ment, finally much against his inclinations was obliged to run, but in doing so his gun became entangled in a bramble and in turning around to extricate it he found that the regimental flag had been deserted. Quick as a flash he sprang back, seized the standard, and while thousands of rebel soldiers shouted, "drop it," and while the deadly missiles from their guns flew thick around him, he miraculously escaped and in a few moments was safely by the side of his comrades. After this engagement they retreated to Pleasant Hill and thence to the mouth of the Red River, where the expedition was abandoned.
   Mr. Magee, soon after this affair, was promoted to Sergeant and at New Orleans was assigned to provost duty. Later on, after participating in the siege of Mobile and the capture of Spanish Fort, they journeyed up the Tombigbee River, where the news of Lee's surrender told them that the war was practically ended. Mr. Magee received his honorable discharge at Mobile, and soon afterward returned to his old haunts in Illinois. In all his army career he never missed a ration or a roll call. Being young, stout, careful and willing, he was enabled to bear up bravely under the most trying circumstances. On the march from Vicksburg to Jackson, July 5, 1861, he was one of the four men able to stack guns at the close of the day's engagement. He was promoted to First Sergeant in the spring of 1865.
   The patriotism of our subject did not end with the close of the war. Coming home he had scarcely yet attained to a complete manhood and realized the advantage which a more thorough education would be to him. He accordingly resumed his studies in the district school a few months after his discharge. Among those in attendance was a rude and boisterous fellow, a rebel in his instincts and expressions, and who one day stood up and hurrahed for Jeff Davis. No sooner had the words left his lips than Mr. Magee laid him low with a "left-hander," and mounting his prostrate form administered to him a first-class thrashing. Later, Mr. M. pursued his studies in another school under the instruction of one of his former commanders, Lieut. Smith.
   Mr. Magee entered upon the more serious business of life as a farmer in Peoria County. Ill., and when ready to establish a fireside of his own was united in marriage with Miss Mary Miller, in 1870. Mrs. Magee was born in Peoria County, Ill., and was the schoolmate and playmate of her husband during their childhood years. They made their home in Illinois for some time, then came to this county and settled on a tract of uncultivated land in Greenwood Precinct, from which was built up by their united efforts a good homestead, which they occupied until in 1884. Mr. M. had been, for some time prior to this suffering from nervous prostration, the result of arduous and continued labor, and was advised by his physician to try a change of occupation. He then left the farm to engage in the lumber trade. In his dealings with his fellowmen he has gained their friendship and respect, and is to-day one of the most widely known and popular men of Greenwood.
   Our subject and his estimable wife are the parents of two children, daughters, Lily and Henrietta. The family residence is pleasantly situated in the northwest part of town and is as attractive in its surroundings as it is pleasant and congenial within, Mr. and Mrs. M. are members in good standing of the Christian Church, in which our subject officiates as Steward and Trustee. He is prominently identified with the G. A. R. and it is hardly necessary to state that, politically, he is a solid Republican, "dyed in the wool." He represents a goodly amount of property and is a man whose career has been distinguished by the strictest honesty and integrity-one whose word is as good as his bond.

AMUEL CARTER, an intelligent and enterprising farmer of Elmwood Precinct, was born Oct. 29, 1824, in Maine, and among the younger members of a family of nine namely: Mary, Joseph, Shuah M., Ruth T., Eliza T., Martha S., Sarah A., Samuel, our subject, and Monroe. Of this number all are deceased excepting Ruth and our subject. Ruth is a widow, and living in Nebraska. In his early days he was favored with good educational advantages, which he improved to the fullest extent, attending the public school

until at the age seventeen he entered the Academy at Fryeburgh Village, where he continued a student for one term. After this he learned the trade of a painter, which he followed in his native State and in Massachusetts.
   Mr. Carter was united in marriage in 1855, to Miss Sarah Webster, the daughter of John S. and Hannah Webster. Her father was born in Brownfield, Me., and the mother was born in New Hampshire, near the Maine State line. Her maternal grandfather, John, was in the Revolutionary War, and was one of the pioneers in the settlement of New Hampshire. Her paternal grandfather, William Webster, was a distant relative of Hon. Daniel Webster, the renowned statesman. Her girlhood days were passed in Maine; she attended the same school and academy which Mr. Carter, her present husband, attended, so that their acquaintance and companionship leave been lifelong. After their marriage Mr. Carter, cultivated the old Carter homestead. Mrs. Carter is a member of a family of nine children, consisting of: Mary; Sarah, the wife of our subject; Carrie, Hannah E., Elvira C., James Edward, Mary A., John Alden and Josiah C. The children are scattered from Maine to Nebraska. Of the six surviving members of the family Mrs. Carter is the only one in Nebraska.
   Mr. Carter came to Elmwood Precinct in 1869, when he settled on his present farm on section 8, where he has lived continuously from that date to the present, devoting his time exclusively to the cultivation of the broad acres under his ownership. An orchard of the choicest varieties of fruit yields its store of luscious fruits, and the various small fruits adapted to the climate contribute materially to the pleasure and profit of the owner. Shrubbery and ornamental trees lavishly planted lend a most inviting appearance to the homestead, which of itself is most eligibly located. Eight children have been born to this worthy couple, named respectively: Charles S., Mary E., John W., George, Wallace, Samuel F., Carrie W. and Frank T. Of this number Mary E. is dead. She, among many others, was attending the school of her neighborhood when one of those terrible scourges of the Western country, the cyclone, came and demolished the schoolhouse, and Mary rendered up her young life to its destructive power. The blow was indeed a sad one to her fond parents, and her memory is held sacred by the survivors of the family; Carrie and Frank are also dead; Charles S., the eldest, is living in Dawes County, Neb.; the sons John W. and George are residents of Custer County, Neb.; Wallace is teaching and Samuel is at home.
   The father of our subject, Samuel F., was born in Oxford County, Me. His mother, Mary (Thompson) Carter, was born in New Hampshire. The father served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He was a farmer, and was born and died in the same house. His death took place in 1866, when he was eighty-three years of age. The mother died in 1853, aged sixty-six years. The paternal grandfather, Solomon Thompson, came from England. Grandfather Ezra Carter settled in the State of Maine.
   In his coming to and settling in Nebraska Mr. Carter did not escape any of the trials incident to the life of the pioneer. To build his home he drew the lumber with teams from Plattsmouth, his nearest market at that time, but with a strong determination native to the man he accepted no discouragements, but pushed the improvement of his farm as rapidly as time and circumstances would admit, until to-day his broad, well-tilled acres are a continuous comment on the energy and ability inherent in the man. Highly educated, possessing a spirit of rare refinement, he is especially sensitive to disappointments and crosses, yet his will does not allow him to surrender to them. He has not been as successful in a financial sense as some of his neighbors, yet he is in easy circumstances and in a fair way to realize his fall complement of wealth. Generous and intelligent, he is one of the men who have made Elmwood Precinct what it is. He is always ready to assist the poor and relieve the needy, possessing a noble appearance and carrying the stamp of nature's true nobility, he his and deserves the friendship and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact. Living soberly and uprightly he carries his age remarkably well. He steps as lightly as a man of thirty. His noble wife is all that a wife should be, thoughtful, patient in all things, she has contributed no inconsiderable part to her husband's success in life. Educated, and refined, she is an

ornament in the social circles in which they move; she is a lady who is practical in her life, and it is her hand that supplies the cellar and pantry with many of the delicacies which are foreign and entirely unknown to the denizens of a large city. A few years since she made an exhibit of canned fruit at the Weeping Water Fair, including seventeen varieties, when she received all the highest premium. To her other many excellent qualities it may be said that she is excellent cook.
   Mr. Carter has served his fellow-townsmen its School Treasurer, Director, Moderator and Justice of the Peace, as a Deacon in the Congregational Church, of which himself and wife are members. In politics he is unquestionably Republican.

DWIN DIMMITT is a progressive farmer of Elmwood Precinct, where he owns and operates a splendid farm of 360 acres of land. He was born in Clermont County, Ohio, where he lived with his parents until he was thirteen years old, when he came with them and settled in Tazewell County, Ill., working on the farm and attending the public schools of the neighborhood. His earliest recollections of life date back to the time he lived in the old Buckeye State, and he remembers distinctly when he attended the school at "Porter's Tavern," in that State.
   Mr. Dimmitt is the eldest of a family of five children born to his parents; Sarah L., Beal Harvey, Ezra and Henry, all being younger. In 1862 our subject and Hannah M. Skinner were united in the holy bonds of matrimony. This lady was one of a family of eight children -- John, Alfred, Sarah; Hannah M., the wife of our subject; Nora, Trumbull, Daniel and Harriet. Her parents removed to Peoria, County, Ill. A family of six interesting children have been born to our subject and his worthy wife. They are named Joseph Lincoln; Alfred who died in infancy; Anna L., Mary, Cora and Jessie. Those living are with their parents at home.
   Mr. Dimmitt says that his coming to Nebraska was the turning point in his life, that ever since he has been a resident of the State he has been very successful in all his undertakings. It is true he has borne his portion of the hardships and toils experienced by every pioneer, but the result has amply recompensed him for all the trouble that has come to him. Possessing an extremely sanguine temperament he has always been able to meet reverses with a hopeful heart. This ability to look on the bright side of things has been a source of great comfort to him. His good wife has borne her share of the trials and discomforts of frontier life with a happy and cheerful heart. When the days were darkest and the outlook most dreary, then never a murmur of repining or regret passed her lips, and now that the angel of peace and plenty has settled herself down and taken up her abode in the midst of this happy family the wife and mother feels that her life has not been in vain. Their eldest daughter, Anna L., is one of the social leaders of the neighborhood and is a most estimable young lady. Possessing the genial feelings inherited from her father, she is the life of every social gathering.
   The father of our subject was considered one of the pillars of the church of which he was a member, and took a lively and substantial interest in every institution for the advancement of knowledge and progress in Elmwood Precinct. Mr. Dimmitt has served the community in which he lives as Justice of the Peace, discharging his duties in a very efficient manner. In politics he is a Republican and is proud to say that he cast his first vote at the first election of Abraham Lincoln. For the genealogy of our subject's parents refer to the biography of Beal Harvey Dimmitt, upon another page of this work.

ETER ROLOFSZ was the first man to take up and improve a homestead in Tipton Precinct, which he did in the spring of 1868. He had been renting farms in Monona County, Iowa, and feeling that he could do better by making a home for himself he started overland with teams and wagons to Nebraska, crossed the Missouri River at Nebraska City, continuing on to Tipton, where he took up his present home, and immediately began improving the same. He built a small house, and spent the summer

there, and in the fall he went back to Iowa for his family; he remained there until the winter came on, then moved to Glenwood, Iowa, where he obtained work. He returned to his homestead the following spring, and resumed the improvement of his claim by setting out groves and planting an orchard. At this time it was rather a lonely life, as it was four miles to the nearest neighbor.
   When not engaged in improving his farm he followed freighting between Nebraska City and Lincoln. Under no circumstances could he be induced to part with his homestead, but continued to improve it in all directions, dividing it up into fields by well-kept fences of hedge and wire. In 1879 he built a new and comfortable residence. He devotes his attention to general farming and the raising of thoroughbred stock, graded Short-horn cattle and full-blooded Poland-China hogs. This gentleman's pride in his stock is certainly justifiable, and does him great credit. He is also an adept in the art of dehorning cattle. Seven horses are required to perform the labor of the farm.
   The land selected for the homestead is very eligibly situated, and the broad expanse of cultivated fields, well-kept hedge and fence rows, and the neat and tastefully designed farm buildings, presents a very pleasing picture, and speaks highly of the genius and enterprise that have brought them into their present perfect form.
   The subject of this sketch was born in Gallerland, Holland, Aug. 8, 1839. His early life was spent on the farm, and he attended one of the excellent schools of that country. At the age of fourteen he began to learn the weaver's trade, which he followed until he left Holland for America. When fifteen years of age, in the fall of 1854, he came to America with his parents, by the way of Havre, France, and Liverpool, England, thence by sailing-sbip to New York, where they landed in Castle Garden after a voyage of twenty-three days. The whole family continued their journey to Iowa, where they settled on a tract of forty acres of raw land in Monona County.
   Our subject remained there until he was twenty-one years old, when he began to engage in business for himself. In October, 1862, he enlisted in the 3d Missouri Cavalry, Company C. He was mustered into the service at Palmyra, Mo., and saw service under the command of Gen. Prentiss, Col. Glover and Capt. Black. The regiment was largely employed doing guard duty along the line of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. When they were relieved from this service the regiment was ordered to Rolla, Mo., where our subject was taken sick, and was sent to the general hospital at St. Louis, Mo., where he remained until he recovered, and was honorably discharged at St. Louis on account of physical disability. The bulk of his army service was in chasing bushwhackers and squads of Gen. Price's men; he participated in the battle of Sturgeon, Mo. Returning home after his discharge he went to work on a farm in Linn County, Iowa, and drove an omnibus for a season in Cedar Rapids, which engaged his attention up to the time we find him located on his homestead at Tipton.
   This gentleman is one of a family of ten children -- Elizabeth, Henrietta, Chauncey, Corrina, Johannah, Josina, Joseph, Cora and Henry younger; all living except Chauncey and Corrina, who were drowned, and Joseph, deceased. The brother Joseph was a Captain in the Netherlands army, and was stationed in the East Indies. He was killed by the giving way of a veranda.
   Peter Rolofsz, Sr., the father of our subject, was born in Amsterdam. Holland, and was clerk in a large wholesale establishment. After marriage he moved into Gallerland, and went into stock-raising, also operating a grist and oil mill until he became very wealthy. At one time he was worth more than $100,000, but going security a great deal for his friends he finally failed. In the fall of 1854 he came to America and settled in Monona County, Iowa, and began improving his home. At the same time he engaged in the mercantile business in Pella, Iowa. In this venture he did fairly well for awhile, but going security for his son-in-law he failed a second time. He then moved to St. Louis, and lived with one of his daughters until he died in September, 1880, at the ripe old age of seventy-nine years. The mother had died in Iowa in 1862, being then fifty-two years old. She was Miss Elizabeth G. Phillips, and was born in Germany.
   Grandfather Rolofsz was a banker in Amsterdam and was very rich. Our subject was married in

Linn County, Iowa, Oct. 9, 1863, to Miss Julia Hawks, daughter of James and Annette (Dunckler) Hawks. Grandfather Dunckler was a cooper. He went to Chicago when there were only two or three houses, and bought 900 acres of land, a few miles from the present site of the city. He built it residence in Chicago, and his decease occurred there in 1861, when he was sixty-nine years of age. The father of the wife of our subject was a farmer and also a merchant of Grand Rapids, Mich., and removed from there to Chicago. He owned a farm west of that city, and operated it until 1861, when he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and operated a hotel.
   The family next moved to Kingston, again engaging in the hotel business. Leaving Kingston they went to Nebraska, where they took up a homestead in 1869. They operated this farm until 1881, when they sold the property and went to Howard City; he is now living with his daughter at Buffalo, Neb. The father is seventy years of age, and the mother sixty-seven. Julia A., the wife of the subject of this sketch, was one of a family of twelve children: Mary E., Laura A., and William B. are older; Alonzo A., Hiram, Vincent R., Chase M., Ellin, Frank, Jennie and Carrie E. Of this number Hiram, Ebin, Frank and Jennie are deceased. The brother William B. served three and a half years in the Rebellion, enlisting when only sixteen years of age.
   Julia A., the wife of our subject, was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 8, 1849. She was thirteen years of age when the family removed to Iowa. She received a good education, is a kind and considerate wife, and is a joy and comfort to her husband and family, and very hospitable, striving to make the stranger within her gates happy and contented. Twelve children have been born to this couple -- Elizabeth A., Christma J., Anthony D., Peter, Jr., Josina, Maud, Arthur, Ralph, Blanche, Grace, Ray and Ethel. All are living except Elizabeth, Anthony, Peter, Jr., Maud and Arthur. Josina is at school in Weeping Water; the rest are at home.
   Our subject has been in America so long, and has become so thoroughly identified with the country that he feels perfectly at home. He has never entered largely into public life, preferring to attend strictly to the improvement and care of his farm. He has been a member of the School Board for a year, Postmaster at Sunlight for two years, and Constable. Himself and wife are members of the United Brethren Church, and he has been Superintendent of the Sunday-school at Tipton Schoolhouse. In politics he is a strict Republican.

PENCER S. BILLINGS, a worthy representative of the intelligent business men of Cass County, who have materially aided in its growth and development, is an honored resident of Plattsmouth, where he has lived since 1861. He is a native of New England, and was born Dec. 8, 1816, in the same house, in the town of Somers, Tolland Co., Conn., that his father, Samuel S. Billings, was born in. He is of English descent, his grandfather, Samuel Billings, having emigrated from England before the Revolutionary War, and settled in Somers, where he spent his remaining years. He built a fulling mill in the locality, known as Billings' Mills, it having been one of the first mills erected in New England. It has been enlarged, and there are large woolen mills on the site, which are now owned and operated by some of his descendants.
   The father of our subject was reared and married in Somers. He, in company with his brother Elijah, succeeded their father in the ownership of the mill. After working them for some years he disposed of his interest to Elijah, and, removing to Cherry Valley, N.Y., engaged in the mercantile business. There were neither railways nor canals in those days, and his merchandise, which came by the Hudson River to Troy, was drawn by teams to Cherry Valley. He remained in business there several years, and then moved to Little Falls, and later to Batavia. While in that city he had the misfortune to lose his wife, and after her death he returned to Connecticut, and spent the remainder of his life at Billings' Mills. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Irene Spencer, and she also was a native of Somers, Conn.

Their union was blessed by the birth of nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity, and seven of them are still living.
   The subject of this sketch was but three years of age when his parents removed to New York State, where he grew to manhood. He attended the district school as opportunity offered, and being studious and ambitious, made good progress in his studies. At the age of eighteen years he returned to his native town, and there studied medicine with Horatio Hamilton, M. D. When ready to establish himself as a physician, some newer country, where men of his profession were less plentiful, seemed preferable to New England; accordingly, accompanied by his brother, he traveled across the country to Illinois. The now thriving city of Peoria was then a small town, and there he located. He formed a partnership with Dr. Mossman, and practiced there for one year. He then removed to Knoxville, the same State, and there took a contract to manufacture the brick to be used in building the first court-house ever erected in Knox County. Very soon after the organization of the Territory of Iowa, our subject went there and located in Bonaparte, where he remained about five years. He then changed his place of residence to Keokuk, where he established himself in the mercantile business, being one of the first merchants of the place. Mr. Billings did not, however, confine himself to that business only, but bought many land warrants and entered large tracts of land. Subsequently he built a large hotel in the place, and bought other buildings, and was for some time the second largest real estate owner in the State. He met with great financial prosperity while there, but during the hard times of 1857 he lost a great deal of money by endorsing for friends. In 1859 our subject came to Nebraska, and established a store at Nebraska City, and during the same year opened another one at Plattsmouth, and a third one at the Indian Agency at Columbus, operating them all in 1867 . During this time Mr. Billings entered quite a tract of land in Nebraska. In 1861 he moved with his family to Plattsmouth where he has since resided. He owns much real estate here, having bought 100 acres of land adjoining the city, and, since disposing of his mercantile interests in 1867, his only business has been the improvement of this land, on which he has built more than a nundred houses, nearly all of which he still owns. Our subject has been a confirmed invalid for the past nine years, but, though physically weak, he is strong intellectually, and his brain is as active, his mind as clear, and his judgment as shrewd, as when he was in his prime. He was formerly a great reader, and kept himself well informed on all subjects of the day, and he is a most excellent counselor, and interesting companion and entertaining converstionalist. He has always been a temperate man, and an ardent advocate of temperance principles.
   The marriage of our subject took place in Bonaparte, Iowa, in January, 1845, when he was united to Lucinda Johnston. She was born in Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of John and Rachel Johnston. She died at the homestead July 12, 1873, leaving a vacancy never to be filled. To her and her husband were born six children, of whom the following is the record: Elizabeth is the wife of Edward Murphy, of Arrapahoe, Furnas Co., Neb.; Clinton, at home; Ella married Allen C. Spencer, and she lives in her father's home; Harriet is the wife of James Hunter, of Plattsmouth; Grace married Grant W. Luper, of Horton, Kan.; George lives at home.
   Mr. Billings has for over forty years been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and, politically, a Democrat up to the breaking out of the late war; since them he has been a staunch Republican. He has also been a member of the Masonic fraternity for nearly forty years.

EV. GEORGE R. MURRAY, pastor of the Fairview United Presbyterian Church, of Murray -- the post-office and village are named in his honor and are situated in Rock Bluff Precinct -- is very pleasantly located on section 2, Liberty Precinct, where he has a comfortable homestead, consisting of 120 acres of good land. He came to this State in 1880, and since that time has had charge of the Fairview Church, which has prospered well under his zealous care, and has prospects of a bright future before it.