the inmates are surrounded by all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
   Mr. Caspers came to Nebraska while it was a Territory in the fall of 1856, and pre-empted 120 acres of land in Nemaha County. He took up his residence in Rock Creek Precinct, this county, in 1872. The distinguishing trait of his character has been a resolute perseverance that has kept him steadily at work, and which has enabled him to accomplish the tine results which are apparent to-day in his surroundings and his possessions.
   Our subject was born in what was then the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, Feb. 10, 1831, and is the offspring of a good family, his father being John Caspers, Sr., who carried on agriculture successfully upon his native soil and there spent his entire life, dying at the ripe old age of eighty years. He had married in early manhood Miss Hilka Zimmermann, a native of the same Province as her husband, and who died several years before his decease, also well advanced in years. They were people greatly respected in their community, members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, and the parents of seven children. Only one brother of our subject emigrated to America, and is now a resident of Nemaha County, Neb.
   Mr. Casper received a good practical education in his native tongue, and worked with his father on the farm until reaching manhood. He was then married to Miss Margaret Barans, who was also born in Hanover, Oct. 10, 1827. Her parents, Lawrence and Ricksta (Johnson) Barans, were also natives of Hanover, and the father a farmer by occupation. They died not far from the place of their birth, when quite aged. Their daughter Margaret remained with them until her marriage.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Caspers there have been born nine children, with five of whom they have been called to part, namely: Maggie (1st), Thomas, Maggie (2d), and two infants unnamed. John, their eldest son living, married Miss Mattie Hillis, and is farming in Benton Precinct, Nemaha County; Lawrence married Miss Mary Hillis, and they are living on a farm in Rock Creek Precinct; Benjamin married Miss Ida Pracht, and lives on a farm in LaFayette Precinct, Nemaha County; Ellen is at home with her parents. Both parents and children are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Caspers, in politics, is a fervent supporter of Democratic principles. Mr. Caspers upon reaching the United States located in Madison County, Ill., where he lived two years, and thence came to Nebraska. A view of Mr. Caspers' place is shown on another page.

EUBEN CHURCH. Both physically and mentally considered, the subject of this sketch would at once attract the attention of any intelligent individual, and within the confines of Otoe Precinct there are none held more generally in respect on account of sterling worth of character combined with more than ordinary capabilities. Of noble stature and commanding presence, he also has a mind in keeping with the physical qualities bestowed upon him by a kindly Providence. Presiding over his domestic affairs his wife, Mrs. Lydia Church, is a lady in every way suited to her position as the companion of such a man as her husband, and one who in her younger years must have been a lady of uncommon beauty. She still retains a large measure of her youthful attractiveness, and is the mother of a blooming family, which the parents may be pardoned for looking upon with great pride.
   Mr. Church owns and operates 245 acres of valuable land lying upon sections 13 and 18. Upon this he has labored for the last twenty years, and has very nearly brought it to perfection, the soil being in a highly productive condition, and the farm buildings, live stock and machinery of first class description. The residence, a tasteful and commodious frame structure, is flanked by good barns and outhouses, an ample orchard, shade and fruit trees, and the usual appliances of the well-regulated country estate. The farm is largely devoted to the raising of fine stock, Mr. Church making a specialty of the celebrated Clydesdale horses. In this line he exhibits some of the handsomest specimens of the equine race to be found in Southeastern Nebraska.
   Our subject is the offspring of a good family, being the elder of two children born to Charles and Sally (Dutton) Church, who were both natives

of Rutland County, Vt., born near the town of that name. The paternal great-grandfather carried a musket in the Revolutionary War, while Grandfather Church served in the War of 1812. The family is of English ancestry, and the first representatives it is supposed settled in the Green Mountain State during the Colonial days. The parents of our subject were married in New York State, and settled on a farm in St. Lawrence County, where they lived until 1835. Thence they removed to Ohio, and thereafter for a time lived in the vicinity of the Black River, in Lorain County. The father, however, in 1848, not yet satisfied with his surroundings, pushed on still further westward with his family, locating first in DeKalb County, Ill. Later he crossed the Mississippi into Iowa, and settled upon a farm in Hancock County, where he was greatly prospered in his labors as an agriculturist and accumulated a flue property. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years, and died at the homestead in Iowa, Dec. 25. 1884.
   Mrs. Sally (Dutton) Church, the mother of our subject, had died when a young woman only twenty-three years of age, during the residence of the family in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., leaving two children: Reuben, of our sketch, and his sister Polly. The latter is now the wife of Henry Cunningham, of Boone County, Ill., and they are the parents of one child. Charles Church after the death of his first wife was married again, in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., to Miss Calista Smith, and to them were born eleven children. The stepmother and her children are still living in the Hawkeye State.
   Reuben Church was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., Nov. 26, 1826, and was a lad of eight years when his father removed to Ohio. He was educated in the common schools, and remained a member of his father's household until reaching his majority. In the fall of 1850 he started out for himself, making his way first to Chippewa County, Wis., where he was employed in the lumber regions for a period of four years. During this time he received a salary of $26 per month the year around, saved what he could of his earnings, and thus laid the foundation of a future prosperity.
   Up to this time Mr. Church, although now nearly twenty-nine years of age, had wisely refrained from taking upon himself the responsibilities which too many men and women thoughtlessly assume, but he now judged it proper to begin the establishment of a home and domestic ties of his own. He had in the meanwhile formed the acquaintance of Miss Lydia Little, one of the most attractive and estimable young ladies of the Prairie State, as sensible as she was beautiful, and who fully appreciated the manly qualities of her stalwart suitor. Returning to DeKalb County, Ill., our subject was united in marriage with this lady at her home in Belvidere, March 27, 1855, amid the congratulations and best wishes of many friends, who voted them the handsomest pair seen in that region for many a day.
   A few months after their marriage our subject and his young wife moved to Iowa, and Mr. Church purchased 160 acres of land in Avery Township, Hancock County. He entered earnestly upon the cultivation and improvement of his purchase and was greatly prospered. While at the same time prosecuting his labors as an agriculturist he became prominent in the affairs of Hancock County, his evident talents having obtained ready recognition among the people in that section of the Hawkeye State. He was instrumental in the organization of the county in 1858, and was elected its first Treasurer. He was twice re-elected to this office, serving a term of six years, and for four years of this time was also the County Recorder, holding both offices, as was frequently done in the new counties. For a number of years he officiated as Justice of the Peace. He was the Postmaster at Upper Grove in the same county, during the administration of three Presidents, Buchanan, Lincoln and Johnson, resigning the office upon his removal from the State.
   Although having little to complain of in his experience as an Iowa farmer and citizen, the reports reaching Mr. Church from the Territory of Nebraska induced him to change his location. He certainly has had little reason to regret this change and neither have the people around him. Since that time he has been a resident of Otoe Precinct, this county. He has studiously avoided mixing in public affairs since coming to Nebraska, preferring to give his attention to his farm and his family, al-