and has by the close study of events added largely to his fund of practical knowledge.
   In the summer of 1872 our subject came to Nebraska, where he purchased the eighty acres of land on which he now lives, and returned to Illinois. In the autumn of 1873 he settled on his present farm, where he has lived ever since. His land was wild and uncultivated when he bought it, and when he settled on it he devoted his energy to its cultivation and improvement. His efforts have been very successful, and he has from time to time added to his original purchase until he now owns 280 acres, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, and rendered very valuable by his energy and industry.
   After our subject had visited Nebraska and purchased his land he returned to Illinois, and was married to Miss Mary Mosley, Feb. 20, 1873. This lady is a native of England, was born Jan. 7, 1855, and is the daughter of James and Ellen Mosley, who came to America from England, and now reside in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. They first located in Jo Daviess County, Ill., when this lady was a child about three years old. They resided there a number of years, when they came to Cass County, Neb. Her parents have a family of seven children, five of whom are living, namely: Mary, Sarah E.; Hattie L., the wife of J. E. Leyda, residing in Avoca Precinct; Annie L., the wife of Abram Cutter, resides in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and Ella S. The two deceased children were James and William. Both the parents are members of the Christian Church; they are in the prime of life, surrounded by their friends and relatives, and are enjoying the fruits of a life of usefulness and well-doing.
   A family of five children have been born to Mr. Philpot and his wife, named as follows: James H. was born Feb. 16, 1874; Sarah E., Aug. 11, 1876; Laura E., Sept. 13, 1878; Alice L., Nov. 11, 1880, and an infant daughter, not yet named, June 17, 1888. In his efforts to secure a competency his wife has proved an able counselor for many years. No task was too hard for her to undertake, no duty too unpleasant for her to perform, if she felt that the interests of her husband and family would be subserved. It is to this self-sacrificing spirit manifested by her that their present competency may be largely attributed. She is a consistent and active member of the Christian Church, taking a special interest in all matters connected therewith. Our subject and his wife find time to share in any and all plans having for their object the ultimate good of the community in which they live, in a social, educational or religious manner.
   In politics Mr. Philpot is a Republican, is serving the second term as President of the Mt. Pleasant Precinct Central Republican Committee, also a second term as School Director, and has served as Judge of Elections in his precinct. In addition to his general farming he is just entering into the business of thoroughbred stock-raising, and in a few years from now will have made his mark in that branch of the business.

OAH CLEMMONS. Perhaps one of the most distinguished traits in the character of the subject of this biography, who is an ex-member of the Wisconsin Legislature, is his uncompromising advocacy of temperance, and his decided prohibition principles. His peculiar experience in life, and the opportunities which he has had to observe the evils of strong drink, have led him to set his face in opposition to both the manufacture and the sale of liquor in any form. He has for the last forty-two years devoted himself to the temperance work, and given his aid in every way possible to prohibition, first, last, and all the time.
   Our subject traces his ancestry to Ireland, of which his grandfather, Zachraiah Clemmons, is thought to have been a native. If he were born there, however, he emigrated to America in time to do good service in the Revolutionary War, being in the army the whole seven years, and becoming closely acquainted with Gen. Washington. After the independence of the Colonies had been established, he migrated to Jackson County, Ohio, during the period of its early settlement, and there spent the remainder of his days, passing away at the advanced age of one hundred and fifteen years. A year prior to his decease he was quite active on his feet.
   John Clemmons, the father of our subject, was

born in Tazewell County, Va., in 1771, where he lived until reaching man's estate, then made his way to Tennessee. During his sojourn there he made the acquaintance of Andrew Jackson, later President of the United States, with whom he played ball and engaged in other youthful sports. While a resident of Tennessee he was married to Miss Phoebe Travis, and later they removed to Jackson County, Ohio, where Noah, the subject of this sketch, was born Feb. 8, 1814. John Clemmons was a resident of the Buckeye State thirty years thereafter, and then in his old age came west of the Mississippi and died at the home of his son John, in Cass County, Neb., March 20,1855, when eighty-seven years old. The mother had passed away fifteen years before, about 1840, in Scioto County, Ohio.
   Our subject was reared in Jackson and Scioto Counties, of the Buckeye State, receiving a very limited education, as there were then no schools except those carried on by subscription. The father was in limited circumstances, and the children, as soon as old enough, were obliged to render assistance in working the farm. Noah soon began to "paddle his own canoe," working for the farmers of his neighborhood, mornings, evenings and Saturdays, for his board, and the balance of the time attending school in the town of Wheelersburg, where he learned bookkeeping and the other details of a. business education.
   March 28, 1842, when a man of twenty-eight years, Mr. Clemmons left his native State, and making his way to the Territory of Wisconsin worked four years in the lead mines of Grant County, and at the expiration of this time was given a situation as clerk in a store of general merchandise in Platteville. Later, in the spring of 1853, in company with a friend he embarked in the mercantile business, which he carried on for the space of five years. He had in the meantime distinguished himself as a public-spirited and intelligent citizen, and was esteemed worthy by the people of that county to represent them in the Wisconsin Legislature, being elected in 1851 on the Independent ticket. He received all but five out of over 300 votes in the township where he lived, and the solid vote of the township adjoining, being elected by perhaps the largest majority ever given a man in the State. He served his term acceptably, and in 1855 removed to Madison, of which he was a resident until July, 1869.
   In the year above mentioned Mr. Clemmons, crossing the Mississippi, came to Southern Nebraska and purchased the farm of 200 acres on section 13, in Rock Bluff Precinct, where he has since lived. In this community, as heretofore, he was recognized as a valued addition to the ranks of its enterprising and able men, and has occupied various positions of trust. While in Wisconsin he served as Assessor, and has also held the same office two years in Rock Bluff Precinct.
   Liquor, during the pioneer days of Ohio, as in other places, was freely dispensed both in the stores and the harvest fields, and Mr. Clemmons at an early period in his life was brought face to face with the evils resulting therefrom. In several stores where he was employed as clerk, he, by persevering argument, induced the proprietors to abandon the sale of liquor, and in Madison, Wis., was instrumental in organizing a lodge of the Sons of Temperance, its two first members being Albert Maine and Daniel Johnson, inebriates whom Mr. Clemmons induced to sign the pledge with him. From this trio started the lodge which afterward became one of the important factors of the work in that section, they in the course of six weeks having secured about sixty members. Mr. Maine was a man of means, and prominent in his community, and happily listened to the arguments of Mr. Clemmons against the use of liquor in time to save himself from ruin. He finally became one of the most earnest workers in the temperance cause. Mr. Maine served as Sheriff of Dane County, Wis., several years, and was succeeded to the office by his son. The father passed away some time ago, and the son is now one of the prominent men of Madison.
   At one period of his early life. Mr. Clemmons was a bartender on the steamboat "Brownville," plying the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. During this time what he saw around him completed his disgust for whisky. and strengthened him in his resolve to fight it to the bitter end. He saw around him men of fine talents being ruined

by its use, happy homes made desolate, and the standard sometimes of an entire community laid in the dust. That he has been enabled to contribute toward the demolition of this monster should be a source of deep satisfaction, and confer upon him the consciousness that he has not lived in vain. Of this prominent and popular citizen a fine portrait appears on an adjoining page.

ILLIAM T. COLE, of Plattsmouth Precinct, in common with most of the men around him, built up the homestead which he now owns and occupies nearly from first principles, it being but slightly improved when he took possession of it in 1875. In addition to carrying on agriculture, he has put up a good house, barn, stable, corn-cribs, and the other structures necessary for his convenience, besides fencing his fields and planting fruit and shade trees. His farm ranks in value among the best in his locality. He has a fair assortment of live stock, and is each year adding something to the beauty and value of his property.
   Our subject was born in Shelby County, Ohio, Nov. 18, 1838, and is the son of DeMitt and Elizabeth (McVey) Cole, who were also natives of the Buckeye State, and born respectively in Pickaway and Shelby Counties. Their mother died in her native county in 1842, when her son William T., was a little lad of four years. The father subsequently removed, about 1844, to Pickaway County, where he lived a period of twenty years, then set his face toward the farther West, coming to Nebraska Territory in the year 1864. He located land eight miles south of the present city of Plattsmouth, and there followed agriculture until his death, which occurred in December, 1883, after arriving at the ripe old age of seventy-eight years.
   William T. Cole upon the outbreak of the Civil War was a resident of Ohio, and enlisted as Union soldier in Comparty B, 88th Ohio Infantry, serving a period of thirty-three months, and being in the meantime promoted to Corporal. Although only a member of the State Militia, he was sent outside with his regiment several times. and his squad captured John Morgan, while making his raid through Southern Ohio. At the expiration of his term of enlistment, Mr. Cole received his honorable discharge, and returning to Pickaway County, Ohio, engaged there in farming until the year 1867. Then joining his father in the new State of Nebraska, he located on the farm of the latter, which occupied a part of section 25. Rock Bluff Precinct. He was a resident there five years, then removing to town, was engaged in the sale of sewing machines two years. At the expiration of this time he purchased the land which he now owns, and began in earnest its development and improvement.
   Our subject was married in Pickaway County, Ohio, Dec. 7, 1865, to Miss Harriet A., daughter of William and Susan (Hoffhine) Peters. Mrs. Cole was horn in Pickaway County, Ohio, Oct. 6, 1844, and lived there with her parents until her marriage. The family of the latter consisted of six children. The parents were natives of Ohio and Maryland. The father was a Universalist in religious belief, and is now deceased. The mother is still living, and belongs to the Lutheran Church.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Cole there were born four children, the eldest of whom a daughter Ella, is now the wife of William T. Adams, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Elmer E., Verna E. and Lily are at home with their parents. In polities Mr. Cole is a Democrat.

AYNARD SPINK is County Superintendent of Public Instruction, and serving his second term, which is ample indication of the estimation in which he is held by the people interested in educational matters. He has had a thorough experience in connection with his calling, and has always been warmly interested in the most important matter of training the young, making it a life study to adopt that system which shall effect the best results. He came to Nebraska first in April of 1880, taking up his residence in Elmwood Precinct. Later he purchased land, and in connection with the cultivation of this also pursued his calling as a teacher. His land, however, was located in South Bend Precinct, and comprised 160 acres in an uncultivated condition. He moved

upon it in the spring of 1881, and commenced in earnest the battle with the primitive soil, fencing the land, putting out an orchard and forest trees, and erecting the necessary buildings. Upon this he lived until the spring of 1886, engaged mostly in teaching, while at the same time superintending the operations of his farm. He has always taken an active interest in the educational affairs of the county and State, and in the fall of 1885 was elected to his present position. The spring following he removed from the farm to Weeping Water, where he has since resided. At the expiration of the first term of his office he was re-elected by a very greatly increased majority, and the people have indicated in many other directions the esteem and confidence in which they hold him, not only as an instructor and official, but as a man and citizen. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican party.
   Our subject was born in Wayne, Wayne Co., Mich., Dec. 27, 1856, and completed his education in the schools of Belleville, that State. His experience as a teacher commenced when he was a youth of seventeen years, and he has been continuously engaged in the duties pertaining to his calling until the present. In his native State he was first elected, in 1879, Superintendent of the schools of Sumpter Township, Wayne County, and served in that capacity until coming to Nebraska. He was married in Cass County, Neb., Sept. 28, 1881, to Miss Kate Magee, who was born in Peoria County, Ill., Jan. 5, 1860. Mrs. Spink came to this county with her parents when a young girl of fifteen years, they settling in South Bend Precinct, where she lived until her marriage. She is the daughter of George and Elizabeth Magee, who were natives of Ohio and Kentucky, and the father for many years carried on farming in Peoria County, Ill. He is living in Aston, Saunders Co., Neb. To Mr. and Mrs. Spink there has been born one child only, a daughter, Lefie Claire, born July 19, 1886.
   Solomon Spink, the father of our subject, was born near Whitehall, Vt., and left New England with his parents when a small boy, they settling in Western New York. He was there reared to man's estate, and married Miss Jane C. Heath. In due time they became the parents of four children, three sons and one daughter, and all are now living, and residents of Nebraska, Colorado and Michigan. After their marriage the parents emigrated to Wayne County, Mich., where the father followed his trade of carpenter until after the outbreak of the Rebellion. He watched the conflict until 1863, and then, unable further to restrain his patriotic impulses, left his little family and enlisted in a Michigan regiment. He returned to them again, dying at his home in Michigan. His widow is still living, making her home with her children in Eastern Colorado. She was born at Olean, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., in 1831, unit both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

DAM KRAEGER. The pioneer element of Cass County numbers the subject of this sketch as one of its most enterprising and succesful (sic) men. He came to Eight Mile Grove Precinct in the spring of 1871, and purchased 160 acres of uncultivated prairie land, for which he paid the munificent sum of $1.50 per acre. He was without means for its development, and for two years thereafter employed himself as a farm laborer by the month to secure that by which he could proceed with the cultivation of his property. Upon it not a furrow had been turned, neither was there a building nor a fence. He thus began from the first principles in the construction of a homestead, and looking upon his possessions to-day -- a finely improved estate of 320 acres -- we must acknowledge that the industry and perseverance with which he has labored are worthy of more than a passing mention.
   One of the finest representatives of the substantial German element of this county, our subject was born May 5, 1840. His parents, John and Eve Kraeger, were natives of the same locality as their son, and there the father died. The mother later, in company with her two sons, Adam and John, emigrated to America, taking passage on a sailing vessel at the port of Bremen, and after an ocean voyage of about one month landed at New York City. They had embarked about the 1st of December, 1865, and first set foot upon American soil in Jan-