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Company. Since becoming a resident of Nebraska, he has served as justice of the peace, and at present is a member of the town board, although he is not an aspirant for office, and takes no particularly active part in politics.
When Mr. Pool settled on his preemption, neighbors were few and far apart, and but few improvements were to be seen, but soon the prairie began to be settled up, and was dotted with houses and farm improvements; the railroad was run through, the town of Ravenna sprang up, and the development of the country is still going on rapidly, and much of this improvement is due to the enterprise and push of such men as the subject of this sketch, William W. Pool.
ERASTUS SMITH, a retired capitalist, at Ravenna, Buffalo county, Nebr., was born near Shelbyville, Ind., August 3, 1830, and was reared on a farm until seventeen years of age. He received his education at the common schools, and at the seminary in Shelbyville, in which latter institution he studied civil engineering, following this as a profession for many years, and helping to locate and build a number of railroads. His father, Jonas Smith, was a native of Vermont and a farmer, who moved to Indiana in 1818, and settled near Shelbyville, where he ended his days in 1852. His wife, the mother of Erastus, was Abigail, daughter of Elisha Mayhew; was a native of Maine, and both of English descent, the ancestors having come to American before the Revolutionary war. The children born to Jonas Smith and wife were twelve in number, of whom Erastus is the fourth.
At the age of twenty-four years, Erastus Smith went to Iowa and entered four hundred acres of land near Des Moines, lived there two years, and then sold out and came to Nebraska, in 1856, and located in Omaha, where he was engaged in real estate business until 1858. He then became a commercial traveler, and when the war broke out, in 1861, he was at Burning Springs, West Va., in the interest of oil wells. Of course, his business was brought to a standstill through the war. Mr. Smith then went to Polk county, Iowa, and for several years taught school, and for ten years engaged in farming. In l874, he came back to Nebraska and settled his homestead on the northeast quarter of section 8, township 12, range 14, and at once began improving for a farm and cattle ranch; he also located a timber claim, and bought five hundred and forty acres of railroad land in addition, and continued farming and stock-raising in later years, keeping on hand an average of one hundred and fifty head of graded Durham cattle. January 1, 1886, the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company began to push their road through, and the same month Mr. Smith sold to the Lincoln Land Company a two-third interest in a section of land for a town site, he retaining every third lot. The town was laid out in June, 1886, the first lots were sold in July, and Mr. Davis, banker, erected the first building. The town has had a steady and healthy growth, the population on January 1, 1890, being one thousand. The sale of lots and land by Mr. Smith has placed him in most
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comfortable circumstances financially, and he has retired from active business, with the exception of looking after his town interests, as he has some buildings for rent or for sale. Mr. Smith is the pioneer of his township, and about his first experience was the loss of his crop by grasshoppers in 1874 and 1876, which disaster, at that time, was a serious loss, but he possessed indomitable courage and energy, and went to work to recover his fortune, and it will have been seen that in this he has been successful. His neighbors in the early days were but few, and for several years his children were the only children within nine square miles, with section 8 as its center.
In 1864 Mr. Smith was married, in Iowa, to Miss Mary J., daughter of Aaron and Mary J. (Dudley) Pearson, of New England. Mr. Pearson was a cattle dealer, and died in Iowa in 1874. The marriage of Mr. Smith has been blessed by the birth of five children, as follows -- Laura, who is married to Charles Davidson; Mary B., married to F. P. Boyd; Charles D., who died in December, 1886, at the age of seventeen years; Eva E. and Clara, at home. Mr. Smith in politics is a republican, and while a resident of Iowa was a member of the Masonic fraternity, but the absence of Masonic lodges in the West caused him to become delinquent, and he is now non-affiliating.
Mr. Smith does not owe his prosperity simply to good luck; it is the result of his own foresight and prudence. His early experience as a civil engineer on railroads, and the geography of the country before him, satisfied his mind that a railroad would be run to the Northwest, and he located his land with a view of availing himself of any benefit that might accrue from its construction. He has not reasoned in vain, nor has he been disappointed. The road has been built, the town is here, and wealth has resulted to reward his sagacity and business tact.
J. W. HARREL is a representative business man of the town of Gibbon, Buffalo county. He is not an old timer, and the record of his experience does not therefore run back to the early days of the colony. He settled in Gibbon in February, 1879, and is a man of comparatively recent growth. As the common saying goes, he started "at the bottom round of the ladder," and although not yet rich or famous, he has secured a footing, and is in a fair way to get on in the world. Given the case of a young man age twenty-five, married, thrown into this new western country, among strangers and without a dollar to go on, what will he do? His first impulse will be to return home. If he overcomes this impulse and decides to stay, the chances are that he will hear in a short time of some more attractive place further west, and, catching the migratory fever, will move on toward the front. If he "strikes it rich," he will settle down, but failing in this he goes out with the next exodus, and so he drifts from place to place in his wandering pursuit of wealth till fortune graciously smiles upon him or death comes at last to his relief. The race for wealth, the contest for glory, become too absorbing to admit of the tedious process of growth and development, the idea being
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to get to the front, to get there on territory, to get there in time, to get there in point of success, and to get there fully, freely and unmistakably. The subject of this sketch, when he decided to stay West, made up his mind to locate in one place and remain there. In April following the date of his locating in Gibbon, Mr. Harrel engaged in the mercantile establishment of A. D. George, in whose employ he remained for six years. Here he gathered the knowledge of the local trade and formed an acquaintance with the buying public which have since stood him in good stead. At the end of the six years he had saved enough from his earnings to begin business for himself. He opened a grocery store in Gibbon in the spring of 1885, and has been engaged exclusively in the grocery business since. His business has been reasonably prosperous, and measured by his means and opportunities, be may be considered a fairly successful man. The secret of what success he has attained, if there be any secret about it, is to be found in his industry, economy and strict application to business. He has followed steadily one purpose -- that of developing his business interests in accordance with his means and opportunities. He has allowed no distracting pursuits or diversions to lead him away from this purpose.
In politics Mr. Harrel is a republican -- a stanch believer in the principles of his party -- but not a politician even in mildest sense of the word. As a citizen he is alive to the welfare of his community, ever ready to help, to the extent of his means and ability, any enterprise of general interest -- a liberal contributor to all charitable purposes and a zealous worker in that most benevolent organization, the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Mr. Harrel possesses an agreeable presence. He is large of mold and generous of heart. He has an open, frank face, and a hearty manner. He is somewhat of the style of "rough and ready." He has his own opinions and speaks them freely to friends and strangers. He is broad in his views and believes in each one having the largest amount of personal liberty consistent with the public good. He asks nothing for himself that he is not willing to grant to others. He is, in short, an industrious, useful citizen, a successful business man, a clever companionable fellow, whom everybody knows and familiarly greets as "Joe."
Photo of M. A. Hoover MAURICE A. HOOVER, M. D., was born in Marion county, Ind., near Indianapolis, April 6, 1858, and is a son of Perry C. and Catherine M. (Bender) Hoover, the former of whom was born September 13, 1832, in Marion county, Ind., and is now a substantial grocery merchant of Indianapolis; the mother is a native of Boiling Springs, Pa, and was born November 13, 1836. His father is a son of Andrew Hoover, one of the first settlers of Indianapolis, Ind., whose homestead was one mile from the western boundary of the city. The section of six hundred and forty acres was purchased of the government by Andrew Hoover, and it is intact and owned by four of his children. The old deed with the president's signature is still in their possession. Of four children, the
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subject of this sketch is the eldest, and is the only one residing in Nebraska. He was educated at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., where he took, in addition to his literary studies, a special two-years' course in the study of chemistry. In 1879 he began reading medicine with Drs. P. H. & H. Jammerson, of Indianapolis, and March 3, 1881, graduated, with the degree of M. D., from the Butler University Medical College of Indiana, of that city. He began the practice of his profession at Mount Jackson, Ind., but a year later moved to Indianapolis, and until March, 1883, continued practice there, meeting with more than ordinary success. April, of the same year, he came to Kearney, Nebr., where his abilities were soon recognized, and professional success naturally followed. It was not a long time, either, before his genial manners and social qualities attracted attention, and in the fall of 1884. His friends elected him coroner of the county for the term of two years.
November 3, 1883, he was married to Miss Eva A. Cox, daughter of B. F. Cox, a prominent citizen for many years of Crawfordsville, Ind. Dr. and Mrs. Hoover have one child, Bessie B., five years old.
Dr. Hoover is one of the leading physicians of central Nebraska, and enjoys a large and growing practice. He is a member of the Nebraska State Medical Association, and was a member of the Indiana State Medical Association while a resident of that state. He is also a member of the National Surgeons' Society, composed of railway surgeons, and is resident surgeon for the Union Pacific and Burlington &Missouri River railroads. At the organization of the United States Pension Board, in 1887, at Kearney, Dr. Hoover was elected secretary, and has held that position ever since. He was appointed examining physician of the board of insanity by Judge Hamer in 1887, and still retains that office.
The doctor and wife are members of the Methodist church. Of a cheerful disposition, he prescribes bountifully of the "medicine of mirth," which makes him a very popular guest of the sick room. He is thoroughly in sympathy with the big-hearted West, and gives cheerfully of his time and means for its development.
A. D. GEORGE. Another man who settled in the vicinity of Gibbon at an early day is A. D. George. Mr. George came to Buffalo county in September, 1872, and located one mile east of the town of Gibbon, taking as a homestead the south half of the southeast quarter of section 18, township 9, range 13 west. To this he subsequently added by purchase the north half of the same section. He began his improvements soon after making his selection, starting in a humble way, as did all the old settlers. For eleven years be lived on his homestead and followed farming and stock raising. During this period be passed through the trying times of the grasshopper season and the dry years: and there fell to him the usual hard experiences that fell to the common lot of all. What these experiences were are known to all the old settlers, but not so well known to, or properly appreciated by, those who have come in at a later date. The case of
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Mr. George was even different from that of the average settler and the situation thereby rendered the more discouraging. Prior to coming to Nebraska he had spent all his maturer years in the mercantile business. Farming was practically new to him. He was in a new country and launched at once into an untried condition of agriculture, far from market and unsurrounded by any of the helps and conveniences common in the old communities of the East. To make a success from the beginning could hardly be expected. Simply how to live, soon became it problem. But Mr. George had confidence in the ultimate outcome. He believed in the country, believed in the soil, in the climate and in the ability of himself and his associates to make something out of them. He never allowed his courage to weaken, nor his interest to flag. He stuck to his farm and pursued his fixed purpose to labor and to wait. The succeeding years brought their reward. The logic of events has demonstrated the correctness of his views. His present condition -- the success he has attained -- is a signal vindication of his position and a befitting remuneration for his long years of patient toil. In 1879 Mr. George purchased the mercantile establishment of Henry Cook &Son, at Gibbon. Since that date he has been actively engaged in the business, being now one of the oldest and most successful merchants of Gibbon. For the mercantile business Mr. George possesses a special aptitude, and for its successful pursuit he is well qualified by experience. He has spent the greater part of his life in a store. When a lad he began as a clerk in Canton, Mass., and afterwards going to Boston, he was engaged as a clerk there for ten years, being seven years with one house, Hiram M. Stearnes, and three years with Newell &Rankin. At the end of that time he engaged in business for himself, opening a gentlemen's furnishing goods establishment in Boston. He was so engaged for five years. In the meantime he started a laundry business which has since grown to be one of the largest anywhere in the East. It was ill-health, brought on by the exacting nature of these business interests that brought Mr. George west. He never possessed a robust constitution. Tying himself down when a boy to the exacting duties of a clerk, the confinement told on his physical development, and the cares of his personal concerns in later years aggravated his troubles. It was due to this fact or ill-health that Mr. George was never accepted for military service during the late war, although be twice offered himself as a volunteer and was once drafted.
A. D. George is a New Englander by birth and in his physical, mental and moral make-up preserves, in a large measure, some of the prominent characteristics of the people of his section. He was born in the town of Sunapee, Sullivan county, N. H., January 25, 1836. His father, Rodney George, was also a native of Sunapee, as was also his paternal grandfather. His father lived in Sunapee to middle age, moved thence to New Jersey, and later to Nebraska, Buffalo county, where he died in 1881, at the age of seventy-four. Mr. George's mother bore the maiden name of Achsa Dodge and was a daughter of Benjamin Dodge, of New Boston, N. H. She was born in that place and was herself a descendant of an
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old New Hampshire family. Mr. George is one of a family of eight children, as follows: Amanda, John A., Amos D., Marcia A., Ira P., Jason R., Alice and Mary M. All of these reached maturity and most of them became citizens of Nebraska, moving west about the same time the subject of this sketch did.
In his own domestic relations, Mr. George has been happy, yet he has not escaped some of the afflictions which fall to the lot of humanity. He was married in Marlboro, Mass., in November, 1859, to Miss Lucy M. Chipman, of that place. This lady died in 1869, leaving one child, Edith, now widow of George E. Nathecut. Mr. George next married November 25th, 1869, Miss Abbie M. March, of Garland, Me. By this marriage he has an interesting family of children.
Mr. George's career has been that of a business man strictly. He has devoted his whole life to his own personal affairs. Yet he is not a man whole (sic) sole aim is to make money. He is not lacking in enterprise or public spirit. He possesses pronounced views on most matters of general interest, and while he avoids the wranglings of politics, he does not neglect his duty as a citizen. He has affiliated with the republican party since its organization until the last year or two, and is still an advocate of its principles on national matters. But with all its achievements in the way of progress and reform, he considers the party lacking in aggressiveness in dealing with some of the most momentous issues of the day. In other words, he is a progressive republican. The principal issue on which he differs with his party is the temperance question. He is an ardent temperance man and believes that it is the duty of all good citizens and every association of citizens and every party or organization having at heart the public welfare, to take a decisive stand on the temperance question and to labor individually and by co-operation for the suppression of the vice of intemperance. On this question Mr. George is outspoken, and, what is more, he lives up to his preaching in a way equalled by few, even of the most zealous advocates. He believes that a vast number of the men who are lured into the paths of drunkenness start with the smaller vices and approach their ruin imperceptibly. For this reason he opposes the use of tobacco, and although he has been in the mercantile business for years where the handling of tobacco might be profitable, he has not suffered a pound of the article to be sold in any shape over his counters since the year he opened business. As might be inferred from this, Mr. George is a man who takes the liveliest interest in the welfare of his fellow man. He is a man of the broadest charities, the most benevolent impulses. He has been almost a life-long member of the Baptist church, taking an active interest in all church work. In the matter of education he has exhibited equal zeal, and his efforts have not failed of the reward they merited. He was one of the organizing members of the First Baptist church of Gibbon and has, since the date of the founding of that church, been one of its chief pillars. While the State Baptist seminary was located at Gibbon, Mr. George occupied the responsible position of treasurer of the institution, and during the last term it was in operation he bore the entire expense of running it. He is a liberal contributor to all charitable purposes.
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Personally, Mr. George is modest and unassuming, and has no desire to make a fuss in the world. What he does as a citizen is simply the outgrowth of his convictions. He is not the apostle of any new faith nor the exponent of any new political idea. He works along the lines pursued by the worthies of the past. The most notable feature of his faith and the distinguishing trait of his character is that he believes in the philosophy of things well done- the gospel of true labor--as contradistinguished from pretense and profession. For church, for school, for home, for all that helps to keep men and women from the slippery paths of sin and win them to lives of usefulness, sobriety and happiness, fitting them for the best possible life here and hereafter, the name of A. D. George stands pledged, and in all these things he himself rises to the full stature of a man.
HORACE P. SMITH is one of the young, intelligent and progressive farmers of Gibbon township, Buffalo county, who, having come into the county at a comparatively recent date, and availing himself of his opportunities, has secured a good start and is in a fair way to grow into a land-holder of means and a citizen of influence. Mr. Smith came to Buffalo county in October, 1878, looked over the country, went back home and returned in the spring of 1879 and located. He bought a small tract of land in section 27, township 9, range 14 west, lying three and a half miles southwest of the town of Gibbon, on which he settled and made improvements. Mr. Smith came west with limited means, and his first purchase of land was, accordingly, not large. He has added, however, to this by subsequent purchases, until now he is the owner of three hundred and seventy acres, all of which is under cultivation except a tract of eighty acres reserved for hayland. Mr. Smith has made the money with which he has bought this land by his own labor. The improvements on it he has also placed there. It is well improved, desirably located, and, better than all, is paid for. This, of course, has not been done without much labor; it represents also good management. Mr. Smith is an industrious, thrifty, economical farmer, looks after the details of his affairs with great care, and studies the condition of his soil, its necessities and capabilities. He keeps considerable stock and sells but little raw material. He is careful to see that his annual income exceeds his annual expenditures by as large a margin as possible, and judiciously avoids debt. He has the proper material in his make-up to succeed. This material is not altogether a personal trait. To some extent it is a hereditary gift. He comes of good stock, and he has been properly trained. His ancestry will bear historical research.
Horace P. Smith is a son of George T. and Sarah (Farnham) Smith, and a grandson on his paternal side of Parsons and Nancy (Waters) Smith.His grandfather, Parsons Smith, whose name in part he bears, was a native of Massachusetts, a son of a revolutionary soldier, and himself for twenty-one years in the service of the United States government. He was in the war of 1812, serving with credit to
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himself and fidelity to his country during that war, and afterwards continuing in the service in the regular army for years, a large part of which time he was in the United States arsenal at Watertown, Mass. After a life of great activity and usefulness, the best years of which were spent in behalf of his country, he died at the advanced age of seventy-four.
Mr. Smith's paternal grandmother, Nancy Waters, whose father was also a revolutionary soldier and was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, was a native of Massachusetts. She was born in a house which stood half in old Charlestown and half in Cambridge, and first saw light on the morning of the memorable day on which the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. It is a tradition of the family that only a half-hour before she was born a thirty-two-pound shot from a British cannon tore its way through the upper part of the house in which her mother lay and lodge in a beam overhead. Mr. Smith's father, George T. Smith, was born in the United States arsenal at Watertown, Mass., September 7, 1818, lived there till thirty years of age, going thence in 1847 to Maine, where in February of the following year he married Sarah Farnham, of the town of Mercer, Somerset county, and there lived till 1866, except the time he was in the army. He went into the service late, enlisting March 17, 1864, and entering Company K, Thirty-first Maine infantry. His regiment was organized in March and April of 1864, and leaving the state the 18th of the latter month, it proceeded at once to Alexandria, Va., where it was assigned to duty in the 2d brigade, 2d division, 9th corps. In less than a month after it left home it went into action at the Wilderness and following that the engagements at Spottsylvania, Bethsaida church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Poplar Springs church, and all intermediate affairs, in all of which its losses were heavv. In less than one year's time the Thirty-first Maine lost six hundred and seventy-four men, killed or wounded in action, three-fourths of this loss occurring in May, June and July, 1864. Mr. Smith's father followed the fortunes of the fighting Thirty-first till the close of the war, being mustered out July 17, 1865. In 1866 he moved west and settled in Illinois, where he lived till 1882, when he came to Buffalo county, this state, following his son, Horace P., and settling where he now resides, in Gibbon township, on an adjoining farm to the subject of this sketch.
Mr. H. P. Smith's mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Farnham, was born and reared in the town of Mercer, Somerset county, Maine, and is a descendant of a respectable, well-to-do family of that place. She is also yet living.
To George T. and Sarah (Farnham) Smith have been born a family of eight children, as follows -- Waitstill J., Mary M., Horace P., whose name heads this article; George W., Tena A., Cora E., William A. and Nellie M. These have all reached maturity, and most of them are now married and are themselves the heads of family.
Horace P. Smith and Mary L. Mercer were married in February, 1881, Mary L. Mercer Smith being a daughter of Vernon T. and Nancy Rebecca Mercer, whose biographies will be found in this work. Mrs. Smith was mainly reared in Buffalo county, this state, her parents coming here
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in 1871. She has by long usage become familiar with farm life, and especially that part of it that relates to household affairs, her recollections running back to the sod shanty of the "seventies," when what are necessities now were luxuries then, and the housewife's ways and means of getting on with her economic duties were by no means what they are now, albeit they are none too luxurious at this time.
Mrs. Smith is a lady of intelligence and kindness, and possesses the greatest of all virtues, genuine hospitality.
W. N. JACKSON. A man of good personal record as a citizen, of exceptionally good record as an old soldier, and withal, one of the old settlers of his locality, is W. N. Jackson, of Gibbon township, Buffalo county. Mr. Jackson settled in Buffalo county in the spring of 1871--the date, it will be remembered, that the Soldiers' Free Homestead Colony was located at Gibbon and the settlement of the county properly begun. He filed a soldiers' homestead claim on the north-east quarter of section 28, township 9, range 14 west, lying three miles west and south of the village of Gibbon. There he located, and there he has continued to reside since, except during temporary absence at intervals. He improved his homestead in accordance with the law and secured a patent for it. One hundred acres of it are now under cultivation, and the remainder in hayland, pastures and groves. It is provided with comfortable and commodious buildings for man and beast, and in every respect gives evidence of the industry, thrift and good management that have prevailed there. The land lies well, being every foot susceptible of cultivation, is in a good neighborhood, has at hand good school and church facilities, and is convenient to market. The place is richly worth $50 an acre, and probably could not be bought for that. Mr. Jackson has been farming since coming to Buffalo county, and is recognized as one of the prosperous, well-to-do agriculturists of his locality.
Mr. Jackson came from Elmira, N. Y. to Nebraska, having been a resident of New York state some years prior to moving west in 1871. He is native of Canada, having been born in the province of Ontario, in March, 1838, and was reared there to the age of twenty. He then came to the States, locating in New York. His parents were both Canadians by birth -his father of English extraction and his mother of German. These are still living in Canada, and are named David and Debby (Huffman) Jackson.
Mr. Jackson passed his youth and part of his maturer years in York state, and it was there that he met and married the lady who has borne him companionship for nearly twenty five years. This lady's maiden name was Susan Ann Davis, a daughter of Henry E. and Jane (Corruthers) Davis, of Elmira, N. Y. Mrs. Jackson is a native Ulster county, N. Y., and is a descendant of an old York state family. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were married in August, 1863. They have but one child, William E. Jackson, born in Bradford county, Pa., July 9th, 1866.
When the country was torn asunder with civil discord, and the hydra-headed
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Monster, treason, was threatening the destruction of our institutions, Mr. Jackson was one of the men who shouldered his musket and patriotically marched to the front in defense of the common good. He enlisted for two years in thc service, in April, 1861, entering Company K, Thirty-fifth (Jefferson county) New York volunteers. His command served with the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Jackson was present and participated in the following engagements -- The second Bull Run; Fredericksburg; second Manassas; Fairfax court house; Culpeper court house; Cedar mountain and Rappahannock station, besides numerous smaller ones. After the expiration of his term of enlistment in the Thirty-fifth New York, he re-enlisted, entering the Fifth New Jersey independent battery of light artillery in September, 1863. This command had six light twelve-pound guns and one hundred horses. It participated in the following engagements -- Howlett's house, May 9, 1864; Clover Hill station, May 14, 1864; Drury's bluff, May 15, 1864; Petersburg, June 8, 1864; Bermuca Hundred, June 8, 1864; Deep Bottom, July l6, 1864; Dutch gap, August 13, 1864; Harehouse battery, near Petersburg, September 2 and 10, 1864~ and Darbytown road, October 7, 1864.
Mr. Jackson entered this command as a private, was promoted to corporal December 4, 1863, and to sergeant August 23, 1864. During his first term of service he was twice wounded -- once in the left side and once in the right leg. These wounds were received at the second Bull Run. He lost the hearing of his right ear in the battery service at Drury's bluff. He was mustered out of the service in June, 1865. Comment on these facts is unnecessary. They speak for themselves. They show how faithfully Mr. Jackson discharged his duty to his country in its time of need. He bears on his person the marks of his heroic efforts and patient endurance.
With such a record, and the mental constitution which Mr. Jackson has, it would be next to impossible for him to be anything but a republican in politics. At any rate, he is a stanch supporter of the republican party, and has been a firm adherent of that party since the date of its organization. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln when he was a candidate the first time for the presidency, and he has voted the straight ticket since.
Mr. Jackson is a man of plain manners, and has led an unassuming life. He is hard working, frugal in habits, and strictly attentive to his own personal concerns. He is progressive in his ideas, public-spirited and generous with his means, possessing a kind and benevolent disposition.
P. E. FOXWORTHY. An old settler of Buffalo county, although not one of the first, is P. E. Foxworthy of Gibbon township. He moved into Buffalo county, in June, l876, and for a short time rented a place north of the town of Gibbon, but in July following settled on the east half of the west half of section 35. township 9, range 14 west, being part of the old Fort Kearney military reservation. He simply squatted on
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