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BIOGRAPHICAL SOUVENIR OF BUFFALO COUNTY JAMES McCREARY, a prominent and successful farmer of Buffalo county, and an old settler of Sharon township, where he lives, is a Pennsylvanian by birth. His father, Enoch McCreary, and his mother, Margaret Pearson, were both natives of the "Keystone State," and always resided there, the father dying in 1856, at the age of fifty-nine, and the mother in 1885, at the age of eighty. These were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this notice is the sixth, the full list being - Pearson, Belinda, Samuel, Sarah, William, James, John and Enoch.
James, our subject, was born in Lawrence county, Pa., September 26, 1838, and was reared in his native place, growing up on his father's farm, receiving a fair common-school education, and being trained to the habits of industry and usefulness common to his calling. In August, 1861, when it became known that the country must go through a civil war of greater or less length, and preparations began to be made therefor, by calls for volunteers to defend the Union, Mr. McCreary, with the enthusiasm of youth, and a devotion to his country born of the purest patriotism, responded promptly to the call, enlisting in Company F, One Hundredth Pennsylvania infantry. His military history is best told in the recorded triumphs, suffering and losses of his regiment, whose fortunes he followed from the date of his enlistment to the close of the war. The One Hundredth Pennsylvania, which bore the designation of "roundheads," was recruited mainly in the part of the state which was settled by English roundheads and Scotch-Irish covenanters, and it proved itself eminently worthy of its ancestral origin and namesakes. It was officered by Col. Daniel Leasure and Col. Norman J. Maxwell, both brevet brigadier-generals. It began its service at the opening of the war and continued on the front and in the thickest of the fight till the surrender. Like most of the other Ninth corps regiments, its service was a varied one; it made long journeys by sea and land, and fought its battles in many and widely separated states. It participated in twenty-three of the hardest fought battles of the war, being present at only four engagements in which it did not participate, and it lost, out of a total enrollment of two thousand and fourteen enlisted men, eight hundred and eighty-seven in killed and wounded, only twenty-nine of whom died in Confederate prisons. Its heaviest losses were sustained at James island, South Carolina; Manassas, Virginia; South mountain, Maryland ; Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, siege of Petersburg, Petersburg mine and Fort Stedman. Lieut.-Col. Dawson fell, mortally wounded, in the assault on Petersburg; Lieut.-Col. Pentecost was killed at Fort Stedman; Major Hamilton and Adjutant Leasure fell in the fighting at the Petersburg mine, and five line-officers fell at Manassas. Mr. McCreary was temporarily disabled by the explosion of a shell before Petersburg, receiving a severe shock and having his hat cut into holes. He was mustered out at the close as sergeant, having entered as private. He returned to Pennsylvania, and moved afterwards to Ohio, and then to Illinois, and still later, in 1873, to Nebraska, settling at that date in Buffalo county, where he took a homestead in Sharon township, where he has since resided, except a year or so spent in
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Shelton, near by. Mr. McCreary has become thoroughly identified with the farming interests of his community, and it is no flattery to him, nor injustice to his neighbors, to say that he has made better success than the average farmer. He owns five hundred and sixty acres of splendid land, agricultural and grazing, all of which he has in a paying condition. He is a large cattle feeder, and is recognized as one of the clear, level-headed business men of his locality - solid and reliable.
Mr. McCreary married, in 1863, a lady of his native county, Miss Catherine Craig, and this union has been blessed with five children - J. Craig, Frank A., Lula, Gertie and Nettie. He and his excellent wife are zealous members of the Methodist church, and he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.
JEREMIAH TAWNEY, farmer, was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., June 30, 1836, and there learned the trade of a stone mason. His father, Adam Tawney, was also a native of Pennsylvania and was brought up to blacksmithing, which trade he followed until his death in 1854. Adam married Elizabeth, daughter of John Rudolf, of German descent. John Rudolf was a pioneer of Westmoreland county, was the keeper of the fort in that territory during the Indian troubles, and followed the vocation of a farmer during the intervals of peace. To the marriage of Adam and Elizabeth Tawney were born seven children, Jeremiah being the sixth; he and his brother, David M., are now the only survivors of the family - the latter residing still on the old homestead in Pennsylvania.
Jeremiah Tawney, responding to the call to arms in defense of the Union, volunteered in Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania infantry, was mustered in at Harrisburg, October 14, 1861, and assigned to the army of the Potomac. He took part in twenty-six battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, taking an active part in that of Gettysburg and being present also at the surrender of Gen. Lee. At Fredericksburg he was shot through the right ear and also received a gun-shot wound in the top of the head. His gallantry in action and his attention to his military duties in general raised him to the rank of second lieutenant, which position he held until mustered out. At the close of the war his command marched from Richmond to Washington and took part in the grand review, and thence went to Harrisburg, Pa., where he received an honorable discharge. After his return home he pursued his regular trade, and in 1867 married Miss Melissa, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Snow, both natives of Pennsylvania. Samuel Snow is a cooper by trade, is also a farmer, and is still living in his native state. To the union of Jeremiah Tawney and wife have been born six children, named as follows - Harry A., Lettie M., Alice M., Della M., Nannie E. and Sarah Maud.
February 4, 1881, found Mr. Tawney and his family in Nebraska, with his homestead in section 26, township 12, range 14, he having purchased a quarter section, of which twelve acres had been broken. He has now a comfortable frame
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dwelling, one hundred and forty acres of land under cultivation and fenced in, and an orchard of one hundred and fifty apple trees, all the result of his own industry and enterprise, as he had but little capital when he settled here. He had become very popular in his neighborhood and has been twice elected justice of the peace, but refused to qualify for the second term; he has also served two terms as road overseer and five years as school director. While in Pennsylvania he was for five years a captain in the National Guards, his company having been named the Colter Guards, in honor of Gen. Colter, who had presented it with a fine stand of colors. In religion, Mr. Tawney is a Presbyterian, to which church he and his family belong and in which he has been a deacon over five years. He is a member of the G. A. R. and of the Farmers' Alliance. Politically he is a republican.
JUDGE WILLIAM R. LEARN, one of the most popular citizens of Kearney, Nebr., was born in New York State, December 19, 1853, and is a son of William R. and Charlotte (Green) Learn, the former a native of Wales, who came to America when young and here met and married Miss Green, but was not spared long to aid and comfort her, nor even to behold the face of her offspring, as he died a few months before the subject of this sketch was born. Subsequently, however, Mrs. Learn found a protector in the person of H. Z. Hayner, who in 1851 was chief justice of the supreme court of Minnesota.
William R. Learn, the subject proper of this sketch, received a preparatory education at Yonkers, N. Y., and at the early age of fourteen entered the law office of E. Delafield Smith, ex-United States district attorney and corporation counsel for New York City, with whom he began the study of law, but afterward read with R. W. Hawkesworth, of 115 and 117 Broadway, in the same city, and later studied further with W. Q. Judge, also of New York City. After being admitted to the bar he began practice on his own account in the New York World building, and was so employed when that noble structure succumbed to the ravages of fire. In 1881 the aspiring and now well qualified young attorney came to Kearney, Buffalo county, Nebr., yet did not at once enter on the practice of his profession, but took a more prudent course and engaged as clerk in the store of G. Kramer, preferring an appreciable and certain income for a time, rather than depending on the somewhat precarious fees of a newly-come attorney. He afterwards engaged in the insurance business, but, the office of constable having become vacant, he accepted that position, under appointment, and filled out the unexpired term, his knowledge of the law being of no mean assistance to him in the performance of the duties pertaining to the office. At the expiration of the term he was elected to the office, so great was the satisfaction he had given in carrying out its functions under appointment. Following the expiration of his duties in this position, he was advanced a step in political life by his admiring constituents, and in November, 1887, was elected justice of the peace, the county stepping-stone to higher official
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preference. April l, 1888, he was elected police judge of the city of Kearney, and in the fall of 1889 was re-elected justice of the peace, and in April, 1890, was elected police judge, this fact showing that his executive abilities have been fully recognized. He is, in reality, a conservative executor of the law, and his thorough knowledge of the statutes is his guide in making his almost infallible decisions. His intuitive knowledge of human nature also comes to his aid and enables him to discriminate between the hardened criminal and the novice in transgression of the law. To the former he deals out the full penalty due as an expiation of his offense, while to the latter his leniency is extended, with a hope that a redemption to virtue may be made of the incipient culprit, and that he may in the hereafter become a good and worthy citizen.
The matrimonial union of the judge took place April 18, 1884. Two children have blessed this marriage and are named William R., and Eugene George. The Judge is a member of the A. O. U. W., of the K. of P., and also of the Modern Woodmen's fraternity.
A. F.GIBSON is one of the few remaining old settlers left of the original eighty-five composing the Soldiers' Free Homestead Colony, by which the village and township of Gibbon were mainly settled. He came with the colony in April, 1871, and has been a resident of the town and township since. He had just turned into his twenty-first year when he came to Buffalo county, and was one of the unmarried men of the colony. He came West like all of his associates to better his condition. He came to stay, and, whether by accident or design, he came in a condition to effectually carry out this purpose, being unincumbered (sic) by any ties and unconcerned for the future except as to himself. In the general selection of homesteads which took place a few days after the settlement of the colony, Mr. Gibson chose an "eighty" in the southwest quarter of section 22, township 9, range 14, west, lying only a short distance from where the town of Gibbon was located. He settled on this soon after selecting it and immediately began his improvements. His first efforts toward making a farm on the raw prairies, with little or nothing to go on, in a new and untried condition of agriculture, far from market and unsurrounded by any of the helps and conveniences common in the older communities of the East, were such as are well known by experience to hundreds of old settlers all over this state, but which doubtless will not be sufficiently known to or appreciated by those who will come in after years. He began in an humble way, as did all. The first tedious stages of building and breaking being over, the seasons of grasshoppers and dry years followed. He suffered the privations and hardships which all were forced to suffer during those times of trial, but he stuck to his purpose and never allowed his interest to flag or his courage to weaken. He took a cheerful and even hopeful view of the situation and remained, confidently awaiting better times. Better times came, but they came very gradually. Even after the crisis of 1873-4-5 was passed it was a long and arduous struggle and a conflict of appar-
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ently unequal strength and often of seemingly doubtful issue. Mr. Gibson remained on his farm making his way as best he could and demonstrating the virtue in the homely old maxim of "keep pegging away" until in time his footing was assured and he reached something of a breathing spell. During this time he had remained single, fighting the battle alone, determined to win it if he could, and if he could not to go down without dragging any one with him. In the fall of 1877, however, when he felt that he had reached a point where he could afford to take the step, he decided to marry, and on October 9th of that year he was united to Miss Louisa A. Brodrick, daughter of James and Maria Brodrick, then of Buffalo county, having moved to this county a few years previous. Mr. Gibson remained on the farm and continued to improve his homestead and gradually accumulated property till 1883. He then moved into Gibbon, where he now resides, but yet retains his farm interests. In 1883 he engaged in the livery business and at the same time began, in 1886, to deal in agricultural implements. He sold his livery business in 1886 and in 1888 bought of T.B. George the Enterprise mill, which had recently passed out of the hands of its builders and was then struggling to maintain its existence as a paying institution. Mr. Gibson divides his time between his farm, his implement business and his mill. The mill is one of the promising enterprises of Gibbon and will doubtless grow into an industry of great profit. It was built in 1886 by F. C. Hitchcock, then cashier of the State bank of Gibbon, with funds which, as it afterwards turned out, belonged to the bank. It was transferred to the directors of the bank to secure them against loss, and by them sold to T. B. George and thence passed into the hands of the present owner. When built, it was designed to meet what was then believed to be a growing demand for mill products such as were not made in the regular flouring mills. It is a buhr-stone mill, run by steam, and makes every thing except wheat flour. Formerly it was not a paying investment, but under its present management it is developing a good local trade and is reaching out considerably towards the northwest, in which direction there is unquestionably a good field for its products. Mr. Gibson's farming and stock interests and agricultural implement business are gradually growing, so that all round his affairs seem to be in a reasonably prosperous condition. Further comment on his ability and standing as a business man or his value to the community as a citizen need hardly be given. The above facts show what he is and what he has done. He has been a quiet but nevertheless a very efficient force in the growth and development of his adopted home. He is a prudent, thoughtful man. He watches the details of his business with care and personally sees that all things are done in a proper manner. He has been schooled mainly in the affairs of the world and is in the strictest and best sense of the word a business man. He is plain and straightforward in his dealings and practical and matter of fact in his methods. Probably his chief characteristics are those which have been developed and brought into prominence by his long residence and hard experience in this community, these characteristics being his
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persevering industry, strict attention to his own personal concerns, his liberal manner of dealing with others and his broad and generous sympathy with those struggling under difficulties or misfortunes. As remarked at the beginning of this sketch, Mr. Gibson is one of the few old settlers who still remain in this vicinity. He is one of the fewer still who have never resided elsewhere, even temporarily, since he first settled here, now nearly twenty years ago. How much courage it has taken to pull patiently through twenty years in Buffalo county those who do not know may gain some idea of by reading the history of the county. The first decade were years of toil, of privation and suffering, which none but those possessing the stoutest hearts could endure. They were years of pathetic interest, for they carried with them the issue of life and death to struggling men and women. In the men who passed through the trials of these years are to be found some of the best specimens of manhood, some of the highest-minded, most reputable citizens of the county, not the least of whom is the subject of this memorial article.
Reverting to his earlier years in order that we may preserve something of his ancestral history for those who may grow up to read this work, it may be recorded that A. F. Gibson was born in Mercer county, Pa., July 17, 1850, of parents who were also Pennsylvanians by birth. He is a son of Samuel and Mary E. Gibson and a descendant of two of the first settled families of western Pennsylvania. His father is a native of Lawrence county, and his mother was born in Mercer county. These counties join, and his parents have at times been different residents of each, and are still living. His mother bore the maiden name of Wilson and was a daughter of John Wilson, a native of Westmoreland county, Pa., who settled many years ago in Mercer county. Mr. Gibson comes of good stock, his people as a rule being substantial well-to-do farmers. They are marked chiefly for the quietness of their lives and, on his mother's side, for their love of home and their attachment for one another. They are not as a rule migratory, though both his grandfathers were pioneers, with, it may be presumed, a taste for the pleasures of pioneer life, and were not unacquainted with its hardships and dangers. These qualities Mr. Gibson in a large measure inherits; and these qualities, modified by the peculiarities of his local surroundings, have made him what he is.
Mr. Gibson has a pleasant home and a family of four children - Claude Wilson, Carl Brodrick, Guy and Glenn.
JACOB GABRIEL is one of Kearney's oldest, and has been one of her most industrious citizens. He is a native of Prussia and comes of Prussian born parents. His father, Jacob Gabriel, Sr., was born in the town of Sarlonis, Prussia, in the year 1797. He was reared in his native country, served in the Austro-Prussian war, married a few years after and immigrated to the United States, coming in 1841 and settling in Grant county, Wis., where he shortly afterwards died, and was buried at the town of Plattville, that county. He was an industrious, upright, useful citizen, a devout member of the Catholic church
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and a devoted husband and father. Mr. Gabriel's mother came to the United States a year or so after her husband did, bringing with her the subject of this sketch. He was then quite small, having been born in 1841 in Sarlonis. He was reared in Grant county, Wis., and as soon as he was old enough began the battle of life alone and unaided. He followed his first employment as a laborer in the lead mines in Grant county; then, in his twentieth year, he started for the great mining region of the Pacific coast, making his way across the "plains" in the early days before the time of the railroads. He lived in California for six years, engaged in mining in one locality and another, and making during the time some money and gathering a world of experience. Returning in 1867, he paid a short visit to his old home in Grant county, Wis., and then went to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged as overseer on a cotton plantation. Two years later he came to Nebraska, and, settling at Nebraska City, in Otoe county, began stock-raising and boring wells. In 1872 he came to Buffalo county, locating at Kearney, which was then just starting. He took a homestead at that date in the county and continued farming, stock-raising and well-boring. In 1878 he opened a saloon in Kearney, which he conducted successfully for some years. He built the third brick house that was erected in Kearney, which was occupied by him as a saloon, he furnishing the capital and his partner, Casper Cornelius, conducting the business till 1886, when they closed out. He has since gone into the stock business, for which he has always had a liking and at which he has been very successful.
Mr. Gabriel married, February 10, 1879 - his wife being Miss Jennie Pearson of Kearney. This union has never been blessed with any issue, but in 1884 Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel adopted a bright little fellow, now thirteen years old, whom they have named Joseph Cower Gabriel and to whom they are greatly attached. Mr. Gabriel is a member of the Catholic church, while Mrs. Gabriel is a member of the Lutheran church, and, being of a kind and generous disposition, give liberally to all benevolent purposes.
W. L. COOK. The subject of this sketch is one of Kearney's enterprising young business men. He is a native of Hanover, Prussia where also his parents and grandparents were born, his people being of German ancestry from time immemorial. Mr. Cook, with that commendable adaptability to local surroundings that characterizes his countrymen as well as in accordance with good taste and sound sense Americanized his name on coming to this country, it originally being William Ludwig Joachim Kock. Mr. Cook's father, Johan Heinrich Joachim Kock, was born in 1831, grew up in his native country, served his term in the Hanover army, married Louisa Stephens, of his native place, in 1851, and immigrated to America in 1869, settling at Laporte, Ind. There, after several years of successful business pursuits, he was overtaken by financial disaster, and lost the bulk of his life-earnings, spending his later years in an ineffectual effort to
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regain his wasted fortunes. He died in 1887 and was buried in Laporte. He was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church and a man of warm heart and generous impulses.
The subject of this notice was born May 15, 1852. He came alone to America in 1869, and was reared mainly at Laporte, Ind., where they settled. His early education was limited. Being of an active and independent disposition, he struck out for himself at the age of fifteen, finding his first employment as a farm hand. Since that date, his career has been a checkered one, he having seen much of the ups and downs - the sunshine and the shadows - of this life. He has visited many places and followed many different vocations for a livelihood. He came to Nebraska in 1878, driving through from Laporte, Ind., with wagon and team. He traveled extensively over this state during the first few years of his residence here, and taking two or three trips back East, and one or two further West. He came to Kearney in 1881, and after following different pursuits secured a position with the Union Pacific Land Company, and went to Europe in their interest. He succeeded, after two years' residence and hard labor in the old country, in. inducing a many of his countrymen to immigrate to America, and assisted them in securing homes in Nebraska along the line of the Union Pacific railroad. He located permanently in Kearney in 1886, engaging at that date in manufacturing cigars and tobacco, a business he has prosecuted steadily since. He is one of Kearney's live, progressive men; public-spirited and wide-awake, thorough-going in his business methods, and attentive to his own personal concerns. He is popular not only in his trade, but as a citizen at large and has a host of friends and well-wishers. He is a zealous member of the Knights of Pythias, having been past chancellor of that fraternity, and is now chairman of the board of trustees of his lodge. He is an efficient member of the Kearney fire department, being foreman of Wide-Awake Hose Company.
He married at Behring, Mich., in 1875, the lady whom he chose for a companion being a native of that place. His wife died May 26, 1876, leaving one child - Birty William Cook. Mr. Cook married again August 2, 1879 his second wife, being Miss Hulda Strand. He was elected councilman of the third ward of Kearney, Nebr., the spring of 1890, also received his commission as lieutenant adjutant of the Third regiment, Nebraska brigade, U. R. K. of P., in the year of 1889.
DR. J. C. HULL, born June 14, 1827, is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Van Winkle) Hull. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, but went with his parents to Knox county, Oho, when fifteen years of age. After some years there he moved into Iowa, where he resided until he died. His life was devoted to agricultural pursuits and was a quiet, uneventful one, filled with peace and contentment.
Dr. Hull is of old Pennsylvania and Virginia stock. He was born and reared on a farm, and followed the vocation of farming until he reached his majority.
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He possessed a boyish ambition to become a physician, and the desire to gratify the ambition of his boyhood increased with his years. At the age of twenty-five he left the old farm home, and all its endearing ties, and entered the office of Dr. Henry Hull, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where he began reading medicine. He afterwards attended lectures at the Eclectic College of Medicine at Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from that institution in 1854. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Trenton, Henry county, Iowa, and remained there till 1874, when he went to Colorado Springs, Colo. After remaining there one year he moved to Kearney, Buffalo county, Nebr., locating there in 1875, and resuming the practice of his profession. Dr. Hull is one of the pioneer physicians of Kearney. His practice has increased with the growth of the city, and no physician ranks higher in Kearney than he.
February 15, 1855, he married Miss Nancy Updegraff. This union has been blessed with four children - Charlie M., Frank W., Howard J., and George M. Mrs. Dr. J. C. Hull's birthday was April 22, 1832. She is a daughter of Abraham Updegraff of Henry county, Iowa. He was a leading and influential citizen in his county, and took an active and conspicuous part in its affairs. He was a popular man, and was elected by his fellow-citizens to represent their county in the legislature. He was born September 30, 1807, and died June 13, 1855, in Henry county, Iowa, after a short but well spent life. Mrs. Hull's mother was Elenor Updegraff, daughter of Robert Currigan. She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, and died in the happy consolation of her religious faith. Mrs. Dr. Hull is an exceptionally intelligent woman, and is a leading spirit and zealous worker in the cause of temperance. She has been for ten years a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, is known for her zeal and enthusiasm in promoting its cause, and has served as president of the organization in Kearney for several years.
Dr. Hull is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He for many years affiliated with the democratic party, but is now a prohibitionist and is a co-worker with his estimable wife in the cause of temperance. Dr. and Mrs. Hull move in the highest social circles of Kearney, and their friends are numbered by their acquaintances.
PATRICK DOOLEY was born in Ireland, March 18, 1843, and is the son of Michael and Alice (Murray) Dooley. His parents were both devoted members of the Catholic church, and died about 1850. Patrich Dooley came to America in 1860, landing in New York City on the fourth of April, after a tempestuous voyage lasting six weeks and five days. He first located at Marshall, Calhoun county, Mich., but when the tocsin of war was sounded, Pat. Dooley was among the first to volunteer, the date of his enlistment in the Second Michigan cavalry, being September 12, 1861. He faced the enemy first in Missouri and afterwards at the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Stone river, Franklin, Spring hill, Perryville, Chickamauga, Nashville and Blue mountain. He was taken prisoner at the last named place and
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sent to Coon Bridge, Ala., where he was paroled May 8, 1865. He was also taken prisoner at Brentwood, Tenn., but was released soon afterwards at Columbia, S.C. He was wounded in the left thigh at the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. He was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, June 20, 1865, and few men saw more actual service than Pat. Dooley. He came to Buffalo county, Nebr., in the spring of 1879 and took a homestead in Gardner township, where he has since resided. He was married in November, 1865, to Miss Agnes Cassidy, who was born in Lee, Mich., November 25, 1847, and is the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Balf) Cassidy, both of whom were natives Ireland. Her father came to America 1832 and was one of the early pioneers Marshall, Mich. He died in May, 1888. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Dooley has resulted in the birth of sixteen children - Mary, Jennie, Eugene, Thomas, Christopher, Bernard (deceased), Isabel, Mabel (burned to death at the age of seven), Joseph, Hugh, Bessie, Evilen, Zoe, Adalaide and two died in infancy. Mr. Dooley has a fine farm of 320 acres and has lately erected a handsome frame dwelling. In politics he is an Alliance man.
CHESTER, W. PUTNAM was born in Centerville, N. Y., November 18, 1833, and is the son of Ebenezer and Philena (Maxson) Putnam. His father was a native of Vermont and was a carpenter by occupation. He died in 1834, and his widow died December 12, 1859, The paternal grandfather of Chester W. was a cousin of Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. C. W. Putnam began working for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern R. R. Company in Southern Michigan when twenty years old, and continued in the employment of this corporation for several years. He had in the meantime become quite proficient as a painter and worked at his trade in Racine, Wis., for about twelve years. He enlisted in February, l865, in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin regiment. At this time, however, the war was drawing to a close and he saw no real service, but was mustered out in the following November. He had offered his services three years previous, but was rejected on account of a disabled arm. After the war he continued his occupation as painter until 1877, when he came to Buffalo county, Nebr., and took a claim in Cedar township, on which he has since resided. When he landed at Kearney he had barely $200. He purchased a team of mules and necessary farming implements and began work in earnest. The first season he harvested four hundred and four bushels of wheat, which he sold at 70 cents per bushel, and has since been quite successful in raising both wheat and corn. When he first settled in the township there were only three or four families, and wild game was plenty. He has often seen large herds of antelope and deer. Mr. Putnam was married in December, 1856, to Miss Caroline Thompson. They have three children - Charles H., Chester W., and Carrie P. Mrs. Putnam was born in Pennsylvania, February 21, 1834, and is the daughter of Lyman and Annie Thompson, natives of New England. Her father
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