tions arising from the family relation, that in the proper training of their children, in the atmosphere of home, pure, bracing and healthful, this may be best accomplished. Consequently our subject is better satisfied to make his home what his ideal teaches him it should be, and upon his farm so laboring as to supply what my be needed to that end, than by a larger devotion to extraneous matters. He is none the less respected, admired or esteemed because of this course of conduct.

EORGE W. NEWCOM, the Postmaster at Pickrell, and whose portrait is given on the opposite page, is numbered among the younger and more enterprising men of Holt Township, and is a universal favorite both in social and business circles. Bright, well educated and energetic, he has the prospect before him of a useful and honored career, and possesses the elements essential to the development of a useful citizen. A native of Scotland County, Mo., he was born Aug. 1, 1852, and when a lad twelve years of age removed with his parents to Crawford County, Iowa. where he attended the common school, and continued a member of the parental household until his marriage.

The parents of our subject were Willman T. and Margaretta (Dale) Newcom, natives of Kentucky. Willman Newcom left the Blue Grass region early in life, and going to Missouri finally engaged in farming until his removal to Iowa. He is still living, and a resident of Crawford County, that State. The mother is living with her husband. Their family consisted of ten children, namely: Mary E., James T., John D., Samuel, Clara E., Richard W., George W. (our subject), Cash W., Louis and Joshua D. All are living, having their homes mostly in Iowa.

 Our subject, when twenty-one years of age, led to the altar Miss Sarah M., daughter of Ethan A. and Elizabeth McKim, the wedding taking place at the home of the bride in Denison, Iowa, April 7, 1874. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newcom settled on a farm in Crawford County, Iowa, where they lived until changing their residence to Pickrell, this county, where Mr. N. first engaged in the lumber and hardware trade. His farm in town, which he still retains, comprises 211 acres of good land, and is quite valuable. On the 16th of December, 1886, Mr. Newcom disposed of his lumber interests, and now confines himself to his hardware trade, in connection with the duties of the postoffice. He was the first incumbent of this office, being appointed by President Cleveland in the spring of 1887. He is a lively Democrat, politically, and, with his estimable wife, a member in good standing of the United Brethren Church. Mrs. Newcom is a lady warmly interested in benevolent work, and is Treasurer of the Ladies' Aid Society, of Pickrell, which was organized in 1887.

To the parents of Mrs. Newcom there were born the following children: Mary E., James, Sarah M., John R. and Eugene. Mr. and Mrs. Newcom have two interesting children: Clifton T., born June 19, 1880, and Marga, Jan. 9, 1887. They occupy a snug home in the southwestern part of the village, and have many friends.

SWIN W. HUTCHINSON. In giving to the world the steam engine, George Stephenson gave it that which has revolutionized civilization, and affected the whole world. It is at once a most helpful mechanism, a powerful agent, a mighty factor for good, and a terribly dangerous force for destruction and death. Generally speaking, the safety line, the frontier of the weal and woe, the helpful and the harmful, is passed when this glorious invention escapes from the controlling mind, the guiding hand of the engineer, who for this reason has come to occupy one of the most important trusts of life and treasure the world has ever known. In the present sketch is presented an outline of the life of one of Nebraska's substantial farmers, whose property is situated on section 7 of Sherman Township, and who previously occupied the above position on the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad.

The father of our subject, James O. Hutchinson, was ushered into life in Genesee County, N. Y., in 1810, and is still living. By trade he is a saddle

and harness maker, and enjoyed the reputation of being a most able and honest workman. In the year 1852 he removed from Genesee County to Wisconsin, and settled in Janesville. Eight years later he made his home in Evansville of the same State, and in 1881 he came to Beatrice in this county, where he still resides. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Julia A. Weed, a cousin of Thurlow Weed, of national journalistic reputation. This lady was born in 1820. She married her husband in Oneida County, N. Y., when she was twenty years of age. Her husband was one of the old tetotalers (sic), also prominent in the order of the Sons of Temperance, and for many years before the war a firm and thorough Abolitionist. They are the parents of three children: our subject; Rosalia, the widow of Martimore Faust, residing in Chicago; and Ada, the wife of C. V. Chase, of Milwaukee, Wis., who occupies the responsible position of business manager for the Beuton, Waldo & Co. Type Foundry.

The natal day of our subject was Sept. 19, 1840, and the place of his birth Verona. Oneida Co., N. Y. The first thirteen years of his life were spent at home, and occupied from the time he arrived at a proper age in the tasks and duties of school life, but having attained to that age he commenced to work for Mr. C. B. Kellogg, of Janesville, and for two years was engaged in selling fruit. At the end of that period he began to work for the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company, in the capacity of engine cleaner. In this he continued for two years, when he was promoted to the position of fireman on the same road, and followed the same for three years, when he left that company and engaged with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad as fireman. After a service of one year in this position he was promoted to be locomotive engineer, remaining in that position in the service of five different companies until the year 1886, when he left the service, and went out to Wyoming to engage in the produce and commission business at Douglas, remaining there for fourteen months, and then returned eastward, and settled in Sherman Township, Gage County.

In 1876 Mr. Hutchinson had been through the country, and had purchased the quarter-section which is now his home. At that time he built a house, made some improvements, and broke a portion of the land. He then left his family upon the place, after having made every provision for their comfort, while he returned to his duty upon his engine. For about eight years his salary averaged about $1.100 per annum, and about 75 per cent has been used upon his farm for its improvement, cultivation, and the thousand and one things daily called for under such circumstances.

Our subject was united in marriage with Frances Maynard, in the year 1859. This lady was a direct descendant of the family of that name who in other days played no unimportant part in the history of Virginia. She was born in Virginia in 1843, and after a wedded life that was practically without a domestic cloud throughout its entire course of eight years, died, at Logansport, Ind., in 1868. She presented her husband with three children, who are still living. They received the following names: Eva May, Dora L. and Oswin S. A second alliance was entered into in 1869, by which he became the husband of Marietta Ginger, daughter of James and Emeline (Randall) Ginger, who are descended from a long line of ancestry of Southern families. This most estimable lady was born on the 19th of June, 1850, at Pennville, Jay Co., Ind. Here both her father and mother died, about the years 1861 and 1886. They were the parents of five children, all of whom are living, and whose names are recorded as follows: Alberta, of New Cumberland, Ind.; Frank M., who is by occupation a printer; Esther B., the wife of David Walters, of Dunkirk, Ind.; Amanda, now Mrs. Charles Ward, also of Dunkirk; and Marietta, the wife of our subject, who has become the mother of two children--James O, and Mortimer C. Eva May Hutchinson is now the wife of Frank Allison, of Colby. Kan.; Oswin S. is still at home; and Dora L., in St. Joseph, Mo.

Our subject has been for many years a member of the Democratic party, but has become one of the Union Labor party, and stands ready to help his colleagues in every way in his power. Socially, he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, and is a member of both the Blue Lodge and Chapter. He is also one of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and in each instance enjoys the entire confi-