that can be gathered respecting the early history of this new and flourishing town.

Civic societies are represented by Hastings Lodge, No. 397, I. O. O. F., which was instituted on the 12th day of September, A. D. 1879, I. Obefelder, D. D. G. M., of Council Bluffs, officiating. The charter members were Lewis Robbins, H. C. Robbins, H. C. Ayres, H. A. Russell C. H. Painter. The first officers were H. A. Russell, N. G.; Lewis Robbins, V. G.; A. C. Ayres, R. S.; H. C. Robbins, Treasurer. The officers for this year, (1881) are A. C. Ayres, N. G.; H. B. Gray, V. G.; F. B. Hawes, R. S.; Geo. W. Rose, P. S.; and James F. Martin, Treasurer. The lodge is in good working order, begins the year entirely out of debt, has thirty members, and has had no case of death or serious sickness or accident since its organization. Mr. H. C. Ayres the N. G., is also D.

D. G. M. of this, the 10th, district.

CHURCHES.

THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH was organized February 1, 1878, and is the first church established in the town. The original members were W. F. Bosbyshell, E. P. Bosbyshell, S. S. Hawker and wife, A. F. Johnson and wife, L. K. Mason and wife, J. O. Munson, G. E. Perrin, Rebecca Jordan, J. W. Shallcrop, C. I. Sper and Bella White. During the years 1878 and 1879 the society was busily engaged in erecting its church, a frame building, costing some eighteen hundred dollars. May 1, of the year last named, it was dedicated by the Rev. A. Rogers, of Glenwood. The pastors have been E. Kimball and George Dungan. The membership is now twenty-eight.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH was organized January 7, 1879. The first membership was composed of H. R. Anderson and wife, J. A. Parrish and wife, J. H. Madden and wife, Mary Spire and Julia Genung. The society owns no building but is now making an effort, which promiises to be successful, to build a brick church edifice. There have been three pastors since its organization, the Revs. J. M. Conrad, W. J. Beck and Charles Leach. The membership now numbers twenty-five. It is growing in numbers, growing in favor with the people, and, it is to be hoped, in favor with God. Its members are growing in grace and spirituality, and by their daily walk are trying to merit recognition for their Christian character.

No information has been accessible relating to either educational or business interests, both of which, it is fair to presume, are on an equality with other villages of its size in the county.

EAST PLATTSMOUTH.

An old and small village, founded in the early days of the county's history. The Mormons made a stop here during their long pilgrimage to the far west, but soon passed on to their haven. It was called by them Bethlehem, and has elsewhere been mentioned in connection with early history. Subsequently W. Sharp located at this point, surveyed the land and forming the site of a village named it Sharpsburg. The name is now East Plattsmouth, as used in the post-office directory.

HENDERSON.

This village is located in Anderson township, on a portion of section 10. It was platted by Joel Woods in April, 1880. It enjoys good railroad facilities, being on the Avoca and Hastings branch of the C. B. & Q. R. R. It is in the very heart of the best grain producing portion of Mills county. Business interests are growing daily in importance and value. No one can say what may be the future of this place.

PACIFIC JUNCTION.

This village is located at the junction of the C. B. & Q., and C. B.; K. C.; & St. J. railroad. The site of the place was originally owned by D. N. Smith. It was surveyed and platted in the year 1871. Some few buildings had been erected previous to this year, but not on the site of the surveyed town. From that date on it has developed a wonderful business activity and growth. In 1871 the post-office was established, and Frank Nye was appointed postmaster. The buildings in this embryo town are all frame structures, with the exception of the buildings of the railroad companies at this place, whose houses are, some of them, of brick. The school building at this place serves for its original purposes, for a lecturehall and for a church. No distinctive church organization exists in the village. A union sunday school of great promise is conducted during the major portion of the year. A weekly newspaper is published here, for an account of which the reader is referred to the history of the press.

PACIFIC CITY.

This is one of the oldest settlements in the county, its founding dating back to the year 1857. It was founded by a corporation consisting of L. Nuckolls & Bro., S. H. Moore, J. W. Coolidge, Messrs. McComb, Armstrong, Renick, and others. The style of the association was the Pacific City Town Company. The land now forming the site of the village was formerly owned by James Mayfield. In 1858 a newspaper, Republican in politics, was founded, and this devoted its energies to the upbuilding of the place. The owners and joint editors were Messrs. Cale and Mc

Combs. The paper was called The Pacific Herald. It was, shortly after, its establishment, transferred to a Mr. Thompson, who conducted it until the decline of the place was such that the enterprise could no longer be followed successfully. The site of this village is an extensive one, the original plat being one and one quarter miles in length and a half mile in breadth. It comprises some four hundred and eighty acres. The years 1857, 1858, and 1859 were prosperous ones, and the place grew rapidly in numbers and in favor. Many substantial buildings, public and private, were erected, stores were numerous, and nearly every branch of human industry was represented. The post-office was established in 1857, with H. J. Graham as postmaster. Churches and Sabbath schools formerly existed and flourished, but are now reduced to a single representative. Of public institutions there is a single one, the public school, necessary to any condition of life and to any place. The school building is of brick, and its capacity is equal to all demands likely to be made upon it. THE PACIFIC BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in 1876. The original membership was composed of Aaron Hamilton and wife, William Oneal and wife, Mrs. Baldwin, Mrs. Blackley and Mr. McKnight and wife. The Rev. Mr. McKnight is the pastor, who ministers to a membership of eighteen. The clerk is William Oneal, to whom indebtedness is acknowledged for information relative to this society.

There are numerous other small villages in the county, among them Mineola, Clarke and White Cloud. Only one thing must be guarded against, and that is the multiplication of rival villages. The county is one of the smallest in the state, and so great a number of "business centers" and "to be metropolitan cities," certainly cannot survive. The communities surrounding these places are all composed of substantial farmers, but far more than this is needed to insure their prosperity. The towns themselves can ill afford this rivalry.

Biographical Sketches.

"Human greatness is neither a mystery nor an accident.

There is a class of minds, envious or ignorant, which insists that the greatness of men is without reference to any well settled orders of merit; that it is often the fruit of chance; that it is subject to no well defined rule or analysis, and that fame is a lawless and irregular thing. We dissent from this view and disclaim any share in its self-complacency. We believe that human greatness, as interpreted by intelligent fame among mankind, is regulated by well-known laws, is subject to a clear analysis, and is capable of a precise definition, especially in modern civilized society, with its multitude of concerns, its intricate organization, and its constant and characteristic multiplication of restraints and difficulties upon the self assertion of the individual, it is impossible for a man to obtain anything like permanent fame without the possession of some substantial and well-defined merit or some extraordinary quality. To be sure, in the experience of every people there are hasty judgments of the mob, fits of fickle admiration, short triumphs of charlatanism, ephemera of the newspaper. But equally certain it is that no man succeeds to real and lasting fame, and obtains a permanent place in the regard of his fellows, unless he has some visible mark upon him, some true excellence, and only after a severe test and a precise measure have been applied to those qualities in which he asserts an extraordinary character. Thus character may be one of great virtues or of brilliant vices. We do not discuss the moral question here; we only insist that the man designated for historical reputation and the fee of fame must have something that really distinguishes him from his fellows. Affectation and pretension can never accomplish a permanent name. There is no such thing as being great by accident, and enjoying fame without good reason therefor. Weak men may sometimes make undue noise, and occupy for a little while eminences to which they do not belong; but the sober judgment of mankind soon passes upon the pretender, and reduces him to his proper position. It is the certain and inevitable law of history. Mind, like water, will find its level. We may appear to live in a great confusion of names, amid disordered currents

of popular fame, in storms of unjust and turbulent opinion; but, after all, we may be sure that there is an ultimate order, that the reputation of men will be finally assigned them by exact rules, and that they only will enter the temple of history, who have real titles, by extraordinary virtues, or by extraordinary vices, to its places."

Thus writes one whose reputation as a biographer cannot be excelled. His reflections lead to many suggestive thoughts, sure to arise in the minds of all who follow his remarks. All men cannot be great; each has his own sphere, and the success of his life is to be measured by the manner in which he fills it. But men may be both true and good, may be morally great, for in true living there are no degrees, there is no respect of persons. The word sketch, as here used, implies an outline or delineation of anything, giving broad touches by which only an imperfect idea, at the best, can be conveyed. It is not designed to include all the several and separate acts of a man's life, important or otherwise, for that would necessarily be both comprehensive and minute; nor is any single sketch purely biographical, which would imply a review of the life and character of each person. The design is to give the merest outline, with particular reference, however, to the public life of the persons named. To go into each man's private life, or into his home life, would be both unwarranted and valueless. Few care to know these facts, and many of them, perhaps, had best be forgotten. As a rule one's neighbors know full enough about him, and to afford them correct data for information may deprive them of the topic of quondam conversations.

Here will be found few, if any, who are not entitled to a place in public confidence. The names are, in great part, those of men who have been closely and for a long time identified with the interests of the county and their respective townships. If in their lives no mention appears of the hardships they endured in the early days of the county's history it is because these are the common experiences of pioneer life, were not exceptional in their character, and have been already referred to in other pages of this volume. A repetition here of individual experiences would be absolutely devoid of both interest and aim. To the residents of the county the names of none of its earliest settlers are without interest. So far as they could be gathered they illustrate quite fully the character of the early settlers; if the names of any such do not appear in these pages it is because facts were not accessible, or that an inauspicious destiny had arrested their career. Their place was already marked. To have obtained sketches of their lives, at first-hand, would have been next to the consciousness of duty fulfilled the highest of gratifications. Their lives would obtain, and justify all sympathy, and even their names recall heroic examples of which the men of to-day, with better fortunes, though with less daring,