subject represents the ideal
German-American citizen. Since coming to this country
he has carefully studied its institutions and is
deeply imbued with its ideas, with the result that he
is most cordially in sympathy with the same and
heartily attached to the land of his adoption.
ILLIAM
MAXWELL REED, who has been a resident of this county
since April, 1875, belongs to that large class of
rugged farmers who have come from the Buckeye State
and assisted so materially in the development of this
section of country. Mr. Reed was born in Licking
County, Ohio, March 13, 1827, and is the son of Nelson
and Jane (Maxwell) Reed. The mother of our subject
died in her native State, leaving six children, of
whom William Maxwell is the only son. The father
subsequently married Mary Cockrell, and in 1852 the
family migrated to Illinois and settled in Fulton
County, which ten years later they exchanged for Knox
County. The father finally removed to Southeastern
Illinois, and continued to reside there until his
decease, which occurred in 1865.
The subject of this biographical
notice was reared to farm life and received a
common-school education, which he has broadened by
reading and observation, until he is a well-informed
man, abreast of his age, on the subjects of the day.
On the 25th of March, 1852, he was united in marriage
with Mary A. Snare, a native of Licking County, Ohio,
and spent the next ten years in Fulton County, Ill.,
engaged in the ocupation (sic) of farming. In 1862
they removed to Knox County, and on the 14th of
August, of the same year, Mr. Reed enlisted in the
Union Army, and was mustered into the service with
Company B, 103d Illinois Infantry. He entered the army
as a private, but he became a non-commissioned
officer, and saw much active service in his three
years' experience. He participated in the battles of
Kennesaw Mountain, Mission Ridge, Atlanta and other
places, and was present at the siege of Vicksburg. He
was honorably discharged from the army July 7, 1865,
after earning a good war record as a brave and capable
soldier, and returning to Knox County, Ill., converted
his sword into a plowshare, and resumed his peaceful
vocation.
Ten years later he sold his Illinois
property, and coming to Nebraska rented land, which he
operated until able to secure a tract of his own. He
now owns eighty-five acres of well-improved land,
provided with comfortable buildings for the successful
prosecution of his calling.
To Mr. and Mrs. Reed has been born a
family of six children, whose record is as follows:
Mahala is the wife of Samuel Walker, and Nora, of
George Anderton; William D., Otis, Effie, and Huldah,
the wife of Elmer Mattox. The political views of our
subject find their best exponent in the Republican
party, whose candidates for office he uniformly
supports, while socially, as might be expected of a
soldier, he is a member of Mitchell Post No. 28, G. A.
R., at Waverly.
REDERICK
A. STROCKEY. There is no nation upon earth more given
to journeying than the American people, unless it be
the nomads of North Africa, and the difference is so
great as to make it hardly worthy of mention. In the
civilized world America has no equal in this regard.
In every clime and upon every sea, the American
tourist is recognised by his shrewd, clearcut business
air, and the intelligence of his inquiry and research.
At home the same restlessness is noted, and as a
people we live away from home, whether in the interest
of pleasure or business, to an unprecedented degree.
Upon these journeyings the traveler has learned to
appreciate in the proprietor of his stopping-place
those qualities which lead him to make his hostelry as
homelike as a public place can be. In Princetown,
Neb., just such an one is found in the subject of the
present sketch, whose hotel has quite a reputation in
reference to these characteristics of hotel
management. In addition to the above our subject is
engaged in general mercantile pursuits, and by his
capacity for business is successful in the same. Mr.
Strockey was born on the 6th of August, 1844, in
Stephenson County, Ill., and is the son of Christian
and Caroline Strockey, who were both natives of the
Fatherland. Our