H. C. BROWN, cattle dealer, Fremont, has dealt in cattle since the fall of 1876; he also deals in hogs; he does an average business of $4,000 per year. From 1878 to 1881, he dealt in agricultural implements at Fremont. He has lived in Dodge County, Neb., since September, 1868. Was engaged in bridge-building on the U. P. R. R., working for other parties about a year and a half. After farming awhile, he was employed as overseer of the building of elevators during one summer. He then worked at his trade of carpenter over a year. Hen then again engaged in farming until he began dealing in agricultural implements in 1878. His land is located on Sections 5 and 8, Township 18, Range 8, consisting of 303 acres, 235 being under cultivation. He has good improvements, such as house, barn, corn-cribs, cattle-sheds, etc. He was born in Fairfield, Iowa, December 9, 1850, living there until he moved to Nebraska. He was married at Fremont, Neb., December 17, 1874, to Miss Myra J. Goff, who was born in Oneida County, N. Y. They have two children--Mamie and Gracie. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church at Fremont, and is one of the Trustees of that church.

GEORGE H. BULLOCK, dealer in art paper hangings and decorations, painter, etc., Fremont, Neb., has been in his present business at Fremont since 1880; carries a stock of $1,200; does a business of $8,000 per year, giving employment to from five to eight men during the building season, and employing two men at all times. His store is finely decorated, and is undoubtedly one of the finest establishments of the kind in the West. Has been engaged in house and sign painting, paper hanging, etc., since he was twelve years old. He is the son of Samuel and Louise Bullock, and was born in Utica, N. Y., September 19, 1855, when six years of age, his parents moved to Buffalo, N. Y., remaining there six years; they then moved to Nebraska, locating first at Omaha, living there a few months; then they moved to Fremont, where they lived until 1875, when they moved to California. George and his brother Frank W., continued for one year the painting and paper-hanging business, which their father engaged in at Fremont. George then joined his parents at San Jose, Cal., remaining there three years. He then went to Portland, Ore., remaining one year, when he returned to Fremont, where he has since resided. He was married September 20, 1874, to Miss May E. Weston, daughter of John and Rebecca Weston; she was born in Marion County, Iowa. They have one child--Gertrude. They are member of the Congregational Church at Fremont. He is a member of Centennial Lodge, No. 59, I. O. O. F., and of Fremont Lodge, No. 15, A., F. & A. M.

JAMES F. BURNS, proprietor of the New York Hotel, a first-class house in every particular. He located near Scribner, Dodge County., Neb., in 1873; farmed one year; then returned to Los Angeles, Cal. He was born in Ontario County, N. Y., September 27, 1831. His parents moved to Kalamazoo County, Mich., in 1841. Mr. B. first learned the ax manufacturer's trade in the latter place, and lived there until 1853, during the time at intervals attending the Leona Academy in Jackson, Mich., completing four terms. He then engaged in teaching about a year in Michigan, and one year in Pennsylvania, going to Los Angeles, Cal., first in 1853, and settling, where he engaged in teaching two years; then engaged in merchandising on his own account until 1859, keeping a general stock of goods. He was Associate Judge of the Criminal Court two years, after which he was elected City Treasurer five successive terms, which office he filled with credit to himself and friends; while serving in the office the last year, he was elected Sheriff of his county, which office he held four years by the unanimous vote of the people. He then, in 1873, came to Nebraska and invested in real estate in Dodge County. Returned to California in 1874, having previously been engaged extensively in real estate, he went to settle up the business, remaining until 1877, and returned to Nebraska, where he has since lived. He was chosen State Senator of the Legislature of Nebraska in the fall of 1880, and served two years. He was married in Nevada City, Cal., in February, 1873, to Sarah A. Holmes, of Hartford, R. I. He has one son, Thomas E., now Assistant Superintendent of the City Water-Works in Los Angeles, Cal. Mr. B. is a member of the orders of Masonry, including Knights Templar Commandery. During his term of office as Sheriff in Los Angeles, Cal., he was noted for being a bold and intrepid officer, making over two hundred captures of criminals, including the notorious highway man and murderer Buckskin Bill, whom Mr. B. tracked for over four months, and finally captured him in the Peninsula of Old California, in Mexican Territory, for which he received the reward of $5,000 paid by the state of California for this noted desperado.

[COBB, DERN & CO., LUMBER AND GRAIN DEALERS.]

COBB, DERN & CO. (William A. G. Cobb, John Dern and G. W. E. Dorsey), dealers in grain and lumber, Fremont, Neb., have been in business since February 1, 1882; do a general grain and lumber business; their elevator has a capacity of 30,000 bushels; they handle 100,000 to 300,000 bushels of grain per year. They carry a stock of lumber of $20,000. Their elevator was built in 1880, by W. A. G. Cobb and G. W. E. Dorsey, and the firm then was known as W. A. G. Cobb & Co., until the year of 1882, when John Dern bought one-third interest in the business. William A. G. Cobb was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in February, 1841. Emigrated to America in 1857, locating in Michigan, where he engaged in farming. In 1860, he enlisted in the Eighth U. S. Infantry as private; was afterward promoted to First Sergeant. He was in the Gulf Department, and the army of the Potomac; was taken prisoner in 1861, near San Antonio, Tex., and held until January 1, 1863. He served until 1867, when he was discharged at Raleigh, N. C., as Regiment and Post Commissary Sergeant. He then returned to Michigan, remaining a short time. He went to Germany, remaining about six months. On his return to America, he engaged in railroading in Maryland several months. During the winter of 1868-69, he was in Michigan, and in the spring he moved to Nebraska, locating at Fremont, obtaining a position in a grocery store for a short time. He was then employed by H. J. Lee as clerk in his hardware store; he then carried on a hardware store for himself at Ashland for one year. Returning to Fremont, he went into the employ of W. R. Wilson in the grain business, continuing in this position until the summer of 1877, when he went to Hooper and engaged in the grain business for himself, carrying on the business there until August, 1880, when he sold out and moved back to Fremont, when the firm of W. A. G. Cobb & Co., was formed as above, and where he has since resided. He has also a 400-acre farm in Colfax County, of which 100 acres are under cultivation; there are good improvements on this farm--outbuildings, frame house, barn, corn-crib, and fifty head of graded cattle; also has sixty acres of pasture adjoining Fremont, where he keeps a few head of recorded Short-Horn cattle. He is a member of the Masonic order, and a member of McPherson Post, No. 4, G. A. R. He was married at Fremont, Neb., in the fall of 1870, to Miss Lida E. Mefferd, who is a native of Ohio; they have one child--Gustav, born at Ashland, Neb., in 1872.

[RESIDENCE OF SIRENO B. COLSON.]

SIRENO B. COLSON, of the firm of Nye, Colson & Co., Fremont, Neb., was born at Madison, Madison Co., N. Y., February 3, 1828, living there engaged in the business of shoe-making until May, 1859, when he moved to Nebraska. He located at Fremont and followed his trade of shoe-maker. He was the first shoe-maker at Fremont, and in fact between Omaha and San Francisco. He was afterward in the employ of the U. P. R. R., as local agent, and was the first local agent employed by that company on their line. He was also the first operator employed at Fremont by the W. U. Telegraph Company. He afterward held the office of County Treasurer of Dodge County two terms. He is a member of the firm of Nye, Colson & Co., grain and lumber dealers, and is a stockholder and Director of the First National Bank of Fremont. On January 21, 1868, he married Miss Frances Reynolds, who is also a native of New York; they have three children--Paul, Burnell and Mary.

E. M. COLLINS, firm of E. M. Collins & Co., dealers in agricultural implements. At the beginning, sold from $15,000 to $20,000 per annum. Have now increased their business to from $45,000 to $50,000 per year, and sell all kinds of implements. Mr. C. first located in Fremont May 4, 1869, and took charge of an elevator for Nye, Colson & Co., until 1878; engaged in the coal business one year; then embarked in his present business. He was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., September 7, 1845, and was brought up on a farm. He was married in Fremont September 14, 1876, to Anna E. Abbott, a native of Troy, Ohio. They have one son, George Stanley Collins. Mr. C. was made a Mason in Canton, N. Y., and is now a member of Fremont Lodge, No. 15, A., F. & A. M., and is an honorary member of the Fire Department. Mr. C. owns 420 acres of fine land four miles northeast of Fremont, in Elkhorn Precinct. He also makes a specialty of stock-raising, consisting of some of the finest blooded stock in the state.

PROF. A. E. CLARENDON, Superintendent and Principal city schools, Fremont. Located in the latter city in July 1881, and began his labors in the above schools in September of that year, receiving the appointment in July, 1881. He was born in New York City, April 29, 1842. Was educated in the public schools and Columbia College of that city. Afterward moved with his parents to Chicago, Ill., at the age of nineteen years and entered the Chicago University, from where he received the degree of A. B. He then returned to New York City with his father, O. T. Clarendon, a civil engineer, with whom he remained and assisted four years at different periods, after which he returned to Chicago, where he received the degree of A. M. of the Chicago University some years afterward, and graduated from the latter institution in June, 1865. He then began the study of law in the Law Department of the Chicago University, and afterward entered the law office of Hon. Judge S. Wilcox, of the latter city. He was admitted to the bar in 1867. He then immediately began the profession of teaching in Lewis, Iowa, that being the county seat of Cass County, taking charge of the High School there two and a half years, when he received a call to take charge of the High School at Council Bluffs, Iowa, remaining there some time. He was called to superintend the schools at Glenwood, Iowa, and remained in the latter place about three years, when he was re-called to Council Bluffs as Superintendent of city schools, where he remained until called to his present position in Fremont. He was married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in April, 1865 , to Miss Marcia A. Folsom, of Detroit, Mich. They have two daughters and two sons--Venelia P., Calvin T., Eva N. and Theodore O. Mr. C. is a member of Excelsior Lodge, of Council Bluffs, No 259, A., F. & A. M., and has taken the Royal Arch degree in Masonry.

DR. JAMES H. CRABB, practicing physician and surgeon. Located in Fremont in the fall of 1864, and began his profession, and subsequently connected the drug store business with his profession after two years. He followed the drug business four years. His practice equals $3,500 to $4,000 per annum. The Doctor was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, near Steubenville, March 8, 1826. He began the study of medicine in 1847, at Mansfield, Ohio, and entered the Cincinnati Eclectic College soon after, and graduated in 1858-59. Practiced a few years prior to graduating. He began practice in 1852, in Wyandot, Ohio, and continued five years; then moved north of the latter place to Nevada, Ohio, and practiced six years, up to the spring of 1864, when he went to Virginia City, M. T., and practiced during the summer of 1864, and returned to Fremont, Neb., in the fall, where he has since followed the profession. He was married in Richland County, Ohio, in December, 1846, to Miss Catherine A. Burger, born near Hagerstown, Md.; they have two sons--David H. (a printer) and Charles W. (a tobacco merchant). The Doctor is a charter member of Fremont Lodge, No. 15, A., F. & A. M., and has been Master of the same seven years. He is also a member of Signet Chapter No. 8, and Mount Tabor Commandery, No. 9. He is also a charter member of the K. of H., No. 859, and a charter member of the Royal Arcanum. He was elected Probate Judge of Dodge County, Neb., and held the office four years, from November, 1868. He is also a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Keokuk, Iowa.

DAVID CROWELL, lumber merchant, came to Fremont, December, 1877. In 1878, he engaged in his present business. Was born in Cape Cod, Mass. He lived several years in California, engaged in farming and stock-raising, before coming to Nebraska. He has not been a political aspirant. He is a member of the Knights of Honor. He handled 175 cars of lumber in 1881, doing an exclusively retail business. The sales extend as far as Wahoo south, to Hooper and Scribner north, to Elkhorn east, and North Bend west.

P. D. DENNEY, architect and builder, began business in Fremont in the spring of 1867, and has followed the same since, two years during the time he being engaged in same business in Lincoln. He employed from four to twenty men, according to business season. Mr. Denney first came to Fremont in the spring of 1866, and engaged in working for other parties a year previous to beginning on his own account. He was born in Susquehanna County, Penn., February 12, 1843; was brought up on a farm, and engaged in lumbering and other occupations, until he moved West. He was married in Fremont, Neb., on November 17, 1868, to Miss Margaret Close, a native of Ohio. They have two children--Roy and Eva. Mr. Denney and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Fremont.

JOHN F. DIERKS, grain dealer, Fremont, Neb., was born in Oldenburg, Germany, July 16, 1827; came to America in 1853, locating in Will County, Ill. For ten years he was a farmer, then went into the milling business, following that until the early part of 1869, when he began merchandising, following that until the next spring, when he moved to Nebraska, locating at Fremont. He then went into the grain business, working for other parties until 1877. Since that time he has been carrying on the business himself. He handles an average of 130,000 bushels of corn and oats per year, and employs four to six men. He was married in Oldenburg, in 1851, to Miss Catherine Behrens. They have nine children--John F., Catherina (now the wife of J. W. Davis, a conductor on the Union Pacific Railroad), Hannah (now the wife of Lewis Kreymborg, of Fremont), Henry, Freda (now the wife of Peter Bruhm, a merchant in Hooper), Gerhard, Mary, Emma and Bertha. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Dierks has been a member of the City Council and the Board of Education at Fremont, and re-elected as member to City Council again at the spring election.

JOHN D. DODGE, farmer and stock-raiser, Section 16, Town 17, Range 7, was born in Essex County, N. Y., February 28, 1833. When he was about two years old, his parents moved to Vermont, where he lived until his twentieth year. He then went to Worcester County, Mass., living there until the fall of 1856, when he went to Knox County, Ill., remaining there until the following spring. He then came to Nebraska, locating at his present residence in Dodge County. Two years and a half later he returned to Illinois; was married at Mount Carroll, Carroll County, Ill., October 3, 1859, to Miss Elma E. Dickerson, who was born in Chester County, Penn. They have two children--William O. and Clara E. Mr. Dodge has a large farm of 450 acres, about seven miles west of Fremont on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad; 135 acres are under cultivation; sixty acres native timber, consisting of red-cedar, ash, cottonwood and elm, and twenty-five acres timber, maple and cottonwood, that he has planted. The rest of the farm is pasture and hay land. He is a Republican; has held the office of Justice of the Peace of Platte and Fremont Precincts ten years, also was Postmaster ten years at Timberville, Neb.

GEORGE W. E. DORSEY, banker, came to Fremont in January, 1867. He engaged in reading law and farming at first, and commenced to practice and deal in real estate. He continued the practice of law about ten years. In 1878, he commenced banking, and now carries on his real estate business in connection therewith. He also has a fine stock farm near town. He is a native of Loudoun County, Va.

FRANCIS I. ELLICK, Deputy County Treasurer, came to Nebraska in April, 1868, and after remaining a few months went to Pittsburgh, Penn., where he stayed until September, 1871. He then came back to Fremont, where he engaged in mercantile business. In 1879, he became Deputy Treasurer, and has since held that position. He was born in Bohemia, July 20, 1842, and came to America with his parents when quite young. They located at Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1848, and he resided there until moving to Nebraska. He was married at Pittsburgh in June, 1869, to Josephine Lauth, a native of Zanesville, Ohio. They have five children--Francis I., Genevieve, Joseph C., Alfred G. and Clara C. He is secretary of the Dodge County Agricultural Society, and was Secretary of the Union Fair Grounds Association from 1874 to 1879. In January, 1880, he was elected Secretary of the Dodge County Agricultural Society.

E. L. ENO, proprietor of Eno's Hotel, which was erected in the summer of 1875, by a stock company, and was purchased by Mr. Eno in the fall or winter of 1880, and opened by him August 5, 1881. The hotel contains seventy sleeping rooms, and has accommodations for 100 guests. There are about twelve persons employed about the hotel, and it is said to be one of the finest and most commodious hotels in the State. Mr. Eno has had a life experience in the business, consequently understands his business. He was born in Syracuse, N. Y., February 4, 1830, and was raised in a hotel, his father, Harlow Eno, being a practical man in the above business. The subject of this sketch engaged in the grocery business at the age of eighteen years, which he continued until he was twenty-seven years old, in company with a brother. He then kept a hotel in Syracuse, N. Y., a short time, after which he engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe business as salesman, at 25 Park Row, N. Y., five years; then into general merchandising three years in Calma and Independence, Iowa; then into hotel business one year in the same place; thence to Charles City one year, after which he opened Brown's Hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and operated the same about six years. He then went on a stock farm near Wisner, Neb., three years, then into a hotel at West Point, Neb., and from there to Fremont, as before stated. He was married in Onondaga County, N. Y., March 13, 1853, to Miss Josephine A. Sweet, from in the latter county July 26, 1835. They have three daughters--Lillian J., now married to James Phillips, who now are keeping the Pullman House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Lettie M., now married to William Moulton, and keeping hotel at West Point, Neb., and Mable Louisa living at home. Mr. Eno is a member of the Masonic Fraternity of New York. Mr. Eno furnished all new at the time he opened and refitted the house.

ELIJAH FERGUSON, engineer at Fremont Mills, Fremont, has held his present position during most of the time since 1874. He began running an engine in the fall of 1859, working at West Cairo, Ohio, until the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteers, serving three months. At the expiration of this time, he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteers, serving one year and a half, when he was discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, on account of disability. Recovering his health he again enlisted in 1864, in Company E, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Volunteers, serving until the end of the war. During the greater part of his second term he was employed in the Quartermaster's department. After his final discharge at Columbus, Ohio, in 1865, he again engaged in the business of engineer, which he has since followed almost continuously. He was born in Ohio. In the spring of 1868, he was married in Hancock County, Ohio, to Miss Laura W. Benham. They have two children--Leonard S. and Winfred M. He moved to Nebraska in 1870, and for four years he worked on a farm. He is a straight Republican, but takes no active part in politics.

GEORGE H. FORNEY, Clerk of the District Court, located at Webster, Dodge Co., Neb., March 3, 1870; he engaged in farming and continued to farm until October, 1879, when he was elected Clerk of the District Court for term of four years, ending January 1, 1884. He was born near New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, February 18, 1848. His parents moved to Bureau County, Ill., when he was six years of age, and he lived there until he came to Nebraska. He enlisted in Company I, Twelfth Illinois Infantry, August 13, 1862, and was discharged June 30, 1865, having served in all the battles of his command; he is a member of the G. A. R., and Post Chaplain of McPherson Post, No. 4, G. A. R., located at Fremont, Neb.

THOMAS FRAHM, dealer in general line of groceries and farm produce, began the business November, 1881; settled in Fremont September, 1869, and began farming and stock-raising; moved in the city in 1873, and engaged in restaurant business one year, then into lumber business six years. He was born in Holstein, Germany, October 4, 1835; came to America in September, 1869; was married in Germany June 12, 1862, to Elsaba Mum, a native of Holstein. They have two daughters, Rickie and Mary C. Mr. F. is a member of I. O. O. F., Masonic Order, and K. of H. He served in Prussian war in Denmark four years; his wife died June 29, 1874, in Fremont, Neb.

WILLIAM FRIED, of the firm of Nye, Colson & Co., was born in Sweden, May 21, 1841, and came to America in 1863; he located in Henry County, Ill., and enlisted in an Engineer Corps, army of the Cumberland, in October, 1863; served until May, 1865, when he mustered out, and returned to Henry County, where he lived until 1868; in that year he came to Fremont, and was employed by Nye, Colson & Co. until he became a member of the firm. He has served in the City Council, and was elected to the Legislature in 1880. He was married at Fremont, May 20, 1875, to Miss C. C. Lobeck, a native of Henry County, Ill. They have one child, Theron William. Mr. Fried is a member of the A., F. & A. M. Lodge, and Commandery of the G. A. R.

CHRISTAN GABLER, proprietor European Hotel, which was erected by Mr. Gabler in the fall of 1881, and contains twenty-eight rooms, and has accommodations for fifty guests. There are ten hands employed about the hotel. The size of the building is 44x74 feet, and two stories high. Mr. Gabler located in Fremont in November, 1879, and kept a boarding house, restaurant and saloon until December, 1881. He was born in Rhine-Prussia, Germany, January 10, 1837; emigrated to America in 1852; was married in Steuben County, N. Y., in 1858, to Miss Barbara Mary Swingel, a native of Germany, and was four years of age when her parents came to America. They have one son and four daughters--James H., Mary A., Carolina, Ella and Christina F. Mr. Gabler is a member of I. O. O. F., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a member of K. of H. of Fremont, Neb.

CHAUNCEY D. GARDANIER, Deputy County Clerk, located at Scribner on October 7, 1874; he built the second dwelling house at that place in 1875, and engaged in mercantile business until January, 1881. Since then he has been manufacturing brick at Scribner in partnership with John Romberg. They intend to turn our from 800,000 to 900,000 brick this year. He was born in Marengo, Calhoun Co., Mich., January 29, 1846; that was his home until 1874. During the war, he was twice rejected for army service. He was married at Marengo, Mich., January 19, 1871, to Francilia J. Adams, a native of New York. They have two children, Mary F. and Earl. He is a member of A., F. & A. M., Lodge, Chapter and Commandery.

PHILIP GENTZLER, farmer, P. O. Fremont, Section 25, Town 18, Range 8, was born in York County, Penn., July 6, 1841. He is the son of George and Elizabeth Gentzler. He enlisted in 1861, in Company H, Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Army of the Potomac and in West Virginia until October, 1864. He then returned to his home in Pennsylvania, remaining one year; from there he went to Chicago, where he remained about two years, working at his trade of carpenter. He then went to Michigan, where he remained a short time. He returned to Chicago, and soon after came to Nebraska. He was married at Fremont, Neb., in July, 1871, to Miss Rosena Stripe, who was born in Germany. They have two children--Elizabeth and Evaline May. Mr. Gentzler has a good farm of 160 acres, 120 acres under good cultivation, and the remainder being grass land. He has also good improvements, consisting of good house, barn, etc. He has another farm of 400 acres on Sections 19 and 20, of which 100 acres are under cultivation, the balance being grass and timber land; 250 acres of it are under fence for pasture. This farm also has good buildings; he deals quite largely in live stock, keeping a herd of 120 head of cattle, and 100 head of hogs. His live-stock aggregates $2,500 yearly. He is a member of McPherson Post, No. 4, G. A. R. Department of Nebraska.

ARTHUR GIBSON, bookseller, stationer and news dealer, came to Nebraska in September, 1855, and located at Fontanelle with his parents; his father, Thomas Gibson, having come to the Territory in 1854. In 1860, he went to Colorado, his father having the year previous established the first paper in Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News. He came East in the fall of 1861, and attended school at Denmark Academy, Iowa, until the spring of 1863, when he returned to Colorado, and remained there until the spring of 1865, when he returned to Fontanelle and engaged in the mercantile business for a year, when he sold out and went to Chicago in the winter of 1866-67, and attended Eastman's Business College. He and his brother, Thomas R., now a large stock farmer near Fremont, built a saw-mill on the Elkhorn, five miles east of Fremont, in the spring of 1867, and ran it until the fall of that year, when they built a flouring mill in Fremont, which he ran until he sold his interest to Thomas R. in the fall of 1868, and engaged in his present business as bookseller and stationer. He has built up a good business, and is doing some jobbing. He is proprietor of the Letters Patent for the Schaffer Paper Cutter for job and newspaper office. He is Treasurer of the Dodge County Agricultural Society, Secretary of the Board of Trade, and of A., F. & A. M., and Deputy G. M. of the I. O. O. F.; Secretary Fremont Cemetery Association, and a Notary Public for Dodge County. He was born in England July 25, 1844, and came to Quincy, Ill., when he was a child. He was married at Fremont November 25, 1869, to Jennie A. Benton, a native of New Haven, Conn. They have one child, Nettie E. born March 12, 1874; another, Emma E., who died December 20, 1881, aged six years. He enlisted in Company B, Third Colorado Cavalry, August 15, 1864, and was First Sergeant thereof; he was mustered out December 28, 1864, at the expiration of his term of service. He is a member of the G. A. R. Mr. Gibson has not been an aspirant for political offices.

THOMAS R. GIBSON, farmer, P. O. Fremont, Section 26, Town 18, Range 8, was born in Northampton, England, February 26, 1842. He is the son of Thomas and Sarah Gibson, who emigrated to America in 1847, locating at Quincy, Ill. His parents came to Nebraska in 1854, living at Fontanelle until 1860, when the family went to Pike's Peak, where they remained until 1864. His father published at Denver the first newspaper in Colorado, having published at Quincy, Ill., the first Republican newspaper in that State prior to his removal to Nebraska. Thomas R. was engaged in freighting across the plains to Denver and other places from 1859 to 1866. He then worked for the Union Pacific Railroad about two years. He and his brothers then operated a saw-mill east of Fremont, on the Elkhorn River, one summer. They got out the lumber for and built the Fremont Mills, the first flouring-mill built in Dodge County. They operated it a year or two, and sold it. He then went to Texas, engaging in railroading, grading in that State forty-seven miles of road. He next went to Colorado, engaging in the same business, and grading forty miles of road. He then returned to Fremont and took the contract of grading the county road from Fremont north to the bluffs. He afterward built a considerable portion of the road-bed of the O. & R. V. R. R. and the Midland Pacific. He next took a contract of building the road-bed of a portion of the Covington, Columbus & Black Hills Railroad; but for this work he never received any compensation. He then began improving his farm, lying four miles north of Fremont, and consisting of 590 acres. It is one of the finest farms in Dodge County, being well suited for both stock-raising and farm. It is beautifully situated on the side of the bluffs, and extending into the Platte Valley. Two hundred acres are under cultivation and the balance being grass land, of which 200 acres are under fence. He has thirty acres in tame grass. His other improvements consist of good frame house, barn, cattle sheds, granary, etc. He deals largely in live-stock, feeding annually for market a large number of hogs and about fifty head of cattle. He was married in February, 1873, in Bradford County, Penn., to Miss Mary R. Ridgway, daughter of Joseph and Celinda Ridgway.