Business College. On his return home he became a clerk in his father's establishment, which situation he retained until the latter's death. From that time until the present he has been extensively engaged in general farming and fruit-growing.
   Our subject was married, March 8, 1882, to Miss Ida M. Sittler, and they have one child, Jessie. Mrs. Tait was born in Rock Creek Precinct, Dec. 19, 1862. Her father, John Sittler, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., a son of Michael Sittler, a native of Baden Baden, Germany, who on coming to America located in Pittsburgh. He subsequently moved to New Albany, Ind., and is now a resident of Nebraska City. Mrs. Tait's father was young when his father moved to Indiana, and he afterward came to Nebraska, and lived for some years. The maiden name of Mrs. Tait's mother was Margaret F. Brown, and she was born in Mason County, Ill., to Jesse and Hannah (Streater) Brown. She is now the wife of William McLennan. Mr. and Mrs.Tait are valued members of this community, as they are frank, warmhearted, charitable people, and every good work receives their encouragement and cordial support. In politics he is a stanch Republican.

LARENCE B. CASTLEMAN is carrying on a lucrative trade in hardware at Hendricks, in the Southwestern part of this county, where he has been established in business since June of 1988. He is a careful and conscientious business man, and is a favorite in both social and business circles, and is steadily gaining ground, with the prospect in the near future of conducting one of the indispensable institutions of the city.
   Our subject is the scion of an excellent family, being the son of Charles N. and Cordelia (Jenks) Castleman, the father a native of Ontario, Canada, born in 1828, and the mother a native of New York, her birth taking place in 1834. They were married in Broome County, the latter State. The elder Castleman was a blacksmith by trade, serving his apprenticeship at Syracuse, of which he was a resident ten years. Later he removed to a farm in Broome County N. Y., where with his excellent wife, he is still living. and in good circumstances. Their family included five children, namely: Clarence B.; Jasper H., who is farming in Broome County, N. Y.; Daniel A. and William C., in Colorado, and Franklin, at home with his parents.
   The subject of this sketch was born in Speedsville, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1856, and continued with his parents until reaching his majority, acquiring a common-school education. In December, 1877, leaving the Empire state, he came to Nebraska, and for five years thereafter was a resident eight miles south of Nebraska City, where he engaged in farming. In 1882 he came to this county, and took up a tract of uncultivated prairie land lying on section 36 in Palmyra Precinct. He remained there four years, in the meantime bringing about good improvements. He then returned to his native State to visit his old friends, and soon after coming back to this county purchased another eighty acres adjoining his land, upon which he labored until the spring of 1888. Then, desirous of a change of occupation, he invested a portion of his capital in a stock of hardware. Later he erected a fine building in Hendricks, in which he placed a full line of everything pertaining to his trade, including agricultural implements.
   Mr. Castleman came to this county "fancy free," but soon became acquainted with one of its most estimable young ladies, Miss Bettie Winyard, to whom he was married at the home of the bride in Otoe Precinct, in the southeastern part of this county, Dec. 20, 1882. Mrs. Castleman was born in this county, Aug. 10, 1860, and was the daughter of John and Ann (Hodges) Winyard, who were natives of England, whence they emigrated to the United States in early life, settling with their parents in Illinois, where they were married. The father was a farmer by occupation, and the family came to Nebraska in 1858, while it was still a Territory. Mr. W. secured a tract of land in Otoe Precinct, where he followed farming, and where his death took place in 1872, at the age of forty-five years. The mother is still living, and resides on the homestead. The household circle included four children, namely: Millie, Bettie, Grace and May.
   Mrs. Castleman was a lady of excellent education, and taught school successfully for a period of six

years before her marriage. She was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Normal School, but became the wife of our subject before completing the course. She became the mother of two children, Winnie and Frank, and died in Palmyra, this county, Feb. 11, 1886. While a resident of Otoe Precinct C. B. Castleman was a member of the Congregational Church, in which he officiated as Trustee. He is now identified with the Presbyterian Church at Hopewell. Politically, he is a warm supporter of Republican principles.

ILLIAM E. KENNICUTT. The homestead of this early pioneer of Otoe County is one of the finest in Southern Nebraska. The farm comprises 160 acres of highly cultivated land, and on it is located a large and elegant residence, with finely constructed barns and outhouses adjoining, the former set in the midst of an ample lawn with walks and driveways, and the latter comprising all the conveniences required by the modern and progressive agriculturist. There is an abundance of shade and fruit trees, while shrubbery and flowers in the summer season serve to embellish the grounds and complete the attractions of the place. Within, the home is presided over by a very intelligent and excellent lady, our subject having been particularly fortunate in the choice of a wife and helpmate. The family is widely and favorably known throughout this section as a leading exponent of its education, and the cultivation which is one of the features of the social element of Otoe County.
   Our subject was born fifty-four years ago in Fulton County, N. Y.. May 8, 1834, at the modest home of his parents, whose property consisted of a farm in Mayfield Township. His father, James H. Kennicutt. was born in Massachusetts, reared to manhood in New York. and was married in the latter State to Miss Abigail Wells, who was born in Hartford County, Conn. She was a teacher, and removed to Fulton County, N. Y., in her girlhood. The parents spent their last years in Hartford County, Conn. Of their six children. William E., of our sketch, was the eldest born; Mary F. is the wife of James Foote; John died in childhood; James H. died in 1868, in Montana; Jennie is the wife of Leonard Lewis, also a resident of Montana; Abby W. is the wife of C. W. Cook; they live in Montana.
   Mr. Kennicutt spent his childhood and youth after the manner of most farmers sons, pursuing his first studies in the district school. At the age of thirteen years he entered the public schools of Hartford, Conn., where he studied a period of three years, then returned to the farm. assisting his father in its various employments until reaching his majority. He also learned the printer's trade in Hartford, Conn. He had, however, already conceived the idea of visiting the West, and when starting out in the summer of 1856 came directly to this county in company with Joseph Foote, landing in Nebraska City. They made their way to Chicago, Ill., by rail, from there to Batavia by the same means, then purchased a team of horses and a wagon, and proceeded by this means on their journey, crossing the Mississippi on a ferry at Fulton, Ill., and the Missouri at Minersville, then Otoe City.
   Our subject soon took up a pre-emption claim of 160 acres, which is included in his present farm. Is the spring of 1857 he commenced working for a Mr. Pendleton, but in the fall of that year went over into Atchison County, Mo., where he lived a year, and from there migrated to Fremont County, Iowa.
   In the fall of 1858 our subject, in company with Mr. Frank Squires, purchased a steam sawmill in Fremont County. Iowa, which they operated very successfully for a period of two years, and during which time Mr. K. laid the basis of his future prosperity. He now disposed of his interest in the sawmill, and about this time, the spring of 1861, he had the happiness of welcoming his father's family to this section.
   Mr. Kennicutt, in the fall of 1862, feeling assured that he was now able to support a family, was united in marriage with Miss Sophia, daughter of Henry and Jane (Smith) Adams, who was of in excellent family, and was born Oct. 14 1840, at Holley, Orleans Co., N. Y. Her father was the second cousin of John Adams, second President of the United States, and she was the eldest child of the second marriage of both parents. Of the first marriage of her father there were born two sons--Tru-

man H. and Nathaniel. Of the first marriage of her mother there were born two daughters--Mary J. and Henrietta McCrillis.
   Mrs. Kennicutt grew up amid the quiet scenes of country life, pursuing her first studies in the common school, and at the age of ten years entered the academy at Holley, where she took a seven-years course, and developed into a well-educated young lady. When eighteen years old she came to Nebraska, accompanied by her father, her eldest half brother and the eldest half-sister, landing in Otoe County in the fall of 1858. The mother had died in Holley, N. Y., when her daughter Sophia was but eight years of age. The father now settled in the vicinity of Otoe City, which was then but a hamlet, where he occupied himself at farming, and is now deceased.
   Mr. and Mrs. Kennicutt commenced the journey of life together in true pioneer style, in a manner suited to their means and surroundings. Their first dwelling was a log house, where, notwithstanding their humble surroundings, they spent many happy years. This was on the home farm of her father. The present residence was erected in the summer of 1861, and remodeled in 1882, and it is hardly necessary to say that it has taken years of labor to bring their farm to its present condition, and erect the buildings which attract the admiring eye of the passerby, and form one of the attractive features in the landscape of that region. The household circle has been completed by the birth of four children, namely: Harry A., Frank B., Allen McC. and an infant unnamed, now deceased. All the boys have been students at Doane College, in Crete. Henry is at present attending the School of Technology, Boston, Mass., making a specialty of civil engineering. and expects to graduate in the class of '91. Frank B. and Allen McC. are at home with their parents.
   The winter of 1856-57 Mr. Kennicutt recalls as one of the most severe that he ever experienced, and during which, being a single man, he made his home with Mr. Foote and Mr. Pendleton. He assisted in the organization of Hazle Dell School District, which was one of the first organized in Otoe County, and was a leader in many of the enterprises affecting the moral and educational status of the community, He voted both times for the adoption of the State Constitution during the agitation of the question in 1860, and later in 1866. He cast his first Presidential vote for Lincoln, and since 1872 has been independent in politics. He has borne an honorable part in the development of Otoe County, and is respected as among its best citizens.

AVID W. HERSHEY, M. D., one of the able and popular physicians of Nebraska City, and whose reputation is quite extensive in the county, was born in Amherst, Erie Co., N. Y. His father, John Hershey, was a native of the same county, while the grandfather, whose given name was Christian, was born in Maryland, and was, as far as can be gathered, of Swiss ancestry. He settled in Erie County when it was still uncleared timber land and without settlers. He cleared for himself a farm, and built his home and out-buildings from the timber felled under his own ax.
   The father of our subject was reared upon the home farm, and afterward, when at about the age of thirty-five, he entered mercantile life in Amherst and continued for about two years, then returned to the farm, where he followed agriculture until his death, in the year 1881. His wife, the mother of our subject, was Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Chastren Welty. She died many years before her husband, leaving three children: our subject; Margaret, who is a teacher at Buffalo, N. Y., and another little one who died quite young.
   The education of our subject was begun in the district schools, and he afterward entered the Genesee University at Lima, N. Y. In 1850 he elected to follow the medical profession, and began studying with Dr. L. J. Ham, at Williamsville, N. Y. He also attended the medical department of the university at Buffalo. At that time the eminent Doctors, White, Hamilton, Flint and Dalton, were members of the facility of that institution, and he was privileged to study under those gentlemen. He was graduated from the university in February, 1854, receiving the usual diploma at that time.
   Dr. Hershey began the practice of his profession

at Williamsville, continuing there with unqualified success some years. In 1864 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the 98th New York Regiment of the National Guards; this regiment was mustered into the service of the United States at Elmyra, N. Y., in August, 1864, and served for several months. He held this position until 1867, when he came to Nebraska City and opened an office for regular practice and surgery. Since that time he has continuously followed his profession, growing up with the city, and has made for himself a name as a medical man that is an honor to his alma mater.
   In 1862 Dr. Hershey was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Emmons. Mrs. Hershey was born in Springville, Erie Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Dr. Carlos Emmons, now dead. Of this union four bright and interesting children have been born, viz.: Hartle, who has become very successful as an artist; John, Margie and Herbert. John is at Union, Neb., engaged in clerking in a dry-goods store; Margie is at home; and Herbert is attending school at home.
   Mrs. Hershey is a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and in religious circles, as in all others, is most highly esteemed. The Doctor is an active and tried member of the Republican party. He is quite prominent in political affairs, and belongs to the G. A. R. and the State Medical Society. While a resident of his native State, Dr. Hershey held the position of School Commissioner for the Third District of Erie County a period of three years, doing efficient service in connection with the educational interests of that section, and after coming to Nebraska City was for a time a member of the Board of Education. In this county he has held the office of Coroner for ten years; he has also been the County Physician a number of years. He is a member of Baumar Post, G. A. R., at Nebraska City.

AMES PALEY is one of the most enterprising and successful citizens of Nebraska City, where he is carrying on an extensive marble business. He is well known throughout Otoe and adjoining counties, and wherever known is honored and respected as a good citizen, one who attends strictly to business, deals honestly, and is wide-awake, always keeping up with the times. He was born in the city of Leeds, Yorkshire, England, Aug. 7, 1840. His father, Benjamin Paley, and his grandfather, James Paley, were likewise natives of the same shire. The latter was a stonemason, and worked at his trade in different parts of England, remaining a lifelong resident of his native land.
   The father of our subject was reared in England, and learned the stonemason's trade of his father. He married Elizabeth Scully, a native of Nottingham, England. In the year 1849 he came to America to seek a home, leaving his family in England, until he found a suitable location. He first stopped awhile in Baltimore, finding work at his trade there. In 1851 he sent for his wife and two children, and six months after their arrival in Baltimore he removed with them to Warren County, Va., where he still followed his trade for a time. He subsequently went to Fauquier County, in the same State, and later to Shenandoah County, also in Virginia. He was a contractor on the Manasses Gap Railroad when it was in process of construction. In 1857 Mr. Paley moved to Sheridan County, Mo., and stopped there a short time. He then decided to try farming in Howard County, Mo., and purchased a farm there. He was also engaged at his trade there for a time. He finally disposed of his place in that county, and in Boone County, that State, engaged in the marble business for two years. When the war broke out he again resumed farming, renting a farm for two years in Atchison County, Mo. At that time he was quite out of health, and he then took up his residence in Fremont, Iowa, and did but little for some time. In 1863 he came to Nebraska City and resumed work at his old trade of mason, and was engaged in that until 1867. Again he became a farmer, taking up a homestead claim ten miles south of Lincoln. He improved a fine farm, and lived thereon, for nine years. He then sold his property, settled up his affairs there, and returned to Nebraska City, where he lived for nearly a year. After that he went back to Missouri, and spent his declining years in Ray County, dying Sept. 26, 1885, aged sixty-eight years. His wife had preceded him the year

before, the date of her death being Oct. 7, 1884. They were people of genuine worth, whose useful and upright lives commanded the respect of all who associated with them. They were the parents of four children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are our subject and his sister Elizabeth, wife of Charles H. Cates, of Jackson County, Mo.
   James Paley was a lad of eleven years when he and his mother and sister, set sail from Liverpool in the middle of May, 1851, to follow his father across the Atlantic. They landed at Baltimore on the 23d of the following July, after a long voyage of nine weeks. After the removal of the family to Virginia, our subject commenced work with his father on the bridge that spans the Shenandoah Valley, his father being the contractor. He continued in the employ of his father until 1860, when he went to St. Louis and worked in a stone yard under instruction for a year, and thus became an expert stone-cutter. After the breaking out of the war business was quite suspended, and he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in Missouri for a year, and then engaged in the same in Fremont County, Iowa, for another year. In 1863 he crossed the plains as a teamster with a freight train drawn by six pairs of oxen. He went as far as South Pass, and then went back to Cottonwood Springs, where he left that train and entered another bound for Denver. After his arrival in that city he worked as a stone-cutter for six months, and then went to Central City, a mountain town forty miles distant, and there he mined for three months, and then worked at his trade until August, 1865. He then returned to Nebraska City, where he found work as a stonemason, among other work cutting stone for the present court-house. He continued as a stone-cutter until 1870, and then established himself in the marble business, and has been engaged in that continuously ever since.
   Mr. Paley was married, July 18, 1872, to Miss Nancy Anderson, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Lewis and Ruth (Blunt) Anderson, natives of the same State. Mr. and Mrs. Paley are highly esteemed by their friends and acquaintances, of whom they have many. They are attendants at the Methodist Episcopal Church, and cordially support every scheme for the social and moral elevation of the city. Although Mr. Paley was not one of the earliest settlers of Nebraska City, he can lay claim to the distinction of being an "old-timer," and it has been his privilege not only to watch the growth of the city from a small town to its present size and importance as the leading city of Otoe County, but to contribute thereto by building up an extensive and flourishing business within its limits by his industry and shrewd management. Socially, our subject is identified with Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F.; politically, he is a stanch Democrat.

ACOB W. WALDSMITH is prominently identified with the mercantile interests of Nebraska City, as one of its leading grocers, also with its social and religious circles, and he is influential in its public life. He is one of the self-made men who, coming to Nebraska in early Territorial days with scarcely $20 in his pocket, cast in his lot with the energetic and wide-awake pioneers who had preceded him to this land of promise, and while actively assisting them and those who came after to develop the marvelous resources of the county, and give it its present eminence in commerce, agriculture, and all that marks an enterprising and prosperous community, has acquired a competence that will enable him to pass the evening of life in comfort and luxury, free from the cares and anxieties that beset his early years.
   The subject of this sketch was born three miles northwest of Mifflintown, Juniata Co., Pa., April 20, 1835. His father, John Waldsmith, was born in Berks County, Pa., but his grandfather, William Waldsmith, was, it is thought, born in Germany. He was a farmer, and moved to Juniata County in 1800, becoming an early settler there. He bought a large tract of timber land in the Tuscarora Valley, and the village of Johnstown is now located thereon. He cleared a good many acres of his land and resided on it until his death. Several of his grandchildren now own and occupy farms that were included in his original purchase in the opening year of this century.
   The father of our subject was but a boy when

his parents moved to Juniata County, and there he was reared on a farm, always following agricultural pursuits, and resided there until his death. The maiden name of his wife, mother of our subject, was Martha White, and she was a native of the same county, and died on the homestead in 1847. There were twelve children born to that worthy couple.
   Jacob Waldsmith was twelve years old when his mother died, and two years later his father broke up housekeeping, and our subject had to seek a home elsewhere. In 1851 he went to Carroll County, Ind., and obtained employment on a farm at $12 a month. He continued to work there as a laborer until 1857, and on the last day of September, that year, started for Nebraska, then a Territory, going by rail to Alton, Ill., then the western terminus of the railway; from there by boat to St. Louis, and so on to Nebraska City, where he landed on the 16th day of October. He soon took a claim four miles northwest of the city, built a small shanty on the place, and there he and James R. Kendall spent the following winter, keeping bachelor's hall. The settlements in the Territory at that time were confined to the river, while the interior was still owned by the Government. Deer were plentiful in this vicinity, as were also prairie chickens, and there were a few wild turkeys. In 1858 our subject worked for a time on the levee in Wyoming Precinct, and later was engaged in cutting timber. In the fall of 1858 he built a log cabin on his place, to which he added a frame structure in the spring of 1860, and when married in the month of April, that year, to Elizabeth Faunce, they commenced housekeeping in that abode. Mrs. Waldsmith was born in Hancock County, Ill., and is a daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Dixon) Faunce. The pleasant married life of our subject and his wife has been saddened by the death of four of the six children born to them. Leslie, the first-born, died at twenty-two years of age. He was a promising young man of good habits, and was in partnership with his father. Of the others, Charles died at the age of eight months; Junietta at the age of a year and a half, and Leoto at the age of fourteen months. The names of the children spared to bless the declining years of our subject and his wife are: Rena, wife of J. L. Diefendorf, of Nebraska City and Amie C.
   Mr. Waldsmith drove the first breaking plough on his land in 1859, and in 1860 reaped his first harvest, a fine crop of corn. In the spring of 1859 his cousin came from Pennsylvania and purchased a half-interest in his claim, and they bought some stock and farmed together until 1862. Our subject then bought his partner's interest and carried on the place alone until 1865. In that year he sold his property here and moved to Cass County, where he bought a tract of wild prairie and timber land, of which eighteen acres broken, constituted the only improvement. He planted that piece, fenced fifty acres of land, built a frame house for his family and sheds for the shelter of his stock. He had to draw the lumber for his buildings fourteen miles, and did nearly all the work himself, not hiring more than $50 worth of labor. He resided there until November, 1869, when he rented his farm and moved to Nebraska City to engage in teaming. In 1872 he traded the farm for Nebraska City property, and then engaged as a baker and confectioner, and from that drifted into the grocery business, to which he has since devoted his entire attention. He has built up quite a large trade and is now in very prosperous circumstances.
   Mr. and Mrs. Waldsmith are prominently identified with the reorganized church of the Latter-Day Saints. He was the seventh person to join after the organization of the Nebraska District south of the Platte River, and a year and a half later he was elected Elder, which position he has held since that time. He has had charge of the work of the church in this city since the society was organized here, and under his able administration it has flourished, and now owns, free from encumbrance, a substantial brick church on Second Corso street, between Sixth and Seventh streets. He is Superintendent of the Sunday-school, and is an active worker in it. Mr. Waldsmith has also home a conspicuous part in the government of the city, he having served two terms as Alderman, and was president of the City Council last year. Mr. Waldsmith was a Republican from the formation of the party, casting his first vote for J. C. Fremont, until 1886, when he joined the rank of the Prohibitionists. He is