after forty-two days, and lying still four or five days in a calm, landed safely in New York City. Thence he made his way to Milwaukee, Wis., where he secured employment at his trade and later was occupied at this in Madison, Wis., for four years.
   At the expiration of this time he went onto a farm in Middleton Township, Dane County, where he purchased forty acres, and where he lived until 1869. In the spring of that year, selling out, he came to this county.
   Settling in Delaware Precinct, Mr. Smallfoot operated on rented land for a period of eight years, and in 1877 purchased the land which he now owns and occupies. This was a tract of raw prairie without a fence or building, and Mr. S. therefore commenced at first principles to build up a homestead. He devoted four acres to groves, set out an orchard of 100 apple trees, put up a house and barn, and in due time turned his attention largely to stock-raising. He now has besides his fine draft horses, good grades of cattle and Poland-China swine. His fields are laid off with hedge and wire fencing. He raises large corn crops, and is generally successful.
   Our subject found a wife and helpmate in Dane County, Wis., being married there in April, 1866, to Miss Johanna Miller, who was born in the city of Leipsic, Germany, Feb. 28, 1834. Mrs. S. came to America with two brothers in 1853. Of her union with our subject there have been born six children, namely: August, Amelia, Ida, Edward, Augusta and Emma. The eldest son is farming in Delaware Precinct; Amelia is the wife of William Gass, also lives in Delaware Precinct, and is the mother of three children; Ida, Mrs. Robert Buchanan, is the wife of a well-to-do farmer of South Branch Precinct, and the mother of one child; Emma married George Haffner, a farmer of Lancaster County, Neb., residing near Firth. The other children are at home with their parents.
   Mr. Smallfoot cast his first Presidential vote for Buchanan, and is one of the most reliable supporters of the Republican party. Coming from a land believing in the thorough education of its children, he is always interested in the maintenance of schools, and has been a member of the School Board in his precinct for a period of six years.
   He is quite prominent in local affairs, and has served on the Grand Jury. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church in Berlin Precinct, to the support of which he contributes liberally, assisting in the building of the church edifice, and is esteemed as one of the pillars of the society.

ERHART HENRY MEYER is a member of the firm of Noelting & Meyer, the leading hardware merchants of Nebraska City. He was born in Garnavillo, Clayton Co., Iowa, April 11, 1858. His father, Deitrich Meyer, was a native of Germany, where he was reared and educated. When attaining to manhood he decided that the New World held more attractions for him than the old, as he thought that here he could better earn his way to a competence and to a life of ease than in his native land. Accordingly he crossed the waters, and making his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, he found employment there as a stair-builder. He remained in that city until 1857, when he turned his face westward, and set out for Iowa with his family, going by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and landing at Guttenberg. He located in the town of Garnaville, where he engaged in the mercantile business, opening general store. There were no railways in that section of Iowa at that time, and he received his goods by way of the river. He continued prosperously engaged in business there until his death in 1870. Since that time his wife and one of his sons have managed the business interests successfully. In his death his adopted county lost a valued and useful citizen, one who, as a good financier and a man of probity, was identified with its best interests. His wife, to whom he was greatly indebted for his high standing, was formerly Margaret Kregel, a native of Germany. Her father, Gerhart Kregel, was likewise a German by birth, and he served in the German army during the Russian War. He came to America with his family and lived for a time in Cincinnati, Ohio. From there he went to Clayton County, Iowa, in 1857, going by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He bought a tract of wild prairie land and improved quite a farm. He died in 1886, having attained

the remarkable age of ninety-six years. He had four sons and one daughter. Of the nine children born to the parents of our subject, six grew to maturity: Margaret, wife of William Kregel; John D.; William; Gerhart H.; Emma and Lena, twins. Lena died in 1886.
   The subject of this sketch was reared in his native town, and received his early education in its public schools. He further advanced his education by attendance at a select private school, where he had the advantage of superior instruction. As soon as he was large enough to be useful he commenced to assist his father in the store, and thus laid the foundation for an excellent mercantile training. When he was sixteen he went to work in a carriage shop, remaining thus employed for three years. He made his home with his parents until 1878, when he came to Otoe County, Neb., and the ensuing three years was engaged as a clerk in the establishment of William Beckman. He then started in business for himself by opening a clothing and gentleman's furnishing goods store in Syracuse. That he managed very profitably in that town until 1883, when, seizing the fine opportunity offered to him in this city to enter the hardware business, he came here and purchased a half-interest in it, and consummated the present partnership, by which arrangement both parties have been greatly benefited. They are men of enterprise; have a fine establishment, well stocked with the best articles in the line of goods that they carry, and they are extensively patronized, as their moderate charges and honest dealings deserve.
   Mr. Meyer was united in marriage with Miss Anna L. Mohrman, Nov. 18, 1881. Mrs. Meyer is a native of Clayton County, Iowa, and a daughter of J. H. and Mary Mohrman. The great sorrow of the married life of our subject and his wife was the death of their only child, their little daughter, Lulu Grace, who was born July 23, 1885, and died April 26, 1887.

"Dear little Lulu, by how tender a tie
She links home upon earth to home in the sky."

   Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and their influence and cordial co-operation are always extended to aid in any good or charitable work. Mr. Meyer is a young man of decided business talent, keen, prompt and fair in his dealings, and he has already gained an assured place among the solid, reliable merchants of Nebraska City, although he began at the bottom of the ladder, and is an entirely self-made man. He takes an intelligent interest in politics, and stands with the Republican party.

LIVER H. BUMFORD, one of the older residents of Palmyra Precinct, and a man who has scores of friends in this vicinity, owns and occupies with his estimable wife a pleasant and comfortable home, which comprises a small farm of eighty acres on section 16, Palmyra Precinct. He was born near the town of Pompeii, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Jan. 19, 1836, his home being about ten miles from the city of Syracuse. When a lad ten years of age his parents removed to Florence Township, St. Joseph Co., Mich., where the father, a blacksmith by trade, purchased twenty acres of land, and building up a good home, spent the remainder of his life. He retired from business a few years before his death, and passed away on the 29th of August, 1859, at the age of sixty-four years. The mother has since made her home with her son, our subject, and has now reached the advanced age of eighty-five.
   The parents of our subject, John and Patty Bumford, were natives of Massachusetts, and the father during his early manhood served as a Lieutenant in the War of 1812. The home circle was completed by the birth of ten children. William is still living, and George died at the age of thirteen. The survivors are: Mary A., William, Paulina, Martha, and Oliver, of our sketch. The latter is the youngest of his parents' living children, and remained with them in St. Joseph County, Mich., until twenty-nine years of age. In 1864 he purchased a half-interest in a sawmill in Ionia County, but four years later removed to Mitchell County, Iowa, and settled upon a farm. Thence he came to Nebraska in 1872, and homesteaded eighty acres in Palmyra Precinct. In 1878, changing his location and occupation, he assumed charge of a hotel at

Bennet, which he conducted one year, then withdrew and engaged for two years following as clerk in a general store.
   We next find our subject engaged in general merchandising at Roca, where he operated successfully two years, then unfortunately admitted a partner to the business, who proved to be a rascal, and who involved our subject in great loss. In 1882, therefore, he returned to his farm, where he has since lived.
   Mr, Bamford, on the 13th of September, 1863, was united in marriage with Miss Georgiana Henderson, the wedding taking place at the home of the bride in Sturgis, Mich. Mrs. Bamford was born in July, 1844, in Constantine, St. Joseph Co., Mich., and is the daughter of Adam and Margaret Henderson, who were natives of Ireland and New York State respectively, and spent their last years In Michigan. The family consisted of four children namely: John, Oliver, Charles and Georgiana. Of these Mrs. Bamford is the only one living.
   Our subject has always taken a warm interest in political matters, and has been a member of the Republican party since its organization. He was elected Assessor in the spring of 1887, and has also served as Justice of the Peace two terms in Bennet. He was appointed a delegate to the Otoe County Republican Convention in 1886. He is at present a School Director in his district. Socially, he belongs to the A, F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. He is a man who has lived quietly and unostentatiously pursuing the even tenor of his way as an honest man and a good citizen, his interests centering mostly around his fireside. Mr. and Mrs. B. have no children.

ILLIAM BECKMAN. The mercantile interests of the city of Syracuse find a most worthy and enterprising representative in the subject of this sketch. He has been a resident of this county for a period of twenty years, pitching his tent here in the fall of 1877. He first opened his eyes to the light near the town of Edwardsville, Madison Co., Ill., Oct. 6, 1853. His parents were natives of Berlin, Germany, and the father, Rudolph Beckman, was a farmer by occupation. Our subject was left motherless when an infant, and thus has no remembrance of her who bore him. When but a lad of seven years he was doubly orphaned by the death of his father. He was then given a home among strangers, and knows but little of his own people. He has no brothers, and his only sister, Dinah, Mrs. Frederickson, is a resident of Johnson County, this State.
   Young Beckman, after the death of his father continued at the homestead two years, then went to the city of St. Louis, Mo., with J. H. Wagoner. His early education had been extremely limited, and he was thrown upon his own resources. He accepted. the first position which presented itself as an employe in a coal yard, and was occupied four years. Then coming to this State, he located in Nebraska City, in the fall of 1868 becoming the employe of Buck & Jones, hardware merchants, intending to learn the tinner's trade. The firm, however, soon closed up their business, and our subject was again left without a job.
   Mr. Beckman, however, continued his connection with the hardware business with the firm of Mohrensticker & Clober, remaining with them sixty days, and then this firm also closed its doors. About this time he had the misfortune to sprain his ankle, and being unable to work contracted a board bill with M. T. Johnson, and to pay this was employed by Mr. J. in the dining-room of his hotel. Subsequently he occupied the clerk's desk in the office six months, but feeling that he was not adapted to the position of a hotel clerk withdrew, and became a clerk in a grocery store. From this he drifted into a store of general merchandising, where he was employed until 1877.
   Realizing most sadly the disadvantages of his neglected education, Mr. Beckman in the winter of 1875 entered the Commercial College at St. Louis, Mo., and after diligent study was graduated from that institution six months later. Then returning to Nebraska City, he entered the employ of the same firm, the gentleman above mentioned, with whom he continued until the 1st of August, 1877. His plan then was to establish himself at Tecumseh, in Johnson County, in business, but failing to secure a desirable location he returned to Syracuse, and he

came successor of J. S. McConnega, and has since been engaged in general merchandising with marked success. He has a neat and substantial residence in the eastern part of the city, and is the owner of other valuable town property. With the exception of $500 from his father's estate, he has attained his present position, financially, by his own resolution and energy. During the time he was employed as a clerk he saved $1,000, having in the meanwhile lived economically and deprived himself of many of those things which the young man of to-day imagines he cannot do without.
   The lady who has presided over the household of our subject for a period of nearly ten years was in her girlhood Miss Minnie E. Risser, to whom he was wedded Jan. 7, 1879. Mrs. Beckman was born in Franklin Center, Lee Co., Iowa, in 1856, and is the daughter of David and Christina (Hubach) Risser, who were natives of Germany, and are now residents of Otoe County, where the father is carrying on farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Beckman there have been born five children, namely: Leona A., Edward D., Frederick W., Grover R. and Amelia C. They are members in good standing of the German Evangelical Church, and Mr. Beckman, politically, votes the straight Democratic ticket. He takes a warm interest in local politics, and is frequently chosen a delegate to the State Conventions.

ASPER A. WARE lives in ore of the pleasantest homes in Nebraska City, a commodious brick structure, which is finely located on an eminence, sloping gently back from the street, one mile from the courthouse, overlooking a beautiful stretch of country. Mr. Ware was for many years the leading banker of Nebraska City, and was actively identified with its business interests, but he now devotes himself to marketing and gardening.
   Mr. Ware was born in Todd County, Ky., March 5, 1831. His father, Edmond Ware, was a native of Virginia, but his grandfather, Lewis Ware, was, it is thought, born in England, emigrating from there to America and settling in Virginia. He subsequently moved from there to Kentucky, and located near Frankfort, where he spent his last years. The father of our subject was a boy when his parents moved to Kentucky, and there he grew to manhood and married, Laura V. Anderson, a native of Virginia, becoming his wife. Her father, Nicholas Anderson, who, so far as known, was of Virginian birth, was of English ancestry, and was a pioneer of Kentucky. After marriage Mr. Ware moved to Todd County, Ky., and there bought a large tract of timber land, eight miles from Elkton and one and a half miles from Trenton, He cleared quite a large farm, and resided there until his death in 1855. When he first settled there he erected a set of log buildings, but before his death he replaced them by a good set of frame buildings. His wife died on the home farm in 1847. They were well known, and greatly beloved by the many who often shared the generous hospitality of their comfortable home. They were the parents of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Sarah J., Charles W., Mary A., Jasper A., Gertude, Susan B., Nicholas M. and Louisa.
   The subject of this sketch was reared in his native county, and received a good, practical education in its schools. He remained in the home of his parents until he was nineteen, when he entered the mercantile business as a clerk in a general store with his brother in Trenton. He remained with him five years as a clerk, and then bought an interest in the store, but in 1857 he sold out his share in the business and started West, coming directly to the Territory of Nebraska, arriving here on the 8th of May, that year. He bought a squatter's claim to nearly a section of land located in different parts of the county. He was at that time a single man, so did not establish a home, but boarded at the Planters' Hotel in Nebraska City for a time, and dealt in real estate. In 1859 he opened a bank, and was engaged in banking until 1871, doing an extensive business. In 1866 he went to Omaha to make arrangements for opening a bank there in partnership with P. S. Wilson and J. W. Hugus, and operated that bank in connection with the one in Nebraska City until 1870. He invested large sums of money in realty, and at last found himself encumbered with over $10,000 worth of land at the very time when the markets were dull-

est, indeed at a complete standstill. In consequence of this he closed his banking business, and has since devoted his time to farming and gardening, at which he makes large profits.
   Mr. Ware was married, Oct. 10, 1861. to Miss Ellen H. Kinney, and their pleasant wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth of four children; Florence I., the wife of Richard S. Hall. of Omaha; Ellen, Grace L. and Norton. Mr. and Mrs. Ware and their family are devoted members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Ware is a man of easy, dignified presence, and his genial, kindly manners have won him scores of friends. He is exceedingly public-spirited and liberal, and his record in all the relations of life shows him to be a tender husband, a devoted father, an obliging neighbor, a tried and trusty friend, and a loyal citizen. He is a democrat in his political views, and has done his adopted city good service as Treasurer.

ILLIAM P. REDFIELD. The subject of this sketch, a well-to-do farmer of Belmont Precinct, was born in Parke County, Ind., Nov. 14, 1838, and is the son of Peleg and Silena (Shewel) Redfield, of Middletown, Conn., and now deceased. The paternal grandfather, William Redfield, was of English ancestry, and served as a soldier first in the, Revolutionary War, and later in the War of 1812. His ancestors settled in America about 1640, and his father, Samuel Redfield, was the son of Capt. William Redfield, who was the seventh son of Theophilus, and the the eldest son of James, the name then being Redfin. The latter was a son of William Redfin, also spelled "Redfen," "Redfyn" and "Redfyne." Between 1630 and 1639 members of the family were found on the South side of the Charles River, six miles from the City of Boston, where they owned four acres of land near the foot of what is known now as Normanton Hills, where the renowned Elliott preached his first sermon to the Indians. He was awarded a clear title to this in 1642 by the proprietors of Cambridge, as the records show, and in 1646 he sold to Edward Jackson, and then his name disappeared from the records of Massachusetts, when it is supposed he became identified with the Connecticut family.
   The father of our subject was reared in his native county. received a common-school education, and became familiar with farming pursuits. He came to this county in 1856, while Nebraska was a Territory, settling on the northeast quarter of section 29, near where his son now lives. The mother passed away in 1858, and the father surviving his wife a period of eighteen years, died in 1876.
   Mr. Redfield is the owner of eighty-six acres of well-cultivated land, and makes a specialty of fruit raising. He is also fond of fine stock, and has a herd of handsome Jersey cattle besides Poland-China swine.
   Mr. Redfield was married, Nov. 19, 1862, to Miss Ernestine, daughter of Marshall Pratt, now deceased, who was a native of New York State, and who settled in this county in 1859. Of this union there were born five children, four of whom are living, namely: Marshall, Nellie, Emma and Grace. Marshall married Miss Leota Jackson, is the father of one child. a son William, and lives in Wisner, this State; Nellie is the wife of Mr. Frank Sargent, of Otoe Precinct, and the mother of one child. a daughter Edna. Emma is attending High School in Nebraska City; Grace, the baby, seven years of age, is at home with her parents.
   Mr. Redfield has been a useful man in his community, intelligent and public-spirited, and served as Justice of the Peace a period of four years. Both he and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

OHN DEIDRICH STUTT. A fine body of land thoroughly improved, under good management, and embellished with neat and substantial buildings, forms a picture of rural life most delightful to the eye. Such a homestead has the subject of this sketch built up in North Branch Precinct, the residence and main buildings being located on the southeast quarter of section 5. The entire estate of our subject, however, includes 600 broad acres lying on sections 4, 5, 8 and 9. Everthing that the hand of industry and taste

could suggest has been utilized for carrying on agriculture in the most thorough and skilled manner. Mr. Stutt makes a specialty of stock-raising, and in the prosecution of this industry has provided himself with all modern conveniences, among the most conspicuous being a series of tanks by which the stock is watered with great ease and with regularity. The pens and sheds are in keeping with the balance of the premises, and comprise ample room for shelter and feeding.
   The subject of this sketch is a man of more than ordinary intelligence, having been finely educated in his native tongue, and has also adapted himself to the intricacies of the English language. He is a constant reader, and keeps himself well informed upon topics of general interest. He is a man who has traveled a great deal, seen much of the world, and has the faculty of making the most of his opportunities. He was given a thorough musical education, an art of which he was extremely fond and in which he was very proficient, but was obliged to resign his Professorship on account of an affection of the eyes, which threatened him with great inconvenience, if not total loss of sight.
   Mr. Stutt is one of the oldest settlers of North Branch Precinct, and it is possible is its oldest living resident. His native country was the little Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, which during the war between France and Prussia was made a Province. There he first opened his eyes to the light Feb. 21, 1821, in the town of Fredeburg, where he was placed in school at an early age, and received a thorough education in the German tongue. Upon completing his studies he commenced teaching, and was thus occupied a period of ten years, six of these as Principal. His close application to books and music, especially, resulted in a partial loss of sight at times, and there being nothing else desirable at which he could engage in his native land, he resolved in 1847 to seek his fortunes on the other side of the Atlantic.
   Mr. Stutt in the fall of the year mentioned bade adieu to the scenes of his childhood and youth, and embarking on a sailing-vessel at the port of Bremen, made an ocean voyage of eight weeks' duration, landing in the city of New Orleans. Thence by steamer he proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., where he employed himself in a furniture factory for six months. We next find him in Sangamon County, Ill., where he was occupied in a hemp mill two and one-half years. Later, in company with his brother Henry, he purchased 320 acres of unimproved land in Scott County, upon which they operated three years, then our subject, leaving the farm to the supervision of his brother, returned to Missouri and purchased 100 acres of land in the vicinity of St. Louis, where he operated successfully three years as a gardener.
   At the expiration of this time, Mr. Stutt, selling this property, made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he spent a winter, and thereafter purchased land in Canton County, Ky., eighteen acres, for the sum of $110 an acre, which he devoted to gardening purposes. During the panic of 1857 business becoming far from being remunerative, he sold out at $60 per acre, and repairing to Chicago, Ill., embarked in the retail grocery trade. One year of this, however, sufficed, and selling out his stock he returned to his Illinois farm, and prosecuted agriculture there until 1862. In the spring of that year he sold out to his brother, and coming to this county homesteaded 160 acres of land in North Branch Precinct, raw prairie on sections 23 and 24. To this he secured a legal title, and then traded with Silas Gray for 120 acres on section 4. Prior to this, however, he had purchased 160 acres on section 5, and to this had moved and already begun improvements.
   Nebraska City at this time was but a lumber-yard, with no machinery for dressing building material, and Mr. Stutt accordingly had to have his building material dressed at Kenosha. A part of the first dwelling he erected is still standing, but was deserted for the newer and more modern residence in 1883. This latter is now flanked by a fine barn and an expensive windmill. The land has been brought to a high state of cultivation, while groves, orchards, and choice shade and other fruit trees stand upon what was once the lonely prairie. Mr. Stutt has twelve acres devoted to an apple orchard and ten acres of native timber. His entire landed possessions aggregated at one time 720 acres, 120 of which he sold in 1886. He superintends the operation of all his land, which is nearly all utilized in

his live-stock operations. Mr. Stutt ships usually every year two cars each of cattle and swine, and keeps about ten high-grade horses. His fields are laid off with neat wire and hedge fencing.
    The marriage of our subject with Miss Catherine Aden took place at the home of the bride in Davenport, Iowa, May 15, 1855. Mrs. Stutt, like her husband, is also a native of Hanover, Germany, and was born May 2. 1840. She came to America with her parents in 1846, they settling in St. Louis, where they lived until 1848. Of this union there have been born nine children, namely: Adelia, Adolph, Minnie, Arnold, Clara, Ernest, Otoe, Octavia and Eugene. Adelia is the wife of Gustav Witt, a farmer of North Branch Precinct, and they have two children; Adolph is married, is also farming in North Branch Precinct, and is the father of four children; Minnie is the wife of Charles Bush, a merchant of Ashland; Arnold is farming in North Branch; Clara is the wife of Charles Witt, a farmer of Syracuse Precinct; Ernest continues at home with his parents; Clara was graduated from the Peru Normal School, and has been engaged as a teacher for the last four years.
   Mr. Stutt has been a member of the School Board of his district since its organization twenty years ago. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat, and socially, is a member in good standing of the I. O. O. F. He has been Superintendent of a Sunday. school, and, with his estimable wife, belongs to the German Lutheran Church. His example is one from which the young men of to-day way take a useful lesson.
   The parents of our subject were Henry and Adelaide (Wieging) Stutt, who were also natives of Hanover. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Stutt, fought against the first Napoleon in the war between France and Germany. Grandfather John Ulick Wieging was blacksmith and farmer combined, and being a very engaging young man, married a wealthy lady, whose estate he afterward managed. Her first name was Elizabeth, but the latter name has not been preserved. The grandparents spent their entire lives in their native Empire. Henry Stutt, the father of our subject, was a very talented musician, a professor of music, and for more than ordinary proficiency in his art received a medal from the King. The fiftieth year of his residence and labors at one place was made the occasion of a fine celebration. He followed his profession until the advanced age of eighty-three years, retiring ten years before his death, which occurred in August, 1882, he thus being ninety-three years old. The mother passed away a year previous to the decease of her husband, she also attaining the ripe old age of ninety-three years. The four children of the parental family were: Mary, who died when sixty years old; J. Diedrich, our subject; Henry, who is farming in Scott County, Iowa, and John, who died at the age of twenty-nine years.

OHN WEBER Is one of the successful stock-raisers and general farmers of McWilliams Precinct, where he owns 344 acres on section 30, all well-improved and cultivated, fully provided with buildings, miscellaneous machines and implements that are indispensable to the modern farmer. The pasture and stables also are fully stocked with high-grade animals of considerable value.
   Mr. Weber has lived upon his present property since the year 1877, although he had obtained it one year previously. Before that time he had beep a resident of Lee County, Iowa, and was born in Charleston Township of that county on the 2d of February, 1852, of German parentage.
   The father of our subject, John Weber, Sr., was born in Wurtemberg. There he was brought up, and learned the tailoring trade, and as a young man was married to Lizzie Rhode, a native of the same Kingdom. They made their first home in the same district until after the birth of their two first children, then with their little ones came to this country, and settled upon a farm in Lee County, Iowa. There he continued, and was numbered among the prosperous farmers and worthy citizens. Recently he has retired from the active work of the farm, and has reached the good old age of seventy-two years; his wife, who is still living, is sixty-six years of age. They are lifelong member's of the Lutheran Church, and have instructed their children in the same faith. Mr. Weber is and has been for many years a mem-