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 30
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
"At the time America entered the world war they of course were subject to the selec- tive draft, like all other citizens ; however, the government recognized their conscientious scruples against bloodshed, and designated for them, as well as for the Quakers and Dunk- ards, noncombatant service, under the new military law, by which they can serve their country without violating their conscience."
BEATRICE SCHOOLS
The Beatrice school district was the first district organized in Gage county. An un- fortunate fire which, in 1902, destroyed the old Masonic Temple building, destroyed also all the previous records of the city schools, the superintendent at that time having his office in that building. The records of the county su- perintendent's office show that the Beatrice school district was organized May 10, 1868, and the school district is there numbered 15, but that date cannot represent the actual date of the organization of the district. About that time all the school districts in the county, some thirty in number, were put through a re- organization process, and numbered. The numbering began with the northeast corner of the county and without respect to the date on which the districts were organized, the aim ap- parently being to secure uniformity in num- bering only.
Beatrice was the oldest community in the county and the most compact. Its founders were at the head of public affairs and they showed great aptitude in advancing the inter- ests of the town. One of the first officers elected by the colony was the county superin- tendent of schools, and this office, through every change of the law was perpetuated in
223
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
some form. It is certain that Beatrice was an organized school district under the laws of the territory of Nebraska as early as 1862, when the old frame school building was erected and the first public school was taught by Oliver Townsend.
The area of the school district in those early days is a matter of conjecture. In 1858 the territorial legislature passed an act making each government township a school district, and, under this statute, what is now Midland township then constituted a single school dis- trict, with the village of Beatrice included. This statute, however, provided for the for- mation of sub-districts in the township, and by various subdivisions and legislative enact- ments the area of the original district was re- duced to its present proportions. In addition to the corporation itself, Beatrice school dis- trict now embraces several tracts of farm land, some adjacent to the city and some not.
The school history of Beatrice begins with a subscription school taught by Miss Frances Butler, in 1860, in a small frame building be- longing to Fordyce Roper. In 1861 Wealthy Tinkham (later Mrs. Joseph Hollingworth) also taught a subscription school in Beatrice. After the erection of the old single-room, frame school house in 1862, on the block of ground dedicated by the founders of the city to school purposes, the public school of Bea- trice became a permanent institution. This pioneer school house, the first school building in Gage county, was for many years freely used for nearly every sort of gathering, and it continued to afford the chief educational facility in Gage county until the year 1870.
It first became necessary to employ two teachers for the growing village in the year 1869. That autumn and the following winter a Mr. Hodson taught the older pupils, some thirty-five in number, in the old frame school house, and Mary L. Blodgett (later Mrs. William A. Wagner) taught the primary classes in an upstairs room in an old stone structure at the corner of Fourth and Market streets, on lot 12, block 65 of the original townsite. The Beatrice Clarion, the second newspaper printed in Beatrice, and the imme-
diate predecessor of the Beatrice Express, oc- cupied the ground floor of the building, below the schoolroom. Miss Blodgett's school num- bered fifty-six pupils, and they, with those under Mr. Hodson's instruction, comprised the school population of the entire Beatrice school district.
In 1870 a small two-story, brick school house was erected at the corner of Eighth and Ella streets, on lots 9 and 10, block 33 of the original townsite. The building originally cost about $5,000, and, as first planned, con- tained four schoolrooms, two on the first and two on the second floor. Later a two-story addition was built on the north, comprising two fair sized schoolrooms, and an entry was constructed on the south, from which a stair- way led to the upper floor.
This was the first school building of any pretentions in Beatrice. It was both a grade and a high school and was used as such for many years. By December 1, 1870, the two ground floor rooms of this building had been so far completed as to permit their use for the opening of the winter term of school, with H. J. Chase as principal and Mary L. Blodgett as primary and intermediate teacher. All told there were about one hundred pupils in the school, nearly equally divided between the two instructors. Mr. Chase, the principal of this early school, performed a man's work as a teacher of the older pupils. There was almost no such thing as classification, but he made a serious effort to elevate the Beatrice schools to something more than an ordinary district school. The most advanced subjects taught were higher arithmetic, algebra, book- keeping, grammar, and physical geography. The writer was a pupil of Mr. Chase, and it affords him pleasure to record his appreci- ation of this scholarly young teacher of that early day.
On the 5th day of January, 1878, this his- torian entered upon his duties as superintend- ent of the schools of Beatrice. At that time the old frame school house was still in use, as a primary school. In the following year another small frame school room was erected among the cottonwoods and maples at the
224
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
northeast corner of the school-house square, and this also was devoted to primary instruc- tion. By the opening of the fall term of 1879 the schools had been as carefully graded as circumstances permitted, and a printed out- line course of study placed in the hands of the teachers. The board of education then con- sisted of Thomas H. Harrison, president ; Oliver Townsend, clerk ; H. W. Parker, treas-
line Elwood, of Los Angeles, California. The enrollment for the school year in all depart- ments was six hundred and eighty pupils.
This illy constructed first high-school build- ing served its purpose until 1884, when, upon the completion of a modern, high-school building, it was demolished and every vestige of its existence effaced. The new building was erected at a cost to the Beatrice school
FIRST HIGH SCHOOL, BUILDING, 1870
urer ; Peter Shaffer, Benjamin Palmerton, and O. N. Wheelock. The teachers were Hugh J. Dobbs, superintendent ; Fannie B. Outcalt, assistant in the high school; Henry N. Blake, head of the grammar department; and S. W. Dodge, Amelia Marston, Mary F. Price, Mary C. F. Blake, and Mirian Blake (Mrs. R. J. Kilpatrick) as the grade teachers. At the close of the spring term of 1880 the first graduating exercises of the Beatrice schools were held, the graduates being Oliver B. Ges- sell, Ida Lumbeck, (both deceased) and Caro-
district of $40,000, where the old frame school house had stood since 1862, and on its occu- pation, in the fall of 1884, it became the cen- ter of the educational system of the city of Beatrice.
When the present high-school building was erected this old building became a grade school for the central portion of the city. But no change of destiny can rob it of the simple dignity of its proportions or minimize its rec- ord of scholastic usefulness. It stands in the center of the old school-house square and dom-
225
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
WEST SCHOOL.
HIGH SCHOOL.
GLENOVER SCHOOL.
226
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
inates beautiful Charles Park, the public li- brary and its other immediate surroundings, in a way that satisfies the mind as to what a building with its history should be.
In the year 1908 the qualified electors of the Beatrice school district, at a special election called for that purpose, voted to issue the bonds of the district in the sum of $80,000 for the purpose of erecting a high-school build- ing, and in 1909, the present high-school building was erected, pursuant to plans and specifications prepared by architect Richard W. Grant. It stands at the corner of Fifth and Elk streets, an imposing, three-story struc- ture with a basement. The original cost of the site, building and furniture was $81,886.00.
The remaining school buildings of the city of Beatrice are as here noted: The Harring- ton school building was constructed in 1885- 1886, at a cost of approximately $7,500; the South school building was constructed in 1886, at a cost of $8,000 (bonds) ; the East school building and the West school building, built on the same plan, were constructed in 1888, at a cost of $11,000 each (bonds) ; the Bel- videre school building, at first one room, later two, was constructed in 1889; the Fairview school building and Glenover school building, built on the same plan, were constructed in 1891, at a cost of $7,500 each (bonds) ; ad- dition to the West school building, four rooms, constructed in 1916, cost $13,000.
But the marshaling of physical assets, how- ever impressive the array, can at most indi- cate only the wealth and power of the com- munity. They are not the glory of our schools. For this we must look to the char- acter of the men and women who here have received their training for the affairs of life. Measured by this standard alone the record is most excellent. Students from the public schools of Beatrice are to be found every- where in the world of work; they honor the professions as lawyers, physicians, preachers, teachers, and they swell the ranks of those who, in the great world war, are fighting for human liberty.
The heads of the Beatrice city schools, be- ginning with Hodson in 1869, are H. J. Chase, Charles B. Palmer, John Ellis, John N. Fuller, H. L. Wagner, Mrs. Clara B. Colby, John N. Rhodes, Hugh J. Dobbs, L. B. Shryock, Wil- liam H. Elbright, Carroll G. Pearse, J. W. Dinsmore, W. H. Beeler, Ossian H. Brainard, W. L. Stephens, C. A. Fulmer, E. J. Bodwell, and A. J. Stoddart.
Some of the men who have brought renown to the Beatrice public schools because they were at one time connected therewith are as. follows: Carroll G. Pearse, superintendent back in the '80s and early '90s, has since been superintendent of schools in Omaha and Mil- waukee, is now president of the Milwaukee Normal school, and is considered one of the few foremost educators of America. W. L. Stephens, superintendent of schools in the '90s, has since been superintendent of the city schools at Lincoln, and is at present in a simi- lar position at Long Beach, California. J. W. Crabtree, one-time principal of the Beatrice high school, has since passed from normal- school presidencies to the highest position in the National Educational Association, and as its secretary wields an influence undoubtedly greater than any other educator in America. In later years, C. A. Fulmer, for five years, and E. J. Bodwell, for nine years superintend- ent, have placed the schools at the top in the state of Nebraska. A. J. Stoddart is now superintendent, and the future will undoubt- edly see the present standard maintained. In addition to these, Beatrice has enjoyed the ser- vices of many distinguished men and women who have gone far and wide through other fields. No chronicle of the Beatrice schools would be complete without mentioning Miss Juletta O. Rawles, who has been assistant principal of the high school during a period of time of such duration that the community will long know and feel the good effects of her fine personality.
Through the years old residents have seen the number of teachers grow from a small nucleus of two or three until we now have twenty-two in the high school and forty-eight.
227
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
in the grades; and the school enrollment grow from a few pupils in one or two rooms until last year we had 1109 boys and 1124 girls en- rolled in the schools. The high school ranks third in size in the state, having now an en- rollment of 490. The physical plant has grown
from one little building of one room until we now have eight ward buildings and one big central high-school building. In addition to this, through the public-spiritedness of some of the citizens of Beatrice, we have the finest athletic park in the west.
CHAPTER XXII
BEATRICE CONCLUDED
BANKS - FACTORIES - WHOLESALE HOUSES - RAWLINS POST - HOSPITALS AND SANITAR- IUMS - NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER MEN.
For many years after the settlement and organization of our county the pioneers were wholly dependent upon foreign banking insti- tutions in all business transactions requiring the intervention of a bank. One of the six "wild-cat" banks established in Nebraska ter- ritory in 1856, by legislative charter, was the Platte Valley Bank, at Nebraska City. It was organized with S. F. Nuckolls as president and Joshua Garside as cashier. On account of the high character of these men, this bank secured a good patronage, and it was the only territorial bank of the "wild-cat" type that survived the terrible financial panic of 1857. In 1859 it liquidated its obligations and was succeeded at Nebraska City by the private banking house of James Sweet & Company, which was organized September 19, 1859. The honorable record as bankers established by the Platte Valley Bank under Mr. Nuckolls' man- agement, together with the confidence inspired by James Sweet and those associated with him in his private banking enterprise, drew to Ne- braska City a great volume of banking business from many of the South Platte counties, in- cluding Gage. Through the cooperation of the pioneer merchants of Beatrice with these banking concerns, a regular banking business of a sort was established for Beatrice and vicinity. The process was in the main as follows: A citizen wishing to borrow a sum of money would go to Joseph Saunders or to Blakely, Reynolds & Townsend or to some other Beatrice merchant, offer his security, make his note at twelve per cent. annual in- terest, payable in advance, and secure the
money. The lender, by endorsing the note or guaranteeing its payment, could turn it in at his correspondent bank at Nebraska City and take credit for it.
But with the coming of the railroads, in 1872, all this was completely changed. To every property-owner in the county the ad- vent of the iron horse was equivalent to un- claimed treasure-trove. That which before had possessed no market value, became market- able. Land advanced almost over night from a nominal sum to five dollars or more per acre, and found purchasers. Business quickly adjusted itself to new conditions. Grain and live stock and other products of the farm found a ready market at reasonable figures. In fact the coming of the railroads ended the pioneer days in Gage county.
In 1871 Nathan Kirk Griggs and Hiram Peter Webb began a banking business in a small way, as private bankers, in the two- story, brick building erected by them on lot 10, block 47 of the original town of Beatrice, described as No. 314 Court street. Neither member of the firm possessed sufficient capital for any but the most meager banking oper- ations, but they did have the most desirable of all wealth, -youth, enthusiasm, self-con- fidence and, to a very remarkable degree, the confidence of the community, - a confidence which both well deserved. Both were well educated, both lawyers without briefs, both with character and abilities which promised much for the future. At the election in No- vember, 1869, Webb was elected treasurer of Gage county, and by successive elections he -
228
229
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
held the office from January, 1870, to Jan- uary, 1876. There were then no restrictions upon the use of the funds of the county by the treasurer, nor was he required to account for interest on such funds. Many a pioneer bank in Nebraska had its inception with the election of the county treasurer. The bank was known as the Griggs & Webb Bank and it did a large business for those crude days ; it was successfully managed by Webb until 1878. In 1874 they built a two-story, stone bank building at the corner of Fifth and Court streets, and transferred the bank to this building. In 1876 Mr. Griggs, who had by that time become a prominent and successful lawyer and politician, was appointed United States consul to Chemnitz, Saxony, and on accepting this office he withdrew from the bank. Webb retired from the county treas- ury in January, 1876, and thereafter devoted his time exclusively to the affairs of the bank, which then became known as H. P. Webb & Company, he having associated with him in the bank Nathan Blakely and Silas P. Wheeler. Had he confined his activities to legitimate banking he no doubt would have built up a very strong institution. He was a genial, clever, accommodating man, much esteemed in the community, and drew about him a host of the warmest of friends. In an evil mo- ment, he formed a copartnership with a man named Holt, bought both the Beatrice and De- Witt mills, and with him engaged in the mill- ing and grain business at DeWitt and Bea- trice, using the funds of his bank to finance these transactions. He was cruelly deceived and cheated by Holt, and both mills were finally destroyed by fire. The banking house of H. P. Webb & Company closed its doors in May, 1878, its assets passed into the hands of W. H. Ashby, as assignee, and Gage county's first banker, Hiram Webb, having lost what in those days was a fortune and the opportunity of great success in the banking world, broken in spirit while still a young man, left Gage county and went to Oregon, where, being deeply religious, he engaged in works of piety, and died many years ago, far from his friends. The annals of Gage county
present no more pathetic ending of what might have been a brilliant and a useful life.
Following the failure of the Webb banking concern, William Lamb, having acquired the old Webb banking house, August 1, 1879, or- ganized a private bank bearing his name. In 1881 the Lamb banking establishment was purchased by Erastus E. Brown, of Lincoln, and reorganized June 14, 1881, as the Gage County Bank; capital $50,000, with Brown, president, Lamb, manager, and Oliver M. Enlow, cashier and attorney. In 1884 the stock of this bank was purchased by Daniel W. Cook, Jefferson B. Weston, Nathan H. Harwood and their associates, and it was then reorganzied, as the Beatrice National Bank, with a capital of $50,000. President, Jeffer- son B. Weston; vice-president, Daniel W. Cook; cashier, C. M. Brown. The bank con- tinued in business in the old two-story, stone building at Fifth and Court streets until De- cember 10, 1892, when its directorate having acquired the bulk of the stock in the old Ma- sonic Temple Building Company moved the bank to that building, on the corner of Sixth and Court streets, which had been remodeled for banking purposes. This building was des- troyed by fire December 22, 1902, entailing a complete loss of the bank furniture and fix- tures. The vaults and safes, however, af- forded perfect protection to the books, records and funds of the bank, and at the usual hour on the morning of the 23d of December it opened for business in the old Nebraska Na- tional Bank building, secured for that pur- pose while its own was in flames.
Steps were immediately taken by the officers and directors of the bank to erect a modern bank building on the spot where the old Ma- sonic Temple building had stood. This work was begun as soon as the debris of the old structure was cold, and it was pushed to com- pletion as rapidly as possible. Almost a year was consumed in the erection of this building, and it was not till the morning of December 14, 1903, that the doors of the new building swung open to the patrons of the bank, and a new chapter was begun in its long career of usefulness and prosperity. Supplemental
230
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
data concerning this institution appear in the memoir dedicated to Daniel W. Cook, in the biographical department of this history.
In Angust, 1872, John E. and Samuel C. Smith came to Beatrice and on the first day of September following they opened a private bank at No. 409 Court street, in the building now occupied by Cullen & Lock as a cigar store. The brothers possessed a capital of $10,000, and the bank was known as Smith Brothers' Bank, of which John E. Smith was president and Samuel C. Smith, cashier. Both brothers were natives of Ridgefield, Connecti- cut ; John E., the elder, was born August 6, 1842, and Samuel C. was born June 18, 1846. They were at an age when, if ever, enthusiam and ambition have assumed full sway and they entered into the business life of our county with a vigor that was most inspiring to all who fell under their influence. They brought to their business as bankers the powerful sup- port of a number of moneyed men both in Ridgefield and in Cambridge, New York, where the elder brother had served an appren- ticeship in the banking business as an em- ploye of the Cambridge Valley Bank, which
institution he had served three years as cash- ier, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business. For nearly forty-six years Smith Brothers have been prominent factors in the growth and development of the city of Bea- trice, the county of Gage and state of Ne- braska.
In 1877 they organized the First National Bank of Beatrice, which was chartered and commenced business in April of that year. The directors of the bank were Hon. Algernon Sidney Paddock, Hiram W. Parker, Elijah Filley, Charles G. Dorsey, John E. and Sam- uel C. Smith, of Beatrice, and James Ellis, of New York. John E. Smith was president ; Hiram W. Parker, vice-president; Samuel C. Smith, cashier; and Frank Graham, assistant cashier. The success of this banking enter- prise was immediate. The statement of its condition at the close of the first nine months of its existence comprises not only an instruc- tive commentary on the affairs of the bank itself, but is the first bank statement ever is- sued by any institution in Gage county. It is dated December 31, 1877, and is as fol- lows:
Loans and Discounts
$61,574.20
Capital Stock
$50,000.00
United States Bonds
30,000.00
Surplus and Profits
1,603.26
Other Stocks and Bonds
3,073.50
Circulation
27,000.00
Real Estate
5,978.30
Deposits
60,471.61
Furniture and Fixtures
2,006.66
Unpaid Dividends
2,500.00
Premiums
2,550.00
Due from Banks and United
States Treasurer
22,052.74
Cash on hand
14,339.47
Total
$141,574.87
Total
$141,574.87
Its wonderful growth is shown by its report to the comptroller of the treasury at the close of business December 31, 1881 :
Loans and Discounts
$190,235.22
Capital Stock
$ 50,000.00
United States Bonds
50,000.00
Surplus and Profits
15,074.27
Other Stocks and Bonds
1,137.51
Circulation
45,000.00
Due from Banks and United
Deposits
204,552.11
States Treasurer
61,105.35
Re-discounts
19,000.00
Real Estate
6,861.30
Furniture and Fixtures
2,800.00
Cash on hand
21,487.00
Total
$333,626.38
Total
$333,626.38
231
HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
About the year 1885 the First National Bank building, on the corner of Fifth and Court streets was erected, and the bank was transferred to the commodious quarters ar- ranged for it in this substantial structure.
This pioneer bank has had a remarkable career in the banking history of the state of Nebraska. In 1886, the Beatrice Savings Bank was organized and operated in connec- tion with this institution, and from the be- ginning, Smith Brothers, had maintained a farm-loan department, separately incorporated however as the Smith Brothers Loan & Trust Company. All these institutions did a tre- mendous business, each in its line. Through Smith Brothers Loan & Trust Company the funds of the savings bank were largely in- vested in mortgages on western Kansas and Nebraska land. The business thus trans- acted was enormous, was most conservatively conducted, and under normal conditions would have proved very profitable to all parties con- cerned. But the great financial panic of 1893, coupled with a series of dry seasons which beggared nearly every man in the territory where these lands were located and drove thon- sands out of the country, caused such shrink- age in values as to force the Smith Brothers out of business. The savings bank passed into the hands of a receiver, and the stock of the First National Bank held by them passed to L. B. Howey and those associated with him in its purchase, and John and Samuel Smith, by these transactions, turned over to the creditors of their business enterprises all their non-exempt property. The saddest part of this business tragedy consists in the fact that the assets of the two banks were what in common parlance is described as "gilt- edge." Even under the wasteful management of a receivership the assets of the savings bank paid ninety cents on the dollar of its indebted- ness, and if the Smith Brothers could have been given time, the restoration of values which shortly ensued would have left their several institutions entirely solvent and them with independent fortunes. They were inno- cent victims of the times and the lack of con- fidence in all financial institutions then widely
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.