he was able in 1888 to purchase the farm on which he now resides and which consists of eighty acres. He is one of the progressive and well-to-do men of the community and by virtue of his individual industry is now reaping the benefits of his early efforts.
In 1891 Mr. Seske was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Johnson, of Polk county, Iowa, whose father was John Johnson who came to this country from Norway at an early day. To Mr. and Mrs. Seske were born the following children : Mattie, Martin, Henry, Ella, Joseph, Frances, Eldon and Anna.
In politics Mr. Seske casts his vote with the republican party, and in religion he and his family are faithful members of the Lutheran church. He is interested in everything that stands for the betterment of the community in which he resides and is always willing to give his support to those projects which are working for the public good. He has the respect and esteem of his many friends as a public-spirited citizen of Union township.
WILLIAM PIERCE Payne.
William Pierce Payne, the senior editor of the Nevada Representative, will celebrate his eightieth birthday on December 22, 1911, and Mrs. Adaline Maria Payne, his wife, will celebrate her seventy-seventh birthday on November 12, 1911. They celebrated together their golden wedding at Nevada on January 16, 1909. When their years are considered they are a very exceptionally active couple, still giving daily attention to business and current affairs and being in the full enjoyment of most excellent health. They have been identified with Nevada and Story county since 1875 and this identification still continues, not merely as a courtesy but as a consequence of present relation to people and events.
Mr. Payne was the second son of Samuel Pierce and Juliaette (Ball) Payne, and he was born in the south part of the town of Rutland, Jefferson county, New York, on December 22, 1831. He grew up in the neighborhood where he was born, much of his youth being spent with his uncle, Henry M. Ball, on an adjoining farm. He attended the district and village school and about the time he was getting through his teens began teaching in the district schools of the neighborhood. After a few winters of teaching he went to the New York State Normal School at Albany, where he spent one year and was graduated in February, 1854. Subsequently he taught for two or three years at Sacketts Harbor on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, while in 1857 he went to Tufts College near Boston, Massachusetts, which he attended for two years. At the end of this period, in 1859, he completed his education and was ordained in the ministry of the Universalist church. His first pastorate was at Lynn, Massa-