Hooker County, Nebraska, in 1894. Mr. Lowe has a general merchandise store at Mullen and in connection with it runs a lumber yard. At Goodland, Kansas, he was married to Miss Mary Kudrua, and they have two sons. He is a Republican, and was Treasurer of Hooker County for four years and has been postmaster of Mullen for eight years, which position he now holds.

      F. M. CUDEBEC is a native of New York State, having been born in Alleghany County, February 29, 1852. In 1871 he came to Buffalo County, Nebraska, with the colony that settled at Gibbon. Mr. Cudebec located on Wood River and homesteaded there, where he lived until 1877. He moved to Hooker County in 1889 and for thirteen years was engaged in the general merchandise business at Mullen. He then sold out and went into the drug business. He was married to Miss Henrietta Reynolds of Hot Springs, South Dakota, in October, 1899, and they have one son and one daughter. He is a member of the Republican party.

      WILLIAM RECTOR was born in Southwestern Missouri, October 14, 1865. His parents moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when Mr. Rector was a small boy and there had many adventures with the Indians on the plains. From there he drove a herd of cattle all the way to Wyoming, where he remained until 1892, when he went to Montana. He settled in Hooker County, Nebraska, in 1898, where he has been foreman of a large ranch. He was married to Miss Alice Speck of Hooker County in 1900, and they have two children. Mr. Rector is a member of the Democratic party and served one term as Sheriff of Hooker County.

 

      Howard County has a mixed population of 10,343 persons. Almost every state of the Union is represented and the German, Danish, Swedish, Polish, Bohemian and Scotch nationalities are settled here in large numbers. The Danes and Swedish have confined themselves to the vicinity of Dannebrog. The Scotch and Germans are settled in the west part of the county, and some of the Germans are also found in the south. The Bohemians and Poles are in the central part, and the Americans are scattered all over the county. The surface is made up of table lands and valleys and is quite rough in places. The Loup and other rivers furnish good drainage, and these are all large and of good powers. The bottom lands yield grass or crops equally well. In the southern part are some of the famous "sand hills." These cone like formations of light white sand vary in size from small mounds to large hills. They are covered with wild grass which makes good pasturage. The county has become rapidly prosperous and lands sell for about twice as much as they did five years ago. James N. Paul, a surveyor, while on a hunting expedition through this county, decided to locate a town here. Accordingly, through his instrumentality, a party of thirty-one persons came and settled in the vicinity of St. Paul in 1871, by whom this town was afterward laid out. They experienced much trouble in crossing [the] Loup River, which was broad and deep, until they succeeded in having a bridge built by subscriptions. In the same year, a company called the "Danish Land and Homestead Company" which had been organized in Milwaukee, settled on Oak Creek. The first homestead was entered March 11, 1871, by J. E. Cody on North Loup. The first store in the county was opened in 1871 by F. S. Chadwick at St. Paul. The Canadian Colony which was organized in Detroit, Mich., with a membership of 40 Canadians, settled between Turkey Creek and the Loup River in 1872. This same year, the first school district was organized, with Miss Lizzie Cooper as teacher.

     CHARLES E. TAYLOR was born December 12, 1872 at Ashton, Illinois, from which place he came with his parents to Nebraska in 1879. His father, J. P. Taylor, took a homestead in Sherman County. Mr. Taylor came to St. Paul in August of 1895. He acquired his education at the St. Paul High School and at the Western Normal of Lincoln Nebraska. His occupation is that of an accountant. He held the offices of Deputy County Clerk for two years and Deputy County Treasurer for four years. He was elected County Treasurer on the Fusion ticket and is now serving his second term in that office. Out of $35,895.83 of personal taxes for the year 1903 on March 15, 1904, a balance of only $13.05 was left uncol-