section 18, in Rock Bluff Precinct, which he has since added to his estate, and it now comprises 540 acres. and there he has since been a resident. His father joined him in the spring of 1867, remaining with him two years, then returned to the old home in New York State, where his death took place in the year 1871, when he was sixty-three years old. For a period of fifteen years he had voted with the Republican party, of which our subject is also a most decided adherent. The family, except John B., as far back as is known, belonged to the Presbyterian Church. The Holmes family comprise a portion of the solid element of Cass County, and have contributed their fall quota in building up its present enviable reputation and advancing its prosperity and welfare. On his extensive farm Mr. Holmes usually feeds from 200 to 300 head of cattle. He is also engaged in breeding high-grade Norman and Clydesdale horses, some of which are full-blood, and eligible to be registered in the American herd book. His cattle run from thoroughbred Short-horns down to grades.
   We invite the reader's attention to a fine view of the elegant home of Mr. Holmes on an accompanying page of this work.

OUIS FOLTZ, a representative citizen and thorough-going farmer, resides on his highly improved farm on section 33 of Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He was born Feb. 23, 1840, in Holmes County, Ohio, where he lived, dividing his time between labor on the farm and attending public school, until he enlisted in the Union Army, May 2, 1861, in Company G, 16th Ohio Infantry, as a private soldier. The regiment of which he was a member formed apart of the corps commanded by Gen. Morrison. Their field of operation was in Virginia and West Virginia. He took an active part in many skirmishes and engagements, but the largest portion of his duty was confined to the garrison and guarding property. He was honorably discharged in September, 1861 when he returned to Holmes County, Ohio.
   Mr. Foltz was married, on the 4th of December, 1862, to Miss Susan Stucker, a native of Holmes County, where she was born April 3, 1838. She is a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Stucker, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Her parental ancestors were of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Foltz have an interesting family of four children, namely: William J.; Mary R., now the wife of E. Munson, residing in Mt. Pleasant Precinct; Andrew J., deceased, and David. After his marriage, our subject with his family resided in Holmes County until the spring of 1876, when he removed to Cass County, Neb. In the fall of the same year he settled on his present farm, which now embraces 440 acres of land, a large portion of which is under a high state of cultivation. He also owns 160 acres in Stove Creek Precinct, in all, 600 acres of valuable land.
   Mr. Foltz is a son of Solomon and Rebecca Foltz. Both parents were natives of Pennsylvania, who removed from their native State and settled in Holmes County, Ohio, at a very early date, nearly, a half century ago. They resided there until 1862, when they migrated to Cass County, Neb., and settled in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, where the mother died in 1882. The father now resides with our subject, and is past seventy years of age, in splendid health, bidding fair to live for many years. His paternal ancestors were German; his grandfather, David Foltz, served as a soldier in the American Army during the War of 1812.
   A large family of children, ten in number, were born to the parents of our subject, nine of whom are living, namely: Louis, who was the eldest; Louisa, now the wife of Mr. John Shelton, residing in Weeping Water; David resides in Cheyenne County; Frederick resides in Elmwood Precinct; Barbara E. is the wife of Samuel Bergen, and resides in Kansas; Catherine is the wife of Robert Lockston, and resides in Fillmore County, Neb.; Susan, now Mrs. Brant, resides in Nebraska; Mary is the wife of Caye Wright, and resides in Nebraska; Joseph resides in Stove Creek Precinct, this county, and Rose A. is deceased. The parents of Mrs. Foltz had a family of six children, namely: Catherine, who resides in Wayne County, Ohio; Mary A. is the wife of George McElroy, and resides in Greene County, Ind.; Christina is the wife of S. J. Cutter, and resides in Holmes County, Ohio; Susan is the

wife of our subject; George resides in Clinton County, Mo., and Ohio Stucker resides in Mt. Pleasant Precinct.
   Mr. Foltz is a level-headed, clear-thinking man, thoroughly well posted in all matters pertaining to successful farming, and is a self-made man in all respects. The elegant property which he has accumulated is the direct result of his own application and energy. Coming to Nebraska at an early day, with means very limited in amount, he has applied himself so closely to the business in which he is engaged that he has acquired the fine property with which he is now surrounded. He is in politics a thorough-going Democrat, and has served his friends and neighbors in various official capacities. In 1884 he was elected as one of the County Commissioners of Cass County, and was re-elected to the same office in the fall of 1887, from a district which usually gave a handsome Republican majority. He is a member of LaFayette Post No. 60, G. A. R., at Weeping Water, and takes an active interest in all that pertains to the educational, political or religious benefit of the precinct. Both himself and wife are active members of society, in which they fill a conspicuous place. They are both open hearted and generous, and their home is the abode of peace and comfort. They are both well known throughout Cass County, and they take rank among its foremost citizens.
   The home of Mr. Foltz and family, one of the most comfortable in Mt. Pleasant, is shown on another page of this ALBUM.

ENRY L. MESSNER. Those who suppose that there is required in the prosecution of farming little skill and no education, are vastly mistaken, as they will find upon experience and observation. The biographer in obtaining a record of the events which have transpired during the early settlement of Cass County, finds among its successful agriculturists the most intelligent element of this region. Among these the subject of this sketch occupies no secondary position. His industry and enterprise are proverbial in the community where he has operated with results of which he has reason to be proud. His property lies on section 25, South Bend Precinct, and comprises 800 acres of land, which produce in abundance the rich crops of Nebraska. He commenced in a modest manner his operations as an agriculturist in this section of country, and battled with the difficulties experienced by the pioneer of twenty years ago, suffering from the ravages of grasshoppers two years in succession, and fighting his way through the other disadvantages common to that time. Besides the home farm, he purchased land in Louisville and Elmwood Precincts, his whole estate at one time comprising 1,280 acres. This was largely devoted to stock-raising, Mr. Messner finding this industry the most profitable, and perhaps carried on with less of labor than the tilling of the soil, although he raises grain in sufficient quantities to feed his stock.
   We find in the career of Mr. Messner a man essentially the architect of his own fortune. Upon coming to Cass County, in the fall of 1869, he settled at a point on Cedar Creek, and employed himself by the day or month as he could secure work, while his winters were occupied in teaching school. He was the first pedagogue in Cedar Creek district, and a favorite alike with pupils and parents. He was born in Monroe County, Ohio, near the little village of Lebanon, Feb. 6, 1849, and was the fourth in a family of five children, two sons and three daughters, comprising the offspring of Adam and Elizabeth (Smith) Messner. The parents were both natives of the Province of Alsace, now in Germany, whence they emigrated to the United States after their marriage, settling first in Washington County, Pa., where the father carried on farming for a time, and then changed his residence to Monroe County, Ohio. In the latter he built up a good homestead, where, with his excellent wife, he still resides. They took up their residence in the Buckeye State in 1847, and are now quite aged, the father being in his seventy-second year. and the mother nearing her sixty-eighth birthday.
   The maternal grandfather of our subject was Philip Smith, also a native of the Fatherland, who served under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was taken a prisoner at the battle of Waterloo. He lived to attain the advanced age of one hundred and eight years.