matters, Mr. Gold assisted in the erection of the first Methodist Episcopal Church building of Table Rock, also the Presbyterian Church, and has in fact been found ever willing to give a cheerful support to the various projects having for their object the advancement of the people. His neighbors, who have had the best means of knowing of his daity life, uniformly speak of him in the highest terms, and a man can need no better recommendation than this.
   The native State of our subject was Pennsylvania, and his childhood home in Northampton County, where he was born July 1, 1840. He received a good practical education, and lived there until a young man of twenty-two years. A few months after the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted as a Union soldier, Sept. 15, 1862, in Company A, 153d Pennsylvania Infantry. This was at the time of the nine months call for 600,000 men. Young Gold met the enemy in many important battles, besides innumerable skirmishes, being in the fight at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Antietam, and at the close of his term of enlistment received an honorable discharge.
   Upon retiring from the army after a year's service, Mr. Gold migrated to Stephenson County, Ill., where he spent two years engaged in farming. He then sold his forty acres of land, and, crossing the Mississippi, invested his capital in this county. He was married to his present wife May 16, 1883. She was formerly Mrs. Julia (Avery) Kinney, of New York City, who was visiting her brother in Table Rock Precinct, where she formed the acquaintance of our subject. Of a former marriage of Mr. Gold there is one child, a son, Henry.
   Mrs. Julia Gold was born Sept. 24, 1856, in Montgomery County, N. Y., and lived there until reaching womanhood. She was then married to Mr. Kinney, and came to the West in 1880. By her first husband she became the mother of one child, a son, George W., who is living with Mr. Gold.
   Jacob Gold, the father of our subject, and, like his son, a native of Northampton County, Pa., was born the first week in August, 1800. He spent his entire life in his native county engaged in agricultural pursuits. Upon reaching manhood he was married to Miss Eva Bridinger, and this union restilted in the birth of four children. The father died at the homestead in Northampton County, in 1878. The mother, who was born in 1802, survived her husband nine years, her death taking place April 7, 1887. The elder Gold accumulated a good property, being the owner of a large tract of land, which his children afterward occupied. Peter is the only one in Nebraska.

OBERT INGLIS. Close upon the heels of other important enterprises was established that which the subject of this sketch is now successfully prosecuting, the manufacture of buggies and spring wagons. Mr. I. came to Pawnee City in the fall of 1876, and is numbered among its most energetic business men, industrious and reliable, and worthily filling his niche in the busy hive of its various industries. A native of Illinois, he was born near Kewanee, in Henry County, Dec. 2, 1856, and is the eldest of six children, the offspring of Peter and Ellen I. (Rutherford) Inglis, who were both natives of Scotland.
   The parents of our subject emigrated to the United States early in life, and after their marriage settled in Henry County, Ill., where the father was successfully engaged as a farmer and stocktrader, and where they lived until their removal to Nebraska, in 1874. Upon coming to this county they settled on a tract of land about ten miles southwest of Pawnee City, where the parents still reside. Robert remained with them until twenty years of age, acquiring a practical education, and completing his studies in the academy at Kewanee, Ill. He accompanied them to this county, and lived with them upon the farm one year, then repairing to Pawnee City began an apprenticeship at blacksmithing, which trade he followed thereafter for a period of about eight years.
   Mr. Inglis at an early period in his life displayed unusual mechanical genius, and at the expiration of the time mentioned he left the anvil, and began the manufacture of spring wagons and buggies, putting out from the first about fifty jobs per year, also doing a general repair business. This enter-

prise was successful from the first, and he now gives employment during the busy season to from six to eight men. His work is all disposed of in the home market. He has invested much of his capital in real estate, putting up what is called the Pawnee City Opera House in connection with J. M. Spates, and other structures. The opera house is an object of pride to the citizens of this place, occupying an area of 52x100 feet, being two stories in height, with a capacity of seating 750 persons. There are in connection with the stage fourteen sets of scenes and other appliances making it pleasant for the theater-goers.
   Miss Margaret C. Burg, of Pawnee County, became the wife of our subject Dec. 8, 1875. She was born Dec. 8, 1856, and is the daughter of Francis Burg, who is now deceased, having spent his last years in this county. They have two children, a son and daughter, George F. and Nellie. Mr. Inglis has served as a member of the City Council three years, and is at present the City Treasurer. He is rather conservative in politics, but usually votes the Republican ticket. Socially, he belongs to Lodge No. 9, I. O. O. F., and is a Knight of Pythias. In religious matters he is identified with the First Presbyterian Church.
   Mr. Inglis is numbered among the self-made men of this county, who, knowing how their property has been accumulated, naturally know how to take care of it. He has sufficient to support him in his declining years, and is adding steadily to his bank account.

OHN DAVIS, dealer in lumber and coal, and having his headquarters in Pawnee City, represents a portion of the solidity and reliability of the business community, of which he became a member March 17, 1871. To this point have migrated men of nearly all nations, and Mr. Davis is a native of Wales, having been born in Aberdare, March 3, 1850. He emigrated to America with his parents when a lad nine years of age, and, although so young, remembers many of the scenes of his native shire, the incidents of preparation for a long voyage across the Atlantic, and the landing in the New World.
   David W. and Mary (Davis) Davis, the parents of our subject, were of pure Welsh ancestry, and, after coming to the United States, located first on a tract of land in Sauk County, Wis. They resided there until the outbreak of the Civil War, and the father then enlisted in Company A, 36th Wisconsin Infantry, and died at Salisbury, N. C., after a service of one year, in December, 1864. In the meantime he had suffered the terrors of Libby and Andersonville Prisons.
   The mother with her six children remained on the farm in Wisconsin, and our subject staid with them until reaching his majority. Then, desirous of seeing something of the more Western country, he migrated to this county, and taught school in order to get money to purchase land. He was thus occupied two years, and later became book-keeper in the store of J. R. Ervin, which position he occupied four years. He made good headway in the esteem and confidence of the people, and in 1877 was elected Clerk of Pawnee County, in which office he served acceptably two years, and was re-elected for another term. Upon retiring from the Clerk's office he engaged in the lumber trade, handling pine of all kinds, and finally taking in a partner, W. T. Jones, they operating together until the death of Mr. Jones, which occurred in December, 1887, since which time Mr. Davis has continued the business alone.
   Miss Emma Tracy, a native of Ohio, became the wife of our subject Aug. 23, 1876, the wedding taking place at the bride's home in Pawnee County. Mrs. Davis went with her parents to Illinois very early in life, in which State she grew to womanhood, receiving her education in the common school. Of her union with our subject there have been born four children, two of whom are living, namely: D. Lyle and Waldo T. One interesting little girl, named Imo T., died at the age of eight years, and an infant unnamed.
   Politically, Mr. Davis voted, until 1887, uniformly with the Republican party, but his strong sympathy with the temperance work led him later to ally himself with the Prohibitionists. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church

for it period of twenty-one years, and has always taken an active part in the church and Sunday-school of this city. He took a course of study in the Worthington & Warner Commercial College, at Madison, Wis., working to pay his way through school. In his lumber transactions he has been more than ordinarily successful, doing a business of $12,000 annually. He occupies a handsome residence, which was put up at a cost of $6,000, and which, with its surroundings, forms one of the most complete homes in the city.

OSEPH K. MORTON in years gone by stood among the stalwart, self-reliant, courageous, capable pioneers of Pawnee County, who, with strength of mind and muscle, and steadiness of purpose, overcame all obstacles that beset the path of the frontiersmen in settling up the wild country that they found here in the fifties, and today are deservedly enjoying the fruits of their early labors in comfortable homes. Mr. Morton was an early settler of Pawnee City, coming here in 1857, when there was not a house standing on the present site of the city. There had, however, been a sale of lots, and our subject after his arrival purchased the lot where Irving's store now stands on Main street. He there built a house, and fitting up the front part as a store, he opened the first mercantile establishment in the city of Pawnee. About the same time a man by the name of Lemon put up a house, the front part of which he used as a store, and entered into friendly competition with our subject. Mr. Morton bought his first stock of goods in Iowa Point, Kan., and afterward traded in St. Joseph, Mo. The city not being very populous at that early date, business was not very flourishing, and our subject rented his store building for a hotel, the first kept in Pawnee. He then came to his present place of residence, and bought the land which he has developed into his present fine farm. Some of it had been broken and a house stood on it, and our subject energetically set about making further improvements. He now has his farm all fenced, 100 acres of its exceedingly fertile soil under fine tillage, and has about fifty acres of forest, from which a tree has never been cut. He enlarged the house that stood on the farm when he bought it, and had quite a roomy and conveniently arranged dwelling, but, being on low ground, it was considerably damaged by the flood of January, 1882, together with 150 hogs, 3,000 bushels of corn, and everything else that was movable. Mr. Morton then built his present residence, a substantial frame house, with all the modern conveniences, on the hill, far from the devastating influences of any sudden rise of waters.
   Mr. Morton helped to form this school district, which has always been called the Morton district in his honor. He was elected its first Director, and for twelve years held that office, and then resigned the position, declining all solicitations to retain it any further. In virtue of his office he was the chief member of the building committee, and supervised the building of the school-house, borrowing the money for that purpose, bonds having been voted and sold, and he took charge of the whole thing and transacted all the business very thoroughly and satisfactorily. Although Mr. Morton has taken a genuine interest in public affairs, he has been no politician, but has always supported the solid Democratic ticket at the polls. In religion he is a respected member of the United Brethren Church. He has a keen, thoughtful mind, is well read, and in him his neighbors find a kind and considerate friend. During his long career as a farmer he showed himself possessed of sound, practical wisdom and a good capacity for labor, and in all particulars he has conducted himself with a strict honorableness and fairness. He now rents his farm, but still has a general oversight of it to see that everything is kept up to the same high standard to which he brought it.
   Mr. Morton was born in Virginia, in Lee County, Aug. 21, 1816. His father, Jesse L. Morton, was born in North Carolina prior to the Revolution, and was eighteen years of age when that war was brought to a close. He took part in the War of 1812, and was crippled by a cannon carriage. He spent most of his life in Lee County, Va., engaged in farming. He and his wife were both born near Hillsboro, N. C., and they remembered the British encampment at that place. They were not long

divided in death, his decease occurring six weeks after hers. They were quiet, respected people, and reared their children, of whom they had five who lived to maturity, to exemplary, useful lives.
   Our subject lived in the Old Dominion until 1851, and in the meantime acquired a practical education, which he utilized by teaching school. He there followed farming until the year mentioned, when he migrated to Missouri. He married in Virginia Miss Nancy Wells, of Powell's Valley, Va., and to them came six children, five of whom are still living, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth Cochran, whose home is one mile south of her father's; Jesse L. is single; Mary G., widow of J. F. C. McCaslin, who now resides with her father; Gabriel J., next north of our subject's house, and John O., one mile north, both having families and farms of their own. Jesse L., the eldest son of our subject, was in the late war, serving throughout, and receiving a wound from the effects of which he lost a limb. After marriage Mr. Morton moved to Andrew County, Mo., one mile south of Fillmore, and farmed there until Kansas was opened for settlement in 1854, when he went to Iowa Point, a little town in that State. There his wife was sick for a year, and died of consumption. In 1857 Mr. Morton came here with his children, and after living a widower for seven years, he married Mrs. McNeil, the widow of a very early settler of Pawnee County. To them came one child, Charles T., a farmer and thresher at Steinauer, Neb. Mr. Morton was a second time bereaved of a good wife and devoted helpmate, Mrs. M. dying May 1, 1880. Politically, Mr. Morton is a Democrat.

OHN CONARD. Nebraska numbers among her citizens many who were in the Union Army during the late war, some of them taking up arms and fighting in their country's defense before they had arrived at man's estate. As a fine representative of this soldier element in the development of this great State, we are pleased to present herewith a sketch of the life of the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this biographical notice. He was one of the early pioneers of Pawnee County, coming here the year after the close of the Rebellion, and has ever since been identified with its agricultural interests. He owns and manages one of the largest farms in Mission Creek Precinct, comprising 240 acres of land of unsurpassed fertility, on sections 31 and 32, and he has besides eighty acres of land in Marshall County, Kan.
   Our subject was born Jan. 11, 1845, near the town of Brookville, on the homestead that his father had cleared from the primeval forests of Franklin County, Ind. His mother, whose maiden name was Christiana Cruse, was likewise a native of that county. His father, Peter Conard, was a German by birth and breeding. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Peter Conard, was a native and lifelong resident of Germany, dying there in 1860, at the venerable age of seventy-six years. He was the owner of a vineyard and manufactured wine for many years. Charles Cruse, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Prussia, but later in life came to America and located in Indiana, and for several years thereafter was engaged in farming in Franklin County, of which he was a pioneer. He died in 18497 in the home that he had built up there by patient industry.
   The father of our subject was reared in his native Germany to the life of a farmer, and remained an inmate of the parental home until his emigration to the United States in 1835, when he was twenty-one years of age. He located in Franklin County, Ind., and buying Government land, cleared a farm, and he and his family resided thereon until 1868. In that year he sold his property in that county, and moving to Dearborn County, in the same State, carried on farming there very prosperously until his death, at the age of sixty-seven, in 1881. He was it consistent member of the Lutheran Church, living up to his Christian creed in word and deed, and he was thoroughly respected by all who knew him. He had the misfortune to lose his devoted companion in early life, she dying in 1854, while yet in the prime of life, being only thirty years of age. To them had been born six children, as follows: Henry and Sophia, who are dead; John; Fred, who died Jan. 4, 1889, in Kansas City;

George W. and Charles, twins; the former in Marshall County, Kan., and the latter deceased.
   Mr. Conard grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving the usual common-school advantages. He was but a boy when the great Civil War broke out, but he watched with intense interest its progress, and in December, 1863, when eighteen years of age, was permitted to enlist in defense of the stars and stripes, and he became a member of the 123d Indiana Infantry, Company D, 1st Division, 1st Brigade, 23d Corps, Army of the Ohio. He was mustered in at Greensburg, Ind., and then sent to Nashville, Tenn. He was with his regiment at Charleston, at Resaca and Dallas, and in various engagements on the march to Atlanta. From that city he and his comrades were sent back to Nashville, under command of Gen. Thomas, and took an active part in the battle of Franklin and the one at Nashville. Our subject then went to North Carolina, and was present during the engagement at Wise Forks, and later he witnessed Lee's surrender at Richmond. He accompanied his regiment to Charlotte, N. C., to do guard duty, and was there mustered out of the army, and received his discharge papers at Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 7, 1865. Although a young man he had shown the coolness, courage and endurance of a veteran, and was in all respects a thorough soldier, doing his duty well whether in camp or on the field under the enemy's fire. After his military experience Mr. Conard returned to the old home in Indiana, and remained there over winter and the following summer. In the fall of 1866 he decided to avail himself of the cheap lands of the Territory of Nebraska, and starting on the somewhat lengthy journey with a team, crossed the Mississippi at Quincy, Ill., and the Missouri at St. Joseph, he proceeded to his destination in Pawnee County. He took up a tract of 160 acres of Government land as a homestead, located on sections 31 and 32, included in his present farm. He was one of the earliest settlers of Mission Creek Precinct, and is now one of the oldest living here in point of settlement. His land had no improvements on it, and with characteristic vigor he set about the pioneer task of developing it into a farm, which to-day may be considered a model. He broke the soil in which to plant his first crop, and erected a log house, which he has since replaced by a more commodious and conveniently arranged dwelling, and has erected a fine set of farm buildings, a windmill (Murdock) for watering purposes with two tanks, and the Grover mill to grind his grain for feeding.
   Mr. Conard has since purchased more land from time to time, a 160-acre tract and an 80-acre tract adjoining, besides the eighty acres previously mentioned in Kansas. He has fenced his farm with wire, has plenty of hay and pasture land, and his farm is amply provided with all the most approved machinery for lightening labor. Mr. Conard has ten acres of timber land, eight acres of groves and a fine orchard of twelve acres. He engages extensively in general farming, paying considerable attention to stock-raising, and has sixteen horses of fine breed.
   Mr. Conard was married in Greensburg, Decatur Co., Ind., Jan. 7, 1868, to Miss Elizabeth Winter. She was born Aug. 12, 1842, in St. Omer, Decatur Co., Ind., a daughter of Gideon and Priscilla (Niceley) Winter. Her father was born in Ohio, Sept. 15, 1815, and her mother was born in Tennessee, Oct. 10, 1819. Her paternal grandfather, John Niceley, a native of Tennessee, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was a farmer by occupation, and moving to Ripley, Ohio, was a pioneer there, carrying on agriculture until his death. Her father was a blacksmith, and moving to Ripley, carried on his trade there some years. He then went to Decatur County, Ind., of which he was an early settler, and thence moved to Kansas in 1869. He took up a claim in Marshall County, near the town of Beattie, and there died in January, 1878. The mother of Mrs. Conard is still living and is sixty-nine years old. Of her marriage ten children were born, eight of whom are living, as follows: Jane, Elizabeth, William, Joseph, Francis, Mary, Jessie, Addie. William took part in the late war at the same time as our subject, and was a member of the same company. Mrs. Conard is an amiable, refined lady, with a natural taste for the beautiful, its is shown in the adornment of her attractive, cozy home. Five children have blessed her marriage with our subject, namely; Joseph B., Clara B., Jessie Z., Myrtie, John R., the latter being dead.

     Though he has scarcely attained the meridian of life our subject has already accumulated a comfortable property, and stands among the solid men of Pawnee County, and this is due not alone to the fact that he labors persistently and pays strict attention to his business, but also because he is a man of more than average capacity and discernment. His fellow-citizens have found him wise and helpful in their councils concerning public affairs, and he is now serving the township ably as Supervisor. He held the office of Assessor one year. In him the Republican party of this section of the country finds one of its strongest adherents. He is an esteemed member of the G. A. R. at Liberty. He has served on both the Grand and the Petit Jury.

ICHARD L. VEDDER. If there is any condition in life affording satisfaction it would seem to be that of the retired farmer, who, looking back upon a long and useful career, feels that his time has been well spent, and that, in opening up a portion of her territory for settlement, he has contributed in no small degree to the progress and prosperity of his county. Mr. Vedder is one of the most worthy representatives of his class, a man whose strict honesty and reliability of character have caused his name to be held in high respect by all who have come within the sphere of his acquaintance.
   The native place of our subject was in Onondaga County, N. Y., where he first opened his eyes to the light Sept. 4, 1836. His father, Albert A. Vedder, was born near the city of Troy, same State, in 1807, where during his younger days he carried on farming and carpentering combined. The paternal grandfather, Aaron Vedder, was of Holland-Dutch ancestry, and married a lady of French descent. The latter lived to the advanced age of ninety-seven years, spending her last days in New York State with her daughter. Grandfather Veilder also died in New York.
   Mrs. Susan D. (Lusk) Vedder, also a native of the Empire State, was born in 1816, and was the daughter of Richard Lusk, whose offspring numbered eight children. Richard L. Vedder, our subject, was the second child of his parents, and was reared after the manner of most farmers' sons, going a barefooted boy to the district school, and assisting his parents in the various employments of the farm. This he left, however, when a youth of nineteen years, starting out for himself and working by the month. He left his native State in 1857, and migrated to the vicinity of Clinton, Iowa, where he stopped two years, and became interested in the grain business at that point and Lyons. In 1859 he returned home, but a few months later started again for the West, bringing up at Wyandotte, Kan. Recrossing the Mississippi once more, we find him in Greene County, Ill., about 1860, where he suddenly leaped into prominence is Deputy Clerk in the Recorder's office. Upon leaving this he occupied himself as a druggist, but this enterprise not being an entire success, he entered the employ of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, holding the position of Station Agent for about four years.
   In the month of June, 1868, Mr. Vedder made his advent into Pawnee City, and he was so favorably impressed with the place that he began at once making arrangements for a permanent residence. His first business venture was in the hardware trade, which he prosecuted three years. He then drifted back to farming, on land lying four miles east of Pawnee City, which he had purchased, and which he occupied four years. Here he had 240 acres, which he brought to a good state of cultivation, and of which he still retains ownership, it being operated by a renter. He retired from the active duties of farm life on account of rheumatism. about 1880, wisely relegating those labors to younger hands.
   The 23d of September, 1863, was a memorable day in the life of our subject, when he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Bowman, of Carrollton, Ill. Mrs. Vedder is a native of that town, and the daughter of Martin and Harriet (Christy) Bowman, who were natives of Ohio. The fatber is still living, and a resident of that town. This union resulted in the birth of three children, two daughters and a son, the latter of whom, Martin A., is now occupied in the Armour establishments, in the city of Omaha. Lucy A. and Harriet C. are at