USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 12
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 12
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When the new (present) courthouse was constructed, its specifi- cations included a jail situated on the upper floor, as it remains at this time. It is a fine, sanitary jail where prisoners may be safely kept and with less expense than in a separate building.
COUNTY POOR FARM
No better index can be had of the true character of a people than to note its respect for its departed dead, and its care for its unfortunate poor. As the county settled up with a mixed population the poor classes came in as well as those in better circumstances, and by 1884 it was decided to not try to care for the paupers of Dodge County by township appropriations, etc., but the commissioners purchased a Poor Farm in section 26, township 18, range 8 (Nickerson civil township). The place mentioned had been leased by the county several years before that date and partly sustained the pauper element in the county. In 1887 the total number of paupers of this county was eighteen. The county farm just named is about four miles to the north and a little east of Fremont. The inmates who are able to labor are supposed to work a part of their time, but no task-master is placed over these unfortunate men and women, but all are treated well and given good homes so long as they remain citizens of the county. The present condition of the farm and the pauper element of Dodge County is in keeping with the times in which we live. Each supervisor district is looked after by its supervisor, so far as caring for the unfortunate poor is concerned. The last (1919) report of the Poor Farm shows there are only eight men and two women inmates in the Dodge County Poor House. J. W. Sexson was steward of the Poor Farm many years and was succeeded in January, 1919, by the present steward, J. H. Randall, who is proving the right man in the right place, as well as his wife, who is present stewardess.
A report made April 15, 1920, shows the following concerning the Poor Farm and its belongings :
The invoice shows 44 head of cattle, valued at $2,405; 16 hogs, valued at $595; 10 horses, valued at $1.125; 4 harness, valued at $120; 9 tons of hay, valued at $32; oats and corn, valued at $774; hogs slaughtered, valued at $315; merchandise on hand, valued at $25; mis- cellaneous, valued at $123 ; machinery, valued at $1,017.
The disbursements for the Poor Farm for the last year were: Dry goods, etc., $214; coal and oil, $664; hardware, $111; groceries, $929; lumber, $109; labor and hauling, $380; veterinary, $241; repairs, $248; live stock, $256; corn and hay, etc., $2,390; meats, $56; ice used, $12; windmill, $212; drugs, $35; harness, $43; salary Steward, $1,400. The total disbursements over the receipts of the farm were $3,547.23.
DODGE COUNTY OFFICIALS-1920
Treasurer-Joseph Roberts
Deputy Treasurer-M. H. Woslager Bookkeeper-Charlotte Lake
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Stenographer-Hanna Ohlson Clerk-W. E. Barz Deputy Clerk-H. J. Arundel
Stenographer-Allie P. Wegner Judge-Waldo Wintersteen
Clerk of County Court-Marie Carstens
Registrar of Deeds-Ernest Hahn
Deputy Registrar of Deeds-Effie H. Hahn
Clerk District Court-Peter T. Mitterling
Deputy District Clerk-Kittie Armstead
County Assessor-John O'Connor
Record Clerk-Georgia O'Connor
County Attorney-J. C. Cook
Stenographer-Pauline Kendrick
Superintendent-J. E. Marsh
Clerk of Superintendent-Esther Knapp
Sheriff-W. C. Condit
Deputy Sheriff-W. A. Johnson
Stenographer-Marguerite Haven
Surveyor-W. M. Sanders
Physician-F. E. Calkins, M. D.
Highway Commissioner-W. M. Sanders
Superintendent Courthouse-L. G. Windsor
Steward Poor Farm-J. H. Randall
Purchasing Agent-A. W. Murphy
Distributing Agent-H. J. Arundel
COUNTY OFFICERS' SALARIES PER ANNUM
County Treasurer $3.000
Precinct Assessors, per day . . $ 5
Deputy Treasurer.
1,500
County Attorney . 1,800
Two clerks. 2,000
Stenographer 900
Clerk of District Court. 3,000
900
County Superintendent. 2,400
Deputy Clerk
Stenographer 900
Proofreader
60
County Surveyor, per day and mileage
8
Deputy Clerk
1,500
County Highway Commis- sioner
1,800
County Judge.
2,500
County Sheriff
2,000
Clerk of County Court.
1,200
Proofreader
200
Stenographer 600
Registrar of Deeds.
2,000
Steward Poor Farm. 1,200
Deputy Registrar.
900
Stewardess Poor Farm 300
County Assessor.
700
Custodian Courthouse. 1,380
Chief Clerk, per day (four) .
4 County Supervisors, per day
Clerk, per day (three) .
3 and mileage added. 5
County Clerk.
2,800
Stenographer
1,200
Deputy Sheriff 1,200
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FOR 1920
In after years it may be of no little interest to know who has charge of the affairs of county government in this county, hence this list of supervisors is inserted in this connection, the same constituting the mem- bers in 1920:
M. A. Uehling, Hooper: District No. 1-Logan, Hooper and Nickerson.
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
P. J. Flanagan, Snyder : District No. 2-Everett, Cuming and Pebble. F. J. Stecher, Dodge: District No. 3-Webster, Pleasant Valley and Union.
Fred Scott, North. Bend: District No. 4 North Bend, Cotterell and Ridgeley. Maurice Nelson, Fremont : District No. 5-Maple, Platte and
Elkhorn.
A. W. Murphy, Fremont : District No. 6-Second and Third Wards, Fremont.
Oscar Widman, Fremont : District No. 7-First and Fourth Wards. Chairman-A. W. Murphy; Clerk, W. E. Barz.
Each Supervisor has direct charge of all matters within his respective district.
CHAPTER VII
THE RAILROADS OF DODGE COUNTY
(BY L. D. RICHARDS)
VALUE OF RAILROADS-THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY AND ITS CONSTRUC- TION-LIST OF NEBRASKA LAND GRANTS-SPEECHES MADE IN STARTING THE CONSTRUCTION-WORK OF GENERAL DODGE-INTER- ESTING INCIDENTS-COST TO DODGE COUNTY-OLD SIOUX CITY AND PACIFIC-OLD FREMONT, ELKHORN AND MISSOURI VALLEY-DIVERG- ING BRANCHES-THE BUILDING OF THE LATEST RAILROAD, THE "BURLINGTON" FROM LINCOLN TO SIOUX CITY, IOWA. MILEAGE.
While it is true that many of the first settlements in the West were effected before the railroad was built through that section of the country, it is also true that no great growth attended such settlements until the shrill whistle of the locomotive echoed and reverberated over forest and plains. The pioneers of Dodge County were not "blind spinners" stopping wherever they found it most convenient, but they very wisely surveyed the landscape, the geography and topography of the county and concluded that in the near future the West was to have railway trans- portation, and with a prophetic eye looked ahead to a time when the Mississippi and Missouri valleys were to be connected with iron highways through the West to the far away Pacific Ocean. When that time came they felt that the Platte Valley was the only natural course for a railway from Omaha to the Great Salt Lake Valley to take, hence with no small degree of certainty they cast their stakes within what has come to be Dodge County, its county seat now having come to be quite a large rail- road center.
The settlement was made in 1856-57 and for another decade or more the county was without railway connections east or west, north or south. This had been unexpectedly put off on account of the coming on of the Civil war between 1861 and 1866. During 1866 the activities along the Union Pacific road were indeed almost magic in their accomplishments. It marked a new historic era in this county and Nebraska in general. Hundreds of familes wended their way hither and home-building was seen on every hand.
THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
The first railroad to cross the domain of Dodge County, Nebraska, was the Union Pacific. The subjoined gives a short general and local history of its construction :
The greatest stride ever accomplished in railroad building (consider- ing the times in which it was accomplished) was when the Union Pacific was constructed from Council Bluffs, Iowa, west to Ogden, Utah, where it connected with the Central Pacific line from San Francisco, California.
This road had been contemplated back in the fifties and President Lincoln stood on the bluffs on the east side of the Missouri River at
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RAILROAD YARDS AT FREMONT
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Council Bluffs, in 1859 and really selected the point at which this road should cross the river, the same being where now stands that wonderful iron and steel structure over which daily run so many freight and pas- senger trains.
By an act of Congress in the fifties, millions of acres of land were given to various corporations to construct steam railroads across this continent. These roads as later known, included the Union Pacific, the Kansas Pacific and other trunk lines from east to west. The aggre- gate of lands in Nebraska granted to the Union Pacific Company was 5,926,400 acres. All were contiguous to this line of railway and in Lincoln County the acreage was greater than in any other county in this state-690,000 acres.
The Union Pacific lands were placed at prices and on terms that brought them within the reach of any man who was disposed to work and had energy and industry and desired to secure a good farm home. The range of prices for these railroad lands was indeed wide in the extreme. They were fixed according to location, soil and general surroundings. They could be purchased at from $2.00 to $10.00 per acre. They were sold on ten years' time, with one-tenth down, the remainder in equal annual payments at six per cent interest, and when parties wished to pay cash down, a discount of ten per cent was made. By 1880 a large share of the best of these lands had been put under cultivation. Land explor- ing tickets were sold at low rates, while the actual buyer was transported free of charge. Also liberal discounts were made for shipping emigrant goods. Immigrant houses, as they were called, were provided at a mod- erate cost, to such as were not able to immediately settle on their purchase.
It is needless to go into further detail concerning the construction of the Union Pacific Railway, so far as its original Congressional Bill is concerned, suffice to remark that after running the gauntlet of postpone- ments and amendments it was finally adopted, and became law, July, 1862. December 2, 1863, Peter A. Dey, chief engineer, received a tele- gram from New York, announcing that President Lincoln had author- ized him to formally break ground, and that it had been decided to make Omaha the initial point of the proposed road across the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.
Business men and citizens of the towns of Council Bluffs and Omaha (for they were neither but small places) were hurriedly called together and planned for properly celebrating the event of commencing to build the much talked of and long delayed Union Pacific Railroad. The hour was fixed for two o'clock p.m. The day was pleasant and the sun shone brightly. Fully one thousand people were present at the spot named for digging the first shovelful of earth. Flags fluttered, people cheered, cannon boomed both on the eastern and western sides of the "Big Muddy" and "Old Glory" never floated more proudly than then to the pioneers of the "Missouri Slope." Rev. T. B. Lemon opened the exercises by prayer to Almighty God for His blessings on the undertakings of finite man. Then the chief engineer, assisted by Augustus Koontz, of Omaha, George Francis Train, of New York City, Dr. Atchison, of the Western Stage Company, and William E. Harvey, territorial auditor, Nebraska, with picks in hand, commenced to clear the ground preparatory to removing the shovelful of ground, which was done midst the loud and long cheers of the assembled throng, which was only drowned by the echo of the artillery on either side of the Missouri River. Following came the appro- priate addresses of Governor Saunders, Mayor Kennedy, A. J. Popple- ton, George Francis Train and others.
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Preliminary work was begun and a call for one million ties for immediate use, and three million more within two years was received with ridicule, and no one believed that such a quantity could be obtained within so short a time, but the company declared they "must be furnished by specified time." Good prices were offered and soon the railway ties began pouring in.
Some grading was executed in the autumn of 1864, but not until July 10, 1865, that the first rail of the system was laid along the bottoms between Cut-off Lake and the grade leading through the hills of Omaha. It was during that month that locomotive No. 1, named "General Sherman," arrived, having been freighted through up the Missouri River by steamboat. The second engine was named "General McPherson."
THE WORK OF GENERAL DODGE
To the late General Dodge of Civil war fame belongs the credit of forwarding the work, for he was the chief engineer in the construction of this great national thoroughfare. He once stated to the eastern capi- talists that: "During the entire construction of the road, a relentless, determined war had been waged all along the line by tribes of the plains and no peace found until we had passed the hostile country and got beyond their reach.
"Every mile had to be made within range of muskets and there was not a moment of security. In making surveys numbers of men some of them the most able and promising were killed ; and during our construc- tion were run off by the hundreds; I may say by the thousands. As one difficulty after another was overcome in the engineering, running and construction departments a new era in railroading was inaugurated. Each day taught us a lesson by which we profited the next. Our advances and improvements on the art of railway construction were marked by the progress of the work."
It will be remembered that none of the Iowa roads had yet reached the Missouri River or Council Bluffs, hence all machinery and material, provisions and fuel, as well as men, had to be transferred at St. Louis to boats which were then run to Council Bluffs and Omaha. Railroad ties (on account of treeless Nebraska) had to be brought a long route and cost the company as high as $2.50 each. Thus it will be seen that the construction of this iron highway was very great and was built under adverse circumstances. All through from Omaha to the Rocky Moun- tains track-laying averaged about four miles per day. No such record in the world's history had ever equalled this. Old Civil war soldiers, for the main, were the laborers who performed this magic feat.
AN INTERESTING INCIDENT
.
The pages of the Omaha Herald, November 2, 1866, gave the fol- lowing: The Platte River is bridged at Cottonwood Springs, Nebraska. This bridge would be valuable for taking over ties and telegraph poles and not less important would draw travel from Nebraska City. It passes over four channels, three of which are shallow and filled in and securely "spiled." The fourth was 400 feet wide with a swift current fifteen feet deep. This was crossed by twenty pontoon boats.
The Omaha Republican of May 10, 1866, congratulates the traveling public because the track is laid to the Missouri River on the east side
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and passengers can now get directly on the ferry-boat, missing the dis- agreeable staging from Council Bluffs.
A regular train service was established early in 1866 and trains were running to Bridger's Pass by October, 1868. The first conductor on the Union Pacific was Grove Watson, deceased, and the second Augustus A. Egbert. The first station at Omaha was built near the present smelting works and B. T. C. Morgan was appointed agent January 1, 1866. By September, 1867, the great highway had become progressive enough to announce that "On and after next Sunday" all trains, passenger and freight, would run on Sundays as on week days. On May 20, 1868, it was announced through the Herald that passenger fare had been reduced from 10 cents to 71/2 cents a mile. By this change the fare to Cheyenne, which had been $51.50, became $38.50.
Among the earliest local officials of the Union Pacific Railroad after its formal inauguration were: Webster Snyder, general superintendent ; soon he was followed by Samuel B. Reed and later by C. G. Hammond. H. M. Hoxie, assistant superintendent ; J. H. Congdon, general manager ; S. H. H. Clark, general freight agent ; Thomas L. Kimball, general pas- senger and ticket agent ; T. E. Sickles, chief engineer, and William Huff, master mechanic.
The Union Pacific Railroad, constructed by the United States Gov- ernment, cost Dodge County nothing, except the right-of-way, depot grounds, etc. Its main line from Omaha enters the county in Elkhorn Township, passes through Fremont and North Bend and so on up the great Platte Valley. The total main line mileage in Dodge County is twenty-five miles.
The Fremont Tribune files show that the first train service over the Union Pacific Railroad was had at Fremont in January, 1866, and the old Sioux City & Pacific line (now a part of the Northwestern system) made junction with the Union Pacific at Fremont February 12, 1868. In passing it may be added that the Western Union Telegraph line reached Fremont in 1860 and the shoe shop of Thomas Colson & Son was the first office, the younger Colson (Sireno B.) being operator and later the first agent of the Union Pacific, and reported the defeat and victories in Civil war days in Fremont.
THE SIOUX CITY & PACIFIC RAILROAD
The present officials of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Com- pany have upon request of the publishers kindly furnished the following narrative concerning the construction of the Sioux City & Pacific Rail- road, which is now a part of the Northwestern system :
Under the provisions of the act of 1862 providing for the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, that company was authorized and required to construct a railroad and telegraph line from Sioux City to a connec- tion with the Iowa branch of the Union Pacific Railroad whenever there should have been a line of railroad completed through Minnesota or Iowa to Sioux City. By the act of July 2, 1864, amending the original Union Pacific act the Union Pacific Railroad was released from the con- struction of said branch and any company organized or to be organized under the laws of Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota or Nebraska as should by the President of the United States be designated or approved for that purpose, was authorized to construct said branch and to receive lands and subsidy bonds to the same extent that the Union Pacific Railroad would have acquired for the construction thereof under the act of 1862.
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
It was further provided that if a railroad should not be completed to Sioux City across Iowa or Minnesota within eighteen months, then the company which should have been so designated might commence, con- tinue and complete the construction of said Sioux City branch.
The Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Company was organized at Dubuque, Iowa, August 1, 1864, for the purpose of constructing the said branch and was by the President of the United States designated for that purpose. The corporators and first board of directors were Platt Smith, L. B. Crocker, M. K. Jesup, James F. Wilson, A. W. Hub- bard, Charles A. Lambard, Frederick Schuchardt, William B. Allison and John I. Blair. John I. Blair was the first president of this company and W. W. Hamilton, secretary. The Sioux City & Pacific Company passed under control of Messrs. Blair, Ames, Lambard, Crocker, Ber- tram, Glidden and Williams and other stockholders in the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad and the money for the construction of the road was subscribed by them and their associates.
Construction was begun in the spring of 1867. The 61/2 miles built by the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad Company, con- necting Missouri Valley Junction with California Junction, was finished in August of that year. Track laying began at California Junction in September, 1867. Thirty-six miles were completed by the first day of December of that year and 491/2 miles before the first of January, 1868. The track was completed into Sioux City in February, 1868. From California Junction to Fremont the line was finished in February, 1869. The cars were ferried across the Missouri River during the summer months and crossed on a temporary bridge during the winter months up to the fall of 1883, when the bridge was opened that had been built over the river. L. Burnett was the engineer in charge of construction and the superintendent of the road to January 1, 1878.
The Sioux City & Pacific Company received from the United States under its congressional grant, 42,500 acres of land and from the State of Nebraska through a consolidation with the Nebraska Air Line Railroad, 46,000 acres. It received from the United States Government a loan of 6 per cent bonds to the extent of $16,000 per mile of road constructed from Sioux City to Fremont. It issued its own first mortgage bonds to the amount of $1,628,000. The earnings of the road not being sufficient to pay the interest on these first mortgage bonds, the avails of the two land grants and the sale of town lots along the line were used to make up the deficiency. After these assets were exhausted the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River and Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska companies, through loans and other methods of assistance, made up the deficit until the sale of these last-named railroads in 1884. In 1880 the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska and the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River companies acquired by purchase, from the individual stockholders, over 90 per cent of the stock of the Sioux City company. This stock was in the treasury of the Iowa roads at the time of their purchase by the Chicago & North- western in 1884, and thus became the property of the Chicago & North- western Railway Company.
In addition to the foregoing article on this railway, it may be inter- esting to know something of a local company that figured in the matter at an early date :
To secure the line from Sioux City to Fremont via California Junc- tion, bonds were issued to the amount of $50,000, running twenty years. This line was the immediate cause of the reduction of freights from
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Dodge County to the Missouri River and all points to the east of this. Prior to its construction the Union Pacific company charged 12 cents to carry a bushel of grain from Fremont to the river, a distance of only forty-five miles. The origin of. this road came about in this manner : In 1867, a local company was formed and received a charter from the state in June of that year. This company did not propose to build the road but desired to shape its matters so that the lands belonging to Dodge County as well as Washington County, could be turned over to some man or competent corporation, who was finally John I. Blair. The incorpora- tors of the company which was named the "Air Line Railway" were chiefly state officers and members of the Legislature. The bill providing for this road was drawn up by Judge Dundy, of Falls City, Nebraska ; Thomas Kennard, then secretary of state; J. H. Bowen, clerk of the House; Thomas Majors, of Peru, Nebraska ; William Daily, representa- tive from Peru: Henry P. Beebe, of Dodge County, and Jesse Davis, president ; Henry P. Beebe, vice president ; J. H. Bowen, secretary, and Thomas Kennard, treasurer, being the officers. Fifty sections of land were grated for the purpose of building the road from the Missouri River to Fremont.
FREMONT, ELKHORN & MISSOURI VALLEY RAILROAD
This company was organized at Fremont, Nebraska, in January, 1869, to construct a line up the Elkhorn Valley, which was accomplished, and later it became a part of the Chicago & Northwestern system, as it is today. It was another one of the railroads promoted by John I. Blair, in 1869-70. To give a more comprehensive understanding of the causes that led to the building of this railroad, it should be stated that when Nebraska was admitted to the Union in 1867, there was a provision by which this commonwealth was to have 500,000 acres of the public domain and this was to be distributed by the Legislature of the state for internal improvements. A greater portion, of course, went toward the construc- tion of railway lines. Among such lines was the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri road.
At first, a local or home company was incorporated, the articles of incorporation of which were prepared by Robert Kittle of Fremont, who was backed by almost the entire community, all being desirous of secur- ing another railroad line. In September, 1869, public meetings were held and much interest was manifested.
From old paper files it is learned that November 5, 1869, the bells of Fremont were ringing loudly ; all its flags and banners were given to the breeze, and a large procession, composed of all her leading citizens, both male and female, wended its way down "E" Street to Second, thence to the spot where the first ground was to be broken for the Elk- horn branch of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad. The chairman for the occasion was E. H. Barnard, who mounted a wagon and spoke at length to the assembly.
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