building naturally suggested by the means and requirements of its proprietor -- a substantial dwelling with pleasant surroundings, an abundance of fruit and shade trees, which, together with the live stock and farm machinery, fulfill the modern idea of the well-regulated rural estate.
   A native of Adams County, Ohio, Mr. Kirkpatrick was born Aug. 31, 1815, and is the scion of an excellent family, being the son of Absalom Kirkpatrick, who was the son of Andrew, the son of William. The latter was the first representative of the family in the United States, crossing from Londonderry, in the North of Ireland, probably during the Colonial days, and settling at Maryland. They were of Scotch ancestry, and like the forefathers of hundreds of other people in this country, were driven from their native land during the religious wars of three centuries ago. William Kirkpatrick must have made his home in Maryland the remainder of his life. His son Andrew enlisted in the Revolutionary War, and participated in the battle of Brandywine, at which he had a brother killed, and also in other important engagements. He married a lady of Welsh descent, Miss Elizabeth Bowen, who was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They subsequently moved to Virginia, and later to Ohio, locating a few miles east of the present city of Cincinnati, where they spent the remainder of their lives, dying when quite aged.
   Absalom Kirkpatrick, the father of our subject, was one of the seven sons of Andrew and Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, which completed their family, they having no daughters. The sons all lived to man's estate, were married and became the fathers of families. Absalom, with four other brothers, was subjected to the general call for soldiers in the War of 1812, in which, however, they were not called upon to engage in any active battles, probably being held in the Reserve Corps. Absalom must have attained his majority in the Old Dominion, as he was not married until the removal to Ohio. He was there wedded to Miss Elizabeth Van Pelt, who was born in St. John's, Nova Scotia, where her father had settled about the time of the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Prior to this he had lived on Staten Island. Upon removing from Nova Scotia to the States they settled first on the Nolachucky, a branch of the Tennessee River, in Tennessee, whence they removed to Ohio, where the father, Tanis Van Pelt, died soon afterward.
   Absalom Kirkpatrick and his wife began their wedded life together on a farm in Ohio, where they lived until after the birth of all their children. They then changed their residence to Montgomery County, Ind., where they spent the remainder of their days, not far from the town of Crawfordsville. The father died in 1855, at the age of sixty-eight years. He was a man of strong character and fine intelligence, and was prominent in public affairs. The mother after the death of her husband made her home with her son A. F., at the old homestead, and passed away in 1863, at the advanced age of eighty years. She was in all respects the suitable companion of her husband, being a lady of more than ordinary intelligence, high minded, with cultivated tastes, and was a beautiful singer.
   The subject of this sketch was the fourth child and second son of his parents, whose family included five sons and three daughters. Of this large family only two sons are surviving, S. M. and his brother C. Q., of Lafayette, Ind. Our subject lived in Ohio until a lad of fourteen years, where he began the rudiments of a practical education. He removed with his parents to Indiana, and from his youth up has been a lover of books, and by this means added to his store of knowledge when he could no longer attend school. He has always entertained an especial interest in matter of history, and. there are few men of the present day possessing a more complete store of general information.
   The marriage of Hon. S. M. Kirkpatrick and Miss Elizabeth C. McMillin was celebrated at the home of the bride in Crawfordsville, Ind., Oct. 11, 1836. Mrs. K. was born in 1816, in Campbell County, Tenn., and brought up in Tazewell County, Va., and accompanied her mother to Indiana when fifteen years old, in the fall of 1830. Later she spent one and one-half years in Louisa County, Iowa, where Mr. K. was engaged in merchandising, and where Mrs. Kirkpatrick died, together with their only child, in September, 1839.
   Mr. Kirkpatrick contracted a second marriage, in Thornton, Ind., April 1, 1841, with Miss Elizabeth Craig. This lady was born in Adams County,

Ohio, May 6, 1823, and is the daughter of Robert Craig, a native of County Down, Ireland. Robert Craig, the father of Mrs. K., was of Scotch ancestry, and her mother, Sarah Kerr, the daughter of Paul Kerr and Jane Weir, who were married on the Atlantic Ocean while coming to America. Many of their descendants became prominent people, and are now scattered in various parts of the Union. One cousin has for forty years been a resident of Canton, China, belonging to the American Foreign Mission.
   Mr. Craig emigrated to the United States when a child, and was reared by an uncle in Pennsylvania. There also he was married, later moved to Ohio, and thence to Indiana. He died in Boone County, that State, when a very old man, aged ninety-three years. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was well reared and educated, and is a very intelligent lady, possessing all the womanly virtues. Of her union with our subject there have been born ten children, two of whom are deceased: Sarah V., who died when three years old, and Julia F., who died in infancy. The survivors are recorded as follows: Edwin A. married Miss Oella D. Black, daughter of Dr. John Black, of Plattsmouth, and is engaged in the grain trade at Nehawka; John M. married Miss Cornelia F. Goodrich, and is carrying on farming extensively in Wheeler County, this State, where he owns a large amount of land; Elizzie H. is the wife of Orlando Tefft, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Lee C. is residing at the home of his parents; William W. married Miss Maggie Gaffney, and is farming in Wheeler County; Robert C., Mary S. and Kate L. are at home with their parents. Mary is a student of Lincoln University.

ALENTINE HAY, a well-to-do farmer and stock-raiser, operating 160 acres of land on section 1 of Stove Creek Precinct, is one of the prosperous and reliable citizens of the community, and a successful agriculturist. He was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, July 28, 1814. His parents, Andrew and Mary (Barrer) Hay, were born in Germany, and spent their entire lives there.
   His father was blacksmith and farmer, and lost his life by accident while working at his former occupation, in the year 1836, when fifty-three years of age. His mother survived until 1870, dying at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. Both were members of the Catholic Church, and lived consistent Christian lives. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: Anthon, and Peter, dead; Valentine; Mary, dead; Catherine; Andrew, dead; Barbara, George, Theresa, Mary and John. Valentine Hay, an uncle of our subject, was Colonel in Napoleon Bonapart's army for seven years.
   The subject of our sketch was educated in his native country, and at the age of twelve years was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade. Eight years later he began as journeyman blacksmith, traveling the first year in Germany, and the three ensuing years in France and Switzerland. In 1840 he emigrated to the United States, sailing from Havre de Grace on the ship "Louis Phillippe," and after a voyage of twenty-one days landed at New York City. Engaging in blacksmithing there, he continued until 1847, when he started a smithy of his own in Sodus, Wayne County, that State, where he remained until 1855. Mr. Hay then bought a farm of sixty acres and worked on it two years. In 1857 he bought seventy acres of land situated nine miles from Milwaukee, Wis., and there staid two years, engaged in farming and blacksmithing. Moving from there to Pekin, Ill., our subject built a shop and worked at his trade two years, then bought a farm in Tazewell County, the same State, where he remained until 1872. Desiring to try farming in a country peculiarly adapted to it, our subject came to Nebraska with a team (his wife coming by rail), crossed the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, then kept on to Weeping Water, where he rented land for two years. He had previously bought 160 acres of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, in Stove Creek Precinct, and in 1874 he moved onto it. It was in its primitive condition, but with the help of his sons, he has eliminated a fine productive farm from the raw prairie, set out six acres of forest trees, fenced the land, and built a good house, barn and other out-buildings, hauling the lumber from Nebraska City. He carries on general

farming and stock-raising, having a herd of fine Polled-Angus cattle, hogs of the Poland-China breed, and several head of magnificent Norman horses.
   The marriage of our subject with Miss Saloma Foulstick took place in Lyons, N.Y., June 22,1846. Mrs. Hay was born in Alsace, Germany, Nov. 9, 1826, and came to America with her parents when three years of age. Her death occurred at the homestead in Stove Creek Precinct, Aug. 24, 1888. To her and her husband were born ten children, namely: W. H., Mary, D. E., George A., C. V., P. E., J. T., Lucy, E. B. and L. A. The eldest son of our subject, William H. Hay, was born in Wayne County. N. Y., Jan. 31, 1847, and was ten years old when his parents moved to Wisconsin. He attended school in New York and afterward in Wisconsin. He then went with his parents to Illinois, where he managed the farm while his father worked at blacksmithing. After the war broke out William enlisted regularly ever (sic) year, but each time was rejected on account of his small stature. When finally accepted he enlisted in the 11th Illinois Cavalry, but was transferred to the 5th Illinois Cavalry, was mustered into service at Peoria, and seat to Camp Butler under A. J. Smith, and was then ordered to Memphis. It being near the close of the war he was out skirmishing most of the time, He took part in a raid into Arkansas, and was then on detached duty until honorably discharged in July, 1865. He has since then remained with his father and been his mainstay, he having set out the groves and orchard, and lent great assistance in all the improvements that have been made. The personal property on the place he owns in partnership with him. He is a broom manufacturer by trade, has a machine, and turns out his own brooms. He is highly esteemed for his ability, industry and genuine worth, and is a prominent and influential citizen, and is now serving his fourth year as School Treasurer. He is a member of the G. A. R., and Past Senior Vice Commander of LaFayette Post No. 61, at Weeping Water. In politics he is a strong Republican, and has been delegate to State and County Conventions. He was never married.
   Mr. George A. Hay, a merchandise clerk of Wabash, Neb., married Miss Eliza Cowel; they have five children, namely: Adele, Nellie, Herbert, Leo and an infant. C. V. Hay, who clerks for E. Day, in Weeping Water, married Miss Maud Church; they have one child, an infant. P. E. Hay, a farmer in Weeping Water Precinct, married Mary Philpott; they have two children, Frank and Joe. Lucy Hay married Ernest Zimmerman, a druggist of Morton, Ill., they have three children -- Ernest, Dora and an infant. J. T. Hay is a grocer in Broken Bow, Neb.; E. B. Hay is a farmer in Weeping Water Precinct. The others are at home.
   Our subject is an industrious man who satisfactorily performs the duties falling on him as a law-abiding citizen. In political views he coincides with the principles promulgated by the Republican party, and firmly upholds them by voice and vote. He has served as Road Supervisor, and takes a general interest in precinct affairs. He is a devout member of the German Evangelical Church, where his wife was also a communicant, and generously assists in supporting it.

ACOB VALLERY, SR., is a prominent and influential citizen of Cass County, and it is with great pleasure that we present a review of his life to the patrons of this work. He is extensively engaged in stock-raising, and in other agricultural pursuits in Plattsmouth Township, where he has a large and valuable farm of 1,000 acres.
   Mr. Vallery was born in Bavaria, Germany, in a place known as Rhine Falls, Aug. 8, 1813. He was well educated in the German and English branches under the compulsory educational laws of his native land. After leaving school he was apprenticed to a tailor, and engaged in that trade in his native country until he came to the United States in 1833 for the laudable purpose to make more of his life than he could have done in the Fatherland. He located in Pike County, Ohio. and in 1840 was there married to Mary Vallery. She has indeed been to him a true helpmate, and of their happy wedded life eight children have been born, seven of whom survive, and the following is recorded of

them: John R. died Nov. 17, 1888; he was a resident of this county. Christina is the widow of Peter Rummell; Mary is the widow of Charles Guthman; Charlotte, who was the wife of Philip Tritch, died in March, 1875; Louisa is the widow of Lewis Baher, her husband dying June 28, 1882; she has since married, Dec. 8, 1888, Solomon Pitcher; her husband is County Clerk at Sharon, Neb. Jacob W., Peter F. and Conrad are the remaining children. Conrad, Dec. 15, 1888, married Louisa Nieman, of Plattsmouth.
   After marriage Mr. Vallery continued to reside in Pike County for several years, and for a long time was engaged in the mercantile business in Piketon and Waverly. He was prominent in public life, his well-known ability, integrity and honorable character gaining him the full confidence of the people. He was elected Sheriff of Pike County, and served until 1844. He was re-elected to that responsible position in 1846, and held the office until 1850. In 1852 he was again elected to the same position, and served for two years. He was appointed Deputy United States Marshal in the Southern District of Ohio under President Buchanan's administration, and was incumbent of that office for four years. In the meantime he was County Assessor for several terms, and also held minor offices. In 1856 he came to Cass County, Neb., and bought some land, and then returned to his home in Ohio. He also bought some land here in 1857. Notwithstanding the wildness of the surrounding country and the thoroughly uncivilized aspect of its environments, Mr. Vallery shrewdly foresaw its ultimate destiny as a great and wealthy State, and determined to cast in his lot with its early pioneers. With that end in view he came here with his family in 1865, to locate permanently, and settled on his present farm, which was then an unbroken prairie. In the years that have followed he has contributed his full share in developing the great agricultural resources of Cass County, and has added much to its material prosperity. He built a house for the shelter of his family that season and began to break the sod. He has replaced that humble dwelling in which he and his family passed the first few years of their life here by a most substantial structure in the shape of a fine large brick house, and he has also built a good barn and other needed farm buildings. He has 1,000 acres in the home farm, all of which is neatly fenced and under excellent tillage, excepting about 300 acres which he devotes to pasturage, as he pays much attention to raising fine stock of good grades, horses, hogs and Short-horn cattle, taking particular care to have only such as he considers the best. He has a good orchard of about 300 trees and also a fine vineyard.
   Since taking up his residence in this part of the country Mr. Vallery has taken a conspicuous part in the management of public affairs. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Nebraska, and has held several responsible county offices. His official career, both in this State and in Ohio, has been marked by the faithful and wise discharge of the duties and responsibilities resting upon him, with the sole view of furthering the interests of his adopted country. In politics he has been a lifelong Democrat, and has been influential in party councils. He has served as a delegate to National Conventions for perhaps forty consecutive years. He was present at the one which nominated McClellan for the Presidency, and he helped to nominate Grover Cleveland, and also to elect him. Mr. Vallery and his amiable wife are devoted members of the German Lutheran Church, in which faith they were reared.

ACOB VALLERY, JR., of Plattsmouth Precinct, represents a valuable homestead of 320 acres, pleasantly located on section 21. of which he took possession in the spring of 1880. He has been a prominent man in this county, to which he came several years before Nebraska was admitted into the Union as a State, and as early as 1856 served three terms as County Commissioner. He has also served six terms as Assessor of Plattsmouth Precinct, and has frequently held other positions of trust and responsibility. His family history is substantially as follows:
   Our subject is the son of Peter and Charlotte (Acker) Vallery, and the paternal grandparents

were Valentine and Elizabeth (Kroehler) Vallery. These were all natives of the little Kingdom of Bavaria, where the grandparents spent their entire lives. They traced their ancestry to Italy.
   The subject of this sketch was born June 12, 1824, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and came to the United States with his parents in the year 1833, with the three other surviving children of the family. They settled in Pike County, Ohio, where the father engaged in farming on new land, and where he lived a period of twenty-two years, his death taking place in April, 1855. The mother remained a resident of the Buckeye State nearly ten years after the death of her husband, then in February, 1863, joined her son in Nebraska, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Jacob Vallery, in Plattsmouth Precinct, Dec. 19, 1862, aged ninety years.
   Two of the children born to Peter Vallery and his wife, namely: Peter (1st) and Elizabeth, died in their native Germany. Those coming to America were: Conrad, Mary, Jacob and Peter (2d). Jacob, like his brothers and sisters, was reared in Pike County, Ohio, where he lived until the fall of 1855, then turning his face toward the farther West, he crossed the Mississippi and located in Glenwood, Iowa, where he engaged in general merchandising. In the fall of that same year, going to St. Louis, he purchased a stock of goods, which he shipped to Glenwood, then returning to Pike County, Ohio, secured unto himself a wife and helpmate, being married, Oct. 9, 1885, to Miss Magdalena Feucht.
   Mrs. Vallery is the daughter of Frederick and Julia A. (Sohn) Feucht, who, like their daughter, were also natives of Germany, born in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, and where they spent their entire lives. Mr. and Mrs. Vallery after their marriage proceeded at once to Iowa, but a few weeks later our subject removed his stock of goods to Plattsmouth, and carried on business until the summer of 1856. He then sold his store and purchased a flouring-mill, which he operated for a few years. Then resuming merchandising, he thus occupied himself until the year 1877. His career has been steadily onward and that of a self-made man, as he had no capital to begin with except his persevering disposition and natural energy of character. His large farm with its improvements indicates in an admirable manner the success with which he has labored.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Vallery there were born twelve children, the record of whom is as follows: Charlotte E. became the wife of F. E. White, of Plattsmouth; and Anna, J. married Prof. W. W. Drummond; they all live in Plattsmouth. Louisa M. died when about thirteen and a half years old; George W. lives in Wyoming Territory; Ida M., Mrs. D. T. Higginson, is residing in Elmhurst, Ill.; John F. lives in Denver, Col.; Katie, Amelia, Charles A., Maggie, Louis and Tillie are at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Vallery are members in good standing of the German Presbyterian Church, and our subject, socially, is identified with the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the lodge at Plattsmouth. Politically, he gives his support to the Democratic party.

ILAS E. CLEMMONS is a son of one of the early pioneers of Cass County, who came to Nebraska Territory in the fall of 1854, and located on a tract of wild land three miles west of the present city of Rock Bluff. This was prior to the treaty with the Indians, which gave to white men the right to locate claims of 160 acres of land. His father, who secured his first laud from a warrant as a soldier of the Mexican War, took possession of his property and hired a man to settle on another half-section adjoining. He thus secured by pre-emption 320 acres as soon as it came into market, and as soon as possible began in earnest the struggle with the primitive soil. Our subject was then a lad nine years of age, having been born April 18, 1845, in Ohio. He remembers distinctly the first humble dwelling occupied by the family in Nebraska, and which was a cabin of round logs with clapboard roof and a puncheon floor and a chimney built outside of sticks and clay.
   This cabin was occupied by the pioneers perhaps a year, when a more pretentious dwelling was constructed of hewn logs and divided into two rooms, making quite a stylish residence for those

days. Amid these surroundings Silas E. Clemmons was retired to manhood, and there the parents spent the remainder of their days, each dying when about seventy-seven years of age. During the first years of their settlement in Nebraska there were few white people within the Territory, but Indians were plentiful, and upon one occasion 500 of them camped near the house. They offered no violence however, and no annoyance except to steal and beg. Timber wolves and wildcats were abundant. Father Clemmons, as he was affectionately called by the people around, became one of the most prominent men in this community, and was greatly respected and beloved, as was also his estimable wife, who for many years was an exemplary member of the Christian Church.
   To John and Rutherford (Peterson) Clemmons, the parents of our subject, there were born thirteen children, twelve of whom lived to mature years. Of these Silas E. was the twelfth in order of birth, and eight of the family are still living. The paternal grandfather, John Clemmons, Sr., died at the home of his son John, Jr., and there being no burying-ground in that vicinity, his remains were laid to rest in a quiet spot on the home farm, which has since been used and kept up as a public cemetery. John, Jr., and his estimable wife were laid by the side of Grandfather Clemmons, whom it is believed was the first white citizen of Cass County to receive sepulture within its borders.
   Our subject thus spent his boyhood and youth amid the wild scenes of pioneer life on the frontier, and when reaching man's estate began to make preparations for the establishment of a home of his own. One of the most important steps to this end was his marriage with Miss Caroline Gapen, which was celebrated at the home of the bride in Rock Bluff Township, May 3, 1870. This lady is the daughter of John and Matilda (Garlo) Gapen, and was born June 12, 1843, in Virginia. The parents of Mrs. Clemmons were natives of Pennsylvania and are now dead. Their household consisted of thirteen children.
   To Mr. and Mrs. Clemmons there have been born two children, one of whom died unnamed in infancy. Their only child and daughter, Cora A., was born on the 7th of March, 1872, and is now at home. Mr. Clemmons before his marriage purchased eighty acres of land on section 27, upon which he settled. He has the whole enclosed with good fencing, has erected a comfortable set of frame buildings, and has brought the land to a productive condition, a part being devoted to general farming and quite a large area to pasturage. He keeps good grades of cattle and swine and the horses necessary for the farm work. Belonging to one of the best and most substantial families of the county, he occupies a good position socially as well as on account of his sterling worth of character. Like his father before him, he is an uncompromising Democrat politically, a man decided in his views and one whose opinions are generally respected.

ENRY ROELOFSZ is recognized among the people in the Southwestern part of this county as one of its most enterprising merchants, and he is one of the very first settlers of Tipton Precinct. He was the second man to take up land within its borders, and wisely retains possession of a goodly amount, being now the owner of 360 acres, the operations of which he superintends in connection with his mercantile business.
   Of Holland-Dutch ancestry and parentage, our subject was born near the famous city of Amsterdam, June 18, 1844. Of his parents, Peter and Emley (Phillips) Roelofsz. a sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. The father was a man of consequence in his native town, which was the same as that in which his son Henry was born, and the owner of a castle surrounded by the traditional moat and the other relics of feudal days, many of which are still remembered by our subject.
   In the fall of 1859 the Roelofsz family, parents and children, emigrated to the United States, Henry being then a lad fifteen years of age. They embarked at Liverpool on a sailing-vessel, and after a voyage of six weeks landed in New York City. Thence they proceeded directly westward to Iowa, and the father later took up land in Marion County, which in due time he transformed into a good homestead, and which was familiarly known as the Crab Apple Farm.