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 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148
Thus perished the gallant, handsome, schol- arly John McConihe, a man greatly admired by all who knew him, greatly loved by his friends and kindred and deeply mourned by his native city. His remains lie under the monument in the McConihe family burial plot which overlooks the lordly Hudson from a height near the busy city of Troy. During the brief period in which he participated in the founding of Beatrice, he exhibited a genial, friendly nature that won the kindly regard of every member of the association. The great Civil war deprived Nebraska of one its ablest and most promising citizens when John McConihe gave his valuable life to his country.
ALBERT TOWLE
One of the most influential members of the Nebraska Association was Albert Towle, "Pap" Towle as he was familiarly called by nearly every one of his acquaintance. Like Judge Kinney, Mr. Towle was a man of ma- ture years and large experience in the affairs of life at the time the Nebraska Association was organized on board the "Hannibal," in April, 1857. As far as the records show, he was the only member of the organization who claimed to possess any personal knowledge of Nebraska territory or any portion of it.
ALBERT TOWLE
Mr. Towle was born in 1817, and most of his early life was spent in the state of Illinois. He had acquired a good usable education and throughout the early history of Beatrice and Gage county he was the most all-around servicable member of the entire community. No man devoted his life more exclusively to the interests of the public and the upbuilding of the embryo city of Beatrice than Albert Towle. By nature he was highly optimistic, and there were times when but for him the venture would have entirely failed. He pos- sessed a singular power of infusing into others his own enthusiasm and hopeful cour- age. His age and experience in the affairs of life gave him great influence over the young
134
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
men with whom he was associated in found- ing and building up our city. He was pres- ent and answered to his name when the roll of members was called in the office of the territorial secretary of state May 20th and re- sponded to his name when the roll was again called, on the Beatrice townsite, July 27, 1857. From that time till the day of his death he was rarely outside Gage county.
Mr. Towle assisted in erecting the company house and on the arrival of his family, in the
KATIE TOWLE First white child born in Gage county
late summer or fall of 1857, this log cabin was donated to him. For many years he oc- cupied it as a home. It became widely and familiarly known as "Pap's Cabin," and for a decade besides serving as a. wayside inn it was the postoffice, while its main room became a place for holding public meetings of almost every character. It was here that Mr. Towle's youngest child, Katie, was born. She was the first child born of white parents in the county and, growing to lovely womanhood in her na- tive city, she became the wife of George M. Ayres, of Deadwood, South Dakota, who had spent most of his life in Beatrice. She died at Deadwood on the 28th day of March, 1890, at the age of 32 years. Her remains rest by the
side of those of her parents in the Beatrice cemetery, near the city of her birth.
Mr. Towle was the second postmaster of Beatrice, having been appointed to that posi- tion May 22, 1860, succeeding Herman M. Reynolds who was commissioned first post- master, in 1857. By successive appointments he held the office till his death. In addition to the office of postmaster Mr. Towle was fre- quently honored by election to various county offices. On the organization of the county, in August, 1857, he, with George Bonham, was elected county commissioner of the county, and he retained the office three years, - until all questions respecting the organization of the county and the location of the county seat had been settled. He was county judge from 1861 to 1867; county treasurer in 1858-59-60 and again in 1864-65-66-67-68-69. He was for many years a notary public and a justice of the peace. The second instrument recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county is his bond in the sum of two hundred dollars as a notary public, with John McConihe as his surety. It is dated October 9, 1857, and was filed for record June 3, 1858.
Mr. Towle early in life married Catherine Holt, a woman of ability and great force of character. She strongly supported her hus- band's ambitions and efforts as respected the upbuilding of Beatrice, and her practical good sense rendered her an exceedingly useful member of the community. She survived her husband ten years and rests at his side in the family burial lot in Beatrice cemetery. To this union there was born Helen, who be- came the wife of Jefferson B. Weston and who recently passed away at her home in Beatrice; Emer, who, about 1868, became the wife of Joseph Saunders, the first mail carrier from the Missouri river to Beatrice and one of the early and successful merchants of our city (Mr. Saunders died recently, at his home in Reynolds, Jefferson county and lies with his wife in his burial lot in Beatrice cemetery) ; Adelia, who became the wife of Richard C. Davis and who died in Chicago, in 1916; Mary, who became the wife of Dr. John G. Davis
135
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
and who now lives in Chicago; and Katie, cantile business in DeWitt, Saline county, of whom mention has just been made.
The family of Albert Towle was one of the best known and most highly esteemed of the pioneer families of our county. The head of the family more than any other man is en- titled to be known to posterity as the "Father of Beatrice." This beautiful city is in a large sense his enduring monument. He died on the 8th day of March, 1879, at his home, the story and a half brick cottage erected by him in 1869, at the corner of Fourth and Ella streets this city.
JOSEPH RUTHERFORD NELSON
Nelson was but little past twenty-one years of age in .1857, when he became a member of the Nebraska Association, and was probably the youngest man in the organization. He re- sponded to his name when the roll of mem- bership was called in Omaha May 20th, and again on the townsite of Beatrice, July 27, 1857, but he does not appear to have ever been active in the affairs of the association or to have accepted his distributive share of the townsite of Beatrice. It is not known to this writer how long he remained here nor where he went after leaving Beatrice in August, 1857, but in 1860 he is known to have made a trip across the plains to the Colorado gold fields. From there he went to Minnesota, thence to Wisconsin, and finally to Chicago, Illinois, where we find him in 1862. He at- tended a commercial college for a while in Chicago, and then found employment with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company until 1867, when he returned to Beatrice. In 1868, in co-operation with Nathaniel Howard, he established at Beatrice the first newspaper in Gage county, known as the Blue Valley Record. The history of the venture will be found further in this volume, in the chapter devoted to the newspapers and newspaper men of Gage county. On the 8th day of September, 1869, he married, at Wayne, Wisconsin, Miss Mary Eastman. Five chil- dren were born to this union, of whom only one is living, a son, Amos A. Nelson. In 1881 Mr. Nelson engaged in the general mer-
Nebraska, where he resided until 1884, when he removed to Texas. During the great Gal- veston flood he lost nearly all his property and in 1901 he again returned to Beatrice. About 1910 he removed to the state of Washington, where he has ever since resided, and he is reported to be a helpless invalid, at the age
JOSEPH RUTHERFORD NELSON
of eighty-two years. As far as known, he is the last survivor of the old Nebraska Associa- tion.
OBEDIAH BROWN HEWETT
Judge Hewett was admitted to membership in the Nebraska Association April 29, 1857, at the first meeting of the board of directors on board the "Hannibal," and was thereafter for several years an active and an efficient member of the organization. He was the only one of the seven lawyers who were members of the company who engaged in the practice of his profession in Beatrice, in those far off. early years. He was the first county judge of Gage county and his name frequently oc- curs in the minutes of the county commis- sioners' court as having performed some service for the county.
He was born at Hope, Maine, September 18, 1828, and was educated through his own efforts. He entered Bowdoin College and
136
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
graduated with the class of 1855. He then went to Chicago, Illinois, where he was em- ployed for two years as a teacher. While so employed he read law and he was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1857, by the supreme court of Illinois. Almost immediately there- after he set out for St. Louis, where we find him a passenger on board the "Hannibal" in April of that year. After the founding of Beatrice he went, in 1858, to Brownville, Ne- braska, where he engaged in the practice of his profession for a short time. He spent a few months of 1859 prospecting for gold in Colorado. In October, 1862, he joined the Second Nebraska Cavalry, as a private in Company F; he was later elected captain of Company M, which he commanded until it was mustered out, in December, 1863. He was secretary of the last territorial council, in 1867, and secretary of the senate in the second state legislature. During the years 1868 and 1869, he was the county superintendent of schools for Nemaha county and he was the third mayor of Brownville. Beginning with 1868, he serv- ed the people as district attorney for four years, at a time when the district embraced nearly the whole of Nebraska south of the Platte river.
Judge Hewett was always interested in the work of education and during the greater part of his life he was active in the support and encouragement of every educational agency. He was president of the first meeting of the Nebraska State Teachers' Association and a member of the first board of education of the State Normal School at Peru, Nebraska, con- tinuing several years in its service. Judge Hewett was an ardent Presbyterian and in his later years he was especially active in the establishment of Hastings College, of which institution his son was the first graduate. He continued in the practice of the law at Brown- ville until 1876, when he removed to a farm near Auburn, Nebraska, from which, in 1880, he went to Hastings. There he was engaged in the practice of the law until 1893, when he removed to Riverside, California, where he again engaged in the practice of law, after-
ward locating on a fruit ranch in Chino, where he died, November 10, 1898.
At Brownville, Nebraska, Judge Hewett was married in October, 1857, to Miss Mary W. Turner, who was the first milliner of that western village. She died at Hastings, Ne- braska, March 22, 1891. Three children of this marriage are living, James H. H. Hewett, chief clerk of the United States land office at Alliance, Nebraska ; Mrs. Katherine L. Davis, of Long Beach, California; and C. William Hewett, of Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. Hewett was again married, at Riverside, Cali- fornia, in 1893, to Mrs. Mary Nance, who survived him but a short time.
Personally Obediah Brown Hewett was a man of unusually large stature ; he was delib- erate of speech, a good, clear thinker, and a man whose whole life was dominated by ab- solute integrity of purpose.
GILBERT T. LOOMIS
Gilbert T. Loomis was one of the younger members of the Nebraska Association. He was a large, good-looking, pleasant gentleman, with brown eyes and brown curling hair and beard. He settled upon the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, Midland township, now owned by Markus and Jens Jepson. It was at this point, almost due east of the quarter sec- tion line running east and west through this tract, that the old Brownville, Beatrice, Fort Kearney road forded Bear creek for many, many years. He lead the uneventful life of a farmer and was never very active in the affairs of the Nebraska Association, though he main- tained his membership to the end in that his- toric organization, and on March 3, 1859, he went so far as to trade a yoke of oxen for the distributive share of Richard Northrop in the Beatrice townsite. The assignment describes Northrop as a resident of Tabor, Fremont county, Iowa. It bears the above date, is re- corded in Book A, page 1, of the deed records of Gage county and is the first instrument of any description to be made a matter of record in the office of the register of deeds. Mr. Loomis, in 1861 or 1862, in connection with Volney S. Whitemore, bought a new threshing
137
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
outfit, and for a year or two these gentlemen did all the threshing by machinery in the county. It was an old-fashioned, horse-power affair and was the first threshing machine brought to Gage county. Loomis kept with his teams and machine a large, vicious dog and there was always more or less trouble be- tween him and the hands about the machine over this faithful but dangerous canine. He sold his farm many years ago and with his family removed to Washington, in which state both he and his wife recently passed away. Mrs. Loomis was a kindly, gentle woman, the sister of Thomas W. Brown, who in 1866- 1867 was sheriff of Gage county and who now lives in Tumwater, Washington. Both Mr. and Mrs. Loomis left none but pleasant mem- ories behind them in Gage county.
OLIVER TOWNSEND
The reader may have noticed the name of Justus Townsend amongst those who originally subscribed to the articles of association of the Nebraska Townsite Company. Justus Town- send was a young physician, who with his sister, Miss Jennie Townsend, was also a passenger on board the "Hannibal" from St. Louis bound to the new territory of Nebraska. He took an active interest in the affairs of the association from the time of its organization until the founding of Beatrice, in July, 1857, and his name is frequently mentioned in the minutes of the association's meetings. Later, returning to New York, he transferred, by as- signment, his interest in the townsite to his brother Oliver, who joined the organization in October, 1857, and who never. as long as he lived, claimed a home anywhere but at Beatrice, where he became one of the most active and useful citizens of our county. The lure of the west must have been very great to have held a refined, scholarly gentleman like Oliver Townsend in the forlorn hamlet of Beatrice during its earliest years. When Townsend first saw it, it consisted of a single two-room log house. "Pap's Cabin," and a wheezy old steam saw mill, perched on the bank of the Big Blue river. All the brilliant company who, in July, had assisted in found-
ing the future city, except Albert Towle, J. B. Weston, Bennett Pike, Gilbert T. Loomis, and M. W. Ross, had returned to Missouri river points or elsewhere to spend the winter and to earn a little money. The privations of that winter were very, very great, and these few pioneers who had been left to guard this new outpost of western civilization frequently arose in the morning with gnawing appetites and at night retired hungry to bed. But with more accurate knowledge of the food resources afforded by the prairies, the woods, and the
OLIVER TOWNSEND
streams, all fear of hunger was ultimately dis- pelled, and returning spring brought increase of numbers and reviving hope.
Several of the colony availed themselves of the benefits of existing land laws and located claims about the embryo city, the cultivation of which soon yielded abundance. Mr. Town- send himself established a claim upon the tract of land which now comprises Glenover Addi- tion to Beatrice. This he fenced and farmed in part for four years before disposing of it. With the development of the city and the settlement of the county, honors, such as they were, came to Mr. Townsend. He was four times elected county clerk of Gage county, and served in that office from 1862 to 1870. He was a member of the first state legislature,
138
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
having been elected to that office in 1867. He served acceptably for two years and as a legis- lator he participated in the stirring events which accompanied the effort to remove the capital of the state from Omaha to Lincoln. As county clerk he was ex officio one of the earliest superintendents of the common schools of Gage county, serving in that office from 1862 to 1868. When the first one-room frame school house was erected in Beatrice, in 1862, Mr. Townsend was hired to teach the first fall and winter school in that building. He was, in fact, for many years active in the civic, social, political, and scholastic life of this city, county, and state.
Mr. Townsend was widely known as a pioneer merchant, and for several years was a member of the firm of Blakely, Reynolds & Townsend, which erected the old part of the stone building now owned by Kilpatrick Brothers at the corner of Fifth and Court streets, north of the Burwood Hotel, and which conducted a general merchandise business therein for a number of years. After the dis- solution of this firm by the death of Dr. Reynolds, in 1875, Mr. Townsend engaged in business on his own account, maintaining for a number of years a men's clothing and furn- ishings store on the north side of Court street, just east of Fifth street.
In 1880 he was married, at Nebraska City, to Miss Kate Monce, and with her he spent the latter part of his life on a small farm east of the city, on the road to the State Insti- tution. To this union six children were born, three sons and a like number of daughters. The sons died in infancy, and the daughters are Jean, Ruth and Catherine. He died in April, 1914, in the eightieth year of his age. His devoted wife survives him, and, with hier younger daughters, Ruth and Catherine, oc- cupies the homestead, the object of the af- ection and tender regard of all who know her.
Oliver Townsend by disposition was open, friendly. and genial. He was a man of great personal worth, thoroughly honest and reli- able in all the relations of life. He was from the very first the recipient of universal con- fidence and esteem from the early settlers of
this portion of our state, and he retained the affectionate regard of the entire community to the last moment of his life.
HARRISON F. COOK
Mr. Cook became associated with the Beatrice Townsite Company immediately on the arrival of the steamboat "Hannibal" at Nebraska City, April 29, 1857, where he was awaiting events. £ Learning of the locating committee and its intended search for a town- site, he offered to hire himself as a driver for the livery team with which a part of the com- mittee, Weston, Pike, and Ross, intended to
HARRISON F. COOK
explore southeastern Nebraska. Mr. Cook accompanied these members of the committee on their long drive across green stretches of unbroken prairie, until they finally reached the townsite of Beatrice. Early in June he came to Beatrice and was admitted into membership in the association. He returned to Nebraska City in the latter part of July and remained there until the spring of 1858. He was again in Beatrice during that year and possibly as late as the spring of 1859. He then left for Connecticut and did not return to Gage county again until about the year 1867, having been absent eight years. He engaged in farming for a while on his land, a mile and a half
139
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
north of the city, on Indian creek, which is his profession. From there he removed to still owned by a member of his family, but later he established himself in the furniture business in Beatrice.
Mr. Cook carried on this business until his death, which occurred at Beatrice, on the 17th day of January, 1908. He had witnessed the transformation of the bare, naked townsite of Beatrice into the beautiful city which it has grown to be. Not only had he witnessed but he had also been part and parcel of the growth and development for more than half a century of what was a prairie waste in 1857. No one can remember the time when he was not an enthusiast over the prospects of the city of his affections. He died universally respected by the community.
Harrison F. Cook was born at Norridge- wock, Somerset county, Maine, November 4, 1830. He was married, at Stafford Hollow, Tolland county, Connecticut, March 15, 1860, to Lucinda H. Harvey, a native of that place. This pioneer husband and wife lie side by side in the old Beatrice cemetery.
Although abrupt in manner and very terse in statement, quick to take offense and slow to forget an injury, real or fancied, Harrison F. Cook was a wholesome, genuine, true man, and will live in the memory of his fellow citi- zens who knew and deeply loved him.
DR. BAYARD T. WISE
Dr. Wise was a young physician who found himself on board the "Hannibal" in April, 1857, bound for the territory of Nebraska. He was active in the organization of the Ne- braska Association, served as its first treasurer, was a member of the locating committee, was present at the call of the roll of the members in Omaha, May 20th, in the office of the ter- ritorial secretary of state, repaired with the others to the Beatrice townsite in June, 1857, took an active part in the Fourth of July cele- bration, and answered to his name when the roll was called on the Beatrice townsite July 27, 1857. He remained here, however, only a few days after that time, but appears to have visited Beatrice again in 1858, while located in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, in the practice of
Fort Madison, Iowa, where he remained until the breaking out of the great Civil war, in which he served as surgeon of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. After the close of the war, he re- turned to Fort Madison, and resumed his practice for a short period of time. But Dr. Wise found more congenial and perhaps more profitable employment as the state agent for the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company of Brooklyn, New York. For twenty-seven years he served this company as its field man in the great state of Illinois, with headquarters at Springfield. He died in the Deaconess Hospi- tal at Indianapolis, May 16, 1908, of harden- ing of the liver, at the age of seventy-three years. His remains lie by those of his wife, in the beautiful Elmwood cemetery in the city of Fort Madison, Iowa.
Dr. Wise was survived by three sons, namely, Edward P. Wise, state agent of the Agricultural Insurance Company for the states of Kansas and Nebraska ; Frederick T. Wise, state agent for Illinois for the Home Insur- ance Company of New York; and Gus M. Wise, state agent and field man for the Agri- cultural Insurance for the state of Indiana.
Dr. Wise was known to be a kindly, good man and a very useful man.
JOSEPH MILLIGAN
· Joseph Milligan joined the Nebraska Asso- ciation after its organization, his name ap- pearing among those who answered the roll call on the Beatrice townsite July 27, 1857. He did not maintain close relations with the association and appears to have gone, in the late summer of 1857, to some Missouri river point, where he remained until about the year 1860. He then returned to Gage county, set- tled on a claim on East Mud creek, and resid- ed in that vicinity, with his wife Sallie, until 1863, when he, with William E. Mudge, es- tablished Buffalo Ranch, on the old Oregon Trail, at the western terminus of the stretch of roadway know as Nine Mile Ridge, on the Little Blue river, where the village of Deweese is now located. At this time the travel on the old trail had attained its maxi-
140
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
mum and the partners flourished amazingly. But on the afternoon of the 7th day of August, 1864, a stage driver halted his panting horses in front of the ranch and shouted a warning that the Indians were murdering the ranchmen further down the road, burning the ranches and destroying property, and advising them to fly at once for their lives. Hastily attaching a team to a wagon and placing therein a few provisions and clothing, they loaded their families in the wagon and drove rapidly to Pawnee Ranch, eight miles up the road, passing the body of Patrick Burke, the first blacksmith of Beatrice, who had been killed by the Indians two hours before. They remained at Pawnee Ranch, which was then leased and managed by Charles N. Emery, throughout a determined at- tack made upon it by the Indians the same day, a few hours after their escape. Later they returned to Gage county, by way of the Ne- braska City branch of the Oregon Trail, bring- ing with them Patrick Burke's team, which they turned over to his widow, Mary E. Burke. In 1865 the Indian war having been quelled, they returned to Buffalo Ranch, but the building of the Union Pacific Railway in 1866, across Ne- braska from east to west, put an end to the freighting and ranching business along the old trail and the partnership was dissolved. Wil- liam E. Mudge returned to Gage county, and in 1866 he took a homestead in Elm township, where he lived for many years, his death having occurred in Beatrice, in 1917. Joseph Milligan and wife went to Texas to live, where they both died many years ago. They were fine-looking people and would have been valuable accessions to any community. They were Irish and were endowed with the ready wit and good humor which characterize that race. They were both much loved and highly respected by the old settlers of Gage county.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.