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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTT PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01751 4420
GENEALOGY 978.2 N2642 1920
OCT 2 0 1994
NEBRASKA AND . RECORD
Allen County Public Library HISTOR PIONEER DAYS
NEBRASKA HISTORY AND RECORD OF PIONEER DAYS
Published Quarterly by the Nebraska State Historical Society
Editor, ADDISON E. SHELDON Associate Editors The Staffs of the Nebraska State Historical Society and Legislative Reference Bureau
Subscription $2.00 Per Year
q.All sustaining members of the Nebraska State Historical Society receive Nebraska History without further payment.
[ Entered as second class mail matter, under act of July 16, 1894, at Lincoln, Nebraska, April 2, 1918.
VOLUME III.
JANUARY-MARCH, 1920 NUMBER 1
MARRIED SIXTY-EIGHT YEARS
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Fletcher cf Boelus, Neb., celebrated the sixty- · eighth anniversary of their marriage on September 10th. They have nine children, forty grandchildren and twenty-six great-grandchildren. Mr. Fletcher is eighty-eight years old and his wife one year younger. Both are in good health.
WAR RELIC
A letter from W. H. Woods, guardian of Fort Atkinson, an- nounces the arrival there of a seven inch cannon weighing 3,500 pounds, from the war department as a part of the permanent histor- ical equipment of the Fort Calhoun park. A handsome picture of General Atkinson, founder of old Fort Atkinson, has been presented to the public schools by Colonel B. W. Atkinson, of New York City.
FLEHARTY FAMILY IN IRELAND AND NEBRASKA
George Fleharty, of Pleasantou, has printed a little volume upon the Fleharty family in Ireland and America. It is a narrative of fasci- nating interest. The Fleharty family in Ireland fought with kings and died with dukes. In America they braved wild Indians, grass- hoppers and blizzards. The engravings in the book are by Mr. Fle- harty and prove his title as a pioneer artist. The Historical Society welcomes the Fleharty family to a place on its shelves.
FIRST NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE MISSOURI
An invitation from Hawaii asks this Society to send a represen- tative of the centennial celebration of the big event in modern his- tory for those islands-the landing of the first Christian missionaries, April 11, 1820. The message from Hawaii says:
From the crude printing press introduced in Honolulu nearly a century ago came the printed pages of a newspaper-civilization's greatest ally-the first newspaper which had thus far appeared in the western world beyond the banks of the Missouri river.
HISTORY OF THE SIXTH INFANTRY REGIMENT
A new regimental history of the Sixth Infantry Regiment, U. S. A. is now being prepared by Lieutenant Robert M. Burrowes, regimental historian. Lieutenant Burrowes has written to this office asking for material which he will use in the history. The Sixth Infantry Regiment has an intimate relation with Nebraska history, It was not only the first regiment at the establishment of the first military post in the Trans-Missouri region at Fort Atkin- son in 1819, but it also furnishes the second United States military garrison for Fort Laramie in 1850. The Sixth Regiment was part
of the fifth division in the World War and participated in some the hardest fighting overseas.
RECORD OF BASE HOSPITAL 49
A fine historical World War memorial has been made by M Martha M. Turner, in charge of the newspaper department of Historical Society. It is the record of Base Hospital 49. Into it gathered some hundreds of clippings, pictures, cablegrams, lett relating to this Nebraska University hospital from the time of conception until its muster out and welcome at home. All this . terial has been carefully mounted on heavy sheets of paper bound into a volume of three hundred pages. The work was d for Captain George H. Walker, brother-in-law of Miss Turner, a mi ber of Base Hospital 49. It is the only thing of the kind in the w( and will be a historical document of the first rank as long as braska remembers the deeds of her children in the World War.
DEATH OF EZRA P. SAVAGE
A picturesque and plaintive figure in Nebraska politics pas in the death of Ezra P. Savage, at Tacoma January 8, 1920, a seventy-seven years. The story of his life prior to its political per is associated with Custer county and South Omaha. He was perb the last noticeable figure in Nebraska politics to wear a cowboy and carry the cowboy atmosphere into the statehouse.
When Governor Dietrich resigned on May 1, 1901, to asst the office of United States Senator, Lieutenant Governor Savage : ceeded him as governor. His parole and pardon of Joseph Bart who had been sentenced to a term of twenty years in the peni tiary for embezzling, as state treasurer, a vast amount of the ste funds, created a tempest of public excitement and anger, and it the republican party in jeopardy.
PIONEER EDITOR
Edwin A. Fry is a familiar name to all old time Nebraska itors. Mr. Fry was editor of the Niobrara Pioneer long before wilds of the Niobrara wilderness were explored by civilized r Niobrara was the focus for more exciting early Nebraska his than any other town in that region. It was an early steamboat 1: ing. It was the meeting point of the Ponca and later of the Sa Sioux tribe with Indian traders, agents and missionaries, . It possessed of the most pugnacious parcel of plotting politic known to our early annals. It was scourged with fire and droy in the big Missouri flood. Through all these vicissitudes and n others Ed Fry survived. He is now living at Yankton, South kota and writes us the following interesting promise:
I thank you for the invitation to contribute a series of Niob historical sketches. If the spring fever and an invalid wife do interfere, I shail be pleased to do so and will reflect a bit over best to present them and not the whole game.
THE FINAL COUNT
Total Nebraska Casualties in the War Fixed at 3,031.
Nebraska's part in the battles across the water is shown statement issued by the war department, detailing by states number of killed and wounded.
The statistics for Nebraska show:
Killed in action, 7 officers, 357 men. Died of wounds, 5 officers, 177 men. Died of disease, 6 officers, 244 men. Died of accident, 6 officers, 15 men.
Drowned, 1 man. Other causes, 7 men.
Suicide, 1 man.
Cause undetermined, 16 men.
Presumed lost, 1 officer, 12 men. Total dead or missing, 25 officers, 830 men.
Prisoners, 20 men ..
Wounded slightly, 17 officers, 779 men.
Wounded severely, 13 officers, 913 men. Wounded, degree undetermined, 6 officers, 438 mcn. Total, 36 officers, 2,130 men.
Grand total casualties for the state of Nebraska, 61 cers, 2,960 men.
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Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
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Nebraska History and Recordof Pioneer Days
BEFORE ..
EQUALITY
THE LAW
See # 366
Genesis of the Great Seal of Nebraska
Section 13, Article III of the first constitution of Nebraska, commonly called the constitution of 1866, follows:
There shall he a seal of the state, which shall be kept by the governor and used by him officially; and shall be called The Great Seal of the State of Nebraska.
Accordingly, on May 31, 1867, Isaac Wiles, of Cass county, introduced into the House of Representatives of the second legisla- ture "H. R. No. 41, An act to provide for procuring a seal for the State of Nebraska." This was the third session of the legislature, and it was called hy Governor Butler to meet in special session on May 16, to pass such laws as the governor thought necessary for starting the state government, After the second reading of the bill on June 1, on motion of James M. Woolworth, "the blank in the biil was filled by inserting the words Twenty-five," "to enable the secretary of state to carry into effect the provisions of this act." On June 4, the bill was read a third time and passed, all of the thirty-five members present voting in the affirmative. The next day it reached the senate and was read the first time; on the 6th it was read the second time and referred to the committee on public buildings and state library; on the 11th the committee, by its chair- man, [William A. Presson of Richardson county, reported it back without amendment; on the 12th it was recommended for passage in committee of the whole; on the 13th it was read the third time and passed, all of the eleven senators present voting in the affirma- tive; and on the 15th it was approved by the governor.
Isaac Wiles, who was next friend and guide to the bill, though in his ninetieth year, had remarkably good health until a short time before his death, which occurred on January 20, 1921, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. H. Hall, iu Plattsmouth. He was horn in Henry county, Indiana, on October 5, 1830; removed with his parents to Andrew county, Missouri, in 1841; was a farmer in California from 1852 to 1855; moved to Mills county, Iowa, and finally settled on a farm near Plattsmouth, Nebraska, in 1856. He had been engaged in farming, with his son, E. M. Wiles, near Mina- tare, Scotts Bluff county, since 1886. On account of illness, on January 16, 1921, he came to Plattsmouth. On October 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Second Nebraska Cavalry Volunteers, was mustered in and commissioned first lieutenant of his company, December 13, and mustered out December 8, 1863, on the disband- ment of the regiment. On August 29, 1864, he enlisted as captain of Company B, First Regiment Nebraska Militia, Second Brigade; mustered in September 29; mustered out February 13, 1865. He was a member of the first school board of his district; a member of the House of Representatives of the eighth and twelfth legislative assemblies-December 2, 1861, to January 10, 1862, and January 10 to February 18, 1867-and of the House of Representatives of the second state legislature (1867-1868),
. Mr. Wiles was possessed of much more than ordinary native shrewdness, and his alert mind had gained in the school of experi- ence, in the army and. on the frontier, a goodly fund of intelligence. But lacking other training, he was obliged to seek assistance in the drawing of his bill, As he remembers, Elmer S. Dundy, then asso- ciate justice of the supreme court of the Territory of Nebraska, was his principal coach, though I.cannot believe that so astute a person -. would have sponsored this curiously contrived act:
Be it enacted by the Legislaturo of tho Stato of Nobraska:
Section 1. That the secretary of state shall be, and he is here-
by authorized and required to procure, at the cost and expense of state, and as soon after the passage of this act as practicable, a : for the state, to be designated and known as the great seal of the s1 of Nebraska, and of the design and device following, that is to s The eastern part of the circle to be represented by a steamboat cending the Missouri river; the mechanic arts to be represented } smith with hammer and anvil; in the foreground, agriculture to represented by a settler's cabin, sheaves of wheat, and stalks of gr ing corn; In the hack ground a train of cars heading towards Rocky Mountains, and on the extreme west, the Rocky Mount: to be plainly in view; around the top of this circle, to be in cap letters, the motto: "Equality Before the Law." and the circle he surrounded with the words, "Great Seal of the State of Nebras March 1, 1867."
Sec. 2. The sum of twenty-five dollars, or so much thereof as 1 be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any fund in the treas not otherwise appropriated by law, to enable the secretary of state carry into effect the provisions of this act.
This descriptive prescription is a baffling conglomerate. I s pose it can be said that the designation of the position of parts c circle in geographical terms, as "the eastern part" and "the extre west" is at least original; and the mixing in of another metho "the top of the circle"-equally unique, furnishes variety, tho making in the sum, "confusion worse confounded." Neverthel after the blacksmith was placed erect "in the foreground"-cor parlance-the extension of the line of his figure to the circumfere clearly made the point of contact "the top of the circle," and the e: tion of the other figures of the seal in harmony, confirmed title in whole picture to a legitimate top and bottom.
"I am but mad north-northwest; when the wind is souther; know a hawk from a handsaw", partly aherrated and partly feign Hamlet explained. It is fortunate for the fame of our sturdy pior that touching responsibility for the form of the act he shows an ai and thus shifts the hurden upon his trained assistants.
The pictorial part of the seal is a landscape, so that in facin one takes the top as north, as in the case of maps. By this view specification of the act of the legislature is disobeyed, the Ro Mountains being at the extreme north instead of the west; the tr of cars runs at their base and parallel instead of "heading towar them; the Missouri River extends across the middle of the landsc with an appearance of running toward the west with the steamb going in the same direction, whereas the statute provides that river should occupy "the eastern part of the circle." The smith w his anvil, put nowhere by the statute, usurps the stipulated placc agriculture in the extreme foreground, where he is every bit mona of all he surveys. Truly
The smith a mighty mau is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms
seem-prophetically in view of present procedure-to be weld together Labor and Agriculture, already pushed into the backgrou
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ISAAC WILES 0
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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
for a common political purpose. The solitary shock of wheat stand- ing in the near background may now be regarded as a symbolic hostage held by imperious Labor.
Many of the state seals are happily simple, but some of them are, like Nebraska's, impracticably complex, though the designer is perhaps mainly at fault. About twenty years ago I chanced to be in the capitol with J. Sterling Morton, and while we stopped before an enlarged impression of the seal which was hanging in one of the offices, Morton lampooned the picture with characteristic acidity. Though I have forgotten the particulars of his exceptions, I remember that he emphasized the incongruity of the whole. No proper appraisal of Mr. Morton's principal service to Nebraska has yet been made. Concisely, it consisted of caustic criticism of crudity and corruption and merciless lampooning of shovers and pretenders, all in their heyday on the Nebraskan farthest frontier. This talent of Morton's contributed more than any other single social factor toward making life tolerable in our early untoward environment.
As Mr. Wiles recollects, he presented to his mentor, Judge Dundy, two alternative mottoes or legends for the seal. One was Equal Rights For All; the other, Equality Before The Law, which Dundy promptly preferred. Mr. Wiles had been a strong partisan for the abolition of slavery, and so naturally cherished maxims ap- "· pertaining to that cause. It was perhaps owing to this circumstance that he came to believe that he originated the legend; but "All men are equal before the natural law," is an old legal maxim.
A few years ago I closely interviewed Thomas P. Kennard about the incidents of the removal of the capital from Omaha to Lincoln. Following is the part of his story relating to the removal of the state seal:
WVe proceeded to let the contract for the building of the capi- tol, and as time progressed, week after week, month after month, it neared completion. When it was in such condition that we thought it could be occupied, we again began to look around to see whether the opposition was going to take any steps towards prevention of the removal. The air was full of rumors, whether founded on fact or not, that whenever we attempted to remove the seat of govern- ment from Omaha an injunction would be served on the state officers to prevent them from removing the seal and insignia' of office to the new capitol. So Governor Butler and I, without consulting any other person, decided what steps we would take. We planned that he should leave Omaha and go to his home in Pawnee City and pre- pare his proclamation announcing the removal; that I would go to . my home in Washington county and on the following Sunday morn- ing I would hitch up my team and drive to Omaha, go into the capi- tol, wrap up the seal, carefully take it out and place it under the seat in my buggy, drive straight to the west over the prairies and before Sunday closed cross the Platte River. The scheme was suc- cessfully carried out, and on the following Monday I appeared at the new capitol with the state seal and put the impression upon the proclamation of Governor Butler, who met me here, and which de- clared that the capitol of the state of Nebraska was at Lincoln, county of Lancaster, Nebraska, and now open for business.
Mr. Kennard was secretary of state at the time of this exploit. The proclamation by Governor Butler adverted to was issued on December 3, 1868.
Apropos to the discussion in and about the legislature of the desirability of procuring a new state seal, I am asked whether there are precedents for such action. Examination of constitutions and statutory laws of nine or ten states discloses the fact that such changes have been made frequently. I cite a few examples.
The first constitution of Florida, adopted in 1846, provides for a state seal. Section 12 of article III directed that
There shall be a seal of the State which shall be kept by the governor, and used by him officially, with such device as the gov- ernor first elected may direct; and the present seal of the Territory shall be the seal of the State until otherwise directed by the general assembly." The constitution of 1868 directed that, "The legislature shall at the first session adopt a seal for the state and such seal shall be of the size of the American silver dollar," and that the seal should not be changed after it had been adopted by the legislature. But the - relevant point is that a new seal was designed and adopted.
In 1868 Ohio adopted a substantially new seal.
The original seals of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- .sylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, have been changed, in some cases altered; in others, replaced by entirely new devices.
There has been much heated criticism of the seal of the United States, which was adopted in 17$2; but all attempts to discard it - have been futile. However, the design has been modified by suc- 'cessive new cuttings. . There has also been controversy over the . " question of changing seals of some of the states. For example, on · the admission of Illinois into the union of states (in. 1818), the . secretary of state was directed by the legislature to procure a seal, · but no design was ever prescribed by law, and the first seal is still "in. use. - In 1867 the Chicago Tribune savagely, but ineffectually, attacked its motto, "State Sovereignty-National Union," for impro- priety and incongruity, inasmuch as there had just been a very bloody and costly war to destroy the principle of state sovereignty and establish that of national union.
Nebraska State Flag and State Seal
House roll No. 571, introduced by Representative George A. Williams, of Fillmore county, at the request of the Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is now upon the general file of the House of Representatives. It provides that the governor shall appoint an unpaid commission for the purpose of procuring designs for a new state seal and for a state flag. The commission shall first pass upon a design for the state seal. When that is approved the bill provides that "the state flag shall consist of a reproduction of the cmblem and motto approved for the great seal of the state, in gold and silver on a field of national blue, with a representation of the state flower, the golden rod, upon the upper margin of such field." An appropriation of $100 for the use of the committee in obtaining designs for the state seal and state flag is provided.
Elsewhere in this magazine is a story of the genesis of the present state seal of Nebraska, by Mr. Watkins. It is remarkable that this story of the present seal, the introduction of a bill for a new design, and the death of the man who introduced the bill which created the first seal should occur at nearly the same time. It was fortunate for Nebraska history that Mr. Wiles survived in the full possession of his faculties until the present year. In a long inter- view last summer in the Historical Society rooms he gave very inter- sting details of the creation of the first Nebraska seal.
A few of those details are here given in addition to the infor- mation found in Mr. Watkins' article: Mr. Wiles was strongly of the opinion that the motto "Equality Before The Law" did not refer to slavery nor to equal civil rights for white and black in this state. His impression was distinct that it originated from the early controversies over land locations in the Missouri River counties and was inspired by the frontier sentiment in favor of givng every man an equal chance to secure a home on the public domain. He may have been mistaken in this idea, but he certainly was tenacious in holding it.
According to his recollection he conceived the idea of intro- ducing a bill to provide a state seal unaided. As he was not a lawyer, he invited Elmer S. Dundy, afterward judge of the U. S. court for the district of Nebraska, to confer with him. The two met in Judge' Dundy's room in an Omaha hotel and discussed the drafting of the bill. The main elements of the picture Mr. Wiles brought to that' conference in his own mind. He wished to have the Missouri River, the mountains, growing crops upon the farm, and a blacksmith to represent the mechanic arts. Judge Dundy gave, in part at least, the descriptive order to these parts of the picture was made the final draft of the bill which Mr. Wiles intro- duced in the legislature.
As Mr. Watkins says, it was Mr. Wiles' recollection also that he conceived the idea of the motto and proposed variant forms for it to Judge Dundy, who selected the one which has been the Nebraska state motto for the past half century.
Efforts to determine who made the design for the present seal have failed. Mr. Wiles' impression was that an Omaha jeweler, whose name he did not remember, was the designer and that the twenty-five dollars provided for payment was thereby kept in Ne- braska. A thorough search of the vouchers of the early period of the auditor's office may yet disclose the designer of the present state seal.
Isaac Wiles was a truly remarkable pioneer. His mind even . in his 90th year was keen and logical and his recollections full of detail and overflowing with human interest. Whatever may be done to secure a more artistic design for our state seal-and there is room' to do much-it may well be doubted that a better motto for seal or flag can be devised than the one of 1867.
ADDISON E. SHELDON.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE NEBRASKA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
The forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Nebraska School for the Blind was celebrated at Nebraska City March 5. Supt. Ned C. Abbott sends the Historical Society a program which carries the following interesting historical data relating to the school:
Name Began
Appointed by
Yrs. Mos. Dys.
Samuel Bacon . March 1, 1875
Board Public Lands 2
S
21
J. B. Parmalee Nov. 22, 1877
Gov. S. Garber 14
2
2.2
C. D. Rakestraw Feb. 15, 1892
Gov. James E. Boyd 1
1
25
Wm. Ebright Apr. 10, 1893
Gov. Lorenzo Crounse 2
5
25
D. Neil Johnson Oct. 5,1895
Gov. S. A. Holcomb 0
4
26
Wm. A. Jones
March 1, 1896
Governor Holcomb
3
3 S
G
J. E. Harris
June 9,1899 Gov. Wm. A. Poynter
Gov. Chas. Dietrich
7
2
11 0
0
R. C. King
N. C. Abbott Feb. 1,1909
Jan. 10,1913
Gov. J. H. Morehead 9
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ALBERT WATKINS.
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J. T. Morey March 1,1901 Jan. 7,1911 Gov. C. H. Aldrich
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Gov. A. C. Shallen berger
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Nebraska History and Record of rioneei Days
PASSING OF THE NEBRASKA PIONEER
(These obituaries arc compiled largely from death notices printed in newspapers which are received and kept on file by the Historical Society. While the sketches have been carefully edited, it has been impossible to avoid and correct all inaccuracies The lives of somo subjects of the obituaries were of unusual public interest, and in such cases the sketches have been duly amplified. Statements of fact, particularly those which are of record, have been verified as far as practicable .. Obviously, it is very desirable that these records which will always be used for reference, should be correct, and surviving relatives and editors of local newspapers should carefully cooperate in preventing errors.)
Mrs. Phoebe Ellen Young Stafford, born in Mills county Iowa, August 11th, 1853, died December 25th at Clarinda, Iowa; came with parents to Cass county in 1855.
Mrs. Elizabeth Lebs Schmid, wife of Jacoh Schmid, Platte county, resident of Nebraska since 1867, died January 1st.
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