William, Hattie and Barbara. In 1875 the father, accompanied by John and Teressa, visited California, and during the time of their visit the father engaged in work at his trade, by which they not only paid the expenses of the visit, but cleared $474 in six months. In 1877 the father, accompanied by his son John, made a trip to Oregon for the purpose of looking up a location, but came back satisfied to remain in Gage County. In 1887 our subject made a visit to Colorado, where his daughter Teressa is living. He has long been identified with the Republican party, and voted for John C. Fremont. He and his estimable wife belong to the Evangelical Church, of Holmesville, and are the center of a host of warm and admiring friends.

HOMAS YULE, a gentleman in comfortable circumstances and a resident of the city of Beatrice, makes a specialty of abstracts and loans, while at the same time he is prominently identified with its other leading business interests. He was born in Northumberland County, England, on the 20th of October, 1832, and ten or twelve years later his parents, George and Elizabeth (Huggett) Yule, removed from his native village and thereafter lived in different places in England. The father was a civil engineer by profession, and for some time occupied a responsible position with the Northeastern Railroad Company, of England.

In 1853 our subject, accompanied by his parents and his young wife, emigrated to America, and all took up their abode in Columbia County, Wis. The father and son engaged in farming, and the family made their home there until the death of the former, which occurred in 1871, at the age of sixty-seven years. The mother survived her husband six years, and died at the age of seventy-three, after having seen four of her children well launched into life, the two others having died in infancy.

 Our subject was the fourth child of his father's family, and as he grew to manhood was educated in the schools of his native England. When twenty-one years old he was married, March 15, 1853, to Miss Mary Todd, of his native county, and who was the daughter of John and Mary Todd, also natives of Northumberland. Soon afterward Mr. Yule and his young bride emigrated, as above stated, to America with his parents. Thomas for a time farmed with his father, but later removed to the village of Lodi, Wis., where he engaged as a contractor and builder until the outbreak of the Civil War.

Our subject now left his pleasant home and family to engage in the service of his adopted country, enlisting on the 15th of August, 1862, in the 23d Wisconsin Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the West under Gen. A. J. Smith, this being the 14th Army Corps, under command of Gen. Sherman. Mr. Yule with his comrades traveled through Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and participated in the first battle of Vicksburg in 1862. In the engagement at Arkansas Post on the 11th of January, 1863, he received a wound which resulted in the loss of his right leg, that useful member being carried away by a solid shot. He was then placed in Lawson Hospital at St. Louis, where he remained until March following, when he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Lodi, Wis. Afterward in recognition of his service as a soldier he was appointed Provost Marshal for that district. He was also elected Justice of the Peace and Town Treasurer, which offices he held until January, 1867, when he was elected Recorder of Deeds of Columbia County. For eight successive years he held that office, which speaks well for his efficiency. Previous to his retirement he purchased a complete set of abstract books of that county, and subsequently became associated with Miles T. Alverson in the abstract and loan business, which they continued until April, 1879.

In the year above mentioned Mr. Yule sold out, and coming to Nebraska established himself in Beatrice and engaged in money loaning, while at the same time he began writing up, in company with his son John T., a set of abstract books from the original records of this county. They now do a large business in this line in the States of Nebraska and Kansas; they have a fine office in the First National Bank building, which is well equipped with all the appurtenances of a thriving business. Our subject has served one term as Mayor of Beatrice, and one term as City Treasurer, in both of which offices he gave

general satisfaction to the public. He is now serving his third term as Supervisor of the city and his second term as Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors. He is also one of the Directors of the canning factory, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Beatrice Street Railway.

To Thomas and Mary (Todd) Yule there were born four children, two sons and two daughters, of whom we have the following record: Bessie J. is the wife of L. E. Walker. of Beatrice; John T. is in partnership with his father; Albert G. died in 1866; Mary Grace is now a student in Brownell Hall at Omaha. The mother of these children died in 1881. Mr. Yule in 1884 married his present wife, who was Mary H. Burke, a native of Canada, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Beatrice. The family residence, pleasantly situated, is a neat and comfortable structure, occupying No. 803 North Seventh street.

Mr. Yule has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1858, and as a man who has given much of his time to the service of the public, he is entitled to more than a passing notice. In politics he has been a stanch Republican since the formation of the party, and his influence is sensibly felt in the ranks of his party, not only in the county, but in this part of the State. His portrait, in connection with this sketch, will be looked upon with interest by a large number of his friends and compeers as that of a man closely identified with the best interests not only of the city of Beatrice, but the entire county.

HADDEUS WILLIAMS is the present  enterprising and energetic Supervisor of Logan Township, who has distinguished himself by his ardent efforts in behalf of the public. His father, William Williams, was born in Nelson County, Ky., in 1812, and was a contractor, a merchant and a farmer. In 1853 he moved to Illinois, thence, in 1873, to Hamburg, Iowa, where he now resides. The mother of our subject is Elizabeth (Blunt) Williams, who was born in Gallatin County, Ky., in 1819, and is also living, having reared a family of six children, of whom our subject is the second, he was born in Gallatin County, Ky., on the 26th of January, 1843, and spent his youth under his father's roof, receiving a good common school education. In 1863 he crossed the plains, stopping at Idaho City, where he followed mining for two years, thence to California, and returning to Sangamon County, Ill., by way of New York City, taking a steamer from the Pacific Coast.

 Our subject was engaged in farming, which work he varied by a period of three years devoted to the mercantile business, and in 1880 he removed to Logan Township, this county, and settled on his present farm on section 28. He made all the improvements that have been made, set out a fine fruit orchard and groves of native timber, and in various ways increased the value of his farm by labor and industry. On the 21st of December, 1870, he was united in marriage, in Sangamon County, Ill., to Miss Mary L. Koscialowski, who was born in Jacksonville. Ill., on the 8th of August, 1848. Her father, Napoleon Koscialowski, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1812, and was a military man, his private profession being that of an architect. In 1834, at the breaking out of the Polish insurrection, he was exiled, and came to this country, making his home in Jacksonville, Ill., his death afterward occurring in Washington City. Her mother, Mary (Chenoweth) Koscialowski, was born in Nicholasville, Ky., in 1821, and after becoming the mother of six children, she died in Jacksonville, Ill.

By their marriage our subject and his wife are the parents of six children, on whom they have bestowed the names of Leon W., Robert Hitt, Edith C., Edward T., Roy T. and Harry D. Our subject has taken an active part in public enterprises, chief among which was his assistance in the building of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Prairie Chapel, for which he gave a great deal of his valuable time in soliciting money as well as contributing his share toward the funds. His wife is a member of that church, and is a well-educated and talented lady, displaying her love for the beautiful, and her refined and exquisite taste in the adornments of her pleasant home. Our subject has held his present office of Supervisor for three years, and has been for a like period the School Director of his town-

ship. While living in Illinois he filled the office of Assessor for three years, with much credit to himself and general satisfaction to the public. He is a member of the order of the A. F. & A. M., Blue Lodge No. 29, of Beatrice, and is a warm and able advocate of the Democratic party in politics. To the labors of such men as our subject is the township indebted for its rapid progress, and the ample strides which it has made toward perfection.

EORGE B. PHELPS, proprietor of one of the leading hack lines of Beatrice, is of New England birth and parentage, having first opened his eyes to the light in Monroe, Franklin Co., Mass., Jan. 5, 1838. The eldest of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, he is the son of Francis and Abigail (Fosgate) Phelps, who were also natives of the Bay State. Of their family only five are now living. The paternal grandfather, Daniel Phelps, was of English ancestry, and a native of Vermont. He spent his last years in Monroe, Mass., dying about 1850. The Fosgates were of English and Irish extraction.

The male members of the Phelps family for several generations were farmers by occupation, and Francis Phelps, the father of our subject, was no exception to the rule. Both he and his estimable wife lived and died in Massachusetts. George B., our subject, spent his boyhood and youth in his native town, attending the public schools and working on the farms adjacent to the city. In this manner he gained a good insight into the general methods of agriculture, and when twenty-one years of age started out for himself, commanding good wages both at farming and teaming.

Young Phelps about 1869 left the Bay State and went South into Tennessee, where he carried on farming in the vicinity of Howard Springs for a period of six years. The spring of 1875 found him West of the Mississippi, and he was for two years thereafter employed on a farm in this county, eight miles south of Beatrice. Finally he took up his residence in the city, establishing an omnibus and transfer line, and was thus occupied until 1885, when he sold out his transfer business, but continued his hack line. He keeps several horses and vehicles, and, gives employment to quite a number of men. The public are pleased with his promptness in answering their demands, and extend to him a generous patronage.

George B. Phelps was united in marriage to Edna C. Dunham Nov. 2, 1867, the fall before his thirtieth birthday, at Florida, Mass. Mrs. Phelps was born Feb. 20, 1848, in Adams, Mass., and is the daughter of Charles and Caroline Dunham, and the niece of Jarvis N. Dunham, President the Springfield Fire Insurance Company of Massachusetts; also of Henry J. Dunham, a prominent lawyer of Stockhridge, Mass. Of this union there have been born five children, two daughters and three sons, three of whom survive--Gertrude L., Russell A. and Charley A. One daughter and a son died in infancy. Mr. Phelps, politically, is a stanch Republican. During the late war he enlisted in Company H, 2d Vermont United States Sharpshooters, and shortly after going to the front was taken ill with measles, which settled in his system, producing rheumatism, which practically ended his career as a soldier, he being obliged to accept his discharge after being confined in the hospital at Brattleboro, Vt., with no prospect of immediate recovery.

OHN B. LYONS, of Adams Township, although one of the youngest pioneers of this county, has probably passed through as many thrilling experiences as any of its older men. He came to this region with his parents when but a little lad of seven years, but has had his encounters with Indians and other wild "game," and is not afraid to say that he came out "first best" and master of the field. When about eight years of age he assisted his father to release a whole herd of cattle from the thieving redskins without the shedding of blood--accomplished mainly by that firmness of nerve which is often more potent than firearms. He has also fought grasshoppers and the drouth, together with the various other scourges

that were years ago apportioned to one of the most beautiful sections of the United States, and has lived to see this great commonwealth come out victorious over all her foes, and transformed into the abode of a peaceful and prosperous people.

The Lyons family have borne no unimportant part in the task of bringing success to this part of Nebraska especially, having been represented here during the period of its earliest settlement. John and Almira (Shaw) Lyons, the parents of our subject, were natives of Massachusetts and New York State respectively. A sketch of them will be found on another page of this volume. After marriage they settled in Litchfleld County, Conn., where their son, our subject, was born in Canaan Township, Nov. 8, 1850. When he was a child of eighteen months they emigrated from New England to Kenosha County, Wis., where they sojourned for a period of six years. Then they once more changed their location, this time to the Territory of Nebraska.

The journey from the Badger State to this region was performed after the manner of those days, overland with a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. They cooked and camped by the wayside wherever night overtook them, and had some cows along, whose milk, never "watered," was in that respect better than that afforded in the civilized luxury of to-day. The sister of our subject, now Mrs. Homer J. Merrick, written of elsewhere in this work, was then a little girl of five years. The family landed in Nebraska City, or the beginning of it, on the 22d of November, 1857, and settling in Adams Township, lived there a year. then returned to the "city" and staid five years, until the country should be better settled up, and agriculture more profitable. John B., in the meantime, improved his opportunities for schooling, and was quite well advanced in his studies for a boy of thirteen when the family returned to the farm. The father homesteaded land on section 28, and our subject made himself useful in assisting to till the soil and tend the cattle, of which his father kept a herd sometimes of 300 head.

 Young Lyons continued a member of the parental household until twenty-four years of age, when, thinking he would be justified in establishing a home of his own, he was united in marriage, Sept. 10, 1874, with Miss Lucy L. Follett. then a resident of Adams Township. Mrs. Lyons was born in the State of Minnesota, Aug. 21, 1854, and is the daughter of Pardon and Sarah Follett. She came to Nebraska when a maiden of sixteen years to visit her sisters, and then made the acquaintance of our subject, and was persuaded that it would he a good plan to remain here.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Lyons has been blessed by the birth of eight children: Ida M., Charles (deceased), Wyllis E., Clarence W., Effie B., Mary O., John F. and one unnamed. The eldest of these is thirteen years of age, and the youngest six months, and all are at home with their parents. The homestead, of which they took possession when the land was in its wild state, now embraces 120 acres of thoroughly cultivated land, with all modern improvements, embracing a commodious dwelling, good barns and outhouses, sheds, an orchard of 250 bearing apple trees, and a fine assortment of the smaller fruits, including cherries and apricots. In addition to general farming Mr. Lyons has been quite extensively engaged in the breeding of live stock, raising principally cattle and hogs, and from these has realized ample returns. For a comparatively young man he has a fine start in life, and the prospect of a competency in his old age. His has been a rich experience of pioneer life, and one from which he has learned well. He values his home and the advantages of civilization which have grown up around him, and may properly feel that in the perseverance and industry which have inaugurated one of the most desirable homes within its borders, he has been no unimportant factor in bringing his county to its present status.

Mr. Lyons assisted in the erection of the first school building in Adams Township, in which the first person to officiate as teacher was Miss Silvernail, a sister of his mother, and under the roof of which young Lyons afterward completed his education. He has been a firm supporter of educational institutions, and has served as Director in his district for the last four years. Politically, he votes the straight Republican ticket, and although interested in the success of his party, has no aspirations to be an office-holder.