History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 8

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Nebraska > Custer County > History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time > Part 8

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).

Yours respectfully. FRANK H. YOUNG

The governor, on the 27th day of June. issued the following proclamation, which launched Custer county on its glorious ca- reer :

PROCLAMATION

Whereas. A large number of the citizens of the unorganized county of Custer have united in a petition asking that the said county be organized and that James Gasmann, An- ton Abel, and H. C. Stuckey be appointed special county commissioners, and Frank H. Young be appointed special county clerk of said county, for the purpose of forming a permanent organization, and that the south- east quarter of section twenty-three, in town- ship fifteen north, range twenty-two west. be

designated as the temporary county seat of said county of Custer, and it appearing that the said county contains a population of not less than two hundred inhabitants, and ten or more of said petitioners are taxpayers and residents of said county :

Now, therefore. I. Silas Garber, governor of the state of Nebraska, in accordance with the memorial of said petitioners. and under and by the authority in me vested and in pur- suance of the statute in such cases made and provided, do declare said county to be tem- porarily organized for the purpose of per- manent organization, and do appoint and commission the persons above named as the special county commissioners, and the said person above named as special county clerk of said county, and do declare the place above named and described as the temporary county seat of said county.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused to be affixed the great seal of the state of Nebraska.

Done at Lincoln, the capital, this twenty- seventh day of June. in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven and of the independence of the United States one hundred and first. and of this state the eleventh. SILAS GARBER

By the Governor :

BRUNO TSCHUCK, the Secretary of State.

FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS

Prior to the issuing of the proclamation by Governor Garber. establishing a temporary organization for Custer county, a meeting had been held at the home of Frank Young at which were present E. J. Boblits, Al Wise. J J. Douglass. Joshua Woods, Vergil Allen. and other early settlers to the number of thirteen. This meeting recommended the ap- pointment of Frank Young as temporary county clerk. Anton Abel, James Gasmann. and H. C. Stuckey as county commissioners. and accordingly the governor was petitioned for their appointment. Complying with the request the governor named these men for their respective offices and they became. by the governor's proclamation, the first officers of Custer county.

FIRST MEETING OF SUPERVISORS

By the authority of the governor's procla- mation, the first session of the special county

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

commissioners met at the temporary county seat voting place should be the home of Joshua Woods. In precinct number two all the elec- tors were to resort to the home of Anton Abel, the third voting precinct was in the home of E. Halloway. This last voting pre- cinct was so far to the south end of the pre- cinct that the New Helena people objected and, at the first opportunity, presented the first petition ever presented to a Custer coun- request was granted, this special election of July 31 was the only election ever held while the county was divided in only three pre- cincts. The election came off in due form. Fifty-eight votes were cast, which constituted and they were duly sworn into office. Frank H. Young had taken the oath of office as county clerk in the governor's office at Lin- coln, so when the supervisors had been duly inducted into their office, they were ready to commence business. The first matter of business attended to was the passing of an order calling for a special election to be held on Tuesday, the 31st day of July, 1877, . ty board praying for a new precinct. As this for the purpose of electing a county judge, a sheriff, a clerk. a treasurer, a coroner, a surveyor, and three county commissioners. The matter of selecting a county seat, or of making the temporary county seat the per-

Virgil Allen

A TRINITY OF OLD-TIMERS Milo Young

J. J. Douglass

manent location of the county capital, was also to be decided at that special election.

After the special election had been pro- vided for, the three commissioners proceeded to chop the county up into three voting pre- cincts. which they did by cutting off tiers of townships running clear through the county from north to south on the east end of the county and constituting that as precinct num- ber one. Another three ranges of townships west of first precinct and running through the middle of the county constituted the second precinct, while the remaining three tiers of townships on the west end of the county be- came the third precinct.

FIRST VOTING PLACES

In the first precinct it was ordered that the

the sum total of the new county's voting strength. It was the first election, it was be- ing held far from the centers of eastern civili- zation and, consequently, form and ceremony were little observed. In the third precinct they did not go to the formality of adminis- tering the oath to either judges or clerks, consequently the vote in the third precinct was thrown out when an official canvass of the vote was made by the county commis- sioners.

The election, however, was an event long remembered in those days, conducted under a purely western regime. The voters came early and in most cases stayed for dinner with the judge of election, who was also host for the occasion. It is related that not more than three or four voters in each precinct

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

made the trip to the polls and back without trading horses. One early narrator makes the too extravagant claim that more horses were traded that day than votes cast.

FIRST ELECTION RESULTS

When the supervisors assembled in August to canvass the returns of the special election, they rejected the vote of the third precinct. for reasons that have been previously stated, and, on summing up the returns from the oth- er two precincts, announced that the tem- porary county seat was to be the permanent county seat, and that the following officers were duly and regularly elected :

Commissioners, Anton Abe !. James Gas- mann, William Kilgore.

Clerk, Frank H. Young.

Treasurer. S. C. Stuckey.

Sheriff. Joshua Woods.

Coroner, Charles R. Mathews.

Surveyor, 1I. C. Norton.

County Judge, Louis Wambsgan.

All of these officials filed their bonds, which were accepted by the newly elected county judge. Equipped with these officers, the Cus- ter county ship of state was ready to sail. The New Helena people were on hand with their petition requesting a new precinct with a voting place in the New Helena postoffice. which was then in the home of Judge Mathews. It was an accommodating board of commissioners that received the petition, hence the request was granted, and never since that time has this been a county of three precinets.

The special election was scarcely over be- fore the commissioners and the people began to campaign for the regular election in No- vember of the same fall, only four months off. The regular election came on and was held in the four voting places. This time all the judges and all the clerks were sworn into office, the voting proceeding regularly. and counts were duly made and returns sworn to. Horse trading came in for its regular place on the program and several cleverly hidden spavins went home with new

owners. This election did not greatly change the personnel of the official staff.

THE NEW OFFICERS

The same commissioners, Abel, Gasmann, and Kilgore, were retained in office, S. C. Stuckey was retained as treasurer. Joshua Wood as sheriff. Charles R. Mathews as coroner, but John W. Benedict was made coun- . ty surveyor, and Wilson Hewitt was elected county judge.

The carly records of the county are very meagre. No official roster has been kept. It is a hard and laborious task to trace the pro- ceedings of county commissioners. to fill out in detail the official roster, or to name the men in succession who have served the coun- ty in various capacities down to the present time. Some of these early officers performed very little service. They had no offices other than their own residences, so that in fact the county seat was scattered all over Custer coun- ty, according to the places where officials had their residences. Salaries were small. some offices, in fact. being without any salary at- tached, and for services rendered the incum- bents were remunerated only by a nominal fee. The offices were not as attractive as they are now- they were not considered plump plums to be grabbed every time some power shook the political tree. There were no con- ventionalities : a county official was in his of- fice and ready for business whenever and wherever he was found. If the treasurer was in the hay-field when a taxpayer came along with the money, there was a business transac- tion forthwith to which Custer county was party.

It took one lovelorn candidate for matri- mony three days to hunt up the county judge in order to procure a license, and when he located the judge, that official had to stop fighting fire long enough to grant the license. But if it took some time and trouble to locate the office and the officer, there was no diffi- culty about formalities when they were found. A judge would enter in a day-book a state- ment that a marriage license had been issued

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

to such and such parties, then proceed to perform the ceremony and make the same entry do for both the license and return. Ceremonies, too, were simple and informal. It is related that when Judge Boblits performed his first marriage ceremony he simply said : "If you folks want each other for husband and wife you are married. And what God and Boblits have joined together let no man put asunder."

CUSTER COUNTY JUDGES

The statement has been made that all the men who have served Custer county in the capacity of county judge during the past forty- one years are still alive and in a reasonable state of health. This is a very remarkable fact. Great pains have been taken to ascer- tain if the statement is correct. Louis Wambsgan was elected county judge at the first election ever held in Custer county. He filed a bond and took the oath of office but never transacted any official business other than to pass on the bonds of the first officers. Four months later, at the time of the regular election, he was not a candidate for re-election and Wilson Hewitt was elected county judge. Hewitt was sworn into office in January, 1878, and in April of the same year resigned. The board accepted his resignation and appointed E. J. Boblits to fill the vacancy. At the next regular election, in the fall of 1878, Boblits was regularly elected as his own successor and served for two more years. In the fall of 1880 Judge C. R. Mathews, of New Ilelena, was made the county judge. From that time on the following have served as county judges in the order named: Judge John S. Ben- jamin, Judge Arthur H. Kilgore, Judge John Reese, Judge H. J. Shinn, Judge J. R. Rhodes, Judge J. A. Armour, Judge A. R. Humphrey, Judge H. C. Holcomb, and Judge N. Dwight Ford, who is the present incumbent.

The first assessors to serve the new county were W. H. Comstock, Coe Kilgore, H. ... Chapin, and I. P. Bell, who were appointed to assess all taxable property in their respec- tive precincts. In the spring of 1877 W. Il. Comstock had been appointed by the authori-

ties of Valley county to assess the property in the Custer county territory. This was done and returns made to Valley county but later an agreement was made by which the tax was collected by the Custer county officials and paid in to the Custer county treasurer. This was the first revenue coming into the coffers of the young county.

TILĘ FIRST COUNTY ASSESSMENT

In the spring of 1878, eight months after the organization of the county, the first as- sessment was made by the assessors mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. When the re- turns were compiled it was found that the young county had taxable property to the amount of $136,054.50.

NAMES OF THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED AS COUNTY CLERKS

Frank H. Young was the first clerk to serve the county. He was one of the most efficient officers that every served in any capacity. He was first appointed by the governor and after- wards elected at both the special and regular elections in the year of 1877. He served for three years and six months. Since his retire- ment the following men have served in the order named: Wilson Hewitt. J. J. Brown, A. W. Hyatt, George Richtmyer. J. B. Os- borne, George W. Dewey, Joseph E. Pigman, W. H. Osborn, Jr .. Robert E. Waters, pres- ent incumbent.

CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURT

A complete roster of county officers has been very hard to obtain. Some of the offices have been created since the organization of the county. In the early days the county clerk served also as clerk of district court until the office of clerk of district court was insti- tuted, in 1888. Those who have served the county as clerk are Wilson Hewitt, J. J. Brown, J. J. Douglass, S. M. Dorris, James Stockham. C. T. Orr, George B. Mair, and the present incumbent, Jess Gandy.

COUNTY TREASURERS

The men who have been intrusted with the public funds of the county are as follows:

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

S. C. Stuckey. C. T. Crawford. Dr. R. C. Tal- bot, W. C. Bidwell, Hues Brown, David Wei- mer. H. Lomax. Mark Schneringer. W. A. George, J. E. Cavenee, Clarence Mackey, and M. S. Eddy, the present incumbent.

REGISTERS OF DEEDS

The office of register of deeds has had five occupants. It dates from 1894, when D. W. Lanternman first filled the office. His suc- cessors have been Charles H. Jeffords. C. O. Linn. J. T. Wood, and the present recorder, George E. Porter.

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS

The office of superintendent of public in- struction is one that dates from the organiza- tion of the county. The first superintendent was E. D. Eubanks, who served five years and who at one time might have said that he was superintendent of public instruction in a county in which there were no schoolhouses. It was during his regime that the first districts were organized and the first schools established. The following men have filled the office of county superintendent since the retirement of E. D. Eubanks as a public officer : D. M. Amsberry, C. F. Randall. W. H. Hendrickson, H. H. Hyatt. J. J. Tooley, J. G. W. Lewis, H. M. Pinkney, G. E. Lewis, and T. C. Grimes, who is filling the office at the present time.

OFFICIAL ROSTER OF CUSTER COUNTY

The following constitutes the official roster of Custer county as it stands on this first day of September. A. D. 1918:

District Judge. Bruno O. Hostetler.

County Judge. N. Dwight Ford.

Senator, Twenty-third Senatorial District, Charles W. Beal.

Representatives. W. J. Taylor. George Greenwalt.

Sheriff. Joseph F. Wilson.

Deputy Sheriff. Ernest Thompson. Treasurer, MI. S. Eddy. Deputy Treasurer. Mrs. J. B. Osborne. County Clerk. Robert E. Waters. Deputy County Clerk. Essie Holcomb. County Superintendent, T. C. Grimes.

Deputy Clerk of District Court. M. M. Run- yan.

County Attorney. Frank Kelley. County Surveyor, A. J. VanAntwerp. County Assessor. G. T. Robinson.

County Commissioners: R. J. Mills, First District ; Robert Farley. Second District ; Scott Cooper, Third District : J. H. Phillips, Fourth District : H. B. Schneringer, Fifth District : : E. K. Lichtenberger. Sixth District; John Walker, Seventh District.

A NOTED SHERIFF

One of the men who has served as sheriff of Custer county rendered such excellent ser- vice and in so many ways made himself both prominent and useful that a somewhat ex -. tended mention may not be out of place in this connection. although it is not the policy to bring biographical sketches into this depart- ment of the volume.

Charles U. Richardson served as deputy sheriff under Eli Armstrong for three years. following which he was twice elected sheriff. making in all seven years of service rendered for the county as sheriff or deputy sheriff. He was in many ways a remarkable man, was a native of Virginia, and was a veteran of the Confederate army, in which he rendered an unusual and helpful service. He was counted too young to carry arms when he first entered the service and was made a messenger boy for Stonewall Jackson. After two years' ser- vice in this capacity he was promoted to a full-fledged soldier and served to the end of the war. He was with General Robert E. Lee at the surrender at Appomattox. He was one who participated in the famous charge led by George Pickett at Gettysburg. He was wounded four times and carried the effects of his wounds to the grave. He was once left for dead on the battlefield, but Charlie Rich- ardson, as he was familiarly called, was not to be killed by bullets. He was destined for a career in Custer county, to be a homesteader, a mail contractor, and a useful citizen. It was to be his lot to die in peace, surrounded

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

by his friends in Custer county, December 3, 1910. His widow and family still survive.

MULTIPLY VOTING PRECINCTS

Very early in the life of the new county it was found that voting precincts were so few and far apart that people living in remote parts were practically disfranchised. The three precincts already noted. lasted only for the first election. The first petition for a new voting precinct came from New Helena, early in the first year of the county's exis- tence, and the accommodating supervisors granted the prayers of the petitioners. In the winter of 1878. through the influence of Judge Mathews and others living in the north part of the county, the legislature passed the fol- lowing bill :

Each board of county commissioners shall divide the county into convenient precincts, and as occasion requires subdivide precincts or erect new precincts, alter precinct lines and whenever any portion of territory containing in the aggregate not less than one township of land nor more than four townships lying contiguous shall contain not less than fifteen voters, it shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners, upon receipt of a pe- tition signed by a majority of such voters, to constitute such territory a new voting pre- cinct.

With the passage of such an elastic measure the jig was up. There would be no good place to stop. Of making many precincts there was to be no end. However, it all worked to the advantage of the young county. Settlers came in very rapidly. There were over two thou- sand voters in the county as early as 1884. Precincts were laid out, polling places were established, and by 1888 the present organiza- tion of the county was, with the exception of a few divisions that had been made recently. the same as it is to-day.

For the benefit of future investigators, we record here the present organization of the county. Reading from left to right. com- mencing in the north tier, the precincts are as follows : £ Hayes, Victoria, Milburn, West Union, Lillian first. Lillian second, Sargent. Arnold, Cliff. Kilfoil, Broken Bow, Garfield, Douglas Grove, Comstock, Spring Creek, Tri-

umph, Ryno, Berwyn, Westerville, Myrtle, Elim, Delight. Custer, East Custer. Ansley, Algernon. Wayne, Grant, Wood River, Loup, Elk Creek.

Over the first regime of county organiza- tion each precinct constituted a supervisoral district and was reported in supervisors' meet- ings each month until the number reached twenty-five. This made a meeting of the su- pervisors look like a young legislature. The body was unwieldy and likewise expensive. It was, perhaps. the expense that started the campaign for representation on a different basis. As a result of the campaign in 1895 a change was made and the county was divided into seven supervisoral districts with one su- pervisor or commissioner from each district.

THE LAST PRECINCT SUPERVISORS

The last board to serve under the old pre- cinct basis was as follows: I. A. Reneau. Broken Bow: L. McCandless, Broken Bow ; J A. Daily, Ansley : J. S. Spooner. Douglas : Jules Haumont, Garfield; MI. R. Foster, Vic- toria; W. A. George, Loup; W. C. Nixon. Grant : A. Pool, Hayes : G. W. Dewey, Lillian ; M. Schneringer, Delight : John Samuelson, Ar- nold: A. C. Towle, Kilfoil; J. C. Hutt, Cliff ; F. Schreyer, Triumph: T. W. Carr, Elim; H. Lomax. Wood River: B. L. Nicholas. Elk Creek : Scott Cooper, Myrtle ; R. J. Mills, Wes- terville, S. Neth, Custer; A. S. Welch, Ber- wyn: B. P. Morris, Algernon. With the pass- ing of this board, mass meeting of supervisors was a thing of the past. In January. 1896, the new board met to resume the business of the county under increased responsibility because of reduced representation.

THE NEW BOARD

The first representatives of the districts were L. W. Cole, district 1: G. W. Dewey, district 2: George E. Carr, district 3; J. C. Hutt, dis- trict 4 : E. B. Whaley, district 5; W. A. George, district 6: B. P. Morris, district 7. These dis- tricts have remained intact without much ger- rymandering until the present time. Under the present division, it was ordered in 1880 that each precinct constitute a road district.

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. NEBRASKA

Accordingly the roads of the county have been maintained by public expense under pre- cinct direction ever since its organization.

BRAND COMMISSIONERS

One of the early officers of the county. and one not in vogue to-day, was a brand com- missioner. The brand commissioner was ap- pointed by the commissioners or supervisors and in each case, so far as the record shows, the brand commissioner was a member of the county board. In the days of cattle when everything was an open range, herds were mixed, and identity of stock was something that occasioned a good deal of trouble. It is charged that a good many people were very careless with the branding irons and often stuck them on to the wrong animal. Some cattle were rebranded. All this caused trouble. Disputes constantly arose. In order that every brand used by a cattle-owner might be known, and that cattle branded with his recorded brand might be protected. the brand commis- sioner was appointed. It can well be imagined that he had his hands full. Anton Abel was the first brand commissioner, having been ap- pointed in 1877. It did not take AAnton very long to get all the glory that the office of brand commissioner could furnish. He was soon satisfied and in the spring of 1878 he resigned and J. D. Haskell was appointed his successor. It is recorded that Haskell was one of the best authorities on brands to be found anywhere in the western part of the state. It is claimed that he could read brands half a mile away on the opposite side of the steer while he was going at a forty-mile clip. Mr. Haskell seems to have given good satis- faction and a great many disputes were amic- ably settled during his tenure of office.

With the passing of the big herds and the closing of the range there was no longer work for the brand commissioner and the office ceased to exist.

COUNTY DIVISION

Dividing the county up into precincts seemed to have gotten the early settlers into the di- vision habit. So, very early in the history of

the county, division sentiment began to show itself. In September, 1879, county division propaganda commenced in earnest. A peti- tion was presented by Phil Dufrand, which asked that the proposition of dividing the county be submitted to the people. The pro- position was to cut a slice off from the east end of the county, which should be twelve miles wide at the south line of the county. and pass in irregular jogs to the north part of the county, the west line of. the proposed county reaching the north line of Custer coun- ty at a point twenty-four miles west of the northeast corner of Custer county. This new county was to be known as Blaine county. The people voted on the proposition, but it was rejected.

FIRST LAND DOCUMENTS

Ever since the settlers landed in the county all kinds of bickering, bartering, trading, and selling have been going on. Somebody has made the statement that every acre of land in Custer county has been sold twice since the county was organized. Whether the statement is correct or not can never be ascertained. It may be interesting to record that the first United States patent for Custer county land was made to Charles A. Nale and filed with the register of deeds December 24. 1878. This patent was for the west one-half of the south- east one-fourth, section 15, and the northwest. northeast lot 1, section 22, township 18, range 17. The first deed was for the same land, made by Charles .A. Nale to F. S. Nightingale, and was filed for record May 1. 1879.

While land has been shunted around from one owner to another in a somewhat promis- cuous way, much of it has been mortgaged. There was a time when it was a popular belief that you could not raise corn or wheat on land that was not mortgaged. The first mort- gage of record in the county, however, was not a farm mortgage but was a mortgage of the Union Pacific Railroad to Cyrus H. Mc- Cormick et al., trustees. This mortgage was filed .August 26, 1878, before any land patents had been granted. The second mortgage which really figures in Custer land transac-

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History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 8

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180