Brown spent his entire life upon his native soil, occupied as a farmer, and rested from his earthly labors in 1851, when about fifty-three years of age. The mother is also deceased.

YRON TOWER, a well-known capitalist of Lincoln, is classed among the citizens of Nebraska who have substantially aided its growth and material prosperity, and as a representative pioneer, we are pleased to place a brief record of his life within the pages of this work. From a sturdy New England ancestry he derives those traits of character that have made him a force in the upbuilding of the West. He is a native of Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y., born March 20, 1833, to Almon and Mary Tower. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were like himself pioneers, they having been early settlers of Chenango County, N. Y.
   Shubael Tower, grandfather of our subject, was a native of Connecticut, and when a young man he penetrated to the wilds of Chenango County, N. Y., as an employe of the United States Government, and assisted in cutting a road for a mail route across the Empire State. He subsequently located in Chenango County, being one of its first settlers, and bought a tract of heavily timbered land in the vicinity of Plymouth, the present site. He cleared a farm from the primeval forest, and erected good buildings, making his home there until his death at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was a man of much influence in the community, where he was revered for his wisdom and true Christian piety. He was one of the original members of the Congregational Church, of which he was Deacon for many years.
   Almon Tower, the father of our subject, was born and reared on that old homestead in Plymouth, and in that town he was married to Miss Mary Sexton, also a native of Plymouth, born in December, 1808. Her father, Seth Sexton, was born in Connecticut, and was one of the early pioneers of Plymouth. He was one of the founders of the Congregational Church, and was a Deacon for many years. He improved a farm, and continued to be one of the substantial citizens of Plymouth until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. He was very prosperous, and acquired quite a large amount of property. After marriage the parents of our subject settled in Smyrna, just over the line from their native town, and lived there until 1843. Then Mr. Tower sold his property there and bought a farm near by in the town of Plymouth, upon which he resided for many years. He accumulated an ample competence by his shrewdness and industry, so that he was enabled to live in retirement during the last years of his life in the pleasant home that he had purchased in the village of Plymouth, his death occurring there in 1883. at the age of seventy-six. He joined the Congregational Church when quite young, and was a Deacon for many years being an active worker in the cause of religion, temperance, and in everything that would in any way promote the moral advancement of the community in whose interests his own were so bound up. In politics he was originally a Whig, but he early gave his allegiance to the Republican party, actively assisting in its organization. His good wife, who faithfully shared with him the burdens of life, lightening his labors by her cheerful assistance, still resides in the town of Plymouth, being now in her eightieth year, beloved and respected by all who know her. She was the mother of nine children, seven of whom grew to maturity, and the following is their record: Myron; Addison lives in Furnas County, Neb.; Nancy A. married Eugene Phelps, and lives in Wahoo, Neb.; Amasa died in 1885, in Hyde County, Dak.; Warren lives in Lancaster County, Neb.; Nettie married Charles West, and lives in Fremont, Neb.; Flora E. married William Stewart, and lives in Plymouth, N. Y.
   The subject of this sketch was reared in his native county, receiving an education in the district school. He early showed a talent for music, which was cultivated, and he became quite a. proficient musician. Being a young man of marked decision of character. ambitious and enterprising, he early sought the new States of the Great West, as a broader and more promising field than his native place

wherein to work out the problem of "How to make a success of life," starting out from his old home in 1856, and spending his first winter away from the parental roof in Walworth County, Wis. In the spring of 1857 he started for Minnesota, going by rail as far as the railway was completed, thence by stage to Prairie du Chien, and from there on the river to La Crosse, where he engaged with a commission merchant to travel through Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the fall he returned to Walworth County, whence he again went to Minnesota in the following spring of 1858, and located, being in the employ of a surveying party, and in the winter he taught singing school in different places in Olmsted and Fillmore Counties. In the summer of 1859 he went to La Crosse Valley, Wis., and rented a farm. The next winter he made his home in Walworth County, and then went to Illinois, where he bought a threshing-machine in the fall of 1860, and ran it very profitably that season. We next hear of him as again living on a rented farm in La Crosse Valley, where he staid a year. After that he returned once more to Minnesota, and settled in the town of Saratoga, Winona County.
   The life of our subject has an added interest for us in that he was a member of that great and glorious body of soldiery who preserved our Union intact, and the honor of our flag unsullied, during the late civil strife, and at the risk of losing their lives, and at the sacrifice of all that they held dear on earth. It was while a resident of Minnesota, in the winter of 1862-63, that Mr. Tower enlisted in Company K, 9th Minnesota Infantry, and served until after the close of the war. He had a thrilling experience in the army, suffering all the terrible hardships that can befall a soldier, and if he had not inherited a fine physique, and a constitution of iron from a temperate and hardy ancestry, he would scarcely have been alive to-day. He was wounded June 10, 1864, in the battle of Guntown, and lay on the battle-field six days with no medical attendance and nothing to eat or drink. He took his gun to pieces and buried it to save capture. Six days after the battle he was taken by the rebels to Andersonville Prison, suffering severely from a wound in his left leg. In the September following his capture he and other of his fellow prisoners dug a tunnel, through which he and four of his comrades escaped outside of the stockade, but they were recaptured when five miles away, and were obliged to return to the horrors of prison life. In October our subject made his escape again, by riding out under the provision wagon, making his way to the woods, where he traveled nights, and remained concealed during the day. He was obliged to forage for a living, and the first few days ate nothing but raw sweet potatoes and wild grapes, but he finally ventured to the negro cabins, whose hospitable inmates gave him hoe cake to stay his hunger. He was still suffering severely from the effect of his wounds, from which he has never recovered, his progress was therefore necessarily very slow, and notwithstanding the brave effort that he had made to regain his liberty, he was recaptured near Cape Fear River, and taken to Wilmington, N. C., and thence to Florence, S. C., where he was confined until December, 1864. He was then exchanged and taken to the hospital in Annapolis, where he nearly died from sickness caused by his wounds, and at the time of his discharge from the hospital, June 20, 1865, and for two years after, he walked with two crutches, and occasionally has to resort to them even now.
   After his discharge from the army Mr. Tower returned to Minnesota, and resided there until 1868, when he removed to Nebraska, the journey from Minnesota being made with a team in about sixteen days. He made a claim to Government land in Mill Precinct, and getting some lumber at Plattsmouth, about forty-five miles distant, erected the first frame house in the vicinity. Plattsmouth was the nearest market and depot for supplies. The country roundabout was in a very wild and unsettled condition, antelope and elk being plenty, and a few miles west buffaloes were numerous. Our subject improved quite a tract of land, planted fruit and shade trees, and resided there until the fall of 1870. He then sold that place, and bought land near there, which is now included in the city, and engaged in the nursery business, being a pioneer in that line. The first year he cleared $1,000 on his nursery stock and small fruits, and he continued to do well until 1874, when the grasshoppers destroyed his crops, and he lost about $6,000 thereby, and