The sketches of pioneers' are not well bal ameed. Some are long, while others are very short. This could not be avoided. In some in stances I have been able to secure tolerably full accounts of persons, while in other cases my materials have been most meager, and some times the facts are exceedingly limited, where much information would seem to be desirable. All such blemishes I must beg the reader to ex cuse. In spite of every effort it has in some cases been almost impossible to get more than the bare names of persons. In many instances I have been unable to get into communication with descendants, and then again the descend ants have not been in possession of the meces sary records. In this connection I would like to impress upon my readers the importance of keeping good family records for the benefit of their descendants and of future historians.