present farm in 1872, buying an improved place, but has made many other improvements. The home place consists of 280 acres, all good, tillable land, and with thirty acres of timber. He has good buildings of all kinds on his place. Aside from this he is the owner of 247 acres of other lands, all the result of hard, work and good management. He is considered one of the substantial men of the county. In politics he is a Republican, and has held several local positions, viz., assessor, for six years; trustee, for the same length of time; a member of the school board, and road supervisor. Mr. and Mrs. Veneman have six children: Rowan (now at college), Lemuel J. (at home), Nelson, Hattie, Alberta and Ward. Mr. and Mrs. Veneman are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as are also four of their children, and Mr. Veneman is steward and trustee in the same.
David J. Vinje is a well-known lawyer of Nevada, Iowa, for he has been closely connected with the legal affairs of this section since the fall of 1876. He was born in Vos Bergens Stift, Norway, February 20, 1850, a son of John and Ingeborg (Klove) Vinje, who were born in that country in 1822 and 1824, respectively. The father was a worthy agriculturist by occupation, and made his home in his native land until his death, which occurred in 1859. His widow still survives him, and is at present living in Marshall County, Iowa. The subject of this sketch was the second eldest of five children, born to his mother's first marriage, and three of the family are now living. He first attended the public and private schools of Norway, and after coming to the United States, he settled near Decorah, Iowa, in 1868, where he became an attendant of the public schools. Later he removed to Marshall County, Iowa, where his mother and her family had settled in the spring of 1869, and here he again began attending school. In 1875 he entered the law department of the Simpson Centenary College, and was graduated from that institution in June of the following year, being at the same time admitted to practice before the Iowa Supreme Court. In the fall of that year, as above stated, he came to Nevada, where by his own efforts he has built up an excellent and paying practice. He has climbed the ladder of success without the assistance of any one, for which he deserves much credit, for he came to this country totally unacquainted with the English language, consequently the disadvantages under which he labored were greater than that of the average. His marriage, which took place on October 11, 1876, was to Miss Helen Huseboe, her birth having occurred at Stavanger, Norway, May 25, 1855. They have five children: John M., Helen I., Lulu J., Bertha K. and Arthur T. Mr. Vinje is a Republican, and his first presidential vote was cast for James A. Garfield.
Isaac Walker is the second oldest settler in Nevada, having come to this place in September, 1854. He was born near Hagerstown, Md., September 28, 1828, a son of John and Margaret (Johns) Walker, the former of whom was born on and was the owner of Hill Island, in the Susquehanna River, near the head of Chesapeake Bay, in 1779, and died in Hardin County, Ohio, in 1861. The mother was born in Cumberland County, Penn., in 1788, and also died in Hardin County, Ohio, in 1865. When the subject of this sketch was six years of age he was removed from Maryland to Pennsylvania, thence to Ohio, in 1844, "where he was reared to manhood. His youth was spent at hard labor on the farm, and his schooling was limited to a few terms, during the winter, in the old-fashioned subscription schools. In 1853 he removed to the State of Illinois, and