USA > Nebraska > Gage County > History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time > Part 15
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activities representing Otoe county in the territorial assembly of 1864. Some of his children still reside in Nebraska City. Neither Agent Heppner nor Agent Den- nison removed their families from Nebraska City to the new reservation nor made any effort to acquire a residence in the county, nor did any of the other employes of the gov- ernment about the Indian agency acquire or attempt to acquire a permanent residence in the county until after settlement was made at a number of other points. Some of the em- ployes at the agency did, however, at an early date acquire a permanent residence in the county. Among these were Robert A. Wil- son, who with his brother, William Wilson, came to the agency in 1855, and erected and took charge of the steam saw mill. They re- mained in charge of this property as millers and engineers till 1859, when both returned to Iowa. Robert A. Wilson married there and in 1861 he returned to Gage county, where he has ever since resided in Blue Springs. A more extended notice of him will be found later on in this work, in the article entitled "Blue Springs." Another of the Indian em- ployes in an early day was Jacob Shaw. Mr. Shaw and his wife came to the Otoe agency with their only son, John Shaw, now connect- ed with Klein's Mercantile Company, of Beat- rice, in 1859, and was the government black- smith for the Indians until about the year 1865, when he removed to Beatrice, where he and his wife and son became highly respected and prominent citizens. Mr. Shaw passed
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
away in 1916, but his aged widow and their son survive at the time of this writing.
About the time the Indians were removed from Nebraska City to their new reservation, a young man by the name of David Palmer came to the county as an employe of Gideon Bennett at the latter's trading post on Cub creek. Just when he acquired an actual and permanent residence in the county does not seem to be settled beyond a doubt. It is cer- tain, however, that he remained in the county from about 1855 until his death, residing dur- ing the latter part of his life on a farm owned by him in the neighborhood of Liberty. While living there he was drowned June 26, 1876, in the Big Blue river, near the Otoe and Missouri Indian village. His de- scendants still live in Barneston and Liberty townships. They are William Palmer, a son, of Liberty ; Mrs. Flora McFarland and Mrs. Fannie Evans, daughters, of Barneston. It is to be regretted that a more authentic record of David Palmer cannot be obtained for the purposes of this history.
If we can look to neither Agents Heppner nor Dennison nor to the employes of the gov- ernment about the Indian agency, nor to Gid- eon Bennett, nor to David Palmer, as the first white settler in Gage county, that question must be determined by considering other por- tions of the county.
The evidence is conclusive that white men in considerable numbers came into the county in the spring of 1857. In March of that year, in old Clay county, a lone white man is said to have stretched a piece of bark between two saplings on which was written this scrap of information : "John O. Adams claims this tract of land this 30th of March, 1857." Un- der the doctrine of squatter sovereignty as then applied to the preemption laws of the country, this simple act was sufficient probably to constitute a settlement upon the public do- main, if followed within four months with substantial improvements and actual occupan- cy. After selecting this tract of land, Mr. Adams returned to Holt county, Missouri, where he spent the winter of 1856-1857, and in the following April he moved with his fam-
ily upon his claim, a part of which now con- stitutes the townsite of the village of Adams. Having erected a small hewed-log house on his land, he, on May 17, 1857, occupied it as a residence and on the same day began break- ing up the virgin soil and planting a crop of sod corn. It can hardly be questioned that his is the first claim located, his the first cabin erected (the cabin at Bennett's trading post excepted), and his the first furrows drawn within the present boundaries of Gage county - all this, even though we may concede to David Palmer the honor of being the first bona fide white settler of our county. In ad- dition to himself and wife Mr. Adams's fam- ily consisted of seven children. They were Nelson, Nancy, Isaac, John Quincy, Leander, Naomi, and Myanna. Mr. Adams was born in New Jersey, in 1807, he married Miss Leti- tia Harris, a native of Kentucky, born in 1812, and removed from Kentucky to Missouri in the fall of 1856, with an ox team. He ac- quired a large tract of land in Adams town- ship, and several of his children were old enough to avail themselves of the benefit of the homestead law. His wife passed away at the age of fifty-five years and his own death occurred December 24, 1867. None of his children survive except Nelson and Naomi, who reside in the town of Adams. To this sterling pioneer a special memoir is dedicated in the biographical department of this volume.
Shortly after his arrival Mr. Adams was joined by John Stafford, H. Reynolds and brother, Charles Hickock, and Henry Golden; and in July, 1857, Stephen P. Shaw and his wife, Anna Hicks Shaw, with their sons, Wil- liam, Egbert, John B., James I., and Stephen V. Shaw, with their families, and James and William P. Silvernail, sons-in-law, with their families, settled along the Big Nemaha river, in Adams township, all neighbors of John O. Adams. The Shaws were natives of the state of New York, migrated from that state to Wisconsin in 1850, and from there to Nebras- ka, leaving Wisconsin March 6th, with six lumber wagons drawn by eight yoke of oxen, and arriving in Nebraska July 6, 1857. In November of that year this small colony was
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augmented by George Gale, John Lyons, and George Noxon, who also were sons-in-law of Stephen P. Shaw. And in the same year Jacob and John Hildebrand, George Drown, William Curtis, and H. C. Barmore arrived to swell the number of this little colony of progressive citizens. All these early pioneers settled in Adams township. Some are still living, among them John B., James I., and
Pickrell, and began the erection of a log cabin on his claim. He and Pethoud were found at this work on the 15th day of May, 1857, by Jefferson B. Weston, Bennett Pike, M. W. Ross, and Harrison F. Cook, members of the locating committee of the Nebraska Associa- tion, on their way to Omaha to report to the remainder of the association the selection of the original townsite of Beatrice by this com-
Section of walnut log from John Pethoud's log cabin erected in the summer of 1857 on his claim four miles north of Beatrice
Stephen V. Shaw. Alfred Gale, who was also a pioneer of 1857 in Adams township, and who maintained a continuous residence in that township until recently, is spending the clos- ing years of his life in University Place, this state.
At almost the same time that Jolin O. Adams entered the boundaries of old Clay county, John Pethoud, head of the well known pioneer family of that name, came with his friend Edward C. Austin to that county. Aus- tin settled on Stevens (now Indian) creek, in the immediate neighborhood of the village of
mittee as the most eligible location in south- eastern Nebraska for a city.
John Pethoud also drew after him a con- siderable following of relatives and friends, who settled in Midland, Logan, and Hanover townships, along Indian, Pierce, and Bear creeks, on the south side of the Clay county line. Amongst these were his married sons, John, Thomas, and Franklin M., with their families, and his sons, Andrew J. and James K. P. Pethoud. Soon afterward he was joined by his sons-in-law, Samuel Jones, the father of William R. Jones and Mrs. Sarah Drew
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
of Beatrice, and John Wilson and Marvin Thompson. About the same time, as previous- ly noted, Edward C. Austin and two brothers, with Fordyce Roper, H. W. Parker, Orrin Stevens, and a few others settled in Clay coun- ty, around Austin's mill, near the present site of Pickrell. These pioneer families were soon joined by Ira Dixon and family, Joseph Proud, Thomas Sherrill and family, M. C. Kelly, J. H. Butler, and H. J. Pierce, for whom Pierce creek was named.
In 1858 and 1859 settlements were made in the western part of the county, along Cub creek, by Samuel Kilpatrick and his wife, Rachael, parents of John David and Henry Kilpatrick, both deceased, and the well known railroad contractors, capitalists, farmers, and stock-raisers, William H. Kilpatrick, Robert J. Kilpatrick, Samuel Davenport Kilpatrick, and Joseph M. Kilpatrick. About the same time, down the creek toward Beatrice from Samuel Kilpatrick's homestead, Leander Cof- fin, Thomas and Joseph Clyne and their moth- er, Elizabeth Clyne, Andrew Dean, a large family by the name of Wells, Asa F. Bailey, George Whittemore, Joseph Graff, William Blakely, Frederick Elwood, Jonathan Potts, and another man of the same surname, located claims along Cub creek or its vicinity.
Early settlements were made also along the Big Blue river, and the Mud and Cedar creeks, in Rockford township. The first settler in this township, as far as known, was James B. Mattingley, with his wife and two children. Mattingley located on lower Mud creek, in Sec- tion 33, in May, 1857. In 1858 the C. C. (Coffin) Berry family located a mile west of Mattingley's, on the Big Blue river, in Section 33 of Rockford township. In the spring of 1858 Edward Woolridge and wife, Leonard Wilson, wife and child, George W. Stark, and Solon M. Hazen located on preemption claims in the central part of the township. They each broke out a few acres of prairie and planted a crop of sod corn. Woolridge, Wil- son, and Stark built cabins on their claims and remained until their corn had ripened. This was gathered and stored in their cabins. Leonard Wilson's child died in the autumn of
1858, its little grave being the first grave in Rockford township and the beginning of what is known as the Stark cemetery. In August, 1858, Fidillo H. Dobbs located a preëmption claim in the same neighborhood. All these settlers returned to Missouri river points to spend the winter. In the spring of 1859 the Woolridges, Pottertons, Hazen, and Stark re- turned to their claims ; the Wilsons never came back. Fidillo H. Dobbs moved his family, consisting of his wife and six children, to his claim March 13, 1859. The same year Jacob Schullenberger and family, Henry Schullen- berger, wife and children, Philip B. Coffee and family, Robert Breese, John Tidler, John H. Dunn, and James W. Dunn established their permanent residence in Rockford and Filley townships along Mud creek. In 1861 these settlers were joined by William E. Mudge and family and Joseph Milligan and his wife Sally; and within the same year the Hollings- worth, Shelley, and Wild families, consisting of about twenty-five persons, settled in the neighborhood of Holmesville, along Cedar creek and the Big Blue river. They were English, were all related, and proved a wel- come and valuable addition to the population of Gage county.
On the Big Blue river north of Beatrice, in Grant and Blakely townships, the first settlers were John Barrett, George Grant, and Charles Buss, about 1859. They were soon joined by a strong English colony of which the promi- nent members were Richard Rossiter and fam- ily, William and James Plucknett, Robert Nicholas, Richard Dibble and families. These were afterward joined by the Kinsies, two brothers, Joseph Roper and Frederick B. Rop- er, and members of the Quackenbush family and others.
In the southeast corner of the county settle- ment was made in 1859 along Plum and Wolf creeks and their tributaries, by James L. Ayers, Jonathan Sharp, Nathaniel D. Cain, Stephen B. Evans, John Palmer, Frederick Fisher, Peter Buckles, Tipton Marion, Frederick Wymore, and others.
In July, 1857, about the time the city of Beatrice was founded on an open prairie, set-
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
tlement was made also in the neighborhood of Blue Springs. The first settlers of whom we have any account in that locality were James H. Johnson and his family, consisting of his wife, Martha M. Johnson, his young daugh- ters, Mary and Martha, and his sons, Thomas, Allen, James, and Richard. Allen, a boy ten years of age, was drowned in the Big Blue river shortly after the arrival of this family on their claim, a mile and a half northeast of Blue Springs. His death was the first to oc- cur in Blue Springs township of which we have any record. The Johnson family was accompanied in its migration by the Elliott family, which, besides Martin Elliott, the head
this volume, in an article devoted to Blue Springs.
An interesting incident in the early settle- mient of Gage county is the fact that the first homestead entry under the homestead act of 1863 was made by a citizen of this county, Daniel Freeman, long a resident of Blakely township, where his homestead is located.
He had entered the service of the United States as a private in the Sixteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry at the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861. Shortly afterward he was transferred to the secret service of the United States, in which he continued until the close of the war, rendering almost invaluable ser-
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ORIGINAL CABIN ON FIRST HOMESTEAD
of this pioneer family, his wife and some minor children, included his adult married sons with their families - Williams, Stephen, and Henry Elliott. With the Elliotts was also a related family named Hevener. In 1858-1859, these pioneers were joined by Rankin Johnson and family, Patrick R. Gary, a son-in-law of John- son's, and by Jacob Poff, Renyl Noyes, Joseph Chambers, Samuel Shaw, Rebecca Woodward, F. M. Gratiam, William B. Tyler, Wright Sar- gent and his wife, True Sargent, and Herbert Viney and wife; and in 1860-1861, Thomas Armstrong and family, George Desert, Dr. J. M. Summers, and his son-in-law, James B. Maxfield, who afterwards became distinguish- ed as a presiding elder in the Methodist Epis- copal church in Nebraska. Robert A. Wilson, Dr. Levi Anthony, Lynus Knight, and King Fisher also settled in Blue Springs or in that neighborhood. The individual histories of some of these settlers will be found later on in
vices to the military department at Washing- ton. In 1862 he was detailed for duty in the territory of Nebraska, and while here he vis- ited the village of Beatrice and located a claim, in Section 26, township 4, range 5 of this coun- ty. He erected thereon a log cabin, and lie moved his family to his claim prior to the first of January, 1863.
On the last day of December, 1862, Mr. Freeman appeared at Brownville for the pur- pose of availing himself of the benefit of the new homestead act, which went into effect at midnight, December 31, 1862. Mr. Freeman knew of the provisions of the homestead act but had no conscious intent of being the first man to profit by it. He had been ordered to report for service in one of the military de partments of the country and was anxious to be away. That night he attended a dance at Brownville, and, becoming acquainted with one of the employes of the government land of-
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
fice, he apprised him of the fact that he de- sired to make homestead entry of his claim in Gage county. This accommodating official im- mediately after twelve o'clock, on January 1, 1863, accompanied Mr. Freeman to the land office and prepared his application for home- stead entry covering the south half of the northwest quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 26, township 4, range 5, Gage county, Nebraska, and when the land office opened in the morning for bus- iness, Mr. Freeman's entry was allowed as the
DANIEL, FREEMAN
first under the homestead act - this notwith- standing the presence of a large number of other applicants, including Samuel Kilpatrick, who were awaiting opportunity to enter land under the new homestead act. Hon. Galusha A. Grow, the author of the free-homestead law, speaking years afterward in congress up- on the beneficence of this act, among other things, said :
There are two interesting incidents connect- ed with the final passage of the original free- 'homestead bill. First, it took effect on the day of Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. Second, the first settler under the homestead bill, which provided free homes for free men, was named Freeman. Daniel Freeman, of Be-
atrice, Gage county, Nebraska, was a Union soldier, home on a furlough which would ex- pire on the 2d or 3d day of January, 1863. At a little past midnight on the 1st day of January, 1863, he made his entry in the land office of his district, and left his home the same day to take his place again in the ranks on the tented fields. His entry was number one, his proof of residence was number one, his patent was number one, recorded on page one of book one of the land office of the United States. The first settler under this law was a Freeman, and I trust that the last of its beneficiaries in the long coming years of the future will be a free man.
Daniel Freeman was of the sturdiest kind of New England stock. His ancestors almost from the beginning of this country have been prominent and influential citizens of their com- munities. Many of them, including his great- grandfather, had fought in the Revolutionary war as well as in the war of 1812 and the In- dian wars of the country. He himself pos- sessed many admirable and heroic qualities. The last visit paid to him by the author of this volume some time before his death was at his home on the old homestead. He was ill, suf- fering from ailments from which he never re- covered. Lying on his couch, he discoursed eloquently about his family history and point- ed out upon the walls of his room and in its corners, many relics of Revolutionary days, among them his great-grandfather's flintlock musket, carried in some of the first battles for liberty in Massachusetts.
Mr. Freeman was born in Ohio in 1826, and was taken by his parents to Knox county, Illi- nois, in 1835. In 1847 he began the study of medicine, at Peoria, Illinois. Two years later he graduated from the Electric Medical Insti- tute at Cincinnati, and he began the practice of his profession at Ottawa, Illinois, the same year. But the great Civil war drew him into its maelstrom in 1861, and after its close, in 1865, he found occupation in the simple, un- eventful life of a farmer. He served his coun- try as sheriff in 1869-1870; he was for many years justice of the peace of his township, and he held other minor civil offices. Of this hon- ored pioneer further mention is made in the biographical department of this work.
CHAPTER XIV
FOUNDING OF BEATRICE
THE HANNIBAL-NEBRASKA ASSOCIATION - ORGANIZATION - MEMBERS - LOCATING COM- MITTEE - ITS REPORT - SELECTION OF NAME - FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION -
ASSOCIATION MEETS ON TOWNSITE - SELECTION AND ENTRY OF TOWNSITE
The most authentic and interesting account of the early settlement of our county clus- ters about the beautiful city of Beatrice. What- ever credit may be due to others for the settle- ment, development, and progress of Gage coun- ty, there can be no doubt of the part that this city has played in all this work. The story of the founding of Beatrice reads like a romance and can never fail to have absorbing interest as a unique experiment in the settlement of the west.
Almost from the beginning of the ninteenth century the Missouri river steamboat had been an important means of communication between settled portions of our country and the western frontier. By 1854, when the territory of Ne- braska was created and opened to immigra- tion, lines of steamboats were regularly plying between St. Louis and the upper Missouri. One of these vessels was the old side-wheel steamer "Hannibal." On the 3d day of April, 1857, this staunch river boat slowly turned her prow up the current of the Mississippi, pushed off from her wharf at St. Louis, and began a long, tedious, and uneventful voyage to the set- tlements along the Missouri river. She was crowded with emigrants from every portion of the country, all bound for the west. Of her three hundred passengers two hundred were Mormons on their way to join a Mormon col- ony at Florence, Nebraska territory, and thence to move across the great plains to Salt Lake City. Of the remaining passengers many were young men, and a few were heads of families ; nearly all were bound for the west-
ern frontier. Before they had been many days out from St. Louis, there sprung up between the non-Mormon portion of the passengers an acquaintance which was destined to be attend- ed by consequences of the utmost importance to the citizens of Gage county and the state of Nebraska. On the 23d day of the voyage from St. Louis, while this great river boat was ten- porarily stranded on a sand bar, opposite the village of Doniphan, in Kansas territory, in a meeting called for the purpose of considering the situation steps were taken whereby thirty- five of these daring and congenial spirits bound themselves by a written constitution to remain together and settle as a colony somewhere in the new territory of Nebraska.
The minutes of this meeting when viewed by the light of subsequent events possess great in- terest. They read as follows:
Wednesday, April 22, 1857. Meeting of the passengers on board the steamboat Hannibal, convened while fastened on a sand bar near Doniphan, K. T.
On motion of John McConihe, Hon. J. F. Kinney was called to the chair. On motion, John McConihe was appointed secretary.
The chairman then stated the object of the meeting to be the organization of all who were willing into one town association and the form- ation of a settlement in Nebraska. Appro- priate remarks were made by the president, tending to show the advantages of such an as- sociation, if all the members were actual set- tlers, and further stated that southern Ne- braska, the Nemaha country, would probably offer the greatest inducements at present.
Mr. Albert Towle was then called upon and he addressed the meeting, stating that he had
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
traveled in the Nemaha country and that it was a beautiful and desirable section, and that a town located in its midst would thrive and prosper.
Thereupon it was resolved that a committee of five be appointed to draft articles of asso- ciation and report at a subsequent meeting.
The chair appointed as a committee to draft articles of association, John McConihe, Ezra M. Drake, Timothy Elliott, Bayard T. Wise, James A. Raridon.
Mr. McConihe moved that the chairman be added to the committee as its chairman. Car- ried.
The meeting was large and enthusiastic, and the subject of starting new towns was gen- erally discussed.
On motion the meeting adjourned to meet to-morrow, April 23d, at 10 o'clock A.M.
JOHN MCCONIHE, Secretary.
The second meeting also was well attended. It included probably most of the non-Mormon male passengers who were looking forward to establishing themselves in the new territory of Nebraska. The minutes of this meeting are interesting and have great historical value. They are as follows :
Missouri River Steamboat Hannibal. April 23, 1857, 10 A. M. Meeting called to order, Hon. J. F. Kinney in the chair. The committee appointed at the first meeting to draft articles of association re- ported as the result of their labors, the fol- lowing :
Articles of Association.
The undersigned agree to and adopt the fol- lowing Articles of Association.
First: The name of this association shall be known as "The Nebraska Association."
Second: The object of the same to select a townsite in Nebraska, either by purchase or claim; claim the same and so much land ad- jacent thereto as this association may agree upon, all of which shall be held by the mem- bers for the mutual benefit of all.
Third: Persons signing these articles and becoming settlers either in person or by sub- stitute upon the townsite or adjacent land claimed as aforesaid within two months shall be entitled to an equal share in all the bene- fits belonging to or arising out of this associa- tion.
Fourth: The offiers of this association shall consist of a president, secretary, treasurer and board of directors.
Fifth: A locating committee shall be ap-
pointed immediately, who shall proceed at the expense of this association to explore Ne- braska and select a townsite and report at an adjourned meeting to be held at Omaha City on the 20th of May next, which report shall be adopted as the townsite for the town of ..
Sixth: Such townsite shall be surveyed, lithographed and divided into such number of shares as may be agreed upon, which with the claims adjacent thereto shall be the property of this association, and such number of shares as may be thought best can be sold and the proceeds of such shares applied to the carry- ing out of the purposes of this association.
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