USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 38
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 38
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SECOND ANNUAL PREMIUM LISTS
Within the handsome second annual premium lists of the Washington County Agricultural Society (1920) appeared this announcement, and is indeed worthy of preservation in the county's annals :
"Washington County is recognized as one of the richest counties in Nebraska. In soil, rain fall and general climate conditions it is not excelled by any county in our state or in adjoining states. The farmers of Washington County are progressive, alert, and at least equal in their methods and achievements to those of any other locality in the great Middle West.
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"It is therefore desirable that once every year the splendid products of our county should be displayed in a county fair, not in a spirit of boasting of what has been accomplished, but rather in the spirit of emulation with a desire and aim at greater achievement and perfection.
"A fair rightly conducted is educational. If by comparison we find ourselves in the front rank in our line of endeavor, we know that our methods are right and we emphasize them; if to improve our own methods.
"The Washington County Agricultural Society was organized for the purpose of stimulating greater interest in the almost unlimited agri- cultural possibilities of our county, to improve the live stock and other products of the farm, to promulgate better methods in food and feed conservation, to promote domestic science and art-craft and to foster and encourage anything that will tend to the highest possible develop-
CATTLE
ment of the resources of our county and thus promote the prosperity of its people.
"With all these ends in view we will hold our second annual fair at Arlington, September 22, 23 and 24, 1920. You are cordially invited to attend and participate in the exhibition. The premiums herein offered are not intended as the main object of exhibiting your products or work, but merely as a recognition of its merits as compared with those of your neighbors.
"We realize the need of co-operation. A few cannot innaugurate a successful fair. It requires the co-operation of all the 'live wires' in the county. Counting on your participation, we hope to have a fair worthy of the name 'Washington County.'"
COMPARATIVE AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS
According to the assessor's books for 1880 the following returns on agricultural products for Washington County were made: Spring wheat, 18,165 acres, 217,980 bushels; corn, 35,876 acres, 1,400,000 bushels : bar- ley, 205 acres, 2,460 bushels; oats, 5,016 acres; 235,750 bushels; buck- wheat, 66 acres raised 585 bushels ; sorghum, 106 acres produced 10,357
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gallons of syrup; flax, 211 acres, 1,776 bushels; broom corn, 9 tons ; potatoes (Irish), 543 acres yielding 39,706 bushels.
The number of fruit trees in the county in 1879 was 387, mostly apple, pear, plum and cherry trees. Number grape vines, 13,000 vines.
ASSESSOR'S STATISTICS IN 1920
According to the assessor's books and reports for 1920 the following figures have been compiled for Washington County :
Yearling steers, 2,998; yearling heifers, 3,079; two-year-old steers, 1,092; two-year-old heifers, 2,060; three-year-old steers, 52; cows and calves, 1,559; dairy cows, 1,267 ; milk cows, 5,973; bulls, 573; fat cattle, 2,329.
Horses-Yearling colts, 464; two-year-old colts, 428; three-year-old
THRESHING
colts, 399; work horses, 5,194; range horses, 118; ponies and plugs, 1,480; stallions, 19; mules, 1,068.
Hogs-All ages and weights, 25,879.
Sheep and Goats-1,997.
Stands of Honey Bees-435.
Poultry-Dozens on hand, 11,791; dogs owned, 1,317; automobiles, 2,062.
Bushels of wheat, 6,590; bushels of corn, 360,315; oats, 120,665; potatoes, 816 bushels; alfalfa hay, 5,718 tons.
Total actual value in county, $9,266,275.
Assessed value of all property in county, $1,853,255.
REGISTERED FARM NAMES
About 1910 the Legislature of Nebraska enacted a law ordering the county clerks of the state to keep in their offices a record book in which, for a small fee, any land-owner in the county might select a name for their farm, providing it was not already selected by another within the county-no two farms in a county to have the same name. In this county the following have taken advantage of this wise provision:
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July 1, 1911, the first farm name was recorded in Washington County-that of S. W. Stewart in Lincoln Township, in section 13, township 18, range 10, the same to be styled "Cloverdale Farm."
"Pleasant Dale Stock Farm," September 11, 1911, in De Soto Town- ship, in section 20, township 29, range 18, by W. D. Hughes.
"Green Valley Stock Farm," November 13, 1911, by A. D. Reeh & Sons, in the north half of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 13, township 18, range 10.
"Pine Valley Farm," by Henry Rohwer, in Calhoun Township, sec- tion 5, township 17, range 12, on December 21, 1911.
"Oak Hill Farm," December 28, 1912, by J. A. Dowden, in section 24, township 18, range 11.
"Woodlawn Farm," by Leslie E. Cooper, March 20, 1914, in Arling- ton Township, section 25, township 17, range 10.
"Hillcrest," by R. A. Davies, April 22, 1914, in Arlington Township, section 18, township 17, range 10.
"The Oaks," by J. A. Dixon, in section 18, township 17, range 10.
"Pleasant View Farm," May 2, 1914, by C. L. Husk, in section 16, township 19, range 11.
"Golden Gate," in Arlington Township, in section 20, township 17, range 10, by Cortez U. Cook.
"Walnut Grove Farm," June 5, 1915, by Peter Peterson, in Richland Township, in sections 24, 25 and 26, of township 17, range 11.
"Fairview Farm," by Jens Christensen, in Blair Township, in section 28, township 18, range 11, September 18, 1915.
"Valley View Farm," in Blair Township, by Jens L. Petersen, in section 10, township 18, range 11, August 31, 1915.
"Plain View Farm," April 9, 1918, by John M. Compton, in section 27, township 19, range 11.
"College View Farm," by Nels Nelson, section 22, township 11, range 18.
THE GRANGE MOVEMENT
The Grange or Patrons of Husbandry Order which spread from coast to coast in the '70s and '80s, and was the greatest order ever yet supported by the thrifty farmers of the United States. In Washington County this order was organized in the autumn of 1873, when Washing- ton Grange No. 130 was formed at or near Fontanelle, and so rapid .was its progress that in the spring of 1877 there were seventeen granges in the county, with an average membership of thirty, making a total of 500 members in the county, of which 400 were voters and 100 ladies and young men. In 1874 the largest Fourth of July celebration ever held in the county was under the auspices of the Patrons of Husbandry. It was held at the head of New York Creek.
Many farmers were benefited for years by their membership and interest taken in the work of the organization. Finally, other methods developed among farmers, co-operative stores and grain elevators obtained in the country until at present the Patrons of Husbandry are seldom spoken of. The present system of farmers uniting and owning their own joint stock stores and grain warehouses and stock yards, by which they believe they get higher prices for produce, as well as pur- chase at a much less rate such articles as they need in their homes and on the farm. Fremont, Scribner and other places in Dodge County do an extensive business in this way. Washington County also has its co-operative unions and handle much grain and livestock in this same manner.
CHAPTER VI THE ATTORNEYS OF THE COUNTY
In all parts of the civilized world the legal profession is in constant demand-especially is this so of later years, when great state, interstate and international questions must be solved. New laws governing our own, as well as foreign people coming to our shores, have to be enacted and executed under our constitutions-state and national-and this is largely the work and duty of a well-read and practical expounder of the law. It is no sign because a person "goes to law" that they are mean and quarrelsome, for the rights of all citizens in this country must be respected and the law vindicated for the poor as well as for the rich. This is the business of the attorney-at-law.
There have been many lawyers in Washington County since its organization. The record they made before passing away from here has not been kept, except in the few instances where obituary notices, or removal notices have been published in local newspapers. There are but few now living within Washington County who remember the ear- liest lawyers who practiced when courts were held at Fort Calhoun and De Soto, before the removal of the county seat to Blair. However, the author of this work is fortunate in having the memory of Judge I. C. Eller, still a resident of Blair (and who has practiced the profession of a lawyer in this county since 1880), to prompt him in the personnel of these various members of the Washington County Bar. From an inter- view had with Judge Eller recently, as well as from other sources, this may be said concerning the past and present lawyers of this county :
When Judge Eller came here in 1880, he found Elias H. Clark, who had located at Fort Calhoun in 1856. He surveyed and platted the Vil- lage of Fort Calhoun and was active in all the public interests of this newly formed county. He practiced law until Blair had got to be quite a village, down at Fort Calhoun and De Soto. About 1904 he moved from Blair to Omaha; he is now deceased. The early history chapters of. this work has further in regard to this man who was among, if not the first attorney within the county.
In Bell's Centennial History of Washington County he mentions the following lawyers of this county: At Fort Calhoun is named-E. H. Clark, Levi Kime, Clark Irvine, George W. Doane, W. W. Toole, E. N. Grennell and John D. Howe; also United States Senator A. S. Paddock, who was admitted to the bar while a resident of Fort Calhoun.
At De Soto was listed P. C. Sullivan, Charles D. Davis, Thomas P. Kennard, Roger T. Beal, Jesse T. Davis, John Carrington and W. W. Foote.
Levi Kime, noted above, was a partner of E. H. Clark at Fort Cal- houn back in territorial days in Nebraska.
George W. Doane settled at Fort Calhoun late in the '50s, established his law practice and was very successful. Late in the '60s he moved to Omaha and was often elected as judge of the Third Judicial District and resided at Omaha.
Eleazer Wakeley established his residence in De Soto in 1857-58 and when the county seat was moved he followed it and practiced law. He was from Wisconsin and was appointed a supreme judge for the
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Territory of Nebraska, under James Buchanan. He moved to Omaha, practiced law there and was elected judge of the District Court. He was the father of Judge Arthur C. Wakeley, present judge.
Roger T. Beal came with the elder Wakeley to this county as his clerk, and remained until about 1869, then went to Omaha, where he died in the early '70s. During Beal's practice in this county, he asso- ciated himself with Edwin A. Allen in the practice of law at De Soto. He dealt in real estate and especially in tax-title lands, in which he made much money.
Edwin A. Allen, a bachelor, was appointed as receiver of the land office in Western Nebraska and died a few years ago; once an attorney here.
Another very early lawyer in Washington County was Hon. Thomas P. Kennard who established a law business at De Soto in the '50s and remained till Nebraska was admitted to the Union, when he was elected secretary of state. He died in the spring of 1920.
Jesse T. Davis settled at De Soto about 1856. He studied law and was admitted to practice in this county. He became county judge and held other county positions. When the county seat was moved to Blair he went there and practiced until he removed to Washington or Oregon, where he died about 1900. He was an able man and enjoyed a good law practice.
In the early days of the county, Gen. John S. Bowen of Philadelphia settled between Arlington and Kennard. When the railroad was built through the county it went directly through his farm. He farmed and attended to his law practice; he was an able lawyer and well liked by the community in which he located. He was later employed by the rail- road company and moved to Blair, served as county judge of this county and had a large law practice until about 1880, when the Sioux City Railroad Company and its successors employed him as their land agent to handle their real estate in Washington County. This position he held until death, about June, 1889.
John Carrigan settled at De Soto late in the '60s. He was a returned Civil war soldier and he died in 1880. He was a great criminal lawyer.
Martin Ballard, father of the present county attorney, Grace Ballard, practiced law in Blair till 1885, when he moved to Chadron, Nebraska, where he died. He was associated in Blair with Wellington C. Walton, who came here about the time Blair was laid out. Walton was admitted to the bar about that date. He came here from Michigan and built up a large law practice in Blair, where he remained until 1917, when he died. He was also judge of the District Court at one time here. His daugh- ter, Mrs. Farnham, still resides in Blair.
Luther Washington Osborn, a native of New York State, settled in Blair about the year of its organization, and became a partner of John Carrigan in law until Mr. Carrigan died in 1880, after which he had numerous partners. One of his associates was William H. Farns- worth, who read law under Mr. Osborn and practiced law until 1890; he moved from Blair to Sioux City, Iowa. Mr. Osborn enjoyed a lucra- tive law practice many years in this county. He was appointed by President William McKinley as Consul-General to the Samoan Islands, where he died and was brought to Blair for burial. He was a brilliant man, honored his profession and had legions of friends.
Potter C. Sullivan laid out the old Village of De Soto in the early '50s and practiced law there a number of years successfully.
Judge Edward C. Jackson was elected county clerk about 1875 for a four-vear term. He was a partner with William H. Eller about 1879,
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continued until 1881. Judge Jackson was appointed clerk of the Dis- trict Court and served till elected county treasurer, then for eight years was county judge of Washington County. He practiced law for a time with Colonel Osborn. In 1911 he was appointed clerk of the District Court and then elected to the same office and is still serving.
William H. Eller read law under Carrigan & Osborn; was admitted to the bar in 1878, continuing until 1892, when his health failed and he moved to South Carolina and became a Baptist minister there. At one time he owned a Keeley institute or "cure" for drunkenness, but later sold out at an advance of the amount invested in the concern.
Judge I. C. Eller, brother of William H. Eller, just mentioned, came from Iowa in 1880 and read law with his brother and was admitted at Tekamah, Nebraska, in the autumn of 1882. He at once commenced the practice of law. He was clerk of the District Court for eleven years ; served as county judge eight years and engaged in realty and title specialty cases. (See his biographical sketch elsewhere.)
Ed T. Farnsworth read law under Colonel Osborn and in 1882 was admitted to the bar and practiced until 1888 in this county and then moved to Douglas County, where he still practices law.
John Lothrop, of Michigan, came to this county in 1880 from South Dakota and has practiced law in Blair ever since.
David Z. Mummert came in from Illinois, read law under Judge Wal- ton and was admitted to the bar about 1887-or 1888; he still practices and makes tax-titles his specialty.
Clark O'Hanlon, a Washington County boy, born in 1869, read law under Colonel Osborn at Blair and was admitted to practice early in the '90s ; at one time he was a partner of Colonel Osborn. He has held many important positions in this county ; attorney several. terms ; county judge from 1908 to 1911. He is now associated with his son, Reed O'Hanlon and William J. Maher, as the firm of O'Hanlon, Maher & O'Hanlon. The elder O'Hanlon is counsel for the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company of Omaha, where one-half of his time is spent.
Henry Mencke is a native of Washington County, Nebraska, born in the '70s and reared in Blair. He graduated from the Blair High School. His father was sheriff of Washington County many years, and under him he received his first instructions in public office. He read law under Judge Walton and was admitted to the bar about 1902.
Edmund Burke Carrigan, son of John Burke Carrigan, read law with Judge Walton and was admitted to the practice of law at Blair. He con- tinued in law until 1918, when he was elected county judge, which posi- tion he still holds.
Perry Selden was admitted to the bar about 1882. Most of his life was devoted to newspaper work. He was with the Blair Pilot as editor and proprietor ; was county judge in the early '80s and mayor of Blair several terms. He died about 1896.
William S. Cook, of Arlington, has a fine farm and resides there most of his time. He read law and was admitted to the bar and is still in the practice, at Arlington, but resides on his farm. His son, J. C. Cook, is present county attorney of Dodge County and very successful in his practice of criminal cases.
Another lawyer of this county who should not be overlooked was Alonzo Perkins, who first practiced at Fort Calhoun, then in Fontanelle, after which he moved to Blair ; was elected county judge in 1878, served ten years; was admitted to the bar at Blair, practiced in Herman and Blair; was mayor of Blair in the '80s and died in Portland, Oregon, in 1919, aged ninety-three years.
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PRESENT PRACTICING ATTORNEYS
In the autumn of 1920 the following attorneys were resident lawyers of Washington County :
Grace Ballard (county attorney), E. B. Carrigan, W. S. Cook, A. C. Debel, I. C. Eller, E. C. Jackson, John Lothrop, William J. Maher, Henry Mencke, D. Mummert, Clark O'Hanlon and Reed O'Hanlon.
CHAPTER VII PHYSICIANS OF THE COUNTY
CONCERNING THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE-ITS ADVANCEMENT-SUR- GERY-OLD-TIME PHYSICIANS-SADDLE-BAGS-LONG DRIVES-THE MEDICINE CHESTS-LIST OF PHYSICIANS-THE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY-PRESENT PHYSICIANS-THE HOSPITAL.
No community is ever exempt from the need of a "family doctor." In all ages of the world's history there has been need of physicians to heal the sick. The Science of Medicine is among the greatest and most useful of all the professions. When in full health we are sometimes heard to speak lightly of the physician, but when the sick chamber encloses us-when the hand of death is reaching out towards our form, it is then that we seek aid from the best doctor known in the community.
The science and understanding of medicine have greatly advanced for the better within the memory of many now living. Especially in surgery the strides have been wonderful in the last forty years. There are numer- ous "schools of medicine," but each and all have their friends and their merits. In the early days in- Washington County, Nebraska, the allo- pathic school of medicine was almost universally used, with now and then an herb doctor. A little later, several homeopathic physicians set- tled in the county and built up a good practice. Today the number of schools of practice has come to be many, but still by a large majority the standard is the allopathic physician.
Physicians, as a rule, are all too busy to leave any record of their practice, even no data as to when they located in a given place. It is to be regretted that we have not a personal paragraph on every doctor who has ever practiced within this county, but such is the case. The earliest physicians of the county have long since ceased to practice and nearly all of the pioneer doctors are deceased.
Among the early physicians of the county are recalled the names of Drs. J. P. Andrew, William Moore and Charles Lawrence, all of whom practiced medicine at Fort Calhoun prior to 1876.
Up to the last-named date, at De Soto were Doctors Cutts, McLaugh- lin, John Glover, Doctor Cannon, Charles Emerson Tennent, F. H. Longley and S. H. Fawcett.
From bits of information gleaned from the records of the Washing- ton County Medical Society, now in the hands of Dr. G. A. Langstaff, of Blair, and from other reliable sources, the writer has compiled the following imperfect list of the physicians who have at some time or other practiced medicine within Washington County. The mere men- tion of their names will bring to mind some recollection of the good doctor who used to travel, perchance by horseback, with his saddle-bags thrown over his horse's back. Another will recall a dreary night-drive with the pioneer doctor, against a severe wintry wind, to some distant part of the county. Some middle-aged man or woman will recall when a child the face of another doctor who frequently visited at their place in the '60s or '70s, driving in an old weather-beaten buggy, carrying with him a medicine chest filled with remedies that were strong and unpleasant to the taste, and were not mixed in tablet form as today, but had to be
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administered, because that was as far as medical science had gone at that date. Another scene may pass before your vision. You may remember that night when a dear mother or father was not expected to live from hour to hour, and you recall how after hours of patient waiting and prescribing for the sick one, the doctor looked up and assured the family that the worst was over and that the ill one would recover. The physi- cians have been no better nor worse in this county than in any other. It should be said that most all of these doctors were honorable persons and did the best they knew how.
Without much attention being paid as to the dates the doctors of this county commenced or quit their medical practice, the long list of physi- cians known to have been here a greater or less period have been as follows :
Doctor Langley, Doctor Post (a druggist), Doctor O'Linn died in 1880 in Blair, Dr. W. H. Palmer, of Blair, still surviving but not in active practice, and is the only one of the older physicians of the county now living.
Dr. Samuel B. Taylor, Dr. Byron F. Monroe (homeopathic), Dr. Parris G. Cooper of Cuming City, Silas H. Fawcett moved from De Soto to Blair where he practiced; Dr. Samuel G. Glover, Arlington ; Doctor Hadley, Dr. J. P. Andrew, at Fort Calhoun in an early day, and was the father-in-law of pioneer lawyer E. H. Clark; Doctor Love of Herman practiced there before the '80s.
The names of other physicians of Washington County will appear in the following account of the County Medical Society-see below :
WASHINGTON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
This society was organized January 20, 1903, at Dr. M. D. Bedal's office in the City of Blair. Those present at the first meeting were Doctor Bedal, Doctor McDonald of Fremont, Dr. H. Noble of Blair, Dr. W. H. Palmer, Dr. E. R. Stewart of Blair, Dr. J. F. Curtis of Fort Calhoun, Dr. P. J. Clark of Herman, Dr. G. A. Langstaff of Blair.
The first president of the society was Dr. M. D. Bedal; secretary, Dr. G. A. Langstaff, who has served most of the years since the society was formed; Dr. W. H. Palmer, vice-president ; Dr. P. J. Clark, treas- urer ; Dr. E. R. Stewart, delegate. The censors were Dr. J. F. Curtis, Dr. W. H. Pruner and Dr. C. O. Robinson. In 1911 the total member- ship was eleven and today it is only nine.
The present (1920) officers are: Dr. L. J. Kilian, president ; Dr. E. R. Stewart, vice-president ; Dr. G. A. Langstaff, secretary; Dr. James B. Anderson, delegate. Board of censors-Drs. A. J. Cameron, E. R. Stewart and J. V. Hinchman.
The society meets the first Tuesday of each month at Blair. Every physician in the county is a member of this society save one, and he is not really eligible.
In the spring of 1920 the membership included the following physi- cians : Drs. R. J. Murdoch, G. A. Langstaff, E. R. Stewart, L. J. Kilian, J. V. Hinchman (all practicing at Blair at present), A. J. Anderson, Kennard, E. S. B. Geessaman, Fort Calhoun, A. J. Cameron, Herman. Others are Drs. Marie Anna Nielsen, William H. Pruner, Kennard (now deceased), Somers Pettingill, Fort Calhoun, later of California ; Marshall B. Bedal, Charles O. Robinson of Blair, recently removed from county ; P. G. Grimm, at Blair five years, was only an honorary mem- ber of the society. L. L. Burnstein, now in California, practiced in the
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county six years; A. W. Fees (homeopathic) was formerly a member, but not at this time; W. G. Orr, for a short time only; Dr. Marian Orr Wilson, Dr. W. R. Wagner, Blair.
The oldest doctor in years of practice in the county at this date is Dr. J. V. Hinchman. Dr. H. Noble died at Blair and Doctor Bedal died after removing from this county. Doctor Robinson is gone.
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