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Bion J Merchant, son of John and Sarah Merchant, was born in McHenry County, Illinois.  His parents were both born in New York and moved to Butler County, David City, Nebraska when Bion was 13 years old.  Bion and a friend, Ike Jacobs, came to the Elgin area about 1880 and took up homesteads in the Beaver Valley.  Clara Johnson was the daughter of Chester Stillman Johnson and Sarah Ann Olds.  They had migrated from Port Dover, Canada about 1867 and had settled near Nebraska city.  Chester ran a general store in Wyoming, Nebraska and was also the postmaster.  They lived here until 1879 when Chester died.  Sarah took a homestead west of Elgin.  Some of the children came with Sarah in about 1880.  Clara met and married Bion in Clearwater on December 23, 1883.  Bion purchased a house in Elgin in 1897 and the family lived there for a few years until he bought a farm west of Elgin in the Park Center area.  They lived on the farm until health required them to move into Elgin once again.  Bion J Merchant passed away on February 9, 1942 and Clara died on August 5, 1951 while visiting in Wyoming.  They had been married for 56 years. 

Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in July 2007