Osceola, and both he and his wife belong to the Ladies of G. A. R., Circle Custer, No. 26, of Lincoln. She was an honored department president in 1897, has also been

president of the local circle, and is a prominent member of the Woman's Club, of Lincoln. They removed to that city in 1897, and have already become the center of a cultured society circle there. Politically Mr. Stull has always been an ardent supporter of the Republican party, was an influental (sic) member of the Polk county board of commissioners from 1884 to 1887, was once the candidate of his party for the state legislature, but was unable to overcome the large Populist majority. His ambition has been to acquit himself of life's duties honorably before all men, to improve his capabilities and opportunities and to become of use in the world; and it is this spirit mainly that has been the means of securing his success in life. 

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OHN PIPER, a prosperous farmer of Arborville township, is one of the early settlers of York county, Nebraska. He was born in Yorkshire, England, February 26, 1833.

      His parents, John and Elizabeth Piper, were natives of England. The father was a farmer, and died in England at the age of eighty-eight years. He had a family of five sons and four daughters. Two of the sons came to America, and have since died.

      John Piper was reared and educated in England, where he followed farming until he was twenty-three years old. He then, in 1856, came to America, and located in Kendall county, Illinois. Later he went to Grundy county, and then to Livingston county in the same state, where he remained until the spring of 1882. That year he went to Nebraska and purchased a quarter section of railroad lands in York county. He has since added to his holdings until he now owns five hundred and eighty acres, which he has converted from a wild, uncultivated condition to a high state of tillage and improvement. He has been a successful general farmer and stock raiser, and has made stock feeding a feature of his business. Mr. Piper was married October 26, 1856, to Susannah Sleezer, whose parents are of German extraction, but natives of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Piper are the parents of the following children: Charles W., now deceased; Sarah A.; Henry J.; Wilbur B.; Richard D.; and Eliza A. In political faith Mr. Piper is a Republican. He has never sought political honors, though he has been called upon to fill some of the local offices. 

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ILLIAM F. DOMEIER, a prominent and representative farmer of Franklin township, Fillmore county, residing on section 9, was born in Illinois, in 1865, and is a son of Anton Domeier, who, at the age of sixty-eight years, is now living retired with our subject, enjoying a well earned rest. He is a native of Germany, and in that country received a limited education, was confirmed in the Lutheran church, and served for three years in the German army. In August, 1854, he emigrated to the United States and first located in Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for a time. There he was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Mathias, also a native of Germany, whose parents also came to the new world and took up their residence in Illinois, forty miles northwest of Chicago, where they died at a ripe old age. Anton Domeier is the only one of his family to cross the Atlantic and locate in America. To him and his wife were born eight children, namely: Anton, Frederick, Henry, Lewis; Anna, Ida, Louisa and William. The wife and mother was called to her final rest October 2, 1889, at the age of forty-eight years, and was laid to rest in the Lutheran cemetery of Franklin township. In girlhood she united with the Lutheran church, and was always a faithful and consistent member of the same. The children of the family have

nearly all adopted Nebraska as their home and have been quite successful during their residence here.

      The boyhood and youth of our subject was passed in Illinois and Iowa, where he attended the common schools, and in 1879 he came with his parents to Franklin township, Fillmore county, Nebraska, where the family purchased a half section of wild land, to the cultivation and improvement of which they at once turned their attention. Good buildings of a modern style of architecture and conveniently arranged have been erected upon the place, and land has been placed under a high state of cultivation, so that it is now one of the best improved places of the township. In addition to its other charms, there is a beautiful grove upon the place. On coming to the county the father had in his possession only about a thousand dollars, but here he has prospered and besides the farm already mentioned he owns other valuable land in Fillmore county. Our subject now carries on the old homestead with most excellent success, as he is one of the most skillful and thorough agriculturists of the locality, and in connection with general farming he is also successfully engaged in stock raising.

      In 1892 was celebrated the marriage of William F. Domeier and Emma Heideman, who was born in Indiana, in 1866, a daughter of William and Mary (Dittmer) Heideman. Her father died in Indiana at the age of forty-five years. Her mother was first married to Mr. Dittmer, by whom she had three children: Henry, Dora and August. By her marriage to William Heideman, she became the mother of four children: William, Mary, Dena and Emma, the last named and youngest being the wife of our subject. Mrs. Heideman died in Indiana in 1892. To Mr. and Mrs. Domeier have been born four children, namely: Bertha, William and Josie, who are still living; and Amanda, who died December 14, 1898, at the age of fourteen months and was interred in the Lutheran cemetery, Franklin township. Our subject and his wife are industrious, enterprising and highly respected citizens of their community, and hold membership in the Lutheran church. Politically Mr. Domeier is identified with the Democratic party, and in all the relations of life he has been found true and faithful to every trust reposed in him. 

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LBERT WRIGHT RISING is one of the earliest settlers of Butler county, Nebraska, the date of his settlement being April 29, 1871. He located on a farm which is the present town site of the city which now bears his name. There are few more enterprising and progressive men in Butler county, and his name is closely identified with the history of its growth and development.

      Our subject was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, October 24, 1844, a son of Samuel W. Rising, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work. He was reared on a farm in his native county and was there married, in 1867, to Miss Nellie Wright, daughter of Jay Wright. Mrs. Rising is a native of Pennsylvania and moved from there with her parents to Branch county, Michigan. She was a successful teacher and was thus engaged when she met Mr. Rising, and they were married in Sturgess, Michigan, May 11, 1867. Two, years later they went to Iowa, and engaged in farming there for two years. It was at this time that he prevailed on his father to move west, join him to Iowa, and the two then drove together across the prairie to Butler county, Nebraska. Here they homesteaded and purchased a large farm and became the first settlers in Reading township.

      Mr. Rising is public-spirited, broadminded, and has been the leader in the

work of bringing about the present state of growth and prosperity to which Reading township has attained. When the Union Pacific railroad was first proposed he immediately interested himself in the matter and his influence was largely instrumental in securing its present location. Upon the establishment of the town of Rising City, he donated to the new town site, each alternate lot in forty acres and in many ways promoted its best interests, and when the time came to name the new village in Reading township the honor was given to him who had been so untiring in his devotion to its interest. Rising City has always been noted for the purity of its social atmosphere, and it is due to the influence exerted by our subject and men of the same caliber that no saloons have found permanent lodgment in the village. During Cleveland's second administration our subject was appointed postmaster at the village of Rising City, and although he operates a large farm also, he has added to these interests an agricultural implement business which he has conducted for several years. He is also a charter member of the Methodist church and assisted largely in erecting a fine church building. Mr. and Mrs. Rising are the parents of one son, Dorr Rising, a bright boy of seventeen years. 

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OHN BRADY HERRINGTON, a farmer of Butler county, Nebraska, was the fortunate owner of a fine tract of farming and grazing land, upon which he erected a commodious home for himself and his companion, and this home is conceded the center of true and generous hospitality. Mr. Herrington settled on section 10, Reading township, on the 7th of May, 1871. He was born in Saint Joseph county, Michigan, February 16, 1837, a son of Lester and Rosa (Brady) Herrington, the former a native of Ontario county, New York, and the latter a native of Ireland. The father moved from New York to Saint Joseph county, Michigan, in 1835, and located on a farm near Colon. He was a son of Thomas Herrington, who was also a native of New York state, and was a soldier in the war of 1812, under General Hull.

      Our subject spent his boyhood in Michigan. September 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Second Regiment of Michigan Cavalry, and served in that capacity until May, 1863, when he was discharged on account of disability. After recovering his health he re-enlisted, August 7, 1864, and served until the close of the war. He participated in many of the hard fought battles, but throughout the war did not receive a wound. After the close of hostilities he returned to his home in Michigan and devoted his time to farming there until the year 187!. He then, in company with A. F. Terpening, went to Butler county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 10, township 14, range 1, and still owns a part of this quarter section and lives in Rising City village.

      In 1884 Mr. Herrington met at the altar of Hymen, Miss Elizabath Barker, who was also an early settler and a homesteader in Butler county. She was born at Acton, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, a daughter of Ebenezer Barker, of that town. Her grandfather, also Ebenezer Barker, was of English parentage. The family located in Massachusetts in colonial days. Mrs. Herrington had four brothers in the civil war. Three died in the army, one coming the same spring to Nebraska and homesteading together, but he has since died. After leaving her home in Massachusetts, she first went to Hancock county, Illinois, hoping to improve her health, and in the spring of 1871 she moved from there to Butler county, Nebraska, and, like her husband, became one of the pioneers of that county.

      They have a pleasant and comfortable home and are valued and respected citizens in the community in which they reside. 

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RNST RIPPE.--Among the pioneer settlers of Fillmore county no one is more worthy of representation in a work of this character than the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He came to the county in 1873, and from the uncultivated soil opened up a good farm, and is to-day in the enjoyment of a comfortable competence. His worthy ambition of building up a creditable homestead resulted in the thorough cultivation of the soil, the erection of substantial buildings, and the gathering together of those little conveniences and comforts upon which the happiness of a household in so great a measure depends. As a man and citizen he has been honest and upright, and enjoys in a marked degree the esteem and confidence of his neighbors. His home is on section 35, Belle Prairie precinct.

      Mr. Rippe was born in Germany December 17, 1847, a son of George and Caroline (Pipenbrink) Rippe, also natives of that country. The lather came to America in 1851, and in 1855, when a lad of eight years, our subject crossed the Atlantic in company with his mother. After a short time spent in New York City, the family proceeded to Chicago and located on a farm in Will county, Illinois, where the father had previously purchased two hundred and forty acres at seven dollars per acre, it being at that time railroad land and entirely unimproved. He finally sold the place for eighty dollars per acre and came to Belle Prairie precinct, Fillmore county, Nebraska, where he purchasod (sic) a half section for two thousand dollars, which he later divided and sold to his sons, one quarter for two thousand dollars, the other for one thousand two hundred dollars. During the last few years of his life he lived practically retired in Ohiowa, but operated a forty-acre tract adjoining that village which he purchased for one thousand six hundred dollars. George Rippe died March 13, 1899. He was remarkably successful in life and became worth about twenty thousand dollars, most of which he acquired after coming to this state. His wife, who was a devoted Christian woman, died March 7, 1886, at the age of sixty years, and was laid to rest in the Ohiowa cemetery. They left seven children, namely: Ernest, Henry, Lena, Emma, Luie, Mary and Sophia.

      Ernest Rippe was reared to manhood in Illinois, and was married at Monee, Will county, that state, October 1, 1870, to Miss Louisa Gewecka, also a native of Germany, born July 19, 1852, and a daughter of Frederick and Sophia (Butterman) Gewecka, who emigrated from that country to America in 1858, and established a beautiful home in Kankakee county, Illinois. Mrs. Gewecka died March 13, 1892, and Mr. Gewecka on August 13, 1895. Their children are all grown and are as follows: Frederick, Henry, Chris, August, William, Adolph, Ernst, Edward, Charles, Conrad, Sophie, Herman and Louisa. Mr. and Mrs. Rippe have eight children, namely: Adolph, Minnie, William, Anna, Louis, Edward, Louisa and Frieda, all at home with the exception of Minnie. wife of William Bauman, who lives on a farm in Belle Prairie precinct, Fillmore county.

      About two years after his marriage, Mr. Rippe came to Fillmore county, Nebraska, and in Belle Prairie precinct secured a homestead of eighty acres, on which he and his family began life in true pioneer style in a little dugout that was later replaced by a sod house and finally by a good frame residence. His stock was also sheltered in another dugout. At that time he had to go to either Fairmont, Lincoln or Crete for his lumber and groceries, and as early settlers

the family had many difficulties with which to contend. Although Mr. Rippe landed here with only eighty dollars in his possession, he is now the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he has improved in a manner second to none in the locality. His amiable and happy wife has been of great assistance to him in the accumulation of their property and in the beautifying of their pleasant home. Both have been life-long members of the Lutheran church, and they and their family are now connected with the church at Bruning. Since casting his first presidential ballot for U. S. Grant, Mr. Rippe has been an ardent Republican in politics. 

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ELOS A. HASTINGS, a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of. Arborville township, York county, and an honored veteran of the Civil war, was born in Defiance county, Ohio, June 10, 1847, and is a worthy representative of old Revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather having aided the colonies in their successful struggle for independence. His father, Harvey Hastings, was a native of Vermont, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Conkey, was a native of New York. At an early day they became residents of Ohio, and in that state they continued to make their home until called to the world beyond.

      The subject of this sketch is the fourth in order of birth in the family of six sons, and during his boyhood and youth attended school and aided in the work of the home farm. He continued to engage in agricultural pursuits in Ohio until 1863, when he joined the boys in blue, going to the front as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and serving until the close of the war. He participated in the Atlanta campaign, and the battles of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, but was fortunately never wounded. Returning to his home in Ohio, he remained in that state until 1872, which year witnessed his arrival in York county, Nebraska, where he took up a homestead on section 22, Arborville township. Upon his place he built a sod house, in which he lived for ten years, but now has a comfortable and more commodious residence, surrounded by good barns and outbuildings. Stock raising as well as general farming claims his attention, and he has met with a fair degree of success in his undertakings.

      In 1888, Mr. Hastings was united in marriage with Miss Laura Fightmaster, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Alex and Minerva Fightmaster, who now reside in York county, Neb. In his social relations, Mr. Hastings is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics affiliates with the People's party. He has filled the office of road overseer, but has never sought political preferment. Landing in York county with only five dollars in money and a team of horses, the success that he has achieved is due entirely to his own efforts, and his career has been such as to command the respect and admiration of all. 

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ESSE R. JOHNSON, whose home is on section 25, precinct N, was one of the first to locate in Seward county, having taken up his residence here in 1864 on the banks of the West Blue river. He has therefore witnessed almost the entire development of this region and has been no unimportant factor in its upbuilding and prosperity. He was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1822, and is a son of James and Ellen (Compton) Johnson, who were married in New Jersey and from that state went to Kentucky with Daniel Boone in pioneer days. Later they removed to Ohio, being also numbered among its earliest settlers.

      The first twenty-six years of his life Jesse R. Johnson passed in his native state, but in 1848 he emigrated to La Salle county, Illinois, and settled near Magnolia, where he was married, November 26, 1848, to Miss Rachel L. Chamberlain. She was born in Essex county, New York, in September, 1829, and was ten years old when taken to Illinois by her parents, John and Betsy (Lobdell) Chamberlain, natives of Rhode Island. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are as follows: (1) Israel M. K. married Frances Oliver and has one son, Jesse A. (2) William P. wedded Mary McCracken and has two children, Lula and Earl. (3) Clara B. is now the wife of A. C. Smith, of Seward county.

      For sixteen years after his marriage, Mr. Johnson continued to engage in farming in Illinois, but the year 1864 witnessed his arrival in Seward county, Nebraska, and to-day is numbered among its honored pioneers and most highly esteemed citizens. He was the second justice of the peace elected in the county and for over a third of a century has been prominently identified with its public affairs. 

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OHN W. ARCHERD, M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon, practicing his profession in Grafton, Fillmore county, Nebraska, is a graduate of the Omaha Medical College, and in his practice, by his devotion to his work and the careful study and diagnosis of the various cases that have come under his observation, he has been unusually successful and has gained quite a reputation as a skilled practitioner.

      Dr. Archerd was born in Clairmont county, Ohio, September 21, 1857, a son of Leonidas H. and Maria (Willis) Archerd, also natives of Ohio. The paternal grandfather, John Archerd, was born in England, July 4, 1776, and came to the United States about 1797 or 1798. He first located in Kentucky, but later removed to Ohio, where his death occurred. He was a farmer by occupation, as was also the father of our subject, who was a life-long resident of the Buckeye state. During the Civil war the latter enlisted, in 1862, in the Seventh Ohio Cavalry, and was killed in the first skirmish near Knoxville, Tennessee, while the regiment was on its way south. He filled the position of regimental bugler. He left three children, our subject and two daughters. The wife and mother is still living, and now makes her home in Illinois.

      Dr. Archard (sic) is indebted to the district schools of Ohio for his educational advantages, and on laying aside his text books he was married June 10, 1880, to Ada Shaw, a native of Ohio, who died December 11, 1881. He took up the occupation of farming, which he followed in his native state until 1882, when he came west to Polk county, Nebraska. There he obtained a position in a drugstore, and while thus employed he commenced reading medicine, In 1883, he entered the medical college of Ohio, at Cincinnati, where he spent one year, and the following year was engaged in practice in Osceola, Nebraska. In 1885, he went to Chadron, this state, where in partnership with Dr. G. P. WaIler, he followed his profession through that year and the year following. Subsequently he engaged in stock raising in Nebraska for two years, and in 1889 resumed practice at Litchfield, this state. In 1890, he entered the Omaha Medical College, and after his graduation the following year, he returned to Litchfield, where he remained until coming to Grafton, in January, 1894. Here he has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice and to-day ranks among the ablest physicians of this region. He is an honored member of the Fillmore and York county medical societies.

      On the 28th of January, 1889, Dr. Archard (sic) was united in marriage with Miss

Louise Piercy, a native of Nebraska, and to them have been born three children: Marie, May and Leonidas H. The Doctor and his wife both belong to the Congregational church, and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Loyal Mystic Legion of America. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and he is now most efficiently serving as a member of the town board of Grafton. 

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HOMAS M. DICE, a prominent farmer whose home is on section 16, precinct L, Seward county, has achieved prosperity by his own unaided exertions, and is, in fact, a self-made man, starting out in life with none of those attributes usually considered essential to success. With a determination to succeed, success was his almost from the start and to-day he is enjoying a handsome competence.

      A native of Virginia, Mr. Dice was born in Rockingham county, July 26, 1844, and is a son of Col. John A. and Ellen (Fulton) Dice. The father espoused the cause of the Confederacy during the Civil war, and was commissioned colonel of a Virginia regiment and was on duty in that state until his death, which occurred in 1862. He had four sons who were also in the Confederate service and are still living.

      Upon a farm in the Old Dominion, our subject grew to manhood and in the schools of that state he acquired his education. In April, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Tenth Virginia Confederate Volunteers, and after joining his regiment at Orange Court House, Virginia, he took part in the following engagements: Chancellorsville, the first and second battles of Fredericksburg, the first and second battles of Winchester, Virginia, Spottsylvania, Culpeper, the second battle of Bull Run, Mine Run, Rappahannock, Brandy Station, Harper's Ferry and Bealton Station. During the battle of the Wilderness he was in a hand to hand fight and was wounded in the head by a bayonet. He was captured May 12, 1864, and first sent to Point Lookout, Maryland, but three months later was transferred to Elmira, New York, where he was confined until paroled June 17, 1865, reaching home on the 5th of July, of that year.

      Mr. Dice continued to reside in Virginia until 1868, when he removed to Jackson county, Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand until November 8, 1882. It was on that date that he became a resident of Seward county, Nebraska, where he has since made his home. When he located upon it, his farm was all raw prairie land, upon which he erected a small frame house that was unplastered until the fall of 1883, it being 16 x 24 feet. In 1887 it was completed and in 1896 was enlarged and improved, making a comfortable and commodious home. In 1883 he raised some sod corn and also broke sixty acres, and the following year raised a good crop, since which time he has prospered in his new home, having to-day a fine farm of two hundred acres under a high state of cultivation and well improved with good and substantial buildings, which stand as monuments to his thrift and industry. He gives his entire time and attention to general farming, raising both stock and grain.

      On the 14th of July, 1869, Mr. Dice was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Berry, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, May 23, 1846, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Nancy (Blain) Berry, also natives of that state and farming people. The father, who for a short time served in the Virginia militia, died in Texas, in 1879, and the mother passed away in Virginia, in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Dice have no children of their own but have reared three, two boys and one girl, namely: William T. White, who married Ella Piersall, now deceased, and had three children, Jessie, Dean and Ruth;

Charles Franklin White, who married Ella Kesler and has three sons, Henry Dice, William Hayden and Lloyd M.; and Mary Catharine Black. Mrs. Dice is a consistent member of the Methodist Protestant church and a most estimable lady. Socially, Mr. Dice belongs to the camp of Modern Woodmen of America at Utica, Nebraska, and politically is identified with the Democratic party. He has been road supervisor and moderator of school district No. 72, for six years, and his duties have always been performed with the utmost promptness and fidelity. 

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REDERICK BITTINGER is a well-known agriculturist residing on section 8, Morton township, York county. His homestead is one of the most noticeable in the locality for the air of thrift and comfort which surrounds it and the evidence of enterprise, taste and skill. The quarter section of land comprising the farm has been brought to a fine state of cultivation, and the comfortable and commodious dwelling, flanked by barns and outbuildings, makes a most attractive pitcure (sic) in the landscape of that region.

      Mr. Bittinger was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1848, a son of John and Rebecca (KahI) Bittinger, also natives of that state, where the grandfather, Jacob Bittinger, spent his entire life. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, removed, with his family, to Ohio, in 1852, but after residing in that state for two years he emigrated to Clinton county, Iowa, where he made his home until coming to York county, Nebraska, in 1872. He was then identified with the agricultural interest of this region until his death, which occurred in 1896.

      The subject of this sketch is second in order of birth in a family of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. He received a fair common-school education during the residence of the family in Iowa, and at an early age began to assist his father in the labors of the farm, soon acquiring a thorough knowledge of all duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist. The occupation to which he was reared he has made his life work, and on coming to York county in 1872 secured a homestead on section 8, Morton township, to the developement and cultivation of which he has since devoted his energies with good results. His first home here was a small shanty, which has long since been replaced by a comfortable frame residence.

     In 1869 Mr. Bittinger married Miss Flora Tong, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Jackson and Rebecca (Poorman) Tong, who spent their last years in Iowa. Our subject and his wife have five children: Nellie S., Jay G., Ada M., Fannie A. and Arthur G. Socially, Mr. Bittinger affiliates with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America, and Nebraska Mutual. In politics he is a Populist, and he has served as road overseer and is now serving his fifth term as assessor of Morton township, and was recently nominated for another term. 

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IMEON SAWYER, an honored pioneer of Fillmore county, has been prominently identified with the agricultutal (sic) interests of Fairmont township since 1871, and is justly regarded as one of its most useful and valuable citizens, willing to aid every enterprise for the public good. He was born in Marshall county. Illinois, January 27, 1845, a son of Enoch and Elizabeth (Broaddus) Sawyer, natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. The paternal grandfather, Jesse Sawyer, was also born in North Carolina, and in 1831 removed to Illinois, settling in Marshall county. He was one of the "forty-niners" who went to California during

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