HON. GEORGE G. BLAIR ------Was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1845. When nine years of age his parents removed to Clark County, Iowa, where he remained until July, 1863. Enlisting then in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry he soon found himself in Tennessee, and during the two years he was in the army he saw some hard service and was constantly in active duty.  At the end of two years he returned to Iowa, and applied himself to farming in that State and in Missouri until the year 1868.

In that year he migrated to the State of Nevada, and became interested in mining in White Pine County. Seeing in that occupation great possibilities of success, he has faithfully continued to give his time and energies to the development of the mining interests in that county, meeting with the changing success which usually attends that business. Mr. Blair resides in Osceola, and is the proprietor of the Osceola Mine, from which the district takes its name.

In 1880 he was elected a member of the Assembly, to represent in that body the Democratic Party, and to aid in advancing the general welfare of the State in which he is so truly interested. Mr. Blair is a descendant of a staunch old family so long and favorably known throughout the middle and western counties of that famous old Commonwealth, that his name will sound familiar to roost of the large number hailing from the Keystone State who have settled in this western country.

A. C. CLEVELAND -----The subject of the following sketch is a native of the State of Maine, and was born at Skowhegan, Somerset County. He remained in his native State until he reached the age of seventeen. During his life there he acquired a fair education, and in January, 1858, started for California on the steamer Star of the West, the boat that was the first fired upon by the rebels during the war of the Rebellion. Upon reaching the Pacific Coast, Mr. Cleveland engaged in mining in Tuolumne and Calavaras Counties, until 1862 when he went to Plumas County and engaged in the stock business. In May, 1863, he crossed the mountains to Nevada, and located in Virginia City. His business at that place was principally mining. In 1865 he went to Washoe County and engaged in the lumber trade. He was one of the first to build a V flume for the purpose of conducting wood and timber down from the mountains, having had one in operation as early as 1868, at Simonds' place on Simonds Creek, at the head of Little Valley, near Lakeview Station. This flume was two and one-quarter miles in length.  In 1866, Mr. Cleveland was elected a Commissioner for Washoe County, and was a delegate to the State Convention that year, and during a contest before that body, between the Winters and the Blaisdel delegations from Storey County, Mr. Cleveland was a member of the committee that decided the matter, and held the deciding vote. This he cast for Blaisdel, in strict conjunction with his instructions by the County Convention, he having pledged himself to do so, although Winters was his special friend and employer, and pecuniary benefits, as well as threats, were used to deter him from doing so.  It was threatened that the patronage of the Kentuck Mining Company would be taken away from him unless he disobeyed his instructions, but he stood firm, and consequently lost their patronage. General Clark says of him: "His word is of more value to him than money."

In 1868, Mr. Cleveland was elected to the Assembly of the State Legislature from Washoe County. In the fall of 1868, he went to Hamilton, and has since been a resident of White Pine County. During the winter of 1868- 69, he built the toll-road running forth from Hamilton. In 1870, he was elected to the State Senate from White Pine County, and in 1871, he was appointed to prosecute the claims of the State at Washington, District of Columbia, and succeeded in getting an appropriation for the State of $60,000. In 1873 he moved to his present ranch, in Spring Valley, where he is engaged very extensively in stock-raising.

In the pursuit of this business he has taken great pains to improve the breeds of his cattle, and has imported a number of very valuable thoroughbred animals. The enterprise displayed in this, and the success attending it, has set the example to the grazers of the State that will result in great public good. Having an extensive and valuable range, and great faith in the adaptability of the country and climate to the rearing of superior stock, he has entered upon the business with confidence and judgment supplemented by his usual energy.

He was married January 19, 1868, to Miss Kate M. Peters, of Carson City, Nevada. He has seen much of life, and it is universally admitted that he is "true as steel."

HON. HENRY A. COMINS ------The subject of this sketch, was born in East Eddington, Penobscot County, Maine, in the year 1836.  His ancestors were among the early settlers of New England, suffering the privations incident to those early days, and often called to defend their homes against the attacks of the Indians. Serving with credit in the Indian wars, they engaged with patriotic devotion in the struggle for independence during the Revolution, and again fought heroically in the war of 1812, and never with dishonor. He became a student at the Westbrook Seminary, near Portland, Maine, but left the school before graduating.  In 1858 he removed from Maine, and coming to California, by way of the Isthmus, engaged in placer mining for several years with varied success.

In 1863 he settled in Nevada, at Empire City, in Ormsby County, when he engaged successfully in the lumber business. In 1869 he removed to White Pine, carrying on the lumber trade at Hamilton, Ward and Cherry Creek. He has also engaged in farming and mining. Accumulating quite a fortune in his various enterprises, he has lived to see his "riches take wings," but leaving him energy, integrity, and perseverance to acquire another fortune.

He has held several local offices, and has represented his county in both Houses of the Nevada Legislature. While in the Senate, as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, he was largely instrumental in relieving the State of debt, reducing the rate of taxation, and increasing the permanent Public School Fund.

Mr. Comins was married in Carson City to Miss Minnie M. Stauts, in 1867, by whom he has two children. The increased interest manifested in the building of narrow-gauge railroads proves the wisdom of the policy he so strongly advocated while a member of the Legislature.