
Family history research is not just about learning our ancestors names, but also about understanding what life was like for them. Benjamin Lewis Nicholas (12 Mar 1856-05 Mar 1939), pictured here as a police officer in Haverfordwest, Wales, held many occupations throughout his life. While in Wales, he was a police officer, a tailor, and a farmer. Due to ill health, he was encouraged to leave for America and set sail with his wife in 1882. Once in the States, he was mostly a rancher and eventually established a successful homestead in Custer County, Nebraska. It certainly seems that the change in environment helped his health, but it could not have been an easy first several years, building and living in a sod house with a small and growing family.