ROBERT WILKINSON FURNAS was the second gentleman to receive from the people of the State the high honor of being elected Governor. He was chosen to fill this position in the year 1873, and retired at the close of his term, having earned the good-will, respect and admiration of the whole people by reason of his excellent administration. He was born in Troy, Miami Co., Ohio, on the 5th of May, 1824. His parents were natives of South Carolina, in which State also the grandfather had been born. His great-grandfather was a member of a good old English family, and was born at Standing Stone, in the county of Cumberland, England. He was brought up and educated in his native place, and when a young man was there married, and then started with his wife for the New World. They landed in South Carolina about the year 1762. Thomas Furnas, the third child of John and Mary Furnas, was born in 1768, six years after the settlement of his parents in America, as above noted. William Furnas was the fifth child and only son of Thomas and Esther Furnas. The chosen occupation of this interesting family for several generations has been that of farming. The chief institution, at that time, of the South, in connection with all labor, especially field work, was that of slavery, and the members of the early generations of this family were most conscientious members of the Quaker Church, which looked upon it as an abomination. This was the occasion finally of their removal to Ohio, which they did in 1804, settling in the Miami Valley. It was in the home there established that the subject of this sketch was born. He is the eldest of a family of three children, and the only one now living. His twin brother died in infancy, and his younger sister at the age of fifteen.
   In 1832 the parents of our subject were stricken down by the ravages of that dreaded plague, the cholera, which swept over the country at that time, taking in its course, old and young, rich and poor, without distinction. In this trying time the natural guardians of the life of our subject, the directors of his footsteps, the instructors of his life, were removed, and he was left to struggle and battle in the conflict of life unaided by them. Then, when the clouds seemed darkest and thickest, his grandfather stepped forward in order to supply, at least in some measure, the place thus left vacant, and with him he remained until he reached his seventeenth year, working on the farm during the summer, and during the winter attending school. He seized every opportunity afforded for the increase of knowledge, and has ever continued to add to his store, and his reputation is that of a well-read, thoroughly educated gentleman.
   As soon as our subject attained the above-mentioned age, he went to Covington, Ky., and there served an apprenticeship to the printing business, in the office of the Licking Valley Register, published by Richard C. Langdon. It was at that time one

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of the most noted newspapers, and its editor, one of the first newspaper men in the West or South. Young Furnas remained in this office until 1843, and acquired a large store of practical knowledge of trade, general business, and life, as well as considerable information upon all ordinary topics, besides the specific attainment desired in the knowledge of the business. The benefit of this schooling is perhaps clearly traceable even in the present, and the immediate past. Leaving Covington he proceeded to Cincinnati, opened a book and job office, and continued in the printing business at that place for two years with good success.
   Near the close of that time, and in the year 1845, our subject was united in marriage with Mary S. McComas, a native of Ohio, and a most excellent lady, one who has the power and ability to assist him in life, and fitted to grace any position in society, however high. There have been born of this union five children.
   One of the first public engagements entered into by our subject when he became a voter was when, in company with several other young men, he felt the necessity of education as the means necessary to power in this life in any of its relations. They bound. themselves to advocate the building of the school-house in Troy, and a lot was reserved for that purpose. Older citizens, perhaps not so well alive to the progressive spirit of the age, thought it unnecessary, and threw in the way a thousand objections. The young men were defeated at the poles the first year, but nothing daunted continued the contest, and the next year carried their point by a small majority, with the result that a $17,000 school-house was erected, and has stood a monument to the enterprise and foresight of these young men. Upon the success of the above undertaking, Mr. Furnas was elected one of the School Directors, which he continued to be until his removal to Nebraska, when he resigned.
   Our subject was only twenty-three years of age when he became proprietor of the Troy Times, an organ of the Whig party, of which also he was the editor and publisher, and by his trenchant articles did much service in the Taylor campaign. In 1852 he sold this paper, and was engaged first as Freight and Ticket Agent, afterward as conductor for the Dayton & Michigan Railroad, continuing until 1856.
   In March of that year he emigrated to this State, established himself at Brownville, and in July of the same year established the Brownville Advertiser, and entered the arena of political life. He became a very zealous advocate of the agricultural and educational interests of the State, and in the fall of that year was elected to the Territorial Legislature. Here the masterly qualities that have since distinguished him before the State were made manifest.
   During his term of office, as noted in the forgoing paragraph, our subject originated the school system of the Territory, which was modeled in its general features after the system of Ohio. In the year 1858 he was re-elected and again took his seat in the Legislature. In 1861 he was elected Chief Clerk, and early in the spring was commissioned Colonel in the United States Regular Army, and received orders from the Secretary of War to organize the loyal Indians and have them mustered into the service. He was successful in his mission and raised three regiments. These were fully equipped, and Col. Furnas commanded them in the Southern expedition under Gen. Blunt, which took in the borders of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. Resigning his commission after having done splendid work with his command, he returned and went to work to recruit, and established the 2d Nebraska Cavalry, and added fresh glories to the already brilliant record of military achievement. With this command he served under Gen. Stilly in the now renowned "Sully expedition" against the Sioux Indians, wherein they were pursued to British Columbia.
   The next four years our subject was employed as Indian Agent for the Omaha and Winnebago Indians, which he resigned to take his place at the helm of the State as already recorded. Among the many honors worn so gracefully, and in such manly spirit, are: Regent of the State University, President of the State Board of Agriculture, President of the State Agricultural Society, President of the State Soldiers Union, Vice President of the National Pomological Association, Past Grand Master of the I. O. O. F., Past Grand High Priest, and Past Grand Commander of the Masonic bodies of the State of Nebraska.