USA > Nebraska > Antelope County > A history of Antelope County, Nebraska, from its first settlement in 1868 to the close of the year 1883 > Part 12
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The following persons were appointed as guides: For Twin Grove precinct, S. D. Thornton; for Neligh, A. F. Wilgocki; Frenchtown, G. W. Mummert. These guides were honorably discharged April 14, 1879. Nothing ever came of it.
Conditions were such in Antelope County that the flat- tering representations contained in the pamphlet and the offer of free guides were of no avail. The best of the avail- able lands had already been taken up in the vicinity of the settlements. It was yet too early in the development of the county to induce people to go back away from the streams and away from the settlements already formed, to take claims to any great extent on the tablelands and rolling divides of the interior. They believed they could do better elsewhere. Then besides, Antelope County was handicapped in another way. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company had selected in Ante- lope County 57,526 acres of indemnity lands, and the state authorities had selected 32,800 acres of internal improvement lands, making in all 90,326 acres or enough for 564 homesteads of 160 acres each. These could only be had by purchase and it was yet too early for land to be put upon the market and sold in Antelope County. These lands all lay in that part of the county that was settled first and in general were of good quality, embracing some of the finest farming lands in the county. The discussion of these land grants, and their effect upon the settlement and prosperity of the county will be taken up in another chapter.
At the election November 7, 1876, the following were elected :
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
County commissioner Ist district, J. N. Story.
Coroner, to fill vacancy, R. W. Smith.
Representative in the state legislature, William B. Lambert.
Mr. Lambert was the first man ever elected to the legis- lature from Antelope County.
The election of November 13, 1877, resulted as follows: Clerk, Robert Wilson.
Treasurer, B. R. Barnes.
Sheriff, Jeptha Hopkins.
Judge, S. D. Thornton.
Surveyor, George H. McGee.
County Superintendent, H. J. Miller.
Coroner, H. M. Cox.
Commissioner 2d district, L. A. Boyd.
B. R. Barnes resigned as county treasurer and on Feb- ruary 3, 1879, S. S. King was appointed to fill vacancy. H. J. Miller resigned as county superintendent in October, 1879, and J. F. Merritt was appointed.
Election November 5, 1878, resulted as follows:
Commissioner 3d district, Louis Contois.
Representative state legislature, F. H. Trowbridge.
Louis Contois resigned and William Campbell was ap- pointed February 8, 1881.
Election November, 1879:
Clerk, Robert Wilson.
Treasurer, S. S. King.
Judge, M. A. Decamp.
Sheriff, A. M. Cool.
Superintendent, J. F. Merritt.
Surveyor, Geo. H. McGee.
Coroner, H. M. Cox.
Commissioner Ist district, Lorenz Thomsen.
M. A. Decamp resigned October 25, 1880, and S. A. Sanders was appointed county judge.
Election November, 1880:
Commissioner 2d district, E. Carkhuff.
Representative state legislature, W. W. Putney.
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
Election, November, 1881 :
Clerk, Robert Wilson.
Treasurer, S. S. King. Judge, G. C. Palmer. Sheriff, A. M. Cool.
Superintendent, S. S. Murphy.
Surveyor, J. L. Seeley.
Coroner, H. M. Cox.
Commissioner 3d district, C. E. Hemenway.
Election, November, 1882 :
Commissioner Ist district, Lorenz Thomsen.
Representative state legislature, J. J. Roche.
Election November, 1883:
Clerk, Robert Wilson. Treasurer, J. M. Coleman.
Judge, J. H. Gurney.
Sheriff, M. B. Huffman.
Superintendent, T. H. Pollock.
Surveyor, J. L. Seeley.
Coroner, J. B. Wait.
Commissioner 2d district, Orange Brittell.
M. B. Huffman resigned August 15, 1885, and W. H. Van Gilder was appointed sheriff.
CHAPTER XXVIII
CONDITION OF COUNTY FINANCES - COUNTY BONDS ISSUED - TWIN GROVE AND CENTER PRECINCTS ISSUE RAILROAD BONDS - THE RAILROAD COMES TO THE COUNTY - GREAT INCREASE IN POPULATION - BURNETT, AFTERWARDS CALLED TILDEN, PLATTED - CLEARWATER PLATTED - NELIGH AND OAKDALE INCORPORATED - THE COUNTY DIVIDED INTO SEVENTEEN PRECINCTS
W HEN the county was organized in June, 1871, it was of course entirely without funds, and no taxes were collected until the spring of 1872. The board of commissioners therefore had to run the county in debt for a set of books for the use of the county officials. As mentioned in a previous chapter a full set of county books was not purchased but only such as were of prime necessity. It cost something, too, to pay the fees and salaries of the several county officials and to keep up the running expenses of the county offices. Taxes came in very slowly and by July, 1875, there was a floating indebtedness against the county amounting to about eight thousand dollars. This was not caused by waste or extravagance on the part of the county board, but chiefly because the taxes due the county were unpaid. The personal taxes generally were paid up quite promptly, but the real estate taxes were nearly all delinquent. The taxes on the Burlington and Missouri Railroad lands, of which there were 57,526 acres, were wholly unpaid, and the taxes on the 32,800 acres of state lands, which had by this time passed into the hands of non-resident parties, were also mostly delinquent. These land taxes constituted more than two-thirds of the entire revenue of the county, and being unpaid crippled the county's finances badly. The county board therefore decided to issue bonds to fund the floating debt of the county. At a meeting of the
153
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
county board held July 5, 1875, the following action was taken:
"Upon consideration it is hereby ordered that bonds be prepared for the purpose of funding the indebtedness of Antelope County, Nebraska, according to an act of the legislature of the State of Nebraska, entitled 'An Act to authorize the commissioners of the counties of Colfax, Platte, Boone, Antelope, Howard, Greeley, and Sherman, Nebraska, to issue bonds for the purpose of funding the warrants and orders of said counties. Approved February 18, 1875."
It was decided by the board to issue at first bonds to the amount of five thousand dollars, these to be dated July 1, 1875, and to draw interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum. This amount proving insufficient, an additional issue of three thousand dollars was ordered May 6, 1876, to be dated the same as the first issue, but from which the first coupons were to be detached before the bonds were sold. These are the only bonds ever issued by Antelope County.
In the early summer of 1879 it became evident that the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad, which was already completed to Norfolk, would continue on up the valley through Antelope County. Both Neligh and Oakdale were anxious to get the road. The road could easily miss one of these two places, but could not so easily miss them both. The railroad company could, however, if it chose, ignore both the towns and purchase townsites of its own. The railroad officials caused it to be given out that bonds might be voted, in which case the location for the depots could be designated by the people. Acting on this suggestion a petition was presented to the county board by I. N. Taylor and others, asking that an election be called to vote bonds in Twin Grove precinct to the amount of ten thousand dollars, said bonds to run twenty years at seven per cent, annual interest. The petition was granted and the election ordered for October 3, 1879. The railroad company agreed on its part to construct the
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
line to Oakdale by July 1, 1880, and to establish and main- tain a depot at that place, and also to construct and main- tain a depot at the east line of Antelope County. The bonds carried as follows:
For railroad bonds and tax 143
Against railroad bonds and tax I3
Scattering 2
The board of commissioners examined the newly con- structed railroad March 3, 1880, and reported that the road was completed to the county line December 1, 1879, and to Oakdale December 7, 1879, and that the cars were running to Oakdale on that date, and that all conditions of the contract had been complied with.
November 6, 1879, B. R. Barnes and others presented a petition to the county board praying for the calling of a special election in Center precinct to vote bonds of said precinct to the amount of seven thousand dollars to the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad to build to Neligh. The election was held December 6, 1879, and resulted as follows:
For railroad bonds and tax 198
Against railroad bonds and tax IO
Scattering I
The road having been completed to Neligh, the county board inspected it October 6, 1880, and reported that the road was built to Neligh, and the depot completed and the cars running to that point prior to August 1, 1880. The building of the railroad west from Neligh was continued without interruption, but Neligh remained the end of the passenger division for about ten months. On May 31, 1881, the first passenger train passed through Clearwater on its way to O'Neill, and returned the next morning, June I.
During the summer and fall of 1882 that branch of the railroad running northwest from Norfolk was completed to Creighton, in Knox County. This branch passed through Bazile township and gave railroad facilities to the
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
settlers in all the northeastern part of the county. No depot was established in Antelope County, but one was placed at Plainview, about two miles east, and another at Creighton, about two miles north of the county line.
The coming of the railroad gave a great impetus to the settling up of the county. As shown in Chapter XXVII there was little material increase in the population of the county for the four years from 1874 to 1878, the actual gain being only about fourteen per cent. In the year 1878 there was quite an addition to the immigration, and it was still greater in 1879, and continued to be large for a number of years, or until the government land was practi- cally all taken. The increase for the five years from 1878 to 1883 was about 294 per cent.
The railroad company having established a depot on their line of road at the east line of the county in accordance with a contract entered into with Twin Grove precinct, pro- ceeded in October, 1880, to survey and plat the town of Burnett. This was located on the southwest quarter of section 18 and the northwest quarter of section 19, township 24, range 4, Madison County, and the southeast quarter of section 13 and the northeast quarter of section 24 in Burnett township, Antelope County, the depot being in Antelope County, but the principal part of the village in Madison County. The name of the village of Burnett was afterwards changed to Tilden, because of its similarity in name to Bennett, in Lancaster County, this similarity causing some confusion in distributing the mails. Another townsite was surveyed and platted by the rail- road company in October, 1881. This was named Clear- water, and was located on the northeast quarter of section I in Clearwater township, thus giving Antelope County four depots within the county lines.
At a meeting of the board of commissioners held June 27, 1881, the board having under consideration the petition of J. F. Hecht and others praying for the incorporation of the village of Neligh, it was ordered that the petition be granted and that the village of Neligh be incorporated.
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
The following trustees were appointed: W. E. Adams, H. B. Hauser, J. J. Roche, N. Burr, William Lawrence.
On the 3Ist of December, 1881, a petition signed by D. A. Holmes and others was presented to the board of commissioners, praying for the incorporation of the village of Oakdale. The petition was acted on favorably and the following were appointed trustees: F. H. Green, W. S. Smith, M. W. King, Robert Wilson, and D. E. Beckwith.
It was related in Chapter XXV that the county was divided into five precincts on July 6, 1876, by the action of the county board. These precincts were called Twin Grove, Elm Grove, Cedar, Center, and Mills. This arrange- ment continued until August 4, 1877, when Sherman pre- cinct was formed out of the northern part of Mills and part of Center, consisting of all the present townships of Royal, Verdigris, and Sherman and the north one-half of Garfield. This made six precincts in all. This continued until April 1, 1879, when Bazile precinct was established. It was formed out of the northern part of Elm Grove, and con- sisted of the north one-half of the present township of Crawford and all of Bazile. December 15, 1880, Willow precinct was added to the list. Willow was composed of the south one-half of the present township of Crawford, all of Willow, the east one-third of Custer, and sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36 of Ellsworth township, thus making eight precincts in all. This arrangement continued until January 11, 1882, when another precinct was added, called Clay Ridge. This precinct was in the southwestern part of the county and consisted of the south two-thirds of the present township of Stanton, all of Lincoln, the west one-third of Logan, and sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32 of Elgin, making in all, at this last date, nine pre- cincts named as follows: Twin Grove, Elm Grove, Willow, Bazile, Cedar, Center, Clay Ridge, Mills, and Sherman.
All parts of the county were now settled and although there was still a good deal of government land left, the new arrivals of immigrants were taking it up rapidly. The board of commissioners, therefore, thought best to redis-
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
trict the entire county. This was done August 15, 1883, and seventeen precincts were formed, described as follows:
Burnett - The east two-thirds of the present townships of Grant and Burnett.
Elm Grove - All the present township of Elm and the east one-third of Neligh.
Willow - All the present township of Willow and south one-half of Crawford and the east one-third of Custer.
Bazile - All the present township of Bazile and the north one-half of Crawford.
Twin Grove - West one-third of the present townships of Grant and Burnett and east one-third of Oakdale and Cedar.
Cedar - West two-thirds of the present township of Cedar and east two-thirds of Logan.
Harmony - West two-thirds of the present township of Oakdale and east two-thirds of Elgin.
Center - West two-thirds of the present township of Neligh and east two-thirds of Ord.
Custer - West two-thirds of the present township of Custer and east two-thirds of Blaine.
Gurney - Same as the present township of Ellsworth.
Eden - Same as the present township of Eden.
Royal - Same as the present township of Royal.
Verdigris - Same as the present township of Verdigris.
Clay Ridge - All the present township of Lincoln, the south two-thirds of Stanton, the west one-third of Logan, and sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32 in Elgin.
Mills - All the present township of Clearwater, the north one-third of Stanton, the west one-third of Ord, and sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Elgin.
Frenchtown - All the present township of Frenchtown, the south one-half of Garfield, and west one-third of Blaine.
Sherman - All the present township of Sherman and the north one-half of Garfield.
After this no changes were made in the precinct lines until the 16th day of August, 1886, when the county was redistricted as at present, by making each congressional township a precinct.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE ASSESSED VALUATION OF THE COUNTY FOR SEVERAL YEARS - THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT LANDS AND HOW DISPOSED OF - THE BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RAILROAD LANDS - How THEY WERE ACQUIRED - HOW THESE LANDS AFFECTED THE FINANCES AND SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY - HOW REGARDED BY THE PEOPLE
I T has been shown in Chapters XXVII and XXVIII that the increase in population was very meager from 1872 until about 1878 or 1879, when it became evident that there would soon be railroad communication with the rest of the world, after which the county filled up with people rapidly. The increase in property valuations, however, was much more constant and rapid than the in- crease in population. The assessed valuation of personal and real estate and the tax levies are given herewith for several years, in order to show the growth of the value of property for these years.
Year
Personal Valuation
Real Estate Valuation
Total
Amount Tax Levy
1869
$ 360.00
$ 360.00
$ 8.94
1870
$ 2,525.00
520.00
3,045.00
59.71
1871
24,301.00
1,150.00
25,451.00
590.46
1872
46,707.00
109,960.00
156,667.00
5,034.29
1875
74,350.00
266,705.00
341,055.00
12,587.42
1880
204,266.00
309,582.00
513,848.00
20,999-77
1883
486,992.39
422,599.00
909,591.39
48,740.09
The figures for 1869 to 1871, inclusive, were copied by County Clerk W. W. Putney from the books of the counties to which Antelope County had been attached prior to its organization. The year 1872 the first assessment was taken in Antelope County proper. The figures from 1872
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
to 1883, inclusive, show a regular and rapid increase in values, both as to personal and real estate.
Antelope County, as stated in Chapter XXVII, was greatly handicapped as to growth, both in population and wealth, on account of the large amount of state and railroad lands within its borders that could be had only by purchase.
These state lands referred to consisted of 32,800 acres of internal improvement lands. Under act of Congress approved September 4, 1841, there was a grant of land to each of the several states of the Union of 500,000 acres, to be used for works of internal improvement. These lands for Nebraska were selected by commissioners appointed by the governor of the state and were patented to the state October 13, 1871. Of the 500,000 acres of these lands belonging to the state of Nebraska as stated above, 32,800 were selected in Antelope County, located in the several townships as follows:
Burnett township 12,000 acres
Elm township.
3,840
Willow township.
1,280
Oakdale township.
8,000
Neligh township
5,120
Ord township
2,560
Total in these six townships 32,800
The five hundred thousand acres thus donated to Ne- braska by the general government were disposed of by the state legislature by an act approved February 5, 1869, by which a grant was made of 2,000 acres per mile to any rail- road that should be built under certain restrictions, and within a certain limit as to time. Under this act four or five railroads were started in the state, and the lands were divided up among them. Two of these railroads, the Omaha and Northwestern, running from Omaha north to Tekamah, and the Omaha and Southwestern, from Omaha south to the Platte River, selected a portion of their lands
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
in Antelope County, the greater part of them going to the Omaha and Northwestern Railroad.
The Omaha and Northwestern Railroad was built by certain capitalists of Omaha. After the road was built they sold it to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha, which is a part of the Chicago and Northwestern system, but the lands were divided pro rata among these capitalists who built the road. After there began to be a demand for the lands they were placed on the market and sold at prices ranging from about $3.50 to $25.00 per acre, the greater part selling at from $6.25 to $10.00 per acre. At $8.00 per acre, and probably that is a low aver- age price, these lands brought $262,400.00 for principal, and probably one third as much for interest, that had to be paid by the citizens of Antelope County before they became the owners in fee simple.
There is little doubt that the law granting these in- ternal improvement lands to the several states was a wise one, and that it was for a beneficent purpose. Whether the legislature disposed of these lands in such a way as to insure the greatest benefit to the state is another ques- tion. At any rate, the railroads that were more than paid for by Antelope County people from the proceeds of the sale of these lands did not benefit Antelope County in the least, the nearest depot on the Omaha and Northwestern being a good hundred miles in a straight line from Neligh. The Omaha and Southwestern Railroad, mentioned as having been built with the aid of these lands, passed into the hands of the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Com- pany, and with it the remainder of the state lands in An- telope County. These state grants must not be confounded with the general government railroad land grants. That is another thing entirely, which will now be taken up.
As stated before, the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company acquired title in Antelope County from the United States to 57,526 acres of land. These lands all lay in the southeastern part of the county and were dis- tributed among eight townships as follows:
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
Grant township
8,025.95 acres
Burnett township
1,524.96
Elm township
7.905.44
66
Cedar township
9,109.4I
Oakdale township
5,898.97
Neligh township
5,676.66
Logan township
11,471.40
Ord township.
7,913.92
Total in the county. 57,526.71 acres.
It was never well understood by most of the people of Antelope County how it came about that the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company, a south Platte institution, whose nearest station to Neligh was one hundred and five miles distant in a direct line, could acquire title to 57,526 acres of some of the best government land in the county. The process of the acquisition of this land was peculiar, and probably the inside workings of it can never be ex- plained in full. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad in Nebraska was built with government aid. Its starting point was Plattsmouth, on the Missouri River, running thence west along the Platte to Ashland, thence southwest to Lincoln, thence continuing southwest to Crete, thence directly west through Hastings to Kearney Junction, where it connected with the Union Pacific. Its total length was one hundred and ninety and one-half miles. This railroad received a grant from the government of lands on either side of the road bed, similar in most respects to that of the Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, and other land-grant railroads. These other roads received a donation of the odd numbered sections on either side of the road bed for a distance of twenty miles, thus making ten sections on either side of the road for every mile con- structed.
Here comes in the peculiar thing in the charter of the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company. After the clause in the Burlington and Missouri charter granting the
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
odd numbered sections for twenty miles on either side of the road, there comes the clause "or an amount equivalent thereto." The grant of land to the Burlington and Mis- souri overlapped the grant to the Union Pacific, as the two roads for a long distance were less than forty miles apart, and for several miles east of the junction were very near together. The matter as to whom the land belonged, where the grants conflicted, was left to the secretary of the interior to decide. His decision was favorable to the Union Pacific, but he also decided that the Burlington and Missouri was entitled, by the conditions of its charter, to select other lands as indemnity, both north and south of its line of road, in lieu of those taken by the Union Pacific. These indemnity lands were selected chiefly in the counties of Franklin and Webster, south of the Platte, and in Madison, Antelope, Boone, Howard, Greeley, Val- ley, and Sherman, north of the Platte.
When Mr. A. E. Touzalin was Burlington and Missouri Railroad land commissioner he told the writer that he did not know, neither did the directors of the Burlington and Missouri Railroad know, how these words "or an amount equivalent thereto," came to be inserted in the charter. Doubtless some one knew how it came about. It could not have been an accident. One William T. Steiger whose headquarters were in Washington, is mentioned in the patent from the United States to the Burlington and Mis- souri Railroad Company, as the agent of the Burlington and Missouri Railway Company, who selected the lands for the company and who represented the railroad company at Washington in the matter. This is not quite correct, how- ever, for these indemnity lands were all selected by J. D. Macfarland, at that time a head clerk in the Burlington and Missouri office at Lincoln, but who afterwards became Burlington and Missouri Railroad land commissioner. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that this William T. Steiger had charge of the manipulations at Washington by which this indemnity deal was accomplished. At any rate, soon after the business was consummated by which
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HISTORY OF ANTELOPE COUNTY
the railroad company became possessed of these lands, and before the lands had been appraised and placed on the market, Mr. Steiger received from the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company a grant of several sections of fine lands in Madison and other counties.
The people of Antelope County were never satisfied with this deal. It took from the government lands in that part of the county most easily accessible and that was first settled, a large body of lands that were among the best in the county. They did not believe it a "square deal" to give to a railroad that was more than a hundred miles away, and that did not benefit the county in the least, enough government land to make homesteads of one hundred and sixty acres each for three hundred and fifty- nine families. These statements show how Antelope County was handicapped for many years. But this is not all. Soon after the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company acquired title to these lands a suit was brought against the company in the United States court to annul the title, it being alleged in the petition that the lands were acquired by fraud. This case was carried finally to the United States Supreme Court, where a decision was ren- dered February 19, 1879, in favor of the railroad company.
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