nesota, where the father took on a tract of land. The boyhood and youth of our subject were employed mostly in securing his education, and after a brief period spent in the district school he was sent to the Academy of Salem, Ind. After spending two years at this institution he taught school a period of six years in the States of Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska, coming to the latter in the spring of 1875. His father in the meantime had died when he was a youth of sixteen years, and he aided in the support of his mother. The latter is now dead, and her remains are interred at Nebraska City.
   Mr. Keithley upon coining to Nebraska was located for a time in Nebraska City, and was there married, Oct. 22, 1878, to Miss Agnes E. Kay. This lady was born May 15, 1859, in Nebraska City, Otoe County, and received a good education, completing her studies in the Nebraska City High School. She made her home with her parents until her marriage. She is the daughter of Dr. M. K. and Demaris (Seaton) Kay, the former a prominent physician of Nebraska City and one of its earliest settlers. He comes of excellent ancestry, and was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1818. He came to America about 1848, settling first in Illinois, and removing in the year 1855 to Nebraska City. Mrs. Demaris Kay, the wife and mother, was born in Louisville, Ky., and married in Hennepin, Ill. Of this union there were born four children, two only of whom lived to mature years. Dr. Kay obtained his medical education in Glasgow, Scotland, being graduated from one of the colleges there. Both he and his estimable wife are still living, making their home in Nebraska City, and both are members of the Episcopal Church.
   Samuel T. Keithley, the father of our subject, was born in Harrison County, Ind., Dec. 23, 1818, and lived there until reaching man's estate. He was married, in 1839, to Miss Sarah J. Catlin, of Washington County, and they became the parents of seven children, four of whom are living, namely. James K., our subject; Nancy C., Mrs. J. S. Bean. of St. Paul, Minn.; Theo W., a resident of Montevideo, Minn., and William A., publisher of the Saunders County Leader, in Ashland, this State.
   Samuel Keithley was a ship carpenter by trade, which he followed for a time in Louisville, Ky., and until 1855, then migrating to Minnesota, he took up land in LeSueur County, and improved a farm, upon which he lived until 1862. The progress of the Civil War called him from his farm and family. and he enlisted in Company K, 7th Minnesota Infantry. During his absence there occurred the Indian outbreak in which the family fled to the city, leaving the farm to the mercy of both Indians and white outlaws, who stole everything they could carry off.
   In the meantime the father of the family, after serving as a Union soldier two years and ten months, suffered greatly in health, and was obliged to accept his honorable discharge two months before the expiration of his term of enlistment. He then returned to Cleveland, where the family lived until 1867, when they removed to Fredericksburg, Ind., where in December, 1868, his death occurred. The mother was left with four children, and returned to Minnesota, where she resided until the spring of 1876, when she went to the home of her son James K., in Nebraska City, and died there in 1877. Both parents were lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which the father officiated as Class-Leader and was otherwise prominent in its councils.
   James Keithley, the paternal grandfather of our subject, it is supposed was a native of Pennsylvania, and for many years filled the pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as an itinerant, still rode the circuit a number of years in the fashion of the Methodist preachers of that day. He settled in Harrison County, Ind., and married a Miss Kendall, by whom he became the father of two sons, who lived to mature years. This lady died, and he married a second time. He passed away some time between 1840 and 1850.

HARLES C. HENNINGS and the estimable lady who has borne his name for the last seventeen years settled on their farm in Eight Mile Grove Precinct about 1874. The land was then as the Indians had left it, not a farrow having been turned and no attempt whatever having been made at improvement. After putting in the first

season's crops, the area devoted to this being necessarily contracted, Mr. H. began to fence the remainder of his purchase, and in due time to plant fruit and forest trees and gather about him the comforts of life. He has now one of the most productive farms on the northern line of the county. He has not been slow to avail himself of modern methods and machinery, and is consequently numbered among the progressive agriculturists of his time.
   Mr. Hennings came to this section in time to assist in the organization of his school district and the various other enterprises gradually developing as the country settled up. He has been liberal and public-spirited, aiding by his influence and more substantial means the enterprises set on foot for the good of the people. By his own thrift and industry he was the means of attracting to his neighborhood a class of intelligent people who were not slow in imitating his example. The Hennings farm is largely devoted to stock-raising, which yields the proprietor a handsome income.
   The infant years of our subject were spent on the other side of the Atlantic, in Germany, where he was born Nov. 13, 1847. His parents, John C. and Sophia Hennings, were of pure German stock, and natives of the same Province as their son. The father on his native soil occupied himself as a shoemaker, but had ambitions which were not satisfied in the Fatherland. About 1851 he decided that it would be best for himself and family to emigrate to the United States. After a safe voyage they took up their abode on a tract of land in Washington County, Wis., where they were numbered among the earliest pioneers. They lived there a number of years, the father carrying on agriculture, but in the spring of 1872 he sold out his interests in the Badger State and came to this county. Both parents are now living in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, each being past seventy years of age. They have good property, and while passing down the hill of life are surrounded by those things conducive to their comfort and enjoyment, and which they so richly deserve as the reward of their toils and sacrifices.
   To the parents of Mr. Hennings there was born a large family of children, of whom but five survive, namely: John A., Henry H., Ferdinand, Emma, the wife of Lorenzo Brou, and Charles C., our subject. The latter, the youngest born, lived in Washington County, Wis., until a youth of nineteen years, then left the parental roof to seek his own fortune. He first emigrated to Illinois, then to Iowa, and finally came to this county in 1871. Later that same year he, in company with his brother John A., purchased a part of the land which he now owns and occupies. Before settling upon this our subject farmed on rented land in the vicinity of Plattsmouth two years. At the expiration of this time he took possession of his own property.
   The marriage of Charles C. Hennings and Miss Mary Volk was celebrated at the home of the bride in Illinois, Feb. 18, 1872. Mrs. Hennings was born in Tazewell County. Ill., Feb. 1, 1849, and is the daughter of Nicholas and Maggie Volk, natives of Germany and pioneers of Tazewell County, Ill, where they still reside. This union has resulted in the birth of nine children: Elizabeth, Oct. 24, 1872; John F., Jan. 26, 1874; Nicholas F., Jan. 5, 1876; Jacob C., Nov. 28, 1877; Charles F., Nov. 25, 1879; Mary E., Dec. 6, 1881; Annie E., Dec. 18, 1883; Maggie M., Dec. 6, 1885. and Ferdinand J., Feb. 1, 1888. They form a lively little company, and are a perpetual source of interest to their devoted parents.

OHN R. BAIRD, a self-made man, and a farmer operating a farm of 200 acres, 160 of which he owns, is a native of Canada, where he lost his mother by death when only seven years old, and as in many similar cases, he was, by the second marriage of his father, practically left homeless. For years he drudged and worked for a Canadian farmer for his board and (old) clothes. When he had reached the age of eighteen years, having a desire to improve his interests he went to Saginaw, Mich., where he engaged as a sawyer for two years. While there he conceived the idea of going to the West, and securing a home for himself. Accordingly he left Michigan for this purpose. When he reached Cook County, Ill., he found his money exhausted, and he was obliged to go to

work on a farm in that county. This he continued until he resumed his journey toward Nebraska in 1875. Arriving in this State he purchased eighty acres of land on section 32 of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company, which he immediately began to improve. Prospering in his new location he purchased in 1879 another eighty acres on section 29, Elmwood Precinct.
   While working on the farm in Cook County our subject met Miss Mary L. Grant, to whom he was married on the 14th of December, 1871. This lady was born in Kankakee County, Ill., and is the daughter of Thomas W. and Margaret Jane (Geddis) Grant, who came to Illinois from Battle Creek, Mich. After their marriage they lived in Illinois on rented land for two years. Three children have been born to this couple; Elsie I., now deceased; Jessie M. and Walter P. Bright and intelligent as they are, the parents are proud of them.
   The father of our subject, George Baird, was a cooper in Prince Edwards County, at Solomon's Point. He found a market for the product of his labor among the fishermen. His mother, Grace, was born in Canada, of Scotch parents. She died in 1856, forty-eight years of age, leaving five children, namely: Nancy; Maggie, now deceased; Mary E.; John R., our subject; and George R., now deceased. The father married a second time, and had four children by the last union. He died in 1884 in Canada, sixty-eight or seventy years of age. Our subject was born in Prince Edwards County, Canada, Aug. 12, 1849.
   Mr. Baird is a man who began life under very marked disadvantages and adverse circumstances, but by the inherent force of will and determination he has progressed and conquered all obstacles, until to-day he is recognized as one of the leading men n Elmwood Precinct. He and his faithful wife lave fought life's battle bravely, and they now find themselves well remunerated for all the struggles and privations they have endured in former years, while making their home what it is to-day; and they can look out over their broad fields with a degree of complacency and satisfaction that is justifiable to the fullest extent. An orchard of choicest varieties of fruits annually yields its golden stores, and the fields their rich harvests of grain, and plenty is indicated all over the farm, while inside their nice new dwelling peace and pleasure reign supreme.
   Mr. Baird is a charter member of the Order of Modern Woodmen of America, in the Wabash Lodge. He has served several terms as School Director, also as Constable, and assisted in building the schoolhouse in District No. 44. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States during his first year of residence in Nebraska. He holds political allegiance with the Republican party.

OHN HESS, an estimable farmer of Elmwood Precinct, was born in Holstein twelve or fifteen miles from Hamburg, Germany, where his father, Hans Yocum, was a farmer. His father died in the old country when our subject was nine years of age. To escape military service in the German Army our subject sailed with his brother for America, arriving in New York City April 5, 1853, their final destination being Davenport, Iowa, where he resided until 1856. He removed from Davenport to Plattsmouth, Neb., intending to go down into Kansas, but on account of the Kansas and Nebraska troubles he stopped at Plattsmouth, where he worked until the breaking out of the late Civil War, when he enlisted, June 11, 1861, in Company A, 1st Nebraska Infantry, under Dr. R. R. Livingston. They went into camp at Omaha, where they were drilled and instructed in military tactics, and from there they went down the river to Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.; from there to St. Louis, thence in turn to Pilot Knob, Syracuse, Georgetown and Sedalia, participating in the various battles and skirmishes in that section. In the spring of 1862 the regiment of which he was a member was under the command of Gen. Grant, and participated in the battles of Ft. Donelson and Shiloh. From the latter battle-field they went to Corinth, Miss., and were attached to the command of Gen. Lew Wallace. After the evacuation of Cornish they went to Memphis, Tenn., and Helena, Ark. From Helena they were sent to Missouri under the command of Gen. Steele, stopping on their old camping

ground at Pilot Knob. From there they were dispatched to Cape Girardeau, Mo., then to St. Louis, where the 1st Nebraska Infantry was merged into the 1st Nebraska Cavalry. He, with the consolidated regiment, took an active part in the Arkansas campaign.
   Before leaving Omaha our subject was made a Corporal, and when the 1st Regiment was merged into the new cavalry he was made a Sergeant, at some point in Missouri. While in the Arkansas campaign his term of enlistment expired, he was returned to Omaha, and there honorably discharged on the 12th of August, 1864. He was so attentive to his duties as a soldier and so prompt that he never missed a roll call during his entire terra of service. His record as a soldier is unexceptionable in every particular, and is a matter in which he can justly feel the greatest pride.
   In 1856 Mr. Hess married Miss Emily Graves, who bore him four children -- Frederick A., George D., J. Johnson and Emily. He lost his wife by death. He came to Elmwood Precinct, and homesteaded on eighty acres of land, to the improvement of which he devoted his entire time and attention. In 1885 he contracted a second marriage, with Miss Lois Gordon, daughter of Ransom and Rachel Gordon. At the time of her birth her parents were residents in Canada, where they lived until she was three years old, when the entire family came to Iowa, where she lived with them up to the time of her marriage with Mr. Hess. Being naturally of a sharp, intelligent disposition, she availed herself of all the educational facilities of her home, and profiting by the experience of others, she is one of the brightest ladies in Elmwood precinct. Possessing a keen sense of the beautiful, her home is arranged in an exceedingly neat and tasty manner. She is a good manager, and is in every way a true helpmate to her husband, which he fully appreciates and values accordingly. No children have been born to them. The children by the former wife find in their stepmother a fitting successor to their mother who has gone.
   Mr. Hess purchased his present home farm in 1879, which he has thoroughly improved by the erection of his comfortable home, and the necessary barns and granaries calculated to handle the various farm products to the best advantage and in the must economical manner. The tract of land is well supplied with pure water, and is well fenced and cared for. He prides himself on the fact that he is one of the earliest Nebraska pioneers, and he well may be, for he has certainly borne his share of the toils and struggles incident to the opening of a new and wild country.
   Our subject is the youngest of a family of six children. His brothers, Amos, Frederick and Henry, and sisters Anna and Catherine, are older; he was born in August, 1832. He was twenty years old when his mother died. The latter's name was Pelonia Cathrena. His parents as well as himself were consistent members of the Lutheran Church. in polities he has been a stanch Republican has never sought or held any public office, preferring the quietude and enjoyment of his own home.

HILIP J. SCHAFER. In the career of this estimable citizen of Mt. Pleasant Precinct and his worthy wife are presented some of the phases of early life in Southern Nebraska. They took up their abode in this section of country before it was converted from a Territory into a State, and when the long prairie grass as high as their heads waved over the now beautifully cultivated fields. In those primitive days one of the duties of Mrs. Schafer was to hunt for the family cow early in the morning when the dew lay heavily on this long grass, and which task as may be imagined, was far from being pleasant. Those days are long past and gone, and now the sturdy old pioneer and his no less courageous wife are sitting comfortably under their own vine and fig tree. In reviewing the scenes through which they have passed they feet that they now have little reason to complain of the manner in which their toils and sacrifices have been rewarded.
   The Schafer homestead, one of the distinctive features in the landscape of the central part of the county, is pleasantly located on section 15, and with its substantial buildings has about it the air of comfort and plenty which is extremely pleasant to contemplate. The proprietor, a native of the Prov-

nice of Bairen in the German Empire, was born Aug. 19, 1842, and is the son of Adam and Barbara (Yung) Schafer, the latter of whom died in Ohio in 1886. When Philip J. was a lad twelve years of age the parents, in May, 1854, emigrated to America, setting sail from Havre, France, and after an ocean voyage of sixty-five days landed in New York City. Thence they proceeded directly to Pike County, Ohio, where the father secured a tract of land and prosecuted agriculture from that time on. He is still living there, and is now over seventy years of age. The parental family included eight children, six of whom are surviving, and making their homes mostly in Nebraska and Ohio.
   Our subject spent his boyhood and youth in the Buckeye State, and there attained to his majority. He had gained the rudiments of a good education in his native Germany, and being fond of his books he, after coming to America, learned to read and write in English. Keeping his eyes open to what was going on around him, he acquired a good fund of general information, and upon reaching manhood was reasonably well equipped for the more serious business of life. Deciding finally to seek his fortunes in the farther West he set out in February, 1865, coming directly to this county, and for three years thereafter was employed as a farm laborer. In 1867 he purchased the wild tract of land on section 15 in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, which he has since transformed into one of its most desirable homesteads. Upon this not a furrow had been turned, and his first business was to put up a temporary shelter for himself and wife. There now came into play the qualities of character which he had inherited from his substantial German ancestry, and in due time they yielded their legitimate reward. Believing that it was proper to secure a cage before he brought to it a bird, when married the 24th day of December, 1869, he was quite well prepared to invite the lady of his choice, Miss Mary Egger, to share his home and fortunes. This lady has been equal in all respects to the confidence which her husband first reposed in her, proving a most efficient wife and helpmate during the years of their early struggles and labors, and later assisting in maintaining the dignity and reputation of the family and the homestead. Mrs. Schafer was born in November, 1848, in the Canton Bern, in Switzerland, and is the daughter of John and Mary (Gygli) Egger, who were natives of the same romantic country, and who emigrated to America when Miss Mary was a young lady of eighteen years, They settled first in Tazewell County. Ill., thence came into Nebraska in September, 1868. The father purchased a tract of laud in Lancaster County, from which he constructed a good homestead, and where he and his estimable wife are now living. Mrs. Schafer remained under the home roof until her marriage. Of her union with our subject there have been born twelve children, four of whom are deceased, namely: Andrew, Annie, Jacob, and a babe who died unnamed. The survivors are George, Frederic, Adam, Albert, Mary, John, Christina and Otto. The eldest of these is sixteen years old and the youngest two, and they are all at home with their parents.
   Mr. Schafer, politically, is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party. Coming from a country believing in compulsory education, he is naturally interested in the establishment and maintenance of schools, and has frequently served as a director in his district. Both he and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, and are held by their neighbors in the highest respect. Their home and their, surroundings at once indicate their substantial and reliable qualities of character, and they naturally have made hosts of friends in a community of people more than ordinarily intelligent.

EORGE ALEXANDER STEWART. As the town of Louisville gradually settled up there came a demand for artisans in various trades and occupations, and among them was the subject of this sketch, one of the most intelligent and skillful machinists now numbered among its citizens. He is still comparatively young in years., having been born July 20, 1851, in the city of Ogdensburg, N. Y. There his boyhood was spent, and he was carefully educated in a private school. He at an early age developed more than ordinary

genius and skill as connected with machinery, and in the exercise of this talent he has been enabled to make a comfortable living.
   This branch of the Stewart family is of excellent ancestry, the father of our subject; George Standley Stewart, having been the scion of an old French stock, and a man possessed of large means. He was born in fair France, and after becoming a citizen of the United States, being provided with ample means, lived mostly at his leisure. He married a lady of his own country, Miss Mary DeClivros, and after emigrating to America they settled in Ogdensburg, N. Y., about 1812, where they spent the most of their days thereafter. In 1869 the father made a visit to his native land, and while there was taken ill, died very suddenly and was laid to rest upon his native soil. The wife and mother is still living, and makes her home in London, England. The household included eight children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living, our subject being the sixth in order of birth. They are all in the United States.
   Our subject when a lad of nine years accompanied his mother to France, and spent some time there with his brother William, in the meantime serving an apprenticeship at the trade of machinist. Seven years later he returned to the United States, then went to Montreal, Canada, and for five years following was in the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company. Two years of this time he was foreman of their foundry. Later he acted in the capacity of foreman on the Great Western branch of the same railway system.
   In 1884 Mr. Stewart resolved upon seeking a permanent location in the Great West, and coming to this county entered the employ of the Burlington & Missouri River Railway Company, with whom he continued three years, making his headquarters at Louisville. Later he became associated with Mr. Walter Cutforth as a master mechanic, which position he still holds. In the settlement of his father's estate a large portion of it was wasted in litigation, the family deriving little benefit therefrom. Our subject has therefore been mainly the architect of his own fortune, but his natural abilities form an inexhaustible capital, which will serve him in some cases perhaps better than money, being that which no man can steal from him. Although nearly thirty-eight years of age he is still unmarried, but with this exception has performed all his duties faithfully as an honest man and a good citizen. Politically, he is a stanch Republican.

OUIS C. EICKHOFF. One of the finest farms in Louisville Precinct belongs to the subject of this sketch, who settled in Cass County in 1859, during the Territorial days of Nebraska. He began life without other resources than his own muscle and his persevering disposition, which have resulted in making him independent -- the owner of 800 acres of land, which comprises one of the most valuable estates along the northern line of the county. This he built up from an uncultivated tract of land, and has erected a good residence and all the out-buildings necessary for the storage of crops and the shelter of stock. The place is abundantly supplied with fruit, and all the finer appliances calculated to make a pleasant and attractive home.
   Upon coming to this county our subject stopped first at Plattsmouth, where he occupied himself a year at whatever he could find to do. He then rented a tract of land two miles west of Plattsmouth, upon which he operated two years, and at the expiration of this time purchased 400 acres of his present property. This lies on section 32, and years of arduous labor and close economy have been required to bring it to its present condition. It now yields to the owner a handsome income.
   The Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, was the native place of our subject, his birth occurring April 15, 1847. He was the youngest of a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, the offspring of Frederick and Mary (Schweitzer) Eickhoff, who were also of German birth and ancestry. The father was a tailor by trade, which occupation he pursued during his early manhood, but later engaged in agriculture. He, however, was not satisfied with the outlook in the Fatherland, and in 1855 started with his little family for America. They sojourned for a very brief space in the city of New York, then proceeded westward, and for a