Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I, Part 13

Author: Bassett, Samuel Clay, 1844-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 562


USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 13


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46


Let it be understood that these proceedings had all taken place while members of the colony were living in the cars, when not one of the number was a legal voter, and not one of the number had, as yet, filed upon a homestead or pre- emption claim, and had not been. in the state and county of Buffalo one week.


These records further disclose that on April 22, 1871, "At a school meeting duly held by the inhabitants of Gibbon and vicinity for the election of moderator, director and treasurer and other business as follows:" At this meeting (thirteen days after the arrival of the colony) C. Putnam was elected moderator, Aaron Ward, director and F. S. Trew, treasurer. It was voted that $1,000 be raised by public tax to build a schoolhouse and L. D. George, Aaron Ward and D. P. Ashburn were appointed a building committee.


In the 12 by 16 wing of the first dwelling house erected in the Village of Gibbon, on the 26th day of June, 1871, a public school was opened, with Mrs. Frank Chamberlain as teacher, wages $35 per month.


98


99


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


The records disclose that the director furnished for use of this school, "One chair, one water bucket, and four seats." Five dollars per month rent was paid for use of the room for school purposes.


In December, 1871, a schoolhouse (22 by 32 in size) was built in this dis- trict and furnished with patent seats and a winter term of school held, although the schoolhouse rested on blocks for a foundation, was not banked, and was neither lathed nor plastered. Teachers wages paid, $50 per month.


COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION


Patrick Walsh had been appointed superintendent of public instruction for Buffalo County, but at a meeting of the county commissioners soon after the arrival of the colony (the meeting of the county commissioners was on April 24, 1871) Mr. Walsh resigned and C. Putnam, a member of the colony was appointed superintendent. At that date no record had been kept in the office of the county superintendent. As a matter of history in which the members of the colony had a direct part and interest, herewith is given a statement, made of record by Mr. Putnam on entering upon his duties as superintendent of public instruction in and for Buffalo County.


"Statement of C. Putnam made for Record.


"I received the appointment of superintendent of public instruction for Buffalo County at the meeting of the commissioners of said county in April (24th) 1871, vice, Patrick Walsh resigned. On being qualified no written record what- ever was delivered to me. School district No. I was organized, had a school- house (a board and sod shanty) and had had a school and made reports up to April 1, 1871. District No. 2 comprised all of Buffalo County, except the eastern range of townships, and all of Dawson County which county was not then organized.


"Mr. Walsh had requested the colony which arrived April 7th to organize into a school district and said colony posted notices according to law, had school meet- ings at which they elected officers, voted to raise taxes to build schoolhouse, carry on school, etc. On assuming the duties of superintendent of public instruc- tion I had nothing but Mr. Walsh's statement as to the condition of school matters, which was, that district No. I was legally organized and that district No. 2 was regularly reported to the superintendent of state of public instruc- tion, and it rested with that district to complete the organization. That there was $205 in the county school fund besides the railroad tax for 7870, which was about $1,500."


ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS


In December, 1871, school district No. I, completed a frame schoolhouse (which at this date, 1916, is still in use) and B. F. Sammons, a member of the colony, taught a term of winter school.


October 2, 1871, was organized school district No. 3. Notice of the call to organize was given D. P. Ashburn, who was elected director of the district. A schoolhouse was erected in this district early in 1872, with a cupola and a


100


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


bell installed-the first school bell in the county-being known for years as the "bell" schoolhouse.


School district No. 4 was organized November 4, 1871, the written notice being delivered to W. H. Kenney. A substantial frame schoolhouse was built in this district early in 1872 and furnished with patent seats. W. H. Kenney was chosen director and taught the first term of school in the district in 1872.


School district No. 5 was organized March 16, 1872, official notice being given George H. Silvernail and the first meeting being held at the house of Jacob Booth. R. E. L. Willard was chosen director and a substantial frame schoolhouse-22 by 32 feet in size-built during the summer of 1872. The first term of school was taught by George H. Silvernail, a member of the colony, in the winter of 1872-73.


School district No. 6 was organized March 16, 1872, official notice being given Mr. Smith (George N.), the meeting for organization being held at the house of Mr. Smith. A. H. Brundage was chosen director. A substantial frame schoolhouse was built in this district early in 1872, the first term of school being taught by Mrs. D. D. Smith.


School district No. 7 (Kearney) was organized March 23, 1872, the official notice being delivered to A. Collins and the first meeting held at what was known as "Hotel Collins." James Smith was chosen director. Miss Fannie Nevius taught the first term of school in rented rooms as no schoolhouse was erected until a later date.


School district No. 8 was organized March 27, 1872. Official notice was given George W. Brown and the first meeting held on the open prairie near the residence of Simon V. Seeley. Ezra M. Fargo was chosen director and early in 1872 a frame schoolhouse, 22 by 32 feet in size with 14 feet studding, erected. The first term of school being taught by Simon V. Seeley.


Excluding district No. 7 (Kearney) these school districts embrace the terri- tory upon which the colonists made settlement and in which they exercised control in the organization of the districts and the erection of the first school- houses.


During the years 1871 and 1872, schoolhouses were erected in districts Nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 at an expense of from $1,000 to $1,500 each, bonds for this purpose having been voted. These schoolhouses were furnished with patent seats (seats and desk combined), good stoves, unabridged dictionaries, and in some instances text books had been purchased by the district for the use of the pupils; these schoolhouses were painted, built in a substantial manner and most of them still in use in 1915. In districts Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8, Sunday schools had been organized and held regularly and in these houses there were regular appointments for religious services.


REPORT OF COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT, JANUARY II, 1872


District No. of children


Directors


I


50


H. C. Green


2


29


A. D. George


3


18


D. P. Ashburn


MISS CLARA LEW First licensed teacher in Buffalo County- 1871


101


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


District


No. of children


Directors


4


2I


W. H. Kenney


5


23


R. E. L. Willard


6


II


A. H. Brundage


7


36


J. A. Smith


8


36


E. M. Fargo


School district No. 9 was organized June 19, 1872, official notice being sent to John P. Arndt, the first meeting being called at the home of Charles Davis (Elm Creek), D. F. Hood being chosen director.


School district No. 10 was organized July 6, 1872, official notice being served on Henry Fieldgrove and the first meeting held at the home of D. B. Allen. Martin L. Henry was chosen director.


School district No. II was organized October 1, 1872, official notice being given John Blanchard, and the first meeting held at the home of Mr. Blanchard. Lloyd D. Forehand was chosen director.


It will be seen that within eighteen months after the arrival of the colony, ten school districts had been organized by County Superintendent C. Putnam, in most of the district schoolhouses erected ; also the report of the county super- intendent of date January II, 1872, shows 224 children in attendance at the public schools, in eight of the first organized school districts.


LIST OF LICENSED TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS


1869-Mary Smith-no certificate.


1870-John Fuller-no certificate.


1871-Clara Lew-first certificate, Mrs. Frank L. Chamberlain, Mrs. Wealthy A. Kelsey and B. F. Sammons.


1872-S. C. Bassett, Mrs. F. F. Blanchard, Mrs. E. A. Pember, C. W. Daven- port, Miss Ida Troop, Mrs. D. D. Smith, Mrs. W. F. McClure, Miss Martha Davis and Miss Eugenia Silvernail.


1873-Fannie Nevius, S. V. Seeley, Geo. H. Silvernail, Thomas Maloney, B. Grant, I. More, Miss Lu Allison, Sadie Cook, Delia Putnam, Mrs. C. E. Kenney, B. W. Marsh, Lucy Rosseter, Lora Davis, Miss S. A. Washburn, Chas. W. Springer, Miss N. D. Brooks, Miss N. Rosseter, Miss F. Bunnell, J. J. Whittier, W. A. Cook, M. J. Grant, James Steven, W. R. Bacon, Josephus More and H. H. Haven.


1874-C. E. Hanson, John P. Hartman, Mrs. Mary A. Judd, Miss Jennie Giddings, Miss Carrie Giddings, Omer White, Joseph L. Hartman, Dan A. Crowell, J. G. Gossett, J. Jessup, A. P. Smith, Reta Hollenbeck, Miss C. R. Foster, Miss C. J. Brown, Minnie Richardson, Mrs. E. M. Carpenter, Mrs. H. L. Smith, Mrs. M. V. Willard, A. B. Whitney, Mrs. M. E. Bailey, John Hickey, Wm. A. Allen, John Swenson, Ada Bunnell, Mark G. Lee, Thomas Mahoney, Miss M. E. Waggoner and M. D. Marsh.


1875-James Ewing, H. S. Colby. Miss Louise Broderick, Miss Jennie Holmes, Mrs. R. H. Coffman, C. M. Hull, E. A. Hunt, Forest J. Hunt, Mary E. Peck, Mary J. Holmes, Clara E. Samuels, Miss H. C. Ewing, Miss E. M.


102


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


McNew, A. H. Cleveland, J. S. Zerbee, H. B. Gilbert, Geo. D. Aspinwall, W. S. Campbell (first ist grade certificate issued), B. L. Grant, Homer J. Allen and Miss L. Hall.


1876-H. C. Downer, Emma Morrison, Mrs. N. Humison, Miss Roderick, Miss Adah Seaman, S. B. Grant, Miss Hattie Cook, George Cook, Miss Mary Kraus, Miss Cora LaBarre, Miss Edith George, Geo. W. Hartman, R. H. Pember, Emmet Hunt, F. J. Hunt, Mrs. Arvilla Broderick, Mrs. Emma Treichler, Carrie L. Longstreet, Helim Thompson, Miss Jennie McLouth, Miss Maggie Meyers, G. A. Perego, Geo. Furguson, James A. Scott, Mrs. A. L. Austin, Mrs. H. H. Clark, Mrs. A. V. Marble and Jane Arnold.


CHAPTER XXIV


INCIDENTS IN A WEDDING JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLATTE IN 1869-FORD THE PLATTE AT FORT KEARNEY-TWO PRAIRIE DOGS AND A BOX OF MEDICINE-THE WAGON UPSETS-RESCUE OF THE BRIDE-THE BRIDE'S MOTHER ENJOYS A SMOKE-ALL ENDS WELL.


INCIDENTS IN A WEDDING JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLATTE IN 1869


Mr. Samuel Stearley, a resident of Buffalo County in 1869, furnishes the following interesting account of the fording of the Platte River by a wedding party in 1869: "In the summer of 1869 John Martin and Miss Craig, who lived on the Blue River south and east of Grand Island, wished to get married and in order to do so had to come to Fort Kearney crossing of the Platte and thence east to Wood River Center, where lived Judge Patrick Walsh, who had authority to perform the marriage ceremony. The distance necessary to make this journey was about seventy-five miles. The Platte was very high at this time. Charles Walker, who lived at Kearney station, now Buda, had the contract to freight all Government supplies for Fort Kearney across the Platte and at the time men- tioned was engaged in hauling fencing material to fence the Government cemetery near the fort. The wedding party arranged with Mr. Walker to take them o'clock in the evening John Martin, his sweetheart mother, Mrs. Craig, also an eighteen months old 5, came to cross the river. It was our last trip for ght outfit and my business was to keep the oxen on around the islands or toe heads as we called them. njoyed the fun and excitement of fording the Platte. ' his party across it was necessary to put on a wagon fence pickets to set their trunk and roll of blankets t. The party also had with them two prairie dogs icine and these two boxes were put in my charge. hitched to the wagon and two horseback riders, one The wedding party was all set, the bull whip cracked I was sitting on the side of the wagon box with my :prairie dogs and box of medicine in my lap. We till we came to the deep channel. Then the water Our load was so light and the current so strong it turned the wagon, box and all upside down. The result was we were all in the water. When I came up I saw Martin catch his girl and pull for a wagon wheel ; next I saw Mrs. Craig come up with her child in her arms, the mother struggling


A Memory.


m I loved was torn away sorrows blinded me with tears; sunshine melted from the day darkness loomed for after years.


s the days and months rolled on came to me on memory's wings irtues of my brother gone, Dy within my bosom sings.


es in good deeds that he wrought iring forth a wealth of cheer; hough in vain his face is sought. pfulness he still is here.


103


102


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


McNew, A. H. Cleveland, J. S. Zerbee, H. B. Gilbert, Geo. D. Aspinwall, W. S. Campbell (first Ist grade certificate issued), B. L. Grant, Homer J. Allen and Miss L. Hall.


1876-H. C. Downer, Emma Morrison, Mrs. N. Humison, Miss Roderick, Miss Adah Seaman, S. B. Grant, Miss Hattie Cook, George Cook, Miss Mary Kraus, Miss Cora LaBarre, Miss Edith George, Geo. W. Hartman, R. H. Pember, Emmet Hunt, F. J. Hunt, Mrs. Arvilla Broderick, Mrs. Emma Treichler, Carrie L. Longstreet, Helim Thompson, Miss Jennie McLouth, Miss Maggie Meyers, G. A. Perego, Geo. Furguson, James A. Scott, Mrs. A. L. Austin, Mrs. H. H. Clark, Mrs. A. V. Marble and Jane Arnold.


While willing hands and loving hea To do the last sad service for the


Brother Deceased During th


DANIEL T. McDONALD, Aug


1 e that when thy summons comes to hich moves to that mysterious re:


1


CHAPTER XXIV


INCIDENTS IN A WEDDING JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLATTE IN 1869-FORD THE PLATTE AT FORT KEARNEY-TWO PRAIRIE DOGS AND A BOX OF MEDICINE-THE WAGON UPSETS-RESCUE OF THE BRIDE-THE BRIDE'S MOTHER ENJOYS A SMOKE-ALL ENDS WELL.


INCIDENTS IN A WEDDING JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLATTE IN 1869


Mr. Samuel Stearley, a resident of Buffalo County in 1869, furnishes the following interesting account of the fording of the Platte River by a wedding party in 1869: "In the summer of 1869 John Martin and Miss Craig, who lived on the Blue River south and east of Grand Island, wished to get married and in order to do so had to come to Fort Kearney crossing of the Platte and thence east to Wood River Center, where lived Judge Patrick Walsh, who had authority to perform the marriage ceremony. The distance necessary to make this journey ivas about seventy-five miles. The Platte was very high at this time. Charles Walker, who lived at Kearney station, now Buda, had the contract to freight all Government supplies for Fort Kearney across the Platte and at the time men- tioned was engaged in hauling fencing material to fence the Government cemetery near the fort. The wedding party arranged with Mr. Walker to take them across the Platte and about 4 o'clock in the evening John Martin, his sweetheart and intended wife, the girl's mother, Mrs. Craig, also an eighteen months old child belonging to Mrs. Craig, came to cross the river. It was our last trip for the day. I was with the freight outfit and my business was to keep the oxen on the lead team from swinging around the islands or toe heads as we called them. The water was warm and I enjoyed the fun and excitement of fording the Platte. . In order to bring Martin and his party across it was necessary to put on a wagon box and crib up the box with fence pickets to set their trunk and roll of blankets on so they would not get wet. The party also had with them two prairie dogs in a box and a box of medicine and these two boxes were put in my charge. There were ten yoke of oxen hitched to the wagon and two horseback riders, one on each side the ox teams. The wedding party was all set, the bull whip cracked and the procession started. I was sitting on the side of the wagon box with my feet inside and holding the prairie dogs and box of medicine in my lap. We went nicely for half a mile till we came to the deep channel. Then the water went over the wagon box. Our load was so light and the current so strong it turned the wagon, box and all upside down. The result was we were all in the water. When I came up I saw Martin catch his girl and pull for a wagon wheel ; next I saw Mrs. Craig come up with her child in her arms, the mother struggling


103


104


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


for dear life. It fell to me to save her and I held her till Martin could come and get her. The other two men were busy taking care of the oxen and holding them. The trunk and roll of blankets went down the river and one of the bull whackers and myself were detailed to go after them. I want to tell you there was lively work for awhile. When we got back with the trunk and blankets to the north bank of the river the wedding party had all got ashore and Mrs. Craig was sitting on the bank enjoying a good smoke out of a borrowed pipe. She thanked me very kindly for saving her life, as she was going under the second time when I caught her. This delayed the wedding as everything in the trunk and blankets was wet and as the old lady's tobacco was wrapped up in the wedding dress the dress was so stained it could not be used for a wedding occasion. Stores were not plenty in those days and the party had to go to Grand Island, twenty-five miles east of Wood River Center, to buy another dress and make it. Some days later Judge Walsh married the happy couple and they went on their way rejoicing.


"About three or four years later I met Mrs. Craig in Grand Island. She called her little boy in off the street and introduced him to me and then told her son that I was the young man who saved his and her life. She then said the only way she could repay me was to give me, for a wife, her last daughter, then about my own age and a very beautiful girl."


In this connection it might be well to state that the Platte opposite the Fort Kearney site is 11/2 miles wide from the north to the south bank. This includes islands as well as the channels of the river. These channels have a total width of approximately four thousand three hundred and fifty-four feet, this being the length of the nearest bridge across this river at this point at the present time.


Mr. Dungan, who owns the farm on which the fort was located, states that the old Fort Kearney crossing, commencing on the south side of the Platte, started at a point one-half mile west of the fort, taking a northeasterly course, striking the north bank about two miles east of the fort, making the crossing quite three miles in length. It is related that a ferry was operated at one time near this crossing, consisting of a large flat-bottomed scow drawn back and forth by several yoke of oxen.


CHAPTER XXV


PIONEER MERCHANDISING IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA-LOCATION AT LOWELL IN 1872 -SETTLEMENT OF SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA-EPIZOOTIC AMONG HORSES-MANY MERCHANTS FAIL-BUYING FURS OF TRAPPERS-FOUR TONS OF BUFFALO HAMS -STRYCHNINE AND STEEL TRAPS FOR TRAPPERS-AA MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF GOODS SOLD IN TWO YEARS.


(Note-This article, prepared by Joel Hull, of Minden, Kearney County, Nebraska, was read at the 1909 celebration of the Fort Kearney National Park Association, June 23-26, and is given place in this history as it truthfully and forcefully presents the experience of such pioneer merchants in Buffalo County as L. D. George and I. D. LaBarre at Gibbon; Oliver Brothers at Wood River Centre (now Shelton) ; R. R. Greer and James O'Kane at Kearney .- Editor.)


PIONEER MERCHANDISING IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA


By Joel Hull


Merchandising in the pioneer days of Kearney County was a calling requiring great care and alertness to fill the demands made by the torrents of immigrants rushing in to take homesteads, pre-emption and timber-culture claims and to buy railroad lands.


From the present conditions in 1909 of these lands, all fenced, ornamented with rows or groves of beautiful, thrifty trees, owned and occupied by prosper- ous farmers residing in finely appointed roomy residences of architectural beauty of design, surrounded by shapely, well-designed buildings for the comfort of thrifty domestic animals, one would think that such a rush of immigration would soon be over, and all these lands, of their present beauty and the value of $100 per acre, would be quickly taken. Incredible as it may seem to the present observers of the comfort, profit and happiness now in evidence in this Eldorado, such was not the fact.


In the year 1872, by reason of the location and mapping of the route of the line of railroad by the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, there came a few venturesome spirits into this territory named Kearney County to the number of thirty-one voters, mostly single men, not one of whom had an inkling of an idea of the value of the lands herein embraced for agricultural purposes, nor of their value for homes and fortunes. These thirty-one voters had made the requisite motions for the county organization of this territory under the name given it by the Legislature, of Kearney County, and after filing their


105


106


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


petition with the acting governor and their holding an election of a set of county officers, it was by the acting governor ( William H. James who was also secretary of state) proclaimed to be a legally organized county, dating from the 20th day of June, 1872.


None of those thirty-one voters had at that date looked at any lands embraced within the limits of the boundaries of the new country south of the line of the sand hills running parallel with the Platte River. Nearly every one laid claims upon even numbered sections east and northeast of Lowell, its county seat, and a few claims on sections west of Fort Kearney Military Reservation adjacent to Kearney City, now commonly known as Doby Town. Not a claim of any kind had been made to any land south of the line of sand hills, and not a building of any kind was erected in the county but those in and about Lowell and Doby Town, except a composite sod and board shanty near the southwest corner of the county, named "Walker's Ranch" located upon the trail from Lowell to Republican City.


Your orator came upon the scene as just portrayed on the 30th day of June, 1872, on the tenth day of the legal existence of the county, and found the thirty- one voters who had performed the ceremonies of its organization, and besides these thirty-one there were seven women (three of whom were widows) and nine children, making a total population of forty-seven souls. He carefully looked over the prospectus; took into consideration that the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company was then building its road at the rate of about a mile a day, and that the great Republican Valley and the Frenchman and Red Willow and numerous other tributaries had been widely advertised in the East as far as Ohio, and that emigrants were then moving in caravans toward those named locations, which were represented as having rich valleys, the streams abounding with choice fish and pure water and whose banks were lined with large timber of various sorts; and that the route of travel was already changing to the old California trail : and that reasonably there would be a demand for their supplies from their nearest railroad station which would evidently be Lowell for a few years.


You have already clearly concluded that it would be nothing less than folly to commence merchandising with a list of customers numbering forty-seven souls, at a time when there were already two merchants, Thomas W. Vallentine and Albion A. Andrews. But there existed the outlook for the traffic with the Republican Valley settlers and I at once seized the opportunity. On the first day of July I bought the Andrews' stock of goods, and on the third day of July the Burlington & Missouri River arrived at Lowell, set off to the side of the track an old box car for a depot. On the fourth I ordered a fresh stock of supplies and the story of pioneer selling of goods commenced. I arranged with Lincoln. Omaha, Council Bluffs and St. Joseph dealers to supply me with goods, and with the Capital Mills at Lincoln to supply flour and meal. Before August Ist my sales averaged over $100 per day, and the demand was so great that in September, from Chicago, I laid in a stock of $33,000 worth of goods in eleven different departments, all bought on credit, having at times barely enough to pay the freight bills, and my trade increased to sales averaging from two hundred to


107


HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY


three hundred dollars per day, much of which were flour and meal, taking two or three cars a week.


I was a very busy man with seven clerks, but not too busy to observe that this immense traffic had been also discovered by others so that in 1873 Lowell had seven general merchandise stores, two drug stores, seven saloons, three hotels, three boarding houses, two doctors, four lawyers. "Old Bill Gaslin" was one of them.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.