most of his time and opportunities, and had attracted the attention of his fellow-citizens by his faithful application to business. In 1887 he was elected Clerk of the District Court, and assumed the duties of his office January 17 following. While a resident of Iola, Kan., our subject was united in marriage with Miss Maggie M. Brisbin, who was born in Ohio, and who died in 1880, leaving one son, Earl B. Mr. Brooks contracted a second marriage, in 1885, with Miss Ora E., daughter of John F. Himiller, of Greenfield, Ohio. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, and socially, belongs to Pawnee Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M., also to Interior Lodge No. 9, I. O. O. F. During the Civil War he enlisted under the call for the first 75,000 troops, serving his term and receiving his honorable discharge; he then re-enlisted, in the three years' service, in Company C, 73d Ohio Infantry. His regiment was sent to West Virginia and they fought with the Army of the Potomac under Gen. Sigel, taking part in the battle of Bull Run. Mr. Brooks was afterward at Gettysburg, and thence transferred to Chattanooga, Tenn. Afterward he accompanied Sherman in his southeastern campaign, then up through the Carolinas to Washington, there taking part in the grand review. Thence he was sent to Louisville, Ky., where he was mustered out and soon afterward returned home. His army record is creditable in the extreme, and during that time he enjoyed the respect of his comrades and the approval of his superior officers.

ILLIAM E. ROOT, a wealthy and influential member of the farming community of Mission Creek Precinct, has met with more than average success in his agricultural ventures, and owns a farm which, in point of improvement and productiveness, is classed among the very best estates in Pawnee County. It comprises 160 acres on section 32 in his home farm, and eighty acres over the State line in Kansas, admirably adapted to mixed husbandry, and our subject has devoted considerable time to raising stock, and has a fine, we kept herd of Short-horns, eight head of horses of good strain, and a number of high-grade hogs.
   When he came to Mission Creek, in the spring of 1880, he purchased his present homestead, then consisting of 160 acres of partly improved laud. By persistent and well-directed labor he has since wrought a great change; has fenced his land in hedge and wire; has planted six acres of groves, and an orchard of 100 choice fruit trees; has erected a commodious dwelling and good barns, one of them, 30x50 feet, the largest in the precinct; has large corn cribs, granary, windmill, tanks, etc., and has an ample supply of the most approved farm machinery. He has been very extensively engaged in agriculture, and at one time owned 640 acres of land, but he has deeded all but 160 acres of his Nebraska estate to his boys, retaining also the eighty acres of land in Kansas.
   Our subject is a lineal descendant of a fine old New England family that originated in England, three brothers of the name coming to this country from their ancestral English home in Puritan days, and casting in their lot with the colonists on American soil. The paternal grandfather of our subject was born in Connecticut, and at some period of his life became an early settler of Buffalo, N. Y. He was there during the War of 1812, and his property was destroyed by fire. He died in 1816. His son Jesse, the father of our subject, was born in Connecticut. He moved to Buffalo, N. Y. in 1811, and during the War of 1812 enlisted, when but eighteen years of age, in the Quartermaster's department, and was engaged in carrying dispatches, etc. Mr. Root after his retirement from the army at the close of the war returned to Hebron, Conn., with an ox-team, and then went back to New York and worked for awhile in the town of Geddes. In March, 1815, he moved to the wilderness in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and purchasing a tract of Government land, cleared forty acres of it and engaged in farming and stock-raising there a number of years. In 1822 he was married in that State to Miss Sally A. Scofield, a native of New York City. Her father, Benjamin Scofield, was a carpenter by trade, and a resident of New York City. Later in life he became a pioneer of Ohio, settling near Cleveland, and there he died in 1848, at the age of sixty-three years. In 1832, after a happy wedded life of ten years. Mr. Root had the

misfortune to lose his wife, who had been a faithful helpmate and a loving mother to their children, of whom they had seven, as follows: Louisa, Clarinda, Caroline, Andrew J., all deceased; William, Sally A. and Julia A. (twins), still surviving. In 1874 Mr. Root moved from his pioneer home to Fayette, Ohio, and there lived in retirement until his death the following year, on the 14th day of January. He was a man of unblemished honor, tender feeling, and of more than average vigor of mind, and left to his children and grandchildren the precious legacy of a good life. He was a sincere Christian, and a member of the Baptist Church. No one ever appealed to him in vain for help or sympathy, and as an earnest Abolitionist he was especially active in behalf of the slave, and his house was a station for the "underground railway."
   The subject of this sketch was born near Strongsville, Ohio, May 30, 1825. He there grew to man's estate on his father's farm, receiving in the meantime very good school advantages. In 1845 he went to Peoria, Ill., by way of Chicago, and there worked by the month at farming, and also engaged in teaching. He subsequently took up his residence in Henry County, the same State, buying Government land near Cambridge, and improved it. In the years following he developed one of the finest farms in that part of the country, and carried on farming and stock-raising there until 1879. He then wound up his affairs in that State, having decided to seek a home on the fertile soil and under the sunny skies of Nebraska, and in October of that year removed with a team to Pawnee City. He wintered on West Branch Creek, and in March, 1880, came to his present place of residence, as before mentioned.
   October 1, 1854, in the town of Princeville, Peoria Co., Ill., the marriage of our subject to Miss Delilah J. Slane was celebrated. Mrs. Root was the second white child born in Ft. Clark, Peoria Co., Ill., her birth occurring March 26, 1832. She is derived from an excellent family, and her parents, Benjamin and Delilah (Chisier) Slane, were natives of Hampshire County, Va., her father born April 22, 1790, and her mother Feb. 12, 1800. Her paternal grandfather, a native of Ireland, settled in Virginia some time during the last century, and was a prosperous planter there for many years, owning a large plantation, and there he spent his last days. Her maternal grandfather was also a Virginia planter. Mrs. Root's parents were reared and married in Virginia, their union taking place in 1824. Her father was a tanner by trade, and subsequent to his marriage he moved to Ohio, locating near Zanesville. He was there but a short time, however, before he was attracted to the newer State of Illinois, and in November, 1831, arrived at Ft. Clark, and became one of the very first settlers in Peoria County. He bought a tract of wild land, and improved 160 acres into a good farm. He afterward moved to Princeville, in the same county, and was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits there for many years, his death occurring there April 29, 1875. His wife died many years before, the date of her death being June 25, 1839. To them seven children had been born, namely: Benjamin F., John Z., Elizabeth A., Delilah J., Samuel S., James T., and a child who died in infancy. John took part in the late war as a member of the 86th Illinois Infantry, Company K, was mustered in at Peoria in 1862, and served until after the close of the Rebellion. Mr. Slane was a prominent citizen of Peoria County, and took an active part in the administration of local affairs, serving as Supervisor of his township, and for twenty-five years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He was a strong Democrat in his political views.
   The subject of this sketch is a high-minded, whole-souled man, who has ever shown a progressive and liberal spirit. He is always genial and helpful toward others, and is true in all the relations of life, as husband, father, neighbor and citizen. Politically, he was in early life an Abolitionist, then united with the Republicans, but now takes his stand with the people's ticket, and has represented his party in county conventions. He does not aspire to office. He has served on both the Grand and Petit Juries. He united with the I. O. O. F. at Princeville, Ill. Religiously, he is a free-thinker, and holds advanced views concerning the duties of life and of immortality. Mrs. Root is a firm believer in the Universalist faith. She is a woman of a cheery, warm-hearted disposition, whose pleasant ways have attracted to her