mer of whom is deceased. The mother is yet living, and makes her home with her children, mostly in Grant Township. She is now sixty-eight year old.

Of this marriage of our subject there have been born six children, namely: Edmond B., pursuing his studies in the business college at Lincoln, Neb., a very bright and promising young man who has been employed as a book-keeper with a firm in DeWitt, and is also a stenographer. Minnie M. is the wife of William Nettlelon. a well-to-do farmer of Hitchcock County, this State; the younger children--William M., John D., Ruben L. and Myrtle V. continue under the home roof. Mr. Q., politically, is an uncompromising Democrat, and takes a lively interest in local affairs.

EBBE G. CARSTENS, brother of the well-known and highly esteemed citizen, John Carstens, of Clatonia Township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, has a good farm on section 9, and has distinguished himself as a worthy representative of this family. He was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, March 4, 1846, being three years younger than his brother John. He emigrated to America the year following the coming of the latter to the United States, taking passage on a sailing-vessel and arriving safely in New York City after an ocean voyage of about seventy-nine days.

For about two years after coming to this country Mr. Carstens lived in Schuyler County, Ill., and from there moved to Livingston County, of which he was a resident a number of years. He crossed the Mississippi in the fall of 1876, and was located for a time on a farm on section 10 in Clatonia Township. This was rented land. In the spring of 1880 he purchased the farm which he now owns and occupies. The improvements which we behold today are the result of his own industry and good management, as he had purchased an uncultivated tract of eighty acres from the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. He, too, landed upon American soil without other resources than the willing hands and quality of industry which had been handed down to him from his excellent German ancestry, he battled with difficulties and drawbacks successfully, enduring  many hardships and privations, but has been amply rewarded for his toil and sacrifices.

The marriage of our subject with Miss Scente Gerdes occurred on the 2d of March, 1870, at the home of the bride in Rushville, Ill. Mrs. Carstens is also a native of Germany, and of her union with our subject there have been born five children, namely: Gesiene, Feb. 8, 1871; Joachin, March 5, 1875; John, Oct. 18, 1877; Anna, June 5, 1880, and William, in December, 1881. Mr. Carstens is a member in good standing of the Lutheran Church in Germany, and politically, differs some what from his brother, being a supporter of the Democratic party. He, however, is not confined to party lines, but reserves to himself the right of the free American citizen to support the man whom he considers best qualified for office. He believes in the education of the young, and is the cordial supporter of all the enterprises tending to the moral and intellectual elevation of the people.

RS. HANNAH NOXON, Postmistress of Adams, is a member of the well-known Shaw family, who in this region are everywhere recognized as among its earliest pioneers and most prominent citizens. Her parents were Stephen P. and Hannah (Flicks) Shaw, the former a native of Saratoga County. N.Y., and who with his estimable wife is written of elsewhere.

The Shaw family, who traced their ancestry back to England, crossed the Atlantic in time Colonial days, and there is no doubt participated in the great struggle for American liberty. The paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Noxon made his first settlement at Sharon, Conn., whence he removed later with his family to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, about the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. Both he and his elder sons enlisted in the army, while the mother and four younger ones remained at home, laboring, and waiting as best they could the issues of the struggle. The region of their home was over-run with law-

less soldiers, and the mother, with two of her boys, William and Benjamin, saved their lives by fleeing to the mountains. The boy Benjamin was the grandfather of Mrs. Noxon.

Benjamin Shaw remained with his mother, it is supposed until the Colonists had achieved their independence, and until the return of the father from the field. He was later married to Miss Margaret Tripp, and they became the parents of six children--Egbert, Wyllis, Anise, Israel, Lyman and Stephen P. After the Wyoming massacre the father of Benjamin Shaw, unable to endure the scene where two of his boys had been murdered, joined his family in Dutchess County, N. Y., to which region the mother finally made her escape, and where they both spent the remainder of their days, passing away about the years 1808 and 1826, respectively.

Stephen P. Shaw soon after reaching manhood became a resident of Dutchess County, N. Y., and there met his future wife, Miss Hannah Hicks, a daughter of one of the most prominent and highly respected families. In the biography of Stephen V. Shaw, on another page in this volume, will be found a partial history of the Hicks family. not as extended, it is true, as their importance merits, but enough to give an idea of their standing among the New England families of that period. They had their coat of arms, adopted by their English ancestors, and preserved their pride of birth with all the natural chivalry of the race. The Hicks coat of arms was in the form of a shield, surmounted by the head of a unicorn, and underneath on a scroll banner the words, "Liberty and Friendship.”

 To Stephen P. and Hannah (Hicks) Shaw there were born ten children, namely William, Egbert, Margaret, Emily, John B., Almira, Hannah, Rebecca, James I., and Stephen V. The parents spent their last years in Gage County, Neb. Their daughter Hannah, the subject of this biography, was horn in Dutchess County, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1834, and was the seventh child of the family. They lived in a quiet Quaker settlement in LaGrange Township, where Hannah, in common with the younger children attended school, and obtained the first rudiments of education. At the age of ten years her parents decided upon a change of location, and removed to Litchfield County, Conn., settling two and one-half miles from the town of Salisbury. In the latter our subject resumed her studies, and completed a very good education. She was just blossoming into "sweet sixteen" when her parents left New England, and took up their abode among the early residents of Kenosha County, Wis., where they lived until 1851, when they came to Nebraska. They left Wisconsin on the 6th of May, and arrived at their destination on the 6th of July following, having made the journey overland with ox-teams.

At the time of the arrival of the Shaw family in the Nemaha Valley, there was but one solitary settler within its borders, John O. Adams, who had come a short time previously. Hannah Shaw, while in Wisconsin, had made the acquaintance of Mr. George Noxon. who, it transpired, was a native of her own county in New York State, and thus with mutual interests to begin with they soon found they had similar tastes, which culminated in a warm affection, and their marriage on the 15th of March, 1860. Mr. Noxon was born June 7, 1830, and spent the earlier part of his life in New York. He came to Nebraska with George Gale in 1858.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Noxon, who were one of the first couples to be made one in the Nemaha Valley, settled upon the homestead claim which Mr. Noxon had secured, and which now comprises the farm occupied by Mr. James Shaw. About 1864, the health of Mr. Noxon failing, he repaired to the bracing climate of Colorado, where he remained for one and one-half years, and thus practically forfeited his claim to his homestead, and felt bound in honor to relinquish it. He, however, resided there for four years afterward, and there looked his last upon time scenes of earth, his decease taking place Sept. 21. 1870. To Mr. and Mrs. Noxon there had been born two children only--Stephen S. and Georgia M. The latter is now the wife of David Ripley, of Adams Township.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Noxon started a small store in Leona, and soon received the appointment of Postmistress. She struggled bravely with many difficulties, and lived at that place until 1880, when she changed the scene of her labors to Adams, purchasing the store of Mr. Patterson, and conducting for some time the only

general merchandising in the place. She soon here also received the appointment of Postmistress, and is now serving her eighth year in that capacity, which is sufficient indication of the manner in which she has conducted both her own business and that of the public at large. Her perseverance has met with its legitimate reward, and she is now in possession of a competency for her declining years.

Mrs. Noxon, as a lady of more than ordinary intelligence, has always taken a lively interest in the growth and prosperity of Nebraska, and as the wife of one of its pioneers endured all the hardships and privation inseparable from the settlement of a new country, when the facilities for communication with the outer world were exceedingly limited. She has always been the friend of education and progress, and when the establishment of a Presbyterian Church society was decided upon, entered heartily into the plan, and was one of its charter members. She has since continued with this body, and has contributed of her means to its support. She has decided ideas upon the political questions of the day, and is in favor of Democratic rule, according to the theories of Jefferson. Socially, Mrs. Noxon belongs to the Pleasant Plain Lodge, I. O. G. T., and has been largely instrumental in its prosperity.

EV. JOHN PATTERSON. In every community there are men who stand at the head of public affairs, and whose word is considered authority in public and private matters. It is impossible for a resident of a community to rise to the rank of leader unless he possesses certain qualifications, by the exercise of which he can place himself in sympathy with the minds and hearts of the people at large. In educated and Christian society there is a certain rank accorded by acclamation to the men who devote their lives to the cause of the church and Christianity; by common consent they are acknowledged as the criterion by which facts, principles and conduct are tested in order to obtain a correct judgment concerning them.

Among those who have aided in the spreading of the Gospel and the elevation of the morals of society in this section and vicinity, our subject takes prominence as a man of able attainments and unexceptionable character. Mr. Patterson was born on the 26th of October, 1836, in Licking County, Ohio, and is a son of Ephraim Patterson, who was a native of Virginia. Leaving his native State of Virginia he went to Ohio, and was numbered among the early pioneers of Licking County, afterward emigrating to Johnson County, Iowa, in the year 1849. Our subject spent his early years on his father's farm, and received a common-school education, supplementing it with a course of study at the Iowa City College, which bears a National reputation for its excellent system of education, and the ample opportunities afforded its students to thoroughly master any of the branches of learning.

In 1870 our subject came to Liberty Township and settled on section 23, and at that time entered the Eastern Nebraska Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For six years he conscientiously discharged the duties of a minister of the Gospel on this circuit, and was then transferred to Vesta Circuit, in which he preached for eighteen months At the end of that time he was appointed to the circuit of Pleasant Hill, in which he remained for one year, and then settled on his present farm in the spring of 1877. He owns 160 acres of good farming land on section 23, on which he makes his home, and engages in the various duties of a farmer and stockraiser.

On the 4th of December, 1857, Mr. Patterson was united in marriage with Rebecca A. Middleton, a daughter of Joseph Middleton, deceased. She was born in Washington County, Iowa, and to her and her husband have been born three children, their names--Sylvester, Jacob S. and Celestia. Sylvester married Miss Aurilla M. McMains, lives in Bent County, Col., and is the father of four children--Smiley, Ethel A., John R. and Celestia I.; Jacob married Miss Nora Crusey, and they with their infant son make their home with our subject; Celestia was married to George Owens, of Liberty, and they have one child, named Frances. Our subject is very happy in the possession of the friendship and respect of the people of his community, and does not seek to exchange the title which he bears

so honorably for that of any public office that would bring with it the cares and responsibilities of a politician. He is an active member of the I. O. O. F.

ILLIAM A. FOREMAN. The reputation of the gentleman whose life is herein epitomized, is quite widespread and favorable to him, as a man of business, stock-raiser and citizen. His farm and residence are situated on section 8 of Logan Township. He is the son of James H. and Frances M. (Can) Foreman. His father was born in New York in 1828. His chosen calling was in the lumber trade, and he became the owner of a sawmill in Pennsylvania. In 1858 he moved to Adams County, Wis., and purchased 120 acres of land, which he farmed successfully, at the same time retaining his interest in the lumber trade in Wisconsin. In 1864 he removed to Mitchell County, Iowa, and began farming at Osage, leaving there in 1870 for DeWitt, Neb., where he homesteaded eighty acres of land, and farmed the same until the year 1886. He is at present living in Narka, Kan.

Mrs. Foreman was born in New York in the same year as her husband, and after a happy wedded life of many years died in 1865. They were the parents of eight children, whose names are here given: Phebe A., William A.; Francis A., and James H., deceased; Daniel M., Hannah M., Agnes R. and Nettie M. With the exception of Nettle, who makes her home with her father, all the daughters are married. Daniel is mining in Colorado. The cloud upon the family history is connected with the death of James H.; he had been to Ellsworth, Kan., and was on his way home; he had advanced beyond the Saline River, but it was found had not crossed the Smoky River. Our subject, who went out to try to discover him, found that he had been murdered in cold blood between these two rivers, it is supposed for the purpose of robbing him of what money was on his person. The murderer could never he traced.

 Our subject was born in Lycoming County, Pa., on the 5th of May, 1848, and remained under the shelter of his father's roof until 1865. He had already received by that time a good common-school education. The years 1866 to 1868 were spent at Cedar Valley College, Osage, Iowa, in the work of preparation for the profession of the pedagogue. He has, with increasing popularity and more important and substantial results, been retained as teacher in his home district, Logan, for eight successive years, a fact that speaks with no uncertain sound regarding his ability in his profession. In addition to the school duties, he is operating a farm in Logan of eighty acres in extent. All the improvements that are to be found thereon and the work of cultivation are the work of his own hands, for which too much credit cannot be given him.

The marriage of our subject was celebrated on the 5th of March, 1876, in Logan Township, the lady of his choice being Sarah E. Mumford, who is the daughter of John B. Mumford, a sketch of whose life will be found in this volume, to which we would refer the reader for further information. Their marriage has proved for both a most happy union, and it has been blessed by the birth of three children--Ernest M., Walter W. and Arthur A.

Upon his farm our subject gives attention to the raising of grain, but is more interested in stock, and is the owner of some very fine animals. Perhaps the best of these in every regard is a beautiful Clydesdale stallion, "Duke of Devonshire," sired by "Devonshire." This splendid creature stands about sixteen and a half hands in height and is one of the finest horses in the county for draft purposes.

Mr. Foreman takes deep interest in political matters, and endeavors to keep himself thoroughly posted on all matters of civic and governmental interest. He was nominated by the labor party, and indorsed by the Democratic party, for the office of Superintendent of Schools, but Gage being a very strong Republican county, he was defeated by M. D. Horham, the Republican candidate. He has been Assessor in Logan for two years, in 1881-82, and is at present a Justice of the Peace. It will be noticed from the above that the political creed of our subject is that of the Democratic party, and he will doubtless continue, as in the past, an active supporter of the same. Mrs. Foreman is a member of the Latter-Day Saints' Church, and is a lady whom

to know is to admire and respect, as is patent to those whose privilege it is to meet her. Although her husband is not connected with any church organization. He is a gentleman who entertains the most punctilious regard for all the proprieties of society, and is a constant friend of good morals and a higher plane of living, and, with his wife, enjoys the confidence and esteem of the community at large.

ENRY H. JONES, a representative farmer and stock-raiser of Highland Township, is the owner of 160 acres on section 30, and eighty acres on section 31, and is looked upon as one of the most reliable men of this legion. His early home was in far New England, in Penobscot County, Me., where his birth took place Aug. 27, 1853. His parents, Cyrus and Sarah (McLaughlin) Jones, were also of New England birth and parentage. This branch of the Jones family is believed to have been of Scotch ancestry, while the mother of our subject traced her forefathers back to England.

Our subject when a little lad of seven years was brought by his parents to Lee County. Ill., where the fattier died a few months later. The family was left with little means, and Henry H. was early in life thrown upon his own resources, He remained with his mother until a lad of thirteen, then commenced working out on a farm, and was thus occupied until reaching his majority. In the spring of 1871 he left Illinois, and crossing the Mississippi, stopped in Adams County, Iowa, where he was employed in breaking prairie until in October following, and then came to this county. In Highland Township he homesteaded eighty acres of land on section 30, which he still retains, and which at that time was in its virgin state. He endured in common with the pioneers about him the hardships, toils and privations of the early settler, but like most of them his labors met with their legitimate reward. In addition to carrying on the cultivation of his land, he added to its area, and has now one of the finest homesteads in his township, and which indicates in a substantial manner the perseverance and industry with which he has labored. Among the self-made men of this county there are none who have made a worthier record.

 Three years following his arrival in this county Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Jennie E. Fender, the wedding taking place at the home of the bride in Dixon, Lee County, Jan. 1, 1874. Mrs. Jones was born in Lee County, Ill., Feb. 25, 1857, and is the daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth (Hall) Fender, who were natives of North Carolina and Kentucky respectively, and are both now deceased. Of this union there are two children living: Myrtie E., born July 17, 1876, and Mayfield L., June 7, 1886. Bertha M. is deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members in good standing of the Church of God, and in social circles of their community occupy a leading position. Our subject is a strict Republican, politically, and has been quite prominent in local affairs. In June, 1887, he was appointed to fill an unexpired term as Township Supervisor, and in November following was duly elected to the same office. He has served as Treasurer of the School Board in his district for a period of ten years. As one of the pioneer settlers of his township he has been closely identified with its business and agricultural interests, and has noted with that satisfaction which every intelligent citizen feels its progress and welfare.

EORGE CAMBRIDGE is a successful and thrifty general farmer residing on section  36, Lincoln Township, where he has 160 acres mostly in a well-improved condition and supplied with good farm buildings, he has made his home on his present farm since 1880, having in that time brought it to its present fine state of cultivation. He had previously made his home in Atchison County, Mo., for ten years, having come to this country from Norfolk, England, where he was born on the 26th of August, 1845, and is of pure English ancestry. His father, William Cambridge, was a native of the same county, and spent all his life there engaged in agricultural pursuits. He married Miss Elizabeth Brown, who was born in the same county, and was also of English ancestry, and together the parents of our subject have arrived at a good old