USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 6
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The special election for the reorganization of the County of Buffalo was held at the schoolhouse in Precinct No. I, on Thursday, January 20, 1870. The Fol. 1-3
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
returns of this election in the office of the secretary of state disclose the result as follows: Probate judge, Patrick Walsh; county clerk, Martin Slattery ; county treasurer, Henry Dugdale; county sheriff, Roger Hayes; road supervisor, Au- gustus Meyer ; coroner, J. T. Walker; county surveyor, Geo. P. Russell ; county commissioners, A. C. McLane, Thomas Wood, Edward Oliver.
Judges of Election-Edward Oliver, Patrick Walsh, Wmn. C. Booth. Clerks of Election-C. S. Johnson, William Nutter.
FIRST REGULAR ELECTION
The first regular election in the county was held October 11, 1870.
The officers chosen at this election to serve until their successors were elected at the October election in 1871.
All voters were required to register in advance of an election; there were thirty-five registered voters in the county, and thirty-eight tax payers.
The result of the election, so far as given was as follows: Probate judge, Patrick Walsh; county clerk, Michael Coady ; county treasurer, Henry Dugdale ; county sheriff, John Oliver ; county commissioners, Charles Davis, Wm. C. Booth, Edward Oliver.
Thomas K. Wood was chosen superintendent, but it is not known whether he qualified or not. At a meeting of the county commissioners, November I, 1870, the following resolution was adopted : "On motion, P. Walsh was appointed superintendent of schools in Buffalo County in case Thomas K. Wood, elect, doesn't qualify." Sergt. Michael Coady was not a resident of the county, being stationed at Fort Kearney, but he accepted the office of county clerk and fur- nished the new-born county an iron-bound box, secured at Fort Kearney, for the safe keeping of the records. All the records of the county were in the keeping of Patrick Walsh, who, in addition to his duties as county judge, was also deputy county clerk, deputy treasurer and deputy superintendent, but it appears that Sergeant Coady was present at all meetings of the commissioners and that his advice was sought and followed in all county affairs. It appears that Sergeant Coady was a friend in need and a friend indeed to all early settlers.
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CHAPTER VIII
PROCEEDINGS OF FIRST MEETING OF BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-DIVIDE COUNTY INTO THREE ELECTION PRECINCTS-SALOON LICENSE FIXED AT $25- JOHN OLIVER APPOINTED SHERIFF-FIRST SCHOOL TAX LEVIED-W. H. PLATT EMPLOYED AS COUNTY ATTORNEY-W. H. PLATT EMPLOYED TO COLLECT DELIN- QUENT TAXES ; FEE ONE-HALF OF AMOUNT COLLECTED; PLATT'S CLAIM, $2,148 -O. A. ABBOTT EMPLOYED TO PROSECUTE W. H. PLATT.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
In recording the proceedings of the first meeting of the board of county com- missioners one would naturally expect to find entered of record the proclamation of Governor Butler calling the special election held on January 20, 1870, together with the result of the election and at least giving the names of the officers-elect, but nothing of this character appears in the minutes of this first meeting and while the returns of this election, as now on file in the office of the secretary of state, disclose that A. C. McLane, Thomas Wood and Edward Oliver were elected county commissioners, the minutes of this first meeting, now on file in the office of the county clerk, disclose that County Commissioner-elect A. C. McLane was not in attendance and that Samuel Boyd (a younger brother of James E. and Joseph Boyd) served as one of the commissioners.
Herewith is copied the minutes of this meeting :
1385505
"The first meeting after the organization of the county.
"At a special meeting of the board of county commissioners of Buffalo County, held pursuant to public notice, at Nebraska Center on the 26th day of February, 1870. Present, Thomas K. Wood, Edward Oliver, Samuel Boyd, commissioners. Resolved, that the County of Buffalo, in the State of Nebraska, be divided into three precincts, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, the first precinct to be bounded on the east line of Hall and Buffalo counties and on the west by the west end of section 31. Union Pacific Railroad (the section referred to is now embraced in the corporate limits of the City of Kearney) ; and Precinct No. 2 to be bounded on the east by the west end of section 31, Union Pacific Railroad, and on the west by Stevenson Siding, Union Pacific Railroad ; and Precinct No. 3 to be bounded on the east by Stevenson Siding, Union Pacific Railroad, and on the west by western line of the county. (The Stevenson Siding referred to is, as recalled, now known as Odessa.)
"Resolved, that all county business hereafter, until next election, be transacted in Schoolhouse District No. I in said county.
"Resolved, that all horney cattle be valued at the following rates as taxable
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
property : From one year old to two years old, $10 per head; and from two years old upward, to be valued at $30 per head.
"Resolved, that all whisky saloonkeepers shall pay $25 per annum and $25 per annum for each billiard table; also John Oliver was appointed sheriff and assessor for Buffalo County. On motion the meeting adjourned.
"MARTIN SLATTERY, "County Clerk. "By Patrick Walsh, his deputy."
While from the above minutes it appears that John Oliver was appointed assessor for the county, it appears that later James Oliver was appointed and served as assessor, thus being the first assessor in the county.
On July 5, 1870, at a regular meeting of the county commissioners taxes were levied as follows :
General fund 6 mills
Sinking fund 2 mills
School fund 2 mills
Poor fund I mill
Total
II mills
The total valuation of the county for taxable purposes in 1870 was $788,988; 97 per cent of this amount ($769,998) was the value of railroad and telegraph property and only 3 per cent that of personal property of settlers, there being only one quarter section of deeded real estate in the county, that, the "Boyd Ranch." As will be noted the levy for county purposes was II mills, which included 2 mills for schools; deducting the school tax we have 9 mills levied for county purposes in 1870.
It may be of interest to compare valuations and tax levies as between 1870 and 1908. The total value of all property in the county for taxation purposes in 1908 was $35,276,110; of this amount $1,468,945.35 was for railroad, telegraph and telephones, or about 4 per cent of the total compared with 97 per cent of the total in 1870. The levy for county purposes in 1908 was 8 mills as compared with a 9-mill levy in 1870. In 1870 there was raised $7,100 for county purposes ; in 1908, $56,441, an increase of 800 per cent. This statement includes only county expenses and does not include state, school or village taxes.
Herewith is copied the record of the county commissioners wherein was allowed the first claims against the county. These claims were allowed at a meet- ing held January 3, 1871, and the record is as follows :
"The following bills were presented and by careful examination were ordered :
Patrick Walsh's bill as follows,
Furnishing county with stationery one year
$150.00
Issuing II warrants
11.00
For O'Niel's trial 5.85
Services as probate judge, one year, Patrick Walsh. 100.00
County seal and express on treaurer's books 7.75
As superintendent of schools, year. 8.00
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
Salary to P. Walsh as deputy county clerk one year, $150, and to M.
Coady, county clerk, $175 300.00
Issuing certificate of election, $2, going to Grand Island. 8.00
Assistant register (of voters)
15.75
Total due Walsh and Coady to January 3, 1871. $606.30"
It is interesting to note that Mr. Walsh served and drew salary as county judge, superintendent of schools and deputy county clerk, also that the county paid $1 each for warrants issued. At a meeting of the county commissioners held in 1870, W. H. Platt of Grand Island was employed as county attorney at a salary of $150 per year and traveling expenses. At a meeting of the county com- missioners held July 5, 1871, the following was adopted : "Resolved by the board that W. H. Platt be and is hereby authorized to collect the Union Pacific Railroad taxes for the years A. D. 1868 and 1869 for payment of which he is to receive the one-half of all he collects, otherwise no pay." On August 15, 1871, in the commissioners' record appears the following: "On motion the county treasurer is hereby authorized and allowed to settle with the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany, and to receive from said company the sum of $4,297, taxes for the years 1868 and 1869 and the sum of $10,703 taxes for the year 1870 and that he be empowered to receipt in full for the taxes due from said company for the above years mentioned." "On motion it was ordered that a warrant be struck to W. H. Platt as attorney for the collection of taxes of 1868 and 1869 for $2,148.50, being one-half of the taxes collected for said years and the same to be paid from the taxes collected from said years, a proportionate part to be taken from each fund."
From the records it appears that P. Walsh was at this date, July 5, 1871, serving as county judge and also as county treasurer, while Sergt. Michael Coady was serving as county clerk, with F. S. Trew as deputy clerk. It is recalled that when it became known that W. H. Platt had received over two thousand dollars for collecting county taxes, and which, it appears, he had only to ask for in order to have paid, there was a great outcry raised and it was openly charged that all the county officers were engaged in the steal. At the October meeting of the commissioners it is recorded that "The Hon. W. H. Platt generously returned county warrant No. 52 with $826.35 due thereof for cancellation, being the one issued at last meeting of county commissioners for collection of delinquent rail- road taxes for years 1868 and 1869." In the records of the county commissioners it later appears that O. A. Abbott of Grand Island was employed by the commis- sioners to prosecute W. H. Platt in the endeavor to secure a return of the money paid him for collection of delinquent taxes, and while it appears that the county paid $45-35 as costs in such a suit there is no record, so far as can be learned, that any further portion of the money thus paid Mr. Platt was refunded.
CHAPTER IX
CHARACTER OF EARLY SETTLERS-VOTERS VOUCHED FOR-TOOK THE SHERIFF ALONG
CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS
The early settlements in this county were not of a permanent character nor were there many in number. In 1867 there were eighteen tax payers, and the total levied was $241.98, no part of this school tax. The names of these tax payers and the value of their property for taxation purposes was as' follows: D. W. Beach, $1,080; John Britt, $150; J. E. Boyd, $6,830; Joseph Boyd, $600; D. R. Champlin, $750; H. Dugdale, $940; C. Eddy, $715; W. Esty, $1,140; G. Gardner, $650; C. S. Johnson, $475; A. Meyer, $425; Ed Oliver, $335; Sarah Oliver, $540; Staats & Wilson, $3,760; W. D. Thomas, $2,800; Thomas Tague, $355; G. H. Hats, $650; A. J. Williams, $825. Total valuation of property in the county for 1867, $23,020.
In 1868 there were twenty-one tax payers in the county; in 1869, twenty, and in 1870, thirty-eight, notwithstanding the Union Pacific Railroad had been completed and running regular trains as far as Kearney (now Buda), in August, 1866, and the railroad property had been listed for taxation in 1868.
The first school tax levied was in 1870 and amounted to about sixteen hundred dollars. The carly settlers who were, it appears, of influence in the settlement and who took a more or less active part in matters of public interest were com- posed in great part of two classes or nationalities, English and Irish. The English were in the majority and were largely Mormon emigrants, some of whom had journeyed to Utah, becoming dissatisfied and returned to this locality, the others proceeding no further than Wood River Center settlement. The Irish were not Mormon emigrants nor does it appear that they were in any manner in sympathy with that form of religion. As a rule these early settlers came direct from their native land to the Territory of Nebraska and were therefore unacquainted with our form of government or the methods in common use in the states in con- ducting elections or of those relating to school, county and governmental affairs. All these things must be taken into consideration in passing judgment on the methods and manner in which some of the public business was conducted in the early history of the county.
That no school tax was levied until 1870 would seem to indicate that the earlier settlers did not deem education of such immediate and pressing importance as those who came in 1871 and later. While the English were in the majority among the early settlers the Irish seem to have been more active in public affairs. Possibly this is accounted for from the fact that Sergt. Michael Coady, at Fort
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
Kearney, was of great use and influence among the early settlers and doubtless was inclined to favor his own people. James Jackson, a register of voters, relates that on his refusing to register certain Irishmen who under the law were not eligible to vote, complaint was made to Sergeant Coady that Mr. Jackson- who, by the way, is of English descent-was discriminating against the Irish in this respect, and that when he (Jackson) convinced Sergeant Coady that he was following the letter of the law, there was no further complaint. That the early settlers were a peaceful, law abiding people is evidenced by the fact that while the county was unorganized until 1870 there is related practically nothing of lawlessness or crime on the part of the settlers. Something in the nature of tra- dition as to the manner in which public affairs were conducted is herewith given as illustrating the character of the early settlers.
VOTERS VOUCIIED FOR
Previous to 1873 voters were required to register in advance of an election. At an election held in 1870 there were thirty-five registered voters in the county. It is related that on election day as the hour for closing the polls drew near it appeared that fifteen registered voters had failed to cast their votes, whereupon a judge of the election arose and said: "I am well acquainted with these men who have not voted ; they are all good and true men, and I will vouch for them." He then placed fifteen ballots in the ballot box, which were later counted with those regularly cast. If this be true it is believed it was not done to further any partisan end or purpose but as a neighborly act, it not being convenient for the voter to attend in person, a neighbor kindly performs the necessary duty instead.
TOOK THE SHERIFF ALONG
While the county records show that on February 26, 1870, the county com- missioners appointed John Oliver both sheriff and assessor, there is good reason to believe that later James Oliver was appointed assessor and served as the first assessor in the county. It is related that in the western part of the county there were a few settlers who boasted that they had never been assessed and would not be and they would make it warm for anyone who attempted to assess their property. On this official trip the assessor was accompanied by his brother, John, the sheriff. When they arrived the few settlers at Elmcreek began making threats and firing their guns, but the Oliver brothers were not easily bluffed and replied that they had guns and could shoot if necessary, but that the assess- ment must be made and there was no use making a fuss about it. After a long parley tlie assessor was permitted to perform his official duty.
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CHAPTER X
REV. DAVID MARQUETTE-FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES HELD IN BUFFALO COUNTY- JAMES JACKSON-"PAP" LAMB-GEORGE STEARLEY-CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL ORGANIZED.
FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES HELD
The first preaching services held in the county appears to have been in the winter of 1869-70. These services, a series of meetings, were held in "the first schoolhouse," elsewhere described, and were conducted by Rev. D. Marquette, a Methodist missionary, who is still living ( 1908) and now resides at University Place, Neb. As related, a pleasing and interesting feature of these meetings was the sweet singing by the Owen family, Mrs. David Owen, her two daughters and son, Joseph. As singers the Owen family seems to have been gifted, as it is related that two other daughters of this family, who resided in Utah, were members of the choir and sang regularly in the great Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, Utah. The writer is greatly indebted to Reverend Marquette for the following account of this series of meetings and of his labors in Buffalo and adjoining counties :
"University Place, Neb., Oct. 28, 1908.
"Replying to your inquiry concerning my work as missionary in the bounds of Buffalo County, I take pleasure in stating the following facts: In the spring of 1869 I was appointed pastor of Wood River Mission, a 'circuit' which consisted of a straight line from Silver Creek Station just west of Columbus, to Gibbon Siding, ten or twelve miles east of Fort Kearney, embracing all intermediate points where there were people enough, including Grand Island where wife and I lived. I visited and held services at three places west of Grand Island-'Pap' Lamb's ranch ten miles west but on Wood River, and at Wood River Station, holding the services at the station or at Jackson's store, about a mile northwest of the station. I am not sure whether Wood River railroad station and Jack- son's store on the old freight road (overland trail) keeping close to the stream of Wood River, were either or both in Buffalo County. You will probably know more about the county lines than I do, these cutting no figure in my work in those days, my circuit embracing part of Platte and all of the inhabited portions ยท of Merrick, Hall and Buffalo counties. At Wood River there was no class organ- ized, and it is certain, from a study of the annual conference minutes, that no one had gone, as pastor, any farther west than 'Pap' Lamb's, where there was an organization ; however, I went as far west as 'Gibbon Siding,' which I sup- pose is identical with the present Village of Gibbon. During the winter of 1869-70 I held a series of meetings which resulted in a gracious revival and in the conversion of about twenty and in the organization of the first class in the bounds of Buffalo County, and for that matter the first Methodist organization in all the territory now embraced in the West Nebraska Conference. I cannot
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REV. DAVID MARQUETTE
Methodist missionary who held a series of religious meetings at Wood River Center (Shelton) in the winter of 1870-71.
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
now, after the lapse of thirty-eight years, recall the names of any who formed that historic first class. The meetings were held in an old board house which was open in many places, and the weather being cold, the people who crowded the house laid down buffalo robes on the floor and hung shawls up at the sides of the house. to keep out the cutting winter wind and make the room endurable. We recall a sturdy and very pious German by the name of George Stearley, who with his excellent wife, lived on Wood River some two or three miles east of Gibbon Siding. He was not, at that time, preaching and could not have preached in English. He was the only one in that country who could lead in public prayer ; when called upon to do so, he would usually, in deference to his English speaking brethren, begin his prayer in English, but would soon cut loose and pass over into German and make an excellent impression by his manifest earnestness and sincerity, though we could not understand a word he said. This couple by their royal hospitality, entertaining in their home the missionary and his wife, and the pleasant hours we spent there are among our precious memories of those times. But a royal hospitality was characteristic of nearly all of those early settlers and thereby greatly added to our comfort in sharing their humble dwell- ings and scanty fare with the preacher and his wife. Hoping this brief state- ment will assist you and expressing my appreciation of your effort to write a history of your county, I am,
"Respectfully yours, "D. MARQUETTE."
Both prayer meetings and a Sunday school were held in this old schoolhouse but the church organization mentioned by Rev. Mr. Marquette seems to have fallen through, as it has not been learned that the organization existed at the time or after the arrival of the colony in 1871. The "Pap" Lamb referred to was a stage driver for the Western Stage Company and is highly spoken of by those now living who knew him. The Mr. Jackson mentioned is James Jackson, now a merchant of Wood River. Mr. Jackson is of English descent and with his young wife came to what is now Hall County in 1860. In 1864 he engaged in the mercantile business at a point some miles west of the present Village of Wood River and has continued this business to the present time. Religious (preaching) services were held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, and their home was popularly known as the "Preacher's Roost." Mr. Jackson attended the series of meetings held by Rev. Mr. Marquette in the old schoolhouse and states that there was great interest and the attendance taxed to the utmost the capacity of the house in which the meetings were held.
The George Stearley mentioned will be readily recalled by early settlers in the county. After the arrival of the colony he took a homestead on section 22 in Shelton Township. On this homestead Mr. Stearley planted several acres of timber which he took much pride in cultivating and caring for and in time his homestead came to be one of the choice farms in the township. Mr. Stearley was licensed as a local preacher in the United Brethren Church, and took an active part in the affairs of the church. The United Brethren organization in the immediate vicinity of where he resided was one of the strongest in the state. Mr. Stearley resided on his homestead until his death, which occurred August 27, 1897.
CHAPTER XI
THIE BOYD RANCII, JAMES E. BOYD, OWNER ; LATER GOVERNOR OF NEBRASKA-RAISED CORN-TRAFFICKED IN OXEN-BREWED BEER-WHISKY $20 A GALLON-THE BOYD RANCH FIRST CLAIM TAKEN IN BUFFALO COUNTY-FIRST PIECE OF DEEDED LAND IN NEBRASKA, WEST OF HALL COUNTY-PAID FOR IN LAND SCRIPT ISSUED TO A SOLDIER OF THE WAR OF 1812.
THE BOYD RANCH
The place known as the "Boyd Ranch" was one of the first landmarks west of the Missouri River on the Utah-California-Oregon Trail, having its initial or starting points at Florence, Omaha and Bellevue on the Missouri River. This ranch was located on what is now the southwest quarter of section 14, township 9, range 14 west, in Buffalo County. As a business point for traffic with emi- grants enroute over the trail it was an ideal location. It was located on Wood River at a point where that river approaches nearest to the Platte, less than three miles distant, thus causing the entire travel over the trail to pass close to the ranch. About twelve miles to the south and west and across the Platte River was Fort Kearney, near enough to afford some protection to the ranch but not so near as to cause Dobytown, the business point near the fort, to compete for - the trade over the trail.
In describing the business of a ranch in those early days and of the store sometimes connected therewith, some writers seem to have exaggerated ideas and quite often draw on their imagination in their written description. One writer in describing a ranch and store at Wood River Center, about ten miles east of the Boyd Ranch, says: "At this point he had a large outfitting store for the accommodation of the many who were rushing to the gold fields of Cali- fornia." As a matter of fact, early settlers still living in Buffalo County state that the principal business of this storekeeper at Wood River Center was as a blacksmith and wagonmaker in repairing wagons passing over the trail and that the stock of goods carried by him would not make a wheelbarrow load on a smooth road. Emigrants purchased their outfits, including provisions, before starting on the long journey over the plains and mountains.
Just when a ranch was first established at this point is not known so far as can be learned. Riley Wescoatt states that in the spring of 1853 himself and brother Jonas, with their wives and three children, passed over this trail and camped just beyond what was later known as the Boyd Ranch. The Wescoatt brothers had a herd of 400 heifers which they were driving to California and had with them thirty-five men enroute for California and who assisted in driving
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
the cattle as compensation for board and transportation. In company with the Wescoatt brothers was Capt. John Fuller, who was in command of 100 men whom he had engaged to furnish board and transportation for to California in consideration of $100 each, $10,000 in all, each man to do his share of guard duty while enroute. These two commands made the entire journey together, and all being fully armed had no fear of successful attack from Indians. Mr. Wescoatt states that the principal business conducted at the ranch was trading in oxen and horses and selling whisky. In the journey over the trail both oxen and horses often became footsore, but after a few days' rest the hoofs would grow out and the lameness disappear. Ranchmen traded for these footsore animals and after they had rested and recovered from their lameness were again in shape for another like trade. Mr. Wescoatt states that the Wescoatt broth- ers and the Fuller command each purchased at the ranch twenty gallons of whiskey, paying therefor $20 a gallon, $800 in all; that the wives of the Wescoatt brothers carried the money of the firm and they had quite a time to convince the women that the whisky was a necessary purchase; but the men in their employ thought they ought to have the whisky on the long journey and as it could not be secured elsewhere the purchase was made. James E. Boyd, governor of Nebraska in 1901-2, after whom the "Boyd Ranch" was named, came to Buffalo County in December, 1858-Morton History, Vol. I, page 594. Mr. Boyd had been married in August of that year to Miss Ann H. Henry and the family made their home on the ranch. Doctor Henry, father of Mrs. Boyd, made his home with the Boyds and spent some of his time, at least, in hunting and trapping along Wood River. Mr. Boyd says Eleanor, their eldest child, was the first white child born in Buffalo County, Nebraska. Mr. Boyd seems to have begun his ranch business in a very modest manner, as early settlers state that he assisted in breaking the prairie on his ranch and in 1860 was often seen plowing in his cornfields. From the first he engaged in the sale of liquor and in the early '6os had begun to raise barley and established a small brewery on the bank of Wood River where he brewed about ten kegs of beer at a time and which he sold at the fort and at Dobytown for from six to eight dollars a keg. In connection with the brewery he hand an icehouse which he filled from Wood River. This small brewery was on the bank of Wood River, east of the ranch house, and the cellar and part of the building was to be seen when the colony came in 1871. The hole in the ground where the cellar was is still to be seen on the bank of Wood River close beside the public highway. In the early '60s Mr. Boyd had more than one hundred acres under cultivation, on which he raised principally corn and barley, corn bringing a good price from travelers over the trail. Mr. Boyd also trafficked in horses and oxen and had at that date about one hundred head of native cattle.
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