USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 35
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 35
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Elevators-Farmers' Co-operative Association, C. A. Millar Grain Company.
Electric Supplies-All hardware dealers.
Furniture-P. F. Carey, who also does undertaking.
Farmers' Telephone Company, F. A. Howe, president ..
General Merchandise-Houerfield Mercantile Company, and Fred Young, also the "Baskett Store No. 46."
Hotel-The Hackney House, by C. O. Wagner.
Harness Shop-Adolph Kemper.
Hay Dealer-W. N. Pruyn.
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Hardware-Griffin & Co., T. J. Gaughen, V. W. Jansen.
Implements-(See list of lumbermen.)
Ice Dealer-Earl Street.
Jeweler-J. T. Ostry.
Lumber-Cherny & Watson, Farmers Union Company.
Milling-North Bend Milling Company.
Meat Markets-William Buchta, John Buchta.
Millinery-Mrs. Roy Clay.
Newspaper-The North Bend Eagle.
Nursery-The "North Bend Nursery."
Picture Show-The Lyric, by Fred Mehaffey.
Public Library-"The Carnegie."
Photographer-G. C. Armstead.
Physicians-Doctors Hamod, A. E. Hoff, W. E. Doane, S. W. Yates.
Restaurant-Kenney Bakery and one more (proprietor's name unknown). Tailors-R. S. Palmer.
Veterinary Surgeons-Drs. O. O. Wallace, James Thom.
Variety Store-V. W. Vauter.
POSTOFFICE HISTORY
The North Bend postoffice was established early in the spring of 1858, with G. J. Turton as the first postmaster. July 4th that year the first mail arrived over the tri-weekly stage line operated by the North- western Stage Company between Omaha and Fort Kearney, with a sta- tion point at North Bend. The first stagekeeper here was Alexander Morrison. A daily stage line was had in the spring of 1859. when the famous Pike's Peak gold mining excitement set in. Before the postoffice was established at North Bend the few settlers there had to depend on trips by someone to Omaha for their mail facilities.
A money order office has been maintained here since July, 1879, and the first order ever issued from the West Bend postoffice was in favor of George W. Gray for the sum of $5.50 to be paid at Omaha. O. A. Hough was then the postmaster. Up to 1892 more than 11,000 money orders had been issued from this office. Since then the record is not accessible. For a number of years what was known as the "Postal Note" was also issued from postoffices as well as regular money orders.
The postmasters from the establishment of the office to 1892 were: George J. Turton, Charles Dickinson, Thomas Jones, M. Dowling, J. A. Hough, C. W. Hyatt, H. Williams and J. P. Yost. Since the last named the list of postmasters has included these: A. L. Norris succeeded Yost, served one year under President Cleveland's administration. Next was C. A. Long from May 17, 1897, served nine years and one month ; John Cusack then served eight years, ending April 25, 1914, since which time the present postmaster, J. E. Newsom, has been postmaster. This is a third-class postoffice and the last year's business amounted to $5,800. Three rural free delivery routes go out from this postoffice.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY
North Bend has been twice incorporated into a municipality-first, April 20, 1876, as a village and again in 1886 as a "city." The original village officers were as follows: James H. Hough, M. Dowling, Peter Gillis, C. C. Kendal and A. L. Norris, as trustees ; C. W. Hyatt, clerk ;
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Thomas B. Purcell, treasurer; Jerry Dion, assessor; Duncon Smith, marshal.
The following shows who served on the village board up to the time of reincorporating into a "city":
1877-Trustees: J. H. Hough (chairman), Merriam Dowling, A. Foote, D. M. Strong ; clerk, Thomas Love.
1878-Trustees : Milton May (chairman), J. H. Hough, Peter Gillis, C. Cusack, B. P. Rice ; clerk, Thomas Love.
1879-Trustees: J. H. Hough (chairman), J. J. Kelser, John Pur- cell, C. B. Treadwell, C. Cusack; clerk, N. M. Vedder.
1880-Trustees: J. H. Hough (chairman), Peter Gillis, C. Cusack, John Keith, Frank Stouffer ; clerk, H. B. Millard.
1881-Trustees : A. J. Kenyon (chairman), F. F. Doubrava, A. Craw- ford, T. F. Keeton, D. M. Strong ; clerk, R. Spence.
1882-Trustees: James Sloss (chairman), Frank Stouffer, Peter Gil- lis, A. K. Walla, T. F. Keeton ; clerk, T. F. Keeton.
1883-Trustees and clerk same as for 1882.
1884-Trustees: Q. B. Skinner (chairman), A. Crawford, D. A. Hopkins, M. Dowling, A. K. Walla; clerk, C. B. Treadwell.
1885-Trustees; O. B. Skinner (chairman), A. K. Walla, J. Pur- cell, J. B. Foote, H. Williams ; clerk, C. B. Treadwell.
1886-During this year the place was incorporated into a "city" since which time the mayors have been as follows:
1886-Q. B. Skinner. 1887-Q. B. Skinner. 1888-D. M. Strong. 1889-A. L. Norris. 1890-A. L. Norris. 1891-Same as for 1890. 1892-M. Dowling.
1892-M. Dowling, mayor ; J. E. Newsom, clerk.
1893-T. J. Catterell, mayor; C. K. Watson, clerk.
1894-Spencer Day, mayor; C. K. Watson, clerk.
1895-C. W. Dodge, mayor ; C. A. Long, clerk.
1896-Hugh Robinson, mayor; C. A. Long, clerk.
1897-Hugh Robinson, mayor; C. L. Norris, clerk.
1898-J. H. Johnson, mayor; J. C. Newsom, clerk.
1899-Hugh Robinson, mayor; J. C. Newsom, clerk. 1900-C. H. Wolrath, mayor; J. C. Newsom, clerk.
1901-John Cherny, mayor ; J. C. Newsom, clerk. 1902-(No record).
1903-D. M. Dodge, mayor ; Mr. Main, clerk.
1904-T. B. Percell, mayor ; D. M. Dodge, clerk.
1905-T. B. Percell, mayor ; D. M. Dodge, clerk.
1906-A. Harvey, mayor ; D. M. Dodge, clerk. 1907-T. B. Percell, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1908-Alex Thom, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk.
1909-T. B. Percell, mayor; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1910-L. B. McClaren, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1911-William Nichol, mayor; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1912-L. B. McClaren, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk.
1913-L. B. McClaren, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1914-L. B. McClaren, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1915-R. C. Brownell, mayor ; F. D. Howe, clerk. 1916-R. C. Brownell, mayor; J. C. Newsom, clerk. 1917-R. C. Brownell, mayor; C. K. Wilson, clerk. 1918-Alex Thom, mayor; J. C. Newsom, clerk.
1919-Alex Thom, mayor; John Emerson, clerk.
1920-Alex Thom, mayor ; John Emerson, clerk.
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The present (1920) municipal officers are: Mayor, Alex Thom; clerk, J. A. Emerson ; marshal, D. G. Lehmer ; councilmen, C. M. Black, D. F. Carey, Levi Williams, Martin Rees; treasurer, Roy J. Cusack ; physician, Doctor Yates.
The place has a good system of water works, is lighted by an electric plant ; has good streets with paving put down the present year. These improvements have all cost much money but the taxpayers are not find- ing fault, knowing that these things must needs all go with the building of a modern city.
A good city building was provided North Bend in 1890-a two-story brick structure on Seventh and Maple streets, costing $6,000.
The beginning of the fire department in North Bend was in 1880, when the hook and ladder company was formed, as a safeguard against the ravages of the fire fiend. In 1892 the place had hook and ladder and engine company as well as a hose outfit well handled by competent men. At that day the company of volunteer firemen were all well uniformed and drilled for actual, practical service as fire fighters.
Among the greatest fires in North Bend were those of 1885 and 1892. The former occurred in August, when the southeastern block of the busi- ness portion was totally destroyed, but most of the property was well insured, and was soon all rebuilt. The 1892 fire was on September 29th, at 3 o'clock in the morning. This fire destroyed the opera house, First National Bank, postoffice, Star printing office, as well as other buildings on the west side of Sycamore Street, between Sixth and Seventh.
MISCELLANEOUS IMPROVEMENTS, ETC.
The first opera house in North Bend was erected in 1884 a fine, large two-story brick block costing $4,000 and seated nearly 500 persons. It stood on the west side of Sycamore Street and was burned in the month of September. 1892.
The real flour mill industry commenced here by the construction of the roller mills in 1890, with a daily capacity of fifty barrels. The pro- prietors of this plant were York & Thomas, who sold to the firm of Col- lins & Thomas.
First Platte River bridge at North Bend was the result of county bonds issued in 1875 to the amount of $10,000, and again another issue in 1880 of $4,000 was voted by the Precinct of North Bend. The bridge was completed and opened to the public in March, 1881. Its total cost was $15,300. It was built by the Union Pacific Company. Prior to this a ferryboat and later a pontoon bridge was used for passage over the Platte between Dodge and Saunders counties.
The public park of North Bend consists of two full blocks of land, and is only partly improved as yet, but will in time provide the city with a most attractive spot. Then there is a small tract used for park pur- poses known as the Union Pacific Park-land belonging to the railway company.
CHAPTER XXXVIII PLATTE TOWNSHIP
BOUNDARY - ORGANIZATION - SETTLEMENT - EARLY EVENTS - FIRST BIRTH-FIRST DEATH-FIRST MARRIAGE-FIRST SCHOOL-VILLAGE OF AMES - STANDARD CATTLE COMPANY, ETC. - POPULATION - INDIANS.
Platte Township is south of Nickerson and Maple townships and north of the Platte River. It comprises fractional one-half of Congres- sional township 17, ranges 7 and 8, east. The seat of justice of Dodge County, City of Fremont, is situated in the southeastern part of Platte Township, but is now a civil precinct by itself.
The Union Pacific Railroad passes through Platte Township, follow- ing the general course of the Platte River.
POPULATION
The Federal census of 1890 gave the population of this township as 741 ; in 1900 it was 1,358, and in the next ten-year period it decreased to 1,134. The present enumeration's figures have not as yet been made public.
ORGANIZATION
From the organization of Dodge County down to 1875, this part of the county was included in Fremont Precinct, but during that year the Board of County Commissioners created Platte Precinct. Its present bounds were defined and taken on by the adoption of the township organi- zation plan in 1886.
INDIAN SCARE
When this county was first settled, in the early '50s, the Indians were quite numerous and somewhat troublesome. They did not attempt to kill the whites, but bothered them otherwise. It was related by John C. Flor, who settled in Platte Township in the autumn of 1856, that at one time the Indians were thought to have some grievance against their pale- faced brothers and demanded the scalp of his wife, but were finally frightened away by the whites who were present. They stubbornly demanded to look upon the pale-faced woman and agreed to smoke the pipe of peace, after which she shook hands with all and they departed.
SETTLEMENT
The first settlers in what is now known as Platte Township were also the original settlers in Dodge County, as now constituted. This distinc- tion belongs to the McNeal and Beebe families, who emigrated from Wisconsin in 1856. May 25th of that year Mrs. Beebe (mother of the later known Hon. Henry P. Beebe) and her sons, C. C., John, Martin and Charles, together with her son-in-law, Abraham McNeal, and his family, landed in this county and located two miles west of Fremont.
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A former county historical record gives the following concerning the first settlement :
John C. Flor, residing in section 14, located here in the summer of 1856. In those early days the sod house, the log house and shanty had to suffice.
Henry P. Beebe above named, came in September, 1856, to his land in section 4, range 8. He remained and became one of the leading men in Dodge County. He was the first county treasurer, the first to represent the county in the Legislature after its admission into the Union. He was also one of the county judges.
Eli Hager came to the county in the fall of 1856 and for many years resided in section 18 of Platte Township. He came to the country when only seventeen years of age with his parents. That never-to-be-forgotten winter of 1856-57, when the snow was the deepest and average tempera- ture the lowest all over the United States of any season recorded by white men, caught this pioneer man with a blinding storm December 1, 1856. His remains were not found until spring when it was observed that the wolves had eaten most of the flesh from his bones. This left Eli Hager the head of the family and only through a great struggle was he able to succeed in keeping the family together.
Another settler in 1856 was Seth T. Marvin, who located a mile and one-half west of where Fremont now stands. Later he moved into town and was indeed one of the incorporators of the town site. Subsequently he was accidentally drowned in the river near here.
Three miles to the west of Fremont settled Charles Waldo and George Peck. They were "squatters" and only remained two years.
In 1857 John D. Dodge came to where Ames, Nebraska, was later located. He originally owned the land later owned by the Standard Cat- tle Company.
The same time George Dane located north of Fremont. He served as a Union soldier in time of the Civil war. His was among the strangest cases on record. He was shot in the lower part of his heart by a rebel bullet, and carried the same the remainder of his years.
John Farnsworth settled in Timberville in 1857 and platted that vil- lage. He resided here many years but finally sold and moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. Another who settled at the same point was William Payne.
Thomas Knoell, of section 5, range 8, came to the county with his parents in 1859. The family were renters for five years, then bought land. Scott Davis came the same time as the Knoell family.
Henry K. Goff located in section 11, range 8, in 1866. He purchased his farm a year after coming to the county.
Andrew J. Howard settled in section 13 in 1868; Harlow Goff, George Lombard, Frank Griswold, Edward Rohr all settled here before 1873. Charles W. Sheldon came to Platte Township in the autumn of 1881, buying a quarter section of wild land.
EARLY EVENTS
The first birth in Platte Township among white people was also the first in the county. Twin girls were born to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham McNeal July 8, 1956. The first death of a white person here was that of Stedman Hager, who perished in the fearful storm of December, 1856, his body being partly devoured by wolves. The remains were found along the bank of Platte River the following spring.
(By Courtesy of Blair Tribune)
THOROUGHBRED CATTLE
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Marriage No. 1 in the township was that uniting John D. Dodge to Miss Dickerson.
The pioneer school was the term taught in District No. 2, in a log cabin at Timberville. While taught in a private house, it was a public school. The teacher was Miss Lottie Heaton, who later became Mrs. L. H. Rogers. This school was taught in 1860.
AMES STATION
This small railway station on the line of the Union Pacific Road was named for Oaks Ames, the great Union Pacific Railroad builder. There was a time when Ames was of much more commercial importance than it has been of later years. It is situated near the site of old Timberville, which faded away with the building of the railroad and in fact never did have much business aside from the postoffice kept by John Dodge. The chief business at Ames came from the offices and yards of the great Standard Cattle Company, located at that point. Its population is now about 100. Years ago this was the point where shippers unloaded, fed and watered stock before entering the Omaha markets. But with faster shipping facilities, this feature of stock-shipping was eliminated, hence this work was all done away with at Ames. Then the activities of the Standard Cattle Company were many years the real source of business at Ames. See an account of this cattle company below.
THE STANDARD CATTLE COMPANY
In 1886 the Standard Cattle Company bought at Ames station, almost 5,000 acres of land, and soon added enough more to make a total of 6,300 acres. The object of this company was to feed range cattle from its immense stock. ranches in Montana and Wyoming. A barn was built to fully shelter 3,000 head of cattle. The first six years of the operation of this cattle company they shipped and marketed after feed- ing at Ames, 37,000 head of cattle; average days fed, 201; average weight when received, 986 pounds; average when sold, 1,217 pounds. Total quantity of grain fed, 103,919,307 pounds, or 1,855,495 bushels, equal to 57 bushels, per head-16 pounds a day each animal for 201 days feeding.
The farmers of Dodge County were greatly benefited by the increased price paid for corn which amounted to more than 3 cents a bushel above the regular market shipping rate.
ยท The company engaged fifty-three men for the first six years of the company's history. This company was made up largely of Boston capi- talists, and their worthy manager was R. M. Allen, of Massachusetts.
History of Washington County
INTRODUCTION
As the changes of less than three score years are contemplated, one can scarcely realize or comprehend that the wonderful results of Time's marvel-working hand are the achievements of a period so brief as to be within the memory-almost of the present generation.
Let us turn back, as it were, the leaves of Time's great book to but sixty years ago and the stranger would have gazed upon a landscape of rare beauty ; selected by the Omaha, the Sioux and the Pawnee Indian tribes as their camping and hunting grounds, with that singular appre- ciation of the beautiful which Nature made an instinct in the savage. These vast and rolling prairies were as green then as now; the prairie flowers bloomed thickly and diffused their fragrance as bountifully. We are in the haunt of the redmen, with scarcely a trace of civilization. But what a contrast! Then all was as Nature had formed it, with its varie- gated hues of vegetation; in winter a dreary snow-mantled desert, in summer a perfect paradise of flowers. Now all traces of the primitive are obliterated ; in place of the tall prairie grass and tangled underbrush, one beholds the rich waving fields of golden grain and an almost endless sea of ripening corn. In place of the dusky warrior's rude cabins are the substantial and frequently elegant dwellings of the thrifty farmers, and the "iron horse," swifter than the nimble deer, treads the pathway so recently the trail of the red man. Then the sickle of fire annually cut away the wild herbage and drove to its death the stag, now it is the home of the cereals and nourishes on its broad bosom thousands of tons of the staple products of the great commonwealth of Nebraska. Then the storm drove the wolf to its hiding place ; now the blast drives the herd of the husbandman to a warm and comfortable quarter. Indeed, the trans- formation is complete.
In place of an occasional steamboat stopping on the western shore of the Missouri to "wood-up," now one sees dozens of freight and passenger trains heavily laden with valuable freight and wide-awake passengers going and coming hither and von. What was sixty years ago styled in the common school geographies as "The Great American Desert," includ- ing, Nebraska, is now known as the Central Garden Spot of the West.
Ten years before the Civil war Washington County was a howling wilderness-no settlers to speak of ; no churches or schools ; no towns and cities ; no railroads, all was yet one green, glad solitude. How the trans- formation has been wrought, the various steps by which the wilderness has been changed into habitations for civilized men, is the plain duty of the local historian to show in the following pages, with the hope that his efforts will be duly appreciated, and that the facts contained therein may be of interest, and the lessons of the past may be instructive to each and every reader.
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CHAPTER I
TOPOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS AND ORGANIZATION
LOCATION-BOUNDARY-TOPOGRAPHY-NATURAL RESOURCES-COUNTY ORGANIZATION-FIRST CENSUS-PRESENT RESOURCES WITHIN THE COUNTY-PRESENT CIVIL TOWNSHIPS NAMED.
Washington County is on the eastern border line of Nebraska, is bounded on the north by Burt County, on the east by the Missouri River, with Harrison County, Iowa, at its eastern shore, Douglas County at the south and Dodge County on its west. It comprises 400 square miles or equal to 256,000 acres. Its latitude and longitude will be shown by the chapter on County Organization.
The surface of this county is of a diversified character; about one- third of its domain is composed of beautiful river and creek bottom- lands, while 10 per cent is very broken and hilly bluff-land. The remain- der of the county is either upland or rolling prairie. The valley on the western side of the Missouri River runs from three to seven miles in width. Those along the famous Elkhorn are from three to six miles wide. Bell Creek flows from north to south through this county and empties into the Elkhorn, and this valley is from one to three miles wide. There are numerous other smaller streams within Washington County, including the beautiful Brown, Little Bell, Deer, Fish, Long, New York, North Papillion, South, Stewart, Turkey and Walnut creeks. Every township in the county has running water within its borders, making it a delightful region for agriculture and stock-raising. The uplands run from 50 to 150 feet above the bottoms and are usually a deep dark and very fertile loam soil. Along the creeks and rivers the soil is for the most part a dark, sandy alluvium.
Originally, the prairies in this section of Nebraska were covered with a luxuriant growth of blue-joint grass, but since the development of the county the grasses common to this section are all grown in immense amounts, including alfalfa which of recent years has become the most profitable and popular grass grown in the county. Red top, timothy, blue grass and clover all flourish here well.
Timber has never been known to be very heavy within the county. Although along the streams, at an early day considerable good timber was found. The varieties included cottonwood, ash, elm, willow, soft maple, oak, hickory, and the two walnut varieties. But very early the pioneer settler out on the upland and prairies saw the wisdom in planting out artificial groves of box-elder, cottonwood and other trees. The census of 1880 shows the county had about 1,895 acres of forest trees and twenty-five miles of hedges within its borders. Sandstone and brick clay are the only minerals of any note found in Washington County. Hence it is considered almost exclusively an agricultural county-this, of course, includes grain, stock-raising, fruit, vegetables and poultry, all coming in for their share at this writing toward making up the sum total of farm wealth. The chapter on Agriculture will make clear some of the state- ments contained herein.
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Much relative to the geological formation found in Washington County will be given in the State History section of these volumes.
ORGANIZATION OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thomas B. Cuming, of Iowa, became acting governor of the Ter- ritory of Nebraska on the death of Governor Burt, who passed from earth October 18, 1854. One of his first acts was to issue a proclamation divid- ing the territory into counties. Among the several counties was Washing- ton, whose boundaries were fixed as follows: "Commencing at a point on the Missouri River one mile north of Omaha City; thence due west to the dividing line ridge between the Elkhorn and Missouri rivers; thence northwesterly twenty miles to the Elkhorn River; thence eastwardly to a point on the Missouri River two miles above Fort Calhoun; thence southerly along said river to the place of beginning."
There was only one voting place within the new county-Florence postoffice-with judges of election as follows: Anselum Arnold, Charles Howe and William Bryant.
The first census was taken under acting Governor Cuming in Octo- ber, 1854, and it was the base for apportionment and one councilman and two representatives in the assembly of the territory were granted this county. James C. Mitchell was chosen councilman and Anselum Arnold and A. J. Smith members of the lower house.
The first legislature convened in Omaha January 16, 1855. On Feb- ruary 22, 1855, an act was passed reorganizing Washington County with boundaries as follows: "Commencing at a point on the Missouri River two miles north of Florence; thence north following the meanderings of the Missouri River to a point in a direct line twenty-four miles, from place of beginning; thence west to the dividing ridge betwen the Elk- horn and Missouri rivers, or to the eastern boundary line of Dodge County ; thence south along said line twenty-four miles; thence east to the place of beginning."
By the same act Fort Calhoun was made the county seat ; the organiza- tion of the county was then completed by the appointment by the gover- nor of the following county officers: Stephen Cass, probate judge ; George W. Neville, clerk; George Martin, treasurer, and Thomas J. Allen, sheriff.
Washington County was placed in a judicial district made up of Washington and Burt counties, with Judge James Bradley as presiding judge. This was in 1854, but in 1856 Washington County together with Douglas, Dodge, Washington, Dakota and Burt counties into one judicial district, presided over at first by Judge Fenner Ferguson.
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