his had his father lived. Mr. and Mrs. Cremer are the parents of two children -- Etta E. and an infant, John Wesley, now deceased. His neighbors have called upon him to serve them in an official capacity, having elected him Constable, in which position he has served for one term. He is an active member of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a Prelate. Both himself and wife are members of the Catalina Methodist Episcopal Church, in which society they take an important and leading part in all works of charity and benevolence.
   The politics of our subject are Republican to the heart's core. He takes a lively interest in his party, and attracts considerable attention as a local politician. He is ambitious and aspiring, shrewd and intelligent, and it would be a matter of surprise if, at some time in the not far distant future, he does not reach a highly honorable position in the councils of his party. His wife is one of the fair daughters of Maryland, that home of beauty, and a lady of intelligence. She is kind, hospitable and entertaining, and endeavors to make the stranger in their home feel at ease, extending to them a hearty welcome.

ILLIAM M. ROWLAND, a practical farmer of Avoca Precinct, is pleasantly located on section 30, where he owns a finely improved tract of land, nearly a quarter-section in length. and situated about one mile north of the village. Although not a long time resident of this section of country, coming here in the spring of 1886, he has fully identified himself with the interests of his community, and is numbered among its enterprising and public-spirited, liberal citizens. He has effected considerable improvement in his property since taking possession, and his homestead is numbered among those noticeable for the air of comfort and plenty which surrounds them.
   Prior to his arrival in Nebraska Mr. Rowland had been a resident of Page County, Iowa, for a period of sixteen years, and in the meantime had improved two farms in Fremont Township. He was uniformly successful in his labors in the Hawkeye State, but Nebraska seemed to him the more desirable country. A native of Guernsey County, Ohio, he was born Dec. 14, 1838, and is the son of a very respectable family, his father being John Rowland, who married Miss Mary Blazer, a native of Ohio. They continued residents of the Buckeye State until after the birth of most of their family, then migrated to Washington County, Iowa, where the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days. There also he acquired a practical education and attained his majority. The parents died in Iowa in middle life.
   Our subject was the eldest son and second child of his parents, and is the only survivor of five children. He grow up a practical mechanic, having learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked considerably until the outbreak of the Rebellion. He was among the first to enter the Union Army, enlisting in the fall of 1861 in Company K, 13th Iowa Infantry, under command of Capt. Woodford and Col. Crocker. They were assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and Mr. Rowland endured the vicissitudes and hardships of life in the army a period of three years. He participated with his comrades at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, was at the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and through all the Atlanta campaign. He was wounded the same time that McPherson fell, but only slightly, and was one among the nine remaining men of his company who reported after the battle, the others being either captured or killed.
   At the expiration of his term of enlistment Mr. Rowland received his honorable discharge at Chattanooga, Tenn., and not long afterward returned to his old haunts in Iowa. He took up the business of farming, and was married, July 31, 1866, to Miss Sarah Shearer. This lady was born March 29, 1835, in Ohio, and emigrated to Iowa with her parents, Valentine and Mary (Kellenberger) Shearer, about 1845. They located in Jefferson County, but a few years later left the Hawkeye State, and coming to Nebraska, located on land in Weeping Water Precinct. The father built up a good farm, and lived to the ripe old age of eighty years, dying at the homestead in 1866. The mother is still living, making her home with her son, Valentine Shearer, Jr., and is now ninety-three years old.
   Mrs. Rowland received her education in the common schools and lived at home with her parents

until her marriage. Of her union with our subject there were born five children, one of whom, an infant, died unnamed. The survivors are George S., John O., Mary M. and Calvin. The eldest of these is twenty-one years old and the youngest eleven. They are all at home with their parents, and form an interesting and intelligent family. Mr. Rowland since becoming a voter has been a supporter of Republican principles. He was the Assessor of his township while a resident of Iowa, and is a a man of sound practical sense and good principles, who is held in esteem by his neighbors, and whose opinions are generally respected.

ILLIAM B. SHRYOCK. In every town there are a few active and energetic men who have been instrumental in placing it upon its feet and attracting to it an industrious and intelligent class of people. One of the most prominent and influential of these is the subject of this sketch, a dealer in drugs and medicines, and the successor of Dr. J. A. Hassemeier, who established the business in 1878 and withdrew from it in 1882. Mr. Shryock entries a full stock of all the merchandise included in this branch of trade, besides books, Stationery and jewelry, and enjoys a generous patronage from the intelligent people of this region. His upright business methods and generally reliable qualities as a man and a citizen have commended him to the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
   A native of Winchester, Va., our subject was born Sept. 7, 1851, and is the eldest of five living children, the offspring of Thomas and Rachel (Meyers) Shryock, the latter also a native of the Old Dominion. The parents were married in their native State in 1850, and came to the West in 1864. The father is now officiating as Postmaster of Louisville. The maternal grandparents were Stephen and Joanna G. Meyers. After marriage the parents of our subject lived in the city of Baltimore, Md., a number of years, where the father was engaged as a cabinet-maker and also dealt in furniture.
   The paternal grandparents of our subject were Frederick S. and Anna E. (Sheppard) Shryock, and Thomas was their third son. He remained a resident of his native State until reaching manhood, in the meantime learning his trade of cabinet-maker. To him and his excellent wife there were burn eight children, five of whom are living, namely: William B., the subject of this sketch; Louisa A., Mrs. E. D. Stever; Edith F., Mary L. and Susan The last three are at home with their parents. Three died in infancy. The family came to the West in 1864, settling at Plattsmouth, where they lived a period of twenty years, then changed their residence to Louisville in 1883, where the father, in October of that year, entered upon his duties as Postmaster, being the successor of Mrs. Alma C. Glover, and a supporter of Mr. Cleveland's administration.
   William B. Shryock spent his boyhood years mostly in the city of Baltimore, but completed his education in the schools of Plattsmouth, this county. He commenced his apprenticeship at the printer's trade in the office of the Plattsmouth Herald, which was then under the management of H. D. Hathaway, with whom he remained a period of seven years, Subsequently he traveled considerably over the Western country through most of the States and Territories. After returning to Plattsmouth he became quite prominent in local affairs, and in 1880 was appointed Deputy County Treasurer, a position which he held until 1882. He had before this served two years, from 1876 to 1878, as Deputy County Treasurer. He then took a business trip to Leadville, Col., and in the spring of that year was married to Mrs. C. V. Irwin, an amiable and accomplished lady, by whom he became the father of two interesting children, a son and daughter -- Albert W. and Lillian J. They occupy a snug home in the southern part of the town, and enjoy the friendship of the best people.
   Mr. Shryock, politically, is a stanch Democrat, and has served as City Treasurer since his residence in Louisville. He was a member of the School Board four years and of the City Council five years. He is Secretary of the Cass County Central Committee, and a member of the State Democratic Central Committee. He is a man highly respected in business circles, being President of the Nebraska State Pharmaceutical Association, and otherwise

identified with the prominent druggists of this section of country. Socially, he belongs to Plattsmouth Lodge, I. O. O. F., and in Masonry is a member of Plattsmouth Lodge No. 6, also Mt. Zion Commandery No. 5, K. T.

OHN McCONNAHA, M. D., is one of those men endowed by nature with refined and cultivated tastes, and having an ardent love for the quiet of country life. Consequently we find him, although a practicing physician, in the possession of a good farm lying on section 20, in Rock Bluff Precinct, of which he has been it restdent for many years. He comes of excellent ancestry, the main points of his family history being as follows:
   Robert McConnaha, the father of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania, and the son of Robert McConnaha, Sr., who was born among the Scottish Highlands. The name in the early days was spelled McConaughey. The paternal great-grandfather, whose name cannot be recalled by our subject, served with his five brothers under King William in the war between the Protestants and Catholics of Scotland and England, and probably spent his last years in Scotland. His son, Robert, Sr., emigrated to the United States soon after the independence of the Colonists had been established, and located on a farm in Crawford County, Pa., which is still owned by his son, Robert, Jr. There the latter and his son John, our subject, were born. Grandfather McConnaha married Miss Margaret Story, and they became the parents of eight children, seven of whom lived to mature years and were married. But three of these now survive. Robert, the father of our subject, chose for his life companion Miss Margaret Lackey, a native of his own county, and the daughter of Robert and Mary (Kelley) Lackey.
   To the parents of our subject there were born three children -- John, Mary and Margaret. Mary became the wife of R. E. Countryman, a resident of Rock Bluff Precinct, this county; Margaret was married to G. C. Edson, of this township, and she died in 1873, leaving three children; John, of our sketch was reared in his native county, and after leaving the district school attended college in New Wilmington. After being graduated with honors he taught one term of school near Georgetown, Pa., and thus earned money enough to bring him to Nebraska. Of this he became a resident in November, 1859, while it was still a Territory, landing this side of the Missouri River with a capital of ten cents.
   Our subject possessed all the courage of his substantial Scotch ancestry, and was not dismayed by the circumstances surrounding him as long as he possessed his health and strength. He at once secured employment with Mr. Joseph P. Moore, at $13 per mouth, and was occupied at farming until the spring following. He then joined a wagon train being fitted out to cross the plains with provisions for the various posts of the frontier, and in this wild sort of life spent the time until December, 1861. In the Spring of 1862 he returned to his native State to settle up the business of his uncle, William Story. and, this accomplished, came back to this county. On the 25th of September, 1862, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Latta, and journeyed to Pennsylvania on a wedding tour, remaining in the Keystone State until the year 1866. The Doctor and his wife then returned to this county for permanent settlement.
   The household circle of Dr. and Mrs. McConnaha was completed by the birth of ten children, namely: Elmer; Jennie and Jessie (twins), who died when twenty-two months old; Ernest, Mabel, Robert; Evert, who died at the age of ten years; Lulu, Mary and Earl. The parents of Mrs. McConnaha, John and Mary (McConnaha) Latta, were also natives of Crawford County, Pa., and the parents of seven children. The Doctor during his excursions across the plains deteriorated somewhat in his medical knowledge, and consequently afterward took a course of lectures in Oakland, Cal. After these were completed he entered upon the regular practice of his profession in this township. He enjoys a fine patronage throughout Rock Bluff Precinct and the country adjoining, and has been remarkably successful. He has also frequently been called into Iowa for consultation in important cases. He has not only made money, but hosts of friends. He

purchased his present farm of 160 acres in 1869. It is pleasantly located on section 20, and bears all the evidences of thrift and judicious management.
   Mrs. McConnaha and two of her children are members in good standing of the United Brethren Church, while the Doctor is partial to the Presbyterian doctrines in which he was reared. Politically, he is a sound Republican, maintaining the principles handed flown to him from his sturdy Scotch ancestry.

DMUND E. WILLIAMS. The agricultural and business interests of Cass County are worthily represented by the subject of this biography, who was one of the earliest settlers of Southern Nebraska, and who is now the owner of a beautiful and valuable farm property lying on section 6 of Weeping Water Precinct. Coming to Nebraska in the April of 1860, seven years before it had been transformed from a Territory into a State, Mr. Williams has been a privileged witness of its remarkable growth and development, and has contributed no small share in bringing it to the position of one of the most important commonwealths west of the Mississippi. A view of his place is shown on another page of this work.
   Mr. Williams first made his stopping place on Nebraska soil near the site of the present city of Lincoln, which was then unmarked by a single building, and settled on a tract of land in the basin of Salt Creek. His principal mail station and trading-post was Wallingford, a ranch located upon the present site of Ashland, and his neighbors were few and far between. His first shelter was a dugout, and after staying here a few months he proceeded to Denver, Col., spending there the following year at the time of the gold excitement, and engaged mostly in freighting. In the spring of 1861, returning to Nebraska, he began freighting with teams, from Nebraska City to Denver and other points, a business which he followed successfully for a period of six years, employing three months in making the round trip. He thus made four trips a year, two with oxen and two with mules.
   The plains at that period were little more than a barren desert, for which our subject world not have paid ten cents per acre for all he could see. After a time there was visible a ranch here and there, but it was not until about 1864 that the country began to settle up. With Edmund E. there came his two brothers, Charles and George Williams, but the two latter were so disgusted with the outlook that they soon sought their old haunts in Iowa. Edmund E., however, resolved not to be beaten, persevered in his reolutin (sic) to carry out what was meant in the advice of Horace Greeley, "Go West, young man, go West," and having come here determined to stay. Although the first few years formed a period of many hardships and much toil, in looking upon his surroundings to-day it would seem that he must have reason to feel satisfied with the result.
   In the April of 1869 Mr. Williams homesteaded eighty acres of wild land on section 6, in Weeping Water Precinct, which is included in his present homestead, and after his freighting business had been abandoned he entered industriously upon its cultivation. Beginning from first principles he broke the sod and put in his first crops before fencing. Soon afterward he began the planting of trees, both forest and fruit, and one by one erected the buildings necessary for his convenience and comfort. The residence is a substantial two-story frame structure, which was completed in 1879. The year following he put up the first large barn, which was then the best structure of its kind within a radius of ten miles, and is still capable of many years' service. He has always kept good live stock, and gradually gathered the machinery necessary for the thorough cultivation of the soil. A fine windmill pumps water from a living spring, which is conveyed wherever needed, and all about the premises are the numberless little contrivances which have so much to do with the comfort and enjoyment of the modern farmer and his family.
   Mr. Williams avers that he has been "too busy to dabble in politics," although he has kept himself fully informed as to the course of National events, and uniformly casts his vote with the "grand old Republican party." He has, however, consented to serve as an officer of the School Board, being Treasurer in his school district a period of nine years, and holding other unsalaried positions

of trust. With his estimable wire and his son he is a member in good standing of the Free-Will Baptist Church, in which he has officiated as Deacon a number of years.
   The subject of this sketch was born in Hancock County, Ohio, Aug. 5, 1839, and when a lad of thirteen years his parents removed to Jackson county, Iowa. There the father died three years later, in 1855. Edmund E. being the second eldest son assumed charge of the homestead until his younger brothers were old enough to take his place. In the meantime his mother was married a second time, and lived in Iowa until 1860. She is now in California.
   Mr. Williams after abandoning his freighting enterprise was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary (Davidson) West, Jan. 18, 1865, in Iowa. Mrs. Williams was born in Washington County, Ohio, Nov. 11, 1837, and is the daughter of Lucius and Catharine West, the former born in New York and the latter in Ohio. Leaving the Buckeye State about 1852 they emigrated to Iowa, settling in Jackson County, where the father carried on farming a few seasons, then going to California remained on the Pacific Slope until his death about 1880. The mother died in Ohio, in 1850. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams there have been born eight children, six of whom are living, namely: Thomas A., Willard, Nellie, Wesley, Emma and Eddie. The deceased children were two little sons, Charley and Ray, who each died about the age of one and one-half years. The survivors are all at home with their parents, and are being given first-class educational advantages. The eldest, Thomas A., has already been graduated from the Lincoln State University as B. S. Mr. Williams was enabled to acquire only a limited education, and is determined that his children shall not be called upon to undergo the disadvantages with which he has battled on a like account.
   Thomas Williams, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia, in 1810, and there lived until reaching manhood. He then emigrated to Ohio, and settled among the earliest pioneers of Hancock County. Taking up it tract of timber land he constructed a home in the wilderness. He sold his first purchase a few years later and performed as before upon another piece of wild land, then, finally selling out, left the Buckeye State altogether, and moved to Iowa with his family. Settling there in Jackson county he battled again with the elements of a new soil, and died at this latter homestead about 1850.
   The mother of our subject. Mrs. Margaret (ShurIey) Williams, was born, reared, and married to Mr. Williams in Ohio. Her union with the father of our subject resulted in the birth of eight children, all of whom lived to mature years, and seven are still living. The deceased son, Charley, died at Pittsburg Landing, just after the battle at that place.
   At the time of the Indian outbreak of 1863 Mr. Williams, in pursuance of his freighting business, was encamped about sixty miles southeast of Denver with a herd of nearly 600 head of work cattle for Majors & Russell. of Nebraska City, having with him three men. The outbreak occurred only three miles from them, and two of the men at another camp were killed. Mr. Williams with his men succeeded in rounding up his cattle, and started on the forced march toward Denver, reaching there by 2 o'clock next morning. At sunrise the next morning he was back with sixty cavalry men and four guns. They started on the trail of the savages, ran a portion of them across the Platte River, and discovered their encampment opposite Rising Sun Ranch. Crossing in the darkness seven miles below they came up to within three-fourths of a mile of them, and lying in Sand Gulch until dawn, commenced work, cleaning them out and recovering eighty head of horses and mules, together with all except eighty head of their cattle which the redskins had taken. In this skirmish seven men were killed, five soldiers and two herders, still a number of others wounded. Mr. Williams during his freighting experience often met with the Indians, frequently engaging in skirmishes with them. "Old Bob Williams'" ranch, about 400 miles west of Nebraska City, was the scene of one of his liveliest encounters. The Indians had made a raid on a train of nine emigrant wagons, killing all of the people with the exception of one man, this being done only two hours before our subject and his men overtook them. Mr. Williams and his men

formed a corral of the wagons, putting their cattle therein, and thus made a breastwork, from which they fired at the Indians, and after a long and hard-fought battle and killing many, finally drove them away. His adventures during his travels on the frontier would make a good sized volume, highly interesting to peruse.

R. ANSON L. ROOT. Prominent among the medical fraternity and business men of Cass County stands the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. He has been a resident of, and practitioner in Weeping Water since 1873, and in that time has built up an extensive practice, and won hosts of friends among all classes of people. He is a native of Trumbull County, Ohio, born Feb. 5, 1831. His father, Dr. Anson Root, was the son of a physician, with whom he read medicine, afterward attending lectures, and then practicing in Ohio and Indiana the forty years before his death. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Sally Brooks, who was the daughter of an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolution. To her and her husband were born thirteen children, six of whom grew to maturity. One of them gave his life to his country, having died while in service during the late Rebellion. The subject of our sketch went South to nurse and care for him, but found on his arrival that he had died nine days previously.
   Dr. Root, of whom we write, remained at home until twenty-one years of age, receiving a good education in his native town, and studying medicine with his father, thus having superior advantages over most boys in those days. The death of his father occurred when our subject was seventeen years of age, and he afterward read medicine with Dr. Bradley, of Johnstown, Ohio, for a period of two years, taking also a course of lectures at Cincinnati, and in 1851 commenced the practice of medicine. He first located in Ohio, then established himself in Indiana, but desiring still newer country for practice, went to Galien, Berrien Co., Mich., thence to Newaygo, in the same State, where he remained several years. having settled there before the war, and staying there until coming to Nebraska. He had an extensive practice there, and now has many applications for pension certificates from that State. Associated with him in his profession while in Newaygo was his nephew, Dr. H. D. Root, now of Lincoln, Neb., and the amount of business done by them may be inferred from the fact that besides the cash practice in the office they averaged a book practice of $4,200 a year, this showing the large territory over which they must have ridden.
   In March, 1873, Dr. Root came to Nebraska, and settled at Eight Mile Grove, where he was soon appointed Postmaster by Postmaster-General James, and held that office until forced to resign on account of sickness. His official duties, in connection with his professional ones, were too great for his physical strength, his medical practice having grown rapidly. He had the majority of cases of sickness in the settled country southwest of his place, but was obliged for a time to give up all work. At the end of eight years the Doctor came to Weeping Water, and lived on a farm four miles west of the city limits for a year. He then bought out the two drug-stores at South Bend, and consolidating them, took in as partner C. L. Bates, who the following year disposed of his interest to the son-in-law of our subject, Edward Parish. They moved the store to Weeping Water. and it is now doing a successful business under the firm name of Root & Parish. Besides this store, Dr. Root is the owner of another store and lot on I street, Weeping Water, and of two building lots and two residences, and also of land in Julesburg, Col. The drug building and two residences in the city are owned jointly by Dr. Root and his son-in-law, Edward Parish. The Doctor has been very successful in all his undertakings, and has ample wealth for his remaining years, which we sincerely hope may be many, and is gradually giving up his practice to younger and stronger hands, attending only to a few of his old patrons who hesitate to place themselves under the care of a strange doctor. His reputation as a skillful physician is well known throughout the State, and is recognized by his professional brethren everywhere, and he is a valued