living children are: James F., now married to Miss Lina Adams: Martha E., the wife of Mr. Timothy Paine; George W., Isaac N., Ella C., Elsie M. and John A.
   Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have for many years been numbered with the membership of the Baptist Church, which they joined in Tennessee. Although not prominent in political circles, our subject is interested in all such matters, as a good and true citizen. He is numbered with the Republican party, suit as a rule votes the ticket presented by the convention.

OHN E. CASSELMAN, brother of Franklin T. Casselman, is one of the wealthy citizens of the county, which has been his home since the early days of settlement. He settled in Otoe County in the spring of 1859. His farm is situated on section 20, Otoe Precinct, and comprises 400 acres. His parents, Henry H. and Mary (Frymire) Casselman, were both of German extraction, although natives of Canada, where the family has been for several generations. His father was engaged as an agriculturist, and was quite well-to-do. He died at his Canadian home in February, 1871, aged seventy-three years. There also the mother died the following year, being seventy-eight years of age Their family circle included seven children, Viz: Michael H., Phillip A., Charles N., George H., Franklin T., John F. and Abram B. All but the latter still survive. Charles N. lives in Broome County, N. Y., the other three in Canada.
   The birth of John E. occurred on the 20th of September, 1835, in Dundas County, Canada, where he lived until he was nineteen, engaged chiefly in farm work, educational facilities being exceedingly limited. Leaving home in 1855, he went to Jefferson County, N. Y., where tie worked on a farm for two years; then he joined his brother Franklin T., in Atchison County, Kan. In 1858 he started for California, but was taken sick at Ft. Kearney, and was sent back to Nebraska City, where he arrived in the fall of that year. There being much sickness there he went to Fremont, Iowa, and passed the winter. In the spring of 1859 he returned to Nebraska City, working for two years upon the farms--one year with Mr. Davis, the latter year being spent with Mr. Pendleton.
   At the time of his return to Nebraska City our subject had only $3. This practically is the beginning of his present prosperity and wealth. All his earning he put into land, and was able to purchase his present property of 160 acres in the year 1868. The following year he was united in wedlock with Lucy A. Emery, the estimable daughter of George and Sarah Emery, also natives of Canada, but residents of Nebraska since September, 1865. They first settled in Nemaha County, and after two years went to Johnson County, removing to their present home at Crab Orchard in 1884, where they live a retired life, as is congenial to those of such advanced age as they being sixty-eight and sixty-six respectively. Their six children are mentioned as follows; Susan, Sarah. Lucy A., Frances A., Elva O. and Robert G. Mrs. Casselman was born on the 6th of March, 1848, about twelve miles west of Brockville, Canada, and until her marriage made her home with her parents. She has presented her husband with five children, viz: Etta M., Burton E., Carrie M., Sadie (deceased) and Lucy Mabel; all make their home with their parents. Mr. Casselman is giving his children the benefits of a good education.
   In September, 1861, our subject enlisted in Company C, in the 1st Battalion of cavalry of Nebraska Territory. They left for St. Louis in October, 1861. The regiment was commanded by Col. Lowe, and with other independent companies from Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, formed the Curtiss Horse Regiment, afterward the 5th Iowa. He fought in many battles, among them Chickamauga, Pittsburg Landing, Sugar Creek, Pulaski and Atlanta. He was discharged honorably at Nashville in 1864, after serving three years and thirty-seven days, with the record of a good, true and gallant soldier. He is a member of the William Baumer Post No. 24, G..A. R., Nebraska City.
   For seven years our subject has held various school offices, for two terms was Justice of the Peace, and has at all times been as a politician in the Republican ranks. He is a man very highly respected, a careful thinker, and of finest character.

His wife also is abundantly worthy of every good and kindly word that could be spoken, and has been true in the most perfect manner to every obligation that has come to her as the result of her relation to our subject and their children, and is eminently admired and respected in the community.

AMES HALL. A gentleman in the prime of life, intelligent, enterprising and well-to-do, the subject of this biography is one of the most valued citizens of Delaware Precinct, where he settled in the spring of 1881. He is now the owner of 200 acres of valuable land, finely located on section 10, which he has brought to a thorough state of cultivation. His fields are laid off with neat and substantial fences of osage orange, and his farm stock and machinery are what would naturally be expected of the skillful and thorough agriculturist. The residence and its surroundings indicate the existence of cultivated tastes and ample means. Adjacent is a flourishing apple orchard and groves of elm and cottonwood, while other fruit and shade trees add their embellishments to the general appearance of the premises. It is without question the home of the prosperous and well-to-do citizen.
   Our subject was born amid the Lowlands of Scotland, in Roxburyshire, on the 3d of July, 1848. His parents, William and Mary (Murray) Hall, natives of the same county, were well-to-do and intelligent people, and the father now resides in Chicago, Ill., but the mother is deceased. The household circle consisted of five sons and one daughter, all of whom are living mostly in the United States.
   Mr. Hall received the advantages of the common schools in his native shire, and lived there until a man of twenty-five years. During his youth and early manhood he was occupied in farming. He had been a lad thoughtful beyond his years, ambitious of doing well in the world, and being a man among his fellowmen. He believed that he could do better for himself is all respects on the other side of the Atlantic, and accordingly in the spring of 1872 embarked on board an ocean steamer at Liverpool, and fifteen or sixteen days later set foot upon American soil in the city of New York. He remained in the Dominion two years, then made his way to Marshall County, Ill. He was employed there as a farm laborer until 1881, then resolved to invest his capital west of the Mississippi.
   In the spring of 1881 Mr. Hall purchased 200 acres of his present farm. There had been little attempt at improvement, and he set himself industriously at work to cultivate the soil and build up a homestead which would reflect credit upon him and those who should enjoy it with him. His labors have met with their legitimate reward, as all will acknowledge who have seen it. For a man who landed in America with a capital of $2.50, it cannot be denied that he has done well, and that nature endowed him with more than an ordinary share of common sense and the faculty of good management. On the 3d of February, 1881, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Scoon, who was born in Roxburyshire, Scotland, Aug. 1, 1850. Her parents, Robert and Mary (Nichol) Scone, were also of Scotch birth and parentage and are now deceased.
   Their family included ten children, who are now mostly in Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall there have been born a son and daughter, William and Mary, who are now six and one years of age respectively. Mr. Hall, politically, gives his support to the Republican party. He is at present School Treasurer of his district and Road Supervisor, and, with his estimable wife, a member in good standing of the United Presbyterian Church. Public spirited and liberal, kind and courteous, as a neighbor and friend, he fulfills the ideal of the honored citizen and useful member of society.

RED NEU, Assessor of Berlin Precinct, and one of its most prosperous farmers, has in his homestead 240 acres of fine land, besides 120 acres in another body. The former lies on the southeastern portion of section 12, and the whole is finely adapted to stock-raising, with which industry the proprietor has successfully occupied himself for a number of years. He has discharged the duties of his present office since 1876, and is an

old army veteran, having served as a Union a soldier from the outbreak of the Rebellion until its close. He was first promoted to Corporal, later to Sergeant, and officiated in the latter capacity until receiving his honorable discharge.
   The childhood home of our subject was in Prussia, where his birth took place Oct. 19, 1832. He attended the common schools of his native town until the age of thirteen years, and at that age also was confirmed in the German Lutheran Church. That same year, 1846, his parents came to America, he accompanying them.
   The father of our subject, John George F. Neu, was born in the Rhine Province, Prussia, in the year 1801, and married Miss Elizabeth Boeler, a native of Saxony, and who was born in 1802. The paternal grandfather, Mathias Neu. also of German birth and ancestry, was a shoemaker by trade, and spent his entire life upon his native soil. Grandfather Boeler was chief engineer in a large coal mine Deal Schwalbach, and died within the confines of his native Empire.
   John G. F. Neu learned shoemaking in his early manhood at which he was occupied in his native Province until crossing the Atlantic: After his arrival in the United States he settled with his family in Dearborn County, Ind., where he followed shoemaking and farming combined. From Dearborn he removed into Ripley County, where he purchased forty acres of land, from which he improved a good farm, and where his death took place in January, 1853. The mother died in July, 1882, at the home of her son Valentine, in Indianapolis, Ind. The four surviving children of the parental family are: Catherine; Fred, our subject; Louisa and John P. Valentine is deceased. The husbands of Catherine and Louisa, after the outbreak of the Civil War, enlisted in the same regiment as our subject, and Louisa's husband died in St. Louis in 1865. The sisters and brothers are now residents of Nebraska.
   Mr. Neu remembers considerable of his native Province and many of the incidents of preparation for the long journey to America. The parents and children journeyed from Rotterdam to London by rail, and at Liverpool embarked on board the sailing-vessel "Queen of the West," upon which they were tossed about for thirty-two days, encountering some storms, but finally landing in safety at New York Harbor. Young Neu remained with his parents until reaching his majority, and learned shoemaking under the instruction of his father, but did not work at the trade after reaching the age of twenty-one. His first independent farming operations were begun on a tract of land in Ripley County, Ind., and in 1855, when twenty-four years of age, he was married, and purchased forty acres in Ripley County. Upon this he labored until entering the army, and his wife subsequently carried on the farm until his return home.
   Our subject enlisted Aug,. 17, 1862, in Company G, 83d Indiana Infantry, with his two brothers and two brothers-in-law, they being mustered in at Lawrenceburg. Their regiment was assigned to the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, under command of Gen. Sherman. Mr. Neu with his comrades participated thereafter in many of the important battles of the war, was in the fight at Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, at Arkansas Post, Champion Hills, Big Black River, in both charges on the 18th and 22d of May, at Vicksburg, and all through the siege following. After its surrender he met the enemy at Jackson, Miss., later at Tuscumbia, Ala., Missionary Ridge and at Chattanooga, where his regiment was at the front, and Mr. Neu was in the very front ranks. Later he fought at Resaca, Ga., Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain, and was near Atlanta on the 22d of July, when the brave Gen. McPherson was killed. After the surrender of Atlanta they moved back to the vicinity of Chattanooga, following up Hood's retreat, then returned to Atlanta, and soon thereafter entered upon the famous march to the sea. Our subject was in all the battles of that campaign, and later marched with his regiment up through the Carolinas and to Washington, participating in the grand review, and soon afterward receiving his honorable discharge. Although enduring the hardships and privations common to the lot of the soldier, he was never wounded or captured, and returned with a fair degree of his old-time strength and good health.
   After being transformed from a soldier to a civilian Mr. Neu returned to his home and his family

in Ripley County, Ind., but soon afterward sold his property there and spent the winter following in Southeastern Missouri. Thence in the spring he journeyed by steamer to Nebraska City, and two days later proceeded by team to section 25, town 9, range 12, purchasing in May, 1866, eighty acres of improved land, upon which he occupied himself for a term of seven years. In the meantime he greatly improved the value of the property, bringing the soil to a state of cultivation and putting up buildings with material hauled from Nebraska City.
   May 24, 1872, Mr. Neu sold his farm above mentioned, and changed his residence to his present place, which he had previously purchased. After his settlement here he had the usual conflicts attendant upon the pioneer of those days, together with grasshoppers and drouth, and he estimates that the labor of five years thereafter was required to place him where he started. Those days are past, however, and he now looks around him on a fine estate, embracing a farm of 240 acres, with handsome and substantial modern buildings, groves and orchards, and all other appurtenances of the well-regulated farm. His land is well watered by Jordan and Spring Grove Creeks, and he has 100 acres of native timber. Ten acres adjacent to the residence are devoted to groves of hickory, walnut, oak and wild cherry trees, and his orchard comprises 350 apple trees, while he has the smaller fruits in abundance. His live-stock operations include cattle and swine mostly, of which he ships of the former usually a carload annually and of the latter two carloads. His stock is mostly graded and his horses are particularly fine, including Cleveland Bays and Morgans. Large amounts of corn and grain are required to feed all this stock.
   Our subject was married near Brookville, in Franklin County, Ind., Oct. 4, 1855, to Miss Charlotte S. Schwertfeger, who was born in Ripley County, that State, Aug. 30, 1836, Mrs. Neu has proved a most worthy helpmate and assistant of her husband, and of their union there have been born nine children, namely: Amiela (sic) L., Frederick S., Lizzie, Lena; George W., who died when five weeks old; John; Bertha, who died when thirteen months old; Henry F., and William J., who died at the age of seven years. The eldest daughter is the wife of Henry Anderson, a well-to-do farmer of Hendricks Precinct, and they have five children; Frederick married Ida Vener, and is farming in the vicinity of Hartwell, Kearney County; Lizzie is the wife of Eugene Patterson, who is farming in Dawes County, and they have two children; Lena married Mr. A. Dillon, who is farming near Lowell, in Kearney County, and they have two children; John is farming in Dawes County, and Henry is at home with his parents.
   Mr. Neu has held the position of Assessor about nine years and has been School Treasurer of his district six years. Socially, he belongs to Western Star Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Nebraska City, is also a, Knight of Pythias, belonging to Eureka Lodge No. 7, and is identified with the G. A. R., both these lodges at Nebraska City. He is an ardent supporter of Republican principles, laboring manfully for the support of these in his own county, and being frequently sent as a delegate to the County and State Conventions. A useful man in his community, he is public-spirited and enterprising, one having hosts of friends, both in business and social circles.

EORGE H. BURGERT is one of the leading citizens of Nebraska City, and has for several years filled one of its most responsible offices, that of City Treasurer. He was born in New Bedford, Coshocton Co., Ohio, Feb. 14, 1830. His father, David Burgert, was born in Lancaster County, Pa., Nov. 20, 1795, and his father is thought to have been a native of Germany, who, coming to America some time during the last century, settled in Pennsylvania. and spent his last years in Lancaster County. The father of our subject was reared in his native State, and when a young man started for the then Far West, and located in Stark County, Ohio, where he bought a tract of timber land and cleared a farm from the wilderness. He then sold and moved to Coshocton County, and again attempted the task of clearing a farm from the depths of the primeval forest. He first erected a log house, which was afterward

the birthplace of our subject, and with the aid of his sons he developed his land into a fine farm. While a resident of Stark County he had engaged in the mercantile business, and when he moved to Coshocton County he took with him his stock of goods and opened a store at West Bedford. He continued in business as a merchant about forty-five years, and then, having acquired a handsome competence, he sold out, moved to Cuyahoga County, and bought a farm near Cleveland, where he lived two or three years. He then removed to Toledo and built a home in that city, and lived retired from the active duties of life until his death, March 30, 1876. He was a man of enterprise and considerable business talent, whose reputation for honor and integrity was second to none. The maiden name of his wife was Eleanor Huett, and she was born in County Armagh, Ireland, July 2, 1797, being of English ancestry. She died in New Bedford, Nov. 30, 1840. There were twelve children born to her and her husband, all of whom grew to maturity, namely: Elizabeth, Sarah, Daniel. Levi, Adam, Catherine, George H., James H., Mary A., Lucinda, Amos and Amanda. Nine of these are now living, Sarah, Daniel and Levi being deceased.
   The subject of this sketch was the seventh child and fourth son of his parents. He grew to manhood in his native county, receiving the preliminaries of his education in the district school, which was further supplemented by a term's attendance at the academy at West Bedford. He assisted on the farm and clerked in his father's store, and continued to be an inmate of his parents' home until 1852. In 1850 he formed a partnership with Jacob Hocksteter and engaged in the mercantile business with him in Bedford for two years. He then went to Indiana and spent a few months in Worthington. He returned to his native State after that, and in Cleveland engaged as a clerk in the boot and shoe store of Huett & Buyett for one year. The next year found him again in Worthington, Ind., where he sold goods for Langworthy & Blount. Two years later, in the fall of 1857, he came to the Territory of Nebraska, coming by rail to Jefferson City, and thence on a boat on the Missouri River to Weston, and then, the boat not being able to stem the current, he and the other passengers took the stage to St. Joseph, and came from there on a boat to Nebraska City. Here he first found employment as a clerk for the Burnham Bros., remaining with them for a year and a half. Then he and others established themselves in the boot and shoe business. He associated with his partners for two years, and then bought their interest, and conducted the business alone until 1865. At that time he was appointed Assistant Postmaster, an office which he held for nine years, discharging its onerous duties with characteristic ability and fidelity. In 1877 Mr. Burgett's fellow-citizens showed their high appreciation of his great worth by electing him to the office of City Treasurer, and he was re-elected in April, 1878. So satisfactory has his administration of the affairs of this important and responsible office been that he was re-elected each year until 1886, when he was re-elected for two years.
   Mr. Burgert was married, Sept. 13, 1860, to Mara Louisa Haskell, and their happy wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth of the following children: Minnie E., wife of J. K. Bickel; Celia M., Xida E., George, Susie, Harriet and Amy. Mrs. Burgett comes of old and well-known New England ancestry, and she was born June 6, 1841, in Princeton, Bureau Co., Ill. Her father, Jonathan Haskell, was a native of Newburyport, Mass., and a son of Noah H. and Judith (Stickney) Haskell, natives of Massachusetts. His parents moved from their New England home to Ohio in the early years of the settlement of that State. The mother died there soon after their arrival. In his early life Noah Haskell hall been a seafaring man, and was for many years Captain of a vessel. He remained in Ohio but a few years, and then went to California, where he died. Mrs. Burgert's father grew to manhood in Ohio, and from there he went to Illinois, where, in Canton, Fulton County, he was married, April 9, 1840, to Harriet N. Loomis. She was born in Hinckley, Medina Co., Ohio, June 7, 1823. Her father, Job Loomis. was a native of Massachusetts, removed from there to New York about 1805, and in 1819 went to Ohio and was one of the first settlers of Medina County, the removal in both cases being made with teams. He bought a tract of timbered land in Hinckley Precinct, and made

 that his home the rest of his days, until his death in 1828.
   Mrs. Haskell's mother, Mrs. Burgett's grandmother, spent her last years in Georgia, where she died in 1854. Her maiden name was Zilpha Hannum, and she was born in Southampton, Mass. Her father, Mrs. Burgett's great-grand father, was, so far as known, a native of Massachusetts. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and at one time was captured by the Indians. He was given the chance to run the gauntlet, and was successful and made his escape. He spent his last years in Massachusetts. Mrs. Burgert's parents moved to Illinois in 1839, and settled in Fulton County. Her father was a man of more than ordinary mental capacity, and was accounted a genius by his friends. He was quite an extensive traveler, and visited many parts of the country. He died in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 19, 1883. His widow now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Burgert.
   Mr. Burgert is a very capable man, of irreproachable habits, and both in public and in private life bears a stainless character. He is honesty itself, and. his word is as good as another man's bond. He regards his office as a sacred trust, and discharges its duties with an eye single to the best interests of the community. He and his wife are both active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Burgert is a Republican in politics, and socially, he is a member of Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F.

HARLES E. VAUGHAN, a farmer in good circumstances, widely and favorably known throughout Russell Precinct, owns and occupies 180 acres of land on section 22, He purchased in the spring of 1883 eighty acres, the next year twenty acres, later doubled the first amount, and has brought the whole to a fine state of cultivation. The fertility of the land is augmented by streams of running water, and his buildings, of modern style of architecture, convenient and comfortable, are all that are required to meet the ideas of the intelligent and progressive agriculturist. He has groves, fruit trees, and all the other appurtenances of a well-regulated farm. It is hardly necessary to say that his time has been industriously employed since he has become a resident of this county, with results that should he eminently satisfactory.
   The subject of this sketch, a native of Marshall County, Ill., was born Nov. 20, 1853, and remained with his parents until reaching his majority. The latter were by name Thomas H. and Sarah J. (Cory) Vaughan, the father a native of Rutland, Vt., and the mother born in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, N. Y. Thomas H. Vaughan was left an orphan at a very early age, and made his home in Vermont with an aunt until reaching manhood. He then cast his lot with the early settlers of Greene County, Ill., where he pursued first his trade of shoemaker, but later changed his occupation to farming.
   The father of our subject in 1850 left Greene County, and purchased 160 acres of land in Marshall County, upon which he settled and spent the remainder of his life. He distinguished himself as an active and useful citizen, as one of the pillars of the Baptist Church at Washburn, and departed this life at the old homestead in April, 1871. The mother after the death of her husband joined her son C. E. in Nebraska, and is still living, being now seventy-one years old.
   The six children of the parental family were named respectively: Rodolphus J., Russell W., Amy E., Julia A. (who died when thirty-four years old), Charles F. (our subject) and Sumner T. Rodolphus during the late war enlisted as a Union soldier in an Illinois regiment, and is now in Otoe County; Charles E. upon reaching his majority began farming on the old homestead for himself and was thus occupied five years. Then, desiring to see something of the farther West, he crossed the Mississippi into this county, first locating on section 27 in Russell Precinct, in the spring of 1880.
   Three years later he removed to section 21, and in 1883 purchased eighty acres of his present farm.
   The marriage of our subject took place in Berrien County, Mich., Dec. 19, 1876, the maiden of his choice being Miss Lillie M., daughter of Joseph A. and Elizabeth (Peck) Becker. The parents of Mrs. V. were both natives of Pennsylvania, whence they removed to the Wolverine State after marriage, where they still reside in comfortable circumstances.