section 15, to which he has given his special attention, making it the place of abode for himself and family. Later he purchased eighty acres on section 23. The whole of this land was unimproved, there being neither a tree, a fence nor a building upon it. Having to hire a team, he broke only five acres the first season, which was all he could afford to pay for, and that same year made for his dwelling a cellar of stone, covering it closely, and thus securing a warm, dry place for himself and family, in which they lived comfortably for five years. He effected one improvement after another as rapidly as his means would allow, and purchased his first team in the fall of 1868, a yoke of oxen, in the meantime he worked for his neighbors, helping them to put in their crops, and they in turn assisted him by loaning their teams to him. His first crop of wheat comprised three acres, from which he realized very plentifully. He secured 105 bushels, which provided him with bread and seed for the next year.
   The season following Mr. Wheeler sowed eleven acres in wheat, and from this he harvested 300 bushels, and after reserving what was required for the use of the family, exchanged the balance for another yoke of oxen. The nearest market for the pioneer farmers of Table Rock Precinct at that time was at Brownville, forty miles from the farm of Mr. Wheeler. Money was scarce, and provisions were high, and the family maintained themselves as much as possible on the products of their farm, doing without the luxury of groceries. In due time our subject had raised a couple of steers, and was thus enabled to proceed with the cultivation of his land until having the whole of it under the plow. He enclosed his farm with fencing, set out an orchard and a good grove of forest trees, besides the smaller fruits, including cherries, plums and grape, gathered maple seeds along the Nemaha River which he planted, and it is hardly necessary to say was obliged to wait with patience several years before the little shoots thus obtained could be dignified by the name of trees.
   The family in the meantime, in addition to the ordinary hardships and privations of pioneer life, were afflicted with the ague spring and fall for about seven years. Often the emigrants around them would find the trial too great, and becoming homesick and discouraged, would throw up their claims and return whence they came. Those who persevered, however, like Mr. Wheeler, have now no regrets that they were enabled to adhere to their first resolution. He, especially, has been fortunate, and is now the owner of a valuable farm, with all the necessary machinery, the live stock, and the various other appliances constituting the ideal country home.
   The present family residence was completed in the fall of 1871, after considerable delay, Mr. Wheeler being obliged to proceed gradually as his means and time permitted. They moved into it when only the siding was on, and many a time the father took his bed down into the cellar when the children were sick, sleeping on a table. The first winter living in the cellar they had at one end of it a good stove, and in the other made a fire on the ground, the smoke and sparks escaping though the straw roof. Mrs. Wheeler many a time washed her dishes when the ice would form from the drops of water on the table. When the weather became too severe, Mr. Wheeler with his family of nine would repair to a 10x12 shanty on the farm of William Fetters. The makeshifts of those days were as ingenious as they were numerous, and are far more entertaining in the relation than they were in the experience.
   After a few years: Mr. Wheeler branched out into stock-raising, and in the course of time began to realize the reward of perseverance and industry. The first school-house was two miles from his farm, conducted in a building which he assisted to erect, and for many years he officiated as Director and Treasurer, only withdrawing from the position upon his removal to town in October, 1886. He was then succeeded by his son, who now operates the old homestead. Mr. Wheeler, politically, is a Democrat of the old school, and from early manhood voted for every Democratic candidate for President with the exception of Horace Greeley. He officiated as Road Supervisor several terms, but for the most part has avoided becoming an office-holder. He is a man who has learned well from a rich and varied experience, is a good financier, prompt to meet his obligations, and in all respects a model

citizen. In religious matters, he, and his excellent wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
   Columbia County, N. Y., was the early tramping ground of our subject, and where his birth took place July 8, 1822. He lived there until a young man of twenty-four years, receiving a practical education in the common school, and working with his father on the farm until his marriage. This important event in his life occurred on the 31st of August, 1844, his bride being Miss Lucinda Fellers, and of this union there have been born eleven children. Nine of these lived to mature years, and eight still survive. Of these latter, Mary E. was born Sept. 9, 1846; William H., Aug. 19, 1848; James T., Jan. 4, 1852; Alida C., July 20, 1854; Alice C., June 7, 1856: Helen S., Oct. 19, 1860; Andrew J., Feb. 25, 1864, and George W., Sept. 25, 1866. Of the deceased, Cora M. was born Nov. 6, 1868, and died at the age of eleven years and nine months; Erastus D. was born Aug. 11, 1858, and died when a little lad six years of age; Catherine A., was born June 18, 1850, and died when one year and six months old.
   Mr. W. removed from New York to Pennsylvania in 1849, settling in Luzerne County, and living there until 1866. All but the two eldest children were born in the latter State, and the two youngest in Nebraska. Mr. Wheeler in Pennsylvania employed himself as a coal miner, but disliking this kind of labor, resolved to secure a farm in the West. Mrs. Lucinda (Fellers) Wheeler was born in Columbia County, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1825, and is the daughter of Phillip Fetters. who carried on farming first in that county, and then removed to Dutchess County. He was a native of New York, and married Miss Polly Ringsdorph, which union resulted in the birth of thirteen children. Eight of the thirteen children of whom Mr. Fellers was the father lived to mature years. Miss Ringsdorph was his third wife, and she survived her husband a number of years, her death taking place in New York State. Mr. Fetters died in Dutchess County about 1866.
   Andrew Wheeler, the father of our subject, was born in Columbia County, N. Y., where he was reared to manhood, and married Miss Catherine Ham of the same county. He also was the father of thirteen children, one of whom died at the age of fifteen years. He spent his entire life in his native State, engaged in farming pursuits, and attained to the advanced age of eighty-one years, passing away in the year 1868. The wife and mother died about 1860, being eight or ten years younger than her husband. She was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. The eldest daughter living, Mary E.. is the wife of Daniel Hamblin, a carpenter of Burlington, Mo., where he also operates as a contractor and bridge builder; they have three children-Hettie, Edna and Estella. William H. married Miss Ellen Van Norman, and they live in Stella, this State; they have three children--Annetta, Esmond and Clarence. Alida C. married Edward Butler, of Atchison County, Mo., and is the mother of three children, one deceased; Alice C. married W. D. Easley, of Falls City, Neb.; Helen, Mrs. E. Shorts, is the mother of one boy, Charles, and lives in Wyandotte, Kan.; Andrew married Miss Ida Bates, is the father of two children, Cora M. and Clarence, and lives at the old homestead; George is unmarried and makes his home with his parents. These children all enjoyed the advantages of a good practical education, and have taken their places in life as worthy citizens. Mr. Wheeler has performed his part nobly in assisting to develop a portion of the primitive soil of Pawnee County, and now, amid the comforts of a pleasant home, and surrounded by hosts of friends, is reaping the reward of a well-spent life.

AMUEL S. SHANNON. The various members of the Shannon family comprise some of the best elements which came to this county during its earlier days, and bore no unimportant part in bringing it to its present condition Samuel S., our subject, is a retired farmer in good circumstances, and now making his home in Pawnee City. His career has been one to which his descendants may revert with pride in later years.
   The boyhood home of Mr. Shannon was in Giles County, Va., not far from Dublin, the county seat

of Giles County, where he was born Feb. 7, 1832, being the second in a family of five sons. The parents, Thomas R. and Sarah Ann (Allen) Shannon, were also natives of the Old Dominion, whence they emigrated to Indiana in the fall of 1834. The father selected a tract of land in Hendricks County and sojourned there a number of years and until September, 1859, when he started for the farther West with his family, and coming to this county took up 160 acres of land about two miles west of the present site of Pawnee City. it is hardly necessary to say that there was then little indication of the future town. Thomas Shannon was the first homesteader in the county, and upon the farm which he built up from the primitive soil he and his excellent wife spent the remainder of their days. His decease took place in 1872, at the age of sixty-six years, and that of the mother seven years after, when she was seventy-six.
   Samuel Shannon, our subject, was reared to man's estate in Hendricks County, Ind., and was given the advantages of the schools under a system most imperfectly developed. He remained a member of the parental household until reaching the twenty-fifth year of his age, then took to himself a wife and helpmate, Miss Mary M. Jones, to whom he was married in Hendricks County, Ind., in 1855. Mrs. Shannon was born and reared to womanhood in that county, and was the daughter of Winn and Margaret Jones, who spent their last years in Indiana. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shannon settled on a farm in Hendricks County, where they lived until the removal of the father's family to Nebraska, accompanying them hither. Our subject took up eighty acres of land and homesteaded 160 acres, the whole of which he improved, with good buildings, and brought the soil to a high state of cultivation. In the meantime both he and his father fought the grasshopper scourge and the other difficulties which beset the pioneer settler. These ravenous insects ate up every green thing, leaving nothing behind them but the bare soil.
   Our subject sojourned on his farm until 1884, then wisely retired from active labor and took up his abode in Pawnee City. He occupies a neat and substantial residence of his own building, and welcomes to his hospitable doors a host of friends. To him and his excellent wife were born four children, only two of whom are living. Sarah A. was married and died, leaving three children; Ollie B. became the wife of Olen Frasier and died, leaving one child. The survivors are Charles W. and William A., who remain at home with their parents.
   Mr. Shannon is rather conservative in his political ideas, and aside from serving as a member of the School Board has declined to seek political preferment. His paternal grandparents, Samuel and Elizabeth Shannon, were also natives of Virginia and of Scotch-Irish descent. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Allen, was one of the earliest settlers of Virginia, where he spent his last days.

C. ELLISON is distinguished in the annals of Pawnee County as having been the very first settler in Plum Creek Precinct. He is a well-to-do farmer, and operates a finely improved farm of 160 acres on sections 31 and 32, that precinct. It is beautifully located, and is well watered by a branch of Plum Creek, is furnished with a substantial set of farm buildings, and a good supply of farming machinery, and everything about the neat, well-appointed homestead betokens the thrift, skill, and methodical habits of the owner. He is a farmer of wide experience, and knows well how to cultivate his land so as to make the most of its exceedingly fertile soil, and derives therefrom a comfortable income. Mr. Ellison was born near Speedwell, Claiborne Co., Tenn., March 10, 1826. His father, Robert Ellison, was born in North Carolina, of which State his father, James Ellison, was likewise a native, of English descent. The latter moved to Tennessee in the early days of its settlement, accompanied by his family, and there spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of sixty years. He took part in the War of 1812, and was it farmer by occupation. The father of our subject was young when his parents moved to Tennessee, and he was there reared to manhood amid the influences of pioneer life. He bought 200 acres of wild land, and improved it, and continued to reside on his Tennessee homestead until his death, at the age of

sixty years, in 1872. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Polly Kirk, and she was, like himself, born in Claiborne County, Tenn. Her father was a farmer there, but he subsequently moved to Illinois, and died there. The Kirk family was likewise of English descent. The mother died while still young, in 1839. She and her husband were people of great worth, and were esteemed members of the Baptist Church, and he was a Democrat in his political views. They were the parents of eight children, as follows; Nancy (deceased), Mc., Tilda and James (both deceased), Robert, George, Sally and Polly. Robert and George enlisted from Tennessee in the Union Army, and served throughout the late Civil War. They were taken prisoners and sent to Andersonville, Robert remaining there eighteen months, and George ten months, he finally escaping. He was shot by the guerrillas through the leg, and laid up for a longtime.
   The subject of this biographical notice grew to man's estate on his father's homestead, and remained an inmate of the old home until he was twenty-three years of age, receiving in the meantime the educational advantages afforded by the common schools. In the spring of 1864 he came to Nebraska, by way of rail to St. Joseph, Mo., and thence by team to this locality, and rented some land on Wolf Creek, which he farmed to some extent. In the fall of that year he took up a tract of land under the provisions of the Homestead Act, which land forms his present farm. It was then in a wild state, and in the busy years that have since followed he has worked a great change in it. He made most of the improvements with cattle, and soon after settling on it he set out groves of maple and cottonwood trees, and some of those trees are now a foot and a half in diameter. He has a valuable orchard of 150 choice fruit trees, and has his farm well hedged. He has put up a good dwelling, barns, etc. He owns, besides his homestead, seventeen acres of timber on Plum Creek. Mr. Ellison pays much attention to the culture of corn, and raises horses, cattle, etc., with excellent success. His farm is well watered by a branch of Plum Creek which runs through it.
   Our subject has been twice married, both times in Claiborne County, Tenn. His first marriage, which took place in 1849, was to Miss Nancy M. Lynch, a native of Claiborne County. The following is the record of the six children born to them: Jay H. is farming on the Otoe Reserve, in Gage County, Neb.; Eli M. and Reily U., both married, are also farming in Gage County; Jeremiah is in the livery business in Liberty; Andrew J. is farming in Gage County; and Emeline is married to Proctor Goin, a farmer in the same county. The wife of his earlier years died in 1881, and our subject was married a second time, Jan. 15, 1884, in Tennessee, Miss Esther Wright, a native of Claiborne County, becoming his wife. To them three children have been born, namely: Margaret A., Esau and Sarah.
   Mr. Ellison has met with merited success in life, as he has always been industrious, and has never wronged or defrauded another unjustly, is a good man, a kind and obliging neighbor, and one whom his fellow-citizens can trust. He is a sturdy advocate of the Republican party, and has been a member of the Grand Jury.

RANK PEPPERL, Postmaster of Burchard, and a dealer in agricultural implements, was the first business man to locate here, and he has done much to extend its commercial interests, and to put this enterprising and prosperous little town on a solid basis. He is a native of Bohemia, Austria, born in the town of Gossawoda, Jan. 17, 1853. His parents, Wenzle and Francisca (Leiclid) Pepperl, were likewise Bohemians by birth. Franz Pepperl, the paternal grandfather of our subject, who was born in Austria, was a tailor and also a small farmer, and died in his native land at the age of eighty-three. Franz Leiclid, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was also born in the same country, and there he spent his entire life. He was an overseer on the estate of an Austrian count.
   The parents of our subject grew to manhood and womanhood in their native land, and there married and four children were born to them, namely: Frank, Louis, James and Alvin. The father learned the trade of stonemason in early manhood and

followed that to some extent, but the care of a small farm took up most of his attention. In 1874 he emigrated to America with his family, and located in Plum Creek, where he purchased a partly improved farm of 160 acres. He has built up a comfortable home, in which he and his wife are spending their declining years very pleasantly, he being now seventy-three years old and she sixty-three. He has made good improvements on his farm, and has been prospered in both his farming and stock-raising. He and his wife are members in good standing of the Catholic Church, and as kindly, genial people, leading Christian lives, command the respect and esteem of those about them.
   Frank Pepperl passed his boyhood in his native town, and being a bright, quick-witted lad received a good education, having very good school advantages. He remained an inmate of his parents' home until he was fourteen years old, when he was apprenticed to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, continuing at it three years. He was an ambitious, high-spirited youth, and deeming that better things awaited him in the great Republic across the sea, in 1869, when seventeen years of age, he made his way to the German coast, and at Bremen embarked on ail American-bound steamer, the "Ohio," and nineteen days later landed in Baltimore. From there he proceeded to Chicago, and found work in a cabinet factory. He remained in that city five years, working in different factories, mostly in the one owned by John Kong & Co., where he was employed three years. In 1874 he decided to avail himself of the many advantages offered by the newer State of Nebraska for young men to make their way in the various business pursuits, trades, etc. After his arrival here he went to work as carpenter and contractor, and built the first school-house in District No. 54. He carried on that business until 1882, and then started in the hardware and implement business in Burchard, and erected a building on Otoe street for a store. In the spring of 1888 he sold all of his stock, excepting agricultural implements, which he still sells, having an extensive and lucrative trade in that line. He has invested his money very judiciously, and with other property owns a large tract of partly improved land in Osborne County, Kan., comprising 360 acres, from the rental of which he derives a good income.
   The marriage of our subject to Miss Berdie Dschiska took place in Burchard Village, June 16, 1884, and in their attractive home two children complete the family circle--Frank and Lucy. Mrs. Peppert was born in the same town where our subject first saw the light of day.
   Mr. Pepperl is well endowed mentally, has fine linguistic powers, and since coming to the United States in 1869 has acquired a perfect command of the English language. He interests himself in the affairs and progress of his adopted country, and has identified himself with the Democratic party, being prominent in its councils in Pawnee County, and has been delegate to County and State Conventions. He was appointed to his present position as Postmaster in January, 1888. He is one of the leading civic officers in the local government; is a member of the Town Board, and of the School Board, besides having been Justice of the Peace for eight years. He belongs to the I. O. O. F., of Burchard, has passed the chairs, and has attended the Grand Lodge at different times, and is at present District Deputy. He does all that he can to elevate the moral, social and religious tone of the town, and in him the Catholic Church finds one of its most valuable members; he was a charter member and helped to erect the edifice in which the congregation worships, and is at present Trustee of the church.

OSEPH N. SMITH, a well-known business man of Burchard, comes on both sides of an old family. His grandfather Smith was named George, and was a native of Germany, who emigrated to this country at an early age, and was a farmer in Virginia during the War of 1812. He enlisted in the American Army, and was four times wounded, afterward dying from the effects of his wounds, at the age of sixty years. His maternal grandfather, Bradley Squire, was born in Rutland County, Vt., and was there engaged in farming until 1812, when he removed to Coshocton County, Ohio, where he was one of the early settlers. There he cleared up a farm in the wilderness, and before his death had become possessor of

two fine farms. For many years he was Justice of the Peace, and he died in 1858, at the age of eighty years. The father of our subject, Newman Smith, was born in Virginia, and was there reared to manhood. He received a fair education and learned the trade of shoemaker. While still a young man he removed to Coshocton County, Ohio, and there was engaged in farming, and contracted his first marriage. He owned a small farm, but lost it by becoming security for others. He overcame this misfortune, however, and secured some other property, on which he had a sawmill and gristmill, and there he was profitably engaged in milling, sawing lumber, etc., until a flood washed his dam out, and he traded his mill for town property, and again engaged in shoemaking. He died of consumption in 1864, aged sixty-six years. His second wife, the mother of our subject, was Hester Squire, a native of Rutland County, Vt. She is now living in Roscoe County, Ohio, with one of her daughters, and is eighty-four years old. By his first union Mr. Smith was the father of five children: Charles is living in California; Charlotte in Ohio; Alexander, Sarah and an infant are deceased. By his second union he became the father of seven children, of whom three, Mary, Jane and Joseph N., are living; Perry, Margaret, Hester and Albert are deceased. Perry entered the army in an Indiana regiment and died at New Orleans; Albert was a member of the 132d Ohio Infantry, and died at Bowling Green, Ky.
   Joseph N. Smith, the subject of this sketch, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1847, he was reared on his father's farm, and lived at home until eighteen years old, when he began working out by the month. After his father's death he went to work near Roscoe, Ohio, where he remained until his marriage in 1866. He then bought a small farm and remained upon it until he came to Nebraska. He first located in West Branch Precinct, where he bought eighty acres of improved land. This he sold in 1883, buying 136 acres in the same precinct, on which he has made many valuable improvements. It was well suited for his purpose, being watered by the West Branch Creek. He raised some fine grade cattle, and also dealt in blooded horses, particularly Hambletonians.
   In the spring of 1888 Mr. Smith sold his farm and bought one-half interest in the hardware business in Burchard which is now carried on under the name of Smith & Starkey. Since his advent into the firm they have added very largely to their stock, and their business has doubled within a year, being now the largest in the city.
   May 3, 1866, our subject was united in marriage near Roscoe, Ohio, to Miss Mary M. Eckles, a native of that place. Ten children have come to bless their union: William R., Carrie E., Mary S., Perry A., James E., Newton J., Edith E., Nellie F., John W. and Charles. The children are all at home with their parents, the family circle being yet unbroken. The eldest daughter, Carrie, is a school teacher. Mr. Smith has been a member of the School Board and Supervisor of the precinct, is a member of and Class-Leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Violet, and in politics is neutral.

ILLIAM SCOTT. Prominent among the extensive agriculturists of Pawnee County stands the gentleman whose name we have the pleasure of placing at the head of this brief personal sketch. He is an honorable, honest, enterprising man, and one of the most universally respected citizens of West Branch Precinct, where he has resided for the last thirty years, he having been an early pioneer of this place and county. He is a native of Scotland, born in Roxburghshire, parish of Morbatte, July 12, 1812. His parents, Andrew and Betty (Jerdon) Scott, spent their entire lives in Scotland. His father, who worked as teamster for a gentleman, and also owned and managed a farm, died in 1873, and his mother in 1872. They were the parents of nine children, namely: Andrew, deceased; William, Adam; John, deceased; Thomas; James, deceased; Richard, Melvoy and Margaret.
   The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on his father's farm, and while a boy assisted in the farm labors. He attended a pay school, and being a diligent and studious lad, he acquired a good education. Inheriting the characteristics of his thrifty Scotch progenitors, our subject when young was ambitious to earn a good livelihood

and save some money for his future years. With that end in view he worked at anything he could find to do, and at one time we find him employed by a gentleman as steward, at another acting in the capacity of a hostler, and again working by the day. In that manner he passed many years of his life, but finding that in spite of his industry and frugality he was not getting sufficient returns for his labor, he determined to emigrate to the United States, and in March, 1858, accompanied by his family, he set sail from Liverpool in the vessel "Albert Gallatin" for the land of hope. After a tough voyage of six weeks, during which he was very sea-sick, he landed in New York, and proceeded directly to Chicago, going thence to Kewanee, Ill. Remaining there but three weeks, Mr. Scott commenced his journey to this State, coming the entire distance with a yoke of oxen, and being six weeks on the way. On arriving here he located in West Branch Precinct, and taking up eighty acres of wild land began to build a home for himself and family. He was the first settler in the precinct, there having been at that time not a house between Pawnee and Marysville, and Mr. Scott has watched with satisfaction the steady growth and progress of this community from its original condition, inhabited only by wild beasts and native Indians, to a populous township, with splendid farms, good schools, churches, and all other marks of advanced civilization, and he takes pride in having been partly instrumental in bringing about this wonderful change. Immediately after coming here our subject began the improvement of his farm, breaking the land with oxen, and setting out forest trees, an orchard, and putting up necessary buildings. In all of his undertakings he has met with assured success, and to his original acreage he has since been enabled, with the assistance of his sons, to add more land from time to time, so that now they together own and operate a farm of 960 acres, one of the largest in the vicinity, all of which is well watered and fenced. Mr. Scott has a substantial set of farm buildings on his place, a large and convenient house, the lumber for which he had to draw from Atchison and Brownville. He and his sons raise all the cereals common to the State, harvesting annually large crops of corn and oats, and besides have ninety acres of their land, used as pasture, seeded with timothy and clover. They raise a great deal of stock, having a herd of 175 Durhams; their hogs, about 100 in number, are of the famous Poland-China breed, and their horses are among the best in the county, they being the owners of fifteen head which are three-fourths Clydesdale.
   The subject of our sketch was married in his native shire, in Hobkirk Parish, April 13, 1838, to Miss Mary Oliver, who was born in that parish in 1814. Of this union two children were born during their residence in Scotland, Andrew and William. The latter lives with his father and carries on the home farm. The former, who is also a farmer in West Branch Precinct, served in the late Civil War. He enlisted in the fall of 1863 in Company E, 2d Nebraska Cavalry, which was sent along the frontier to fight the Sioux Indians, with whom they had an engagement at White Stone Mountain. In the spring of 1865, the term of enlistment having expired, his regiment was mustered out at Brownville.
   Mr. Scott takes an intelligent and earnest interest in public affairs, and generously contributes to every worthy enterprise that will in any way benefit his precinct. For a number of years he has served on the School Board, was Supervisor of Roads two years, and has also served as Judge of Elections, and on the Jury. Religiously, he and his family are worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he votes the straight Republican ticket.

ARR BROS. (J. D. and Joseph) are among the most successful of the enterprising and intelligent young farmers of Pawnee County, and they operate the greatest area of land and are among the heaviest stock-feeders in Mission Creek Precinct, if not in the western part of Pawnee County. They own 320 acres of land, the home farm of 160 acres lying on section 30, and 160 acres in Gage County, on section 24, Liberty Precinct; and in addition to this they rent 320 acres of the Bookwalter land.
   Our subjects were born near Hanover, Jo Daviess