hanna Seifert, a native of Prussia, who emigrated to America with her parents when a young woman.
   After setting foot upon American soil they came, directly to the West, and located at once in Rock Creek Precinct, this county, where they are still living in the enjoyment of a comfortable home, the father successfully carrying on farming.
   Mrs. Schmitz received an excellent education in the German tongue, and has been the true helpmate of her husband in all respects. She is a lady possessing many womanly virtues, intelligent as a companion, methodical and careful as a housekeeper. Of her union with our subject there have been born two children: Henry, born Dec. 6, 1875, and Emanuel, Dec. 1, 1885. Mr. Schmitz, politically, votes the straight Democratic ticket, and, with his excellent wife, is a member in good standing of the German Catholic Church, attending religious services in Rock Creek Precinct. He is a member of the School Board of his district, and is imbued with the sentiments of his ancestry in regard to the thorough education of the young. As a farmer, he is thorough and skillful, and as a business man, prompt to meet his obligations, thus distinguishing himself as an honest man and a good citizen, and, possessing these qualities, is considered one of the most valued members of his community. His farm is not only a credit to himself but to this county, with whose interests he has been identified now for a period of thirteen years.

OHN YONT. There are few more intelligent and well-informed men in the farming community of Rock Creek Precinct than the subject of this sketch. In addition to the tilling of the soil he is quite extensively engaged in stock-raising, and has one of the finest homesteads in the precinct. His property embraces 480 acres of land, on sections 27, 28, 33 and 34. The homestead proper comprises the southeast quarter of section 28, his first possession in this county, and is supplied with first-class buildings. The residence is particularly noticeable, being of a pleasing style of architecture, handsomely furnished, and attractive in its surroundings. There is an abundance of fruit and shade trees, and an apple orchard of 700 trees in good bearing condition.
   Mr. Yont crossed the Mississippi in the spring of 1857, and lived one year in Des Moines County, Iowa. He came to Nebraska in 1858, and on the 19th of July, 1859, secured his pre-emption claim, although he did not take up his residence here until ten years later. During the first four years of his residence in Nebraska he worked by the month; after that he bought a team and began freighting across the plains from Nebraska City to various points in the West, frequently going as far as Julesburg, Col. This business he followed about eight years. In the meantime he became fully acquainted with the dangers and difficulties of life on the frontier, meeting all sorts of men, and frequently having to use considerable strategy to keep out of trouble. While camping out and keeping bachelor's hall he also learned to be a good cook. He first began the improvement of his farm in the spring of 1871, putting up his first substantial building that year. He had prior to this erected a shanty, and made things as comfortable as possible until he could do better.
   Our subject, a native of Pennsylvania, was born near the city of Pittsburgh, April 25, 1838. His parents, John and Agatha (Derterly) Yont, were natives of the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, the father born in 1800. They were reared and married in their native Province, and John Yont, Sr., learned the trade of stonemason, which he followed considerably, and also engaged in farming. After coming to the United States the parents settled in Pennsylvania, and the father occupied himself at his trade and at farming near the city of Pittsburgh. He was prospered in his labors, and made many friends among the people of his community.
   The mother died there after having nearly attained her threescore years. The father later joined his son, our subject, in Nebraska, and died at the home of the latter, Oct. 19, 1877, at the age of seventy years. Both he and his excellent wife were members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, and the father for a time after coming to this country voted with the old Whig party. Later, how-

ever, he identified himself with the Democracy, the principles of which be supported until his death.
   John Yont was the seventh child in a family of three sons and seven daughters, of whom himself and three of his sisters are living. Two of these continue residents of Pennsylvania. and one lives in Nemaha County, this State. John remained under the home roof until coming to the West. On the 24th of December, 1865, he was married, in Sidney, Iowa, to Miss Sophia Atkinson, who was born in Pennsylvania near the childhood home of our subject, Nov. 10, 1842. Her parents, James and Elizabeth (Miller) Atkinson, were of American birth, but of Irish and Dutch descent respectively. They lived in Pennsylvania after their marriage for a time, and then emigrated with their little family to the West, while Mrs. Yont was a small child. They first took up their residence in Fremont County. Iowa, the father pre-empting land near the embryo town of Sidney, where he improved a good farm, and where the mother died ripe in years, Oct. 15, 1872. The father later joined his children in Nebraska, and now makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Muir, of Rock Creek Precinct, this county, being seventy-eight years old. After coming West one more child was added to the household circle, and the family in all consisted of four sons and three daughters. Five of these are living, one resides in Washington Territory, one in Minneapolis, and the others in Nebraska.
   Mrs. Yont received her education in the pioneer schools of Fremont County, Iowa, and remained with her parents until her marriage. She is now the mother of eight children. The eldest son, Charles A., is a successful teacher in the public schools of this county; Edwin C., Jesse G., Alonzo E., Rose and Lilly (twins), Victor and Etta are all at home with their parents. They are a very intelligent and interesting group, and will be given the advantages in keeping with their station in life. Edwin C. and Jesse are graduates of the Business College at Lincoln; Charles A. attended the Nebraska State University and also the Normal School, and is thoroughly qualified for his chosen profession.
   The wife of our subject is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Yont takes a warm interest in the temperance movement, and since 1885 has voted with the Prohibitionists. He is a man in whom his fellow-citizens have abundant confidence, and has held various local offices. The family are widely known and highly respected for their intelligence and sterling worth, and their handsome home, a view of which is shown on another page, is one of the most pleasant and hospitable resorts to be found in the State of Nebraska.

ALTER S. EIS, one of the most energetic and prosperous farmers of Russell Precinct, owns and operates 160 acres of land comprising the southeast quarter of section 31. During the six years of his residence here he has effected good improvements, and distinguished himself as a man of more than ordinary business abilities, besides being a thorough and skillful agriculturist. The home and its surroundings is one of the most attractive in this part of the county. The wife of our subject, a very intelligent and capable lady, presides over his domestic affairs in the most praise-worthy manner, and performs her part in maintaining the reputation of the homestead as a place to which it is very pleasant to repair both for friend and stranger.
   Our subject is of German ancestry on the father's side, Jacob Eis having been born in Prussia, whence he emigrated with his father when a youth of sixteen years. They settled first in Ohio, and Jacob, six years later, desiring to see something of the Great West made his way across the Mississippi into Muscatine County, Iowa, where he was employed by the month on a farm until 1861. He had in the meantime with genuine German thrift and prudence saved up a snug sum of money, which he invested in forty acres of land, and began farming on his own account. He made considerable improvement, and as time passed on added to his real estate, so that he is now the owner of 220 acres, all of which he has brought to a good state of cultivation, and now has first-class buildings, all the modern machinery, a fair assortment of live stock, and the general appurtenances of a modern country estate. In short, he has accumulated a competence for his old age.