State. Our subject was born in Huntingdon County, and there he was reared and chiefly educated. He subsequently entered the Pennsylvania Medical College, where he pursued a thorough course of study, and from which he was graduated in 1852, with a high standing for scholarship. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in his native State. From the beginning his success was assured; a young man of exceptional talent, finely educated, and of an irreproachable character, he had no difficulty in winning his way, and making himself popular. The breaking out of the war found him in the enjoyment of an extensive practice, but in 1863 we find him pursuing his calling on Southern battlefields, he having volunteered in the spring, of that year, and been commissioned surgeon of the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He served in that capacity under the gallant Gen. Philip Sheridan, and was with him in all the battles of a year and a half. He was often in the thick of a heavy engagement, affording relief to the wounded and dying soldiers, and at one time was under fire twenty-three days continuously.
   The Doctor subsequently resigned his commission as regimental surgeon that he might accept the position as assistant surgeon in the regular army, and was stationed at Annapolis., Md., where he had charge of the exchange of prisoners from November, 1864, to the close of the war. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged, and was warmly welcomed back to the bosom of his family and to his old friends in his Pennsylvania home. He at once resumed his professional duties, and for several years led an exceedingly busy life, for he was the "beloved physician" in many a household where his presence seemed to bring healing. For some years he was surgeon for the Huntingdon & Broad Top Railroad Company in Pennsylvania. He at length decided to make his home in Nebraska for the benefit of its healthful, invigorating climate, and winding up his affairs in his native State, he came here and located in Sterling in June, 1878. He opened an office in this city and practiced a short time, but being a man of quiet, scholarly tastes, and having an ample income for the enjoyment of them, he has withdrawn from the duties of his profession as nearly as possible, and lives in partial retirement with his wife and children in one of the most charming homes in the city. The Doctor was married in Pennsylvania in January, 1854, to Miss Margaret Stunkard who has been to him a devoted companion. Their pleasant wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth of four sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.
   Our subject has the reputation of a man of integrity, wisdom, and unfailing courtesy, which traits have gained for him a warm place in the affections of all who have the honor to know him. He is ever ready to promote the interests of the community in which he lives, and all calls for aid in carrying out benevolent schemes find in him a ready response.

ARMON P. MARBLE, the able editor and publisher of the Elk Creek Sentinel, is the son of Milton and Maria B. Marble. His father was born in Ohio, on the 16th of March, 1839, and lived there until about 1863, when he migrated to Wisconsin, making his home there about five years. He then went to Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he engaged in mercantile transactions. From Iowa he removed to Table Rock, in this State, in the year 1869, and was one of the first settlers there. He entered a claim of undeveloped and uncultivated land, and continued farming from that time onward until 1882, when he retired from agriculture and embarked in the real-estate business at Table Rock.
   The father of our subject was twice elected Commissioner of the county, and is now serving his second term in that office. In the year 1865 he was united in marriage with Miss Maria Bump, of Iowa Falls, Iowa. There have been given to them six children, of whom three are still living. His wife died in 1871, aged about forty years. She was the daughter of S. C. Bump, of Iowa Falls.
   Our subject was born at Table Rock, Neb., on the 5th of November, 1870, and he continued to live there until 1884. There he received his early education and home training, afterward giving his attention to the printing business, with a view of making it his occupation in life. He went to Paw-

nee City, where he entered the Republican office and there learned the trade of a printer, remaining for a little over two years, also getting considerable insight into the general work of the office, gaining considerable editorial experience, much more than would be usually expected in one so young and in so short a time. The following two years he was engaged in various places, and in July of the past year (1888) opened the office above mentioned.
   Mr. Marble edits a bright, cheery, newsy paper, manifesting considerable knowledge and tact. He has an increasing subscription list, and is well patronized by advertisers, which promises well for his continued and ultimate success. In his political sentiments he is firmly established upon a Republican foundation, and takes the greatest possible interest in everything connected therewith. He is a young man of character, ability and enterprise, and without doubt has yet to be heard from in connection with his chosen path in life. On another page appears a portrait of this live editor and native of Nebraska.

ERNANDES H. ELLIS, proprietor of the leading blacksmith and repair shop at Crab Orchard, is numbered among the younger citizens of this place, and established himself in business here in August, 1884. He is in the enjoyment of a good patronage as the result of a thorough understanding of his trade, turning out excellent work and giving employment to two men. He has been a resident of Nebraska since a boy nine years of age, most of this time being spent in Johnson County, to which his parents came in 1868, settling in Vesta Precinct. Nebraska at this time had not long enjoyed its dignity as a State, and the country around was still wild and new.
   Mr. Ellis was born in Whiteside County, Ill., Sept. 7, 1859, and remained with his parents assisting his father in the various employments incident to farm life until a young man twenty-three years of age, then going to Tecumseh, where he began his apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, at which he served two years, and then worked as a journeyman by the day nearly one year. In the meantime he had saved what he could of his earnings, and was then ready to establish himself in business. He is of that cheerful and courteous mien which never fails of making friends, and he is consequently the center of a pleasant circle of acquaintances, where he is ever welcome, and is in the enjoyment of a large measure of esteem and confidence. Our subject is a member in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he uniformly votes the Republican ticket.
   Benjamin P. Ellis, the father of our subject, is a farmer by occupation, and resides on section 28, in Vesta Precinct. He was born in Dearborn County, Ind., in May, 1833, and is the son of David and Mary (Barton) Ellis, the former a native of Maine, and the latter born on the Atlantic Ocean while her parents were emigrating from their native Ireland to America. They settled in Dearborn County, Ind., during its pioneer days, where David Ellis carried on farming and also worked as a carpenter and wagonmaker.
   The mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss Emily S. Roberts, and became the wife of Benjamin P. Ellis Nov. 26, 1856. Her father was Joseph Roberts, who was a carpenter by occupation, a native of Maine, and spent his last years in Nebraska. To Benjamin P. and Emily Ellis there were born four children, three of whom are living, namely: Clara L., Fernandes H., our subject, and Lizzie. The elder sister married Charles B. Strong, of Cheyenne County, Kan., and they have two daughters--Mabel and Julia; Lizzie is the wife of John McConnel, of Crab Orchard.
   The father of our subject acquired his education in one of the primitive lot school-houses of Dearborn County, Ind., a structure built after the fashion of that day, with its slab seats pinned to the wall and the roof of clapboards held in place by weight-poles. The huge fireplace occupied nearly one side of the room, and the chimney was built of earth and sticks outside. Mr. Ellis removed from his native county to Whiteside County, Ill., in 1856, where he carried on farming until the winter of 1868. Then coming to this county he homesteaded 160 acres of land, which he still owns