He took a claim and worked hard for a few years. He then went back to Quincy and persuaded a number of his own countrymen to come out to this new place and take claims, he helping them out, but they were to pay him back as they could. Years passed; they each and all became very prosperous. But this first pioneer prospered perhaps to the greatest degree. The early settlers moved away one by one; as they left he would buy their homes. The houses were torn down or moved away, the trees and shrubs were uprooted, until now this one man, or his heirs--for he has gone to his reward--owns almost the whole of the once prosperous little village, and vast fields of grain have taken the place of the homes and streets. It is hard to stand in the streets of the little village which now has about one hundred fifty inhabitants and believe that at one time it was the county-seat of Dodge county, and that it lacked only one vote of becoming the capital of the state. There are left only two or three of the first buildings. A short distance south of this village on a high bluff overlooking the river valley, and covered with oaks and evergreens, these early pioneers started a city which has grown for many years, and which will continue to grow for years to come. In this city of the dead we find many of the people who did much for the little village which failed, but who have taken up their abode in this beautiful spot, there to remain until the end of time. This story of Fontenelle has been gathered from my early recollections of the place and what I have learned through grandparents, parents, and other relatives and friends. My mother was raised in Fontenelle, coming there with her parents in 1856. She received her education in that first college. My father was the son of one of the first Congregational missionaries to be sent there. I received my first schooling in the little village school. [Illustration: MRS. WARREN PERRY Eleventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. 1913-1914] THOMAS WILKINSON AND FAMILY Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson, early Nebraska settlers, were of English birth, and came to America when very young. They met in Illinois and were married in 1859 at Barrington. They moved to Louisiana, remaining there until the outbreak of the civil war, when they returned to Illinois for a short time, and then emigrated to the West, traveling in a covered wagon and crossing the Missouri river on the ferry. They passed through Omaha, and arrived at Elk City, Nebraska, July 27, 1864, with their two children, Ida and Emma, who at the present time are married and live in Omaha. Soon after arriving in Elk City, Mr. Wilkinson lost one of his horses, which at that time was a great misfortune. He purchased another from the United States government, which they called "Sam" and which remained in the family for many years. At one time provisions were so high Mr. Wilkinson traded his watch for a bushel of potatoes.