ried in Germany, where the father was a farmer in comfortable circumstances. In 1846 he emigrated with his family to this country, and settled amid the beautiful scenery of Alleghany County, Md., his home being on the Mason and Dixon Line. He was a Union man, however, and preferring to live in a State where Union sentiments prevailed, he moved North, and located in Pennsylvania. His death occurred in that State in 1859, at the age of fifty-three years. He was thoroughly respected by all who knew him, for the sincerity, earnestness and sound judgment that characterized his convictions, and for his liberality and rare intelligence. His wife, who was in every way worthy of such a husband, survived him some years, dying in May, 1813, at the age of seventy-five. They were the parents of five children, whom they brought up to follow in their footsteps, so making them valued members of society. Their names are: Margaret, Casper, Elizabeth, John and Catherine.
   Casper Martin was born Aug. 4, 1836, in Prussia, Germany, and in the fine schools of his native land he received the foundation of an excellent education. He was a boy nine years old when he accompanied his parents, brother and sisters to America, first setting foot on its soil at Baltimore. His educational advantages were somewhat limited in his new home, but he attended school as opportunity offered. He was very early set to work, and at the youthful age of eleven years he left the parental roof and went to work elsewhere, receiving in payment his board, clothes and $40 a year. He worked in that way for the same employer for several years, continuing is a laborer until he was twenty-one. In 1857 he married one of his schoolmates, Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Matilda Deahl. (For parental history see sketch of her brother, George Deahl.) Mrs. Martin was born in 1837, in Alleghany County, Md., and there grew to womanhood. Being a woman of much character, sense and ability, she has been a true helpmate to her husband, and has in many ways lightened the burdens of life for him. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martin went to Somerset County, Pa., and continued to reside there on a farm until 1864, his parents having taken up their home with him. He did fairly well there, but decided to move to Macoupin County, Ill., where he bought a farm with his brother John, and they conducted it together with good results for several years. In the winter of 1879-80 Mr. Martin visited Nebraska, and being well pleased with the country, persuaded his brother to move out here. Accordingly, in, the spring of 1880, they both came with their families, and our subject purchased 120 acres of wild prairie land, which he has since transformed into a flue farm, with many valuable improvements, such as a handsome residence, surrounded by beautiful grounds, with many shade and ornamental trees, fine groves and orchards, comprising 130 apple trees, mulberries, cherries and plums; choice grapes and other fruits are also grown on the farm.
   Mr. Martin is a man of unusual intelligence, is well read, and can converse with interest on all topics that are under general discussion. Like his brother John, he is a great society man, and is prominently identified with several social organizations. He is a Mason, a mamber of Lincoln Lodge No. 19. While in Illinois he was Master of Shipman Masonic Lodge for five years, and was delegate to the Grand Lodge of Illinois, at Chicago, for five years consecutively, from 1875 to and including 1879. Mr. Martin is a member of the lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of Hickman, and belongs to the Knights of Honor, Shipman Lodge No. 126, Shipman, Ill. In his political views he is a decided Democrat. Mrs. Martin is an active worker in the Lutheran Church at Roca, of which she is an esteemed member.

OHN C. McCARGAR. Although our subject has been a resident of Lincoln but little more than a year, he has already established himself firmly in his business as a grocer, at No. 333 North Ninth street, and is recognized in mercantile circles as an important factor of the commercial interests of the capital. Our subject was born June 29, 1848, in Eaton County, Mich., and is a son of John W. McCargar, a native of Cayuga County, N. Y., who is well known in Southern Michigan as an early pioneer of Eaton County, where he still resides in the fine home that he has

built up in the township of Roxana, of which he is one of the wealthiest citizens, and the owner of large landed property.
   William McCargar, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Eastern New York, and a son of Thomas McCargar, who was born in the North of Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, and who came to America during the Revolutionary War, and served as a soldier in Burgoyne's army. He was captured by the Yankees, and, his sympathies being with them, he foreswore allegiance to all foreign powers, especially to Great Britain, and became an American citizen. He lived in New York for many years, but after his second marriage went to Canada to dwell, and there died. The grandfather of our subject, who was a farmer by occupation, was a pioneer of Cayuga County, and there spent the remainder of his life. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Whateley, and she was a native of Rhode Island.
   The father of our subject was reared in his native State, and lived there until 1837, when, in the strength and vigor of his young manhood, he determined to better his chances of securing independence by seeking to build up for himself a home in the wilds of Michigan, which was then considered to be in the "Far West." He soon put his resolution into effect, and the month of April, 1837, found him in Eaton County, whither he had made his way by lake to Detroit, and thence by a team that he had hired in that city to convey himself and his provisions to his destination. He will probably never forget the experiences of the following weeks, when he entered upon his pioneer life amid the primeval forests of that sparsely inhabited country. Although Michigan had in that year been admitted into the Union as a State, but a few years had elapsed since the first settlement had been made in the southern part, as in the first quarter of the present century the land had been pronounced too swampy and barren for cultivation. It remained for men of intelligence, courage and hardihood like that of Mr. McCargar to entirely disprove that erroneous assertion, and show to the world the wonderful productiveness of the soil underneath those tall old trees that had been rooted in it for centuries. The footsteps of civilization had not yet caused the wild animals, such as deer, bears, wolves, wild turkeys, etc., to disappear, and many of the Indians still lurked in their old haunts. Our subject bought a tract of heavily timbered land in the township of Roxana, and the first day that he spent on it he cut a large tree, and, having no house, when it came night he wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down beside the trunk of the fallen monarch of the forest to sleep the sound sleep of health. In the morning when he awoke he found himself under six inches of snow. He erected a log cabin on his place, but being a single man at that time he did not then locate there, but at the end of ten weeks went to Ionia and obtained a position as clerk in a store, hiring some of his land cleared in the meantime. He subsequently went to Muskegon as foreman in one of the first sawmills ever erected there. In 1843 Mr. McCargar married Miss Lucy Maxson, daughter of Daniel Maxson, a native of New York State, and a pioneer of that part of Genesee County now included in Wyoming County, the birthplace of Mrs. McCargar. He subsequently moved to Jackson County, Mich., where he spent his last years. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Coons, a native of New York, and of Holland ancestry. Her grandmother was at Schenectady when that city was destroyed by the by the Indians, in the year 1690. Her ancestry on the Maxson side came from England with Gov. Endicott, and were early settlers of Eastern Massachusetts. After marriage Mr. McCargar settled on his land in Eaton County, and has made his home thereon ever since. He has been wonderfully prospered in all his undertakings, has cleared his land and bought other land, until he owns one of the most valuable farms in the county, comprising 600 acres of very fertile land, the greater part of which is improved and adorned with a fine set of farm buildings.
   The subject of this sketch was the fourth child, and the oldest now living, born to his parents. He attended the district school in his boyhood, and later entered Olivet College, in Eaton County, where he obtained a substantial education, well fitting him for the profession of teacher, which he adopted after finishing his course at college. He commenced teaching in his native county at the youthful age of seventeen years. In 1870 he went to Indiana to pursue his profession in Jackson

County, and thence went to Scott County, where he served for one term as County Superintendent of Schools. In 1881 he was proffered the principalship of the school at Loogootee, Martin Co., Ind., which he accepted, and taught there for six years with marked success. Our subject then abandoned teaching, and coming to Lincoln engaged in the commission business, which he continued until August, 1887. He then bought the stock and good-will in the grocery store of which he is the present proprietor. He is prosperous in his business, and has already built up a good trade among first-class custorners, as he is a man of good financial ability, has good, sound judgement, and knows where and how to exercise it.
   Mr. McCargar married Miss Abbie Falkenburg, in 1872, and three children have been born to them--Clyde, Lucy and Flora E. Clyde is a very bright and promising scholar, and at thirteen years of age entered the State University. Mrs. McCargar is a devoted member of the Christian Church, and the beauty and consistency of her life are worthy of emulation.
   Mr. McCargar occupies an important social position, being a member of Vienna Lodge No. 336, A. F. & A. AT.; he belongs to Miller Lodge No. 555, I. O. O. F., and is a member of Scott Lodge No. 59, K. of P. In politics he is a sterling Democrat.

AMUEL M. MELICK, Sheriff of Lancaster County, has his headquarters in commodious apartments at the jail in the city of Lincoln, and is discharging the duties of his responsible office in a manner which commends him to the people by whom he was elected. Hunterdon County, N. J., was his earliest home, and there his birth took place on the 24th of March, 1850. The parents of our subject, Peter and Jane M. (Miller) Melick, were also natives of New Jersey, and the father, a farmer and surveyor combined, for a period of several years held the office of County Surveyor of Hunterdon County. The maternal great-grandfather, Samuel A. Miller, was born in Germany on the River Rhine, and his son, Samuel Miller, Esq., the grandfather of our subject, was one of the earliest settlers of New Jersey. Peter Melick with his family left New England about 1859, and took up his residence in Marshall County, Ill., settling on a farm, where he carried on agriculture, and where the wife and mother died in the forty-eighth year of her age.
   The parental household included four children, and Samuel M. grew to manhood acquiring a good education, and completing his studies in Marshall College, of which he was a student eighteen months. During a vacation he made a visit to Washington County, Iowa, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Molly Ogan, and their marriage took place in February, 1866, at the home of the bride in Washington County, Iowa, and while young Melick was still a student of Marshall College. After marriage he returned to his studies until they were completed, and from that time until the spring of 1870 employed himself at farming in Iowa.
   Our subject now came to Southern Nebraska, and located a homestead of eighty acres in Rock Creek Precinct. He occupied this a period of nearly ten years, and in January, 1880, was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Grant Ensign, Sheriff, a position which he held four years. In the fall of 1883 he was nominated as the candidate of the Republican party for Sheriff, and elected. Serving his term acceptably, he was re-elected in the fall of 1885, and continued in his third term by the election of 1887, by a majority of 1,995. He still retains possession of his farm property, which forms a pleasant resort from the chaos and turmoil of a busy and go-ahead city.
   To our subject and his estimable wife there were born three children--Minnie M., Mary E. and Walter W. Mrs. Molly (Ogan) Melick departed this life at her home in Rock Creek Precinct, June 19, 1880, and our subject on the 1st of December, 1882, contracted a second marriage, with Miss Katie, daughter of Milton Langdon, ex-County Treasurer. This lady was born in Janesville, Wis., and was brought by her parents to this county when a little girl six years of age, where she has since lived. Of this marriage there is one son, Harry Hasting. Mr. Melick is a man brave and fearless in the discharge of his duties, careful and conscientious, aiming to not outstrip his authority, while at the same time

offenders against law and good order have a healthy respect for his keen eye and strong muscles. He is of a social nature, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Lodge No. 54, in Lincoln, and a K. of P. in Central City Lodge No. 68. Peter Melick, the father of our subject, came with him to this county, and died in 1878, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.

OUIS HELMER, of J street, Lincoln, is a man very widely known. He is a native of Canada. being born in Ontario, Feb. 16, 1840. His father was Andrew Helmer, also born in Ontario, Canada, while his father, the grandfather of our subject, was born in the Mohawk Valley, N. Y., and was the descendant of original Dutch settlers.
   The father of our subject was by occupation a farmer; religiously, he affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, and was a prominent member of the local organization for many years. He died April 26, 1878. Louis Helmer was educated in the common schools, and spent his early days on the farm. After a residence of five years in Illinois, he came in 1869 to Lincoln and went to farming; ten years after he returned to Canada, and was united in marriage with Miss Ellen S. Allchin, who was born in the Dominion, March 19, 1849, was liberally educated, and a graduate of the High Schools at Toronto. The marriage was celebrated June 12, 1879, and within one month he had returned, accompanied by his young bride, to the Nebraska home. About five years before his marriage he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature. March 1, 1875, he entered the County Treasurer's office as Deputy, continuing for three years, then was elected County Treasurer on the Republican ticket. Public sentiment expressed its appreciation by subsequent re-election on one occasion.
   In January, 1886, our subject entered into the real-estate business, and shortly after, in order to devote his undivided energies to this enterprise, he sold his farm. To-day he possesses a most extensive real-estate connection. and successful business, in addition to the offices previously mentioned he has been connected with the school system, as Director, and has gained the respect of all concerned by the manner in which his duties were performed. For two years he was School Treasurer, served three years as School Director, and Township Assessor for one term, and officiated as Justice of the Peace for two years.
   In Masonic circles Mr. Helmer has quite a reputation. He was entered, passed and raised in the year 1867, and within twelve months was elected Worshipful Master of his lodge, thus making, we are free to say, a most unusual record, but this was done under dispensation from the Grand Master of Masons of Ontario. After sitting in the east of this lodge (No. 205, New Hamburg, Ontario) for one year, with much credit to himself and pleasure to the craft, he retired with the highest esteem of his brethren. He is also a worthy companion and member of the Chapter. He is likewise affiliated with the I. O. O. F. fraternity, Lodge No. 38, at Lincoln. His church relations are in the communion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Helmer is a member of the Episcopal Church. Their only child, Ethel Louise, was born April 3, 1880. Politically, our subject is a stanch, outspoken Prohibitionist.

ILLIAM E. KEYS. Saltillo has many beautiful homes, although the history of Nebraska is but in its early days and the first tier has hardly been placed above the surface line of its foundation, and the beautiful superstructure of its history has yet to be raised until it is completed with dome and spire, tower and minaret, the admiration and surprise of the Republic. Even in this early day its homes compare favorably in the point of architectural beauty, and the embellishments of the interior reveal a refinement, culture and artistic beauty equal to, if not surpassing, many of the bijou residences of older cities. Among those worthy of remark as exceedingly handsome and complete, is that of our subject, which is situated near the village of Roca.
   Our subject is senior member of the firm of Keys Bullock, wholesale dealers in building stone, at Lincoln, and also is a successful farmer, whose

property is situated on section 17, Saltillo Precinct. The family of which our subject is a member is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and as far back as the Colonial days of the pre-Revolutionary period, it was a name honored by all. When the question came up concerning the independence of the States, the maternal great-grandfather of our subject was one of those who decided that the American eagle would be strong enough to use its own wings and make its own way from the moment it was out of the shell; and therefore took his place in the Revolutionary War, and served most creditably throughout the same.
   The parents of our subject were among the early settlers in Ohio, establishing their home near Akron. The name of his father was William M.; that of his mother Hannah F. (Carter) Keys. From Akron his parents removed, in 1847, to Clayton County, Iowa, where his father followed the pursuits of mercantile life until 1868, when they joined our subject at his present home. Mrs. Keys died at the age of seventy years, in the year 1875. His father is still living, and is aged eighty-three years. There have been five children born to their family, and of these two are now living: William E., our subject, and his sister, Mary Louisa, who is now the wife of C. N. Nagle, attorney-at-law at Clarion, Iowa.
   Our subject was born Sept. 14, 1840, at Middlebury, Ohio. He began his schooling at that place at the age of five years, and was seven years old when he went to Iowa, attended school at Elkader, and assisted his father in his business. He then entered the University at Fayette of the same State, at the age of sixteen years, and was graduated two terms later. In the spring of 1864 he came to Nebraska to settle, having made in extensive trip of exploration the previous year, during his vacation. He purchased 320 acres of land on sections 17 and 20, and immediately set to work to the improvement of the same.
   While in Iowa our subject had become acquainted with a young lady whose many amiable qualities and feminine graces were such that as our subject became acquainted with them he was constrained by all that was ardent and ambitiously inspiring to make his own, with the pleasing result that, Dec. 30, 1863, he became the husband of Miss Eleanor G. Brown, a step which they have neither had cause to regret or desire altered. This lady is the daughter of George James Brown, who came from Canada to Iowa. Her parents were both originally from England. Their daughter Eleanor was born Feb. 9, 1839, close to Lake Champlain, in the Province of Quebec, and was between thirteen and fourteen years of age when tier parents removed to Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Keys are the happy parents of five children--Anna L., Oscar, Roy, Bernard and Percival. The eldest daughter is married to Mr. Ellis, of Marris, who is agent for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, at Wahoo, and they are parents of one son, Ralph; Oscar is residing at home, and is a student at the university; Roy is also at home, and with his two brothers is attending school.
   When our subject and his wife started to Nebraska it was by the slow and somewhat primitive method of locomotion where the power is furnished by the team, and the most comfortable carriage possible was the same wagon that held their personal and household effects. To older persons this would possibly have been very prosy and tiresome, but the glamour of novelty was cast about, it, and relieved the journey of everything that would be dull and suggestive of tedium. Upon arrival they started to keep house, and for some three or four years ran the Ranch House.
   In 1874 Mr. Keys opened up a. quarry of magnesium limestone, and in company with his partner operated it in connection with a larger quarry. Among the buildings which have been erected from the material supplied by our subject are the State Asylum, Penitentiary, University and Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Keys and partner also operate large quarries in Auburn and Johnson, in Nemaha County, which has furnished stone for the Wesleyan University, at Lincoln, and the Memorial Hall. The payroll averages $1,500 weekly, a figure which represents about 100 employes.
   Their business has steadily increased from the first, and their goods are used, not only throughout Nebraska, but in adjoining States and rerritories, Mrs. Keys is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of the most active members of the W. C. T. U., of which organization she

is the Secretary. Her place is naturally among the elite of the city, and in that circle her many rare qualities, accomplishments, winning manner and entertaining power as a conversationalist, mingled with the refinement, intelligence, poetry and grace of womanhood, make her at all times a welcome guest and agreeable hostess.
   Our subject has served as County Commissioner for three years, with much satisfaction to his party and fellow-citizens. He is an affiliate of the Republican party, which finds in him a very firm friend and vigorous supporter, a hard worker, firm in his adherence to the party principles, strong in argument and in its defense. We are enjoined to give honor where honor is due, and from whatever standpoint we view the history of our subject and his family, there is nothing, but what is worthy of remark upon that line.

ORACE M. ALMY, who has been a resident of this county for the past nine years, resides on section 15, in Mill Precinct, where he settled in 1879. He is now the owner of 1,200 acres of land, where he is successfully carrying on stock-raising and general farming, and in this manner forms no unimportant factor in the agricultural interests of this section.
   A native of Rhode Island, our subject was born Sept. 17, 1838, and is the son of John E. and Lavinia (Manchester) Almy, natives of the same State, and of New England ancestry, who crossed the Atlantic during the Colonial days and were intimately connected with the early history of that region. The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation and, with his estimable wife, spent his entire life in his native State, his death taking place in 1872, and that of the mother in 1869.
   Nine children of John E. and Lavinia Almy lived to attain their majority, but Charles and Mary died when fifty and forty-five years of age respectively. Harriet is the wife of Brownell Snell, and with her sister Emeline, Mrs. Seabury, is a resident of Little Compton, R. I.; Henry died in Little Compton when about fifty years old; Horace M., our subject, was the sixth child; Diana; Almira and Cornelia are deceased, and four died in infancy unnamed.
   Mr. Almy learned farming among the rugged hills of his native State, where he developed into manhood and acquired a good common-school education. When twenty-six years of age he was married, Nov. 17, 1864, to Miss Abbie C., daughter of Benjamin and Lydia (Head) Grinnell, and a native of his own township. Her parents spent their last years in Little Compton, R. I. The father followed agriculture, and passed from earth April 22, 1863. The mother died in July, 1887.
   The spring following his marriage our subject and his wife emigrated to Clinton County, Ill., and Mr. A. first purchased 160 acres of land in Meridian Township. To this he added later, and carried on farming until coming to Nebraska. The land which he now owns had been very indifferently cultivated, but under his wise management has become one of the most productive tracts in this region. He put the old buildings in repair and erected new ones, and has now a neat and substantial dwelling, a good barn, and all the other structures required for his comfort and convenience.
   To our subject and his wife there have been born five children, all living, namely: Frank F., Flora E., Horace M., Billings G. and John E. Mr. Almy usually votes the Democratic ticket, but will not be bound by party lines. He has served as Assessor and member of the School Board in his district, and for a number of years was actively identified with the Patrons of Husbandry. His possessions are mainly the result of his own industry, as he had very little property at the start.

HARLES L. LIDOLPH is one of the representative farmers and stock-raisers of Centerville Precinct, residing on section 11. He is a native of Van Buren County, Iowa, and was born on the 28th of December, 1857. He is a son of Charles L. and Minerva Lidolph, his father having been a native of Prussia and his mother a native of the State of Virginia. Sometime in the "forties" the father of our subject emigrated to America. and after spending a short time in Vir-