Tekamah and Vicinity, Noteworthy Men of

railroads, with whom he remained until 1887. He then came under the instruction of George Tyler, county surveyor of Burt county. In 1887 Mr. Pratt was elected county surveyor of Burt county and has been re-elected to that position seven successive times. During his term of office he has been employed by the United States government to survey Indian lands on both the Omaha and Winnebago reservations.

Mr. Pratt was united in marriage to Miss Etta Luce, of Lyons, Neb., September 19th, 1889.

   HIRAM CARPENTER LYDICK was born in Knox county, Ohio, May 25th, 1839, He came to Jefferson county, Iowa, with his parents in 1845 where his father died a few months after their arrival. During his youth he was ambitious and industrious and was a great aid to his widowed mother in providing for a large family. At the age of seventeen years he came to Burt county. When first coming to Nebraska he stopped in Omaha and there worked as a teamster in a brickyard and made several trips to this county before finally locating here. His sister, Mrs. Mike Shafer, and her husband came here in the fall of 1856 and they picked upon a claim near the river for Mr. Lydick who followed them, arriving here in June 1857, accompanied by his brother Jonathan. The claim which he located, he beautified and improved, making it the handsome home of his later years.
   During the war of the rebellion Mr. Lydick enlisted in Co. B. 2nd Nebraska Regt. His company was sent west to look after the warring Indians who were harrassing (sic) settlers on the border and most of their service was at and near Ft. Kearney.
   In the advancement of the agricultural interests of the county and state he was a prominent factor. Was a member of, and took an active interest in all agricultural boards, and at the time of his death was a member of the state board of agriculture.

   Mr. Lydick was united in marriage February 22 1866, to Mary E. Giltner.
   In 1852 he fractured his thigh bone and was there after troubled with it. It grew worse until in August 1902, he was taken to the St. Joseph hospital in Omaha where, after an unsuccessful operation, he died August 17th. A coincidence is that the spot on which stood the brickyard where he did his first work in Nebraska is now the site of the hospital where he died.

   CHARLES E. BARDWELL was born, February 20th, 1847, in Genessee county, New York. In 1866 he came to Omaha where he worked for the Union Pacific railroad for about six months and then came to Tekamah where he followed farming for about seven years.
   He was deputy sheriff of Burt county under Elisha Crowell and was one of the jury before whom the Indians were tried at Tekamah for the murder of a settler near Lyons.
   In 1873 he engaged in the agricultural business which he followed for several years. For a number of years afterward he served as postmaster at Tekamah and in 1898 removed, with his family to Lincoln, here he has since resided, and engaged in the insurance business.
   January 1st, 1878, Mr. Bardwell was united in marriage to Miss Mary Nelson, at Tekamah.

   JOSIAH F. MASON was born on a farm in Walpole, New Hampshire, May 22nd, 1803. He worked on a farm summers and went to school or taught school winters until 1825, when he removed to Rochester, New York, and engaged in the lumber business. He was there at the opening of the Erie canal and was priviledged (sic) to clasp the hand of Lafayette.
   In 1856 Mr. Mason came to Nebraska and for twenty years he lived in Burt county. While here he held responsible public positions. He was probate judge for six years, justice of the peace several years and superintendent of public schools of the county for a time. He was the last of fourteen children and lived


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