HIRAM P. BLANCHARD, farmer, P. O. Center Valley, was born in Otsego County, N. Y., in 1834, and was reared on a farm in Kalamazoo, Mich., after which he followed farming there as an occupation for some years. He came to Nebraska July 26, 1872, and located on his present premises. He owns 160 acres of improved farming land. Mr. Blanchard was married in Kalamazoo County, Mich., in 1865, to Amanda Melvina Harrington. They have three children--Lafayette W., Genevria and Nancy Ordelia.

   HON. JAMES HALL, farmer, P. O. Eight-Mile Grove, was born in Highland County, Ohio, June 23, 1826, removing when quite young to Madison County, Ind., where he was raised on a farm and followed farming as an occupation. About 1854, he went to Clark County, Iowa, where he farmed for some years, and for four years filled the office of Sheriff of the county, and was also Postmaster at La Porte, that county, for some years. He came to Nebraska about 1869, and located in Mount Pleasant Precinct. He is the owner of 320 acres of land, and raises considerable live stock. Mr. Hall was elected to the State Legislature in the fall of 1881, to represent Cass County. He was married in Madison County, Ind., April 3, 1851, to Elizabeth Cassel. They have eight children--Joseph H., Martha C., Sumner S., Allie I., John H., Emma J., George and M. Anderson.

   OTTO MUTZ, farmer, P. O. Eight-Mile Grove, was born in Mills County, Iowa, in 1855, and removed with his parents to Nebraska a year later; he was raised on a farm in Eight-Mile Grove, and at eighteen years of age began business life as a school teacher; followed it for five years, since which time he has devoted himself to farming; has been residing on his present farm since the of 1882. Mr. Mutz was married in Cass County in 1876, to Ella P. Russell. They have three children--Mamie P., Lena F. and Edna W.

   THOMAS L. WILES, farmer, P. O. Weeping Water, was born in Mills County, Iowa, July 30, 1853, and came with his parents to Nebraska in 1854. Until he reached the age of twenty-two years he assisted his father, Stephen Wiles, in farming in Plattsmouth Precinct, after which he farmed there on his own account for some six years, then moved on to his present farm. He has here 320 acres, and is quite extensively engaged in raising stock. Mr. W. was married in Plattsmouth October 27, 1875, to Sarah E. Horning. They have three children--Lydia E., Ray C. and an infant son.

   SILAS E. GREENSLATE, merchant. Mr. Greenslate was born in Otsego County, N. Y., April 22, 1836. When about four years of age his father, Herman Greenslate, moved to Pennsylvania. In 1848, his father moved to Decorah, Iowa. Silas lived in Iowa until 1870, following his trade of carpenter, and engaged in manufacturing lumber, when he came to Blair, Neb., and took a sub-contract on the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad. In 1871, he homesteaded 160 acres of land in Elmwood Precinct, which he improved. In the spring of 1874, he engaged in general merchandise, opening up a full stock of general merchandise in Elmwood. In 1880, he purchased a building and drug store in South Bend, where he has since kept a full line of drugs and medicines. Mr. Greenslate was married in Castalia, Iowa, May 5, 1863, to Miss Louisa P. Williams. She was born in Wales, March 4, 1845. They have five children--Delbert W., born August 20, 1864; Bertha, October 2, 1870; Ellis, November 25, 1873; Dean and Fern, May 8, 1881; Opal was born June 10, 1867, and died March 15, 1868, and Leslie, born March 24, 1869, and died October 13, 1869.

   NOAH R. HOBBS, M. D., Elmwood, Neb. He was born in Livingston County, Me., February 16, 1852. When eight years of age, his father moved to Cass County, Neb. He attended the public schools of Nebraska until the age of sixteen years, when he entered the Naomi Institute, managed by Prof. J. D. Patterson, and remained there two years, until the institute burned down. He then returned home and took charge of his father's farm until the age of twenty years, when he entered the office of Dr. E. J. Chapman, at Missouri Valley, Harrison County, Iowa where he remained reading medicine for three years, attending lectures in the Rush Medical College during the time, graduating at the session of 1875-76, on the 16th day of February, the day he was twenty-four years old. In August, 1876, he started on horseback and with $6 in cash, intending to locate at Hastings, Neb., but having friends at Elmwood, he stopped to pay them a visit. He concluded to set up in practice there, and has remained there ever since. He has a large and steadily increasing practice, giving special attention to the surgical branch of medicine. In 1879, he commenced the erection of a residence in Elmwood, one of the finest and most complete to be found in this section, with forty acres of ground attached to it and a stock farm of 160 acres adjoining. Dr. Hobbs is the third son of William L. Hobbs, one of the early settlers of Cass County, locating in 1860, a prominent man in the Territory and State, holding the office of County Treasurer several years. He was at one time very wealthy in lands and other property, but the crash of 1875 swept it all away, and he went to the Black Hills in May, 1877, and engaged in mining. His wife and younger children live in Plattsmouth. Dr. Hobbs was married in Lincoln, Neb., May 28, 1879, to Miss Anna James, of Cass County. She was born in Marcellus, N. Y., January 13, 1862. Her parents were natives of England.

   DR. JAMES A. KENASTON, physician, Elmwood, was born in Cabot, Caledonia Co., Vt., April 2, 1826, where he attended the public schools of the place, until at the age of eleven years, when his father moved to Delaware County, Ohio, and he there attended school. When fifteen years of age, he, with his brother, Harvey E., Samuel Place and Nelson Fancher, equipped with a team and covered wagon, guns, ammunition and provisions, started West, their destination being the Territory of Wisconsin. When they arrived at Sterling, Ill., James stopped with an uncle to recruit his health, the rest of the party proceeding on their way, arriving in Grant County by the middle of November. James stayed with his uncle, Mark Daniels, during the winter, and hunted deer and other game that abounded on Rock River, killing deer and trapping wolves. In March, the year following, he pursued his journey on foot to Wisconsin. He found employment in the lead mines that summer. The morals of the mining regions in Wisconsin were of the same grade as the morals of the gold mining regions of the early times. Gambling and fighting were common affairs. James stayed there till about the 18th of December, when, with a friend, named Garlinghouse, the snow being deep, he started for Ohio with a horse and "jumper." The snow being nearly wanting at Chicago, they discarded the "jumper," and proceeded on horse-back on the plan of "cut and tie," arriving home in Ohio at 12 o'clock at night, January 3, 1843, making forty-five miles the last day, James walking all that day. James parted with his brother, Harvey, in Wisconsin, in December, 1842, and never met him again until December 24, 1881, in Dubuque, Iowa. Dr. K. was married in Worthington, Ohio, May 31, 1849, to Miss Caroline E. Scanland, who was born in Hardy County, Va., September 12, 1829. In 1850, they moved, by team, to Pre-emption, Mercer Co., Ill., and in 1855, to Palmyra, Iowa. Two years later, he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Adam Beck, and completed his studies in 1860. In 1857, he received a license at the quarterly conference of the United Brethren to preach, renewing his license in 1861 at the Annual Conference. In the spring of 1864, he enlisted, at Polk City, Iowa, in the Forty-fourth Regiment Iowa Infantry; ordered to Memphis, Tenn.; July 5, the regiment was ordered to La Grange; from the last-named place was ordered to Davenport, Iowa, where he was discharged in September, 1864. He was Corporal of Company H July 6; he was detailed to take charge of the convalescent camp of the Forty-fourth, which was still continued at Memphis, while the regiment was quartered at La Grange. He was ordained Elder in the fall of 1864, and placed on the Fairview Circuit, Iowa, practicing his profession in Westfield. In 1866, he moved to Caloma, following his profession and continuing to preach. In the fall of 1868, he was sent by the Annual Conference, held at Hopkins Grove, to Nebraska as a missionary. That winter he lived in Plattsmouth, preaching on the Plattsmouth Mission, organizing several societies. The same season, he filed a pre-emption, which he homesteaded in the spring of 1869, this farm being carried on by one of his sons. He has led a very busy life in Nebraska and been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1871, he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention. They have ten children--Helen M., born October 15, 1850; Harney, February 25, 1852; Flora T., February 25, 1856; Walter A., September 5, 1858; Sanford, October 16, 1860; James, October 29, 1862; Robert Logan, May 30, 1866; Harry W., January 30, 1868; Hampton R., March 24, 1870; and Roy, January 20, 1875. The two first were born in Illinois, six in Iowa and the two latter in Nebraska.

   JOHN McCAIG, deceased, was born in the North of Ireland, August 12, 1806, of Highland Scotch parentage. He was married in the North of Ireland, in 1828, to Miss Jane Marrow, and emigrated to America in 1830. She died in July of that year. They had one child (John), who died at the age of eight months, his death preceding that of his mother. Mr. McCaig again married, in Cornwall, Canada, August 26, 1835, to Miss Mary Gillie, of Cornwall. The father, William Gillie, was a Scotch sailor, living in Woolwich, Eng., where she was born January 17, 1810. Mr. McCaig was drowned while crossing Rock River, in Illinois, having moved to Ogle County, Ill., in 1848. He left seven children--David, born December 2, 1836; William, February 25, 1838; Sarah Jane, May 6, 1843; John, May 4, 1845; Daniel, February 17, 1849; and Joseph, August 17, 1850. Agnes was born December 30, 1841, and died December 2, 1842. Three of the sons served in the army during the late rebellion. David was Second Lieutenant in Company G, Seventy-fourth Illinois Infantry, enlisting in August, 1862, in the Fourth Army Corps, under Gen. Thomas; was promoted to First Lieutenant June 27, 1864. While in Nashville, the company commanders of this corps were, in May 1865, examined for promotion. Lieut. McCaig was promoted to Captain in the regular service, his commission being sent to him after the close of the war and signed by President Andrew Johnson. He was discharged from the service June 27, 1865; was in the field constantly up to the time of his discharge. William enlisted in the Fifteenth Illinois Infantry in June, 1861; was in the Army of the Tennessee, participating in all the engagements of his regiment for three years, being discharged from service in June, 1864. John, at the age of sixteen, enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois Infantry for one Hundred days, in April, 1864, but served six months, when he was discharged. He then enlisted in the Seventy-fourth for three years, in which he served until its discharge in 1865, when he was transferred to the Thirty-sixth Illinois; went South as far as New Orleans, and was discharged with the veterans of that regiment in October, 1865. Capt. David McCaig was elected a member of the Legislature in 1868, serving the biennial term; the Legislature holding a special term to pass the fifteenth constitutional amendment. In April, 1866, all the sons, with their mother, moved to Nebraska, purchasing land upon which they made their home and upon which they now reside, on Section 34, Elmwood Precinct. They have 580 acres of excellent land, which is well improved; are extensively engaged in grain and stock-raising.

   THADDEUS ADAMS, farmer, P. O. Louisville, was born in Owen County, Ind., in 1849. Removing with his parents, when quite young, to Clay County, Ill., was reared on a farm there, and came to Nebraska in 1863. He assisted his father, who resided in Plattsmouth Precinct, in farming until he reached the age of twenty-three years, when he went to Plattsmouth City, and was for two years employed in the machine shops of the B. & M. R. R. Co. He has since then given his attention to farming. In February, 1876, he moved onto his present premises in Center Precinct. He owns 400 acres of land and also raises considerable stock. Mr. Adams has been Road Supervisor of this precinct.

   WILLIAM B. ASHMUN, farmer P. O. Weeping Water, was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., July 5, 1815, where he was reared on a farm. In 1833, he removed to Talmadge, Portage Co., Ohio, and followed farming there for some years. He came to Nebraska in May, 1869, and located his family on this farm in the following March. He has eighty acres of land, all improved; has a beautiful residence and a fine orchard. He is also engaged in raising stock. Mr. Ashmun has four sons--William H., hardware merchant at Weeping Water; George A., engaged in lumber business; Russell, a farmer; and Edward H., Congregational clergyman for the past five years. He was married in Plattsmouth, in February, 1874, to Cecilia A. Lonsdale, a native of Illinois.

   CHARLES C. BABCOCK, farmer Section 14, Town 11, P. O. Weeping Water. He was born in Mercy, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 20, 1846. In 1847, his parents moved to Jefferson County, N. Y. Charles attended the public schools most of the time up to August, 1862, when, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in the Thirty-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, and mustered in at Albany in September. They went South, and went into camp, while the battle of Antietam was in progress; had their first engagement with the enemy at the third day's fight at Fredericksburg, under the masterly generalship of Gen. Burnside. After their corral there, managed to get across the Rappahannock. The regiment was originally recruited for two years, and was discharged at the expiration of that term. Mr. Babcock, with other recruits, was put into the Twentieth New York, First Army Corps, which was doing provost duty for the Army of the Potomac. At the battle of Chancellorsville, they were in the reserve. They were engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, where he was severely wounded; a ball entering his right cheek passed through the cheek, emerging from the neck, breaking the bones of the cheek and angle of the lower jaw. He was taken prisoner and kept six days. His head was drawn down to his shoulder, and a high fever followed. On the night of the third day, he lay in a severe rainstorm all night, to which he owes his life. His neck straightened up, and, the fever leaving him, the pain was greatly reduced. While they were loading up the prisoners, he managed to escape by crawling under a barn, and hiding. In the summer of 1864, Mr. B. was detailed to go to the mining regions of Pennsylvania to enforce the draft, and was discharged June 20, 1865, at Fortress Monroe. Mr. B. came to Nebraska in the fall of 1868. In 1874, he went to California, Washington Territory, Vancouver, Sitka, Alaska, and to the Ciaska Mines, returning to Nebraska in the fall of 1875. His father, Halsey Babcock, served two years in the Thirty-fifth New York, who, with his mother, Maria Babcock are living in Cass County, Neb.

   PATRICK BLESSINGTON, farmer, P. O. Louisville, was born in Ireland in March, 1822, where he learned the trade of weaver. In 1849, he emigrated to America, and, for eighteen mouths, was employed in woolen mills at West Winchester, N. H.; then employed in farming in Columbus, Ohio, for two years, and subsequently in Berrien County, Mich., for a year, after which he went to Chicago, Ill., and was employed as night watchman in the post office. He came to Nebraska, locating at this place in Center Precinct, and is engaged in farming and raising stock. He owns 320 acres of land. Mr. B. was married in Omaha May 20, 1863, to Ellen Killkeney. They have seven children--Bridget, John, Allie, Daniel, May, Margaret and Kate.

   HON. HENRY W. FARLEY, farmer, P. O. Weeping Water, was born in Hollis, N. H., April 12, 1820, and reared on a farm. He learned the trade of wagon-maker, and, at 20 years of age, removed to Lexington, Mass., where he followed his trade for a few months, after which he taught school for several years. In 1845, he went to Boston, and a year later to Roxbury, Mass., following his trade there and elsewhere for about ten years. He came to Nebraska in 1857, pre-empted 160 acres in Weeping Water, but resided in Rock Bluff, where he was engaged in farming and working as a carpenter. In 1860, he removed onto his pre-emption, and resided on the same for thirteen years, and since then on his present farm. He owns 160 acres of land. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1874 to represent Cass County, and served a two years' term. Mr. Farley was married at Roxbury, Mass., in 1850, Sarah Chamberlain. They have six children--Charles, Elizabeth, Henrietta, George, William and Margaret.

   GILBERT M. FLOWER, farmer, P. O. Weeping Water, Section 31, Township 11, Range 11. He was born in Orleans, Jefferson Co., N. Y., August 30, 1842. When five years of age he left his native State, his parents moving to Boone County, Ill., living there three years, when they moved to Brighton, Washington Co., Iowa. In the spring of 1856, they moved to Cass County, Neb., G. M. then being about fourteen years of age. His father located at the Falls of the Weeping Water, where lie lived awhile, when he, with his father, Elam L. Flower, kept a ranch on the old Government road, Gilbert working on the ranch summers, and attending school at Mount Pleasant in the winter. In the spring of 1863, he and his father engaged in freighting, which they followed until the Union Pacific Railway closed the enterprise in 1866. Mr. F. spent the winter of 1865 and 1866 in Salt Lake City, spending nine months in the Territory. In 1870, his father purchased the farm of 175 acres which Gilbert now owns. Mr. F. was married in Rock Bluff, January 11, 1873, to Miss Julia A. Calkin, who is a native of Elizabethtown, N. Y. They have four children--Edith May, born November 11, 1877; Leroy M., July 4, 1879, and Gilbert H., September 20, 1880; Amie A. born March 20, 1882; Emma A. was born February 20, 1875, and died September 20, 1875. His brother, Perley Flower, and sister, Mrs. R. G. Gordon, and himself, are the oldest living residents, since the death of their father, living in Cass County, west of Louisville.

   ROSS G. GORDON, farmer, Section 31, Town 11, Range 11, P. O. Weeping Water. He was born in Sutton, Canada East, December 2, 1834; he is the fifth child of thirteen children of Ransom S. Gordon, who was a native of Lyme, N. H.; when sixteen years of age, Ross went to New Hampshire, and entered the Orford Academy, attending that school four terms. In the fall of 1856, he settled in Rockville, Iowa, where he remained until the spring of 1859, when he came to Cass County, Neb., and pre-empted the land on which he has since lived most of the time; he has 200 acres of land, good farmhouse and other improvements. In November, 1862, he enlisted in the Second Nebraska Cavalry, for nine months; was altogether on the frontier service in Dakota and Minnesota, chiefly engaged with Little Crow and his band. He served thirteen months, being discharged in December, 1863. In 1873, Mr. G. formed a party of fifteen, with about as many settlers, to organize the county of Gosper. In compliance with law, they posted a notice for forty days, locating the place of election on Section 1, Town 7, Range 21, which is now the present mail station between Plum Creek and Arapahoe. The day before election, they started out to survey and find this place, but did not find it until the next day late in the forenoon and there they found themselves several miles from any water; they sent back a messenger to have the teams bring up some water. It was a dry election for a Western town, in fact nothing to eat and nothing to drink but water; but the county was organized; Ross Gordon was elected County Clerk, and held the office for upward of three years, when he resigned, and returned to his farm in Cass County. Mr. G. has held the office of Assessor in Center Precinct several terms. Mr. G. was married in Cass County, January 22, 1866, to Mrs. Berinthia Flower Amick. They have two children--Perley, born April 12, 1868; and Winogene, March 25, 1872.

   SAMUEL L. GRAHAM, farmer and stock raiser, Section 14, Town 11, Range 11, P. O. Weeping Water. He was born in Little York, Warren Co., Ill., November 15, 1845, where he lived until 1871, when he moved to Cass County, Neb. For one and one-half years, he was engaged in the furniture trade in Alexis, Ill. In May, 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for 100 days, and served six months. Was mustered out in Quincy, Ill. Was in Gen. Curtis' command; engaged chiefly in garrison duty in Fort Leavenworth, Olathe and Fort Scott, Kan. Participated in the chase of Gen. Price, when the regiment returned to St. Louis, after which, with his regiment, was discharged from service at Camp Butler, Ill. In October, 1864, Mr. G. purchased, in Cass County, 240 acres of land, which is well improved by building and fencing, and an orchard of 150 trees, many of them in bearing condition. He was married in Little York, Ill., December 24, 1868, to Miss Emily I. Taylor. She was born in Washington, Fayette Co., Ohio, November 24, 1849. They have four children--Laura M., born December 17, 1869; Leonard G., August 25, 1871; Hetty E., September 2, 1878, and John R., April 7, 1881; Delbert L. was born July 13, 1873, and died August 25, 1875. Mrs. Graham's parents, Dr. Alexander Taylor and Harriet A. Taylor, live at Ashland, Neb. Mr. G.'s father, Thomas Graham, a native of Pennsylvania, lives in Monmouth, Ill., at the advanced age of seventy three. His mother, Jane Graham, died in Little York August 6, 1873, aged sixty-one.

   GARRY TREAT, farmer, P. O. Weeping Water, was born in Talmadge County, Ohio, September 20, 1838, and raised on a farm. He came to Nebraska in 1860, and located on his present farm in Center Precinct, and followed farming. A year later, he went to Tabor, Iowa, remaining there some six years. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry, and served three years. Mr. Treat returned to his farm in Nebraska in 1867. He is the owner of 200 acres of land, and is largely engaged in raising stock. He was married in Tabor, Iowa, February 25, 1867, to Catherine Hanley. They have two children living--Charles H. and Annie May.