Andrew Sommer, one of the earliest settlers of his part of Custer county, has through the years of his residence there been identified with the progress and upbuilding of his, county and state and is well known as a successful stockman and farmer, owning over nine hundred acres of land within the limits of Custer county, and having other land interests in the state. He is a native of France, born November 25, 1844, next to the youngest of the five children of John and Barbara (Gerrig) Sommer. He has a, brother and a sister in Illinois. His parents, natives of France, both died in Illinois.

Mr. Sommer was but four years of age when he was brought to America by his parents. They located in Illinois and there he grew to manhood, being educated in local schools and later engaged in farming and coal mining. In the spring of 1880 he came to Custer county and secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land on the northwest quarter of section thirty-two, township eighteen, range twenty-one, where he has made his home throughout the years since. He also took a timber claim of the same size and brought both to all improved state. He was instrumental in organizing school district number fifteen in 1882 and for ten years served as treasurer of same. He also served several years as justice of the peace and is now township clerk. He filled these various offices most acceptably and stands well with his fellow citizens.

Mr. Sommer was married in Custer county, July 3, 1885, to Melissa Keedy, a native of Illinois, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Bickel) Keedy, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Indiana. The father died in Colorado and the mother in Arkansas. One daughter, Mrs. Bell Stevens, lives in Merna, and another lives in California; one son lives in Illinois; Mrs. Sommer is the only other survivor of the family. Mrs. Sommer had been married before to a Mr. Tygart and has one son by that marriage, Perry W. Tygart, living with his mother. Five children have been born to Mr. Sommer and wife: Almore, at home; Eva, wife of Alvin Cole, of Dunning, Nebraska, has one child; Benjamin and Lizzie at home; one daughter deceased. Besides his nine hundred and forty acres of land in Custer county, Mr. Sommer owns some land in Blaine county, Nebraska. He has made a specialty of the stock business and has found this line very profitable.

He is honored as a veteran of the civil war, having enlisted from Peoria, Illinois, in September, 1864, when not quite twenty years of age, in Company E, One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served to the end of the war. He participated in the Siege of Spanish Fort and many minor engagements and skirmishes. He received his discharge at Chicago, in August, 1865, having won a good record for faithfulness and devotion to duty. At the time of his muster out he had not yet reached his majority by a few months. Mr. Sommer is a man of high character and probity, having a large circle of sincere friends.