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Fillmore county, Nebraska, and homesteaded the land where he now lives. He erected a log house upon his land and opened the first blacksmith shop in the county. In exchange for work in the shop his neighbors broke his land the first year of his residence here, and he has followed blacksmithing and farming continuously since, meeting with marked success. There were still some Indians in this region at the time of. his arrival, but none were hostile. He can relate many interesting incidents connected with his pioneer life, and he has not only watched with interest almost the entire growth and development of the county but has materially aided in the same.

      In Ohio, Mr. Kauffman was married, December 31, 1854, to Miss Melissa Whitaker, a native of Middletown, Warren county, that state, and of English descent. Her parents, William B. and Eliza Whitaker, were natives of Pennsylvania; and New York, respectively. Four children were born to our subject and his wife, all still living, namely: Dora F., now the wife of Charles W. Park; Martha I.; Nellie E., wife of Clarence Selah; and Lon S. The wife and mother, who was a faithful member of the Lutheran church and a most estimable lady, was called to her final rest March 8, 1895.

      Religiously Mr. Kauffman is also a Lutheran, and socially was a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Improved Order of Red Men. In early life he was a Whig and cast his first presidential vote for Zachary Taylor, but since the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its stanch (sic) supporters and cast his last vote for William McKinley. He has not only won a substantial success in life but has always gained the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens, and is held in high regard by all who know him on account of his many sterling traits of character. 

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ILLIAM EWING, whose home is an section 27, Center township, has been a resident of Butler county since New Years day, 1883, and was for several years actively identified with its agricultural interests, but is now practically living retired. Of excellent business ability and broad resources, he has attained a prominent place among the substantial citizens of his part of the county, and his success has been won by his own well-directed and energetic efforts.

      Mr. Ewing was born November 9, 1838, in Wayne county, Illinois. His father, James Ewing, was a native of the same county, and was there reared and married about 1835 to Miss Jane Corder, by whom he had five children, viz.: Emily, William, Robert, Abigail and James. In Wayne county the father died in 1844 and the mother subsequently wedded William Eddings. Her death occurred in the same county at the age of fifty-six years.

      In the county of his nativity William Ewing was reared and educated, continuing to make it his home until twenty-two years of age, when he went to Logan county, Illinois. While there he enlisted in the spring of 1864 in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Returning to Logan county, he was married there in the fall of 1865 to Miss Margaret A. Burnison, a daughter of William Burnison, of that county. Her father was a native of England, but came to this country with his parents when about five years old and lived for many years in or near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. There Mrs. Ewing was born in 1842 and was the eldest daughter of the family, the other children being Robert, Samuel, David, William, Thomas, Eliza and Lydia.

     From Logan county, Mr. and Mrs. Ewing removed to Piatt county, Illinois, but after residing there four years went to Iro-

quois county, that state, where they made their home until coming to Butler county, Nebraska, in 1883. Here our subject owns one of the finest half sections of land in this region, and also has a city residence in Lincoln, Nebraska. Owing to failing eyesight he has not been actively engaged in farming for several years, his labors of early life having secured for him a comfortable competence which enables him to lay aside business cares. He and his wife are active and prominent members of the Methodist church, have made many warm friends and acquaintances in this community, and are deserving the high regard in which they are uniformly held.

      To this worthy couple were born four children, as follows: Mary, born in Logan county, Illinois, is now the wife of Ellis Gelwig, and lives in Oklahoma; James, born in Piatt county, Illinois, is a resident of Colorado, where he is largely interested in stock raising in the San Luis valley; Eliza, also born in Piatt county, married M. M. Fenderson, and lives in Oklahoma; Emma, born in Iroquois county, Illinois, died in Butler county, Nebraska, in 1897. 

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ROF. J. E. OWEN, who, under adverse circumstances during his early life, gained for himself an education, which has placed him in an enviable position in his present home, was born in Kansas, April 10, 1876. He is now prominent in the educational circles of Fillmore county, Nebraska.

      Mr. Owen's parents were W. J. and Rebecca Ann Slagley Owen, both natives of Indiana. Our subject's grandfather served in the Mexican and also the Civil wars and is now living near Kearney, Nebraska. Mr. Owen's parents moved to Nebraska in 1882 and located at Davenport where W. J. Owen was employed in the lumber trade. In 1886 they removed to Shickley, Nebraska, where young Owen assisted his father in the lumber business for about six years. It was while living at Shickley that his father began preaching. In 1892 the family returned to Davenport and the year following they moved to Kearney, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Owen were the parents of four children: J. E., Alpha, Audra and Creath. The mother died in August, 1887, in Shickley, Nebraska, at the age of thirty-one years. She was laid to rest in Davenport cemetery, leaving a husband and four children to mourn for her. She was a loving wife and mother, and a devoted Christian, a member of the Church of Christ. Our subject was then but eleven years of age. W. J. Owen later married Miss Minnie Johnson and they are now living in Richardson county, where Mr. Owen follows farming in addition to his church work.

      For about three years the subject of our sketch worked on a farm in Buffalo county, and here devoted his spare time to study, and when but eighteen years of age had acquired an education which entitled him to a first grade teacher's certificate. He taught one year in Buffalo county for thirty dollars per month and the salary thus earned helped support the family during the failure of harvest occasioned by the drouth. He taught the following year in the ungraded school at Pleasantown, Nebraska. In 1896 he moved to Martland, Nebraska, and taught there two years. During the summer of 1897 he graduated from Salina Normal University at Salina, Kansas. In 1898 he accepted the position of principal of the Strang High School. He has proven himself capable in every detail and is at present filling the same responsible position.

      August 6, 1898, J. E. Owen was married to Miss Bertha Boyle, a daughter of Peter Boyle and Catherine Mitchell Boyle, natives of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Mrs.. Owen's parents are living in Denver, Colorado, and although her father is seventy-

three years of age and her mother sixty-five, their zeal in the education and the moral training of the young is unabated. Mrs. Owen has three brothers and three sisters: Mitchell, a traveling salesman; Guy, a telegrapher: Charles, a lawyer in McCook, Nebraska; Sadie, a teacher; Minnie, a stenographer in Denver, and Lillian, a widowed sister. Mrs. Owen received a liberal literary and musical education, and studied music for some time at Central Music Hall, Chicago, and in 1898 she graduated from the collegiate department of the Academy of Music, of Denver. She is an accomplished violinist and pianist, and is now an instructor in music. Mr. and Mrs. Owen have overcome obstacles that would have deterred many, and have won a high position in educational and social circles, numbering among their friends and acquaintances those eminent in all avocations. They also lend their influence to the religious interests of the community and are exemplary members of the Church of Christ. Mr. Owen is an advocate of Republican principles. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World. 

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ASPER ROBERTS was born March 24, 1849, in Fulton county, Illinois. In the spring of 1866 his parents moved to Nebraska, and our subject, who was then a lad of seventeen, came with them. He continued to reside with his parents until he became of age, when he took a homestead near the present town of Staplehurst. He was married to Miss Mattie E. Davis, daughter of Hon. W. R. Davis, in June, 1871, and five children were born to them, two of whom, Claudius and Ralph, are still living. In 1880, Mr. Roberts moved to Ulysses, and engaged in various business pursuits, but devoting his time principally to the stock and grain business, and later engaged in the grocery business, and in which he was engaged at the time of his death, which occurred October 15, 1884, resulting from a wound which was received by the accidental discharge of a revolver which he was examining. He was a successful and popular business man, and his less was sorely felt by the community in which he lived. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. 

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ACOB M. LLOYD is one of the representative farmers and stockraisers of Lockridge township, York county, Nebraska, where he has a fine farm on section 10 of the above named township. He is one of the early settlers of the county, and has taken an active part in the growth and development of the same. He was born in Logan county, Illinois, September 30, 1848. His parents, Belfield C. and Elizabeth (Meeker) Lloyd, were natives of Virginia and New York, respectively. His father settled in Logan county, Illinois, in 1835, where he resided until 1856, when he removed to Iowa county, Iowa. He was a farmer and stockraiser by occupation, and both he and his wife died in Iowa county.

      Jacob M. Lloyd received his education in the common schools of Iowa county, Iowa, and took up farming when quite young. At the age of twenty-two he began farming for himself, and in 1876 he located in York county. He purchased a homestead in Lockridge township, upon which he now resides. He has improved the farm himself, and does a general farming and stockraising business.

      In 1869 he was united in marriage to Miss Ruth J. Pool, a native of Sciota county, Ohio, whose parents moved to Iowa and later to York county, Nebraska. Her father was a physician and practiced some in York. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd are the parents of six children, of whom we have the following record: Minnie, born in 1871; Ritta M., born in 1873; Bessie, born in 1875;

Herman, born in 1880; Ezra, born in 1885, and Wallace born in 1890. They are all living and the daughters are married and reside in the county.

      Mr. Lloyd is a member of the A. O. U. W. and in his politics he is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party. He has never sought any office, but has held some of the minor township offices. He is a man of strictest integrity, and retains the confidence and esteem of all who know him for his many sterling traits of, character. 

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ARMON JOHNSON.--Mr.. Johnson is one of the successful farmers of Butler county, and has won his honorable standing in Nebraska solely by brain and muscle. He has never been afraid of hard work, and has tried to put intelligence into his every labor. He has lived in this county since May , 1872, at which time he settled upon section 4, of Skull Creek township, under the homestead laws. Previous to that date, however, he had spent a year in Saunders county, so that he feels he knows the state quite thoroughly. Mr. Johnson is a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born in 1838. His father died before he was two years old, and when he had reached the age of eighteen years he decided to emigrate to America. He came to this country alone, and made his home near Alton, Illinois. He was here at the breaking out of the rebellion, and responded to the first call for troops, enlisting in Company M, First Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, and completed a full three years' term with the flag. His army record is a good one, of which any man might well be proud. He participated in the battles of Pea Ridge, Helena, Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg. Holly Springs and Little Rock, and had part in many other less important skirmishes and battles. He was wounded in the ankle at Pea Ridge, and in the arm at Holly Springs, but enjoys the distinction of being one of the few wounded men who have never applied for a pension.

      Mr. Johnson comeback to Illinois at the return of peace, and spent several years working in the coal mines, where he was hurt by the caving in of the mine. He then betook himself to St. Louis, where he was engaged in the livery business for three years. In 1869 he found his wife near Alton. She was a daughter of William Miners, and a native of Hanover, but came to America when twenty-five years old. She is the mother of five children, of whom two, Hermann and John G., were born in Illinois, and the others, William, Annie and Henry, are natives of this state. In 1871 Mr. Johnson met with a serious disaster, from which a less determined man would have scarcely rallied. In August of that year, while crossing Salt Creek with team and effects, the water was very high, and the bridge was carried away by the roaring flood, and everything he possessed in the world was lost. He escaped himself with difficulty, but managed to save his wagon. He was left without money and no means of earning any except by day's work among the farmers. He was not discouraged, but presently found his footing again, and now owns a fine farm. In the meantime he has made his impression on the community as a man of sterling integrity and sound judgment, and for many years he has taken a prominent part in local affairs. He has served as justice of the peace, and is a stalwart Republican in politics. He is a member of the German Lutheran church, with which his wife is also associated.

      It is a pleasure to the historian to sketch the career of a man like Mr. Johnson. He belongs to a vast body of clear-eyed and strong-hearted men who have landed upon these shores with no reliance save upon their own strength and courage, have carved

out homes and honor and fame from the strange and unpromising material the new world offered them. As a boy of eighteen walking the unfamiliar streets of Alton the heart of Mr. Johnson might well have been ,dismayed. The Missouri cavalry might have been a rough school to nurture a German lad in American patriotism, but it found a ready pupil. He has worked, and waited, and struggled and persevered, and now he is reaping the reward of a well spent life. Let the new generation ponder the story of such a man, and the country will be the better for it. 

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ALVIN S. STOVER, one of the substantial business men of Ohiowa, Fillmore county: Nebraska, and one who has taken an active part in the advancement of the town and county, was born in Iowa, August, 866, the son of Henderson and Mary E. Bodenaut Stover.

      His parents were natives of Iowa, and were married in that state. During the Civil war his father enlisted in Company B, Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, and served his country till the close of the war. He was well known for his bravery and patriotism. Upon receiving his honorable discharge, he returned to his home state and learned the miller's trade and engineering. From Iowa he moved to Washington and is now employed as engineer and manager of a sawmill in that state.

      Our subject resided with his parents until seventeen years of age and then, deciding to seek a competence farther west, went to Franklin township, Fillmore county, Nebraska. Here he was employed by a prominent farmer, Mr. Ralph W. Stowell, for three years. At the end of that time he engaged in the draying business in the town of Ohiowa. In 1891 he changed his business for that of butcher and stock-buyer. He has been successful in this undertaking and continues in the same business. He has accumulated a nice fortune and is owner of valuable business and residence property in Ohiowa. Mr. Stover has three brothers and three sisters: William, in western Nebraska; Frank and James, in Spokane, Washington; Susannah, also in Washington; Anna, married Mr. Laplant, a ranchman in Montana; and Addie, now Mrs. Stephen Beck, living in Huntington, Oregon.

      August 16, 1888, Mr. Stover was married to Miss Anna Einhause, a native of Germany. Mrs. Stover was born in 1870 and her parents died while she was still a young girl. She emigrated to America and settled in Nebraska. She received a good education in the public schools of her native land and also in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Stover are the parents of one child, a bright, interesting daughter, Hazel.

      Mrs. Stover is a member of the Degree of Honor of Ohiowa, and a member of the Baptist church. She is an accomplished lady and commands the respect of all. Mr. Stover is a young man of remarkable business ability, and known in his community for his honorable dealings. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics Mr. Stover is an advocate of democratic principles. 

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HOMAS PERDUE.--Among the men who are gaining a good support by tilling the soil of Seward county and incidentally laying aside something for a rainy day, there is no better representative than the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He owns a fine farm near the village of Beaver Crossing, which has been his home for many years, and has it well improved and in a high state of cultivation and he is surrounded with such home comforts as make life enjoyable.

     Thomas Perdue was born in West Virginia, in 1831, and his wife, Sarah Perdue, was born in about 1840. They were married March 6, 1856, in Franklin county, Iowa, and about six years later he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, in Eldora, Hardin county, Iowa. After organizing, the regiment went to Benton Bar.. racks, and from thence to Cape Girardeau. During the war he participated in thirteen battles and skirmishes, but throughout his three years service he was never wounded nor was in a hospital. He was in the skirmish with Marmaduke's forces, at Cape Girardeau, and was also in the battle on the banks of the Red river, which was known by some as the battle of De Russe, having marched forty miles the day and night previous for the purpose of surprising the fort and were successful in capturing it. The next battle in which Mr. Perdue participated was Pleasant Hill, where Banks' force was worsted and the army commenced to retreat from there to the mouth of the Red river, and there was almost continuous skirmishing all the way. From there the command, under General A. J. Smith, went to Vicksburg, and from there they started for Marmaduke, who had been interfering with the northern army's transports. Then they made their way to Memphis, and from thence they started for Pontiac, Mississippi. Mr. Perdue also participated in the battle of Tupelo, on Old Town creek, the two days fight at Nashville, Tennessee, and from there they went into winter quarters at Eastport, Mississippi. In the spring they made their way down the great river to New Orleans, and from there took ship around by the gulf to Mobile bay, from whence they made their way to Fort Blakely, and to Spanish Fort. This ended the battles in which Mr. Perdue engaged, but from thence he marched with the command to Montgomery, Alabama, and soon after returned to his home in Hardin county, Iowa, having been mustered out at Clinton, Iowa, August 23, 1865.

      Upon reaching his home, our subject purchased a house in Eldora and his family lived there while he cultivated a farm near that place for six years. He then moved with his wife and family of four children, conveying their household goods in the popular conveyance at that time, a covered wagon, to Nebraska, and located a homestead claim two miles east and one and a half miles south of Beaver Crossing, in Seward county. He at once set about to make a home for himself and family by constructing a dugout in the side of a ravine, and then began to cultivate his farm. The first season he succeeded in breaking twenty-five acres and raised a crop of corn, potatoes, onions and other garden vegetables. This was the beginning of their work of developing a tract of raw, uncultivated prairie into a home, and it has resulted in the attainment of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, supplied with a cozy residence and such barns and outbuildings as go to make up an estate on which a remunerative agricultural business can be conducted.

      To Mr. and Mrs. Perdue have been born thirteen children, six of whom are now living, and of whom we have the following record: Thomas E.; Clara, wife of George P. King; May, wife of Nelson Froman, who is living on his farm near Kingfisher, Oklahoma; Lula, who is now teaching school in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Curtis, the fifth child in the order of their birth, has recently been discharged from the service of the Union, having enlisted May 10, 1898, in Troop K, Third Regiment of United States Cavalry, for the war in Cuba, and was discharged September 8, 1898, at Camp Thomas. He is now stopping at home, but is making preparations to take a five year course in the schools at Fremont, Nebraska, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. The

youngest child, Alice, is still making her home with her parents and is attending the public schools. The entire family are members of the Christian church at Beaver Crossing. In politics, our subject is an old-fashioned Republican, but his two sons indorse the policy of free and unlimited coinage of silver. 

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WAN LINDSTROM.--Scandinavia, like many other parts of Europe, has furnished many of the most prosperous and industrious citizens of York county, and none are more prominently identified with its agricultural interests than Mr. Lindstrom, whose home is on section 21, Stewart township. He was born in Jem Koping, Sweden, July 23, 1849, a son of Swan and Josepha (Johnson) Lindstrom, who spent their entire lives in that country and are now deceased. They were consistent, members of Augustana Lutheran church, and the father was a farmer by occupation. In their family were three children, of whom our subject is the youngest, the others being Joseph and Mrs. Emma Johnson, who still reside in Sweden.

      Mr. Lindstrom, of this review, was reared on a farm amid the wild and rugged scenery of his native land, and received in that country the elements of a fair education. With the hopes of improving his condition in life, he came to America in 1869, at the age of eighteen years, and located at Princeton, Illinois, where he made his home for eleven years, at first working as a farm hand, and later operating rented land. He also followed the carpenter's trade to some extent. In 1872 he married Miss Hannah Swanson, whose birthplace was the same as our subject, and they have become the parents of four children: Swan A., who married Anna Olson, and now resides in Evanston, Illinois; and John M., Frank W. and Albert C., all at home.

      In 1880, Mr. Lindstrom came to Nebraska, and located upon his present farm in Stewart township, York county, which at that time was all wild land. He built a small frame house, 14 x 20 feet, and broke prairie all summer for himself and others. He planted a crop in 1881, but it was destroyed by the hail. After that he prospered, raising good crops until the drouth of 1893 and has become quite well-to-do, although his property on his arrival here consisted of only a team of horses, a wagon, a cow and ninety dollars in money. His home place, which is now well, improved with good and substantial buildings, comprises two hundred acres, of which he has placed one hundred and forty-five acres under the plow, and he also owns a tract of eighty acres on section 16, Stewart township, all the result of his earnest, persistent effort along the line of his chosen calling.

      In religious affiliations Mr. and Mrs. Lindstrom adhere to the doctrines of the Swedish Methodist church, holding membership with that denomination in Gresham, and he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America, at the same place. He is an advocate of the free coinage of silver, and his fellow citizens recognizing his worth and ability made him supervisor of Stewart township one term, road overseer during his entire residence here, director of school district No. 35 and treasurer of the same. 

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ARREN WOODARD.--We are-now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who has retained a personal association with the affairs of Fillmore county since pioneer days, even before its organization, and he has ever bore an important part in promoting the public welfare. He was one of the brave defenders of the Union during the Civil war, and is thoroughly identified with the growth and

prosperity of his adopted county and state. His life has been one of honest and earnest endeavor and due success has not been denied. He is now a leading attorney of Exeter.

      This honored pioneer was born in Onondaga county, New York, February 11, 1833, a son of Jonathan and Deborah (Davids) Woodard, also natives of the Empire state. The paternal grandfather, Abijah Woodard, spent his entire life there as a farmer, and during the Revolutionary war he aided the colonies in achieving their independence as a soldier of the Continental army. The father was one of the defenders of the country in the war of 1812. In 1847 he and his family removed to Lapeer county, Michigan, where the mother died in 1859. Later he went to Illinois, where his last days were spent, dying there in 1881, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. In his family were eight children, five sons and three daughters, of whom our subject is the only one living in Fillmore county, Nebraska.

      Warren Woodard was reared and educated in New York, attending first the common schools and later the Onondaga Institute. He began his business career as a boatman on the Erie canal and Hudson river, running from Buffalo to New York city for three years, and having command of a boat for a part of the time. In 1854 he went to Marengo, Illinois, where he engaged in clerking in a store for three years, and then went to Michigan, where he followed farming until after the opening of the Rebellion. In r86 r he enlisted in Company F, Tenth Michigan Infantry, and for four long years remained in the service, valiantly fighting for the old flag and the cause it represented. He took part in the battles of Stone River, Resaca, Tunnel Hill, Big Shanty, Rome, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochee River, Ringgold, Chattanooga, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, was with Sherman, on his memorable march to the sea, and in the engagements around Atlanta, and also took an active part in the Carolina campaign. He participated in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia, and in August, 1865, was honorably discharged. He was a brave soldier, always found at his post of duty, and has a war record of which he may be justly proud.

      Returning to his home in Michigan, Mr. Woodard remained there until the spring of 1869, and then went to Illinois, but during the following year we find him en route for Nebraska. As a homestead he secured the northeast quarter of section 28, Exeter township, Fillmore county, and he erected thereon the first frame house and bored the first well in the township. This wild tract he has converted into one of the best improved farms of the county. For some time he continued to engage in agricultural pursuits, but in 1876 built a hotel in Exeter and successfully conducted the same until 1882. He established the old Woodard postoffice in 1871, and served as its postmaster for one year, and for several terms most efficiently filled the office of justice of the peace. In 1890 he commenced the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1894, and has since engaged in active practice in Exeter.

      Mr. Woodard was married, in 1859. the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah M. White, and to them were born four children, namely: Eugene W., May E., Leon E. and Arthur W., all living. The wife and mother was called to her final rest in 1882, and he was again married, in 1884, his second union being with Miss Lennie R. Adams, a native of New York state.

      Mr. Woodard was one of the first settlers in this region and was clerk of the meeting called to organize Fillmore county. He has ever cheerfully given his support to those enterprises that tend to public development, and on the rolls of the county's most

honored pioneers his name should be among the foremost. Socially he affiliates with the Grand Army of the Republic, and politically is identified with the Republican party, of whose principles he is a most ardent supporter. 

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HOMAS C. BRADLEY.--Mr. Bradley is a forehanded and enterprising farmer, who has a fine establishment on section 16, Waco township, which here claimed from the wilderness in 1877. It consists of two hundred and forty acres, of which all but twenty acres is under a high state of cultivation. With his farming he combines a stock business that has proved very lucrative.

      Mr. Bradley is a son of Robert and E. A. (McClellan) Bradley, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, where they married, removing at a later date to Iowa, where they made a home in Appanoose county. He was a capable physician and practiced his profession in that county until the time of his death, in 1861. His widow with three children came into Nebraska seventeen years later, and made a home for themselves on section 17, Waco township, which was secured from the railroad company. On this tract they erected a little frame house, 16 x 18 feet, and here the widowed mother made her home as long as she lived. She died full of years and honor, June 12, 1893. She was the mother of two children that died in infancy, besides three other children: Josie, Thomas C. and William H., who remember her as a tender and devoted mother, a wise counsellor and a saintly soul.

      Mr. Bradley was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, May 3, 1860, and here the earlier years of his life were spent in attendance upon the public school, and such other means of instruction as pioneer times afforded. When seventeen years of age he visited this section of the state and picked out the tract on which his mother and family located the following spring. He was quick and active in the making of the new home, and was presently ready for a home himself, which he secured upon his marriage with Miss Ida Evans, in 1889. The fruits of this union were two girls, Lizzie and Ruth. Their mother died January 12, 1895, and on November 25, 1897, Mr. Bradley became a husband for the second time, exchanging matrimonial vows with Miss Lena L. Meredith, a daughter of William M. Meredith, of Leroy township, in this county. She is a member of the Presbyterian church at York, and is highly respected for her many good qualities.

      Mr. Bradley is a man of character and standing in the community. He is a member of the Protestant Methodist church at Waco, and renders it efficient service as a member of its board of trustees. In fraternal matters he has a lively interest, and his Masonic relations are far reaching. He belongs to the blue lodge and chapter at York, where he also holds his Knight Templar connection. At Lincoln he attends the Mystic Shrine, and wherever Masons are assembled in the state he would not be unknown and unwelcome. He is also associated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and devotes much thought to its philanthopical propositions. In politics he trains with the Democratic party, and takes an active interest in its fortunes. 

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AMES HENRY WRIGHT was born March 7, 1839, in Newark, Licking county, Ohio, a son of Samuel and Sarah Wright. The latter was a daughter of James and Sarah Beeny. All the above named ancestors were of English birth, and as far back as the family can be traced, they all followed the occupation of farming.

      Our subject was reared on a farm in

Licking county, Ohio, but in 1854, the father sold his Ohio property and moved his family to Iowa and settled first in Scott county, but soon after moved to Keokuk county, bought a farm six miles north of Sigourney, and made that his home until his death, which occurred in 1857, in his fifty-eighth year. James becoming dissatisfied with his home surroundings, as do many boys of his age, left the parental roof at the age of sixteen, joined a party of emigrants and went to Texas. Locating in the city of Sherman, in the north-eastern part of the state, he began business on his own account, buying ponies from the Indians, and selling them on the market in the city. However, this wild life did not prove to be altogether pleasant, and in September, 1857, he returned to his home in Iowa, and remained there until his father's death, which occurred December, of the following year.

      After the death of his father, James helped his mother in the management of the farm for about a year and then, at the age of eighteen years, he went to Mahaska county, rented a tract of land and began farming on his own responsibility. Three years later, in response to the call for troops, our subject went to Washington, in the adjoining county, to volunteer his service but, as he was suffering from a protracted cold, he was rejected, so he returned home and helped his mother until the following August. He then volunteered in Company H, Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, under Col. Samuel A. Rice.

     Mr. Wright enlisted August 5, 1862, and was mustered in at Oskaloosa, and from thence was moved with the command by means of marches, railroad, and Mississippi steamers to Eddyville; Keokuk, St. Louis, Missouri; Columbus, Kentucky; Union City, Tennessee; back to Columbus, and from thence to Helena, where they remained in camp until March, 1863, when the Thirty-third regiment was ordered to clear the fallen timber from the Yazoo Pass. They then returned to Helena to receive their salary from the government, and then went, by the way of the same pass, to Fort Pemberton and, after threatening the fort for several weeks, they were ordered to return to Helena, where they remained, doing garrison duty, nearly all summer. On July 4, 1863, the garrison was attacked by a force of twelve thousand Confederates and, although they made a fierce attack, they were not equal to the Union forces behind the breastworks. On the 10th of the following September, they were ordered to Little Rock and were stationed at that place until the winter of 1864, scouting and gathering provisions from the surrounding country. While at Little Rock, the commanding officer ordered that two men from each company be detailed to guard some boats up the Arkansas river to Fort Smith and it fell the lot of our subject to be one of the two men from company H. As the river was lined with Confederate squads intent on stopping navigation, the trip was a very dangerous one. The boats were finally landed safely, however, and their contents were unloaded at Fort Smith, but the return trip was not so easily made. A cannon had been placed at a narrow bend of the river and it played great havoc with the boats, destroying some of them, and one boat was burned. On the 7th of December, 1864, the entire company of which Mr. Wright was a member, was detailed to go about six miles out of Little Rock to guard an old tannery. While here, the younger of the soldiers, who had no wives at home, discovered that that section was inhabited by a more fascinating element than Rebel scouts, namely, pretty Rebel girls. They also discovered that these young ladies, since there were no men of their own commonwealth at home, had no conscientious scruples about a visitor a social dance with the Union soldier boys. On one occasion, while our subject and two of his

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