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was considered as good as their bond. The mother of our subject also came from an excellent family, and the town of Pottsville, Pa., was named in honor of her grandfather, by whom it was founded. The Shoemakers originally, in religious matters, held to the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, but later we and them with the Episcopalians. Henry Shoemaker, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was also a native of Lycoming County, Pa., where he was reared to manhood. and married Miss Susan Dudder, of Dutch ancestry. They continued their residence in Lycoming County the balance of their lives, living to be ripe in years, and were also connected with the Lutheran Church.
   Mathew H. Shoemaker was the sixth child of a family of six sons and two daughters, all of whom received careful home training, and a practical education in the coalition schools. Of these six are living. In April, 1860, Mr. Shoemaker and three of his neighbors, viz; Daniel B. Robb, Thomas Lindsey and Amos Weaver, clubbed together and got an outfit consisting of a wagon and three yoke of cattle, and provisions for six months, and started over the plains for Pike's Peak, where, after a pleasant trip of forty days, they arrived. Denver was then but a hamlet, and the first thing that attracted their attention on arriving there was to witness the hanging of a man by the citizens, for murder. This gave Mr. S. a fair idea of the character of the people and their methods of administering the laws as they made them for the evil doers. He remained in Colorado for two years, and the whole party spent their time diligently employed in different occupations. During his stay in Colorado he was very successful.
   Our subject continued a resident of his native State until a young man twenty-four years old, when he crossed the Mississippi and resolved to cast his lot with the pioneer element of Nebraska. Some years afterward he made the acquaintance of a most estimable young lady of Wyoming Precinct, Miss Alice E. Olds, to whom he was married Nov. 16, 1874. Mrs. Shoemaker was born in Symcoe, Lower Canada, Oct. 12, 1857, and came to the States with her parents when quite a young child, they settling in this county, where she was reared to womanhood. She is a very estimable lady, and by her marriage with our subject has become the mother of six children, three of whom are deceased, namely: Kate, Mary E. and Clara. The survivors are Edward, Artie and Jessie, who are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker attend the Episcopal Church at Wyoming. Our subject was a member of the Republican party a number of years, but his warm interest in the temperance work led him in 1888 to-identify himself with the Prohibitionists.
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Letter/label or doodleHOMAS D. SABIN occupies a prominent place among the farmers of this county, and resides on section 9 of Syracuse Precinct, his home being about one-half mile from the town of that name. He is a native of the Buckeye State, and was born on the 8th of September, 1839, in Knox County. His parents were David and Nancy (Baird) Sabin; the father was a native of Washington County, Pa.. the mother of Perry County, Ohio. The latter is deceased.
   The grandfather of our subject, David Sabin, was born in Vermont, which is as far as our subject has been enabled to trace his ancestry. He removed from Vermont and settled in Washington County about the time of his marriage, where he lived for many years and brought up his family, then going to Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days in Licking County.
   The father of our subject grew to manhood in Pennsylvania, and was about eighteen years of age when he took his place with his father among the pioneer settlers of Licking County. In that place he lived until the year 1856, when he migrated to Illinois and settled upon the farm near Bloomington, where he continued to follow agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he removed to Piper City, where he still resides, and although he has reached the advanced age of eighty years, enjoys the use of his faculties and fairly good health. He has been a successful man and a leading citizen; has been able to educate his children and give them a start in life.
   The mother of our subject was born in Perry County, Ohio. in the year 1812, and died upon the 14th of February, 1871. Her married life extended over a period of forty years, which. from commence-

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ment to close. witnessed the same affectionate devotion and faithfulness to the obligations resting upon her as a wife find mother: she filled a place in the hearts of her family that can never be otherwise occupied. She was the mother of ten children. only five of whom, however, attained to years of discretion, viz: Daniel E., who resides at Albion; Mary J., now Mrs. Fowler, who resides near Piper City, Ill.; Thomas D., our subject; Jemima W., of Chicago, and Eliza, who was married to Mr. David Hall, and died at her home at Danvers, Ill.
   The subject of our sketch attained to years of manhood before leaving his native State. In 1856 with his parents he removed to Illinois and began life for himself. In 1864 he went to McLean county, Ill., and engaged to farming. The same year he was united in marriage with Eliza V. Wood, the estimable daughter of William and Mary (Campbell) Wood, who were natives of Frederick County, Va., but removed to Clinton, Ohio, where their daughter Eliza was born on the 10th of January, 1836. Their home in Clinton County was only made by cutting their way, foot by foot, in the dense forests of that district, and thus redeeming, piece by piece, the land for cultivation. Their residence in Ohio continued until 1853, when they removed to Knox County, Ill., where the mother died to 1861. The family removed to McLean County. The father died in the year 1869, at his home in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Wood were the parents of eight children, seven of whom attained their majority. These are: Mary L., who became the wife of Joseph Strickle; William R., of Colorado; James H., who died at Denison, Tex.; Robert M., of Nebraska; John F., of Bloomington; Eliza V., the wife of our subject, and Dakin D., who resides in Nebraska and is engaged in farming.
   After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sabin settled on a farm in McLean County and began life in earnest. Our subject gave his attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land, in the endeavor to bring his farm to as near a perfect state of cultivation as possible. He put up some first class farm buildings, and gave attention generally to stock-farming, also to the buying and shipping of stock. In this he continued until 1883, when he came to Nebraska and purchased his present property, which comprises 240 acres of land, and is well provided with the various appliances and buildings needed. They have but one child, a daughter, Cora. born Feb. 8, 1871, who has displayed a character and disposition most happy. The position of our religiously is in the Christian Church, of which they are highly esteemed members and active workers. In matters of political import Mr. Sabin usually votes the Republican ticket, supporting it in any effort that is made when he conscientiously can; but he is not confined within the circumscribed limits of party fence-building, and is guided in this as in everything else by, the high principles that have characterized the decisions of his life, and is swayed by the condition of the situation to be met, the needs of the constituents and the power of the candidate to meet those needs, so that he might be called independent. He is a man who stands high in the community in every regard.
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Letter/label or doodleILLIAM J. DOUGALL. The name of this gentleman is familiar to a large portion of the residents of Palmyra Precinct, he being numbered among its leading men. His career has been creditable in the extreme, and one which his children may look upon with pride. During the late Civil War he did good service as a soldier in the Union Army, and upon returning to private life has been one of the most useful members of an intelligent and prosperous community. Genial, companionable and conscientious, he is popular among his fellow-citizens, and his personal appearance alone would commend him as a man of more than ordinary capabilities. He is of commanding presence with fine features, and a remarkably intelligent eye -- a man who would be singled out among a thousand.
   Mr. Dougall has the greater part of his life been engaged in farming pursuits, and his property in Palmyra Precinct embraces eighty acres on section 14, and forty acres on section 10, besides the home farm on section 15. To the latter he has given especial attention, having gathered around himself and his family those conveniences and comforts

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naturally suggested to the kindly husband and father and the self-respecting citizen. He is in the prime of life, having been born Sept. 1, 1842, at the farm of his father in Princeton Township, Schenectady Co., N. Y. His parents were John D. and Jennie (Walker) Dougall. The father, a native of Scotland, was born about seven miles from the city of Edinburgh, and was given a fine education, attending school during his youthful days until coming to the United States. After taking up his residence in Schenectady County, N. Y., he engaged in teaching and farming combined, and in the Empire State made the acquaintance of his future wife.
   The mother of our subject was born in the above named county, and was there married to John Dougall. Their union resulted in the birth of live children, namely: Thomas, George, William J. (our subject), Peter and Margaret. The latter was taken from the home circle under the most distressing circumstances, she being burned to death when a child. All of the others grew to mature years, and three are now living. The parents, a brother and a sister, died during the Civil War.
   Mr. Dougall spent his boyhood and youth on the farm, pursuing his first studies in the district school. At the age of sixteen years he became a student of Jonesville Academy. Not long after the first call for troops to assist in putting down the Rebellion, he enlisted in Company E, 44th New York Infantry, which was styled the "Ellsworth Avengers." His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and young Dougall participated in many of the important battles which followed, namely: Big Bethel, Little Bethel, Yorktown, Williamsburg, and was in the seven-days fight at the second battle of Bull Run. At Antietam he was promoted to Sergeant. and afterward severely wounded in the left leg. He was conveyed to the hospital at Harrisburg, Pa., where he lay a short time, and was finally obliged to accept his honorable discharge on account of disability. He had, however, given a faithful service of one year, and felt that he had performed his duty.
   During the attack of Lee upon the city of Gettysburg there were 2,200 disabled and discharged soldiers waiting at Camp Distribution, not yet having been assigned to their respective regiments. Observing that the Union troops were in need of their aid, they at once took up arms, and as if by magic, submitted to the orders of the War Department. Our subject at the time assumed command of a squad of men, and through the united efforts of the brave recruits, the plans of the rebel General were materially changed if not absolutely defeated. Mr. Dougall re-enlisted with the 99th Pennsylvania Infantry, and six days later was again found in the thickest of the light at the battles of Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, and the first and second battles of the Wilderness. At the latter he was struck by two balls at about the same time, and about four rods away seventeen color-bearers fell. Corporal Dougall, notwithstanding his wounds, seized one of the falling banners, and was about bearing it on to victory, when a musket ball struck his breastplate, and although not penetrating it, dealt him such a blow that he reeled, and was in the act of falling when another ball struck him in the left heel. He was carried to the rear. At the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, when every inch of ground was disputed, the troops first advancing, then retreating, Sergt. Dougall while nearing the third line of the rebel breastworks, cleared them, and seizing the rebel colors, started for his own lines, but before he could reach them fell, severely wounded in the head. The cry went up from his comrades that "brave Dougall was no more." The latter lay unconscious on the ground nearly all day, while thousands of bullets flew thick around him, and when the ground was strewn with the dead and wounded of both armies. At night he crawled into his regiment's ranks.
   Sergt. Dougall later recovering from his wounds, was given a thirty-days furlough and returned home. At the expiration of this time he rejoined his regiment and participated in the series of battles along the Chickahominy, prior to laying siege to Petersburg. Here he was promoted to Corporal, and was again wounded several times. During his army service he participated in thirty-two general engagements, besides unnumbered skirmishes and all the other vicissitudes of war, the wearisome marches, hardships and privations, insufficient food, and the various other experiences incident to life

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in the army. He was present at the final grand review in Washington, and received his discharge in Philadelphia. Pa., after a service of four years and thirteen days.
   Our subject, April 9, 1866, crossed the Mississippi, and coming to this county homesteaded 160 acres of land in Palmyra Precinct. In November following he was united in marriage with Miss Emma, adopted daughter of Homer Chamberlain. This lady was born in 1848, in Canada. They began their wedded life together under the modest roof provided by our subject on the new farm, which they have since developed into a comfortable and well-ordered homestead. Their union has been blessed by the birth of five children, the eldest of whom, Minnie B., died when an interesting young girl of fifteen years. The others, Homer J., William E., Elizabeth A. and Joseph G., are all at home.
   Mr. Dougall voted for the adoption of a State Constitution in 1866, and has been an ardent supporter of Republican principles. He has served as Justice of the Pence four years, Road Supervisor twelve years, and Constable for a period of fifteen years. Both he and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the United Brethren Church, attending with the Mt. Zion congregation in Palmyra. Socially, Mr. B. is Adjutant in the G. A. R., in which he has also served as Officer of the Day, and as a delegate to the National Encampment.
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Letter/label or doodleASON H. WILES, whose highly productive and splendidly kept farm is situated upon section 14 of Delaware Precinct, was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, on the 15th of February, 1847. He is the son of Mason S. and Helen Wiles, natives of New York State. His father removed to Ohio when a young man, and there followed his trade, that of a carpenter. In 1861 he removed with his family to Eaton County, Mich., where he pursued carpentering, while his sons attended to the farm. In the fall of 1869 they migrated to Bates County, Mo., and the following spring settled in Peru, Nemaha County, this State. The subject of our sketch was early initiated into the various duties of farm life, and in the common school of the district received such instruction as would serve as a basis of operations in business or other engagements to which he might give his attention in after years. He accompanied his parents as they migrated from one place to another, finding such employment upon the farm as was both congenial and helpful.
   Finally, leaving home and beginning life for himself, Mr. Wiles settled about six miles west of Peru, where he lived until 1879, engaged in farming. He came to this county in the spring of 1882, and lived for three years near Nebraska City, moving to his present farm in 1885. He owns 160 acres of land amply adapted for agricultural pursuits. He has labored industriously to bring it to its present condition, and is usually rewarded with abundant harvests. In the stock department of his farm he raises chiefly cattle and hogs, and upon an average has each season no less than eighty head of graded cattle.
   In no other country in the world are there so many of the masses of the people owning their own homes. This is an indication that deep-rooted in the heart of the American citizen, is the desire for a fireside of his own, and that he finds the atmosphere of the domestic circle eminently congenial. A country has therein one of its strongest find stoutest bulwarks. Napoleon the Great is said to have remarked that if he had a nation of mothers he could conquer the world. Our subject, in common with American citizens generally, having the same desire for the home relation, sought and obtained the hand of Lenora A. Kent in marriage, that event being celebrated on the 22d of January, 1880. Their union has been fruitful in the birth of three children, who bear the names of Wyman S., Hiram L. and Frank S.
   Mr. Wiles is of a retiring disposition, and consequently is not prominent in political affairs. He is, however, a loyal and true citizen, careful to do his duty, usually voting with the Republican party, but reserving to himself the right of the free citizen to support such candidates for office as he may deem most worthy and efficient.
   The homestead views of this volume form one of its most attractive features, and the Wiles

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residence, with its surroundings herein given, aid greatly in perfecting the illustrative department, as indicative of the tastes and industry of an intelligent community.
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Letter/label or doodleHOMAS WEATHERHOGG is a resident on section 3, Palmyra Precinct. A native of Lincolnshire, England, he was born in 1829, and is the son of John and Hannah (Coats) Weatherhogg, of whose children six are living, namely: Charles, Jane, Thomas, William, Henry and George.
   The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation, and the boyhood of Thomas was spent in his native county, where he became familiar with the employments of rural life. Upon leaving home he was in the employ of one man on a farm for a period of nine years. He was married, in 1853, to Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Halford, who was born in 1828. Mr: H. was also a farmer by occupation, and the parental family consisted of three children -- William, Rachel and Mary.
   Mr. and Mrs. Weatherhogg lived in England about four years after their marriage, and became the parents of one child. In 1857 they started for America, and after a prosperous voyage landed in New York City, whence they proceeded soon afterward to the vicinity of Mendota, Ill. There our subject engaged in farming. Later, with his brothers, Charles, William and Henry, he started to Pike's Peak, in 1863, and there experienced the truth of the maxim that "all is not gold that glitters." After one year spent in fruitlessly prospecting, he turned his attention to something more tangible, and paying an exorbitant price for a team of oxen, began freighting. Later he returned to Illinois, and remained there until coming to Nebraska in the fall of 1865.
   Mrs. Weatherhogg is deceased. Their only child, a daughter Anna, became the wife of George Halley, and is now living at Long Pine, in Brown County, Ill. Mr. H. is a farmer by occcupation (sic), and they have one child, a daughter Lilly.
   Upon coming to Nebraska Mr. Weatherhogg settled upon 160 acres of land in Palmyra Precinct, and put up a small house, paying for the lumber at the rate of $40 per thousand. Here he lived by himself, his daughter Anna having taken up her abode with his brother Charles, where she lived until eighteen years of age. She then came home to her father. Our subject in 1869 contracted a second marriage, with Mrs. Harriet (Smith) Longstreet, widow of the late Henry Longstreet. Mrs. Weatherhogg was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., and went with her parents to Michigan. There she was first married and lived until after the war, when she came to Nebraska with relatives and took up a tract of land in Palmyra Precinct. Of this union there have been born four children, all sons--Frank, John, George and Frederick.
   Mr. Weatherhogg, politically, is independent, and has never had any aspiration for office. He has fought the grasshopper plague successfully, and has now a comfortable homestead in the midst of fruit and shade trees, including an apple orchard and a quantity of grape vines, and has a grove of cottonwood, ash and honey locust trees. His fields are laid off with neatly trimmed hedge fences, and his home forms in exceedingly pleasant picture of country life.

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Letter/label or doodleOBERT T. McPHERSON may be placed among the substantial, well-to-do citizens of Russell Precinct, and operates successfully from a financial standpoint eighty acres of excellent farming land on section 6. Joseph McPherson, the father of our subject, was born in Scotland, He came to this country a young man and began farming in Pennsylvania, and he was the owner of 200 acres in that State and there died in 1856. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, whom he met and married in the State of his adoption, was Miss Anna Barr, who was born and brought up in Pennsylvania. The maternal side of the family represents a French ancestry. Grandfather Barr was in the War of 1812, and was one of the children born in this country, although of French parents. The mother of our subject is still living, and is sixty years of age. She was the mother of six children, of

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whom the following three survive; Hugh, who resides in Pennsylvania; John and Robert T. Elizabeth, Mary and Jane are deceased.
   The subject of our sketch was born in Indiana County, Pa., on the 28th of August, 1851. He made his home with his parents until fourteen years of age, and then went to Illinois, and worked out upon a farm by the mouth for about six years. He managed to pick up while at home and during the winters of his absence a fairly good practical education, through the instrumentality of the common schools. In the year 1871 he started overland and came to Cass County, in this State. He remained there one year, find then came to Russell Precinct, in this county, where he was enabled to purchase eighty acres of land, his present property, which he has improved in a most commendable manner.
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Letter/label or doodleIETRICH SCHINDLER. The agricultural interests of Otoe Precinct are no better represented than by the subject of this sketch, who owns a large and well-managed farm in this locality, pleasantly situated on section 22, and comprising 860 acres of as rich and fertile farming land as is to be found in Eastern Nebraska. Mr. Schindler is a native of Switzerland, having been born in the Canton of Glarus, July 10, 1843. His father, Jacob Schindler, and his grandfather, Joachim Schindler, were also natives of the same canton, and the latter spent his entire life there. The father of our subject learned the trade of locksmith in his native land, and pursued it there until 1857, when he set sail from Havre de Grace in the month of February in an American-bound vessel, accompanied by three of his five children. They landed at New Orleans sixty days later, and there took passage on a steamer up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and landed at Otoe City, now Minersville, Otoe County, and from there Mr. Schindler started out to seek a location. He soon bought a claim in Otoe Precinct, section 22, where our subject now resides. He soon completed his purchase with the Government and moved into a log cabin that stood on the place nearly finished. He had ten acres broken, and planted that with corn and potatoes, and continued to live there until 1859, when he rented the land and went to Arkansas, where he bought a tract of land in Dallas County, and there the family were reunited by his wife and other two children joining them. He was prosperously engaged in farming there until his death in 1864, which was brought about in this way. It was during the war, and the country was infested by guerrillas who, while he was on his way to Little Rock to see Gen. Steele, waylaid and killed him, and at the same time the greater part of his stock and personal property was killed or destroyed by the bushwackers. Soon after his death the family returned to Otoe Precinct, and settled on the land that he had purchased from the Government The mother of our subject was a resident of the precinct until her death. The record of the children born to her and list husband is as follows: Ursula, wife of Henry Vallman; Emilie died soon after the return of the family from Arkansas; Dietrich; Annie E., wife of Jacob Baltensperger; Edward died in Arkansas.
   The subject of this sketch gained a good, practical education in the Swiss schools, which he attended quite regularly as long as he lived in his native land. He was fourteen years old when he accompanied his father to this country, and he remembers well the incidents of the long voyage, and of his subsequent pioneer life here on the farm where he now resides, over which deer, wolves and prairie chickens used to roam, and occasionally wild turkeys. He went to Arkansas with his father, and lived with him until 1862, when he was drafted into the Confederate Army, and was obliged to serve in its ranks as a member of Company G, 21st Arkansas Infantry, doing duty in Mississippi for one year. While at Vicksburg he obtained a furlough, and after his return home communications were cut off by Gen. Grant, and our subject was detailed to superintend the sulphur works at the Hot Springs until the Federals took Little Rock. He then went into the Union camp at that place, and gladly took the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. After that he went to Cairo, Ill., where he worked at the baker's trade for six months, when he returned to the old homestead, and in the summer of

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