time made their home in Chicago. In 1859 they sought the farther West, coming to this county. In the meantime three of the sons of the family had died in Chicago, and of the six children only two are now living. The father spent his last years with his son, our subject, his death taking place in 1874, in the sixty-third year of his age. The mother died Feb. 5, 1889, at the home of her daughter, aged seventy-eight years, having been born in May, 1810.
   The subject of this sketch was a lad seven years of age when he landed in the United States with his parents, and he completed his education in the common schools of this country, attending mostly in the winter season, while in the summer he assisted his parents around the homestead. Of this he took charge after the death of his father. To this he brought a bride in 1867, having been married that year to Miss Sophia Brunko, a native of his own country, and the daughter of Frederick Brunko and wife, who were also natives of Germany; the mother is dead, but the father is still living in Nebraska. This union resulted in the birth of nine children, five sons and four daughters.
   One of the noticeable features on the farm is the fine barn which was erected by Mr. Eickhoff in 1884, and covers an area of 40x66 feet. It has a solid stone foundation, forming a good basement, and is considered the best structure of the kind in Louisville Precinct. It is nearly surrounded with cattle sheds, and within it are all the conveniences required by the progressive agriculturist. There is also a model corn crib, with numerous other buildings, all indicative of the thoroughness and skill with which the estate has been conducted.
   Mr. Eickhoff has been prominent in local affairs, and is a man of decided views. He votes the straight Republican ticket, has officiated as Township Supervisor four years, as Assessor a period of seven years, and as a member of the School Board fifteen years. In religious belief he espouses the doctrines of the Evangelical association. His good management is indicative of the fact that he has inherited from his German ancestry the admirable, thrifty qualities which distinguish that nationality. A man prompt to meet his obligations, and systematic in the oversight of his finances, he occupies a position second to none among the leading men of this part of the county. His property has been the result mainly of his own industry. The family, upon landing in Chicago from their ocean trip, owed $50, and upon coming to Nebraska were obliged to economize in the closest manner for years, in order to make both ends meet. That early experience, Mr. Eickhoff acknowledges, instead of being a detriment, has been a benefit to him, imbuing him with those habits of industry and economy which have enabled him to gather an ample competence for his declining years.
   The view of Mr. Eickhoff's premises, on another page of this ALBUM, shows what a fine property the one-time poor German emigrant has acquired by his own unaided efforts.

ORACE T. RICHARDS, one of the most prosperous and enterprising men of Elmwood Precinct, Cass Co., Neb., was born in Goffstown, N. H., Oct. 5, 1848. He was a member of a family of seven children -- Emma C., Mary A., George W., Ephraim W., Edwin F., Charles A. and George W. Two are deceased, Ephraim W. and Charles A. The early life of our subject was spent on the farm in New Hampshire. In 1871 he migrated to Illinois, where he joined his younger brother, Edwin F., who had preceded him, and they determined to try their luck together in the then Far West. They each had a team, and they started across the prairies of Illinois and Iowa for Nebraska, crossing the Missouri river at Plattsmouth, where they purchased 160 acres of land from the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. They experienced very hard times at first, and this purchase of land was let go by default. Time has righted matters, however, and Mr. Richards is now a large land-owner. For many years past he has been a shipper of cattle and hogs. He also feeds a large number of cattle on his own account.
   In 1883 Mr. Richards filed a homestead and tim-

ber claim in Antelope County, Neb. He has had a long and varied experience in this State, endured privations and hard work, but through it all he has maintained his usual good cheer and has come out unscathed. He was married, Feb. 1, 1882, to Miss Edith M. Foote, daughter of James Foote, one of Otoe County's earliest settlers, and who is now comfortably located on his large farm in Otoe Precinct, Otoe County. Mr. Richards has not only strong and willing hands for work, but has also a bright and active intelligence to direct his efforts into the best channels, and in the course of his business of farming and cattle dealing he has accumulated a handsome property. In addition to the lands that he owns in Elmwood Precinct he has 160 acres in Stove Creek Precinct, in this county, Mr. and Mrs. Richards have two children: Warren T. and Mary E., bright and intelligent, partaking of their father's energetic disposition and their mother's sweetness of temper. Mr. Richards is generous, and no application for aid for any cause possessing merit is turned away unsatisfied. Mrs. Richards is an active and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Wabash.
   Our subject has a fine two-story frame dwelling, very conveniently arranged and nicely furnished, with good orchard and groves. The lawn surrounding his home is well kept and presents a very pleasing appearance. His home farm has a never-failing and abundant supply of the purest water; he has commodious barns for his cattle and bogs, and all the best improved machinery for making his business a success. Taken as a whole the farm of our subject presents a pleasing scene, and everything connected therewith denotes a thrifty and prosperous condition, the result of intelligently directed labor, close application, and a thorough knowledge of the business. The hardships and privations endured by Mr. Richards upon first entering the State certainly justify some recompense, and if the present indications are realized the gentleman will certainly have no reason to complain.
   For further and complete history of the gentleman's parentage see biography of his brother, Edwin F. Richards, upon another page, and elsewhere in this volume we give a view of his fine home and its comfortable surroundings.

OHN P. McPHERSON. This old-time popular pilot of Missouri River fame has been the hero of many a thrilling experience and witnessed scenes which, were there time and space to detail them, would comprise a much longer biography than is proposed within the compass of the present work. Naturally of an adventurous and courageous disposition, he may be termed a self-made man, one who has kept his eyes open to what was going on around him in the world, and who from experience has gathered wisdom, possibly of more value to him than that which he might have acquired in college halls. He is now numbered among the leading citizens of Greenwood Village.
   Mr. McPherson was born in Canada, and when a little child two years of age was taken by his mother to Schenectady, N. Y. The mother not long afterward was taken seriously ill with a fever, and her physicians being of the opinion that she would not recover, she was induced to relate a few incidents connected with her history which might in time be of service to her only child.
   It was learned that the mother of Mr. McPherson was the daughter of an English gentleman, and from her apparel and other circumstances there was little doubt that she was the offspring of a wealthy family, and had been accustomed to the surrounding of refined life. She was married to Capt. Parmer McPherson of the English Navy, against the wishes of her parents, and with whom she came to Canada. She soon passed away, and our subject was too young to have any recollection of her. A scene which appears almost like a dream is thus related by Mr. McPherson in connection with his infantile days. He remembers sitting in the lap of a lady, presumably his mother. He looked out through the window and saw an orchard and a bridge, beneath which ran a river, upon which was a boat containing a man. On the opposite side was a little rude dwelling, and the man in the boat in making efforts to land capsized the little craft. The mother upon seeing this arose to her feet undoubtedly much moved, and placing the child on the floor the panorama to him thus ended. This view stands out prominently before the eyes of Mr. McPherson, being about the only one in a space of time which is mostly a blank. But he still clings