This 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" black and white photograph is a composite of two portraits, one of a man and one of a woman. The man wears a white shirt and a dark coat; he has a long bushy beard. The woman wears a blouse with a bow at the neck and a dark jacket; she also wears eyeglasses and a hat. The two portraits are oval shaped, surrounded by a white borders. At the bottom of the photograph, "Grandfather Samuel W. Rising" and "Grandmother Polly Rising" is written.
In December of 1870, Samuel Rising of Reading Township, Michigan, and his son Albert of Vernon Prairie, Iowa, filed for homesteads in Butler County, Nebraska. Samuel built his home on section 10 in Reading Township, the eventual site of Rising City. Samuel's three sons, Albert, Dennis, and Joseph, homesteaded land, and Samuel bought land for his youngest son, Jessie. Samuel and Albert Rising, along with A.F. Terpening, each gave 40 acres of land for the Rising City town site along the Omaha & Republican Valley Railroad.
