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Seward Cniintv lland-HiH 
 
 V. 
 
 FROM THF -MOniniM ARUO.' K KS9AB CITV. MO. 
 
 EDITOBUL ITES 
 
 From the "South Platte 
 Country" in 
 
 SOUTIIEKX XKBRASKA. 
 
 A Graphic Account of the Farms 
 and Farmers, Grain Fields, 
 Grasses, Groves, Or- 
 chards, Viney.irds, 
 Herds and 
 Homes of 
 
 Its 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY. 
 
 CI mate. Topography, Soils, Water 
 Supply, Agricultural Possibili- 
 ties, Schools, Social Ordt r, 
 Railways, M arkcts 
 and Land Val- 
 ues. 
 
 A GROUP OF I'KOSPEKOUS TOWNS: 
 
 Seward, Milford, Utica, Staplehurst, 
 Ulysses and Beaver Crossing. 
 
 The Matchless Blue V.illey Under Mid- 
 Summer Skies. 
 
 wUt would iM-fl n land of Aiipcrla- 
 ami bloom uiul fruition, iiu may 
 
 : 
 
 "THE 801TII IM.ATTE C<Jl'J(TKY" 
 
 of «,,nlli.. ..r.-ri, \..|,i .,i, . n r.-i,,i. wl.l.-li If 
 
 by Butler, liAncaster, Saline and York ootm- 
 ties. It bos 
 
 AX ENVIABLE IX)CATI05 
 
 In th' ' rtioii of lliL' u|i|HT BI|? Rliie 
 
 villi. cs wf>i of tilt- Mi-vsoiin river, 
 
 fun\ Ml (»f the ri;»ttf rivtT, slxty- 
 
 fivf nnl^.\■^ soiilliWfst of (Jiii;ili:i, twenty-live 
 miles noiiliwfst of Lincoln niut alM)Ut .sixty 
 
 miles north of i' <>-,■■■■ > mliiry of Kaii- 
 
 8JW. It lies in : I <-nler of tlio 
 
 Union, in the li' uri valley and 
 
 within that HMi ; <>i eoiiniry— lej»s 
 
 than 400 mills mm from ocean to 
 
 ocean, in whiih . .| ;ill the ^reat com- 
 
 mercial, tinanciul ,k:ui railway centers, all tho 
 fn"wit univen*ilie*', the stmnuest and densest 
 pojiulatidii, the strongest agriculture, thcgre^it 
 dairy and fruit InUre.sts, and nine-tenths of 
 Hie nianufactiiriiiK industrifs of the countr>'. 
 lilies too in the pathwav . nldriftinjf 
 
 iiiiniiKralion, empire and > and, by 
 
 virtue of it.s coimiiercial, ii ii,d politi- 
 
 cal relations Ut the four Knunl divisions of tlie 
 Union, hius a .^iilendid destiny. 
 Seward county has the further fortune of an 
 
 AOKEEAUI.E AND UKALTItFlX CLIMATE. 
 
 It Ilea between tJie latiliuk-sof New York a:ul 
 riiil.idel]ihia; hiis a mean elevation of 1,4.>0 
 feet at)Ove the tides and is happily exempt 
 from the extremes of northern I' '■ ' uili- 
 ern heat and huiiiiility. The 1' an<( 
 
 ffrowiiiK summer, with it.s Im . and 
 
 co<»l re-slful nijjhts, is a benitliciiuu. The au- 
 tumn is delightful, and often runs Into the 
 holidays, 'liie tvpical winter is short, oi>en 
 and dry, with little snow-fall and rarely too 
 M'ver»' to i«revfnt comfortable onf-<if-door eni- 
 • I ' ' ^ Its full 
 
 lirriH'ablo 
 ..-■'r from 
 Uic yuxc air ot Ihu p..uii» and uiounLiiiis. 
 
 A HIGH AVKKAOF. OF IIKAITII 
 
 obtains tlinitiKhout ! 
 wliere there is little : 
 
 w .ill 1 . a II i ~i'. ill \ , - . 
 
 -< llit\0 foUllli 
 
 older ca^item 
 
 .•"i.ii"-.. 
 
 The traveler may never find a retriou whoso 
 
 TOI-tXiltArHKAL rilAUM.'l 
 
 excel those of S4*wnrd oountv, which from end 
 t" end Is a l.ind of tnnrAeions, bt-wiMcritt;; 
 
 of . 
 
 diuualy ricli aic 
 By- 
 with nn arra of 'oi> .«i|tiHr<- iniii-^, 
 tliu uortii, ofwW w<utli and west. 
 
 ui 
 
 IxilllKlltl Oil 
 
 respe<tlvely, 
 
 i ravines 
 
 1)11 s.Mi-w oi iMiii'iiii'H, or iiii.iiiii<.n\ . .tii'i n 
 quite Iwyond the power of my {loor Knglbh to 
 
^ 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 describe. The 
 
 WATEU SIPPLY 
 
 of tliis county is aini)li' aiui admirable. Tlie 
 east and west fori<s of tiie IJii^ Cine river, Lin- 
 cdlu, Beaver. Middle, Crooked. Tinni and 
 AVainnt creelvS and a seoie of si)rin.i? liroolvs, 
 drain every i)orti()n of tiie eounly. and witii 
 nnniei'ouss])rin';sand linndreds oi livinn: wells, 
 afford an abundance of pure water fur all do- 
 mestic uses. The 
 
 NATIVE FOItRRTS 
 
 of oak, ash, elm, walnut, iiickory, hackberry, 
 box elder, Cottonwood, lindcii, sycamore, 
 maple, willow and kindred woods that frinsre 
 the streams, cover al)out 20,000 aei'es, and with 
 the abatement of the annual ])rairie tires, are 
 steadily widening their area. The 
 
 DOMESTIC GROVES 
 
 of willow, Cottonwood, liox-elder, maple, ash, 
 walmit, catalpa, elm, and other varieties tliat 
 have been planted and cultivated by the hands 
 of the more provident and enterjirising far- 
 mers, add many thousands of acres to the 
 forestry of the county, and beyond their util- 
 itarian uses, lend indescribable grace to the 
 landscape. Nowhere in the new west is 
 
 THEE PLANTING 
 
 carried on more extensively or successfully 
 than in Seward county, which has more than 
 2,.i00of tiiese beautiful domestic groves, which 
 generally environ the homes, outbuildings, 
 orchards and stock yards of tlie farmers, af- 
 fording the most grateful and deliglitful sum- 
 mer and winter protectitiu, and materially add- 
 ing to the a?sthetic and connuercial value of 
 the linest farms and homes, where their growth 
 is so rajnd and perfect that the industry is be- 
 ing carried to splendid proportions. A good 
 supply of 
 
 BUILDING STONES, 
 
 both of the lime and freestone varieties, are 
 found at several points in the county. Good 
 brick are made from native clays and there 
 are some valuable deposits of fire and potter's 
 clay Within the reach of enterprising manu- 
 facturers. It may interest the reader to know 
 somethihg about the 
 
 COST AND METHODS OF FENCING 
 
 in this country. All kinds of hedging knowni 
 to the middle latitudes do well here, and there 
 are jn'obably full 2,500 miles of willow, honey 
 locust and osage orange (Bois d'Arc) hedge 
 in the county, some of which is allowed to 
 grow into stately and dense wind breaks, but 
 much of which, notably the osage orange, is 
 trained into fine stock-proof fencing, which in 
 the hands of good cultivators, flourishes as 
 well Irere as in the furtlier southwest. 
 Bai-Iied wire, however, is the imiversal and 
 popular fence material and is sold in the local 
 markets as cheaply as in any of the older 
 states. In no particular does Seward comity 
 conunend itseli to the critical and discrimin- 
 ating visitor so strongly as in the uniformity, 
 depth, versatility and bounty of 
 
 THE SOILS, 
 
 which, from end to end of the county, present 
 a wealth of productive resource that may 
 challenge comparison with the world-famous 
 
 farm districts of the older eastern .states or 
 Enrope. 
 
 THE VALT.KVS AND DOTTOMS 
 
 of the Blue river, Lincoln creek and the minor 
 streams, cover about 80.000 acres, and areconi- 
 ])osed of a rich black alluvial de|)osit from six 
 to ten feet deep, and while they lead any of 
 the fanunis eastern valleys in grace of land- 
 scajie, are not one whit behind the Mohawk, 
 Sciota and Genesee valleys for rich and en- 
 during production. The superficial soils of 
 
 THE HIGH PRAIRIES 
 
 are mainly a black flexible mould, enormously 
 rich in humus, easily worked, from twelve to 
 thirty inches deep, and fully as productive as 
 the best uj'land prairie soils of Illinois or 
 Iowa. 3Ioreover. they have great advantage 
 over the surface soils of the states named, by 
 virtue of 
 
 THE SUBSOILS 
 
 ^^hich throughout the entire county, 
 are largely composed of silicious 
 clays and marls peculiar to the Loess or 
 bluff deposits of the Missouri valley, and 
 nearly identical with the world famou.s lacus- 
 trine deposits of the Klune and Nile. This sub- 
 structure underlies every district which I had 
 the pleasure of inspecting, and is not a dead, 
 im]>ervious "hard-pan" clay, but is the most 
 variously gifted and highly productive soil 
 known to husbandry. Indeed it is 
 
 DKACTICALLY INEXHAUSTIDLE, 
 
 as its history and multiform uses in the old 
 world for inany centuries have pi'oven. It is 
 largely composed of silica, lime and magnesia 
 carbonate, lime phosphate, alumina, organic 
 matter and other constituents of an im]3erish- 
 able soil, is open and porous in structure, 
 readily absorbs the surplus moisture and re- 
 tains ft with gi'eat tenacity, to be given back to 
 vegetation by slow cajiillarv aitraction in sea- 
 sons of extended drouth. This subsoil runs 
 down to the water level or bed rock, is warm 
 and quick, readily slacks to the consistency of 
 an ash heap on exposure to frost and air, and 
 will prove 
 
 A MINE OF AGRICULTURAL WEALTH 
 
 to the deep, thorough, systematic cultivators 
 of the future, long after these darker surface 
 alluvials have found their way down the 
 rivers to the bed of the ocean. They are bet- 
 ter than the guano beds or compost heap, 
 for they underlie every acre of 
 the farms of Seward county; 
 were ages ago com]iosted in the perfect labo- 
 ratory of nature; are at the connnand of every 
 farmer and bear in their primary elements 
 and combination the richest and most endur- 
 ing food for grasses, grains, fruits and vegeta- 
 bles that were ever brought under tribute to 
 the sagacious and intelligent cultivator. 
 A\'hatever may be the judgment concerning 
 them of tlie men who at best but crudely and 
 sujierlicially handle the surface soils to-day, 
 these gray marls disintegiated by the frosts 
 and sunshine of the coming years, and by deep 
 cultivation blended with' the darker earth 
 above them, will give the needed consistency 
 and versatility and transform Seward county 
 into 
 
 A VERITABLE GARDEN* 
 
SEWAun roiNTV hand hook 
 
 r\ 
 
 
 r'«f-««ii 
 
 r. »V . OUiwii <x lii <>3. 3 vjlicfp i-idiiuh, uri ulf WPSt Blu 
 
 Oiers' Block, Seward. 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 as rich as the lowlands of the Nile, and as fair 
 and bounteous as I'le sunny slopes of Sorento. 
 In a dozen years of western travel I cannot 
 recall a district of equal extent with a more 
 miifornily fertile soil than this county, which 
 has 
 
 NOT A QUABTER SECTION OF WASTE LAND 
 
 within its borders, no stumps, no out-cropping 
 rocks, no bald bluffs and no irredeemable 
 swamps or lajjoons to bar the progress of hus- 
 bandry or distiRure the perfect contour of a 
 county which tlie great God evidently made 
 for a dense and highly prosperous rural popu- 
 lation. The 
 
 PERFECT NATURAL, DRAINAGE 
 
 afforded by the porous structui-e of the sub- 
 soils, the frequent deep set streams, "draws" 
 and ravines and the undulating surface of the 
 country give the farmer ready command of 
 his fields for cultivation, even in seasons of 
 unusual moisture, and absolve him from the 
 necessity for artificial drainage. The peculiar 
 composition of the soils, too, affords the far- 
 mer comparative immunity from the disasters 
 that follow long seasons of drouth in less fa 
 vored regions. It may be said to the lasting 
 credit of Seward county that her better far- 
 mers have 
 
 NEVER LOST A CROP 
 
 from the effects of di-outh. These soils, too, 
 are as versatile as they are available. No por- 
 tion of the Union affords 
 
 A WIDER RANGE OF PRODUCTION. 
 
 The Seward coimty farmer may grow in 
 perfection every grain, grass, plant, fruit and 
 vegetable produced between the latitude of 
 Washington and Wuinipeg. No country gives 
 higher sanctions to 
 
 "variety" farming 
 than this upper Blue river country, as will be 
 clearly attested by the testunony of half a 
 hundred good farmers in the later portions of 
 this sketcli. Wheat, rye, barley, nats, flax, 
 broom corn, sorghum, millet, Hungarian, 
 buckwheat and all the grasses, vegetables, 
 fruits and flora of the medium latitudes flour- 
 ish here in profusion and perfection. 
 
 SPRING WHEAT 
 
 in former years was produced to the extent of 
 half a mill'ion bushels annuallj^ and was the 
 special crop to which everything else was 
 subordinated takes an humble place in the list 
 of grains now, and the annual yield of the 
 county ranges from 1.50,000 to 250,000 bushels, 
 the yield per acre running from ten to twenty- 
 five bushels, and in extreme cases, thirty to 
 thii'ty-five bushels. 
 
 CORN IS KING 
 
 here to-day, by a right infinitely diviner than 
 any kingship among men and is rapidly grow- 
 ing in favor. The great orop of 1«^2 in Sew- 
 ard county is estimated by good judges to 
 have reached 3,500,000 bushels, and the yield 
 
 Eer acre ranged from thirty-five to ninety 
 ushels, according to soil and cultivation. 
 Sixty and seventy-five bushels to the acre are 
 not uncommon with the best farmers, who, 
 under favorable conditions, get even as high 
 as 100 bushels per acre. No crop is suiter, aiid 
 
 tiie (lay is not distant when this county will 
 annually produce (5,000.000 bushels of corn. 
 
 OATS 
 
 are a splendid crop in these loose, friable 
 soils, tlie only drawback being a tendency to 
 oveigrowtli and lodgement in wet seasons. 
 The yield runs from tliirty to seventy bushels 
 to tlie acre, and tiie annual crop of the county 
 from 500,000 to 1,000,000 bushels. 
 
 is almost universally grown by the farmers for 
 fall and winter pasturage, after which it gives 
 a yield of fifteen to thirty bushels per acre. 
 A yield of forty bushels is sometimes attained 
 mider favorable conditions. 
 
 is also an excellent crop, giving a yield of 
 twenty-five to fifty bushels per acre, and is 
 growing m favor among feeders. 
 
 is cultivated to a liberal extent, gives about 
 the same yield as in the older states, and finds 
 a ready market in«Oinaha, where are located 
 the most extensive oil works in America. 
 
 BROOM CORN. 
 
 is very successfully grown by a few experi- 
 enced cultivators, who assure me that the 
 brush grown here commands the highest price 
 in the ma^'ket, and that a single crop often 
 nets them the full value of the land on which 
 it is raised. 
 
 AMONG OTHER FIELD CROPS. 
 
 sorghum is cultivated by many farmers with 
 gratifying results. Millet is largely grown, 
 and gives a bountiful yield. The Irisli and 
 sweet potato do finely m any of these soils, and 
 the entire list of northern field crops are as 
 thoroughly at home here as in any part of the 
 Union. Seward county and all this upper 
 Blue river country may fairly be called 
 
 THE GARDEN LAND, 
 
 for there is no region on the continent where 
 every product of the garden flourishes in 
 greater profusion and perfection or with so 
 little care. 
 
 Seward countj^ is making steady and com- 
 mendable progress in 
 
 FRUIT GROWING. 
 
 All varieties of the apple that flourish west of 
 the Mississippi are successfully fruiting here. 
 The pear has not been sulliciently tested to 
 determine its value for the local orchard. The 
 Morello cherry family are all fruiting abund- 
 antly. The Chickisaw red plum family are a 
 marked success. The peacli bears well occa- 
 sionally, but is not reliable. The Concord 
 grape and other hardy varieties are very fruit- 
 ful and of the first quality. The Snyder and 
 Kititing blackberry are a grand success. Tur- 
 ner's red raspberry and the Blackcap are very 
 productive, and the strawberry is a decided 
 success with all good cultivators. Fruit cul- 
 ture is receiving general attention and there 
 
sKWAUi) nnxrv hand book 
 
 (A 
 
 1 
 
 nii.j'' 
 
 '«'UI../ uiJ(i,.*J'-l»l 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 are scores of orchards now in beariiiffancl luiii- 
 dreds more that will give tlie county a full 
 home supply of fruit within the next tive 
 years. Mr, H. A. Johns, the northern niana- 
 
 fer of the well-known York Nursery Co., of 
 "ort Scott, Kansas, and a connoisseur in fruit 
 growing, has visited nearly every old orchard 
 and fruit yard in Seward county and pro- 
 nounces it a capital comitry for apples, 
 plums, cherries, and all the small fruits of the 
 vineyartl and garden, This, county is essenti- 
 ally 
 
 THE HOME OF THE GKASSES, 
 
 ■which from the wild varieties that grow on 
 the native ranges and meadows to the richest 
 herbage of the lawn, have a growth as luxuri- 
 ant and tenacious as in any region on the con- 
 tinent. 
 
 THE WILD GllASSES, 
 
 number more than 100 varieties, make 
 a strong, stalwart and tenacious growth on 
 every acre of land not under tribute to the 
 plowman, and have given the farmers of Sew- 
 ard comity more net revenue than all the other 
 crops conibined. A full third of the country 
 is still covered with this rich native herbage, 
 which is not only a capital substitute for do- 
 mestic hav, but from April to September, 
 makes the'tinest grazing known to American 
 husbandry. Timothy leads 
 
 THE DOMESTIC GRASSES 
 
 with a growlh as rich and strong as in any of 
 the older states and is cultivated by all the 
 progressive farmers in the county. Red clo- 
 ver makes a splendid growth, is much more 
 tenacious than m any of the eastern states, 
 and is liniling a home on most of the well 
 managed farms. The all-con(iueriug 
 
 BLUE GRASS 
 
 is an unqualilied success here and is steadily 
 making its way to the conquest of field and 
 forest, highway and lawai with a growth as 
 strong and tenacious and luxuriant as in Ken- 
 tucky or Illinois. Herd grass— red top— too, 
 makes a capital showing and white clover is 
 a decided success. Orchard grass has been 
 tried with excellent results and is sure to be- 
 come popular with the better class of far- 
 mers. Ine ai-ea of the clover and timothy 
 meadows and pastures is widening with won- 
 derful rapidity, and it is sate to say that 5,000 
 acres are now well stocked with these staple 
 grasses. That Seward county is 
 
 A SUPERB STOCK COUNTRY 
 
 there is no longer any foom for doubt. The 
 abundance of pure :<nd wholesome water, the 
 
 Erolusion and nigh (piulity of the grasses, the 
 ne slK'ltcr now rdiordcd by the native and do- 
 mestic groves, the extent and wealth of the 
 coiTi fields, the dry and invigorating atmos- 
 pliere^and the high average of health and vi- 
 talityiRmong all classes of stock, together with 
 the com|)arative cheapness of land and trans- 
 portation, give the stock men of this region 
 
 MANIFEST AND MARKED ADVANTAGE 
 
 over the stock growers of the older states, 
 whose expensive shelter, high-priced lands 
 and feed and climatic disabilities are steadily 
 and surely driving them out of 
 
 THE RACE FOR SUPREMACY 
 
 in this noblest of all riu-al industries. It is 
 assuring to the visitor to ride for days and 
 days over this beautiful county and note the 
 number and high character of the herds of 
 cattle and swine, and realize 
 
 THE MARVELOUS CHANGE 
 
 that has come over local husbandry in half a 
 dozen years. As late as 1876, wheat led the 
 staple crops by a good margiuj but it was 
 found unprofitable as a specialty and the 
 more sagacious farmers turned their attention 
 to "variety" farming with corn as the leading 
 staple, and to-day the extent and bounty or 
 the corn field|g| the chief glory of this match- 
 Jess and magmncent Blue valley. Naturally 
 enough the corn growers drifted into cattle 
 a id swine raising and the county has grown 
 )-ich and prosperous by the change. Stock 
 breeding, raismg and feeding is 
 
 THE ABSORBING INDUSTRY, 
 
 —the one grand, entertaining and advancing 
 occupation of the day and location to which 
 the superb fields of corn, rye, oats, and bar- 
 ley anil the grasses are tributary. 
 
 THE EXTENT OF THE INDUSTRY, 
 
 considering the age of local stock husbandry, 
 is altogether surprising. With the warrantable 
 assumption that the official reports are too 
 meager and imperfect to be worthy of consid- 
 eration, I think it safe to say that fully 4,000 
 hoi'ses and mules, 20,000 cattle, 4,500 sheep 
 and 40,000 swine are now owned and kept 
 within the county, and, with the exception of 
 sheep, the herds are rapidly increasing. The 
 eastern visitor will find a pleasant surprise, 
 too, in the 
 
 HIGH CHARACTER OF THE HEEDS. 
 
 The typical scrub of the old time is fast 
 yielding V. high, grades of draught, road and 
 turf horses, Merino, Cotswold and Down 
 sheep, Durham, Hereford, Holstein and Jer- 
 sey cattle, and Poland-China, Berkshire and 
 Jersey pigs, and it is but fair to say that in all 
 these lines of stock, the hei'ds of the county 
 will compare with those of Illinois, Ohio or 
 Michigan. 
 
 STOCK BREEDING- 
 
 is taking fine proportions and rapidly being 
 carried up to the best levels of this gi-and in- 
 dustry. Mr. A. Rogy, the proprietor of the 
 well known "Pacific "Stock Farm," with its 
 superb stud of Percherons, at Seward, has 
 made several importations of this noble race 
 direct from the foremost breeding farms and 
 stables of France, and the county is now well 
 Stocked with as fine thoroughbred Percherons 
 as mav be found in any country. F. W. Up- 
 ton & Bro., of the "West Blue Stock Farm," 
 have a superior imported English draught 
 stallion, and Hanibletonian and other popular 
 turf and road stock are bred to a fair extent by 
 several horsemen. Messrs. Gill, Jones, Hen- 
 derson, Hickman, Hafer, Seals, Courtright, 
 Iledford, and others are breeding thorough- 
 bred short horns, and have in their lierds 
 model types of this popular race. Claudius 
 Jones has a herd of fifteen imported Holsteins 
 that will challenge comparison with any in tiie 
 west. Mr. A. D. Ritchie, one of the most suc- 
 cessful breeders of Merinos in the west, has 
 done capital service to advance sheep husband- 
 
SEWAHD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
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SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 ry, and there are a soore of successful breeders 
 of thoroughbred Uerksliire's and Pohmd- 
 China's, auiona: them Messrs. Griffen, Rt^lford, 
 Hickman, Upton, Jcmes, Hafer. (iill, Wright, 
 and others, much of wliose stock lias style and 
 lineage equal to anv in the country. The 
 leading feature of local stock husbandry is 
 
 CATTLE AND SWIXE FEEDING, 
 
 ■which is not onlv a grand success, but is being 
 carried to splendid ])n>portions. The yearly 
 export of fat steers and ])igs now reaches a 
 value of .$1,000,000, and is likely to be doubled 
 Within the next five years, No other depart- 
 ure of iSeward count v husbandry is so success- 
 ful and prolltable. Every farmer feeds well 
 bred Berkshires or Pohnids, the number rang- 
 ing from fifteen to 250, according to the ability 
 
 GKOWING KICH 
 
 and independent out of their corn fields and 
 herds, and the "opulent granger" is becoming 
 about as common liere as in Illinois or Ohio. 
 
 SHEEP FARMING 
 
 has been made an unqualified success by sev- 
 eral men, who assure me that there is no 
 finer sheep country in the world than Seward 
 county. It is clearly 
 
 A NATUKAIi DAIRY COUNTRY 
 
 too, but strangely enough there is not a butter 
 or cheese da^tof iiny magnitude in the entire 
 county, whi^^ould with great profit, support 
 half a dozen creameries and cheese factories. 
 Stock husbandry in Seward county is 
 
 Walnut Hill," the Home and Stock Farm of Levi Hafer, Near Seward. 
 
 of the feeder. Many of the abler farmers 
 make an annual feed or two of steers, the 
 number fed upon each farm varying from ten 
 to 1.^0 wellbrcd animals, whii-lT are followed 
 by an equal number of jiigs tliat fatten on the 
 droppings and litter of the feed yard. Messrs. 
 Price, True, iirown. Palmer, Hickman, 
 the Henderson, Dobson, F. W. Upton & Bro. 
 brothers Ritchie and several of the abler feed- 
 ers, wiio have followed the business in the 
 older states, assure me that this industry is 
 
 WONDERFULLY FAVORED 
 
 in Seward county, which, on account of the 
 dryness of the soil and climate, is, by compar- 
 ison with any of the older states, a stock feed- 
 er's ])aradise. Whatever nuiy be the relative 
 advantages of tliis county as a stock country, 
 one thing is patent to the dullest observer; the 
 farms are fast 
 
 A NOBLE CALLING, 
 
 and develops a race of royal men. It is the 
 one grand and growing occupation of the day 
 and locatioii. If it be eminently practical and 
 profitable, so too, it is 
 
 INVESTED WITH A POETIC CHARM. 
 
 To grow the green, succulent, luxuriant 
 grasses, develop the finest lines of grace and 
 beauty in animal conformation, tend one's 
 herds and flocks on the green, fragrant range, 
 live in an atmosphere of delicate sympatny 
 with the higlier forms and impulses of the an- 
 imal life in one's care, and to.oe inspired by 
 the higher sentiments and traditions of hon- 
 orable breeding, is 
 
 A LIFE TO BE COVETED 
 
 by the best men of all lands. By the side of 
 the herds and grasses and herdsmen of subh a 
 
SKWARD COUNTY If AND BOOK. 
 
 country as tliU, the men of the Kmin lif UIh are 
 nowluTi'. Tli"-^>- null of tin* lirnls tin- U-adInK 
 afiirnioi' 'vliff than thr Hfhn'w 
 
 8lu'|>li«>r<i Assyrian hills in thi- nld 
 
 drad i-«MU..... .... > t4Mid their lliicks, live 
 
 with ami love onu wuuinn, and raiMj honest 
 children In 
 
 THE 8WEET ATMO<5nii P. 
 
 Tliey are in jM-ace with and 
 
 look out uixni a ■ ■ ■ ' r OA 
 
 eviT j^.K't'il til' kies 
 
 alN)ve tluMii Hi< tho 
 
 Anio, and if tli>- iiin r ,u .'uiilsare 
 
 little ruitivate^l hy the of these 
 
 iM'aceful valleys, they arr _. .cl to Uie 
 
 higher art of iMitient and huiiurablti human 
 Uvln«. 
 
 St<K-k raising is fn'catly facilitated in this 
 county by 
 
 CHEAP TKANSPORTATIOX. 
 
 The A. A N*. division of the B. * M. railway 
 from Lincoln to ('olumhiis follows the Blue 
 river and valley aeross the eonnty via Milford, 
 SewanI, Sta|>l<-hurst and riysM-A. The Lin- 
 coln aii«M".:;tr:i! <'irv (livi>.ii>n of the H. & M. 
 roadcm- ist to west via 
 
 Oennaiit the two lines 
 
 giving tl" <> stations and 
 
 direct eunue< Uwii.-., Uiili iiorlli and suuUi, with 
 the entire railway system of the state. A 
 brunch of the Tnion raeitic, eoni|)leted very 
 near to the north line of the county, jfives the 
 8t<H'k shipiMTs c')m)K'litive rates to ChicaKo 
 and the rertaintv ot a new railway across the 
 county at au early tlay. The 
 
 rOfNTV FINAXCES 
 
 are in capital condition and are manafced 
 with iiiaiki ,! ahility and fidelity. The princi- 
 pal -I <if the moch-rate iMinded In- 
 <l(l '.lid with promptness; there are 
 
 no !• , ,. . of the public olili>;ation, and 
 
 the burdens ol e\ci-ssi\f taxation inclih-nt to 
 tiie older tax-ritlden eastern eommunities, are 
 wholly unknown. The county has 
 
 AN AiiMin.vniE sf'HiMd. system, 
 rei-r. "^ ' ' ■ ' •■ ' • ■' '■ ■ 
 
 Isi,..- 
 
 in Ihei'iumij \\i[!.iiul the au\.iiit.i.;'> ot a lib- 
 eral elementary edilralion. A More of 
 (Ml i:< IIK.S, 
 
 representinc; all the !• adint; denominations. 
 
 T.-li 
 
 di 
 wl 
 of : 
 tioii 
 
 of SewanI 
 11.;; 
 
 M any 
 
 two 
 
 w« 
 
 Cni 
 
 av. 
 
 W-' 
 
 worn away provincial conceit and pn-jn : 
 
 and !•- L'ra'tnalh i:i\iiu' !ir>M'Itli. sti' ■ 
 
 rat 
 
 n< 
 
 oui 
 
 ly ^it(e<l in n ' 
 s<jurce and ^x 
 
 U this II I ^ HI t 
 
 greatiie ities. 
 
 . ..; ' \ I. 
 
 go hand In hand li< '■ 
 
 ralUff. Ttn-i-ir,. 
 
 n.i. 
 til- 
 
 bn 
 
 ious ]iabnlum to a population 
 md jirivate monils are worthy 
 : b'JUiitiHius land of their ado|»- 
 
 THE PEOri.E 
 
 .iintv r.iii sent nearly every clv- 
 lal, |*ollucal atid re- 
 > an 
 
 I the 
 
 li\. t 
 
 pa-i<'i.i. 1- 
 
 timeiit. 
 
 drifted I I 
 
 thoiiirhtni • 1 
 
 iMHiks and tl< 
 
 ileije to live a; 
 
 like this, where the >oul and 
 
 visil4ir are charmiHl by a tli i 
 
 ifnice and lM>auty U-fore he li.i-. n . . ...■ ..-..• <1 
 
 Vt-s majcnilTceiit' iiiati-rial n-souree— a land 
 
 where even A |Millo iiiiifht tend his tlfx'ks and 
 
 Sajipho turn dairvmaid sintriuK her sw(*et 
 
 soiii;s in the •<<-«fuctive shadows of Uieso 
 
 mounds and jmivt-s. 
 
 To the {oreK'oin;; notes u|Min the county, 1 
 am pleased to add a brief outline of 
 
 OEWAHI>, 
 
 the capital and foremost commercial town of 
 the county. Tliis U^aiitifiil aiul pros|M'rou» 
 voimi; city was plalie«l in ls«;s|»y Lewis .Mof- 
 iitt, and tia-s now alMiut i.iuu |MMple. It has 
 
 AN ENVIAUl.K LOCATION 
 
 upon a charm i III? p1:it4«u overhH»kine Plum 
 
 crwk and tli. ■ ' ' ■■« vallev -• •' '■.,• 
 
 Hlue. which fully aloii 
 
 em and wcsi. of ttu- > 
 
 shadows of dili.'lii'.u! . f 
 
 timlK-r, ami down thr"i. f 
 
 ■1 
 
 1" 
 
 fl 
 
 111 
 
 loVl'll' I 'in 
 
 ard, nor cnn 
 country. A> 
 
 of P«*warrl nn- hf; 
 Uii 
 
 h 
 
 hand 
 
 -f art 
 
 Vf 
 
 in 
 
 mure bouniiiul tana 
 
 •vn flouring 
 
 re; 
 tur.. 
 
10 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 nections witli tlie entire rail system of Ne- 
 braska, and, with tlie eirly extension of the 
 Uniuii Pacific to tliis point, Seward will have 
 as desirable rail faciliiies as any interior town 
 of the state. 
 
 THE COMMEKCIAL STATUS 
 
 of Seward is a compliment to the city and 
 connty. Most of the bnsiness cai)ital in nse 
 here lias been made on the spot, aiul tew 
 western towns of its class have more capable 
 or solvent business men than Seward, whose 
 yearly transactions in gr;\in, live stock, lum- 
 ber, farm machinery and jicneral merchandise 
 closely ap])roxiiiiatc 81,500,000. There is little 
 speculative tendency ami no enthusiastic 
 rushing of trade among the 
 
 trade of .540,000 to .^55,000. Mr. Diers began 
 here comparatively poor, in 1870, has made a 
 good fortune, enjoys enviable credit, is one of 
 the strongest anil best men in the comnmnity 
 and a representative German of decided pul>- 
 lic spirit. 
 
 J. T. Roberts & Bro. are among the leading 
 grocers of the city, and. with their large anil 
 varied stocks of everything in this line, their 
 exceptional energy, enterprise and mercantile 
 abili?;y, are a strong factor in the business of 
 the town. They have a branch store at 
 Ulysses, are backed by ample capital, pay as 
 they go, are strong, jii-ogressive merchants and 
 men, came here among tlie early settlers, and 
 are representatives of Illinois. 
 
 The hardware trade is finely represented by 
 
 " Prairie Lawn," the Home of Claudius Jones, Esq., Seward. 
 
 KEPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS MEN, 
 
 but rather a conservative and dtjliberate habit 
 of keeping within rational commercial 
 bounds and adjusting stocks and trades to lo- 
 cal needs and demands. The average mer- 
 chant discounts his bills of credit and regards 
 trade as ail art 1o be cultivated, rather than a 
 mere spcculativ(^ venture. The general mer- 
 chandise trade of the city is ably represented 
 by Herman Diers with his handsome business 
 block, a heavily-stocked general store, admir- 
 able business methods and ability and a yearly 
 
 Rowlee & Vanderhoof with heavy stocks of 
 heavy and shelf hardware, stoves, tin, sheet 
 iron and copper ware, barbed wire and kin- 
 dred goods m all of which they have a capital 
 trade. They are young men of superior busin- 
 ess gifts, prime credit and standing and woi- 
 thily represent res]>ectively the great states of 
 New York and Michigan. 
 
 .J. F. Goehner & Bro. are a strong, repre- 
 sentative hardware firm, with large and com- 
 plete stocks of everything demanded in this 
 line, have a strong trade and rank with the 
 
8EWAHD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 It 
 
 
 Siibstniitial cniii-enis of tli*- city. 
 
 also n wi'll .stix-ki**! i;<-iii-nit sinri', iiml'^r tlio 
 
 finii iiiiiiu' (if Ci«H'liiii*r liios., ami nru coiiiliii't- 
 
 inKn lilN-nil and K>°uwiiiK tnule in gfin'ral 
 
 ii|*-ri-liiiniliM'. 
 
 Joliii Ziiniii('rlin.s a lionvily stockt'd linrcl- 
 WMif i's»:il>!i-;|tm('r)t. <'MiM|.|f(<' in t'Vfry liiu* 
 aiKJ ' 
 Hi> 
 farm 
 
 lliiMriiiUiU' iiii ;htMl> ami rutt i|>nM'. ;v«>iiM do 
 crnlit til a iiu-trn|M>litau town. Mr. Zininicr 
 Is i*!>S4'ntially a iivi>, jni../>. -w .■ .i. .1. . .,,.1 
 man, luts made a Inilliani 
 ranks witli tlie fuixMiKi.st l<, 
 th»' rounty. 
 
 Tin- tnule in farm machinery, wajfons, car- 
 riaircs, wind mills, and kindr«Ml .Ht«K-ks is 
 liandicd with i-xcrptional aliilily and smress 
 by (j. Halisiin, jr., wliux' warfrixims at Sew- 
 ard, Utica and riysM's aa- .Ht<ick»Ml to n-pii?- 
 tionw'itli tin- ifadiiii; iini-sof mat'hini-ry, Ini- 
 plenwiit", Vflii«!f^. i-tf.. and wliMe.- tlioron-rh 
 
 coin 
 
 ti-a.i. 
 
 is an at w. t', uiU'..;..<'nl ,iiid iulluiiUi.il WniUit' 
 for tile piililic xIkhiIs and cM-ry <-omnii>n<lalilu 
 l(H-ai «-ntfr|)risc, holds a ldKl> |M>sition in tlio 
 connnnnity and is greatly plvns«d with Sew- 
 ard ronniv. 
 
 C. N.Ki. •• ■ • . V' ■ d trade In 
 
 farm imi' • lie is a 
 
 can-fnl, < . ; ■nil ami 
 
 growing l>ati>>ii. );;«■, and >i>(.-al>.d ia high pniise 
 of thei'onntr\ and |M'o|i!f 
 
 Mr 
 thr 
 h.-a 
 end 
 onl- 
 Tot: 
 
 thr. 
 
 to tl 
 
 dm- 
 
 yon 
 m»t 
 
 nex- 
 
 dr<-i 
 
 |i I ..it..i, I.. ,.u ii... .inie Inisinessof 
 
 i]i|»ointed and 
 
 wlii<'li. from 
 
 Hiiiii.Mii ..; ' ■ and 
 
 nor a III' Mr. 
 
 -K. K. 1)1. . -f 
 
 •. is an ««•<•■ 
 
 i a live, ji: _. 
 
 t, wciinpin the li«-.t modern 
 . ^ inm-li pleiuseil with the city, 
 ^1 invest im-nt.H here, ami Is a 
 ion to the social and business 
 
 I intelll- 
 Yorker, 
 Kvess in 
 and kin- 
 i\ pn-iiv 
 
 The mnjniitndeof the irraln trade of Sew- 
 ard 1< f.iii7\ iii'Ii- at* <I )>v the statement of J. 
 C. ^! ! T. W. I^iwrey, the 
 
 lea' f the county. Mr. 
 
 hi. 
 oti, 
 
 III 
 
 1 lie iiiiihnu inten-sts of ihiM-ity arv in ex- 
 e*>!!e?i» h;iii'l-. H. !,. Itovi**. hii* r«'oonstniiti"<| 
 
 and lit! 1 
 for the 1 
 men in tl.; .. 
 
 Captain .1. - 
 MIIK. l.--at«Hi 
 Hi-' IV 
 tot 
 for 
 
 maml. i 
 from tli< 
 
 Hon. 1: 
 
 tative of till- 
 drivinir a jx.i 
 siiii" " " 
 
 In. 
 
 In ^ 
 
 lit i> an aiUs c w-iik- r 
 Is Olid one of tJiu squiuxv^t 
 
 and Is til' 
 
 ami 
 
 en' . 
 
 Bin 
 
 U 
 
 bii: 
 
 in lumlN-r and 
 
 ,1 wet! .•!r,>M- 
 
 Ciiiiiiii. ii.ui-- iii'ui (iiiM".-' .liiM j.. . .11. ...11. . -. .•! 
 
 Seward county Uie \kvt of any n-gion in Uio | 01 
 west. ii»' 
 
12 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 series at Sionx City for the propagation of 
 lianlv stock for the novtlipni iiortion of liister- 
 ritnrv— a ])!aii whicliall Nortiieni fruit grow- 
 ers will outertain with decided pleasure. Mr. 
 Jolins comes from ^licliigan and speaks of the 
 fruit prospects of tliis region like a confident 
 and appreciative man. Every line of local 
 business embraces men of sterlmg commercial 
 qualities, and is facilitated by the ample cap- 
 ital and liberal management of 
 
 THE LOCAL BANKS. 
 
 The First National bank, organized in 1882 to 
 succeed the old Seward County bank, has a 
 cash capital of .$•'50,000, has already accumulated 
 a large surplus fund and has the fortune of 
 most admirable management at the hands of 
 President S. C. Langvvorthy and Cashier T. E. 
 Saunders, both men of ripe experience and ac- 
 knowledged ability in banking. The vice- 
 
 ing a general banking business. He is also 
 1 >aning money on real estate for Eastern par- 
 ues, is an old-time lawyer here and a man of 
 fine intelligence and ability. He has strong 
 ^••iends, a good patronage, a good stock of gen- 
 i-.ine western grit, and is building up a solid 
 and prosperous business. 
 
 The State Bank of Nebraska is owned and 
 ran by Mr. John Cattle, a wealthy Englishman, 
 and I hear that Claudius Jones, the v.eteran 
 banker, for wiiom everything turns to gold, and 
 whose capital and ability are equal to the fomid- 
 ing and management of half a dozen strong 
 banks, will return to the banking business this 
 fall, in which event no rural town in Nebraska 
 will be so well off for bankmg capital as Sew- 
 ard. 
 
 THE OFFICIAL AND PROFESSIONAL 
 
 interests of the city and county are in capital 
 
 Thayer Mills, on Lincoln Creek. 
 
 president, Herman Diers, and the entire direc- 
 tory are among the solid men of the county. 
 The current deposits run well above .'11)100,000, 
 and it is safe to say that no banking house in 
 the interior of the state is more strongly forti- 
 fied in the popular confidence and esteem. Mr. 
 J^angworthy was formerly president of the 
 Seward County bank, and is one of the 
 strongest men in Seward comity. Mr. San- 
 ders was trained to the best ways of banking in 
 tlie old State Bank of Nebraska, by Claudius 
 Jones, the prince of Nebraska financiers, and 
 knows the ijusiness as if he were born to it. 
 ISIr. Jolui N. Edwards opened the new Sew- 
 ard County bank here last fall and is transact- 
 
 hands. The board of county commissioners 
 is made up of strong, practical, honest men. 
 The county treasury is administered by Cap- 
 tain R. T. Cooper an old timer here and a gal- 
 lant soldier of capital social qualities. Cai>- 
 tain Cooper hails from Illinois, is a popular 
 and efticieut officer, likes the country and is 
 one of tiie manliest of men. The other coun- 
 ty officers are generally held in high esteem 
 for their personal and administrative qual- 
 ities. 
 
 The city and county bar is ably represented 
 by T. L. '& R. S. Norvall, both hard working, 
 painstaking and successful lawyers of fine 
 ability. Hon. T. L. Norvall of this firm has 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HAM) BOOK. 
 
 18 
 
 rct-nlly •>«*n lioi>i<ro«l witli tlu' dlstriot JmiIkw- 
 Sliip mill !•* innkhf.' a cTipiinl JiKliclnl nn-nnl. 
 
 1) '■ •■ *: ■ ililf mill liilhiciilial 
 
 Inv'' ii-r mill slnii<liiii{ ami 
 
 llki- ■ • I1..I1I- .1 iMimiiidul- 
 
 iiii; (X'^i^ioii >>i till li^.ii I: luni 
 
 N»'l>ri»ka. E<l. Cnmi' i- of 
 
 uiiii.oiial luilliaiicy and til.. . St. 
 
 Clair * AiuKtmhi nn- a slroni; and KT"winK 
 leg.d liiiii, and I Im-IIcvc tluri' am s«'vcral 
 oUier attunii->M of trcxMl standini; at thU bar. 
 
 TIIK NKWSI'AI'KIW 
 
 ■ • •' ■ ' ■ "■ ■' -Miier- 
 
 it4'r, 
 
 I li H«'t- 
 
 '.dalillity 
 
 • it.s ot the 
 
 . itiul iiiaU-iiiil iiileie^Lsof oiiu 
 
 Liid most pnM|N.-ruiu» counties in 
 
 am - - 
 
 Cill'. 
 
 e<li' 
 til. I 
 
 lev. 
 
 •n<i 
 
 of t 
 
 Kel.i 
 
 I'hoto(fmpldc art Isadudrahiy representwl 
 by Mr. \V. !>. Glvivi"*, a ymiit:,' iMitinislastlc 
 ami , ■ ■■■..• with id;} 
 
 wi>i \<y lnt»'lll- 
 
 griii ic advanc- 
 
 ed lil«-i.iliii«' and tiKHliani-in u[ Uds highest 
 funn of the pictnri'-niakinc art. The 
 
 11 il.lTIKS 
 
 ofthecitynn y rlno. The Wind- 
 sor If""-- '- .,- I .md bo.st ai>|H)intc>d 
 ho-' 1 Ml any town of iliis class 
 w»"- i river, and in coninioti 
 with ;;^ .1.111. • ' Mr. Win. 
 Cicniinon-, i.s n> the city 
 and r. u.r . . I ' ; 1 -.• is noto- 
 woi' i\i .llini iiii-.iuc and tlieCirand 
 CVi- iiu|iularrt'.<H)rt for the farinei's 
 of li.^ 
 
 TRK CITT RriKM)l,S 
 
 are nmomr flu- \rrv Iwst ii> tin- -.t-itp, both for 
 
 ' standanl 
 
 gi'ti. 
 of V 
 
 Btiuctur*. The 
 
 lnterest.s . ' " 
 
 as now. 
 
 ties arc 
 
 off.- 
 
 I>r. ; 
 
 nni 
 
 fini 
 
 oni' 
 
 ot 
 ISiC 
 
 In I 
 
 COli' 
 
 bio i:.. 
 
 Til! 
 
 have a r.m.it > 
 nntuual > 
 Mr. I^w 
 
 and have 
 
 ••= -sivO 
 
 ^•■n- 
 
 ■ ■i in- 
 
 KKAL ESTATB 
 
 are 
 .ind 
 
 ' liiutl Utu 
 nto dou- 
 
 ATE MRX 
 
 . ■ i r \v 1 1 1 V : 
 
 niorrial .Holvcncy and hoIIiI niat^'rial proH|MTity 
 U behind no town of itHciaAhln the »tat«v 
 Hon. Kilinnnd Mclntyrv of tlie w.dl known 
 real estate Ann of 3Irlntyre A Scvley quotvti 
 LAND VAMES 
 
 in Seward county, all th.« way from 810 to 9iO 
 
 per acre, the wild IruK^ riT .-' from 810 to 
 
 818aw<'t 
 proviHl I 
 
 pric'i- I.. 
 
 pi .V infiTKir 
 
 til' than i|ii' 
 
 til. Ti' .11'- in. tin 'iiiilco and Inn- 
 
 farms near the towns that an* held 
 
 S-'iO jH-r arri'. A u''"id nnnilM-r of 
 
 and 
 acre. 
 
 iin- 
 thu 
 
 jirovcl I 
 if«'.-nll;. 
 acre. T:. , . 
 
 LA. >!».•» H.W I 
 since 187H— the dat. 
 county— anil evir> 
 
 ..'ani to 1(1. 
 i^at S'i') 
 
 nil. .:.•.! 
 
 M.l K 
 
 to SewnnI 
 
 .iiii.-% to a f:-- 
 
 ther advance of .'lO to T-'i jM-r cent in the 
 
 four year--. It l^ ;rnififyitrj' to iint.' the -• 
 
 and sti' 
 
 luiy jM'i 
 
 and iiKii' '. . A . 
 
 rieii Iand> lip U>lht-tr pi 
 
 certain tii ini|Kd a.^ti'ain 
 
 ■'■■■■"' ■ ' .I'll! U 
 
 ■ h a 
 ■ farm 
 
 lllbCWard CUllIlt\ Weill 111 Hiakr 
 
 A I'lClIMIl'M FAHM 
 
 in W •• • f • io. New York. 
 
 l'< nl and reaiiilv 
 
 oim i'.'ra<-re aciui.l- 
 
 in^ to llif iiM .ktiuii. llic intrinsic valii<- nf 
 the.se farms for tlie pr<)du<tii'n of com. dnmis- 
 
 lic;"- - ■■"■' f •' ■•■'"•• •"■I ■■■■-- i- '■••• 
 
 ly 
 
 n' • 
 a 1 
 eh' 
 di. 
 
 hit: Ml .ilJ Ih. 
 
 nil ■ and Inipr. 
 
 till ' '■'■>venii ;.. . 
 
 and tin- I'.w ot ea- 
 
 w»'ll-t<«' farmers 
 
 "I.I I'l ii'i.> iKiii uti.iiii 1 mill' s«i 
 
 a Uwe for Investment in landii as 
 
 Many " 
 descein 
 
14 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 for sale at ouircnt prices and on terms to suit 
 tlie views of all classes of ]>iirf'liasers. No n\an 
 ill tlie country is more familiar with laiultitles 
 ami soils, the status of local a.siriculture and 
 tlio lU'iHls of eastern bversthan Mr. Mclntyre. 
 llecame here tiom Vermont at an early day, 
 lias shared with the early settlers the trials 
 and sacrifices of pioneering, never faltering 
 in his faith of a glorious future for the country 
 and from early to late, as a liomestead settler 
 and land agent of the B. & M. rai'road com- 
 pany, as an active and iiitiuential worker for 
 the countv asricnltural society and for pro- 
 gressive locariiusbandrv, has done more for 
 the settlement and development of Seward 
 
 Intvie formed an alliance -w-ith Mr. James fi. 
 S(>e'ley, of Pouglikeepsie. N. Y., for the loan- 
 ing of eastern capital on unincumbered real 
 estate and under the tirm name of Mclntyi-e & 
 Seeley have been doing an extensive loan busi- 
 ness in this and the contiguous counties. 
 Thev have never hesitated to guarantee the 
 securitv for their loans, and by their careful 
 and conservative policy have secured as fine a 
 line of loans as any agency in the west. JNO 
 part of the western country offers ampler se- 
 curity to monev lenders nor has any loan 
 agency of mv knowledge higher credit and 
 character than that of :McIntyre & Seeley, 
 which through the senior member at Seward 
 
 Cattle Ranch of F. W. Upton &. Bro., on the West Blue. 
 
 county thnii any half dozen men within its 
 borders. He lias heoii for years an iuMuen- 
 tial and iiispiring nieiiiberof the state board 
 or agricnltun! andfor the inist two years its 
 ellicient ]ii('si(l!'nt, w(u-kiiig sideby side with 
 such men as cx-Ciovernor liobert Vnrnas and 
 ]Mc-;srs W'lieeler, Dunham. Nicod6mus and 
 othersof the lioard in disinterested and effici- 
 ent service for the agricultural advancement 
 of Nebraska, ^h: IMclntyre has won an envi- 
 able pf)sition in Seward county and Nebraska 
 l)y virtue of his positive convictions, courage, 
 nianliness of character, candor and sagacity. 
 The trusted agent of a great corpoi-ation, he 
 has yet been a faithful friend of the people 
 aii<l no man in Seward county stands higher 
 in the poinilar confidence to-day than Edmund 
 Alclutyre. Half a dozen years ago Mr. Mc- 
 
 represents the wants and interests of the bor- 
 rowers and through Mr. Seeley at Ponghljeep- 
 sie, the legitimate interests of lerders. 
 
 Lewis Mofiitt has a good list of unimproved 
 citvlots ff)rsale at very reasonable figures and 
 will cheerfully answer all enquiries coiicem- 
 inc: them. 
 
 W. T. Olmstead has a good list of wild 
 lands and improved farms for sale at current 
 prices and will be pleased to answer all ques- 
 tions concerning them. He has also complete 
 abstracts of all the titles in the county and will 
 jiirnish abstracts, pay taxes for non-residents 
 and attend to every liranch of real estate work. 
 Mr. Olmstead is a New Yorker, an old timer 
 here and like his neighbor MoflTitt, a square 
 manly man. An outline of the representative 
 
 FARMS AND FARMEUS 
 
SEWAHD COl'N'n' HAND HOOK 
 
 15 
 
 trlbntar>' toS«'w»nI. win beof lnt«>r>>Mt to the Quwn of Indiana nn,OW). AinonK tho note- 
 
 «■ :>.t.-i II !•' iiLr n. uii'i. ilivi- rif till- i-xliMit \v..rlli\ uIlllii.iN iiflh:-. liiTil ari- " I-', il .'it liii> 
 
 ' 'I 1 111' til llli-l s 
 
 id cuiinty lu a 
 
 I 
 
 ItlVhlt^iliK 
 
 fnnn of .Iani«»< A. Un>\vii 1«V> norr^i fn Pxfmt, 
 
 Mr. IJill has 
 
 nitil Is ftn-'fl- 
 
 , oil tliu 
 
 >. Riid U 
 
 ,,,,•.,. .tiid ('i<iv(>r 
 
 Is nixl mn'ty wat«r- 
 
 '. Mr. Hptwii t<M)k 
 
 I it 
 
 I'laC- 
 
 i,«i who 
 ;<• riu'lily 
 (IS sKly 
 
 1 fitMis it 
 
 uiid ulii'sl <jI Nv.irni in<-iiils, 
 
 "MAYFIKI.D." 
 til.- • ■ - 
 
 lliv cuuiilr> . Ju!.ii liu:hil.i>'a li>j ut-ri; 
 
 • Will 1^ 
 
 iiiirli irni. 
 
 wall li.. 
 IIS, dniiiL'l 
 
 ;iiul 
 ..th- 
 
 ili.-,- 
 iliiy. 
 
 -w. Mr. 
 I y an«l is 
 •fl arniv 
 i^wcaltii 
 
 IIMK KIVKIl FA KM 
 
 of Win. r.m :'.- in v.-..- v.UI.v and r.n ftio 
 
 WAI.MTOHOVE 
 
 BtiM-V farm ninl liipiin- nf Triii'it Rniwii. Tt 1~ a 
 
 Oftl; 
 
 : I > .11 ■.>i > > II III 11^ .11 I :.«• I .ii<' I M -"■' 
 
 the nctv. Among Uie attrortiotu of 
 
 >(> tiiind- 
 
 
 If i>i :i 1 
 lor, and is 
 
 l..i.II, 
 
 ■'■ in Uic mi«ij>lof 
 .ior« 
 
 farm of lion 
 
 i.r.ivxl »Ml, . 
 
 It U flnrty Im- 
 
IG 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 handsome groves, fruitful orchards, clover and 
 timothy meadows and blue grass lawns. Mr, 
 Hickman grows about 3,000 bushels of corn, 
 1,000 bushels of oats and 100 tons of hay and mi- 
 let.and feeds from sixty to ninety heavy steers 
 and from 200 to 4()o jirime pigs. He came here 
 from Iowa in l^<lS,wil)i about §2,000 capital, has 
 now an estate worth .§15,000 and believes there 
 is no liner country than Seward coimty. Mr, 
 Hickman has twice wortliily represented his 
 coun^ in the state legislatm-e and is one of the 
 strong men of this region. Heniy Bedford's 
 1,280 acre 
 
 GRASSLAND 
 
 farm half a dozen miles north of Seward is 
 finely watered by Plum creek and improved 
 with a handsome home, good bams, siables, 
 feed yards, tenant houses, groves, orchards, 
 wells and wind mills and 120 acres of fine clo- 
 ver and timothy meadow and pasture. Mr. 
 Bedford last year raised 18,000 bushels of corn 
 yielding fifty-five bushels to the acre, 4,500 
 bushels of oats, 2.50 bushels of wheat and 400 
 tons of hay and millet. He keeps 200 head of 
 high grade stock cattle, half of which are 
 breedmg cows and heifers and feeds a car 
 load of steers and 200 Berkshire pigs. He has 
 improved tliis beautiful estate from a wild 
 prairie in the last ten years, has made the bulk 
 of an ample fortune out Seward of county soil, 
 is one of the most thorough and successful 
 farmers in the county, pays as he goes, and 
 makes his carefuUv footed balance sheets 
 show a yearly net gain of «3,600, to $6,200. 
 Mr. Bedford is an Englishman of strong prac- 
 tical sense, and fine executive gifts, has an 
 estate fit for a prince of the realm and after a 
 recent visit to England and a careful inspec- 
 tion of its soils and farm interests, confidently 
 asserts that for natural wealth of soil and 
 really profitable farming, Seward county is 
 300 per cent in advance of England. E. M. 
 Hickman's 560 acre 
 
 FAIRVIEW STOCK FARM. 
 
 lies in the same neighborhood and is well im- 
 proved vdth buildings, groves, orchards, wells, 
 wind mills, farm scales, clover and timothy 
 meadows &c. Mr. Hickman grows heavy 
 crops, keeps 150 high grade cattle and a choice 
 herd of thoroughbred short horns, is a success- 
 ful breeder of pure Poland Chinas, feeds four 
 car loads of steers and pigs, came here from 
 Indiana fourteen years ago with $1,000, and 
 has now an estate worth .$17,000. He is one 
 of the strong men of this region and swears by 
 Seward comity. 
 
 pukinton's ranch 
 the handsome 660 acre stock farm of J. D. 
 Purinton lies four miles northeast of town and 
 is improved by a fine home, large barn, gi-an- 
 ery, scales, feed yards, corrals, orchards, wells 
 . and wind mills. Mr. Purinton raised 4,000 
 " bushels of corn, 750 bushels of oats and 2.50 
 bushels, of rye last year. He keeps about 100 
 head of high p-ade cattle, feeds about sixty 
 steers and 100 pigs, has a flock of 2.50 high 
 grade cotswolds that yield a clip of ten pounds 
 per capita, keeps a small herd of pure bred 
 short lionis, hails from the land of "wooden 
 nutmegs" and is one of the thorough, driving 
 successful men of the county. Mr. Purinton 
 purchased this farm in the wild state, four 
 years ago, at $8 per acre and can now take an 
 
 advance of .300 per cent on his entire purchase. 
 He is greatly pleased witli tlie country and is a 
 valuable acquisition to the stock growing com- 
 munity. Two miles north of Puriuton's Kanch 
 is the 560 acre 
 
 PLUM CREEK STOCK RANCH 
 
 of Calvin J. Wriglit, an intelligent, level- 
 headed, enterprising Hoosier who settled 
 here three years ago. Tiie farm is coursed by 
 Plum creek, has 250 acres under plow, is im- 
 proved by a tine home, convenient stables, 
 gianery, sheds, cribs and a farm work shop 
 and by fine groves, orchards, vineyards and 
 fences. Mr. Wright last year raised about 
 7,000 bushels of corn yielding forty to seventy- 
 bushels to the acre, 2,200 bushels of oats yield- 
 ing sixty bushels and fair crops of rye and 
 buckwheat. He is seeding his native pastures 
 to blue grass, keeps 150 high grade cattle, 
 among them forty breeding cows, sells .^liiJOO 
 worth of pure bred Berkshire and Poland pigs 
 annually and may be set down as one of the 
 model farmers of this region. He has invest- 
 ed .§10,000 in lands, buildings, and stock.trans- 
 f orined a half wild tract into a charming farm 
 and home and can sell tonlay for .§20,000. Mr. 
 Wright has a model valley farm, is delighied 
 with the country and is a capital acquisition 
 to the social and farm community. Mr. T. N. 
 Dunphy has a pretty IGO acre tract, mostly val- 
 ley land, lying higher up Plum creek, that will 
 make a choice little farm when properly im- 
 proved. He resides in Seward, gives consid- 
 erable attention to the breeding of pure Poland 
 pigs, buys and sells stock, hails from Wiscon- 
 sin and is greatly pleased with the country. 
 
 GREENFIELD. 
 
 the 200 acre farm and home of W. L. Pendell, 
 
 lyhig four miles northeast of Seward, is note 
 worthy as one of a group of half a dozen de- 
 lightful table-land farms and for its rather re- 
 markable com production. Mr. Pendell grows 
 100 acres of corn, getting a yield of fifty to 
 seventy bushels to the acre with imfailing reg- 
 ularity. He practices deep, fall plowing, 
 plants early, cultivates close and clean, his 
 not failed of a good com crop during his nme 
 years residence here and from his origi- 
 nal capital of §900, has made up an estate 
 worth at least §8,000, besides giving his sons a 
 fair start. Mr. Pendell grows good crops of 
 wheat and oats, but has made his money out 
 of com and pronounces Seward county, a 
 superior corn comitry. He hails from West 
 Virginia, has a pretty farm with a comfortable 
 home and good outbuildings and is not only a 
 representative corn-grower, but one of the 
 squarest and manliest men that ever crossed 
 the Missouri river. Half a mile south of Mr. 
 Pendell, is D. B. Palmer's 320 acre 
 
 MAPLE GROVE 
 
 farm, improved with a pretty home, good 
 sheds, stables and corrals, a good bam and 
 self-feeding cribs, fniitful orchards, thrifty 
 and elegant groves, fine hedges and good wells 
 and wind mills. Mr. Palmer grows .5,000 bush- 
 els of corn, 600 bushels of oats, 150 bushels of 
 wheat, some clover and timothy and 250 tons 
 of native hay. He keeps 135 head of high 
 
 frade stock cattle, feeds 100 steers averaging 
 ,600 lbs, and 200 prime pigs, has a flock of 7.50 
 high grade Merinos, averaging eight pounds 
 per cliping, and has turned off $10,000 worth of 
 
SEWARD COLTJTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 17 
 
 VT^."^"',tnmimi. ■ > <\ 
 
 (A 
 
 5* 
 
 or 
 
 3 
 
 a. 
 
 • 
 
 OB 
 
 o 
 
 z 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 
18 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 surplus stock since January. He came here 
 from the Western Reserve five years ago with 
 $3000, and has now an estate worth $16,000. 
 Mr. Pahner feeds cattle mainly for the Euro- 
 pean market, is one of the most thorough and 
 successful farmers in Seward county and a 
 born stockman ; knows how to make money, 
 is a strong, confident, self-commanding man 
 and says he would not exchange this land,acre 
 for acre for a choice fann in Western Reserve. 
 Next on the east of Mr. Palmers place, is C. 
 L. Lyon's 340 acre 
 
 MAPLE SIDE 
 
 farm. It is mainly the original homestead of 
 Mr. Lyon, who settled here in 18(58, and is im- 
 proved with a pretty tree-embowered liome set 
 in ample blue grass lawns and delightfully 
 environed with stately gi'oves, green hedge 
 rows and fruitful oichards and meadows. 
 The farm is further improved with model 
 hedge fences wells and wind mills, horse 
 bams, stables, sheds, admirably sheltered 
 feed yards, twenty-five acres of clover, tim- 
 othy, blue gi'ass and orchard gi'ass and long 
 lines of maple, ash and Cottonwood trees. Mr. 
 Lyon is a model farmer, has a model farm and 
 last year raised 2,800 bushels of com, 700 bush- 
 els of oats and 160 bushels of rye. He keeps 
 thh-ty high grade cattle, milks a few cows, 
 feeds a car load of prime pigs, handles his 
 farm like a garden, has made up an estate 
 worth at least $7,000 from a beginning of $400, 
 is a driving man, does most of his farm work 
 and thinks Seward county is quite as good a 
 country as his native Illinois. Next on the 
 south of Maple Side is 
 
 WEST VIEW 
 
 the 120 acre homestead of J. P. Losee. Mr. 
 Losee settled here in 1869 and, like his neigh- 
 bor Lyon, has planted groves, orchards, vine- 
 yards, small fruits and evergreens until "West 
 View" has come to be a little Eden. It com- 
 mands a full view of Seward and is one of the 
 most inviting homesteads in the county. Mr. 
 Losee is a keenly practical and successful 
 horticulturalist, has a model orchard, and a 
 pretty home, embowered in cedars and pmes 
 and suiTounded by blue gi-ass lawns, orchards 
 and groves and flanked oy long columns of 
 stately trees. He is an intelligent and pro- 
 gi-essive farmer, takes a warm uiterest in the 
 promotion of faks, was the first secretary of 
 the Seward county agricultural society and 
 from a start of $400, lias made up a property 
 worth at least $4,000. Mr. Losee hails from 
 New York, believes in variety farming and 
 speaks of the country like an appreciative 
 man. A mile north Mr. Losee is 
 
 EAST VIEW 
 
 the 160 acre homestead of Cyrus Fetterman.an 
 enterprising and thrifty Buckeye, who settled 
 here in 1808. Like the four last named 
 larins, Eastview is a choice tract of table-land 
 and is improved with a comfortable home, 
 fine groves, good stables and cribs, wells and 
 wind mill and a small creamery, (the first one 
 in the county) Mr. Fetterman grows 3,500 
 bushels of com, 450 bushels of oats, 200 bush- 
 els of wheat and 100 of rye. He keeps a dozen 
 milch cows for butter making, has a small 
 bunch of stock cattle, feeds forty pigs, raises 
 a few colts, believes in mixed farming, is a 
 
 thoroughgoing, practical manly man, likes 
 the country and from his original capital of 
 $125, has accumulated real and personal estate 
 worth at least $5,000. Mr. Fetterman is an 
 excellent farmer, grows more than average 
 crops and speaks in high terms of the coun- 
 try. 
 W . A. Brokaw's 
 
 I.OXGVIEW 
 
 farm three miles southeast of Seward, lies on 
 the high divide and commands a charming view 
 of Seward and Milford, the railway, river and 
 valley and is a model estate, improved with a 
 handsome home good outbuildings and fences 
 and in successfully devoted to mixed farming. 
 Mr. Brokaw is a deep and thorough cultivator 
 gi-ows unusually heavy crops of com and small 
 grains, is a liberal feeder oi prime pigs, a man 
 of all work and no play,lias increased the capi- 
 tal he brought with him by at least 250 per 
 cent, is delighted with the country and is 
 every inch a li ve, progressive representative 
 farmer. Capt J. S. Henderson's 250 acre 
 
 VALLEY STOCK FARM 
 
 two miles below Seward, on the Big Blue is 
 one of the best stock farms in the county. It 
 is watered by the Blue, abounds in fine pastur- 
 age and natural stock shelter and in connec- 
 tion with the Seward county mills, which are 
 located on the premises, is admirably suited to 
 breeding, and feeding, both of which are suc- 
 cessfully handled by the enterprising proprie- 
 tor. Capt. Henderson annually feeds six car 
 loads of heavy steers and pigs and has recent- 
 ly brought to the farm a fine herd of thorough- 
 bred short horns, representing several popular 
 families, and will make a specialty of tliis line 
 of breeding. He is also breeding road and 
 turf horses and is one of the most enterprising 
 business and stock men in the county. Two 
 miles lower down the river and valley is Job 
 T. Reynolds 590 acre 
 
 ELMWOOD 
 
 f ai-m a solid body of bottom land embracing a 
 mile and a half of river line and 300 acres of 
 ash. elm, oak and walnut timber. Mr. Rey- 
 olds has thirty acres in timothy and clover 
 meadow, puts up sixty to eighty tons of do- 
 mestic hay, grows about 6,000 bushels of corn, 
 yielding thirty-five to eighty bushels per acre 
 and fair crops of rj^e and barley. He feeds 
 seventy-five to 125 pigs and keeps fair herds of 
 stock cattle horses and mules. Mr. Reynolds 
 came here with the early settlers in 1863 with- 
 out a dollar and has now an estate worth 
 $25,000, every dollar of which has been made 
 out of Seward county soil and grasses. He 
 owes no man, has a farm to be proud of, is 
 thrifty and honorable, enjoys the respect of 
 his neighbors, repsesents the independent 
 kingdom of Jersey and holds that there is no 
 finer country than the Blue valley. The 400 
 acre 
 
 ENGLEWOOD 
 
 farm and home of Lewis Moffitt adjoining the 
 town site of Seward is worthy of note for its 
 favorable location, its charming tree-environed 
 home,large and thrifty native gi'ovesof walnut, 
 box elder, oak, ash, elm and kindred woods, 
 substantial plank fencing and other improve- 
 ments. It is watered by Plum creek and 
 mainly devoted to grain glowing by tenants, 
 the last years crops embracing 13,000 bushels 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HANDBOOK 
 
 !• 
 
 of corn f mm aoo acTM. 1,400 bushels of oats vated naln. Mr. Dunbaturh Is an old and 
 
 frillll tWiMlt. H<-V>*ll .11-ri-k mill .'(ill lill..lii.U i,t I ..i>. .vfiil v^iu-.r.l <lr<>.r tn,.rol.....> ««ff 4^ 
 
 tUik Ul rt 
 
 yearn, hu- 
 
 lit. owns 
 
 iiiikIi* the 
 
 11- III till- lant lifUvii 
 •jf the country and 
 
 tlio \f*i I 
 of 
 
 . \. .•llllll 
 sjM'akA Id 
 
 I II of II. SainiMon is a 
 
 ■!->rthwf»t4'ninld6 
 
 ith nnc KTovca, 
 
 -. It U lualiUj 
 
 High S^ 
 
 people anil Ift one of thf strong rpjin-s^'ntalive ' do%-olc<l to corn, wheat, oat" Iwrlev Bn<l rya 
 
 ■ of the elty and county. .*>. W. I»mi- iiml in ri.tmiK'H \n iih .m.n. i firm ^'f • .,ti.il .'t- 
 
 oT.r«f rr>r«r ^ 
 
 Am..::. 
 
 UAl.M I liU.I. 
 
 iTif'l fsrmand hom^ )io<» njwm m b«*a»itlfal divlda 
 
 • "k«n« the 
 vorthy for 
 
 i^T' iVrS of 
 
 .u- M.iiiuu iicu^e Mi«i viirv ii-nciiiji. mi. iit:'r 
 
20 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 has sixty acres in clover and timothy which 
 yields an average of two tons per acre ; gi'ows 
 about 7,000 bushels of corn, from 1,000 to 1,500 
 bushels of oats; from 200 to 300 bushels 
 each of wheat barley and rye 
 and a fair crop of buckwheat. His crops 
 are well handled and give more than the aver- 
 age yield, He keeps a good string of horses, 
 breeds his mares and lillies to Kogy's imported 
 Percherons, keeps seventy high grade cattle 
 and a few thoroughbred short horns and usu- 
 ally puts about |!100 worth of prime fat Poland 
 Chmas t»n the market each month of the year. 
 Mr. Hafer came here from Pennsylvania fif- 
 teen years ago with .f 1100, has now real estate 
 worth SlSjOOO and could twice pay his debts 
 out of his personal property. He owns an es- 
 tate which in old Lancaster would readily 
 command S2.50 per acre as the premium farm ; 
 is a capital farmer, a thorough driving worker 
 and good manager, is gi-owing rich out of a 
 well managed farm and knows exactly what 
 he is talking about when he says there is no 
 finer country than Seward county. 
 
 Emory L. Pendell has a handsome 200 acre 
 farm, five miles west of Seward which he pur- 
 chased of the railway company three years ago 
 and has changed from a wild prairie into boun- 
 tiful grain fields in two years. It is improved 
 with excellent fences, a pretty cottage and 
 bam, 3000 young forest trees and a young or- 
 chard. He harvested 2.500 bushels of corn, 280 
 bushels of oats last year and did a large amount 
 of other fann work without hired help; finds it 
 easy to meet the payments on his land out of 
 his surplus crops. Like his fattier Mr. W. L. 
 Pendell, he is a successful coi-n grower, feeds a 
 few pigs, is a thrifty young farmer, speaks 
 well of his neighbors and the country and is 
 bound to grow rich. 
 
 A mile to the south of Walnut Hill, 
 four miles southwest of Seward and in full 
 view of the town is 
 
 W^ALWORTH GRANGE 
 
 the home and 240 acre fann of W. M. Bedford 
 the enterprising and honored president of the 
 Seward county agricultural society. It is a 
 fine tract of nigh undulating prairie which 
 Mr. Bedford purchased four years ago in the 
 wild state and has improved with a fine home, 
 a valuable basement barn, good sheds, stable 
 and feed yards, wells and wind mills, blue- 
 grass lawns, young orchards, groves, vine- 
 yards and a rich showing of suiall fruits ; long 
 lines of shade trees and hedges and a good 
 acreage of domestic meadow. There is no 
 more systematic, thorough and progressive 
 fai'mer ni the county than Mr. Bedford whose 
 deep seasonable and rotative culture gives 
 him splendid results. His last years crops 
 embraced 3,000 bushels of corn, 240 bushels of 
 wheat, 200 bushels of barley from five acres, 
 180 bushels of flax and 500 bushels of oats 
 from ten acres. He keeps about forty high 
 grade cattle, breeds to a handsome young 
 Loudon bull, bred by Mr. Daniell, and is a 
 very successful breeder of model Poland pigs 
 of which he annually sells about 100. A good 
 string of horses are kept on the farm, which, 
 from end to end, bears the impress of a master 
 in husbandry. Mr. Bedford came here from 
 Walworth county. Wis., four years ago, has 
 already increasetl his capital 250 per cent while 
 
 turning a wild prairie into a veritable garden, 
 is a broad guage man of sterling qualities and 
 thinks there is no better country than Sew- 
 ard county. In the near neighborhood of 
 Walworth Grange and upon a high divide 
 commanding a fine view of Seward and the 
 Blue valley is Morris UnderhiU's 160 acre 
 
 PLEASANTVIEW 
 
 farm. It is a handsome body of high prairie, 
 commands a fine view of the city and valley 
 and is impi-oved with a i3retty new home, 
 good stables, feed yai'ds wire fences admira- 
 ble planned water-works and fine young or- 
 chards and groves. Mr. Underhill came here 
 empty hancted with the early homesteaders, 
 lived in the typical pioneer sod house, worked 
 hard, raised fine crops of wheat, rye, oats and 
 com and has now a good herd of high grade 
 cattle, a good string of horses and a superior 
 stock of pigs, of which he feeds from fifty to 
 100. He is a thorough and enterprising farmer, 
 grows excellent crops, believes in mixed farm- 
 ing, has a property worth .$5,000 or S!6,000, 
 swears by Seward county and is one of her 
 strong, thrifty, honorable men. Five miles 
 west of Seward, on ther crown of the divide is 
 located 
 
 LLETTYKEOS 
 
 the home and 880 acre estate of John Cattle, Jr. 
 It derives its name from the old Welch home 
 of Mrs. Cattle which signifies"the home of the 
 nightingale," is one of the handsomest conn- 
 try places in Seward county, commanding in- 
 si:)iring views of Seward, the Blue valley and 
 the neighboring village of Tamora and is im- 
 proved with a charming cottage, bluegrass 
 lawns, groves of cedar, box elder, ash, walnut 
 and Cottonwood; well cultivated orchards gar- 
 dens and fruit yards ; fine barns,sheds, stables, 
 feed yards, wells, wind mills, and stock scales, 
 several miles of superior wire and plank fenc- 
 ing and 170 acres of strong clover and timothy 
 meadow and pasture. Mr. Cattle keeps a herd 
 of 180 high grade cattle and feeds from seventy 
 to 100 prime steers and 150 pigs. He grows 
 25,000 bushels of corn and 1,000 bushels of oats, 
 puts up 200 tons of hay and is a thorough and 
 systematic farmer. Mr. Cattle is a live nospi- 
 table progressive young Englishman of ample 
 means and liberal views and holds Seward 
 county in high esteem. Mr. A. J. Williams 
 160 acre 
 
 CEDAR LAWN 
 
 farm lies in the near neighborhood of Mr. Cat- 
 tle, a little to the southward of Tamora and 
 is improved with a pleasant home, deep-shaded 
 cedar lawns, thrifty groves strong willow 
 wind breaks, good bams, stables, stock scales, 
 well, wind mill and young orchards. His last 
 years crops embraced 4 000 bushels of com, 
 1,200 bushels of oats, 100 bushels of rye and a 
 fine field of volunteer wheat. . He feeds thirty 
 to seventy good pigs, keeps a small herd of 
 cattle, has an exceptionallj pretty farm, is an 
 intelligent and liberal minded man and ex- 
 presses a high opinion of the country. Mr. 
 Williams came here from Iowa with the home- 
 steaders of 1869, empty handed and has now 
 an estate worth $5, .500. The 320 acre 
 
 OCCIDENTAL STOCK FARM 
 
 of Allen Price, lying five miles southwest o 
 
8EWAUD COUNTY HAND mK)K. 
 
 M 
 
 ^^*wani. i> a l)aiii|s4Miii> uiul (iTtlli* tract of 
 
 hlK>l r..llit> ' i,t nil.- vvllirh till' OWIHT I.S HOW 
 
 iuip !•• Iiuiiif, MMiiii; iircliunU, 
 
 •n"""- svrilH. wIihI mills. fi'«««l 
 
 ■ 'liil ariMiii.i to n 
 
 Mr. Pi. .-..f 
 
 • n- frtiiii •" iiity. 
 Mil., ill l^.j, wttlj .1 lapltal of tiiil> ;,<**». Aft«T 
 u fi'W •MMstiiiH (if (iiitiifft'xsfiil wlicat fariiiiiit; 
 ill Whii-li Uf |ii%t his littlr ii>v'-i<>..'<.|. hi- 
 tiiniiil liU atiriiitiiii i<i«>iini ail' nlni; 
 in which III- h.iH ii.-..ii ••iiilnfi.. fiiH 
 and which ill t> ' nt nt m^ ii>'Il.'iiImiin 
 li:i.H hr<Mii;ht ,,il ami n-ai c-iaU' 
 Worth f mill T .iHm. Hfhasalwaws 
 liail faith ill s, w.iii , ,,i;iit_\ aii<l cxpri'^.M'H tfu* 
 ln'licf th.it fur vsc.ilth of x>il ami Ufiirrai fanii 
 a(l\aiitauc>, it i^ c\cr> whit as rich ami di'^ir- 
 ulilf as till' faiiii Ills "hi-iii|> laiiil" (ilstrict.s iif 
 ^MllilM• and Lafavi'ttt' cniniiifs in Missouri. 
 Mr. I'ricr f«i'<fs IdJ iiriiuc stii-rs and 
 fmin 'JIM) to 4011 |iii;s, aiiiiiiailN raisim; and hiiv- 
 iiiK for this )tur|H>s4-. from l-j>ii)t4i IVnui husti- 
 fls of roni, the fc«-dini{ of wlilch hriinc^ liini a 
 iii't n-vi-niu' of !<:;.( «iu to ."M.diio. He is a Imihi 
 M<N-k man ami l>clic\«*> this thf iM-st stiM-k 
 fi"«'dinK coiiiitr\ in till' wi'st. I am iilfaLH***! to 
 «in«»l<' Mr. rrici-'skciMMl opinions of tn«' country 
 and p<-opli' Ixi-aiisi- he is a inun well and fav- 
 orahly known foi his cauti'uis ami i'ons4T%a- 
 tivo tfiiiiMT, cxc.jlcnt jinlcciuciil, chanictor 
 and crttiit and lilMTal niihlic spirit. In the 
 near iiuiKhiiorhrMMi is Mr. •'. «'. .IoIm's' IW m'lv 
 
 KKIITI.ANH 
 
 fann and homo, also a coniniamiini; tract of 
 rich ••h'vat«Hl prairie which the owner has ini- 
 iipiveil with a chai iiiiiii; liome. i;imm| oiithiiild- 
 injfs. I.iii:i- .Dili fruitful onh.irds and vineyards 
 prett -s lawns and elegant »frov«'s 
 
 and: until it is lit for tlie "i;anlen 
 
 of the i;<"i-. Mr. .IoIh-h came here from 
 4»hlo a do/.en year* aijo with only a pliii; team, 
 h:i- lui'.v :i l;iii>l"-<l :nid |M'rs«inal instate worth 
 
 • it out <if the S4iil. He 
 :e w«'ll known "('entre 
 
 '1 \sitli fruit ami onia- 
 
 il grower of apples, 
 
 i small fruits and 
 
 iMjiity man can irrow 
 
 anl county, lie grows 
 
 •f^ nf hnKunconi cettint; 
 
 • r acre. rais«-s 
 
 • ds itn priiiH- 
 
 I igli fanner of 
 
 iei and niaiidiii|(, and Hwear^i 
 
 t jy. 
 
 siiH- mil. •< •..iiithwi'st of S«'wanl. on the 
 cm%ni of the high prairie, is 
 r.MllMoXT. 
 
 the W) acp- fann I'f Nh'tiola?* WiillenwahiT. a 
 
 level henilisl *reminTt who. til hrilf n doren 
 
 trniWH more than avenure en>|M and Ih one of 
 
 P' * ' ' ■ ' ■' ...unty. IIu 
 
 '"' ' I. Iian all 
 
 •■-' li he has 
 
 ma<i.' ..11 111. , |„, (M-ttiT 
 
 country than , hy y^ir- 
 lllolit is \V. (^ I ' 
 
 DA!<VEHH rAKM 
 
 which th)- owner ha.H maiiilv iiiiprnvcd :■ 
 last four years. It is a line' tract of gi 
 pniirie. improv«-«l with aco/v home, a 
 
 orihanl. fair stahles. crihs and f I sards and 
 
 giMKi fences. .Mr. I>ickiiis<in grows from 4Jj<ir) 
 to .VHJU htishels of com. HKI hlishels of oat.s, 4W 
 hnshels of rye ami a fair crop of w heat and 
 flax and ki-^-ps thirty-live head of cattle and a 
 few pigs. lie is a live driving worker, diM-s 
 all Ills farm Work with the aiil of one hinit 
 hand and two teams, and from an Invi-stmcni 
 
 I of si.iMiii hius ill four vear>< ac)|uin*4l an c-r it.- 
 Worth fully .'i'.t.uio. "Mr. IMckiiison hails ii.,,, 
 
 I McLean county, III., is one of tlie repreMiit.i- 
 
 I tive young fanneni of tlie county and thinks It 
 
 I a royal country. 
 
 Two miles w'l'st of Danvers fann is 
 
 HWAN.HK.Y TAIIK 
 
 the home and :MVi acn* st<M-k farm of .loslma 
 lirillln. it is mainly smooth jmairie of w In. h 
 •i44> ai-H's are in plow and the halance nati\c 
 pastiinige and meadow. The farm is improv- 
 ed with a i-omfortal>le honie.giMMl stalile«%.she«I.H 
 crilis, gniiieries. fe<'«i yards and a line hog 
 iimise, ample groves, a thrifty <irclianl, excel- 
 lent fences ami su|MTior wat^-rwcuks siippih^j 
 hv wells and wind mills. Mr. (w! ' 
 iifHiiit '(.(UK) litishelsof com, .Vmliiisl . 
 -.JiNI hushels of harley and :0K) o< ||;i ■[ 
 
 fei-ils all his gniin uJmiu the farm. Hi i»c« im, 
 fortv high gradecattle and hn-t-ds to thoroiigli- 
 brc«l short lionis. His 
 
 HWAXSKV VMIK IlKllIi 
 
 of ptm' I'«dand-("hina.s, hn-fi mainly from 
 ant« Princeton. III., stock, largely rejire 
 the famous iiri/.e ('ent4*niiial stiick and 
 Imices alNiiit HO animals. iuaii> of w hid 
 nuMlels of their nice and among the vers 
 I have -is-n III the west. Mr. tlriftin i- ii..t 
 a sii III thoroughly h. 
 
 of I 'Is, hut is an I 
 
 ainl ;. ■..■^ini.-ni of s.:. ■ • 
 
 within I; las now a 
 
 estate W ' INIO. ||i> 
 
 llolli'I. it'll- .Uul sum-.xiful cU- 
 
 iiiM'y Park. Luoiaii C. John* 
 
 iU.I'K. <<ltAfiHKIlH«r. 
 
 ^Xnrk fnmi llc^ ncnr hv Mr <;Hrt1n'<! pln.^e nnd 
 
 Hry- 
 
 si-ntH 
 
 em- 
 
 I aru 
 
 lM"st 
 
 ..lilV 
 
 ap|<«-ai 
 home. 
 
22 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 bushels of oats, 400 bushels of rye aud 150 
 'bu»ihels of flaxseed, puts up eighty tous of hay 
 keeps seveuty head of catiJe. iiichuliiiii' a few 
 pure short honis, and 500 Meriuo-Cotswold 
 sheep that average a clip of eight pounds. He 
 feeds from 100 to 200 pigs, keeps a superior 
 Kentucky bred jack, owns one of the very 
 best fanns in his district, is a capital stock- 
 man and a wide awake fand successful farmer. 
 Mr. Johnston came here from Illinois four 
 years ago with only a single team, has now 
 personal and real property worth .$8,000 or 
 $9,000 and pronounces Seward comity the ban- 
 ner country. Three miles northwest of Mr. 
 Johnston's farm and five miles southeast of 
 Utica, is A. W. Blain's model 150 acre 
 
 SHENANDOAH FARM 
 
 abounding in warm slopes and improved with 
 a fine residence and corresponding Darns,sheds, 
 stables, feed yards, groves, water works, young 
 orchards and hedges. Mr. Blain grows 2,500 
 bushels of corn averaging forty to sixty bushels. 
 200 bushels of wheat, 400 and 500 bushels of 
 
 importation of pure Percheron horses in 1874, 
 signalizing his maiden effort in this line with 
 the purcliase and importation of the famous- 
 Due de Chartres No 169 P. N. S. B. for Kogy 
 & Trimble of Walnut, Illinois. This superb 
 horse, a cut of which is herewith given, was- 
 winner of the First Prize Grand Gold Medal 
 and 600 francs in "the four year old and over" 
 class at tlie gi-eat Concours Regional of Alen- 
 con, Onie, in 1873, beating the exhibits of over 
 twenty of the best breeders of France, among 
 the animals on exhibition being Fardonct* 
 "Vidocq" a horse not unkno\\n to American 
 fame. Mr. Rogy has since made several im- 
 portations, among them his first stud for the 
 Pacific Farm stables in 1881, including the dap- 
 ple-gray stallion Vigoreaux, weighing 1,.5.50' 
 pounds ; Clinchant, a dapple-gray of the same 
 weight; Corbeau, a fine type of the pure Per- 
 cheron post horse and Bai Bijou a brown post 
 horse of 1,300 pounds weight, all stallions of 
 exceptional personal merit, and brought here 
 on account of their especial fitness for cross- 
 ing with American stock. Among Mr. Rogy's 
 
 •* Duke of Chartres," a Famous Percheron Prize Winner, Imported by A. Rogy. 
 
 oats and good crops of barley and rye, feeds a 
 car load of choice Poland pigs, keeps thirty 
 bigh grade cattle and is one of the neatest and 
 thriftiest farmers in the country. He came 
 here from Saline county, Mo., nine years ago, 
 with about .f 1,000, has now an estate worth 
 $6,000, and though a man of candid, conserva- 
 tive nature, holds that there is no better coun- 
 try, than Seward county. One of the first at- 
 ti-actions of Seward county is Mr. A. Rogy's 
 
 PACIFIC FARM 
 
 and stud of pure Percheron horses located one 
 mile west of Seward in the broadbottom lands 
 at the junction of Lincohi creek with the 
 Big Blue. Tlie farm is 320 acres in extent, as 
 fair and fertile as a Flemish garden and was 
 purchased in 1881 by Mr. Rogy, who has since 
 improved it with a capacious, handsome and 
 convenient horse barn and stables, a good ten- 
 ant house, amjjle waterworks and good fen- 
 ces. The owner is gradually luitting the farm 
 under thorough cultivation and will stock it 
 with domestic grasses. Mr. Rogy began the 
 
 second importation to Seward, was 
 Senator Seward a large and superior 
 chestnut horse; the gray horse Aunean 
 weighing 1,7.50 lbs,Merope,asuperb gi-ay of 1,6.50 
 pounds and Montmorency a roan of 1,800 
 Ijouuds weight. Merope was a prize winner 
 of note in the Administration of the National 
 studs, taking among others a special prize 
 from the Agi'icultural Society of V eroius, ou 
 condition that he remain another season in the 
 district for breeding uses. Le Dorax a 1,700 
 lb. ^ay horse came in the same importation 
 which was made in 1882. 
 
 Agricole a gray stallion of great merit, 
 weighing 1,800 lbs, and now in the Pacific Farm 
 stud, was one of Mr. Rogys early importations 
 to Iowa. Vulcan, a handsome black 1800 
 pound horse, now standing at Harvard, Neb., 
 IS one of the early Illinois importations of Mr. 
 Rogy who was the first man in this portion of 
 the west, to cross the Percheron with the 
 broncho of the plains and who has now at 
 Pacific Farm some very fine colts from such 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 88 
 
 >^' 
 
 -U 
 
24 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 crossings. In addition to tlie several importa- 
 tions of Pereheron stallions mentioned, Mr. 
 Kogj' imported loniteen head of Dutch Fries- 
 ian "(Holsteins) cattle and I am imt'ormed is 
 now on the way with a new importation of 
 Dutch cattle and a good number of the best 
 Pereheron stallions and mares that could be 
 obtained in France. Mr. Pioa:y has visited all 
 the jn-incii>al stal)les of Eur(i]ic. is i)ersunally 
 famdiar with every PercluToii stable, breeder 
 and breeding district of note in France, has 
 critical knowledge of the history and tribal 
 characteristics of the Pereheron race, and is 
 withal a keenly discriminating and conscien- 
 tious breeder whose facilities for the work he 
 has so successfully prosi'cuted for the lastnine 
 j^earSj are not excelled Uy tlicise of any breeder 
 and nnporter of Peiilierons in America. 
 The demand for superior Percherons in Neb- 
 raska is growing with the gi'owth of the coun- 
 try and Sir. Kogy's stables at Pacific Farm, 
 now and hereafter, will be amply stocked with 
 the best types of this noble race. The found- 
 ing and successful management of this stock 
 imiwrting and breeding enterprise, together 
 with the comprehensive plans of the spirited 
 owner for its enlargement, are a compliment 
 to Seward county and Nebraska. Another of 
 these superb stock breeding estates is the 900 
 acre 
 
 PBAIKIE LAWN 
 
 farm and home of Hon. Claudius Jones lying 
 on the northeastern border of the town. It is 
 as splendid a body of graceful and fertile 
 prairie as can be found between Chicago and 
 the mountains and is improved with an ele- 
 gant home, extensive stock barns, stables, 
 sheds, feed yards, stock scales, water works 
 and feed mills, the whole costing about $14,- 
 000. This noble estate is admirably watered 
 by wells with wind mills and s]5ring brooks, is 
 finely fenced with hedge and wire and besides 
 the well cultivated gi-ain fields embraces 200 
 acres of clover and timothy meadow and blue 
 grass pasture. Mr. Jones "Oakdale Farm" 
 lying upon oak ci'eek in the northeast part of 
 the county, is also a handsome tract, well 
 watered by the creek and improved with large 
 bams and other accompaniments to a prime 
 stock farm. Mr. Jones has .5,000 acres of 
 choice land in this county and holds that the 
 average Seward county farm is worth $40 per 
 acre and will soon enough command .^60 and 
 .$75 per acre. He has 3,200 acres in cultivation, 
 cutsl,200tonsof hay, grows 18,000 bushels of 
 com, 3,.500 bushels of oats and 
 2,000 bushels of barley, part of the 
 work being done by tenants, has a herd of 600 
 cattle, mainly high grade short horns, and 
 feeds 500 prime ])igs. Mr. Jones 
 
 PKAIHIE LAWN HEKD 
 
 of short boms numbering about forty animals 
 representing the Princess Arabella, Roan, 
 Romania and other excellent families, embra- 
 ces many members of tine style and decided 
 personal merit, but the real attraction of the 
 farm is 
 
 A NOTABLE HERD 
 
 of Dutch Friesian fllolstein) cattle, fifteen of 
 which were imn-liascd in Friesland by Mr. A. 
 Rogy in 1><8l. J.atcr Mr. Jones purchased a 
 half'interest in the herd which was im))orted 
 "Prairie Lawn" by Jones & Rogy in 1882. Mr. 
 
 Jones became .sole owner of the herd by a later 
 imrchase of jMr. Rogy's interest and with the 
 calves dropi)ed the j^resent season, has now a 
 herd of eighteen thoroughbred Friesians that 
 will well compare with any importation of 
 this race of cattle ever brought to the western 
 countrv. Nine of the cows were purchased of 
 Hon. Iv. N. Kuperus, one of the most success- 
 ful aaul honorable breeders in Friesland, and 
 represent a high order of excellence both for 
 style and milking qualities. At the head of 
 this noble herd is the three year old bull 
 Siebren, bred by S. J. Wiersma of Marsum, 
 West Friesland. The animal is a fine type of 
 the pure bred Friesian and through his sire 
 Klass, and his dam Janke, has a proud lineage. 
 He is evenly variegated in color, has a super- 
 ior escutcheon and judged by the standard of 
 excellence adopted by the American associa- 
 tion of breeders of ])ure Friesians, presents an 
 unusual number of the finer points of the typi- 
 cal Dutch-Friesian conformation. As the ac- 
 companying cut shows, he is an animal of 
 proud bearing and worthy of his place at the 
 liead of the herd. 
 
 Among the noteworthy females of the herd 
 is Gerbens, a handsome three year old cow 
 bred by Hon. K. N. Kuperus. As will be seen 
 by theaccompanying cut of herself and calf, 
 tliis cow has unusually fine style, embracing in 
 high measure the best traits of the typical mil- 
 ker Her dominant color is black ; her escut- 
 cheon exceptionally fine and her milking quali- 
 ties well represented by a record of fifty-two 
 pounds of milk per diein, for thirty successive 
 days, when she was but two years old. 
 
 The model animal of the herd is Akke J. 
 also bred by Mr.Kuperus from the well known 
 dam Seitske, She was sired by Rinse, an ani- 
 mal not unknown to Friesian fame, and be- 
 longs to a good line of illustrious prize-takers, 
 is mainly black and has a fine escutcheon. 
 She has small waxy drooping horns with 
 gracefid inward incline, a mild expressive 
 eye, pretty head and small neck, clean well 
 shapen linibs, fine upper and lower lines, good 
 length of botiy and a splendid udder. She is 
 three years old, combines substance with an 
 almost faultless form and is a famous milker, 
 having a record of fifty-six pounds of milk per 
 day for thirty successive June days when she 
 was two years old. There are several other 
 members of the herd worthy of notice for 
 marked individual traits and according to the 
 standards required for admission to both the 
 Dutch-Friesian and American herd books of 
 this famous lace of cattle, the measurements 
 of Mr. Jones entire Prairie Lawn herd of 
 Friesians, show an exceptionally high 
 average of excellence. Mr. Jones and 
 his son Harry, who has )iers(inally visited 
 several of the Dutch Ineedcis from whom 
 these animals were purchased, have great 
 pride in the possession of the herd, and de- 
 cline to sell any females at present, their plan 
 being to rear a herd that for numbers and 
 high character shall not only lend grace to the 
 herd books, but rival the work of the foi'emost 
 breeders of Holsteins in the AVest. They have 
 fortune and executive ability ecjual to a great 
 work in this connection, and will hardly stop 
 short of the fulfilment of their plans. Like 
 the stud of Percherons at Pacific Farm, the 
 
SEWAHD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 ^ 
 
 r«l (if Krii'siHiis is a siilriuliil 
 ac-<|iiisttii>n t<> ll»* liitrlirr onU-r i>{ mivanrtil 
 »t«M-k liiislmiiilrv in Svwanl miiiity iiixl N«*- 
 braska. Tlio i-ill for lln|st«-iii fatil<' for tin* 
 AiiM'rican ijuiry is trratly in cxit-s.sof tlii" hiii>- 
 plv. and ••Irarlv hIiuws that the riinii>inf«l fa- 
 <'ifitif> of till' lhit«'li ami Anu-riran liriMilt-rs 
 will Im* untM|iial to tlic t-oininK ili-niaml. 
 
 SiK-akint; of tln-ir valm- to tin' ronntry. nn 
 liiKti an anthority as I.fwis K. Alli-n. tin- ihII- 
 torofthi' •Aiiu'riran HrnlHiMik" ishorl-lioriu 
 sjivs: "Tlir iinalitii's of tin- llo|st*-lnsniiist In* 
 arknn\vlc«iifi'<( as rrniarkabli-. 'rin'sli<.rt-li«>rns 
 liavi' now. in tin's*- m-vv stniniTfrs t«i our "miiI, 
 to sav tin' Irast, foinnl most formiilalilf com- 
 jjetitors. Tin' liolstrin- liavo lont; Ih'«-ii Im-*! 
 with n vii»w toilt'v«'lo|i tlu'ir lactt-al iiualitii-s to 
 Um' «itniost, ami that tli«'V an- <|iii«K fi'i-ilcrs. 
 anil ooustitut«'<l to timi tlu'ir fiMMl rratlily to 
 milk, must U' ••viilmt." Mr also pays tln-m a 
 iiiifh oomiilimi'nt for lM'«'f <|ualiti«'-s. ami with 
 otni-r autiioriti«'s,Kiv»'s tln-m tlu' liiKlu'st jiniis*' 
 
 bmiincMH run'*T. has fotiuil time ami o|i}M(rtii- 
 nitv to do his fiilt sli.iir for thf n<lvuni-fin*'nt 
 of S«'war«l a I 
 A iloz4>n ni Si'wonl, on th« 
 
 hunk of tin- l..- i. iv mlliw wi-stl of 
 
 hinitiln aiitt in the Kanteii of the lilue valley 
 [s 
 
 MIt.Koitn. 
 an except ionallv pn-tlv town of liOO |ie<i|ile. 
 It wa.H wttliNl In !•«'►•» by .1. IC. I)ii\ 1.U..1, .mil 
 Mr. Hi'«'«l. anil was for a tlnn* tin- ■ 
 Tin" town stands niMin a l»»vi-ly 1 If 
 
 ••minliil h\ tin- i-u-ar wlndlnj; IIIik .^iirl as 
 iM-aiiliful natlvr jfrovt's of oak. ash. t-lni. lin- 
 di-n and walnut ami roinmamls iuk' "f the 
 most ilrliKhtfid valli-y vli-ws to In- i- 
 
 wi-st«-rn lonntrN. ll«'\oiid tin- val 
 
 way roll lonu' n-a<'h«*s of hillowy iii.. . 
 n- fiinii 
 
 lionnti. 
 
 wln-n- «'mlM'llis|H'<l with !lm 
 iinhanls, viin-xards ln'<l>f«-rows and donn'stic 
 crovii*. indc<'«l tin- «-ntin' snmiumlinK «oun- 
 try Is rich in farm improvniicnLH and m.'<>iiih 
 
 Milford state Bank. 
 
 for r-liPOM' and liiitt<-r-makinL' qnalitifH. ipiot- 
 Inj; tlM> rti-ord of a lloisti-inrow that prixlm-ed 
 Mevrnty-six immwhIs of ndlk and thrtv imkukIh 
 of hiit'ti'r iM-rday. 
 (I ...1... t.,|„A, haM. in trrnnd nn»nsun'. other 
 
 fi.. than tin- owm-pthip of I'rairie 
 
 ,.i ifii(«.rt>-l n<.'-»''iiis H,. »,-,. »|„. 
 
 hr. ■■ 
 
 va 
 k. 
 ai> 
 Im 
 f. . 
 
 fi.r 
 of 
 
 as 
 f.-i 
 
 cp; 
 
 ai. 
 h. 
 
 fri. 
 tl.< 
 
 verv llki-nn old and well develoix-il fann dln- 
 
 tri.-'l ill \..itli.ni Illinois, 'nn' d.i i- •.»inrli'«l 
 
 |.! • wild w Id 
 
 V ■ <-anoiis an '< 
 
 \U « .1 the IJlm ! "t 
 
 nirai town 
 
 A rAVillUTK HlMMKH lUXUtT 
 
 i»iir<« luirtle 
 
 • r In;; toU n- 
 
 - IoIIIkI U.«' -^ttoll^t'-vt 
 
 . and nut It withont 
 
 !•■ -I.-.. I........ .1 
 
 fniui l.imtiln and otiier 
 Tlii- 11. A M milwnv ati- 
 
 Mil- 
 II 
 
 ■r-H 
 
 ' Id 
 lid 
 '•Ml 
 
26 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 The Milford State Bank organized in 1880 
 with a cask capital of §30,000, is a strong ad- 
 mirably managed concern, thoroughly in- 
 trenched in the ijopular confidence. The pre- 
 sident Mr. C. L. Smith is an able farmer, who 
 has made a good fortune in this county. Judge 
 Henry Wortendyke, the vice-president is a 
 man of ample fortune and is universally es- 
 teemed for his manly character. C. F. Wyandt 
 the cashier is a bright, level-headed young 
 Ohio man of ample means, capital business 
 
 fifts and fine social qualities. Mr. S. D. I. 
 Imerson, the assistant cashier and the owner 
 and builder of the elegant new bank block, is 
 a young gentleman of fine business qualities, 
 liberal attainments and views and liberal 
 worldly knowledge. He has passed most of 
 his life in EuroiJe and though a man of schol- 
 astic tastes, takes to business with true wes- 
 tern grit and adaptability and worthily repre- 
 sents the larger share of the banking capital 
 which is manily held by his friends abroad. 
 The bank is on a solid footing, rej^reseuts 
 more than half a million of private capital and 
 is one of the most prosperous banking houses 
 in this region. 
 
 Messrs. Wyandt & Emerson have been deal- 
 uig in general merchandise here since 1878, 
 are the foremost general merchants of the 
 town and are among the ablest young business 
 men of the Blue valley. 
 
 F. S. Johnson & Co.. the owners of the Blue 
 river water power, are a strong firm and are 
 now building upon the site of the old mills, 
 the finest roller mills in Nebraska. The stone 
 foundation is six feet thick and will support a 
 solid brick structure 46x(>i feet, four stories 
 above the basement, with a mansard roof. 
 These mills are to be equipped with sixteen 
 sets of Stevens rolls and machinery of the 
 most approved types for the manufacture of 
 fancy brands of flour from Nebraska wheat, 
 and will have a daily giinding capacity of 300 
 barrels. Merchant corn meal and Farina of the 
 highest grades will also be made a specialty 
 and from base to attic these mills will be made 
 as perfect as modem mill mechanics will ad- 
 mit. A 2.5,000 bushel elevator and a ware 
 house with storage tor 2,000 barles of flower 
 will oe built near by and all the buildings be 
 amply protected by a fire pumn with power 
 ancthose capable of flooding tlie entire pre- 
 mises. The mills will be driven by a strong 
 steady 200 horse water power under fourteen 
 feet head. About 200 acres of bottom land, 
 most of which is heavily wooded with walnut, 
 oak and ash, are connected with the mills and 
 will afford capital range and shelter for pigs, 
 of which the proprietors will full feed troiu 
 800 to 1,000 annually from the offal of the 
 mills. They will also give special attention 
 to the breeding of ]»ure Red Jersey and Poland 
 pigs of the best tyjics and have already 
 made a good bc;;iiiiiig in tins <lin'(tion. Mr. 
 F. S. Johnson tlie resident member and mana- 
 gerof this firm comes of awell known family of 
 Oswego, N. Y., millers and has associated 
 with him two brothers who are also engaged 
 in milling in that city. The firm have ample 
 capital and any amount of business stamina, 
 own and run a in-ivate banking house in Mil- 
 fend, own a half interest in Davidson & Cul- 
 ver's addition to Milford, have several hun- 
 
 dred acres of choice farm lands near town, are 
 pushing an enterprise that is creditable alike 
 to themselves and Seward county and are one 
 of the ablest concerns in the Blue Valley. 
 
 Davidson & Culver proprietors of a valuable 
 addition to the town, are among the most en- 
 terprising and thoroughgoing men of Seward 
 county and are doing capital work for local 
 advancement by manufacturing brick on a 
 good scale, buying and shipping grain, buying 
 and selling city lots and improved farm prop- 
 erty and t)y earnest and inspiring efforts for 
 the advertisement of the advantages of Milford 
 and the siuTounding country. Mr. J. R. David- 
 son of this firm was one of the founders of 
 Milford, owns a beautiful suburban farm and 
 home and is one of the staunch and successful 
 men of the Blue Valley. J. H. Culver, the 
 junior partner, is an old journalist and a wide 
 awake, public spirited man of active brain and 
 capital working ability. He is a strong man 
 here and writes and talks of Milford and 
 Seward county like an appreciative man. The 
 Seward county Democrat, edited and publish- 
 ed by Alexander Bros., is a spirited and in- 
 fluential uaper and is doing excellent service 
 for Milford and the tributary country. The 
 erection of many new and substantial build- 
 ings, the improvement of the streets and plea- 
 sure grounds and the steady gi-owth of trade 
 are among the visible signs' of thrift and pros- 
 perity that are likely to know no abatement 
 until Milford has doubled its present popula- 
 tion and become one of the strongest towns in 
 the interior of the state. A word about the 
 
 NEIGHBORING FAKMEKS AND FARMS 
 
 will be in order here and is given with plea- 
 sure to indicate something of the men and 
 means that are making Seward county one of 
 the most desirable farm districts in the west. 
 Judge Henry Wortendyke's 320 acre 
 
 SPRING BROOK 
 
 farm, lying two miles below Milford in the 
 Blue bottoms is admirably watered by clear 
 spring brooks, has forty acres of native timber 
 and is improved withfine domestic groves, a 
 handsome home, good out buildings, sheds, 
 feed yards and fences. Judge Wortendyke 
 feeds from thirty to seventy-five steers and 
 200j)igsand is also the owner of 750 acres of 
 choice Blue bottom land just above the town, 
 the whole making one of the most valuable 
 landed estates in the Blue valley. Judge 
 Wortendyke is a native of Genesee county, N. 
 Y., and came to this country in 18(57 with little 
 means. He has made a nandsome fortune 
 here, serveil the county as probate judge, with 
 universal acceptance, is vice-president of the 
 Milford State bank and one of the strongest 
 and best men in the county. ■ Joseph M. T. 
 Miller's 320 acre 
 
 GROVELAND 
 
 farm three miles southwest of Milford, is a 
 model estate and is managed by a model farmer. 
 It is graceful waving prairie, improved with a 
 beautiful home, the finest farm barn in the 
 county ; a good gi-anary, tool house and work 
 shop, ample cribs and feed yards, fine orchards, 
 groves and hedges, and forty acres of clover 
 and timothy meadow. Mr. Miller's last year's 
 crops embraced .5,000 bushels of corn, 1;400 
 busnels of oats, ten acres of barley, thirty 
 
8EWARD COUNTY HANP-BOOK 
 
 27 
 
 /yC^d 
 
 J/<.^f^^r- 
 
 The Founder of Seward. 
 
 " Englewood, " the Home of Lewis Moffitt, S' 
 
•28 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 acres of wheat and a field of rye. He feeds 
 thirty to seventy pigs, Iveeps a small herd of 
 ■cattle, grows big crojis, keeps his entire farm 
 as neat and orderly as a well cultivated garden, 
 lias an estate woVth .Sl'ijOOO and ha>' made it 
 from an original start of $2,000 which he 
 brought here from Ohio in 1875. Mr. Miller is 
 one of the foremost farmers and 
 manliest men in this region and 
 thinks there is no country like Seward comity. 
 Nine miles west of Milford is the well known 
 
 AVEST BI-UE STOCK FAKM 
 
 •of which a view is herewith given. It is 2,300 
 acres in extent, lies in the valley of the West 
 Blue which courses the entire length of the 
 estate and is one halt rich Ixittdiu land, the 
 balance lying upon the easterly slopes of the 
 high prairie. 1 he farm has about 1.50 acres of 
 native wood, is superbly watered by the Blue 
 and strong spring brooks, and has a good 
 water power. It is improved with two pretty 
 residences occupied by the owners, Frank W. 
 and Arthur E. trpton ; a good tenant house, a 
 stock barn 70x100 feet with convenient stab- 
 ling, an ample grain house, a scale house, ex- 
 tensive corn cribs, sheds and feed yards, a fine 
 feed mill, root cellars and ample water works 
 by which the stables, feed yards and residen- 
 ces are supplied with living water from wells 
 •operated oy wind engines. Among the im- 
 provements too, are a farm supply store, poul- 
 try houses, a carriage house and sheep and 
 •cattle ranches with ample sheds and hay lofts. 
 About 100 acres are stocked with clover, tim- 
 •othy and blue grass, and the farm annually 
 produces from 12,000 to 16,000 bushels of corn, 
 1,000 to to 1,600 bushels of rye, 2,.50O bushels 
 ■of oats and 300 tons of hay, the balance being 
 devoted to pasture. About 100 high grade 
 stock cattle, largely breeding cows and heifers; 
 350 well bred Berkshire and Poland pigs, a 
 
 food string of fine brood mares and 900 gi-ade 
 lerino-Cotswold sheep are kept on the farm. 
 About eighty prime steers and 200 pigs were 
 fed last year, and the proprietors will increase 
 their stock of horses and cattle, by careful 
 ■crossings with thoroughbreds, to tlie" full capa- 
 city of the farm. The sheep barn is 24x100 
 and the cattle sheds 45x100 both having admir- 
 ably arranged and well watered feed yards. 
 
 One of the attractions of this fine estate, is 
 the 1820 pound English draught stallion "Tem- 
 ple Brewer," a cut of which is given. He is 
 an imported I^incolnshire cart horse of great 
 jiiuscular ]K)\ver, dark, rich chestnut color, 
 fine action, and good general style, is four 
 years old, coiiics of a superior and illustrious 
 line of prize-takers at the leading English 
 fairs, and is a valuable acquisition to the 
 thoroughbred draught stock of Nebraska. 
 .Superior thoroughbred short horns. Merinos, 
 Berkshires and Polands are at the liead of 
 their ies]i('(;ti\e herds in other departments of 
 stock Inishiiiidry on this farm, which for all 
 stock growing jdirposes is one of the most 
 valuable estates in Nebraska. The brothers 
 lTl»ton came here from Michigan three years 
 ago and have expended about !S!.50,000 in the 
 purchase, improvement and stocking of this 
 noble farm. They are young gentlemen of 
 ample means, fine social qualities, decided 
 public spirit and generous liosi)italitv, are 
 greatly pleased with the country and are a 
 
 most valuable acquisition to the social and 
 agricultural interests of the country. Five 
 miles further up the West Blue is 
 
 BEAVER CKOSSING. 
 
 a pretty country hamlet located in the midst of 
 gi-een native and domestic groves, beautiful 
 meadow lauds, rich corn fields fine farm homes 
 and a valley landscape as fair as Cashmere. 
 They have here the clear, swift winding river 
 with a valuable water power and the Pearl 
 mills, two general stores, some shops, a large 
 school house a tri-weekly mail and an enviable 
 town site, ten miles distant from Friend on 
 the west and eighteen miles from Seward on 
 the northeast. Beavar Crossing was located 
 on the old Fort Kearney trail at an early day 
 and represents one of the earliest settlements 
 of the blue valley. Prominent among the 
 business men of this place is Mr. F. M. Dimery 
 the owner of the Pearl mills, the Beaver Cross- 
 ing hotel, 270 acres of choice farm lands and a 
 half interest in the general merchandise store 
 of Tidyman & Dimery. The mills are well 
 built and finely equipped, have four run of 
 buiTS and under Mr. Dimery's popular man- 
 agement have a strong merchant and custom 
 patronage. The owner feeds about 400 choice 
 Poland pigs and will make a good yearly feed 
 of steers hereafter. He has some of the rich- 
 est and best improved farm lands in the comi- 
 ty, grows big crops of corn, owns the town 
 site and offers liberal inducements to settlers. 
 He is one of the old timers here, owns a fine 
 home and has accumulated a handsome for- 
 tune, is a strong, practical and popular busi- 
 ness man, stands high with his neighbors and 
 speaks well of the country and people. Mr. 
 Tidyman, his partner in merchandise is an ex- 
 cellent business man and reports a healthful 
 and steadily growing trade. 
 
 T. H. Tisdale is also doing a fine trade in 
 general merchandise, has a large new well 
 stocked store, is the village postmaster and 
 like his neighbor Dimery is one of the best 
 business men in the valley. He began mer- 
 chandising at the old crossing, four miles 
 above here in 1869, came here in '71, and has 
 ever since been in trade. Mr. Tisdale is a 
 prime New Yorker of ample means and high 
 credit, is greatly pleased with the country and 
 enjoys the coniiorts of a beautiful home. Two 
 miles above Beaver Crossing at the ivniction of 
 Beaver and Indian creeks with the Blue is 
 
 MONMOUTH PARK 
 
 the 1,200 acre stock ranch of Wm. W. Embry 
 and B. T. O. Hubbard, two well known and 
 wealthy gentlemen of Monmouth, 111., It is a 
 superb 'tract of rolling prairie and bottoms em- 
 bracing 200 acres of native timber affording 
 ]>ertect stock shelter ami is finally watered by 
 the three streams named, one of which affords 
 a strong water power. The owners have late- 
 \y enclosed the farm and will stock it with 
 high grade cattle for grazing and feeding and 
 will carry forward the work of improvement 
 until it is one of the model stock ranches of 
 Nebraska. Mr. Embry is a large hearted Ken- 
 tuckian takes naturally to stock raising and is 
 delighted with his late purchase and with 
 Seward county. Mr. Hubliard is cashier of 
 the First National bank of Monmouth and one 
 of the ablest business men of that city. Three 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HANDBOOK. 
 
 niiU'H ii<irtli)-a.st of |t4-!iv«T CroHsini; in tiif 
 mlilNt of ii U'uiitlful tul>le lanil dlstrlrt is tlu- 
 IflOacru 
 
 OItArKI,AM» 
 
 fann and liniufof Cupt. K. I.. Hliinrliunl, an 
 intc'lli«;iMit anil jimcri-ssivr Massa<>|iii>M'tt.s man 
 wliu I'anir luTc fnim NVls4-i>n'<in funryrarHajco. 
 It lii*s fiulit Miilt's s<iutlu-ii.st of I'tira ami is 
 rnuvful rolling; prairie, iinpnivctl with a fimi- 
 iortttbl«'liniiu'. eiMMt stalilfs, criUs, jrri>vi*s ami 
 a ymniK •'rclianl, amila.-t y)*ar priHlmi-d :>,<)l)i) 
 bu.slifl.s iif cnni xii'liiiiii: iilt> liii>lirl>. imt ai-n*: 
 1100 (iiisltfis of I'lats yii'lilim; •'ixtx l)u^lif!s jht 
 won', l.VJ hushi'ls of wlu-at, -jrn) |)iis|».|s of l»ar- 
 k»y, 100 htislii'jsof ry»» yiflilini; t\v«Mity-liv«- 
 bu-slifls to tlu' a<T»', aiul M-vriity-tlve luislit'ls 
 of flax s«f<l. Mr. liianrhanl f»*»>«lsa f»'\v pi»fs, 
 ket*|w a fi'W rows, owns a roni ware hons** at 
 Utk'U, where he niarkt'ts iiisiaain, is ant-xiei- 
 
 a kimmI sliowini; <if attnu-live homoM, I'tica, 
 like MiKunl. hits niaile t-onnnendahle iniigrem 
 in liiiililiiic tiiirlni; the pa.st year, ifiven evl- 
 ileticf of riiuinierrial un<l matt-rial thrift and 
 is ImiuikI to (oiiipasH a iMipnlatlon of 800 or 
 liMKi within till- pre>.«-nt ih'«-ade. 
 
 At the heail of the liusiness <*iinreniii of the 
 town is the I'tiea hank. «>ntal>li->h<'4| last fall 
 hy bavies A- Hr.uit. Hon. .lojm Davien, llu' 
 liri"<itleitt i^ ;\ii rifili- :itt.>ni< '. ami hiti'lv re|»- 
 1. ■ ' " ■ .• uf 
 
 ' it<*H 
 
 ••• 1 'i - of 
 
 emiuiatiwh. Mr. 1 . J. liiant, llie i-Hsliier, wan 
 formerly half owner of the Fremont connty 
 liank at Kiverlon. lowa. is a man of prinm 
 ailmlni-'trativ)- cift.s and like his partner, a 
 kTiMitleman. The Inink diH-s a pr<tH|H-roiis hn.H- 
 iness and i- \\f\\ (oitititsl in the public confl- 
 
 Pearl Mills, at Beaver Crossing. 
 
 ent and thrifty fanner and ha* ii 
 ble<i the eapital he hroiidit hen-, 
 fluential memlM-r of tli>- *>•' 'r.\ ■■ 
 niisiioners and f>ne of • 
 
 lie«f men in the roiilit 
 
 re than dou- 
 
 lle is .in In- 
 
 •onnty <<im- 
 
 and nian- 
 
 I with his 
 
 ' is 
 
 ■ f 
 
 titc muldlufa broad, rirh o|n-u pruiiic cuunlry 
 
 lTir.\. 
 
 a brlKhtand BTowInt; town of MOO miuIm. It 
 wa.H laid f.iit Ylv.' Vl•nr^ riico by Ceci. H. WrlKht 
 of In<li - one of the strongest 
 
 nhipiT ' lints on thisilivi-iun <if 
 
 the H. A .'; \ I, ,..!,.• II,.- tn .rK.-.l 
 
 fiTitun-^ oi I 
 tor*, a fine j 
 
 Mchool. twi> iiiiir' ;;> — , .i ■xiost.iiiii.ii o.iiik 
 
 th« wide-awake Kk( (iKt> new»p«|M.>r, and 
 
 dene.-. Ml .s it Hrnnt will «u>oii 
 btdldasiil iek bank bnildinc In- 
 
 rM-4l.s«- the.i .. ■■ ■' ■' •••< 
 
 make their 
 
 iirofessiitnal an<i 
 
 •»s a life work 
 
 in Itiea. 'Ille> 
 
 d<vi.hi||ik; r\ 
 
 and expnrrM 
 
 Hon. (;■ former repmwMit- 
 
 >t"^-'-' " • ■'•■ '•••■-1 --mid 
 
 
 I.K 
 
 
 ile. 
 
 
 I C'Xill 
 
 
 '1 town 
 
 
 uid will 
 
 
 Mr. iH-r- 
 
 
 '", owna 
 1 4 one of 
 
 
 'V. 
 
 i lie ii.if'iw .iri- tr.Kie 1- wi'ii I 
 J. E. IIil>banl wlUi full Mfwkii • 
 
 '. ! by 
 iihI 
 
30 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 shelf liauhvare, stoves, tinware and farm 
 machinery. He leads in his line with a strong 
 trade, is a staunch business man, owns a good 
 suburban farm, hails from Illinois, has made 
 affood property here and likes the country. 
 
 The mecfical profession is ably represented 
 by Dr. Rufus D. Harvey an old anil accom- 
 plished physician who has had a wide success- 
 ful luactice here since 1877. Dr. Harvey was 
 educated at Evansviile, Wisconsin, nettled on 
 <i homestead in this county in 1871 and has 
 been well identified with this region of coun- 
 try which he holds in high esteem. He enjoys 
 Jiigh personal and professional standing and 
 is a most estimable gentleman. 
 
 Utica has a splendid tributary country, ships 
 more country iiroduce than any town of its 
 size on this division of the B. <fe M. railway 
 •and has a bright future. 
 
 Seven miles up the Big Blue to the north- 
 ■west of Seward, is the new villiage of 
 
 STAPLEHURST 
 
 on the A. & N. division of the B. & M. rail- 
 way and in one of the fairest portions of the 
 Blue valley. It has been built up in the last 
 two years and has now 150 people, a fine grain 
 ■elevator, two general stores, a church and 
 school house the usual complement of shops 
 and a large shipping trade in grain and comi- 
 try produce. A dozen new buildings have 
 Ijeen erected this summer and more are to fol- 
 low this fall. The immediate wants of the 
 town are a hardware and general store both of 
 which would do well in good hands. Nelson 
 & Jacobs the proprietors of the town site 
 are offering decidedly liberal inducements 
 to new settlers, whether for business 
 ■or residence purposes. They own the 
 elevator, are active and enterprising grain 
 dealers and have already shipped over 200 car 
 loads the present season. They belong to the 
 race of live and iniblic spirited men, otter town 
 lots from .flO to $50 and invite correspondence 
 from parties looking for a new location. Half 
 a dozen miles up the valley and railway is the 
 ■driving young city of 
 
 ULYSSES. 
 
 It is the creation of the B. & M. railway, has 
 an enviable location upon (he high prairie 
 ovcrlnokiug the Blue river and valley whose 
 Avanu slojies, broad rich meadow lands, end- 
 less corn fields, delightful native gi-oves, green 
 erassy glades, vistas and intervals form a 
 landscape as fair and enchanting as the old 
 Arcadia. A grand succession of beautiful and 
 feilile farms reach away in every direction to 
 the horizon and the trihutarv countrv is large 
 and rich enough to foster a citv of :;0(')0 souls. 
 Ulysses has a popuhifiou of »;()() and has this 
 year made a growth which in view of its sup- 
 erior natural and superficial advantages, gives 
 promise of a population of 1.500 within the 
 next five years. It has one of the brightest 
 newspapers— the Dispatch— in Nebraska, two 
 pretty clmrches, a staunch banking house, 
 two grain elevators, a fine water jiower and 
 flouring mill, an elegant school house and sup- 
 ■erior gratled school, a full score of business 
 houses, a heavy general and shipping trade and 
 «ome very inviting homes. Though the town 
 is located just across the line on tlie southem 
 border of Butler county, it is largely supported 
 
 by Seward county production and has so much 
 in common with the country already sketched 
 in these columns that I am pleased' to briefly 
 review, in this connection, something of its 
 status and prospects. 
 
 Among the solid and successful business in- 
 terests of the town is the Ulysses State Bank, 
 organized in 1881, with a capital of 830,000. 
 The ])resident, Mr. S. D. I. Emerson, is already 
 introduced to the reader in connection with 
 the Milford State Bank and is well known to 
 this public as a clear-sighted, conservative and 
 successful business manager. Mr. Arthur 
 Hale, the cashier, is a Philadelphian of thor- 
 ough experience ni banking, and ranks with 
 the best business men ot this region. The 
 stock is largely owned by the parties who con- 
 trol the Milford State Bank ; tne building, fix- 
 tures and bank management are eminently 
 creditable to the town and it is but fair to say 
 that the Ulysses State Bank is one of the strong 
 advancing and popular banking houses of Cen- 
 ti'al Nebraska. 
 
 Professor Harrington Emerson, late of the 
 Nebraska State University and a gentleman 
 of liberal views, ripe scholarship and fine bus- 
 iness gifts, has established a loan brokerage 
 here, which ranks with the most successful 
 and reliable in the country. He is making 
 guaranteed investments for eastern capitalists 
 in first mortgaged bonds on improved farms, 
 and town property, school bonds, bank stocks 
 and debentures, chattle mortgages, notes, etc., 
 etc. The dividends on these investments range 
 from 7)4 to 16 per cent., and are in all cases 
 collected and remitted free of expense. Mr. 
 Emerson solicits correspondence and will be 
 pleasetl to send circulars and references and 
 lull lists of securities on application. He is 
 placing from $5,000 to $15,000 per month, has 
 never had a dollar of principal or interest in 
 default, has a capital held for the prosecution 
 of his work, and refers to the First National 
 Bank of Lincoln and the Ulysses State Bank. 
 George E, Waldo, attorney and collector, is 
 also loaning money on real estate for eastern 
 capitalists, and is an active and successful 
 dealer in all classes of real estate, his books, 
 embracing descriptions of many fine farms 
 and wild tracts which he offers at current 
 prices in any quantity to suit the purchaser. 
 He gives special attention to abstracts of title, 
 the payment of taxes for non-residents, and to 
 all legal and real estate business. Mr. Waldo 
 has been practicing law in New York city since 
 1876, and settled here last winter. He is an ac- 
 complished lawyer and gentleman, and likes 
 the country well enough to make Ulysses his 
 liermaneiit home. 
 
 The hardware trade is fairly represented by 
 Lewis Swansen, with ample stocks of heavy 
 and shelf hardware, stoves, tinware and kind- 
 red goods. He is a practical timier and a suc- 
 cessful business man, leads in his line, hails 
 from Illinois, is a man of strength in tne com- 
 munity, and is much pleased with the country. 
 Ulysses has a popular and well managed 
 hotel in the Reed House whose properietor is 
 one of the best hotel man in the interior of 
 Nebraska, and has given this house the air and 
 character of a well ordered and hospitable 
 home. 
 The town has in the "Dispatch" the fortune 
 
SEWARD COUNTY HAND BOOK. 
 
 81 
 
 of a l)rii;lit nu'v, «'iit«*r)trisint; ami rrailalil*' 
 ii«'\vs|ia|M*i' mill o>vi^ a ^imhI nicasiirf of Its 
 iitattTial |>r<>s|M'rity to tlu-tNlitoraiiii |iiil)li>«lii-r, 
 Mr. ('. II. (Iiallis. wlm lia.s fi'w i-<|iials in ilic 
 niak<'-U]> iif a Nt-r-vatilc ami n-a<lalilc liM-al 
 joiinial. Tin- tuiniiiiTiial int«Ti-*ts of tin* Inwii 
 are iiiaitily in cikmI liamls ami tin- k'i*>ifral ami 
 .slii|)|>iiiKtVa4lf of tin* currtMit y«'ar will In* '*) 
 |H-r<-tMitin I'XiTSH of foniiiT vrars. A kimxI 
 amount of Ixiiltlint; lian In^imi ifon«* tlurinK the 
 .siiniUMT and tlit-n* i>* rvfiN |iros|H*<t of futuri* 
 lO'owtli Willi rajiiil ilcvrlopinfiit of a lit'oad 
 ami i'\<'«iMlint:l\ ri<'li trjl»iitar> coMutiy. TluTf 
 is iiueiid of tine. 
 
 FAItMS .VXn KAICMKKS 
 
 in this ri'ifion ami they rortainly liavo a luTit- 
 aitt" to Ih* proud of. ,los«*()li I'aliuer lia.s a 
 olioic*' 4NI ai-n* farm tlirc*- milo wrst of town. 
 It is watt-n-*! Ity wf|i> and nnniini; i-nfivs, is 
 iniproviMl with a iil*'a>ant liomc and is di*- 
 votwl to mm ami llv«' stiK-k. Mr. Palmt-r 
 <l»»ais oxt»*nsiv«'ly in Missouri iiors^-s ami niuli-s 
 and hasalri'ady "sold upwards of .'<1(»,()»I0 worth 
 4if Ids stotk lo ihf nfichlHirinc farmers this 
 .«»«'a.son. Ilfraim* hi*ri> ironi Ila* "land of steady 
 liablt.s" fh'vtMi Nfars ayo. has thrown rich in 
 lands, of whiih In* ha.s t^n acrrs. is om- of thi" 
 live enter|»r'"'iiiif men of this region ami ha.s 
 boundless faith in the future of Nehniska. 
 
 A. K. Spun-k of the real i-state lirm of Sil>- 
 iH'tt A Co., has three farms, ajiirrecatintc «M0 
 aere^. They are all m-iirhlHirinir to the town, 
 an* well impro\)s|. and atnoni; the Iwst lands 
 in the county. >Ir. Snurek came here from 
 Ohio in '•>< without a dollar, was the piontvr 
 inerehantof Itutlereounty ownsa irood anioinit 
 of town proiM>rty. i.s a Htront; nuiii in tlie eoni- 
 iniiidty, and hu-s only ^immI wonis for the 
 oouiity. 
 
 Ilnif a iloxen miles to tlie soutlu>a.st of I'lys- 
 «es. in one of tlie lliie^t iM»rtions of S-wiinl 
 oounty, is Mike DunniKHn's 
 
 FAIKFIKI.K 
 
 farm. I Ix-lieve it Is :fJt) acres 
 In oxt4Mit, and improv«-d with a tine 
 
 iioiiic. L' 1 Kiilliuildincs, ^oves ami orchards 
 
 an! <l to mixe^l farniimc. Mr. I>un- 
 
 mIl -trom: crops of trniin. ki-ejw a 
 
 tfiM. ' ' • i-s ami iMttle. fi-^nls a k<mkI 
 
 bii! -and has one of the Im^sI 
 
 fai '1 He criiiif hcr»' in I'^Tl 
 
 wr liand- 
 
 MMi is an 
 
 ol.i id of 
 
 Co "i one ul the iiiunlii^st 
 
 nn furrow In Nehra.ska. 
 
 >ii iioiii Ireland and swiiirs 
 
 |i\ - Two niiles Ix'hiw rivss4'^ 
 
 aii.i >lley of the Blue is >V. II. 
 
 1).,|.. :. ......re 
 
 HfltlXn VAI.I.RY 
 
 fann. I 
 In nair 
 
 Cfl! 
 
 bl> 
 till 
 
 «««||. 
 
 Dol.-..,, :. 
 
 thr.s- I .11 !...i.: 
 
 l*oland-.Ierse> 
 high RTBile HtiW 
 
 J.U". He keep: 
 K cattle. I«n"«"«ls 
 
 llLi luad ul 
 
 At tlionjUKh- 
 
 l»nt| simrt lionis and trrow s l'j,iiOii t<i U.HOO 
 hushelsof com. l.«»»U»ii-he|s i,r w lieitt. I.PKI 
 bushels of I ' '; I ' ■ u 
 
 Kot a irrosH 
 
 farm hi»i \e.i i : .| 
 
 business man.ii;ei. i;i4A\> l»i^ < mps, i».i\s as hit 
 ^iH's, is a ro\al man, owns one of the Im^mI 
 farms in .Seward count), hails from I'alifof 
 nia and from an investnient of .*<'i,<iii() a do/.en 
 years aco. has now an estaU* worth $|s,(iiw. 
 llalf a U07.4M1 ndl«*sHoutliw»'?«lof l'lyH.s4'?4. is .\. 
 1). KltciiiesiWOacn* 
 
 Ill.l'E ItllMiK 
 
 fann. It lies u|M>n a rnininandiiiK dlvidp, U 
 Kently rollint; prairie, all under cultivation, 
 rich as a ^inleii, and is improve«i with a In-iui- 
 titul home, pMMl outbuildings k<kmI orchards, 
 CToves wells, wind mills and fences. Mr. 
 Uitidiie last Near raivsl lii.tnin bushels of com 
 and i.OOn bushels of wheat and s<dd >M.4/I0 
 w'ortli of slie4M> and •V-VIO |Miunds of the liiiest 
 .M«'rino wiMd that ever went out of Nebniska. 
 II«' has Imh'ii one of the most succ«*<isful bre<-«i- 
 ers of .\im>rican .Merinos in this coiintr\, is 
 \ ice-president of the Nel>niska wiMil-tfrowers 
 and slu'cp brifders assiM-iation and says 
 Seward coimly Is not only a siiiK-rb sluN-p 
 coinitr> , but isihe Ih'sI country In .Vmerica for 
 pHKl farmers an<i i;inmI men. He Iuls now on 
 hand UK) niiNlel Merinos, has MM) aer«>s of 
 heav> com. is a successful crower of domes- 
 tic L;niss«>s and|a numlM-roiiefarmer.luLsincri*iLS 
 •mI his capital .wiDjH'r cent in flic ia^t fen 
 years and sa\s one ^immI man <'nii ii 
 
 more wurk den* thaiitwo in the ' 
 Mr. Kitchie is an int«dlik'ent, pi.. :..i 
 
 proim'ssivt' Sotchman and one of tlie ablest 
 men in the county. .lust across tlie wav from 
 Blue KidKe is W. K. Kiteliie's 
 
 lllOIII.AM>.HT4>CK FARM. 
 
 It is tH'*) acn*s in extent and well improved 
 w'itli wells and wind mills, line wafer works, 
 elegant croxcs, a pn'tl\ coitaife. forty acre?, of 
 clover and limofliN meadow anil excellent 
 felict>s, feisl \ards, cornils, s|i»h|s sitnl stal>!<>s. 
 .Mr. HltchleL'of lu.iiiK) bus!.' I- 
 
 inic sixty-live ynishels toihc i- 
 
 els of oats last jear with ' ■> 
 
 hands and teams. He fetsN thic< 'f 
 
 1.4<»>lb sNn'P* and 1«» prime I' 
 
 kei'ps IWelllV-llve liijjh icnide s|4h I. . .., , itl 
 
 a small hi'nfof Mi-rhios, owns a iiknIi'I lanii. 
 Is ;i fbort>i(s»h. tbriffy \Mimir fanner siiid hn<» 
 
 I). Motlltna Ml ACH: 
 
 MAri.ROIIOVR 
 
 fann, anotlier of thi"***' splemlid i"statos of the 
 
 divide. Mr. >f'HlMn h:\< flu- ftnevt innpli- 
 
 d 
 
 il .- . ..: IS 
 
 Dial will •«) 
 
 " prime 1 
 kifpa a fc^^ '-attl' .uid a KiMwl strihi; ••( li"r -<-s, 
 U one (>( the most fiyslematlr atui thoroutfti 
 
32 
 
 SEWARD COUNTY HAND-BOOK. 
 
 fanners I have found in Nebraska, and the 
 boss ^\■heat grower of Seward county ; has 
 made uj) a 515.000 property here from an in- 
 vestment of SfiOO in 1S70, hails from Indiana 
 and lilve Ins friends, the Ritchies, thinks 
 Seward countv is tlie banner country. 
 A full (luarter million dollars is annually ex- 
 pended for i;ni)lenients and niachiuery, where 
 iialf the amount would answer the purpose if 
 that half were decently well protected by judi- 
 cious investment and subsecpient care of the 
 property. There are many other odds and 
 ends of'prodisal waste either of native or de- 
 veloped resource, and if the losses from all 
 these sources were aggregated for half a dozen 
 years they would build and equip two good 
 railways across the county or pay off all the 
 debts owed by all the citizens of this won- 
 drously rich county. That the people are 
 growing rich and even opulent under such 
 stress and strain of careless and wasteful 
 fanning, is the highest compliment that can be 
 paid to its measureless natural wealth. It 
 will be seen bv the thoughtful reader that all 
 of these elements of local weakness are 
 
 EASY OF COBKECTION 
 
 and will rapidly disappear as lands grow in 
 value and necessity compels greater care and 
 thrift, closer economy and more thorough and 
 systematic culture. 
 
 AN UPWAKD TENDENCY 
 
 is already perceptible in all departments of 
 local husbandry. A few good farmers serve 
 to show how great are the rewards ot skill, 
 order economy and thorough cultivation and 
 they are leading their less thrifty neighbors 
 steadily up to the higher levels of fann 
 life_the life whose methods are to turn 
 Seward county into a vast garden and make 
 it one of the most inviting regions on the 
 green earth. There is no country on earth 
 where a given amount of labor produces finer 
 results tlian in this Blue valley. Seward 
 county, with all the temporary drawbacks 
 above named, presents 
 
 AN INSPIRING PICTURE 
 
 of material prosperity. For days and days I 
 have driven with delighted senses among the 
 beautiful farms, green groves, deeply shaded 
 avenues, endless hedgerows, thrifty young 
 orchards and vineyards, green fragrant mea- 
 dows clear winding streams, lowland wild- 
 woods, fattening herds and pretty homes, of 
 13 000 people who are making destiny for a 
 county which was organized as late as 186.5 
 and for the mastery of which the pioneers 
 measured arms with the red-handed Sioux 
 oniv half a dozen vears earlier. I find here a 
 score of farmers worth from »30,000 to $50,000; 
 three score more worth from ,1i;i2,000 to .1};20,000 
 a long list whose real and personal estate will 
 loot up ^H,(m to .SrijOOO and a still longer list 
 
 whose farm property may be variously esti- 
 mated at .184,000 to .1ji7,000, while many more 
 with lesser estates are fast paying up for pro- 
 perties that two or four years hence will give 
 them comparative independence. It may be 
 stated to the credit of Seward county, that at 
 least 90 per cent of all this wealth has been 
 
 l)V(i OUT OF THE SOIL 
 
 and made from the grasses by the brain and 
 miLscle of men who Droue;ht little or nothing 
 with them, and, better still, represents but a 
 small measure of the agricultural possibili- 
 ties of this county which has jnoductive capa- 
 city great enough to feed half the people of a 
 New England state and will this year make a 
 showing of 4,000,000 bushels of corn, 1,000,000 
 bushels of oats, 300,000 bushels wheat, a50,000 
 bushels of rye, large crops of barley, flax, and 
 field vegetables, and a feed of 30,0()0 pigs and 
 8,000 steers. And yet its farm resources are 
 not a fourth developed. I feel a little genuine 
 pride in telling the reader in distant states that 
 this view of Seward comity is 
 
 NOT AN OVER-COLORED PICTURE. 
 
 In these columns may be found a record of the 
 experience and opinions of a good number of 
 intelligent and worthy men. representing 
 nearly every civilized land, all departments of 
 life and all shades of opinion, to whom the 
 reader is confidently referred for justification 
 of the statements and opinions of the writer. 
 It is nearer the truth to assume that the pic- 
 ture cannot be over-chawii. Let him who 
 doubts come and examine the depth and tex- 
 ture of the soil, the nature of grasses, the 
 bounty of the crops and charms of landscape 
 and himself judge of their merits. That is 
 
 A PRACTICAL TEST 
 
 and cannot mislead. This whole country is 
 photographed in lines of giace and beauty 
 upon the soul of the visitor, nor can the vision 
 be dissipated. It is in his dreams of night and 
 his day-tlreams and the more he sees of the 
 older lands, the lovelier grows the vision of 
 the new. There is 
 
 ROOM FOR TEN THOUSAND MORE 
 
 good men in the practical ways of Sew-ard 
 county husbandry— men of capital, and brain, 
 and heart and liberal ex])erience ot the world. 
 Men of faith and working ability for the farm, 
 the orchard, the dairy and the garden ; nor can 
 they come a day too soon for the development 
 of resources that have been laid in these broad 
 and inviting fields by the bounteous and un- 
 stinted hand of the gi'eat Almoner of every 
 good and perfect gift. With a word of thanks 
 to Messrs. jNIcIntyre, Jones, Price, Uuton, 
 Bedford, Gill, Blanchard, Johns and Worten- 
 dyke; to my genial and manly young friend, 
 W. D. Bowers, and to ever so many others for 
 kind offices, I give a regretful gf)oa bye to the 
 Garden Land of the matchless Blue Valley. 
 
 8^°Parties entitled to copies of this Hand Book will find them at the offices of 
 Hon Ed. Mclntyre and Claudius Jones, Esq., Seward; Milford State Bank, Milford ; 
 Hon. G. A. Derby, Utica, and Ulysses State Bank, at Ulysses. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS