accompanying them. There they settled in Calhoun County, and there the father died in 1864, at the age of fifty-nine years. The mother of our subject survived her husband, and later removed to Nebraska, where she died on the 14th of November, 1866, aged fifty-seven years. She was the mother of two children, our subject and his brother James W., now a resident of Omaha, where he enjoys an extensive and profitable practice as a physician and surgeon.
   The subject of our sketch was reared upon the farm of his father. The educational facilities of his youth were conspicuous by their inadequacy and inefficiency, and he was only able to obtain from such sources the rudiments of learning, but upon that foundation he has been careful to build a substantial and not inelegant superstructure, and takes his place now among the best informed on all practical subjects, and is by no means a stranger to those that are commonly supposed to be for the purposes of polish in education. At an early age his youthful strength was brought into requisition upon the farm, where he first had experience in that department of labor.
   In the year 1859 Mr. Conger was married; the lady upon whom his choice fell was Henrietta Place, the estimable daughter of Solomon and Abigal (Shaw) Place. This lady was born in Huron County, Ohio, where her parents had been among the early pioneers. In 1863 Mr. and Mrs. Conger removed to Michigan, where our subject purchased a farm from his brother, who had commenced the study of medicine. Two years later they came to Nebraska, and at first purchased 240 acres of land and resided upon the same until 1879. During that time he effected many improvements, brought the greater part of the land to a very able condition from the agriculturist's standpoint. In 1879 this property was sold and his present farm purchased. This was done chiefly that his daughter might enjoy the advantages of the school.
   Mr. Conger now owns 160 acres of land adjoining the city limits of Syracuse. This he has brought to a high state of cultivation and has provided excellent farm buildings for the various requirements. He is also the owner of a farm of 160 acres in Iowa, and also some property in Syracuse. All that he has been enabled to do in the advancement of the interests of himself and family generally has been upon the same line as that of his education. There was no one to give him a start in life to any extent, and therefore he made his own; there was no one to help him along in life, and therefore he helped himself; and whatever he is to-day in finance, influence or otherwise, is the result of his own continued earnest effort, in which he has ever been sustained and encouraged by the faithful companion of his life, who has at all times and under all circumstances been a source of inspiration and helpfullness.
   Mr. and Mrs. Conger are the happy parents of one daughter, to whom has been given the name of Eda. In social circles our subject and wife are held in high regard and are always a assured of a welcome as a natural result. Mr. Conger is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a member of both the Blue Lodge and Chapter. He is also one of the Knights of Honor, and is attached to the local assembly. In all questions of political economy he is one of the Democratic party, but at the same time attaches much importance to the question of the candidate and his principles as well as the party to which he is attached, believing that it is but right that such men as will best serve the interests of the people should hold office, and consequently lends his influence to that end.

HARLES D RICHARDSON and his estimable wife, of Palmyra Precinct, are the only members of a colony of Eastern people who located here in October, 1872. They had made the journey from Massachusetts to Nebraska accompanied by five other families, and bringing with them their two children. This part of the county was at that time in an unsettled condition, and all the others becoming discouraged left for other parts.
   Our subject, however, determined to give Nebraska a very thorough trial before turning his back upon it, and has since had reason to congratulate himself on his decision. He battled with the

difficulties and hardships of pioneer life, and in the course of a few years began to reap his reward. He is now numbered among the most prosperous farmers and stock-raisers of this region, and his homestead is one of the most valuable in Palmyra Precinct.
   Mr. Richardson was born in Lowell, Mass., Oct. 4, 1841, and is the son of Dana and Emily (Sweet) Richardson, who were also of New England birth and parentage. The father was a farmer and real-estate dealer by occupation, and with his excellent wife spent his entire life in his native State, his death taking place about 1871, when he was sixty-two years of age. The mother had died in middle life at the age of forty-two. They were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom Charles D. was the fourth in order of birth. Those surviving are residents of Massachusetts, New York, Mississippi and Nebraska.
   Our subject, reared upon a farm, was given a very good education, completing his studies in the academy at Andover. He was a young man of nineteen years at the outbreak of the late Civil War, And in November, 1861, enlisted in Company C, 30th Massachusetts Infantry, going into Camp Chase for drill, and thence accompanying his regiment to the Gulf, being assigned to the Army of the Gulf. He first saw the smoke of battle at Fts. Jackson and St. Phillips, and afterward participated in many of the important battles of the war, namely: Plain Store, La., May 21, 1862; the sieges of Ft. Hudson and Forlorn Hope, and was at Cock's Plantation in July, 1863. On the 19th of September, 1864, he was at Winchester, Va.; he was also at Fisher's Hill. On the 19th of October occurred the battle of Cedar Creek, and our subject was afterward engaged in many other skirmishes, escaping unharmed. He remained with the army for some time after the close of the war, being appointed Quartermaster Sergeant at Sumter, S. C., on the 1st of March, 1866.
   After receiving his honorable discharge at the close of his first term of enlistment, Mr. Richardson veteranized, Jan. 1, 1863, and remained in the army until July 5, 1866, when he was mustered out with the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant, after having given to his country his service of four years and eight months. In the autumn following, having returned to his native town, he made the acquaintance of a lady, Miss Sarah T. Whittier, to whom he was married Sept. 11, 1867. Mrs. Richardson was at that time visiting at Lowell, Mass. She was born in Northfield, N. H., Sept. 23, 1841, and is the daughter of Isaac and Fanny P. (McQuesten) Whittier. In the paternal side of the house she is a relative of the poet, John G. Whittier. Her brothers and sisters were: Francis, Isaac N., Daniel B., William P., Lizzie M., Curtis C. and M. Woodbury. William P. and Curtis C. served during the late war in a New Hampshire regiment, and the former died at his brother's in Massachusetts. Her parents were natives of New Hampshire, and are now dead. The mother was an invalid for many years, and her daughter Sarah was at an early age called upon to assume the management of the household. She, however, acquired an excellent education, completing her studies in the college at Silton in company with her sister. She also attended New Hampton Seminary. Her father, Mr. Whittier, was a merchant of thirty years' standing, carrying on business in Londonderry, Goffstown, Union Bridge and Northfield. In the latter place Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were married. Mr. Whittier was a very capable and intelligent man, and served as Justice of the Peace for many years. He died at Northfield in October, 1878, at the age of seventy-eight years. The mother survived her husband six years, her death taking place at Lowell, in 1884, she being also seventy-eight years old.
   Mr. and Mrs. Richardson lived in New England five years after their marriage, and then came directly to Nebraska. They are the parents of three children, Lilla Gertrude, Fannie May and Lizzie, the latter of whom was born in this State, and died when six weeks old. Their eldest daughter is the wife of S. S. English, a merchant at Eagle, and the mother of one child, a son, Charles Herbert. Fanny, an interesting girl of eighteen years, is attending the college at Crete, Neb.
   Mr. Richardson votes the straight Republics ticket, and, with his excellent wife, good standing of the Congregational Church at Eagle. Both are active workers in the Sunday,

school, and Mrs. R. is President of the Ladies' Aid society. The latter has been especially efficient in church matters, being a practical worker, and aiding greatly in the furnishing of the building, the audience room and the Sunday-school room.
   Mr. Richardson commenced at first principles in the building up of his homestead, there having been very little attempt at improvement on his land when he first became owner. Of late years he has given considerable attention to stock-feeding and ships annually numbers of cattle and hogs. He is past Commander of the G. A. R. Post, of Palmyra. He is also President of the New England Veteran Soldiers' and Sailors' Association, of Nebraska. One of the most useful members of his community, he has naturally gathered about him a large circle of friends and acquaintances, is a man whose integrity is unquestioned and whose word is considered as good as his bond.

ON. WILLIAM P. BIRCHFIELD is engaged in the grocery business in company with his son in Nebraska City. He was one of the pioneers of 1854, and was an important factor in the early development of Otoe County, taking an active part in public affairs, and it was through his wise and vigorous course while serving as Sheriff of the county, that law and order were maintained, and peaceful citizens were protected in their rights in those Territorial days. He was at one time a member of the Territorial Legislature, and in him his constituency found an able representative who looked well after the interests of the county and State.
   Our subject was born July 4, 1824, in Franklin County, Mo., to John and Rebecca (Hamilton) Birchfield. His mother was a native of Georgia, a daughter of William Hamilton. She died in 1837, leaving in the minds of her friends the memory of a true woman, a faithful wife and a devoted mother. The father of our subject was, it is supposed, a native of Kentucky. He removed from that State to Illinois in its Territorial days, and after the War of 1812, in which he took an honorable part, he again made a move and penetrated to the wilds of Missouri and located in Franklin County. In 1833 he went to another part of the State, and became a pioneer of what is now known as Taney County. He took up some timber land, entered it from the Government, and at the time of his death in 1844 had cleared a large tract. He was a man of enterprise and good judgment, and acquired an extensive property.
   William Birchfield was nine years old when his parents went to Taney County to reside, and there he grew to manhood. There were no free schools, as they were conducted under the subscription plan, and in such a one he acquired a very good education, and taught two terms himself. His education and well-known ability made him influential in public affairs, even before he had attained his majority. When he was twenty-one he was elected Assessor of Taney County, and for four years discharged the onerous duties of that office to the satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. He married at nineteen years of age, and his father gave him a tract of land, on which he erected a log house, and in that he and his young bride commenced housekeeping. The house had a puncheon floor, and as they moved into it before the chimney was built, his wife did the cooking over an improvised fireplace outside for a time, and even after that he had no stove for some years, as they were almost unknown in that part of the country at that time. His wife was an adept at spinning and weaving, and made all the cloth for herself and husband. In 1850 Mr. Birchfield sold his property in Taney County and moved to Holt County, Mo., where he lived until the spring of 1854, at which time he identified himself with the pioneers of this then Territory of Nebraska. He made a claim one and one-half miles southwest of the present site of Nebraska City, which at that time contained only the log buildings of the abandoned fort of the Government, and the ferry house near the river, the first permanent habitation in the city or county, built by John Boulware. The land was not then surveyed, as the Indian title to it had not been extinguished. Mr. Birchfield built a log house on his claim, and had it ready for occupancy on the 4th of July, and in the day following our National holiday he returned to Holt County, Mo., for his

family, and on the 17th of August arrived with them at his cabin, the farthest settlement from the city at the time, the removal being made with an ox-team. Indians were plentiful here then, and he made peace with them by paying the interpreter $10, with the agreement that his stock was to be protected from the raids of the savages, and that they should not beg from him during the winter. Mr. Birchfield had but twenty-five cents left after his private treaty, but by industry and good management he managed to keep the wolf from the door. In the fall of 1854 and the spring of 1855 he broke forty acres of his land, and in the latter year sold his claim, as the land had not been thrown on the market, and moved into the city to live, having taken as part payment for his land a house and lot situated on the northwest corner of Eighth and Second Corso streets, and he soon after bought the land now occupied by the Government building. He was elected Sheriff of the county in 1855, and was twice re-elected, thus serving three full terms. In the fall of 1861 he was elected a member of the Territorial Council, or Legislature. In 1862 Mr. Birchfield returned to Holt County, Mo., where he spent the succeeding three years. He then returned to this city and opened an auction and commission store, which he managed very profitably until, on account of ill-health, he was obliged to retire from the business in 1880. He went to Burlington Medical Springs, in Nodaway County, Mo., to recuperate, and while there kept a hotel two years. He subsequently went to Holt County and engaged in the mercantile business for two years. At the expiration of that time we find him once again in Nebraska, this time in Nemaha County, where he opened a museum of living curiosities, and traveled with that a year and a half. In 1887 he located once more in Nebraska City, and established himself in the grocery business with his son. They have a well-appointed, well-stocked store, and have already built up quite an extensive trade among a good class of customers. Mr. Birchfield has been three times married. In 1843 he was united to Mary N. Bledsoe, a native of Indiana. She died Sept. 2, 1865, leaving three children: Sarah, wife of Thomas Dickinson, lives in Philadelphia; James lives in Johnson County, Neb.; Richard, who is in company with his father. The second marriage of our subject, which took place in 1867, was to Mary J. (George) Cooksey. She died eleven months later. Mr. Birchfield was married to his present wife, formerly Miss Margaret McNamara, a native of Indiana, in 1868. Of this marriage one child, Pearlie, is living.
   Mr. Birchfield is a pleasant talker, and can tell many a good story illustrative of life in the frontier in the fifties. He was a great sportsman and keenly enjoyed the hunt, and in November, 1855, he was out one day in search of game, and discovered an animal which he thought to be a wolf. He returned to the house for his dog and horse, intending to give it the chase. On his return he soon found that he had made a mistake, and had started a bear. He followed it out toward the open prairie, around the hills and bluffs, and back again into the heart of the city. A bear so near to the habitations of man was a novelty, and all the citizens in the town turned out to join in the chase, and all the dogs in town went after Mr. Bruin, but after getting one lick from his huge paw were glad to retreat. The animal was finally treed near the cemetery, and all gathered around, and our subject was delegated to do the shooting. He fired and broke the bear's shoulder, which loosened his hold on the tree and he tumbled to the ground and rolled into a ravine, which was partly filled with water. There the two dogs that had not been frightened away tackled him. He soon got the better of one of the dogs, and was about to squeeze him to death, when the owner of the dog went to his rescue, jumping into the ravine with a spade in his hand. Thereupon the bear turned his attention to his human assailant, who in his excitement tried to climb the embankment backwards. Then the remaining dog made a vigorous attack from the bear, and the bear was soon rolled into the water and drowned. A council was then held to know what should be done with the bear. and it was decided that Mr. Birchfield should skin the animal and sell it, not letting any one have more than two pounds, so that each one should have a share. He, however, distributed it gratuitously, and that was the last bear seen in this vicinity.
   Mr. Birchfield relates that in the summer of 1855

the surveyors encountered a band of Indians several miles west of the city, and deeming them hostile, were frightened and returned to the river settlements for help. The whites turned out from the various settlements, our subject going with the Nebraska City force, and they wended their way to Salt Creek, where the Indians were encamped. They found the supposed bloodthirsty savages to be peaceably disposed, and the red men shared their provisions with their visitors, and thus the dreaded encounter was turned into a sort of a picnic, and the settlers returned without trouble.

EORGE LOCKIE, a well-to-do farmer of Russell Precinct, owns 200 acres of land on section 4. He is of sturdy Scotch ancestry and parentage, and was himself born among the lowlands of Roxburyshire, in June, 1829. He received his early education in the schools of Roxburyshire Parish, and was trained by wise and sensible parents to those habits of honesty and industry which have served him well in all his later years.
   Mr. Lockie has seen much of life, and traveled long distances on old ocean, being a seeker of gold in the Australian mines six years. That period of his life was necessarily spent among a rough class of men, but he did not suffer himself to lose sight of the principles which had been taught him in his boyhood. His father was a miller by occupation, and George remained under the parental roof until twenty-eight years of age, when he was seized with the Australian fever, and set out from Liverpool for Port Philip on the steamer "James Chancellor," in 1851. During a violent storm it was supposed the ship would go down with all on board, but the gallant vessel finally weathered the winds, and landed the crew safely at their destination, 103 days from the time of starting. This was on the voyage to America.
   Our subject went at once into the mines, taking a claim for himself, and four years later returned to his native Scotland with quite a little fortune. Two and one-half years later, in 1861, he set sail for America on the same "Chancellor," and after being tossed about on a stormy sea for a period of five weeks, landed in New York City. Thence he emigrated to Delawares County, Ohio, where he operated on rented land for a period of seven years.
   In the summer of 1868 Mr. Lockie, accompanied by his family, set out overland with one team for the new State of Nebraska. He crossed the Missouri River on a flatboat, and coming to Russell Precinct, this county, homesteaded eighty acres of raw prairie. His first business was to put up a shelter for himself and family, and he then commenced breaking the soil and effecting the improvements suggested by his necessities. In due time he planted forest and fruit trees, and has now two fine groves and seven acres in an orchard of 100 bearing apple trees, besides the smaller fruits. His fields are separated by beautiful hedge fencing, and the land is supplied with running water. As soon as his means justified Mr. Lockie added 140 acres to his first purchase, this latter lying on sections 3 and 4. Of late years he has turned his attention largely to stock-raising, and ships annually one or two carloads of cattle and swine.
   Mr. Lockie was married, June 4, 1861, in New York City, to Miss Barbara, daughter of James and Barbara (Oliver) Bast. Mrs. Lockie was born Jan. 10, 1830, in Scotland, and, like her husband, is of excellent Scotch ancestry. Her parents were born in Roxburyshire, and her father was shepherd for a firm who did an extensive business in sheep. The father died in his native shire, the mother in Canada. There were only two children, both daughters. Agnes, the younger, is in Scotland.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Lockie there have been born six sons and three daughters, namely: Agnes, James, Mary, George, Thomas; Barbara, who died when four years old; John, Robert and William. Agnes is the wife of Thomas Burrell, a well-to-do farmer of Russell Precinct, and the mother of three children. The others are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. L. are members in good standing of the Presbyterian Church, and our subject votes the straight Republican ticket.
   The parents of our subject, James and Mary (Wilkins) Lockie, were natives of Roxburyshire, Scotland, where they were reared and married. They spent their entire lives upon their native soil, and the father, from the time of his early manhood,

followed milling until his death. which occurred when he was seventy-seven years of age. The mother died at the age of seventy-eight. Of their five children the record is as follows: Bettie resides in the city of Edinburgh; Isabelle also continues in her native Scotland; James, John and Joan came to America about 1880; the former is farming in Cass County, this State, and the latter fills the position of housekeeper. George, our subject, was the youngest of the family. He has become thoroughly identified with the interests of his adopted country, and is a worthy representative of one of the best nationalities on the face of the globe.

OHN H. MOHRMAN, of the little village of Talmage, is prominently identified with its grain trade, leaving been buying and selling at this point in the interests of O. T. Hulburt some years. He came to Talmage during the first inception of the village, six years ago, and first established himself in the farm implement trade, being the pioneer of this business here. He was thus occupied a number of years.
   Previous to his settlement in this part of Otoe County Mr. Mohrman had been a resident of Nebraska City, to which he had removed from Clayton County, Iowa. He had been a resident of the Hawkeye State for a period of twenty-five years. His boyhood days were spent in New Bremen, in the State of Ohio, he having been born in Auglaize County, Sept. 17, 1847. His father, John C. Mohrman, was a native of the Province of Hanover, Germany, from which he emigrated early in life with his parents to the United States. They settled in Ohio, of which they were residents for a number of years. The paternal grandfather, Herman Mohrman, lived to become a resident of Iowa, and died in Clayton County when over ninety years of age. His wife had died in Ohio when ripe in years.
   The father of our subject was reared and married in Auglaize County, Ohio. His wife, who in her girlhood was Miss Rebecca Willenbruch, was also a native of Germany, and was brought by her parents to the United States when a little girl seven years of age. They settled near Cincinnati, Ohio, where they lived a number of years, and where the father engaged in the mercantile business. Later they also removed to Auglaize County, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. After marriage the parents of our subject took up their residence in New Bremen, Auglaize County, where the father engaged in general merchandising until his removal to Iowa. In the Hawkeye State he commenced farming, and was thus occupied successfully for a number of years, at the expiration of which he once more changed his residence, this time to Nebraska City, this State, where he died in 1879, at the age of sixty-five years.
   The father of our subject was a man of much force of character, a Lutheran in religious matters, and in politics a sound Republican. The mother is still living, and makes her home with her son Fernando, in Nebraska City; she is now fifty-eight years old, and is also connected with the Lutheran Church. John H. was the second of their eight children, the parental household comprising three sons and five daughters. Seven of the children are still living, and with the exception of the youngest daughter are all married and settled in comfortable homes of their own.
   The education of our subject was completed in the common schools of Clayton, Iowa, where he arrived at man's estate and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He came to Nebraska a single man, and made the acquaintance of his future wife, Miss Mary A. Brown, in Nebraska City, where they were married March 6, 1879. Mrs. Mohrman was born in Saline County, Mo., Feb. 28, 1854, whence she came with her father to the above-mentioned city. The latter, Strawther Brown, secured possession of a tract of land and established himself as a farmer near the city, where he is still living. His first wife, the mother of Mrs. Motorman, died in Four Mile Precinct, this county, some years ago. Mr. Brown was subsequently married to Miss Mary Jefferies, a native of this State, who is yet living.
   The education of Mrs. Mohrman was completed in the schools of Four Mile Precinct, and she remained a member of her father's household until her marriage. Of her union with our subject there have been born two children--Ada L. and a babe named Kenneth. The former is an interesting