members of the Baptist Church at West Bainbridge, N. Y.
   To Martin and Abigail Post there were born eight children, namely: Celestia; Edward, our subject; Lucina; Fidelia; Ellen, who died in 1842; Lydia, Eliza J. and Hubert. Edward was born near Bainbridge, in Oxford Township, Chenango Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1833. His childhood and youth were spent at the old homestead, and he was at an early age trained to habits of industry and economy. He assisted his father on the farm and in the sawmill, and attended the first school established in the district. He remained a member of the parental household until reaching his majority, then began farming on his own account.
   In the fall of 1854 our subject migrated to the vicinity of Grand Rapids, Mich., and purchased in Allegan County eighty acres of land, which he cleared, and upon which he effected some improvements. There also he found his wife, being married, Aug. 10, 1856, in Michigan, to Miss Marilla Hanor. Mrs. Post was born in Oakland, Mich., Aug. 20, 1835, and departed this life at her home in Michigan, Nov. 18, 1865, after having been the companion of her husband a period of nine years.
   Mr. Post continued on his Michigan farm until the spring of 1861. In the meantime he purchased other land, which he improved and sold, and thus built up three different farms, selling all. The second year of the war he enlisted as a Union soldier in Company E, 114th New York Infantry, being mustered in at Norwich, his regiment assigned to the Army of the Gulf. They were first sent to Baltimore, and later joined Gen. Banks' expedition in the Southwest, doing duty along the railroads in Texas, and Mr. Post frequently assigned to detached service. He was often given responsible positions under the Government.
   In the spring of 1863 this division of the army was sent to Southwestern Louisiana, and met the enemy in some of the most important engagements of the war. On the 14th of June, 1863, Mr. Post was wounded in the right thigh by a minie ball, and in the left arm by a double buckshot. This laid him up for several months, and when convalescent he returned to camp. In the spring of 1864 he joined the Red River expedition, meeting parties of the Confederates nearly every day, skirmishing along the line until the serious engagement at Sabine Cross Roads, when they fell back to Pleasant Hill on account of being out of provisions. Afterward they took boats to New Orleans, expecting to join the Army of the Potomac, but at Ft. Monroe were ordered to Washington for the defense of the capital. They arrived there in time, remaining as long as it seemed necessary, then repaired to the valley of the Shenandoah, joining the command of Gen. Sheridan. Later followed the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864, when Mr. Post was shot in the right ankle, entirely shattering it. He was placed in the hospital, and the entire limb swelled to the size of a barrel. It was four days before the ball was extracted, and then it was found wedged into the bone so tightly it was almost impossible to withdraw it. He remained in the hospital at Winchester until the close of the war, being then unable to bear his weight on his foot. He received his honorable discharge at Chestnut Hill Hospital, Pa., April 4, 1865, and returned home.
   Mrs. Marilla Post departed this life at her home Nov. 18, 1865. A few months later the family was broken up, and Mr. Post, removing to St. Clair County, Ill., engaged as clerk in a general store nearly two years. Then returning to Michigan he sold his farm of 120 acres. He then went back to New York State, and in the fall of 1867, turning his steps southwestward, he established himself in Macon City, Mo., where he spent that winter. In the spring of 1868 he came to Nebraska overland on horseback, landing in Nebraska City on the 1st of June. Later he returned to Macon City to cast his Presidential vote for Gen. Grant, and this done, bent his steps toward Tipton Precinct, this county.
   Mr. Post on the 6th of June, 1869, homesteaded eighty acres of land, which is included in his present homestead. He hired a breaking team, and after paying for his papers and breaking his land, he had left $5 in money. He now went back to Nebraska City, where he lived until his money was gone, and when hardly able to walk went to work for a Mr. Pendleton near there, remaining with him during the harvest season. Later he secured a job at husking corn on Cascade Creek, at five cents per bushel. In the spring of 1869 he

went out to his homestead, purchased a "plug" team, commenced breaking more land, and planted his first crops on his own property. He had in the meantime sheltered himself in a dugout, but in the fall put up a house and set out trees. He took out the remaining papers for his homestead in Tipton, and purchased eighty acres of land adjoining, of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. He was fairly prospered in his labors as a tiller of the soil until 1874, when the grasshoppers came along and destroyed his crops. The season of 1877 he rented his place for a term of five years, the consideration being $100 per year.
   This furnished our subject with money to buy land, and he took up his residence in Anderson County, where he purchased 160 acres and farmed there five years. Later he returned to the farm in Tipton Precinct, and turned his attention to stock raising. He gathered together a herd of good cattle, Polled-Angus mostly, and also swine, with blooded English horses, of which latter he now has ten head. He has by his own industry effected all the improvements which we find upon his place to-day, including substantial buildings, a grove of three acres of forest trees, an orchard of 100 apple trees, with good out-buildings, windmill, water tanks, and the necessary machinery for carrying on agriculture successfully.
   Mr. Post was married the second time, in Elmwood Precinct, this county, Aug. 8, 1870, to Miss Jane Brittain, who was born Aug. 8, 1833, in Trumbull County, Ohio. Mrs. Post received careful home training in her youth, and a good education, developing into a school teacher, which profession she followed before her marriage. Of this union there have been born three children, namely: Merrell M., who died when fourteen months old; Lulu, also deceased, and Francis, who was born Sept. 2, 1875, and is at home attending school. The two children of Mr. Post by his first marriage were Judson and Ardilla. The former is farming in Hitchcock County, Dak.; Ardilla is the wife of Albert A. Hardy, and lives in the vicinity of Victoria, this State.
   Mr. Post was the first Justice of the Peace in Tipton Precinct, and officiated at the first marriage taking place here. He was also the first Postmaster at Sunlight, holding the position four years. He has occupied other positions of trust and responsibility, and has made the record of an honest man and a good citizen. Socially, he belongs to Kenesaw Post No. 123, G. A. R. at Elmwood. Both he and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Congregational Church at Eagle, in which Mr. P. has officiated as Deacon for the last three years. To this, as to other laudable enterprises, he has contributed liberally, and in politics, it is hardly necessary to add is a straight Republican.

OHN W. WILBERN. This gentleman is, perhaps, one of the youngest of the many energetic citizens represented in the pages of this volume. He was born in Christian County, Ill., April 14, 1862, forty miles from Springfield, the State capital. His educational advantages were excellent, and he improved them to the fullest extent and when a boy of twelve years he came to Nebraska, coming to Salt Creek for the first time with his father, who then purchased a tract of 160 acres of land in Salt Creek Precinct from Curtis Sheffer.
   After the return of our subject with his father to Illinois, he was general chore boy at his father's side in making the preparations for their removal from Springfield to Greenwood. Finally all work was completed, and the journey was begun, with five wagons loaded with goods, and seventeen loose horses in the procession; they brought no cattle with them. It was a trip he will never forget. He bore his part of the work, and care incident to the management of that amount of property, without a complaint. After they arrived in Nebraska, for many long weary days John followed cattle herding until the death of his father, when he took charge of the homestead, and for years after cultivated the same fields. During his earliest years in Nebraska he was given the opportunity of attending the country schools and the graded school at Greenwood. He early acquired a taste for reading and study, and in addition to the advantages for ob-

taining a school education that were afforded him, he has made a close study ever since of the papers and many good books which are now within the reach of everyone.
   We now find him in charge of 200 acres of land, 160 of which belongs to his mother, with whom he lives. He takes rank as one of the most prosperous young men of Salt Creek Precinct, and it is safe to prophesy that he has a brilliant and successful business career before him. He is well and favorably known as being a hard-working, temperate, energetic young man. The mother with whom he lives is a lady of great worth and refinement. She takes the greatest comfort in the company of her son, and finds in him the most intense devotion to her interests and welfare, and there is no doubt but that the gentleman will, in the years to come, receive at the hands of his fellowmen a continuation of the esteem which he now holds, and that he will fill his place in life with honor and credit to himself and benefit to the people about him, and that he will at the end of life be able to say, "I have finished the work and I hope the world is better for my having lived in it." In politics he is a Democrat.

RANCIS H. WILLIAMS has been identified with the farming and industrial interests of Stove Creek Precinct since 1875, formerly owning an extensive farm here, which he managed, while at the same time engaged in the manufacture of wagons. He is now in the evening of life, mostly retired from its cares, being an invalid, although he still makes his home on what has remained of his farm after providing for each of his children. By a life of well-directed toil, and by the excellent management of his affairs, he now has an ample income, and is classed among the substantial, well-to-do men of this precinct.
   Our subject was born in Monmouthshire, Wales, June 27, 1810. His parents, Thomas and Ann (Roberts) Williams, were natives of the same county, and were there married. The father was a master blacksmith, having a shop of his own, besides a house and lot. He did well in business, and at the time of his death, in 1830, at the age of sixty years, he had accumulated a competency. His wife died in Wales in 1858, at the age of seventy years. They were devoted members of the Episcopal Church, and for their good and virtuous lives and many acts of kindness were held in respect and affection by their neighbors. Unto them were born ten children, four of whom grew to maturity, but three of them are dead -- Morgan, Thomas and James, the two latter twins.
   Their son Francis H., of whom we write, remained an inmate of the home of his birth until he was sixteen years old, and was then apprenticed to gain a knowledge of the wagon-maker's trade, being bound under the Government for seven years, his father being his bondsman. Our subject served his time, and became a first-class wagon-maker, and then worked at his trade in different places, finally putting up a shop in his native shire, and erected a house. Besides carrying on the manufacture of wagons he also did cabinet work and made furniture. He continued in that business in Wales until 1850, when he determined to try his fortunes in America, and sailing from Newport to Bristol on a packet, there embarked on the ship "Mary Ann Peters," and after a voyage of eight weeks, in which severe storms were encountered, he landed safely in New York. He went to Utica, N. Y., and worked at building there for a year and a half. After that he followed the same vocation in Racine, Wis. He established his home there, but was often engaged in Chicago a part of the time, in the employ of the Chicago & Galena Railway Company, building bridges, and he worked on the bridge of that company that spans Rock River at Rockford, Ill. A year later Mr. Williams removed to Allamakee County, Iowa, of which he became a pioneer, purchasing 140 acres of wild land from the Government. It was partly timbered and partly prairie land, and with infinite toil he converted it into a well-improved farm, with a good set of buildings, and there lived in his comfortable home until the spring of 1863, when he sold out, having decided that Nebraska possessed superior advantages and attractions, and wishing to avail himself of them. He and his family came by rail to Plattsmouth, and he was soon settled on his present place, having about 320 acres of arable land

on the Burlington & Missouri River Railway. There were no improvements on it, and not a stick of timber where he now has fine groves of forest trees and a good orchard, all of which he planted himself, or had them put out under his supervision. He built a large house, ample barns, and other necessary buildings, and before his retirement in 1882, had as fine a place as any in the vicinity. His farm is well supplied with running water, and is admirably adapted to both raising grain and stock. He has now given all but 120 acres to his sons and daughters.
   Mr. Williams was married in Mommouthshire, Wales, Sept. 29, 1833, to Miss Ann Harris, daughter of William and Margaret (Lewis) Harris, natives of Wales. Her father was extensively engaged in farming in his native land until his death, in 1826, at the age of eighty-four years. He was a member of the Episcopalian Church, and his wife, who died in 1858, at the age of seventy-five, belonged to the Baptist Church. They were the parents of five children, namely: William is a resident of Wales; John, Henry, Ann, and Margaret, deceased. Ann, the wife of our subject, was born in Monmouthshire, Wales, March 7, 1810. To her and her husband seven children have been born, as follows: Margaret, Ann E., Emma C., Louisa P., William H., Mathew B. and Sarah J. Margaret married Thomas W. David, who is at present farming in Allamakee County, Iowa; Ann E. married H. Harris, a farmer of Allamakee County, and they have one child, Ida S; Emma married S. Oxley, a farmer in Winneshiek County, Iowa, and they have four children, namely: Ida N., Ernest S., Alden and Nellie. Louisa married Silas Greenslate, a merchant of Elmwood, and they have five children, namely: Delbert, Bertha, Ellis, Fern and Dean. William, who is farming in Colorado, is married and has one daughter, Maud; Mathew, a farmer in Stove Creek Precinct, is married and has two children, Silas B. and Lottie M; Sarah married James Turk, a farmer in Stove Creek Precinct, and they have one child, Alden.
   Our subject and his wife are regarded with feelings of sincere respect and veneration by the whole community, where all are their friends. To them it has been given to pass more than fifty years of their life in happy wedlock, mutually sustaining and sympathizing with each other in the joys and sorrows that come to all. On the occasion of the golden wedding that marked the anniversary of that other marriage ceremony, performed so long ago and so far away, amid the beautiful scenes of their native land, their children and friends in commemoration of that event gave them each a gold-headed cane, gold-mounted glasses, and other presents. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are sincere Christians, and he is a member of the United Brethren Church, and she of the Christian Church at Elmwood. In his political sentiments he is a firm adherent of the Republican party. They are very pleasant, hospitable people, making the stranger feel at home within their gates.

LLEN CRABTREE. This gentleman is numbered among the younger members of the farming community of Tipton Precinct, where he settled in the spring of 1880. He owns and operates 110 acres of land lying on sections 30 and 31, and while being acknowledged as a thorough and skillful agriculturist is at the same time a man popular among his neighbors, possessed of sound sense and good judgment, correct in his business transactions, and thus occupies an honored position in his community. He has for his wife and helpmate a lady of more than ordinary intelligence, educated and refined, and who is the encourager of her husband in all his worthy efforts. With these elements there has been built up a home pleasant both within and without, and one which is the frequent resort of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
   Our subject was born in Portsmouth, Jackson Co., Ohio, in August, 1849, and four years later his parents removed from his native State to Polk County, Mo. The journey was made in pioneer fashion, mostly by water. Allen G. lived in that State until the fall of 1854, then accompanied his parents northwest into Nebraska, crossing the Missouri River at Kenosha, and taking shelter their first right in the Territory at that point. Mr. Crabtree distinctly remembers the first night spent in

Nebraska and many other incidents connected with the journey and the after settlement of the family. The country around them was wild and new, and they experienced the hardships and privations common to the lot of the pioneer.
   Mr. Crabtree grew to manhood at his father's homestead in Rock Bluff Precinct. Cass County, making himself useful at an early age in the cultivation of the soil and the development of the homestead. His educational advantages were exceedingly limited, and he started out in early life to make his own way in the world, leaving home at the age of fourteen years. He first joined a train of freight wagons going across the plains to Denver, Col., making two trips. Later he returned home and lived on the farm until reaching his majority. For the next four years he was engaged in teaming and herding in Lancaster County, having charge of 600 head of cattle from the spring of 1876 until 1879.
   Mr. Crabtree made his first purchase of land in the fall of 1878. He rented this a year, moving upon it in the spring of 1880. There were then no buildings, and his first business was to secure shelter for his family. He was obliged to haul lumber from Lincoln fourteen miles away, and after putting up his house he commenced fencing his land and planting trees. He has now a fine grove and an apple orchard, besides trees of the smaller fruits, and his land is well watered by a branch of the Nemaha. He keeps good grades of cattle, horses and swine, making quite a specialty of the breeding of stock.
   Our subject was married in Elmwood, Dec. 25, 1879, to Miss Eliza, daughter of Henry and Anna (Herter) Umland. The father of Mrs. Crabtree is a prominent citizen of this county, and a sketch of him will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Crabtree was born in Mascoutah, St. Clair Co., Ill., Nov. 16, 1857, and when twenty years of age came with her parents to Nebraska. She is now the mother of four children -- Ettie N., Henry R., Clara M. and William A. The eldest of these is eight years of age, and the youngest three. They are pursuing their studies.
   Mr. Crabtree, politically, uniformly votes the Democratic ticket, and has been quite prominent with his party in this section, being sent as a delegate to the various conventions and otherwise laboring for the principles in which he believes. He has been a member of the School Board in his district for a period of six years, and socially, belongs to the K. of P.
   Our subject comes of a good family, being the son of Abel and Elizabeth (Clemons) Crabtree, who were both natives of Ohio, and the father was born in Jackson County. The paternal grandfather, James Crabtree, was also a native of the Buckeye State, and carried on the business of farming and milling combined, being the owner of mill property. The maternal grandfather, familiarly known as "Capt. John Clemons," was born in Ohio in 1812, the same year in which it was admitted into the Union as a State. He served valiantly in the Mexican War, wherein he obtained his commission of Captain. When quite well advanced in years he emigrated to the West, being among the pioneer settlers of Cass County, Neb., and one of the first white men to locate on the Missouri River. He employed himself in freighting across the plains a number of years, and accumulated a good property. He spent his last years in Rock Bluff Precinct, dying in July, 1880, at the age of seventy-eight years. His good wife survived him until 1882, and passed away at the same age.
    William Clemons, the maternal great-grandfather of our subject, was of English descent but American born. He also came to Nebraska, and died in Rock Bluff Precinct. Abel Crabtree, the father of our subject, was a collier by trade and also carried farming. In the fall of 1833, removing from Ohio he took up his abode in Holt County, Mo., but the year following came to Nebraska and took up a claim in Rock Bluff Precinct, this county. His land lay along the banks of Rock Creek, and after making some improvements he sold out and secured land in another part of the same precinct, upon which he farmed successfully, and to which he added until he became the owner of a quarter-section. He is still living at the old homestead, being now sixty-eight years old. The mother died July 31, 1886, aged sixty-two. Both parents were members in good standing of the Christian Church, and

were people careful and conscientious in their lives and highly respected in their community.
   The seven children of the household were named respectively: Allen, Noah, Ross, Travis, Elsie, Silas, and Abel, who died when one year old. Those living are located in Cass and Lancaster Counties, Neb.

RS. FRANCES JANE SMITH, widow of Francis Smith, is a representative of the noble, self-sacrificing pioneer women of Cass County who have contributed their share toward its upbuilding. She is a woman of marked decision of character, and of superior capacify, who has shown by her able management of her property great sagacity and far-reaching foresight, so that she is now in comfortable circumstances, and has retired from active labor, renting her farm on section 34. Stove Creek Precinct.
   The parents of our subject. Robert and Mary (Chesman) Clark, were born in Durham, England. Her grandfather, Thomas Chesman, was a farmer in England, and lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven years. The father of our subject was a miner during his youth, and when he was twenty-one he enlisted in the English Army, and served twenty years, and during that length of time witnessed and took part in many famous battles, was present at the battle of Waterloo, and saw much of Europe, was all through France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, etc. He finally retired from the service on account of ill-health, his sister buying him off. He was married, and began mining, becoming overseer in some mines, which position he held until his death in 1851, at the age of fifty-six years. He was a man of much stability of character, one in whom his fellow-citizens placed implicit confidence, and he was devoted to his employers interests, and at the same time was kind and considerate to the men under his charge. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His widow survived him a few years, dying in 1861, at the age of sixty-three. She was a woman of much worth, and her memory is cherished by her children, of whom she had seven, as follows: Elizabeth, in Illinois; Thomas, in England; Jane Frances; Mary and Sarah, both in England; Robert and George, deceased.
   Our subject was born June 20, 1823, in Newcastle, Durham, England. March 20, 1842, she was married in the town of Atchester, England, to Mr. Francis Smith, son of Adam and Margaret (Brown) Smith. He was the second child of the family, and was born in the town of Newcastle, Sept. 8, 1818. When a boy of seven years he was obliged to go into the mines to work to assist in the support of his family, but he managed to glean an education in the night schools, at which he was a faithful attendant. His steadiness and good habits made a favorable impression on his employers, and they raised him to the position of overseer of the mines, and he continued in that office until 1852, when he and his family emigrated to America, setting sail from Liverpool on the ship "Columbus." After a long and stormy voyage of six weeks and two days, they landed in New York, and proceeded to Detroit, Mich. Mr. Smith obtained a position as copyist in a lawyer's office, and they resided in that city eight months. We next hear of the family in Kingston, Ill., where Mr. Smith secured the position of overseer in the coal mines. A year later the ague drove them away from there to Peoria, in the same State. They lived there one year, and Mr. Smith worked in the mines as carpenter. In 1857 he was almost crippled by the fall of some rocks, and was never very strong after that. He then moved to Marshall County, bought a small piece of land, and mined drift coal, staying there until 1870. He then concluded to invest his money in land in Nebraska, that he might enjoy the benefit of its salubrious climate and other natural advantages. He and his wife and children came all the way with a team, bringing their belongings that they considered indispensable with them. They crossed the Missouri at Plattsmouth, and in Stove Creek Precinct Mr. Smith took up an 80-acre tract of land under the provisions of the Homestead Act, and with the able assistance of his wife he began its improvement. He had to hire the land broken, as his health was so poor, and upon Mrs. Smith devolved the task of setting out the trees of the grove and orchard, and planting the small fruits, of which