rightful place in society (i. e. by the side of man), is the Christian religion. By this we do not mean all classes under that name, but would restrict the meaning to that which is, at least, somewhat closely approximate to the unutterably sublime teaching and example of its founder. The men and women who have devoted themselves to the advancement of this cause, who have spread the knowledge of its truth, and exhibited in their own lives and characters that of their Divine prototype, are therefore worthy of more honor than the ruler and the military leader. Great as are these two latter and extended as is the ability demanded to fill the positions, he who ministers as the servant of Christ is far beyond either.
   In the present biography it will be endeavored succinctly to present in an outline the more prominent incidents in the life of one of Nebraska's clergymen, justly of more than usual celebrity. He is the son of Henry and Anna Maria (Weppelar) Berk,. His father was born in the village of Rossbach, Kris Hersfeld, Germany, in 1794, his mother at Mengeringhausen, of the same Province, about 1800, and died respectively in the year 1858, aged fifty years, and 1865, aged seventy-one years. His mother had been twice married, and had one child, Adam Heuppel, by her first husband. The second union was fruitful in the birth of three children, by name, Elizabeth, Catharine and John.
   Our subject was born on the 23d of May, 1836, in Rossbach, Germany, and received in the schools of his native town his education, afterward giving his father the benefit of his ability and service upon the farm. His education was supplemented by a thorough religious training, and in due time he was confirmed in the Reformed Church. From the age of fourteen to seventeen years he remained with his father, and then came to the United States, where the difference in the religious atmosphere impressed our subject very much. He was pleased to miss the statuesque coldness of the German State Church, and his heart opened like the rosebud to the sunshine to receive the influences and enthusiasm of our more demonstrative and warmer religious exercise. He left his home and sailed from Bremen on the 22d of May on board the good ship "Anna," and after a comparatively quick passage landed in New York, but pushed on rapidly to his destination Lancaster, Grant Co., Wis., and there he engaged with his brother for two years, and there came under the influences which decided his life work, and gave Christianity and Nebraska one of its most earnest advocates and able ministers. The Rev. Dr. Bently, now of the Dubuque Theological Seminary, was delivering a series of sermons at Rockwell, Wis. These were heard by, and deeply affected our subject, and after two years he found rest and peace to heart and conscience, accepted the Divine Savior as his own, and was so affected thereby that he determined to devote the remainder of his life to the sharing of his new-found joy with others.
   Business with Mr. Berk was now a thing of the past, and he decided to begin at once a course of study that would fit him for Christian work. He accordingly entered the Theological Seminary at Dubuque, Iowa, and took a seven-years course of study. Upon his graduation he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Dubuque. His first call was to Richfield, Washington Co., Wis.; he there continued for four years, and at the close of the first year was ordained by the Presbytery of Milwaukee. During 1864 he was drafted into Company A, 6th Wisconsin. He lay in camp at Randall near Madison, and for several weeks did duty and attended drill with his companions, but found opportunity many times to preach to the soldiers of the camp. The chaplain of the hospital was his old friend, Rev. Bently, and with him our subject spent many happy hours. He was in the engagement at Hatchies' Run, Va., Feb. 6 and 7, 1865. His bravery and distinguished service attracted the attention of Gen. Bragg, who offered him a Captaincy upon the field, but the profession he had chosen being revealed, Col. Kellogg from La Crosse presented his name for the chaplaincy of the regiment, and this he accepted.
   It was impossible for our subject to enter upon his new duties for about one month, owing to severe indisposition immediately after the battle, which confined him to the field hospital, but as soon as he was convalescent and was able to take charge, he did so, and from that time did not Miss a single service until he was mustered out. He

was heroically indefatigable in his labors, both upon the field and in the hospitals. He was not content with speaking words of kindness, consolation and instruction, but found many occasions for raising the immortal memorial of good works among his sick and wounded comrades, administering the cooling draught to one, moistening a dressing or adjusting a bandage for another, writing the home letter for yet another, and so on, by day and night, bravely bearing the fatigue, discomfort and hardship incidental to such experience. At differcult times, also, he was the recipient of money, medicines, clothing and little delicacies for distribution where needed, and we need not add that the trust thus reposed was never violated, but their recipients, many of them still living, have given him a place in their hearts, and accord their warmest affection. He was finally mustered out of service, and almost immediately left for home, there to rejoin the wife and child from whom he had been so long separated.
   Our subject was married first to Miss Catharine B. Plattner, in 1863. She was removed from him by death after a brief but very happy wedded life of four years, in 1867, leaving one child, Calvin, who is now a merchant in Hickman. His wife is Mary Offer, to whom he was united March 11, 1885, and who has presented him with two children, John Calvin and an infant unnamed. Calvin has now charge of one of our subject's farms. Our subject was married the second time on the 18th of October, 1869, the lady of his choice being Miss Emily Triller, daughter of David and Gustini Kant. Both parents and daughter were natives of Germany, Miss Triller being ushered in to life in Nuertitz, Saxe-Altenburg, on the 17th of May, 1848, and came to America with her parents at the age of eight years. Her education was begun in Germany when she arrived at the youthful age of six years and was continued in this country at Menomonee Falls, Wis., where she was confirmed at the usual age. It was in this city that our subject made her acquaintance and learned to love her for the beautiful character, devout spirit and lofty religious aspirations which fitted her so eminently for the companionship of one who had devoted himself to the sacred profession of our subject. Two children, Lydia M. and Emma M., in due time filled the home of our subject with their merriment and laughter, who have now grown to maidenhood and are attending school at Hickman.
   Rev. Berk is widely and favorably known as a divine, and is one of the "strong" men of the Presbyterian communion in Nebraska. As pastor, he is deeply in earnest, thorough, sympathetic, and true to his manhood, Christianity and the necessities of the case. As a preacher his well-trained mind quickly comprehends the various phases of doctrinal thought and popular questions, and the same are clearly presented by his unquestionable logic and rendered pleasing and instructive by his well-known eloquence. He served the church at Rockwell, Wis., from 1866 to 1879, organized the churches at Liberty, Hurricane and Marion, all of which are in Wisconsin. The last named was, however, served by another minister. In 1879 he was called to Hickman, where were many of his old members, who were very anxious that he should take pastoral charge of the church he had organized the previous year. He is now the owner of 440 acres of fine land in Saltillo and South Pass Precincts, making four different farms, but his home he continues at Hickman. He is a member of the General Presbyterian Church of the United States, of the Nebraska State Presbytery, of the Nebraska Synod, and is Chairman of the Relief Committee, and Trustee of the German Theological Seminary, of Dubuque. In political questions he is heartily in favor of Republican principles and gives all his support and influence to the same, but at the same time he is a strong temperance worker and thinker.

SHER W. WIDDIFIELD, Postmaster at Cheney, and the leading grain buyer of the place, is a native of Salem, Henry Co., Iowa, where his birth took place Feb. 3, 1854. His father was a farmer by occupation, and the son became familiar with the various employments of rural life, while at the same time he received a good education, having been graduated from the High School at Muscatine.
   For nearly two years after leaving school young

Widdifield spent much of his time traveling over the country, principally west. during which time he gained much useful information, and for a year had charge of a canvassing corps for Bibles through Nebraska to the Pacific Coast. In 1878, when twenty-four years of age, he came to Nebraska and located on a tract of land near Bennet, where he carried on farming for a time, and then spent two years as a teacher. He next changed his residence to the vicinity of Cheney, farming one year outside the town limits, and then took up his residence in the village. For a period of four years thereafter he officiated as agent for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad at this point, and gradually drifted into the grain business, which has proved very profitable, and in which he has now had an experience of six years. In the meantime he has also become familiar with general mercantile business, and is of that wide-awake and energetic disposition which has resulted in his attaining a good position, both socially and financially, among the people of this region.
   The subject of this sketch is the son of Timothy and Leah (Woolman) Widdifield, who were natives respectively of Newmarket, Canada, and Salem, Ohio. After marriage they crossed the Mississippi and settled in Salem, Iowa, in 1840, where they lived for a period of eighteen years. In 1858 they changed their residence to Muscatine, where the father engaged in farming and where his death took place in 1881. The mother is still living and a resident of Salem, Iowa. Their family comprised two children only--Asher W., our subject, and his sister Mary. The latter is residing at Salem with her mother.
   Mr. Widdifield after coming to Nebraska was married, Oct, 17, 1878, in Louisville, to Miss Charity Greek, who was born in Bath, N. Y., May 21, 1854. Mrs. W. was the daughter of Ezra and Mary Greek, who were natives of New York. Her father was killed at the battle of Antietam. The mother still lives at Louisville, Neb. To our subject and his wife there have been born six children, namely: Lawrence, Alvah, Edith, Charity, Asher and Grace. Mr. W., politically, uniformly votes the straight Republican ticket, and was appointed Postmaster of Cheney under the administration of President Arthur. He has been quite prominent in public affairs, serving as Justice of the Peace, Notary Publie and School Director. Among the leading business men of this locality he is considered entirely responsible and reliable, and has been no unimportant factor in the success of the various enterprises which have contributed to the progress and growth of the town.

HARLES M. MARTIN. one of the younger members of the farming community of Grant Precinct, owns and occupies the southwest quarter of section 10, where he is carrying on agriculture successfully and gaining for himself a good position among his fellow-citizens. He is a native of McDonough County, Ill., having been born in the little city of Macomb, March 17, 1858, and is the son of Joseph M. and Henrietta (Westfall) Martin, natives of Ohio, the father born in Miami County. After marriage they changed their resideuce to Thornton, Ind., whence they removed to Macomb, during the early settlement of McDonough County.
   The parental family included eight children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Harriet, is now the wife of S. J. Clarke, of Macomb. Those who are living reside in Illinois and Nebraska. The names of the children are; Edgar P. and Edwin (twins), the latter deceased; Fielding O., Isaac M., Nettie A., Charles M. and Mary E. Charles M., our subject, pursued his early studies in the common school and was graduated from the Macomb High School when a youth of nineteen years. He was a lad fond of his books, and subsequently engaged in teaching in McDonough County for a period of three years. Afterward he took up farming there, and continued a resident of his native county until coming to Nebraska, in December, 1882.
    Upon crossing the Mississippi our subject took up his residence at once in Grant Precinct, this county, bringing with him his young wife, who in her girlhood was Miss Susan R. Lownes, to whom he had been married at Table Grove, Fulton Co., Ill., on the 10th of March, 1881. Mrs. Martin is the daughter of Joseph and Susan (.Janney) Lownes,

mention of whom is made in the sketch of Russell Lownes, which will be found on another page in this work. She was born in McDonough County near Table Grove, and remained under the parental roof until her marriage. Of her union with our subject there have been born three children: Mary E., who died in infancy; Harry L. and Ida T. Religiously, Mrs. Martin inclines to the doctrines of the Society of Friends. Our subject, politically, is a solid Republican, but has very little to do with public affairs, further than to keep himself posted upon matters of general interest.

OHN M. DENMAN. In the development of a new country such as Nebraska. with its ever-growing and stock interests men who will give such study to the subject and bestow such labor as is demanded for the improvement and advancement to the highest condition to which they are capable the stock in use upon the farms and roads of such new country, are ever worthy of recognition. Such an one is the subject of this biographical sketch. Although a young man, he is nevertheless a representative farmer, and as a stock-raiser stands in the front rank.
   Oct. 8, 1860, in Erie County, Ohio, was born to John and Mary Denman their son John M. His father was a native of Erie County, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, John Denman, was a native of Kent, England. When he was four years of age his parents emigrated to America. They found a home in New York State, where their child was reared, and in the pure air of the New World breathed the spirit of the founders of the Republic, as is illustrated by the perseverance, hardihood, independence and manliness of his after life. He became a pioneer of the Western Reserve, Ohio, and upon two different occasions, whether from pleasure or necessity, he performed upon foot the whole journey to and from New York State. At the time he passed through it in these journeys, the present city of Cleveland was in the earliest formative period of its existence, and contained not more than a dozen small cottages. On the second journey he carried from the New York home to Ohio a peck of apple seeds, which he planted upon his farm in Eric County, Ohio, the fruit of which he afterward enjoyed for many years. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years, and died there in 1879.
   At this homestead was born the father of our subject, who was twice married, and became the parent of four children: Hattie, wife of Arthur Bentley, of Logan County, Kan.; John, the subject of this sketch; Lyda, wife of John Struble, of Pueblo, Col., and F. A., who remains at home assisting his father on the farm in Ohio. The father has always espoused the cause and principles of Republicanism, and is very widely and favorably known in this connection. His political influence is felt throughout the whole of Erie and adjoining counties. He is at present engaged, in addition to his farming interests, in buying young stock of choice breeds, wool and fruit. He is perhaps the largest individual buyer of apples in one year in the whole of Northwestern Ohio, having purchased in that period over 13,000 barrels, shipping them to all parts of the country, and many even to England.
   John Denman, our subject, from his birth until manhood lived in his native county. He was educated in its schools, and afterward attended the Lebanon Normal School, of Ohio. The good use to which he put the advantages of these institutions, and the avidity with which he embraced the opportunities offered in them, have yielded to him rich educational results. On leaving Lebanon he engaged for a short time in teaching school, but the desire for a freer life, more outdoor occupation, and larger scope for his restless energies, led him to go West.
   The influence of our subject's early farm life was now doubtless upon him, and when, upon entering Nebraska, the favorable outlook for a similar farm in the rich country contained in Lancaster County offered itself, he immediately secured a tract of the same, and settled down to make a success of his chosen pursuit. This settlement was effected in the year 1881. The land purchased by him was railroad land, for which he paid $6.66 per acre. The 160 acres then obtained have received such care, attention and thought, such intelligent labor has been bestowed upon them, as our subject, from his

previous training, was fully aware must yield the splendid results now attained.
   Mr. Denman married, Aug. 1, 1887, Alice E. Jones, a lady in every way fitted to be a true helper in her husband's life work, an ornament to society, and by her kindly disposition and culture a model housekeeper and true mother. Mrs. Denman is a daughter of George and Louisa Jones, and like her parents a native of England, but they have long been residents of Yankee Hill Precinct.
   Both Mr. and Mrs. Denman are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which communion by their unremitting labors, exemplary lives and strong Christian charity, they are held in very high esteem. Our subject is also a prominent advocate in behalf of the Y. M. C. A., of which organization he is also a member. He is ever found ready to answer a call for service, and to bear a hand to advance any of its multitudinous manly and Christian enterprises. Politically, Mr. Denman, perhaps owing to his experience in church life and work, by reason of the close contact in which he is necessarily brought in his work among young men, with the disastrous effects attending them, and in fact society generally, from the unrestrained and careless indulgence in intoxicants, is a Prohibitionist.

RANK R. DENTON, a son of D. M. Denton, of whom a sketch appears in this ALBUM, although but a young man, is entitled by courtesy to the name of pioneer, having come to this section in the year 1866. He resides on the northeast quarter of section 21, adjoining his father's estate. Before Mr. Denton came here he was a resident of Lake County, in Northern Ohio, the date of his birth being March 26, 1854. Although but a young lad aged about thirteen when with other members of the family he came here, he realized that he was not too young to put his hand to the plow, and with the energy of youth he assisted his father in the toilsome labors of the farm and the care of some of the young cattle, in the raising of which his father was engaged. No doubt there were many times when he signed for the comforts and the companions of his childhood days in his old home, but with a stout heart, encouraged by his father's word and example, he followed the fortune that was his, determined if possible, to make it a successful one.
   Deprived of the. privilege of attending college, our subject received but a common-school education, making good use, however, of all the means that were afforded him to that end. Inheriting from his respected father a love for reading, he spent his leisure hours, when the cares of the day were ended, in that most delightful of entertainments. Thus he acquired a good general knowledge, and is conversant upon all topics of interest of the day. The children of the present generation, having about them all the means for acquiring good educations in the best of schools, numberless books, and the daily papers--can scarcely realize the position in which the children of the early pioneers were placed as regards the advantages just named; nor could they imagine with what avidity a new book or paper was seized upon and readily perused by those so far away from friends, who perhaps had sent them these welcome tokens of their remembrance.
   On the 11th of November, 1880, Mr. Denton was married to Mary J. Robinson, formerly of Minnesota, she being a daughter of David and Margaret Robinson, who afterward went to Illinois, where the daughter grew up to young womanhood. To this new household have been born three children: Roy, who might be considered the parents' Christmas gift, since he came to them on the 24th of December, 1881; Earl, who was born Oct. 29, 1885; and Mary, the little daughter, on the 5th of February, 1888. To the eyes of this little one what a very different scene is presented from that upon which her father gazed on his advent to this country! What was years ago unattractive and uncultivated land is now showing forth the plants and grains and fruits with which Nature rewards the husbandmen who successfully woo and win her by tilling the soil.
   Having as a boy contributed his share of labor toward the securing of a family home, the subject of our sketch then turned his attention to the amassing of property for himself and his own family. He is the owner of 220 acres of good land, and is meeting with success in its cultivation. By his manly

and upright bearing and honest business transactions he has won the esteem and confidence of the community in which he lives, and is ably qualified to fill the honorable position in society which is granted him. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their daily lives show to the world that religion is not only a profession, but it is a tangible substance which we may always carry with us to lighten our way and lend its beams to cheer the paths of others.

EORGE H. EXLEY. In Yorkshire, England, in the home of the Rev. Henry and Mary (Hartley) Exley, was horn May 9, 1847, their son George H. In the pure, elevating atmosphere of this Christian home he was reared, and its influences have been primary factors in the shaping of his life and character. While he was still a child his parents emigrated to America and settled in Massachusetts, but after two years the failing health of his mother, whom the climate seriously affected, caused their return to England, where they remained a short time and then returned to America. They first located in Wisconsin, afterward proceeding to Iowa.
   Upon leaving school our subject, then thirteen years of age, commenced to learn the trade of worsted-making, and began to work in the factory. In this he continued until eighteen years of age. He then learned harness-making at Dubuque, Iowa, and continued to work at the same with good success for two years. In 1871 he removed to this county, and settled on his present farm in 1872. On Jannary 14 of that year he was happily married to Esther McGinnis, daughter of William and Mary McGinnis. The former is deceased. This lady was born in Scott County, Iowa, Nov. 9, 1846. Her mother is still a resident of that county. As the name would imply, her father was a native of Ireland, but of Scotch descent, while her mother is a native of Pennsylvania. The McGinnis family circle was quite large, numbering twelve children, of which number, however, but eight are living--John C., Esther M., Martha J., William H., Eliza L. (wife of Alexander Brownley), James B., Isaphenia (wife of Seymour Carpenter) and Preston.
   For several years Mr. and Mrs. Exley have been members in good standing of the Christian Church, and have ever been found ready to take upon themselves any labor and activity which this relation would seem to demand of them, although a personal inconvenience and self-sacrifice. Their four children are being brought up in the same faith. Their eldest son, William H., was born Jan. 14, 1873. On Dec. 9, 1874, was born Charles A., then Mary E., born Oct. 10, 1876; George, born May 11, 1879. Mr. Exley has for some time past filled his present office of School Director, the duties of which he has performed with great credit to himself and to the great satisfaction of the community. His conscientious convictions have led him, and have given him courage, to leave his former political connections and take his place in what he deems to be the right; he now, therefore, stands in the ranks of the Prohibitionists, and has lent his influence to the advancement of their principles. His farm comprises 160 acres of good land on section 17, Yankee Hill Precinct. The financial aid which his father could give him in a start in life was very small, and whatever he has become in education and standing in the community, the increase of his wealth, the high state of cultivation and improvement of his farm, is all the result of heroic effort, hard labor, honesty and perseverance.

EORGE DESCHER. The quarter-section of land on section 4, in Denton Precinct, which presents, perhaps, the most pleasing picture and most clearly indicative of unremitting labor, intelligently directed and well performed, is that belonging to the subject of this sketch. Mr. Descher is a native of the land of the Blue Danube, and was born on the 29th of October, 1831, in the Empire of Austria. He is a son of Antone and Alney Descher, and is the youngest son in his family. His early years were spent in his native country, and he received a somewhat complete education in the schools of the same land, but the difficulty which forced itself upon him was that of utilizing the edu-