valiantly at Stone River and Chickamauga, and at the battle of Chattanooga was in command of a company at the storming of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, also at Ringgold, Ga. He was an officer in the Atlanta campaign until July 4, 1864, when he was disabled by a gunshot wound and was sent home for a furlough of 100 days. At the end of his leave of absence he was scarcely able to return, but his indomitable spirit would not brook the thought of being away front his duty, and he returned to the army on crutches. He was then assigned aid-de-camp on the staff of Brevet Major General Charles Cruff, which position he held until the close of the war.
   Upon his final discharge from the service, Sept. 28, 1865, at Camp Stanley, Tex., Lieut. Leonard proceeded to Indianapolis, where the regiment was disbanded. He reached home in the early part of October, at 2 A. M., slept until 6 A. M., then resumed citizens' clothes and went vigorously to work. He has done a good day's work each day since, and by industry, self-denial and economy has attained success. He came to Nebraska in 1870 with $1,500 in his pocket, which by judicious investments and wise management of his business affairs, he has increased to a property worth $25,000, being now numbered among the wealthy and substantial citizens of the county, which has been developed by his aid.
   Mr. Leonard upon coming to this section of country, first took up a homestead claim and erected a tiny shelter, ten feet six inches square, in which he lived eight months. Then selling his land he bought another tract within six miles of Lincoln, Here he improved a farm from the wild prairie, having it now under fine culture. He has erected a comfortable and commodious residence at a cost of $2,500, and two fine barns, one for cattle and the other for horses, each worth $600. He has a large corn-crib with a capacity of 3,000 bushels, and his small grain is stored in a structure which will contain 1,000. The premises are not only among the finest in the precinct, but also in the county. Half of the farm is enclosed with a honey-locust fence and the balance with wire fencing. There is a fine grove of ash, box-elder, walnut, cottonwood, etc., planted by the hand of the proprietor, and so rapid has been the growth of these trees that they would make logs from which might be chopped wood by the hundred cord.
   Mr. Leonard commenced to raise high-grade stock in 1876, and has so greatly extended his business, that of horses he owns some of the finest trotters in this region. His thoroughbred stallion, H. Z. Leonard, is famous throughout the county, and has a trotting record of 2:35 1/2. This animal is a beautiful dark bay with dark points, is sixteen and one-half hands high, and weighs at his best 1,260 lbs. He is of the Duboise Hambletonian Prince strain, by Administrator, son of Rysdyck's Hambletonian, that great sire of trotters, son of Abdallah, who was in turn grandson of the famous Messenger, an English thoroughbred, imported into this country about 1790. The dam of H. Z. Leonard was Leonard Maid, bred in this county, sired by New York Boy, the latter bred near Greenwich, Washington Co., N. Y. The cattle of Mr. Leonard embraces a herd of high-bred Jerseys and Short-horns, about forty head in all. Notable among these is Leonard's Duke of Ashbrook and the Jersey Romeo, No. 2.
   To the amiable and cultured woman who makes his home pleasant and attractive to her family and their host of friends, our subject was united in marriage April 3, 1873. Her maiden name was Angeline James. She is the daughter of John W. and Sarah J. (Sutton) James, who were both natives of Indiana. Thence they removed with their parents to Poweshiek County, Iowa, at the ages of thirteen and nine respectively. There they were reared, educated, and married in 1855, afterward settling upon a farm. In 1870 they sold their possessions in Iowa, came to Nebraska, and finally settled near Syracuse, Otoe County. Mr. James purchased a farm and there they still reside.
   The James family from whom Mrs. Leonard is descended is included in a long line of English ancestry. The progenitor of the American branch was a son of wealthy and prominent parents. When about sixteen years old he became a student at Oxford, that celebrated seat of English learning, and while taking a morning walk on the banks of the River Thames, he Was surprised by seamen, a cloak thrown over his head, and he was carried to a ship

in waiting. He was thus impressed as a sailor, an occurrence frequent in those times. He subsequently made his escape at an early period in the settlement of this country from the sailing-vessel at Philadelphia, Pa. He finally settled in Pennsylvania, and some of his descendants were pioneers of Kentucky. One Barney James, the great-uncle of Mrs. Leonard, was killed by an Indian who wanted his long black hair, he wearing it then in the fashion of a "queue." The Indian fortunately did not scalp him, as he became frightened by the approach of the whites. Thomas James, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Leonard, is still living, a resident of Poweshiek County, Iowa, and a minister of the United Brethren Church. Although having arrived at the advanced age of eighty-three years, yet his hair is plentiful and black as a raven. In early manhood he married Melvina Moore, and they had a family of eight children. Grandmother James died in 1868.
   Mrs. Leonard was born near Montezuma, Iowa, Dec. 21, 1857. Of her marriage with our subject four children have been born--Ella, Eva, Sherman and John. Mr. Leonard intends giving his children the benefits of a thorough classical education. There are few men more widely known and respected in business and social circles throughout Lancaster County than I. N. Leonard. He is the soul of honor, just and kindly in his relations with all. A man of vigorous thought and action, his broad and liberal mind keeps pace with the progressive spirit animating the nineteenth century. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and he is also a strong Woman Suffrargist. The Masonic fraternity holds him as one of its leading members, and he has officiated as Secretary of his lodge for some years.

ILLIAM C. OLNEY. The name Washington is borne by between 300 and 400 townships, counties, cities, villages, etc., in the United States, but far from the least worthy of mention of this large number is Washington County, Ohio, which is situated in the southeastern part of the State, on the Virginian border, and which has for its county seat Marietta, the beautiful city of Marietta, of national renown as a seat of learning. The landscape of this county is hardly to be equaled and never surpassed by any other in the same State. Its hills, covered with verdure of deepest green, its deep, shady glens, broad, fertile valleys, and noble forests, where the ash, hickory, oak and maple flourish in all their strength and beauty.
   In the above county was born the subject of this sketch, Nov. 9, 1821, and is the son of Washington and Apphia (Cable) Olney, and the position to which our subject has attained by his persistency and perseverance in answer to the inspiring voice of his ambition, while it could not have been foreseen, is, nevertheless, verified and worthy the owner of so honored a patronymic. Our subject is now a prominent farmer and stock-raiser of Denton Precinct, where he has raised in the appreciation and esteem of his fellow-citizens a monument in his character and life more lasting than iron, more glittering than polished marble.
   Mrs. Olney, the mother of our subject, is a near relative of President Cable, of the Rock Island Railroad system, and was born on July 20, 1797, at North Adams, Mass. Her husband, Washington Olney, was a native of Washington County, Ohio.
   His paternal ancestry were members of the English aristocratic family of the same name, one which is inscribed indelibly on the page of her national history. The branch of the family to which he belonged emigrated to America about the close of the seventeenth century, probably about the year 1635, and settled in Rhode Island. The grandfather of our subject was Maj. Coggeshall Olney, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, where he made his mark as a military man. He was one of the early members of the Society of Cincinnati, his certificate of membership being in the hands of our subject. One of the principal points of interest of this document is that it has the signature of Gen. Washington, then President of the society, also that of the renowned John Knox, Secretary of the society at the same time, besides several other contemporary officers of Revolutionary fame. Washington Olney, the father of our subject, was a soldier in the War of 1812 where, by his gallantry, he added fresh laurels to the family name. Our subject is the possessor of

three commissions granted him, the first creating him Sergeant, the second promoting him First Lieutenant, the third advancing him to the rank of Captain, with charge of his company.
   The grandfather of our subject was one of the primitive settlers of Ohio, where he was deeply interested as a pioneer and citizen in its development. He was one of the chief members of the Renown Ohio Company, a corporation which held large sums of continental money for the purpose of purchasing and improving land in that State. Our subject was reared in his native county and received his education in its common schools, then in the earliest day of their formation and establishment. The dark shadow of death beclouded the life of our subject at a very early age. When he was four years old his father was removed from him by death; his mother's death occurred in the year 1852. His brother, George W., older than he, a student at Lane Seminary, where he had gone to prepare for ministerial labor, died before completing his course. The mother took up the burdens of the family with womanly spirit and heroism, and, nothing daunted by her loneliness and widowhood, proceeded to carry out the plans which with her husband she had formed in the interest of their sons. Our subject learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and followed the same until about the time of his mother's death, and had then for a considerable period been foreman of the shop of Putnam, Sons & Co., of Marietta, Ohio, manufacturers of woodenware. From the year 1852 until his entrance into Nebraska he was engaged in mechanical pursuits in different parts, being unusually skilled as a mechanic and exceedingly facile in the use of tools of every description.
   It is not always those who are in the front of the line in the various engagements and undertakings of life, and whose names are the best known, who are the real operators and deserving of honorable mention. The wives and mothers are rarely noticed, and, until recent years, were never thought of as important factors in the history building of the nation, although this is now an accepted fact, and indisputable. The never-to-be-forgotten utterance of the great Napoleon is true in its every letter, and we doubt if the American Republic would stand with its crown of glory to-day, the desire of the nations of the earth, but for the wise mothers and sisters of the brave New Englanders of 1776. We say, therefore, with the most wise king, "He that desireth a wife, desireth a good thing." Our subject proved himself to be of similar mind to Solomon, when, on the 22d of September, 1852, he became the husband of Hattie Morris, a union most happy. This lady is a native of Washington County, Ohio, where she was born Dec. 3, 1828. Her parents were Joseph and Mary Morris, natives of New Jersey and New York respectively. Her parents in both instances were of Scotch-English origin, and among the earliest pioneers of Washington County, having settled there in the seventh year of this century. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-two, and the mother sixty-six years. He was born March 9, 1771, and died May 3, 1861; his wife, born Feb. 17, 1792, died March 29, 1858.
   Mr. and Mrs. Olney are the parents of one son, Joseph W., who has already shown himself worthy the family cognomen. He received a good education, and upon graduation began to read law, and was admitted to the bar in Washington County, April 17, 1879, and was appointed Notary Public by Gov. R. B. Hayes, of Ohio, in February, 1877.
   The father of Mrs. Olney has been twice married, and had a family of seven children, only three of whom are living--Mrs. Olney and her two brothers, Joseph and William P. The mother of Mrs. Olney was born in Utica, N. Y., and was the daughter of John and Betsy Sweet. There are many physicians who object to surgical work, chiefly because they have no inclination for it, and in spite of their training are not experts, even in the matter of resetting a fractured limb or reducing a dislocation. There are on the other hand many outside the medical profession who seem to possess a special faculty or knack for such work without any professional training, although we would not say without being somewhat proficient in their knowledge, of superficial anatomy. The Sweet family have been for several generations noted as members of this class of surgeons, although many have supplemented their natural aptitude by college education, and graduated as physicians and surgeons.
   In the summer of 1885 our subject removed from Ohio with his family to this county and took up his

residence for a time at Lincoln, working at his trade, and in the spring of the following year he settled upon his farm, which is supplemented by 240 acres of land owned by Mrs. Olney. Both our subject and his wife are identified with the Congregational Church, and are among its liberal supporters. During the war our subject was in a branch of the service which is little thought of and usually undervalued. Very often the movements of the armed men would be gigantic blunders and disastrous mistakes but for the information received over the telegraph wire. We claim then for the telegraphic department, in which our subject served, as honorable mention as that given to the actual fighting men. While serving in this department, under Capt. Fuller, our subject was taken prisoner by John Morgan, and was one of the first taken from the men of Washington County. He was lodged in Nashville jail, and there remained until the Union forces took the city, when he returned to his old duty.
   Mr. Olney is loyally interested as a citizen in questions concerning the Republic and its Government, although not an office-holder. He is a recognized friend of the "grand old party" and an enthusiastic supporter of the same. In every relation of life he has proved himself honorable, conscientious, and true to the dictates of highest manhood, and both in Ohio and at his present home enjoys that confidence and regard which are accorded to good and true citizens throughout our land.

ILLIAM STOCKING, a very enterprising farmer, has one of the most valuable 80-acre farms in Nemaha, located on section 28, one of the most beautiful sites in Lancaster County. He comes of fine old Massachusetts stock, his parents, Abner and Gratia (Porter) Stocking, being of an ancestry that settled in the town of Ashfield, among the beautiful hills of Franklin County, that State. They each removed from that pretty New England town in their youth, and were married in Ohio, where Mr. Stocking engaged in farming until his death at the age of forty-five, in the midst of a prosperous career. He was an active, wide-awake man, of sound principles, and his death was considered a public calamity, as thereby a good and useful citizen was lost to the community where he had made his home. His wife, a most estimable and very capable lady, came to Nebraska in 1874, and died in her new home in Panama in 1885, at the age of sixty-three years, leaving four children--William R., David A., Joseph Wilson and Mariam A.
   William Stocking was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Sept. 4, 1844, on his father's homestead, and he was there reared to the life of a farmer. He was but nine years of age when his father died, and he continued in the old home with his mother until he was twenty or twenty-one years old, in the meantime obtaining a good education at a select school. He then removed to Illinois with his family, and settled in Ogle County, where he rented a farm for fourteen or fifteen years, and engaged in agriculture with much success. March 28, 1872, he was married there to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Albinus and Mehitable (Vincent) Lilly, of English and Welsh ancestry, respectively, but both natives of Franklin County, Mass. Her father owned and managed a farm there, while at the same time actively engaged at his trade of carpenter. In 1828 he and his wife migrated from their pleasant New England home with their family to Ohio.
   Mr. Lilly purchased a farm in Cuyahoga County, and was prospering very well when his premature death was occasioned by drowning in 1839. His widow was thus left to care for nine children, and nobly did she perform her part, carefully educating them and training them to become useful members of society. The names of her children are as follows: Acsah, Albinus, Hilkiah, Jessie, Lewis, Matilda, David, Rosina and Elizabeth. The latter, the wife of our subject, was born in Cuyahoga County Ohio, Jan. 18, 1838, and was fourteen months old when her father died, therefore she has no recollection of him. At seventeen she entered Baldwin University, remaining a student there for some time, and gaining a superior education by her studiousness and love of books. In 1870 she went to Illinois, and in Ogle County obtained a situation to work, having bravely resolved to become self-supporting, and there she was married to our subject, with whom she had attended the same school and

church in her native State. Two children have been horn to their union--Vera Z. and Layton R.
   Mr. Stocking remained in Illinois seven years after marriage, and then in 1879 came with his family to Nebraska, allured hither by the almost certain prospect of becoming more than successful in his chosen calling on this rich and fertile soil. He purchased his present farm on section 28, Nemaha, and in the few years that he has been here he has already put everything into good shape, and has one of the best managed farms in the neighborhood. He has built and tastily fitted up a two-story frame house of modern design, has built a fine barn and fences, a commodious corn crib, and has a fine orchard of sixty-four trees. In all the relations of life our subject has proved himself to be an upright, noble-minded man. As a son, he was dutiful and affectionate; as a husband, he is thoughtful and devoted, and as a father, he is firm, but kind. He is exceedingly temperate, and his habits are above reproach. He is an earnest supporter of the Prohibition movement in politics.

OHN GILLESPIE, Secretary of the Nebraska Stockyards Company, has had a liberal experience in this Western country, becoming a resident of this State as early as 1859, during its Territorial days. A native of Jefferson County, Ohio, he was born near what was then the embyro town of Springfield, on the 23d of July, 1832. While he was still an infant his parents removed from Jefferson to Carroll County. There the boyhood and youth of John were spent, and there he developed into manhood.
   William Gillespie, the father of our subject, was born and reared in Washington County, Pa., his childhood home being near that of the Hon. James G. Blaine. The Gillespie family is of Scotch-Irish descent. The mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss Mary Engle, whose birthplace and early home was near that of her husband. After their marriage they settled in Noble County, Ohio, whence they removed, in 1853, to Van Buren County, Iowa, and subsequently went to Scotland County, Mo., where the death of the father, in 1866. The mother died at Grafton, Neb., in 1884, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Maggie Burt.
   To William and Mary Gillespie there were born eight children, the eldest of whom was John, the subject of this sketch. He pursued his early studies in the country school, near his home in Carroll County, Ohio, and afterward attended school in Noble County. He was studiously inclined, and for a time was engaged in teaching; subsequently he learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed until 1859. That year he came to Nebraska, and settled in Peru, Nemaha County. Mr. Gillespie then abandoned carpentering and engaged in general merchandising until the outbreak of the Civil War.
   Upon the 15th of June, after the first call for troops, Mr. Gillespie enlisted in Company C, of the 1st Nebraska Infantry, at Omaha. The regiment was commanded by Col. (now Governor), John M. Thayer, and was shortly after sent to St. Louis, Mo., and assigned to the command of Gen. John C. Fremont, who was operating against the rebel Generals Price, Marmaduke and others. Later the 1st Nebraska was transferred to the command of Gen. Grant, and our subject was present at the capture of Fts. Henry and Donelson, and also at Shiloh. He was also at the siege of Corinth, and crossed with Gen. Lew Wallace the State of Tennessee, and was afterward transferred to the department of Gen. Curtis, under whom the troops moved to Cape Girardeau, Mo. Here the 1st Nebraska went into camp, and did picket duty until April 26, when the enemy, under Gen. Marmaduke, made an attack that but for the activity and heroic bravery of the boys in blue would have been successful. The 1st Nebraska Regiment was actively engaged throughout the entire battle, and after many brilliant deeds of daring repulsed the enemy. After this they were detailed to St. Louis and assigned provost duty for several months. Next they were ordered to the department of Arkansas, under the command of Gen. Steele, and took part in a number of important battles and skirmishes.
   Mr. Gillespie, on account of his bravery and fidelity to duty, was now considered worthy of promotion, and received the position of Regimental

Commissary, and was commissioned First Lieutenant, having charge of the infantry and cavalry. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned to Omaha on a veteran's furlough of forty days. In the meantime occurred the Indian outbreak and murder of the people on the Republican River and Upper Platte. Lieut. Gillespie was among the first to report and proffer his assistance in repelling the Indians. He was at once given the post of Quartermaster and Commissary at Pum Creek, a point some thirty-five miles west of Ft. Kearney, on the old stage line. Here he was busily employed in piloting stages and fighting the Indians for some eighteen months.
   On the 10th of August, 1865, Lieut. Gillespie was relieved and mustered out at Ft. Kearney, whence he returned to Brownsville, and shortly after was elected Territorial Auditor, a position which he held most creditably for a term of two years, and was then re-elected for four years. He was appointed by the Legislature one of three Commissioners to lay out the town of Lincoln, where it was determined to locate the State capitol, and under their immediate supervision were erected the first Capitol buildings, the State University, the Agricultural College and the Insane Asylum. In order the better to attend to the duties connected with this, he removed his office from Omaha to Lincoln, on the 1st of January, 1869.
   Retiring from office in 1873, Mr. Gillespie was principally instrumental in the organization of the Nebraska stockyards in 1884, of which he was made Secretary, and which office he still holds. There have been few important enterprises in which he has not been interested, while his wide experience and mature judgment have constituted him an important factor in developing the best interests of the city and county. He cast his first Presidential ballot in favor of James G. Birney, and now gives his entire support to the Republican party.
   The subject of our sketch was married, in November, 1854, at the home of the bride, in Noble County, Ohio, to Miss Julia Byers, who was a native of that State, and who died in Iowa in 1857. By this marriage Mr. Gillespie became the parent of two children, the elder, Miss M. M. Gillespie, and Willie C., who died in Iowa when an infant.
   His present wife, to whom he was married in September, 1860, was Mrs. Sarah D. Proctor, a native of Worcester County, Mass. She was born on the 5th of April, 1834, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wright Rugg. By this second alliance there have been five children added to the family circle, viz: Emma B., Harry T., Edward E., Lily M. and Grace L., all of whom are at present unmarried, The home of the Gillespies is well known in the society circles of Lincoln, and forms for the cultured and refined people of the city one of its attractive features.

HARLES O. STRICKLAND was born in Platt County, Ill., at Centerville, Jan. 1, 1865, and is the son of John W. and Anna M. (Hevel) Strickland, the former born in Logan County, Ohio, and his father, George Strickland, grandfather of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania, who, early in life removed to Logan County, Ohio, where he was one of the first settlers, and continued to make his home there until his death in 1887. That homestead was the scene of the early days of his son, and until he had finished the ordinary round of school studies, upon which he went to Washington, D. C., matriculated as a student of medicine, and in due time was initiated into mysteries of sutures and their osseous connections; the origin, rise and progress of disease, and the methods of combating the same. He finally was graduated it the medical college at Washington.
   Immediately after his graduation Dr. Strickland was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. Hevel, and settled in Centerville, Piatt Co., Ill., which continued to be his home until 1869, when the family removed to Lincoln, which was in its infancy and more country than town, surrounded by the billowy prairie, upon which the elk, deer, antelope, wolf and other animals roamed at will. The Doctor opened an office immediately and continued practicing until the year 1877, when he purchased a flouring-mill at Raymond, and gave all his attention to the same, in which he continued prosperously until his death, the result of a deplorable accident. and occasioned by his being overcome by the