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mained four years, and then secured an interest in the business, becoming associated with Mr. J. W. Hinkle, under the firm name of Hinkle & Rigg, which partnership continued five years. Mr. Hinkle then retiring, disposed of his interest to Mr. Jackson, and the firm of Jackson & Rigg now commands a large proportion of the patronage extended to this line of merchandise in the city. They carry a full stock of everything pertaining to their line of trade, and by their strict business methods have built up a substantial and lucrative business. Mr. Rigg is a stanch Democrat politically, and received the appointment of Postmaster in March, 1886. He has hosts of friends in the community, his course having been that which commands respect and confidence. The marriage of Samuel E. Rigg and Miss Mary, eldest daughter of G. W. and Amanda E. (Jones) Hinkle, of Beatrice, was celebrated at the home of the bride in this city, Oct. 18, 1881. Mrs. Rigg was born Nov. 6, 1860, and was given the advantages of a common-school education. She was reared to womanhood in Beatrice, and remained at home until her marriage. Her father is a native of Ohio and the mother of Illinois; the latter died when Mrs. Rigg was about four years old. Mr. Hinkle resides in Beatrice. Their family consisted of four children.
Our subject was born on the 25th of December, 1854, at Millbrook, Warren Co., N. Y. At the age of about six years, his parents removed to Saratoga County, where he attended the common school for some time. When about fourteen years of age he left home to work, and engaged with Messrs Dennison & Belden, contractors for the Erie and Welland Canals, working as a boy of all work. His disposition, intelligence, and rapidly developing ability, were marked by his employers, and at the age of fifteen, an opportunity occurring, he was given the preference and placed in charge of a gang of men, and in this position remained four years. This was the school in which he learned how to handle a body of men, and the many details thereof that have since been of such help to him upon his ranch and elsewhere. Upon leaving the canal Truman, with his brother Howard, engaged in business in a meat-market in Saratoga, where he continued until 1877, when he came to Beatrice. Here for the first year he worked by the month, then rented the farm next to where he had worked, and continued upon it with increasing prosperity for five years. It was while here he became acquainted with Mr. J. B. Long, of Washington County, N. Y. This gentleman rented the Hooker farm, and converted it into a sheep ranch. He subleased the land to Mr. Davis, who has personal charge of the farm. On the 6th of August, 1885, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Lydia White, a daughter of William and Jennie White, who were natives of Tennessee, where they settled and continued until after the war. Mr. White was by occupation a farmer and planter, but upon removal to Nebraska he was engaged in the hotel business. About two years were spent in Nebraska; then they removed to Burr Oak, Kan., and there Mr. White opened a hotel. At present he has a good farm, upon which he resides, situated in Butler County, that State. He is now forty-six years of age, and his wife thirty-six. Their three children have been |
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RUMAN
L. DAVIS, one of the largest sheep and stock raisers in the State, operates
the ranch comprising the entire extent of sections 17 and 18 of Hooker Township.
He is the son of John and Jane (Waters) Davis, natives of New York State. Our
subject represents the sixth generation of his family in this country, and
is of English and Scotch extraction. His grandfather. John Davis, served with
distinction in the War of 1812. Upon their marriage the parents of our subject
settled in Saratoga County, N. Y., where his father owned a farm and followed
his trade as a carpenter. Their marriage occurred in the year 1842, in Wayne
County. In the year 1860 he purchased a farm in Warren County and removed to
it; they are still living and in comfortable circumstances. Mr. Davis has reached
the advanced age of sixty-two, and his wife the age of fifty-eight. Their family
included five children, who received the names Howard, Harvey, Alpheus, Byron
and Truman L.
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named Lydia, Josephine and Ella. Their daughter Lydia, the wife of our subject, was born on the 4th of February, 1869. She remained at home with her parents until her marriage, and was well educated in the common and Normal schools at Peru. There have been two children born to our subject: Pearl, who was born May 6, 1886, and Byron, who died in infancy. Mr. Davis has under his immediate supervision, control and management, 1,280 acres, being 960 acres of Hooker and 320 acres of Scully land. There are ten teams kept continually at work in connection with the ranch, and a force of never less than twelve men. Besides his teams he usually has about forty head of horses in his pastures, but aims chiefly to feed for the market. In 1884 there were fed 6,000 head of sheep, and in 1885 10,000; the following year 7,000, and in 1887 11,500; this year (1888) there will probably be fed about the same number. These figures tell something of the measure of his success, even far better than any merely complimentary sentence could do. About the 1st of November usually the sheep are brought in from the pasture and housed for the winter. This is the largest sheep ranch in Eastern Nebraska, and enjoys a widespread and favorable reputation. It is interesting to notice the amount required by our subject for feed purposes alone for a season. The figures which are as follows are startling: of oats he uses 2,000 bushels; of corn 40,000 bushels; of hay 2,000 tons; and of oil cake ninety tons. The ranch is fully supplied with the various sheds, yards and buildings requisite for its successful operation, and all of them have been erected according to the most improved plans; the place is also provided with a five ton scale, which is in constant use, and three large and powerful windmills. There are twelve sheep yards, ten having a capacity of 1,000 sheep, and two with a capacity of 500. By this means every grade of sheep can be kept separate, their feeding attended to better, and in shipping this arrangement saves much time and trouble. Shearing time is quite a busy season upon the ranch, there being usually from 6,000 to 7,000 sheep sheared annually. Mr. Davis is heartily esteemed in the community, and is greatly admired because of his high personal character, business ability and success. In political matters he usually votes with the Republican party, but is careful to deposit his ballot where, in his belief, the best interests of the people will be served. The portrait of the enterprising gentleman whose life has been so briefly sketched here will be gladly received by the patrons of this work. As a fitting companion picture we present the portrait of his estimable wife.
John C. Broady was of Scotch descent, and a native of Kentucky. His mother died when he was seven years of age, and he was taken from Kentucky at an early age to Knoxville, Tenn., and thence to Vienna, Ind., where he was bound out to an old-school Presbyterian preacher to learn the ministry according to the old Scotch Covenantor's faith. This was too much for the exuberance of youth, and he fled from there to the frontier in Illinois, and enlisted in the Black Hawk War. John C. Broady continued a resident of Adams County, Ill., where he followed farming and spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring in 1878. The mother survived her husband one year, dying in 1879. Their family included seven living children, four sons and three daughters, who now reside in the States of Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. The subject of this sketch was the fourth child of the family, and passed his boyhood and youth |
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EFFERSON H. BROADY, Judge of the First Judicial District, having his residence at Beatrice, has for many years been recognized as one of the leading members of the bar of Southern Nebraska. He was born on a farm near Liberty, in Adams County, Ill., April 14, 1844, and is the son of John C. and Anna (Wigle) Broady, the latter of Belgian ancestry. The mother was also born in the Prairie State, where she was reared to womanhood. Her father was John Wigle, a farmer, miller and pioneer tavern-keeper by occupation, and a man prominent in his community. His house was the stopping-place of the travelers, and a sort of headquarters for the settlers.
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on the farm, becoming familiar with the various employments of rural life. His early studies were conducted in the district school, and later he became a student of Payson High School, from which he was graduated with honors, and not long after engaged as a teacher. Being of a delicate constitution, he was unfitted for the arduous labors of the farm, and devoted much of his time to reading upon the political topics of the day. He soon developed excellent powers as an orator, and was especially efficient as a political organizer when a boy of twelve years. During the memorable campaigns of Stephen A. Douglas, while yet a schoolboy, he was dubbed the 'Little Giant" of his community, on account of his active interest in promoting the success of the Democracy in organizing the boys of his acquaintance into a band of campaigners. As he advanced to maturity young Broady grew more healthy, but none the more inclined to farming or manual labor. When near his majority he was incidentally drawn into newspaper discussions, and attracted much attention as a forcible and vigorous writer. From that time he was seldom at home, and taught considerably in order to raise funds for the further prosecution of his studies. He was at one time for several months connected with the office of the Springfield (Ill.) Register, having in view the acquirement of the printer's trade, but later abandoned this, and determined that the profession of law would he more congenial to his tastes and more in keeping with his capabilities. Young Broady, accordingly, in the fall of 1865, entered the law department of the Michigan University, where he at once took a leading position as a debater. Two years later he was graduated with honors, receiving the degree of LL.B. on the 27th of March, 1867. Soon afterward he entered the law office of Skinner & Marsh, at Quincy, Ill., but in July following, determining upon a permanent location, crossed the Father of Waters, and on the 1st of August took up his abode at Brownville, Neb. In a few months he formed a partnership with Hon. E. W. Thomas, and not long afterward the firm of Thomas & Broady began to give evidence of its future importance. They discarded everything but strictly legal business, and are now ranked among the finest practitioners west of the Mississippi. The subject of this sketch, a clear-headed and decidedly practical man, is a close student and extensive reader, and possesses the qualities of resolution and perseverance in no ordinary degree. In the fall of 1883 he was elected Judge of the First Judicial District, composing the counties of Gage, Johnson, Nemaha. Richardson and Pawnee. In the fall of 1887 he was reelected to the same office, and is now serving his fifth year and second term. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat. He was a member of the Nebraska Constitutional Convention in 1875, and the same year was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the district comprising the counties of Lancaster, Cass, Otoe and Nemaha. When re-tiring from the ordinary duties of his profession in order to assume his judicial office, he had several important cases pending in the Circuit, Supreme and Federal Courts. His natural abilities and acquirements are uniformly recognized throughout the profession in Southern Nebraska. Judge Broady, on the 2d of November, 1871, was united in marriage with Miss Nannie J. MacDonald, of Rock Springs. Pa. The marriage was celebrated at Albia, Iowa. Mrs. Broady was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and is the daughter of Dr. John G. and Jane (Bailey) MacDonald, who resided in Spruce Creek Valley, Pa. Of this union there have been born seven children, viz: Anna, Grace, Bracton, John C., Jefferson H., Jr., Joyce and Beatrice. The eldest is sixteen years of age, and the youngest eight months.
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ILLIAM H. ROULSTEN, of Glenwood Township. was born in Worcester, Mass., Oct. 5, 1855, and migrated with his parents to Illinois when a little lad four years of age. They settled in Henry County, where the father engaged in brick-making; he died when William H. was only about five years of age, and the latter continued under the parental roof assisting his mother until a youth of fourteen years, when she died. Then, crossing the Father of Waters into Page County, Iowa, he worked two years at brick
