barn for horses and cattle, 40x54 feet in dimensions, the largest in the township. A fine supply of water is secured by windmill pumps. Mr. Burling pays much attention to raising choice fruits, has strawberries in abundance, and also has a fine young orchard of about 200 trees, apple, cherry and plum. In 1886, Mr. Burling desiring to secure the exceptionally fine school privileges of the town of Firth for his children, removed here, and in the month of December bought a half-interest in the old Champion stand, entering into partnership with Mr. Champion. The latter retained charge of the business until October, 1887, when our subject purchased the whole business and has since managed it alone. He carries the largest stock of any merchant in Firth, and is doing a fine business. To Mr. and Mrs. Burling have been born seven children, namely: Harry H., Fanny E.. Frank A., Worthington (deceased), Perry R., Blanche A., Earl (deceased). Mr. Burling is regarded as a great addition to this community, as he is liberal and public-spirited, and greatly interested in advancing the educational interests of the town. He is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., at Firth, and has been through every chair. Mrs. Burling, who is a woman of fine character and perceptions, is a valued member of the Presbyterian Church, of Firth.

FRANK CANON is one of the oldest settlers and residents in Elk Precinct, and was born in the beautiful, fertile, agricultural district comprising Hampshire County, W. Va., on the 18th of March, 1833. His father, George Canon, followed agricultural pursuits, and so far as is known, spent his entire life in his native State, which was brightened and completed by his marriage with Ann Martha Gray, a native of the same State.
   One of the greatest calamities that can overtake any person fell to the lot of our subject when he was four years of age. Although hardly able to realize the fact, and with the full meaning entirely incomprehensible to him, he was left fatherless, to grow up and enter into life without the guiding counsel, protecting arm and helping hand of that parent. Not long after he was bound out to a Quaker, to learn the duties of farm work, and continued with him for some seventeen years. At the age of twelve he accompanied his employer in his removal to Highland County, Ohio, and took up his home in the midst of its broad plains, beautiful valleys and gently sloping hills, and there he continued to live until he attained his majority, when he was given a good suit of clothes and a horse, and started out into the world for himself. He continued to work by the day and month in different parts of Ohio until 1863, when he went to Illinois. and was employed upon farms in Christian and Shelby Counties until 1869, when he made up his mind that he would come to Nebraska and seek a home. Accordingly, upon arrival in Lancaster County, in November, 1869, he looked around and located upon the place he has since occupied.
   The property of our subject, is would be surmised from the date and circumstances, was Government land, in all the rugged wildness of its natural state, and our subject had his hands full for many months to come. He first built a dug-out, and occupied the same with his wife for a period of seven years, and then erected his present pretty and comfortable frame house. When he turned his attention to the land he found his presence and possession disputed by the original denizens of the same, for at that time it was still occupied by all manner of wild game, although of late years they have been, conspicuous by their absence. The view of this property given in this volume will convey a fairly complete idea of the pleasant home and surroundings, in and amid which the days of our subject are spent.
   Our subject was happily married, in the year 1869, to Miss Sarah Pickering, who was born in Highland County, Ohio, Feb. 4, 1830. Her father was Jonathan Pickering, a native of Frederick County, Va. Her grandfather, so far as is known, was a native of Virginia, by occupation a millwright, which trade he followed nearly all his life, and who removed to Ohio in quite the later years of his history. His son., the father of Mrs. Canon, learned and followed the same trade as his father, after a few years combining with it that of farming, gradually working out of the millwright business.
   The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Canon

was Mary A. Cline, a native of Hampshire County. W. Va., and a daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth (Switzer) CIine. Her last years were spent in Highland County. Mrs. Canon secured the earliest opportunity offered to secure an education, having an ambition to develop and train her mental powers, and to be well informed on all general topics. The foundation, and earlier work in this direction was obtained in the district school, after she was twenty years of age, and she has never allowed herself to consider it complete. She afterward received more advanced instruction in South Salem, and still subsequently at Labanon. From that until the time of her marriage she did some very efficient work as a teacher in the public schools of Ohio. Mrs. Canon's father was a member of the Society of Friends. but having married out of the church his children had no part or lot in the matter, although his daughter afterward, by her own desire, joined the same church in 1865. The church to which Mrs. Canon belonged employed her to go to Little Rock, Ark., there to teach the freedmen. She continued as a teacher for two years, spending her vacations at home.
   Among the inhabitants of Elk and district it will be hard to find a family more entitled to the admiration and respect which are accorded to those who face the difficulties of life and overcome them. When we remember the early history of our subject, his loneliness. and helplessness, and then see him to-day the owner of his own farm and stock, respected and esteemed by his fellow-citizens and neighbors, we are reminded that there is such a thing as "the survival of the fittest." His farm comprises eighty acres.

ENRY HOCHHEIM is honored, not only as an early settler of South Pass, but as one of its substantial citizens of the present day. He has been more than ordinarily successful as a farmer, and now owns one of the largest farms in Eastern Nebraska. He is a fine type of the so-called self-made man of our country, as all that he is and all that he has he owes to his own exertions; and while building up his own fortune, he has been an important factor in developing the resources and aiding the growth of this part of the state.
   Mr. Hochheim was left an orphan at a tender age and thrown on the charities of a cold world, his parents, William and Lena (Winch) Hochheim, having, at the same time been swept away by the cholera, in St. Louis, he at the age of thirty-five, and she at the age of thirty-three. They were natives of Prussia, who but a short time before had emigrated to this country and settled in St. Louis, where the father engaged in various occupations. When they were thus suddenly cut off in the prime of life they left two little children, Henry and Charles, unprovided for, and they were placed in an orphan asylum by the city authorities. The former child, the subject of this sketch. was born in Prussia in 1847, and was two years old when his parents brought him to America. He was but three years of age when he was left an orphan, and when he was seven years of age his grandfather, Henry Winch, and his grandmother. came to this country, and took him and his little brother out of the asylum and gave them the benefit of a kind and comfortable home, and all the educational advantages possible. They were reared on a farm, and our subject remained with his grandparents until he was fifteen, receiving in the meantime a good education, comprising instruction in English and German. He was an independent, ambitious lad, and wished to make his own way in the world, and started out to do so at the age above mentioned. He readily found work as a day laborer, and was thus engaged until he was twenty-one, when he came to Nebraska in 1869. From Lincoln he came to South Pass and took up a homestead claim of eighty acres of wild land. He was then entering on a strong and vigorous manhood, with health, a practical, sagacious mind, and an enterprising disposition in his favor, to say nothing of the excellent opportunities afforded him by the wonderful climate and extremely fertile soil of the State where he had determined to make his future home. For three years he continued alone on his homestead, but at the end of that time he was so fortunate as to secure a helpmate and companion in the person of Miss Victoria Mier, to whom he was united in marriage

in 1872. Their union has been blessed to them by the birth of live children, namely: Henry (deceased), Charles, Lena, John and Annie.
   Our subject has been greatly prospered in his undertakings since becoming a resident of Nebraska, and has increased his landed estate from time to time, until he now owns 640 acres of land, lying partly in Lancaster County and partly in Gage County, forming, with its many improvements, one of the most valuable and best managed farms in Eastern Nebraska. After taking up eighty acres of land as a homestead. Mr. Hochheim pre-empted 160; at three different times he purchased three 80-acre tracts of land in Gage County; his fourth purchase comprised eighty acres of land in Lancaster County, and his fifth and last purchase comprised another 80-acre tract of land in Gage County.
   Mr. and Mrs. Hochheim are valued members of the community for which they have done so much. They are quietly and unostentatiously liberal, never withholding their hands in cases of need, and showing in their every-day lives that their religion is not a mere form, but is deeply seated within their hearts. They are faithful and zealous members of the Lutheran Church, of South Pass. In his political views, Mr. Hochheim is of the opinion that the policy of the Republican party is the proper one to pursue in regard to National and local matters, and he acts in accordance with his opinions at the polls.

OSEPH EPPS. George Epps, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of France, and came to this country accompanied by his family, consisting of his wife and four children. located in Indiana, and was one of the pioneers of Putnam County, where he entered land, improved a farm, and afterward sold out and went to Iowa, taking a farm tract in Warren County, where he spent his last days. His remains are buried in Warren County. The family had increased to seven children, named as follows: Frank, Edward, James, John, William, Henry and Percy. At the time of emigration his son John, the father of our subject, was quite small, and the years of his childhood were spent in Indiana. He accompanied the family upon their Iowa journey, and took his place in the farm work until the year 1858, when he married, and settled in Warren County of that State, bought a tract of land, and went to work to cultivate the same.
   When the alarm of civil war sounded throughout the country, and made itself heard in the homestead in Warren, John Epps, bidding farewell to wife and home, offered himself in defense of the old flag and the Union, and enlisted in an Iowa regiment. After a service of three years and two days he returned once more, but no longer the strong, healthy man he had been previous to his departure. The hardship of the bivouac, the forced march, the battle-field, in heat or cold, rain or shine, had undermined his constitution. His health was broken and hard labor was an impossibility. During the time of military service our subject had done considerable barber work for his comrades, and he now sold his farm and opened a tonsorial establishment at Grand Junction, Iowa. His death took place in Des Moines, Iowa.
   Charlotte Evans was the maiden name of, Mrs. Epps. She was born in Pennsylvania, is of German descent, and is at present a resident of Mitchell, Dak. Of this union there were born six children--Christopher, Rachel, Agnes, Joseph, Mary and Amanda. The mother of our subject was twice married; first to George Carter, by whom she had four children--John, Riley, Eliza and William.
   Our subject was three years of age when he removed with his parents to Iowa. His father was an early settler in Polk County. He continued to make his home with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he began life for himself, renting a farm one season. He purchased a team, but shortly after lost one of his horses and purchased another. He continued to struggle on against every adversity, renting his farm for three years longer, when he bought a team and went West. Upon arrival in Nebraska he spent some time in prospecting, wintered at Rulo, then returned to Iowa and rented land at Hamburg for one season, returned to Polk County and rented improved land; in 1884 he sold his property, and on the 2d of March, 1884, settled in this comity. He had accumulated some $500 in cash, and had intended to purchase a farm,

but his wife and child were taken sick, and this took the greater part of his savings. He was therefore obliged to commence anew. In the spring of 1885 he clerked in a grocery store in the city of Lincoln, and has continued in business since then upon his own account. By strict attention to business, and honorable, square dealing, he has gained the confidence of the people and built up a large business.
   In 1876 Mr. Epps was united in marriage with Miss Jane Stanton, at Des Moines, Iowa. Their home has been brightened by the birth of four children--Minnie, Fanny, Bessie and Harriet. This lady is the daughter of John and Ruth Stanton, and was born in Holt County, Mo., in 1862. She has been to him all that a helpmate and wife could be, and has stood nobly by in every time of trouble, trial and difficulty, helping and cheering.
   Our subject is a member in good standing of the Masonic fraternity, and has ordered his life according to the designs on the trestle board of the Grand Master; so that his brethren have had pleasure and profit in his companionship; he lives in the brightness of the truth of the mystic pillar and acacia. From his earliest years his life was one hard struggle of "onward and upward," and whatever he is today, in character, in manliness, in social status and affluence, he owes under Providence to his own ambition and effort. In politics he is a stanch Republican.

DWARD HEALY. Among the many fine farms which are to be found in Lancaster County, there are not many that surpass that situated in Little Salt Precinct, comprising 320 acres upon sections 1 and 12, and owned by the subject of this sketch, who is a descendant of the historic, liberty-loving Emerald Isle.
   Edward Healy, father of our subject, was born about the year 1787, in Southport, Ireland, and after he had picked up a somewhat rudimentary education he was initiated into the mysteries of binding upper to sole in such a manner as to make the sole do its work on the earth creditably. He continued to follow the trade of a boot and shoe maker for many years, but in his later years turned to agricultural pursuits. He was united in marriage with Margaret Cashion, and they were the happy recipients of nine children, one of whom it was their sorrow to lose in the years of its childhood. Mr. Healy and family are very devout members of the Catholic Church. He never left his native land, and in the year 1847 he had finished the pale of his life and lay down to his last rest. After her bereavement Mrs. Healy followed her children to this country, and took up her residence with her daughter in Iowa, where she continued to make her home until her death, in 1869, at the age of seventy-five years. Our subject was born in Tipperary, on the 15th of August. 1839, and having in boyhood days imbibed somewhat of an education in the schools of his native county, he went to work upon a farm and continued at the same until about seventeen years of age, when, accompanied by a brother, he came to America in 1856 to seek his fortune.
   Not every one who has seen the light of promise in the distance has been guided to success. Many, alas, have found it an ignus-fatus. Not so our subject; true, the path was rough and the journey long, but the fortune sought and the promise which lit up the Western horizon and invited the intrepid youths to follow, did riot disappoint. It, however, simply led them to where a fortune was a possibility. It did not give them the fortune; that came as a result of their own untiring industry and bravery. Upon landing at New York City they went to work upon the old York & Erie Railroad, in which employment the brothers continued all the fall of 1856. From there our subject went to Savannah, Ga., and speedily obtained work on the Savannah & Gulf Railroad, and after that was completed he spent one year at work in the Cumberland Mountains, and then went to Clinton, Iowa, where he spent seven years, and in the spring of 1866 removed to Cheyenne, Wyo., and remained for two years, and in 1869 made his last removal, when he took up his residence in this county. Of all the States he had visited, whether in the North or South, he preferred this country, and accordingly took up his first eighty acres in that year. Until he could build upon his ground he took up his

residence in Lincoln, but worked his farm, and in the space of one year he had his homestead ready for his family, and from that time they have lived upon the farm. As may be supposed, their land was then in precisely the same condition as the prairie that had not been settled upon. It was in all the wildness of its nativity, but our subject speedily began to break it in, and by much labor and thought has brought it to its present magnificent condition. To our subject must be given the honor of planting the first tree in the entire district, and also of having put up the first frame building. By his good management and constant effort Mr. Healy has added to the original eighty acres until he now owns 320 acres. Fully fifteen acres are given over to the occupancy of forest trees of all kinds, including black walnut, ash and maple. His orchard, likewise, is over five acres in extent, and filled with beautiful, select and thrifty fruit trees of all kinds that the climate will produce. The better to enable the reader to realize this, we present a view of the home with adjacent buildings, which will without doubt be appreciated, especially by those who retain pleasant memories in connection therewith.
   The chief business of our subject is stock-raising, although considerable room is devoted to general farming. Mr. Healy is the possessor of a very fine herd of about 130 Short-horn cattle, also a number of choice brood mares and swine in proportion. Both our subject and his family are devout and consistent members of the Catholic Church, having continued their allegiance to the faith in which they were brought up, and the Catechism which was taught and explained to them by the confessor of the family in the old country home.
   In Miss Mary Allen our subject found the lady with whom he desired to link his life, and upon her acquiescence their union was celebrated Sept. 20, 1855. This has been happily consummated by the birth of thirteen children; the living are as follows: John, Ellen, Margaret, Julia, William, Mary, Johanna, Thomas and James C. Mary (Allen) Healy was born in Ireland in 1838, and came to this country with her parents when about five years of age. They settled in Massachusetts, but in 1854 removed to Pennsylvania, which was their home until 1865, and thence to Washington, D. C., for a period of about twelve months. She is the daughter of Cornelius and Julia (Mahony) Allen. Her mother died about the year 1854, and Cornelius Allen, after his residence at Washington, made his home with our subject and family in his old age.
   The eldest son of our subject is residing upon his property in Kansas; Ellen has now become the wife of James Nellis, a carpenter and builder, and resident of Davey; Margaret, also residing at Davey, is now Mrs. James O'Brien, her husband being the leading hardware merchant of that town. The remainder are still at home. Our subject is realizing the truth of the old proverb, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart therefrom."
   Mr. Healy and his family are held in high appreciation by the community, and he, by strict attention to business, faultless integrity and manliness, holds a prominent place among his townsmen. He has for some time been the Moderator of his district, and also Supervisor of his township. He is a stanch friend of the Democratic party, and has, we believe, yet to be heard from in positions of political trust, which his high character suggest his fitness for.

UGENE F. SULLIVAN passed the years of his early youth in the home of his nativity, the county of Cork, Ireland, the date of his birth being about 1850. He is the son of Eugene and Mary Sullivan, who spent their entire lives on their own loved "Emerald Isle." They had three children: Murty, Hannah, and Eugene, the subject of this sketch. When about nine years old Eugene, with his brother and sister, emigrated to America to try their fortunes in a new and strange country. They first went to Massachusetts, where for four years they resided, and then, alone, the subject of our sketch went to Michigan, and remained there until 1877, when he came to Lancaster County, where he has since resided.
   Mr. Sullivan received but a limited education, having been early thrown on his own resources. In the month of August, 1872, he was married in

Massachusetts to Bridget Sullivan. and was the father of eight children, five of whom are living, viz: Murty, Timothy, Katie, Ella and Eugene.
   As a reward of his diligence and persevering industry, Mr. Sullivan is now the owner of 160 acres of land in Denton Precinct, section 25. For his land he paid the price of about $4.95 per acre, purchasing it from the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. With untiring zeal and energy he has cultivated his land, until it is now worth many times its former value. It is under such circumstances as these more than any other that a man is able to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of his industry.
   Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Catholic Church, at Lincoln, and he so conducts himself, socially and in business, that among his acquaintances he is universally respected, and his word is considered as good as his bond. It is impossible to estimate the extent of the influence for good which the life of one honest, upright citizen exerts upon the lives and conduct of those with whom he comes in contact. It is the silent influence of a worthy example that tells more truly than sounding words or outward profession the state of the heart within.
   When a man affirms that he belongs to this or that political party, and gives his influence to the support of that party, irrespective of the platform and opinions which that party adopts, he sometimes makes an irretrievable error; by his influence he may mislead others. The gentleman in whose honor this sketch is written seeks to avoid that error by upholding and approving only that which is good in a party and as illustrated by its representative the man.

HRISTEL RAUSCH, a large land-owner of South Pass Precinct, residing on section 19, occupies a leading position among the progressive and well-to-do farmers of Lancaster County.. He is a fine example of a self-made man, as he began at the foot of the ladder as a carpenter, at which trade he has worked in various places in the Northwest. By his industry, skill, and good business habits, he worked his way up to the position of a contractor, and earned quite a fortune in that business. He then turned his attention to agriculture, and has been equally successful in this.
   Mr. Rausch is a native of the town of Minden, Province of Hanover, Germany, his birth taking place there May 14, 1839. This was also the birthplace of his parents, Frederic and Henrietta (Lotze) Rausch. His father was a carpenter by trade, and in 1855 emigrated with his family to America. He first went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lived six months, and then he removed with his wife and children to Clayton County, Iowa, where he bought a farm. He accumulated quite a fortune before his death in 1877, at the age of seventy-one years. His devoted wife did not long survive the severe blow of his death, as she died six weeks later, at the age of seventy-six years. They were heartily respected by all who knew them, as people whose daily lives exemplified the honesty and uprightness of their characters. They were the parents of four children--Fred, Louis, Christel and Fredreke.
   Christel Rausch, of this sketch, received a fine education in the excellent schools of his native land, and at the age of fourteen was confirmed in the church. He learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it for one year before coming to America with his parents, when he was a boy of fifteen. He was employed at his trade in Cincinnati the first summer that he lived in this country, and then went to Clayton County, Iowa, with his father and mother, and worked at his trade there in the summers and on his father's farm in winters until he was twenty-one. He then went with his two brothers, Frederick and Louis, to St. Paul, Minn., where they set up a shop and became contractors and builders. He continued in St. Paul five years, and made a small fortune at his business. He then went back to Clayton County, Iowa, purchased a farm of eighty acres, and was there married, in 1865, to Miss Wilhelmina, daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Lindekul) Severin, of Saxony, Prussia, who came to America with their family in 1856. Mr. Severin was a wagonmaker by trade, but when he settled in Guttenberg, Clayton Co., Iowa, he bought a farm and worked it.