M. N. TROUPE was born in Washington County, Maryland, June 21, 1854, of German parentage. In 1878 he came to Lincoln, Nebraska and later went to Iowa. He returned to Nebraska and settled in Buffalo County in 1884. He has been a farmer and stock-raiser for the past twenty years, and is very well known. As a member of the Republican party he was elected to his first term as County Treasurer of Buffalo County in 1903.

      N. P. McDONALD was born at Columbus, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1862. He came to Kansas in 1886 and a year later settled in Nebraska, where he taught school for two years and later read law. He obtained his education at Otterbien University, Ohio. He is of the Republican faith, and served as County Superintendent from 1889 to 1893. In 1900 he was elected County Attorney and is still the incumbent of that office.

     T. N. HARTZELL was born in Hennepin, Illinois, May 31, 1846. He removed to Chicago with his parents in 1848, to Waukegan, Illinois in 1855, to Aurora, Nebraska in 1869 and settled at Kearney in 1879, engaging in the mercantile business, He is a graduate of Lake Forest University and received his A. M. from Amherst. He is affiliated with the Republican party and has held various positions of trust, having been County Superintendent from 1884 to 1888, Secretary of School Board from 1888 to 1892, County Assessor in 1900 and was reelected County Superintendent in 1901.

      LOGAN SAMMONS was born in Ohio, May 13, 1867. In 1872 he came to Buffalo County with his parents, where he has since resided, engaging in farming. He is a graduate of the Kearney high school and has taught in the Kearney Reform School. He is associated with the Republican party and was elected Sheriff in 1901, having served as Deputy Sheriff four years prior to his election.

      A. V. OFFILL was born August 4, 1876. In 1881 his parents located at Tecumseh, and in 1893 settled at Kearney, engaging in the stockraising industry. He obtained his education in the Tecumseh high school and the Kearney Business College. He is a member of the Republican party and is serving his third term as County Clerk.

      T. G. SPENCER was born in Woodford, Illinois, July 10, 1856. He came to Buffalo County in 1883, engaging in the farming and stock-raising industry, and later on, in banking. He is a Republican and has been elected County Register of Deeds on that ticket.

      F. M. HALLOWELL was born in Augusta, Maine, November 12, 1852. In 1877 he came to Kearney, where he has since made his home. He is a graduate of Farmington Normal College and Colby University, Waterville, Maine. He has been Court Reporter for fifteen years and has been a member of the Board of Education. He is a member of the Republican party and is the Judge of Buffalo County.

      GEORGE A. NIXON was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1867. In 1883 he moved to Gibbon, Nebraska and located at Kearney, January 4, 1900. He received his education in the Philadelphia public schools. Mr. Nixon is a member of the People's Independent party and has been elected Clerk of the District Court on that ticket.

     C. A. EDWARDS, City Engineer of Kearney and Surveyor of Buffalo County, was born November 17, 1859 in Moline, Illinois. He came to Dawson County, Nebraska and in 1885 took a homestead. He lived at Lexington for a time, then went to Gothenburg, where he had charge of the surveying and was at that time the manager of the Gothenburg Irrigation Ditch, and came to Kearney in 1902. He took a college course at Valparaiso, Indiana. Mr. Edwards was Surveyor of Dawson County for eight years.

      A. H. MORRIS was born in Spring Brook, New York, September 21, 1856. In 1878 he came to Papillion, Nebraska and in 1887 settled at Shelton, his present home, engaging in the drug business. He is affiliated with the Republican party and has been elected County Assessor on that ticket.

      J. W. SHAHAN was born in Kingwood, West Virginia, November 10, 1848. In 1878 he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, his present home and engaged in farming. In 1887 he became County Clerk, having been Deputy Clerk previously, and again served in the same capacity from 1897 to 1899. He is a member of the Republican party and was appointed Deputy County Treasurer in 1904.

      O. F. HAMILTON was born June 8, 1845 in Portage County, Ohio. He served in Company H of the Tenth Ohio Cavalry during the Civil War. He then joined the Eighteenth United States Infantry of the Regular Army, remaining in the service three years longer and was wounded at Phil Kearney, Dakota, in the campaign against the Indians. He was one of the early settlers of Buffalo County, having filed the first soldier's homestead in Armada Township in 1873. He moved to Mullen, Nebraska in 1904. He laid out the town of Armada and was Postmaster from 1885 to 1889. Mr. Hamilton studied law at Kearney and was admitted to the bar at Newkirk, Oklahoma and has practiced law since.

      CHARLES B. FINCH, ex-mayor and one of the leading merchants of Kearney, Nebraska, was born in Dallas City, Hancock County, Illinois, December 25, 1848. He was educated in the Academy at Denmark, Iowa and the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Chicago. In July of 1879, Mr. Finch came to Kearney and was Mayor of Kearney for three years during the time of the boom. He used to sell goods to the cow-boys when he carried a gun in one hand and a pencil in the other. His father was the first and only merchant to open up a general stock of goods among the Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois. Mr. Finch is a 33d degree Mason and the Grand Commander of the Knight Templars of Nebraska.

      W. H. ROE, now serving his second term as mayor of Kearney, Nebraska, was born in Berrian, Michigan, January 2, 1849. His parents moved to Delaware County, Iowa in 1851, remaining there until 1863, when they went to Emporia, Kansas and in 1872 Mr. Roe came to Kearney. He graduated from the State Normal College at Emporia, Kansas in 1869. He enlisted July 12, 1867, with General Custer in

the Indian War in Western Kansas, and was mustered out in the following November. He married Miss Sidney A. Wilson of Mt. Ayr, Iowa in 1872. He is engaged in the grain business and was the first City Marshal of Kearney.

      BOYD COUNTY was organized in 1891 with an area of 532 square miles. The population of the county in 1900 was 7,332; of this number Butte, the county seat, has 350, Lynch 231, Gross 325, Spencer 135, and Napier 94. The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley railway company has completed an extension of its Verdigris branch through Boyd County, along the Ponca Creek. The county is situated between the Niobrara and Missouri rivers, in northeastern Nebraska, and is well watered. In addition to these streams Ponca Creek traverses almost the entire length of the county and the Keya Paha river empties into the Niobrara about twelve miles east of the western boundary; there are numerous springs and spring branches tributary to these streams. An abundance of good water is obtained at a depth of from fifteen to seventy-five feet. The surface of the laud is generally level, or gently roiling, except along the streams. About seventy-five per cent is rich, tillable land and the balance is well adapted for grazing. There is very little sand or gravel and the soil is a heavy, black loam from eighteen inches to four feet deep, with a clay subsoil. Corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes and all kinds of vegetables yield bountiful crops. Alfalfa, clover, and timothy have been tried in limited areas and proved successful. Sugar beets have been very successfully produced. Stock-raising is a profitable industry. The value of land has increased very materially since 1897, the price ranging from $10.00 to $40.00 per acre.

      CHARLES A. MANVILLE was born February 18, 1855, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and from there removed to Illinois in 1877 and the next year came to Nebraska. He received his education in the Academy at Onondago, New York, and the Jefferson Educational Institute at Jefferson, Ohio. Mr. Manville is a member of the Republican party and is the superintendent of Boyd County. He was Superintendent of Holt County from 1886 to 1890 and Clerk of Dodge County from 1896 to 1900. At present he is the Editor of the Spencer Advocate.

      WORTH WHITEHORN was born in Illinois in 1852. His father, John Whitehorn, was a farmer and in 1855 they moved to Iowa. Mr. Whitehorn received a common school education and in 1877 settled in Nebraska. He has been engaged as a farmer, printer and also teacher. He is a member of the Republican party and was elected Surveyor of Boyd County on that ticket.

      N. D. BURCH was born in Clinton County, Missouri, June 16, 1871. At the age of eleven years he went, together with his parents, to Texas, where they remained for one year and then came to Nebraska. He attended the high school at Clarks, Nebraska, and received the degree of LL. B. in the University of Nebraska. Mr. Burch is a member of the Republican party and has been elected Attorney of Boyd County on that ticket.

     One-fifth of this county is made up of the bottom lands of the Missouri in the eastern part and Logan Creek in the western part. The remainder of the surface is rolling, with an average elevation of 100 feet above the bottoms. Bell Creek and Blackbird Creek are two other important water supplies. Slough land occupies a large part of the county and much of this was improved by artificial drainage. The soil in the bottom lands and valleys is very productive. Burt County is situated in the eastern part of Nebraska, with an acreage of 327,000. The Omahas were established here when the white settlers arrived, and though they did not welcome, they did not especially disturb the invaders. Burt County was organized in 1854, and the first election was held in December, 1854. In this election Burt and Blackbird Counties were joined, which entitled them to one Councilman and two Representatives. Burt County was named in honor of Hon. Francis Burt, the first governor of Ne-