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with the church and preached as supply for three years, in 1881 was
made a deacon by Bishop Hurst, of the M. E. church, and in 1883 was ordained an elder. His two eldest sons are married: James S, lives on a farm near Devizes; Charles W. lives south-east of Norton. John W. Bisbee came to Norton county, Kansas, in 1879 and settled at Devizes. He had a family of seven, three boys and four girls; he moved to Michigan in 1873 and there lost his health and wealth and died at his home near Devizes in 1883. Archie Hewitt and Betsey C. Bisbee were married in 1879. To them were born one son and one daughter. The son died in infancy and the daughter, Charlotte is living with her parents near Devizes, who are in easy circumstances, showing what energy will do for any person in Norton county, Kansas. Archie Hewitt came to Norton a young man without money and had no help from any one. Sarah Finley, Mr. Bisbee's adopted daughter, was married in 1885. She resides in Furnas county, Nebraska. William U. Nelson was born at Toronto, Canada, February 28, 1827; is a blacksmith by trade, but has given most of his time to farming since coming to Kansas. He has a family of four sons and one daughter. Harmon, his eldest son, lives at Kearney, Nebraska; the four younger children live with their parents near Devizes. Mr. Nelson's aged mother who came here with him died in October 1874 and was the first person buried in Devizes cemetery  William Simpson was born of Quaker parents in Morgan county, Ohio,
January 1, 1853. He attended the common school in winter and clerked in his father's store in summer.
During his boyhood he took a two years' course at Erlam college in Indiana; this institution is run
under the auspices of the Quaker church, Bill calls it "Quaker Boarding school."In 1870 when only 17 years of age he come to Lancaster county, Nebraska, and began life's struggle on his own account. He spent the summer of 1870 on the Republican at the old town of Napoleon afterward called, Melrose: he helped to erect the old stockade at that place, came there with Byron and Vifquin who had large cattle interests on the range. He worked on a farm most of the time by the month until March 1874 when he and J. P. Cook settled in Norton county. He bought a relinquishment from Col. Billings on the land north of town and put his homestead papers on it. The most of the same land is now embraced in the Hillside addition. He and Cook secured the  contracts on several mail routes centering in Norton, and beginning on July 1, 1874 gave
nearly their entire attention to that business for two years. On July 13, 1876 he was married to Emma Minard who was born at Ottana,
Illinois, April 11 ,1852. Her parents moved to Cass county, Nebraska, in 1871 where she lived until her marriage.
They have three children all boys:
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