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 24

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120

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 24

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Improvements from this time were rapid. Dwellings and business houses sprang up as if by magic. First one and then another branch of business was introduced, but these could scarcely keep pace with the wants of the country in their several lines. The Chi- cago Lumber Company established a lumber yard early in the year 1873. J. B. Hawley was agent, and was succeeded in 1875 by T. B. Barnes.

Dr. Feilds, the station agent, was the first physician to locate in Firth, followed by Dr. Murphy, and later by Dr. Robinson. Dr. Murphy brought on the first stock of drugs

and started a drug store in the building now occupied as the postoffice. He sold out the stock to William Phillips, who took the stock to Hickman and sold out there. Murphy and Jewell had previously opened with a larger stock of drugs, oils, paints, etc., in Champion's new building, and sold out to W. H. Moore, who later ran the business in another building.

Clement & Everest opened the second store in Firth, occupying the stand on the corner of First and May streets east of Ellsworth's store, which was burned in November 1873, with a part of the stock.

Clement & Everest sold out to Bailey & Barnhouse. Bailey sold out to Barnhouse, who for a while ran the business alone, then sold out to Bailey & Flickinger.

The first hardware store in Firth was opened by the Reed Brothers, who sold out to Cham- pion & Hoisington. In the spring of 1874 John and George Brownell opened a new store and after a number and variety of changes they were still found in the business. In 1873 L. R. Horrum started a harness shop. He ran it for a while, and was succeeded by Charlie Flickinger, and he again by Mr. Horrum.

Spellman commenced business in Firth early in 1874. Henry Golden built and kept the first hotel. Smith & Mellinghouse started the second lumber yard in 1874 but sold out and went into the grain business. Witzig Broth- ers started the second blacksmith shop and later Mr. William Cook the third. In 1875 Mr. Phinney put up the first and only mill in Firth, then sold out to John Brooks, who still runs it. In the spring of 1875 Clement & Davis started the first furniture store.

Firth since its location has grown very rapidly, partly from the fact that the country was well settled by an energeic and thrifty class of farmers who were greatly in need of business facilities, and partly from the fact that the business men of Firth were an enter- prising set of men, who when they set out to build a town meant business. Such men of course will always win.

The buildings of Firth, both public and pri- vate, are of a better and more substantial character than are usually found in a new

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town, and the known character of its people and everything about the town, its position and surroundings point to a career of prosperity in the future.

The public school house is an honor to the town, and might be pointed to with pride by the citizens of far more pretentious towns than Firth. It cost two thousand dollars. The building of such school houses is an indica- tion of the intelligence, liberality and far- sightedness of the citizens. Mr. Beams had the honor of being the first to teach in this house.

T. S. Elsworth may be said to have been the first resident in Firth, as he was the first postmaster and merchant. Henry Golden built and kept the first hotel, D. E. Champion was the first to buy grain, Dr. Fields was the first doctor. L. N. Morgan was the first black- smith. The first birth and the first death also occured in his family. The oldest man in Firth is Mr. Clement, aged seventy-five years. The largest man is Mr. Champion, weight four hundred pounds. The best looking is Mr. Wood, the postmaster.

Firth has so far been remarkably free from disasters or calamities. The burning of Mr. Elsworth's house is the only fire to record since the foundation of the town. The unprece- dented rise of the Great Nemaha in July, 1875, did some damage to the residents of the town, as well as to the farmers along the creek. Such a flood had never been known before since the country has been settled. The water was four or five feet deep on the bot- toms.

INDIANS

When Nebraska was first settled there were several tribes of Indians in the territory. These Indians were settled (if Indians can settle) on reservations, supported and under the care of the government agents and mis- sionaries, and were generally supposed to be friendly to the settlers. They were not al- lowed to leave their reservations without a permit from their agents, but being generally peaceable they were generally permitted to hunt over the country the greater part of the time.

These tribes were the Pawnees, Otoes, and Omahas, and they were friendly to each other (although they would steal each other's ponies) and were much afraid of the Sioux, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Comanches and Cheyen- nes, who roamed over the country to the north, southwest and west, and who occasionally made a raid on the reservation Indians, scalped a few and ran off their ponies. These were called wild Indians to distinguish them from the reservation Indians, who were supposed to have made some progress in civilization.

The most trouble the settlers had with these Indians was through their frightening the women and children, for they supposed that an Indian was an Indian anyway, and indeed they needed watching whenever they were around, for they would steal anything they could lay hands on, sometimes in the presence of the owners, and whenever they had been unsuccessful in hunting, they would steal cattle and hogs, or anything eatable. They would dig up seed potatoes and eat them, even after they were up and had made considerable growth. They would scarcely offer any violence to the whites unless they were nearly starved, and they were resisted in their thefts. A man could generally drive off any number of them, and women have been known to do it, but generally they were so much frightened at the sight of the Indians that they would give them anything that they demanded. The settlers on Salt creek had more trouble with them than any others in Clay county, because the Pawnees claimed that they had not had their pay for the land on that. In April, 1857, the Pawnees came on to that settlement and drove the settlers all away and they did not return to their claims until toward the spring of 1858. Again, in May, 1859, they became troublesome and stole some cattle, and the whites killed and scalped one of them and drove the rest away, but the settlers always lived in fear of them.

Soon after this the Arapahoes drove the Pawnees across the Missouri river into Iowa, where they remained some time, not daring to return. They also burned the Pawnee village on the Platte. When the Arapahoes returned,

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a part of them came through the Salt creek settlement and committed some depredations, stealing stock, burning houses, etc., and tried to carry off Miss Rebecca Prey, now Mrs. Henry Stoops, but were forced to give her up after carrying her about eighty rods.

On the Nemaha, Alfred Gale's house was attacked by Otoes in June or July of the same year, when he was alone in it, forcing the door and overpowering him and a part of them holding him while the others robbed the house of every thing that was eatable, and did not leave him enough for breakfast. The attack was made in the dusk of the evening. He had just lent his revolver and had not the least thing in the house to defend himself with.

The next day they went to John Lyon's place and tried to run off his stock, but he and J. I. Shaw were breaking prairie about a mile from them and saw them driving the cattle. They started after them and saved the stock, but one cow had two arrows shot into her about eighteen inches, but she lived and was a good cow for many years.

In 1860 seven Otoes came to the house of your historian, who would not let them in but loaded his gun with buckshot and drove them away from his stock, when they went to John P. Shaw's and finding his cattle out of sight, ran them off and killed one of them.

On Indian creek and the Blue, they were very troublesome, stealing stock and robbing houses that happened to be left alone.

In July, 1861, there was a great Indian scare on the Big Blue and the Nemaha. Some way or another a story came that the Cheyennes and Sioux were coming this way, killing and burning everything they met. What the story sprung from this writer does not remember, but it created some excitement on the Nemaha. A meeting was called at John O. Adams' to consult as to what should be done, and it was decided to load up our wagons and go to the river and camp near some town until it was over, and a day was set to start.

Mr. Adams buried his blacksmith tools, and some other things that he could not take were otherwise hidden. George Gale hid his cook- stove in the brush, and some other equally

foolish things were done, but before the day came to start they all, without consultation, concluded not to go and they soon found there was no occasion for alarm.

There was no more trouble with Indians in this section until the great Indian scare of August, 1864, when the Sioux broke out and killed every man and either killed or carried away every woman and child that they could get at on the Platte and little Blue, for about three hundred miles in one day, and ran off the stock and burned the ranches. Some of the ranches were well armed and defended and they escaped with only a scare.

The news of this massacre reached Beatrice and the Nemaha a day or two after it oc- curred, with the addition that the Indians were coming on to Beatrice, and meant to burn the towns along the Missouri river.

This news nearly made some people crazy, they loaded a few things into their wagons, gathered up their stock and started for the river. Some, nearly all, I believe, left the north branch of the Nemaha before we on the south branch heard the news. Some of these never came back on the Nemaha again. the others returned in the course of the fall.

None left the south branch at this time. In Beatrice the scare was greater than on the Nemaha. While some prepared for defense and sent out runners and scouts to find out the truth and bury those killed at the ranches, others never waited for anything, but hitched up their teams and started for the east as fast as they could go. One man drove so fast that he spoiled his team. On Salt creek all got ready to leave and some did leave and sold their land and did not return for several years, and others never came back.

OLD SETTLERS

Here is a list of the oldest settlers of the territory belonging to old Clay county, by pre- cincts, commencing at the northeastern corner of the county.

LANCASTER COUNTY

Bennett - Messrs. Rodencamp, Meecham, and Nobles, 1857.

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Saltillo- J. L. Davison, Joseph Weeks, C. L. Bristo, all long since gone, so that Mr. Keyes is the oldest permanent settler, 1856.

Centerville - John D. Prey and sons, Jolın W., Thomas R., William L., and James, David E., and George Prey, and J. F. Good- win, 1856.

Highland - George Lougton, 1865.

Olive Branch - John and Robert Falkner, 1864.

Buda - H. Boone and Mr. Rieurd, 1865. South Pass - William McLain, Frank and William Lorsh, and William Greer, 1864.

Panama - Curren Moore and James Platt, 1866.

GAGĘ COUNTY

Adams - John O. Adams, 1857.

Nemaha - George Sykes, 1865. Highland - McCollum or M. Weaver, 1867. Clatonia - William VanCleif, 1859.

Grant - George Grant and sons, 1860.

Holt - E. C. Austin, Charley Austin, Mr. Phelps, H. W. Parker 1857, now all gone, and the oldest permanent settler is not known.

Bear Creek - John Wilson, 1858. Hooker - John Hillman, 1860.

Alfred Gale is the longest resident in Ne- braska of any person on the Nemaha, and, with .the exception of the Preys on Salt creek, of any in the county. He left Kenosha, Wis- consin, in September 1856, on foot, carrying a knapsack and gun, which he carried on foot all the way to Omaha and to Nebraska City, averaging thirty-three miles per day.

CHAPTER XIX

GROWTH OF BEATRICE FROM BEGINNING TO 1870

A HARD WINTER - COMPANY ASSETS - PAP'S CABIN - MUMFORD'S CABIN - ENTRY OF THE TOWNSITE - POPULATION IN 1870- COMING OF THE RAILROADS - FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE - FIRST BRIDGE ACROSS THE BIG BLUE-THE GOVERNMENT LAND OFFICE - IMPROVED CONDITIONS - FIRST UNITED STATES MAIL - THE STAGE ROUTES - BEATRICE OF THE SIXTIES

Few of the Townsite Company remained in Beatrice during the winter of 1857-1858. The enterprise, however, could not be wholly abandoned for even a short period of time without jeopardizing the rights of the as- sociation to the land selected as a townsite; moreover, as the association had gone through the form of organizing the county, with Beatrice as the county seat, it was consid- ered important that some, at least, of the mem- bers of the association, including the county officials, should remain on guard. Finally it was agreed that Albert Towle, one of the county commissioners, should bring his family from Nebraska City to Beatrice, and with Bennett Pike, Jefferson B. Weston, Gilbert T. Loomis, M. W. Ross, and Oliver Townsend (who had, by assingment, succeeded to the rights of his brother, Dr. Justus Townsend, in the townsite, and who had joined the com- pany in October), occupy the company build- ing. During the long, cold winter Ross died, his being the first death in the county. His body was buried in the old burial ground, between Indian creek and Glenover school house, which for several years constituted the cemetery for Beatrice and surrounding coun- try.

Those who remained in Beatrice for the winter possessed only a meager supply of pro- visions, but it was thought to be sufficient, with what nature provided, to last through the winter. Besides it was considered that, as

a trip could be made to Brownville in a week's time, there could be no danger of starvation. The autumn days were short and a winter of great severity soon set in. As the holidays approached it became evident that it would be necessary to procure a fresh supply of food for both man and beast. Loomis possessed the only team in the company and he volun- teered to make a trip to Brownville, and re- turn as soon as possible with such supplies as were thought to be necessary to last through the winter. A common purse of such funds as the small company possessed was placed in his hands, and he was directed to go beyond Brownville into Missouri, where it was thought supplies might be procured cheaper. He was detained by the severity of the weath- er and was unable to return to his companions for more than a month. The occupants of "Pap's Cabin" saw their stock of provisions running lower and lower, each day bringing a visible diminution in their means of sub- sistence. They wondered anxiously if Loomis would ever return and went so far as to even question his honesty. The seriousness of the situation is illustrated by an incident which has been handed down from that distant day.

The family of Mr. Towle occupied the east room in the cabin and what passed for an upstairs, while the young men kept bachelors' hall in the west end. The bachelors had or- ganized a sort of cooperative association for housekeeping purposes only, by which each

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took a weekly turn as cook and housekeeper. The day before Loomis returned was Sunday; the larder in the bachelors' end of the build- ing was completely cleaned out ; Mother Hub- bard's cupboard was not barer. It was Pike's turn at the household duties. At the proper hour for assuming his duties, he failed to arise. When urged to proceed with the breakfast, he very logically argued that in the absence of anything to cook, breakfast was out of the question. An animated conversation ensued in which the condition of affairs was thorough- ly exposed, to the enlightenment, as well as the amusement perhaps, of the occupants of the east end of the cabin. Upstairs, or more properly in the attic, the provident Mrs. Towle had suspended on nails two fair sized pieces of dried beef. A conference between her and her husband ensued, in which the relief of the famine prevailing in the west end of the cabin was agreed upon. Mr. Towle noiselessly climbed the ladder to the attic and taking one piece of the dried beef, crossed the loose floor to a point directly over the bed where Mr. Pike lay, and stealthily removing a board, dropped the beef on the breast of that gentle- man, who, with ready wit, exclaimed, "Thank God, the ravens have brought us food." The arrival of Loomis removed the fear as well as the danger of starvation. It is related, however, that on account of the scarcity of meat during the latter portion of the winter, these young, college-bred bachelors did not find it beneath their dignity to search the woods for the festive raccoon, whose flesh, though eaten with relish, they never mistook for a delicacy. Spring brought complete re- lief, and the colonists for the first time were able to appreciate the fact that the woods, the prairies and streams about them abounded in food for both man and beast.

A number of the company returned during the spring and summer of 1858, and acces- sions were made from homeseekers, such as Patrick Burke, the first blacksmith, Ed. Cart- wright, the noted fisherman, P. M. Favor and others. A little of the prairie on the nearby claims of members of the company was brok- en and planted to corn, melons and vegetables,

and when the second winter came, plenty smiled on every hand.

The transition from a few covered wagons and a tent, from "Pap's Cabin" and a saw mill, in 1857, to a modern city of approximate- ly twelve thousand inhabitants in 1918, was of course painfully slow. At first there was little at hand which by any stretch of the imagina- tion could be regarded as valuable material for the upbuilding of a city. Supplies beyond the bare necessities of life were scarce. Brownville was the nearest trading point and between here and there lay sixty miles of prairie, practically uninhabited; the road thither was little better than a wandering trail across a prairie waste. After crossing Bear creek at a point nearly a mile north of the State Institution for Feeble Minded Youth, there was, as late as 1869 and 1870, not a single dwelling house or a place where drink- ing water could be obtained until Yankee creek was reached, near Crab Orchard. Settlers began to come into the county in 1858, locat- ing usually along the streams, where wood and water could be obtained. They were mostly single men, or a husband and wife, and after spending a portion of the summer on their claims they usually returned to Missouri river towns and settlements to await the coming of spring.

At Beatrice the only tangible asset of any value possessed by the Townsite Company was the steam saw mill purchased in Omaha in May, 1857, and even this mill at first figured as a liability. At the fourth meeting of the association, on July 28, 1857, the following financial report was read:

MILL REPORT

Dr.

Original cost of mill $2,750.00

Freight on the same 566.50

Cost of hauling mill 548.15

Cost of truck 75.00

Cr.

Paid on mill 500.00

Paid on freight 542.30

Paid on hauling 273.15

For some time this old steam mill was a source of worry to the members of the as- sociation, and possibly of some contention.

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The chief difficulty apparently was to find some one competent to set up and run it, but by the beginning of 1858 it was in effective operation. On the 28th day of May in that year, at a meeting of the members of the as- sociation, J. B. Weston, the agent of the company having the enterprise in charge, re- ported that the lumber sold from the mill amounted to $383.38. "Of this sum" he says, "five dollars in specie is in the hands of the agent." Once in successful operation, the old company steam mill, which was the first manu- facturing enterprise of the county, excluding the government mill on the Otoe and Missouri Indian reservation, for many years supplied not only Beatrice but also a large area of the surrounding country with lumber of every kind and dimension, white oak, walnut, hack- berry, cottonwood, the last, however, being the main reliance for building purposes. This mill did custom work on the toll system; that is, the party who hauled saw logs to it rarely if ever paid cash for the services of the sawyer, but gave in payment part of the lumber manufactured from his logs. This system has long since been abolished in Ne- braska, either by law or custom, probably on account of its inherent temptation to dishon- esty. The owner of the logs frequently de- livered them at the mill in the winter, and at times when there was great congestion in the mill yard he might be compelled to wait many weeks before his turn came to have his logs made into lumber. He was without adequate means for checking the milling of his logs and was almost compelled to accept what the owner or lessee of the mill turned out to him. The settlers were rarely satis- fied with what they received.

But with all its imperfections and the de- fects of the tolling system, the old company mill was not only a great convenience to the settlers but was also a positive asset in the settlement and development of the county. When Fordyce Roper, in 1861, erected the first flouring mill at Beatrice and placed a dam across the river by which to obtain power for his enterprise, he either purchased or leased the old steam saw mill from the town-

site company and changed it to a water-driven mill. He operated it in connection with his flouring mill until 1869, when William E. Hill, of Nebraska City, opened a lumber yard at the corner of Fourth and Court streets and placed it in charge of William Survoss. This soon put an end to the old saw mill of pioneer days.

As already noted, the first building erected in Beatrice was the company house, which af- terward became widely and favorably known as "Pap's Cabin." When the association ad- journed in Omaha on May 21st, to meet in Beatrice, July 27, 1857, a number of the mem- bers of the association made their way to the townsite in June, and immediately began the erection of this building. It was located on what was afterward designated on the original town plat as block forty-six, a block which is now entirely owned and occupied by the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company as a site for its passenger depot. In its ori- ginal state the block comprised a tract of land which terminated abruptly on the north in a steep bank that ran down six or eight feet to Ella street, which was then a flat swale leading to the river. The south third of the block also lay in a wide depression, which ex- tended on the south nearly across Court street. This depression also led to the river, narrow- ing to a deep channel just before it entered that stream, where the east abutment of the present Court street bridge is located. On the south bank of this channel stood the old saw mill, a trifle north of where Black Broth- ers' magnificent merchant mill now stands. On the west side of the block the ground fell away rapidly toward the river, but on the east it formed part of a beautiful plateau, reach- ing to Third street.

After Mr. Towle moved his family to Beatrice, in the autumn of 1857, this building, which had been partly completed, was donated to him as a residence and was occupied by this genial and influential citizen as a family resi- dence, postoffice, court room, village inn, elec- tion booth, and as the general meeting place for the entire community, until 1867, when it was sold to Job Buchanan, by whom it was

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eventually transferred to the Burlington Rail- road Company.

The second building erected in the hamlet of Beatrice was Isma Mumford's residence and hotel building. This was located on block forty-seven, and was a story and a half, hewed- log structure, containing five or six rooms. Though suffering many modifications, this building still remains; it is just north of the Butler House and is owned and occupied by W. W. Scott as a storage building.

Beginning with 1858, a number of build- ings were erected, some log, some slab and some of sawed timber. Orr Stevens had moved from the neighborhood of Austin's Mill, on Indian creek, at that time known as Stevens creek, and had settled on lot one, block forty- six. Dr. Reynolds and Oliver Townsend had a little log hut on the south side of Court street, between Third and Fourth, and near them were Patrick Burke's blacksmith shop and slab shanty where his family lived. There were also a few other rude structures of which no one now remembers the use or own- ership, and no reliable record exists by which their location can be ascertained. In Septem- ber, 1859, when this writer first saw Beatrice, it was a mere huddle of log and slab shanties, with scarcely an effort toward a building of any pretensions. Aside from "Pap's Cabin" and the Mumford building, the most preten- tious structure was the shed that housed the steam engine at the mill. Beatrice did not contain to exceed fifty actual residents all told. The prairie came down to Fifth street and the traveled portion of Court street from there to the river was a narrow wagon track, like a country road. Court was the only street that showed signs of being regularly traveled, and this was only from Fourth street on to the ford across the river just above where the bridge is now located.

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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 24

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849- Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company Number of Pages: 1120

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120