County Central Committee, has been nominated twice by his party for the office of Representative, once from Cass County and the second time from Cass and Saunders Counties. Himself and wife are consistent members of the Christian Church at Greenwood.
   The fine residence and buildings of Mr. Laughlin are shown in a view on another page of this volume.

URWELL SPURLOCK came to Cass County in the opening years of his manhood, and cast in his lot with the early pioneers of Nebraska, and he has ever since been a resident of Plattsmouth. He has figured in the civic life of the county, and has been identified with its business interests. He now holds a clerkship in the store of E. G. Dovey & Sons, where he has been for over eleven years, which alone is sufficient evidence of unusual faithfulness. His honorable and upright life has been an influence for good in this community, where he is held in the highest respect and consideration.
   Our subject was born in that part of Cabal County now Wayne County, W. Va., June 28, 1835, and is the eldest son of Wesley and Mary A. (Booton) Spurlock, of whom see sketch. He was in his third year when his parents moved to Illinois, and therefore has no recollection of the scenes of his birth. He first attended school near Abingdon, Ill., and later, when about twelve years old, entered the Cherry Grove Presbyterian Seminary, and remained a student for about two years. His faithful parents carefully trained him to a useful and industrious life, and early instilled into his mind those high principles of honor, justice and truth, which have been the guides to a pure and conscientious life. He made his home with his father until the removal to Iowa, assisting in the improvement of the farm, and doing all kinds of farm work in the days when machinery did not play so important a part in lightening the labors of the farmer, the cradle being then the most improved method of harvesting the grain; splitting rails being his work in the winter season. Soon after the family moved to Greenwood, he engaged as clerk for Sarpy & English, the former being a pioneer of Nebraska, for whom Sarpy County (where he had charge of a station of the American Fur Company, and was engaged as an Indian trader) had been named. He first agreed to work for the firm for a month.
   All stores in those days had liquor for sale, and the store in which he was employed was no exception. At the end of a month his employers were so satisfied with his services that they wished to engage him for a year. But, mindful of the instructions of his parents, who had taught him to abhor the liquor traffic, he told them that he could not work for them and sell liquor, and they readily excused him from that duty. There was in that vicinity, as in all new countries, the usual percentage of men only a step removed from barbarism, who on the slightest pretext were ready to reek vengeance on the unfortunate offender. One of those men of Belial came into the store one day where young Spurlock was clerk and called for whisky. He took the man one side and told him he could not sell him liquor, and the reason why. The man said that was all right, and went away expressing his approval. A few days later the same man came in again and called for whisky, and when our subject refused to sell him any, he cursed him and said that he would cut his heart out. Mr. Spurlock grabbed an ax that stood near him, as a means of self defense, and emphatically told him that he would chop him into mincemeat before he would sell him a drop of whisky. Seeing that the young clerk was not frightened by his threats he laughed and said it was all a joke. In the fall of 1855 our subject, wishing to improve his education, entered the Iowa Wesleyan University. There were no railroads in Iowa at that time, and he was obliged to go to his destination on the old stage coach, and while on the road a terrific storm struck them, and on account of the excessive rain and unusual flood of the streams, a bridge gave way under the weight of the stage coach, and he narrowly escaped drowning, hut he managed to get out of the water and the wreck, and assisted the driver in rescuing the horses. After attending the university but a few terms, he then came to the Territory of Nebraska arriving in Plattsmouth April 1, 1856. The city

had been platted previous to that time, and a speculation in house lots ran high. There was then one store here, kept in a log building by Messrs. Slaughter & Vallery, and they engaged the services of our subject as clerk. He continued with them until 1858, and during that time was Deputy Postmaster. The store then changed hands, and young Spurlock was retained in the employ of his first employers' successor for a time. He subsequently engaged with Tuttle & Hanna, who kept a large establishment, and did a large business during the Pike's Peak excitement, selling supplies and mining appliances to the emigrants. Those emigrants who were eagerly pressing forward across the vast plains, then known as the "Great American Desert," in search of gold in the rocky barriers that rise on the Western horizon, were many of them a novel study to the lover of human nature, and displaying as they did so many varieties of it, ranging from grave to gay; men of decision and determination, men of weak and careless natures, and men of noble characters, with those of vicious tendencies, traveling side by side, all aiming for the same goal. On many of the wagons was inscribed in large letters, "Pike's Peak or Bust." Alas! for the hopes of man. It is unnecessary to say here that most of them came back in a condition expressed by the last word of the legend just referred to.
   In 1861 Mr. Spurlock was elected County Clerk, running as an independent candidate. His administration of the affairs pertaining to that office was so eminently satisfatory (sic) that he was afterward three successive times unanimously nominated for the position by Republican Conventions, and was three times re-elected. After his fourth term expired he refused to be a candidate again. Retiring from office, he engaged in the real-estate business with R. B. Windham, for awhile, and then accepted a position as clerk in the Burlington & Missouri River land-office, and acted in that capacity until the office was removed to Lincoln, a few months later. Clark & Plummer then secured his services as salesman and book-keeper, and he remained with them until they sold out five years afterward. Our subject then made a new move, and going to Falls City, engaged in the real-estate business for one year. Then Plattsmouth again became his home, and he obtained a situation as clerk in Dovey's establishment, and has remained there ever since.
   Mr. Spurlock was married, Nov. 1, 1860, to Miss Isabella Smiley Davis, and their union has been blessed by the birth of one son, George M., to whom they are giving every advantage to obtain a good education, and he is now a student at the DePauw University. Mrs. Spurlock was born in Andrew County, Mo., and is a daughter of the late William H. Davis, a well-known pioneer of Cass County, who was prominent in public life here in the early days of the settlement of the county. He was born in Tennessee, and was a son of Wade H. Davis, a native of South Carolina. The latter went to Tennessee when he was a young man, and from there to Missouri, and was a pioneer of Andrew County, where he entered a tract of Government land and carried on farming there until he died. The father of Mrs. Spurlock moved from Tennessee to Illinois when a young man, and married, in Fulton County, that State, Sarah Elizabeth Windham, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Kinchen and Betsy (Barnes) Windham. Mr. Davis moved from Illinois to Andrew County, Mo., and he being quite well educated for these times, taught school there and served as Justice of the Peace. He was opposed to slavery and was in favor of the free-soil system, consequently Missouri became rather too warm a place for him, and he returned to Illinois about 1848. He bought a farm in Vermont Township, Fulton County, and lived there until 1852, when he sold the farm and once again crossed the Mississippi to find a home in the West. He went up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to St. Joseph, Mo., and from there with teams to Glenwood, Iowa. Soon after settling there he was appointed Sheriff, and when the term expired, was reelected to that position. He built a home in the village for himself and family. In 1853 he visited Nebraska with others, while it was still held by the Indians, their titles not having been abrogated, and he and his friends paid the savages $100 to let them select lands for themselves. In 1824 Mr. Davis and his family crossed the border and spent a few months on his claim in Rock Creek, five miles west of the present site of Plattsmouth. In order to secure a good title to the land, he had built a log cabin

on the place, in which his family lived. During that year the stage line was established by his place, and he was appointed Postmaster of the postoffice, that was established at that time in his house. The land had not been surveyed when he settled on it, and he joined the Claim Club Association, and was made Secretary of it. He assisted in the organization of the county, and was the first County Clerk. In 1862 he moved to Marysville, Mo., and resided there until his death, July 12, 1875, his wife dying two years later, Aug. 4, 1877. They were both prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Spurlock are also identified with that church, being among the leading members of that denomination in Plattsmouth, Mr. Spurlock having assisted in organizing the society, and been active in building up the church, and has for over twenty-five years been Recording Steward. In politics he was one of the organizers of the Republican party in Cass County and the State, and has ever since been a stanch supporter of the same.

ESLEY A. DAVIS is a level-headed, clear-thinking farmer, one of the first settlers of Cass County, residing on a well-improved farm on section 31, Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He may well lay claim to the appellation of pioneer, for he has been a resident of the State since 1856, when he came with his parents and settled in what is now known as Liberty Precinct, where his father had purchased 160 acres of wild land. At that time it contained a rude log cabin and a small field of plowed land, which amounted to but little value. At that time neighbors were so few that there was but one house between their home and Plattsmouth.
   Our subject was born in Yadkin County, N. C., June 16, 1851. He is the son of Ruel R. and Biddy Davis. The parents were both natives of North Carolina. The father died in 1861; the mother is still living in Weeping Water Precinct. Mr. Davis is one of a family of nine children: Stephen A., who resides in Plattsmouth; Orlando J., who resides in Otoe County, as does Brantley H., Wesley A.; William R. resides in Avoca Precinct; Julia A. is now the wife of William Jamison, and resides in Weeping Water; John H. was born Nov. 3, 1857, and now resides in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. It is claimed that he was one of the first white children born within the limits of Cass County, The children deceased were named Eunice and Joseph.
   The subject of this sketch less always lived on a farm, amid the stirring scenes incident to the development of a new country, and by the death of his father, when he was but thirteen years of age, he was thrown upon his own resources, and was obliged to render all the assistance possible to the other members of the family. He assisted one of his brothers in working a farm which he had rented, and also worked for neighboring farmers whenever occasion offered. It was owing to this mode of life that he was deprived of the opportunity for acquiring an education by attending school. But he has studied and read all available books and papers, and closely observed events as they occurred, until he now possesses a large fund of practical knowledge, the greater portion of which has been learned in that best of all schools-experience.
   The subject of our sketch and Alice Harmon were married Dec. 19, 1876, in Mills County, Iowa, where the lady was born Sept. 18, 1859. She is the daughter of Francis M. and Minerva Harmon. Both parents were natives of Indiana, and settled in Mills County in 1856. Her father was in the army during the late war; he was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, and which resulted in his death. Her mother is now the wife of Joshua Boyd; she resides in Washington Territory. The parents of the lady had a family of three children; her brother Fielding resides in Washington Territory; Alice is the wife of our subject, and Mary E., now the wife of William R. Davis, resides in Avoca Precinct. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have one adopted child -- Lulu M.
   After his marriage our subject resided in Rock Bluff Precinct for four years. He then removed to Liberty Precinct, where he lived a short time; in the summer of 1883 he settled in his present home, where he owns 120 acres of land, which he

has very highly improved, by the erection of a neat and pleasant dwelling-house, which is comfortably furnished throughout, conveniently arranged barns and other out-buildings for the care and protection of his stock and crops. The farm is divided into conveniently sized fields by permanent wire fences and well-cared-for hedges. The farm presents a picture of industry and untiring zeal; a fine orchard and groves of trees add beauty and value as well.
   Mrs. Davis, the wife of our subject, came with her mother to Cass County and settled in Rock Bluff Precinct, where she lived up to the time of her marriage with Mr. Davis. Mrs. Davis is an active and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; they take a lively interest in all matters pertaining to the best interests of the people among whom they live. They occupy a prominent position in the social life of the community, and are honored and respected. In political matters he is a Democrat, and takes great interest in the success of his party. He has served as School Treasurer in Mt. Pleasant District four years. He is a leading member of the I. O. O. F., belonging to the Lodge at Weeping Water. He never has sought and does not care for political or public preferment.

ARON L. VAN DOREN, a noted and successful breeder of English Shire and Cleveland Bay horses, resides in Salt Creek Precinct, where he owns a valuable, highly improved farm of 245 acres of land, on which he settled when he came to Nebraska in 1880. The gentleman was born in Chester, Morris Co., N. J., on the 8th of March, 1842. He lived in his native place until he was a lad fourteen years of age, when he migrated with his parents to Mills County, Iowa. In the years prior to their leaving New Jersey he attended the excellent schools of Newark, in that State, consequently he had a good educational training when they went to Iowa. There, however, the advantages were meager, and presented a striking contrast to the schools in the East. Their first residence in Iowa was in the typical log house, built not for beauty, but for comfort and shelter, and it can be truly said that the log cabins of our country have been the homes and birthplace of many of the brightest intellects and noblest lives that have come to this world on which we live.
   The father of our subject died when his son was only fourteen years of age, leaving the mother and our subject, with his brothers John and George, at home in charge of the farm. John died in 1859, leaving the two surviving brothers to care for the mother and the farm. The father was a very energetic, pushing man, and his sons inherited from him that very desirable quality. The two sons continued on the farm with their mother until the opening of the late Civil War, when, in response to President Lincoln's first call for 300,000 men, our subject enlisted for three years, or during the war, at Sidney, Iowa, Aug. 27, 1861. He, with his comrades, went to Davenport to Camp McClellan, and then to Camp Harland, at Mt. Pleasant, where they were drilled and instructed in the science of war. Leaving Camp McClellan they departed for the seat of war in the Smith, by the way of St. Louis. The remainder of their military education was obtained by actual experience under Confederate fire.
   The command of which our subject was a member took an active part in the battles of Springfield and Pea Ridge, Mo., where the 4th Iowa Cavalry did effective service. Our subject was a member of Company A, of this regiment. Beginning with the Missouri campaign, the regiment was actively and continuously employed, and was present and took part in the engagements at Helena, Ark., Grenada, Jackson, Guntown and Osage, Miss., finding themselves at last a part of Grant's army around Vicksburg. His brother George was killed near our subject, being the third man from him, in the same rank. In this engagement eight companions of our subject were killed and nine wounded inside of twenty minutes. During the siege of Vicksburg our subject re-enlisted as a veteran in Company A, 4th Iowa Cavalry, when he was granted a furlough of thirty days, which gave him an opportunity to visit his home and friends. At the expiration of his leave of absence he rejoined his regiment at Memphis, Tenn.
   After rejoining his regiment our subject accom-

panied it, and participated in the engagements at the Big Blue and Monticello, Mo., Selma, Ala., and Columbus, Ga., besides taking part in many skirmishes, reconnoitering and foraging expeditions. They were it Macon, Ga., when Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Court House. They then went to Atlanta, Ga., when they were sent to Davenport, Iowa, where they were mustered out, and honorably discharged Aug. 24, 1865. At Vicksburg he was made a Corporal, and in 1864, at Louisville, he was promoted to Duty Sergeant, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. During his entire term of service, covering a period of four years, he never missed a roll call. Our subject and his comrade, Jacob Barnett, had the best records of any members of the regiment, and the commanding officer not wishing to make any distinction between the two, who were equal in every respect, granted them both a duty furlough of forty days, as a reward for duties well and faithfully performed. In 1865 he returned home and began farming.
   In July, 1666, Mr. Van Doren and Miss Sarah E. Hill were married. The lady is a daughter of Edmund and Harriet (Morey) Hill. The father of this lady was born in Ohio, and the mother in Maine. The parents went to Henry County, Iowa, in 1844, and there lived for a period of eighteen years, when they removed to Mills County, Iowa. Her father was a wagon-maker, and by his industry he became the owner of a farm in Mills County, Iowa. In the years 1854-57 he visited the gold mines in California, and then returned to his family in Iowa. His sons, who are living in that State, continued to write him such flattering letters, and described the country in such glowing terms, that they induced their father, at his advanced age, to sell his home in Mills County and remove to Califoria, which he did in 1874, and lived there until his death, which occurred Dec. 6, 1887, when he was sixty-eight years old. The mother is still living at Cedarville, Cal., aged sixty-nine years.
   Mrs. Van Doren is the second eldest in a family of seven children, her brother Daniel E. being older; and George F., Alvin (who died when one year old). Nellie A., Charley (who died when four years old), and Eva M. are younger. Sarah E. was born in Henry County, Iowa, where she lived with her parents until she was sixteen years old, when she went with them to Mills County, Iowa. At the age of seventeen she began teaching school, which she continued for three years. After her marriage she lived with her husband in Mills County, Iowa, until they came to Nebraska in 1880.
   The father of our subject, William Van Doren, was born in New Jersey, where he was a farmer. He moved to Mills County, Iowa, in 1855, settling near Emerson, where he prospered and owned a large and valuable farm. He became widely known as an excellent judge of cattle and horses. He died an his homestead in 1856, aged fifty-four years. The mother, Perthenia (Drake) Van Doren, was also a native of New Jersey; she was married twice, and one child was the result of her first union, named James A. Lusk, now an esteemed citizen and farmer of Logan, Harrison Co., Iowa. Eight children were born to her after her second marriage who were named: Ann Maria, Nancy J., Caroline, William, Mary E., George W., John (now dead), and our subject, Aaron L. George was married, became the father of a son, and is now dead; Ann M. resides at Alexander, Dak.; Nancy resides in Lawrence, Mills Co., Iowa; Caroline resides in Topeka, Mason Co., Ill.; William resides in Malvern, Iowa; Mary E. is the wife of William J. Baldwin, for a sketch of whose life see another page of this volume. After her husband's death, the mother lived on the old homestead, where she died in 1886, eighty-five years old. The Van Doren homestead is now owned jointly by the heirs, but all of them have homes of their own, so none of the family live there.
   The paternal grandparents of our subject came to America from Holland, and settled in New Jersey in the early Colonial times. The mother's people came from England at a very early date, and settled in New Jersey.
   A family of six children have been born to our subject and his wife, named: Edgar W.; Flora, who died wed three months; Frank H., Freddie L., Nellie M. and Raymond. His wife is a lady of culture and refinement; kind and hospitable, she takes and holds one of the first places in the social life of the precinct. Coming to the West as she

did at an early age, the toils, privations and dangers of pioneer life are not strange to her, she having borne unflinchingly her full share as a dutiful daughter and faithful wife, and she has richly earned the life of competence and ease which is now her portion.
   Mr. Van Doren is a gentleman who presents an ideal of manly beauty and strength; he is rather above the medium stature, well and strongly built, a frame closely knit, with sinewy muscles, he has all the attributes that make him a man of extraordinary physical power. He is a man of great force of character, and makes his individuality felt and recognized by all. His career as a soldier is one of which he may be exceedingly proud. There may have been others who possessed one equally as good, but no one surpasses him in that respect. Bearing all the privations, discharging every duty, however dangerous, unflinchingly, seeing his only brother shot down at his side, and exposing his own life to the same fate, show him to be a man of courage and resolution. In tracing his ancestry back to the early days of our country, no flaw or stain can be found attaching to ally of the name, but each one faithfully discharged every duty of patriotism and honor devolving upon them.
   The love of horses exhibited by our subject is inherited from his father, and he has cultivated it from his earliest childhood. The horse was an object of great delight to him in his early years, and in his later life and during the time of the Rebellion he held constant companionship with the graceful members of the equine tribe, and it is therefore no wonder that in his years of mature manhood he should engage in a business having for its purpose the breeding and development of the most noble animal of creation. Such has been his experience, the result of study and observation, that his judgment in all matters relating to stock raising is accepted by his neighbors without question, it being proverbial, and the farm which he has devoted to this purpose presents to the eve of the observer a place perfect in all its details, designed especially for the comfort and accommodation of the many fine specimens of the horse -- the property of our subject. His farm is well improved by substantial fences, large and conveniently arranged barns, laid a commodious, well-furnished dwelling-house, a choice orchard, and numerous groves and numbers of ornamental trees. A large supply of pure water is available, made convenient to the barns and dwelling by a system of piping from it large tank, filled by a pump operated by a large windmill. A view of the place is shown on another page of this work.
   Our subject is Junior Vice-Commander of the G. A. R. Post at Greenwood, and is Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He is a School Director of District No. 81, and is now serving his third term. In politics he is a strict Republican, and takes a lively interest in the success of that party.

RED WEHRBEIN is one of the leading farmers of Plattsmouth Township, and his highly productive farm, one of the most valuable estates in this locality, is sufficient evidence that he has met with more than ordinary success in his chosen calling. He comes of an ancient German family, and is a son of Frederic Wehrbein, who was born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, and was there united in marriage to Amalia Goedike. There were eight children born unto them, namely: Wilhelmina, Amalia, Charlotte, Dorothea, Frederic (who died in infancy), our subject, William and Gustine; the latter is deceased.
   In 1855 Mr. Wehrbein emigrated to the United States with his family, and located in Jefferson County, Wis., where he was prosperously engaged in farming for some years. In 1868 he removed to Nebraska with his wife and children, and made his home here until his death, his wife also dying here. He was a capable, self-reliant man, and while acquiring a competency contributed to the material welfare of Cass County.
   The subject of this sketch was born in the home of his fathers in far-away Germany, June 14, 1848, and but seven years had passed over his head when he left the Fatherland with his parents and came to the United States, of which he was to become a useful citizen after attaining manhood. He continued to live with his parents until his marriage. He first purchased eighty acres of land on section 18,