USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 12
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 12
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In the central part of the state and looking farther north, in 1822, Aurora was laid out in Hamilton County, destined to take the county seat away from Orville, and become the metropolis of its vicinity, and a town of some three thousand inhabitants. At this time, the great, fertile Loup Valley, north of Aurora and Grand Island began to open up. Following the first settlements in 1871, the town of St. Paul was founded by the Paul brothers in 1872, and another town, Dannebrog also started in Howard County that year, and to the north, North Loup, in Valley County, was projected. This growth carried the settlements well into the center of the state, along the Republican, Platte and Loup valleys.
Also in this period, in the older parts of the state, among other towns started in 18:1-2 were Stromsburg, in Polk County ; Plainview, in Pierce County ; Albion, the permanent county seat of Boone County, and St. Edward, in the same county ; Stanton, in the county that bears the same name; and Palmyra in Otoe County.
1823 saw a few towns here and there started, in localities which gradually extended the settled area. Neligh, in Antelope County started at this time. Ord was located in this year and laid out in 1874 by Haskell Brothers and Babcock. This town, the metropolis of Valley County and the junction of the Union Pacific and Burlington branches into the Loup Valley has become an important trading center. Ord and North Loup bear the reputation of being the shipping points for
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
the second greatest popcorn shipping community in the United States, and an annual popcorn festival is held in recent years at North Loup. Nelson, eventually the county seat of Nuckolls County, was laid out in 1823, some two years before its rival Superior, which became the larger town in the county and an important railroad center. David City, the county seat of Butler, was laid out then, and incorporated in 1874; Loup City, the metropolis and county seat of Sherman County, began building up in 1873. In Dawson County, two more towns started, Cozad, which was at one time called "Hundredth Meridian" due to its location near that line, and Overton, which is in the eastern part of the county.
1874-72. Scotia, in Greeley County, and located between St. Paul and North Loup, but only four miles south of the latter, started in 1874. It was the first town and first county seat of Greeley County. O'Neill started in 1875, and Atkinson, in 1876 and another little town in Holt County, Paddock, later Troy, started about this time. Keya Paha was settled in 1876, thus indicating that before 1880 the settlements were reaching up the Northwestern Railroad Elkhorn Valley line pretty rapidly.
In Kearney County, Minden started in 1846 and Newark in 1822. In Greeley, a settlement was made at O'Connor in 1847. Utiea, in Seward County started about this time.
1842-1880. In 1828, Blue Hill and Cowles started in Webster County; 1879 saw the foundation of Cedar Rapids, in Boone County: Clay Center, in Clay County ; Oxford, in Furnas County ; and Bradshaw in York County.
1881-2. Bancroft started in Burt County ; Fullerton, in Nance County ; Pilger, in Stanton County ; Chester and Hubbell in Thayer County, and out at the very southwest corner of the state, Collinsville, later called Benkleman began.
The more important towns projected in 1882, were Wakefield, in Dixon County ; Wayne, county seat of that county ; Wymore, in Gage County, and Spalding, in eastern Greeley County, and McCook, future county seat of Red Willow, an important division point on the Burlington and trading center of some importance in the Republican Valley in recent years.
This survey reaching to 1883, brings us to a point where towns had been started in almost every county in the state, outside of the vast, rather unorganized region then embraced in Cheyenne and Sioux counties, and later distributed into twenty- three counties instead of two. It was about this time that the towns of Custer County were started. Westerville, in 1886, being the first important town; Broken Bow, having been first located in 1882 and well eclipsed its first rival in the latter years. As the Burlington Railroad built its line toward Billings in 1884, 1885, 1886 and 1887, towns sprang up along that line ; Ravenna, in Buffalo County ; Ansley, Mason, Merna, Anselmo in Custer County : Dunning, in Blaine, Thedford, Seneca in Thomas County; Mullen, in Hooker County : Hyannis, Whitman and Ashby in Grant County, and on toward Alliance, in Box Butte County, and many stations which have remained smaller than those mentioned.
Thus, Nebraska has developed into a state with only two large cities, of over 50,000 population, Omaha and Lincoln, a dozen smaller cities ranging from 7,000 to 15,000, and a myriad of towns in the 2,000 to 5,000 class, good trading centers for fertile, prosperous territories, and hundreds of smaller towns, yet carrying on extensive business interests. A truly agricultural state, it is upon these myriads of small towns, and not altogether upon great eities, that Nebraska
Vol. 1-7
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
bases its wonderful record of achievement in agricultural, educational, religious, social and civie performances, that serve to make it one of the banner states of the Union. With well maintained churches, well endowed schools, well patronized newspapers, active and up-to-date business houses, well supported and clean moving picture theaters, it is through such a myriad of small towns that Nebraska can mould a citizenship that takes a low percentage record of illiteracy, a high percentage record in keen alert citizenship, and a most vigorous forward record in progressive legislation and forward government.
CHAPTER V
DEVELOPMENT OF NEBRASKA-BY COUNTIES
ORDER OF ORGANIZATION-EIGHIT ORIGINAL COUNTIES-CHANGES BY FIRST LEGISLA- TURE-ACT OF JANUARY 26, 1856-ORGANIZATION, YEAR BY YEAR-INLAND COUN- TIES-THE COUNTIES OF NEBRASKA INDIVIDUALLY-POPULATION OF COUNTIES- SHORT SKETCH OF FIRST SETTLEMENTS, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EACH' COUNTY ( ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) -ORIGIN OF NEBRASKA NAMES- COUNTY NAMES.
"Many things impossible in thought Have been by need to full perfection brought."
-Dryden.
It is one of the peculiarities of our American governmental scheme that has made this republie what it is-that we bring the Government so close to the people. Each citizen takes a deep interest and pride in the history, achievements and government of our Nation-but things "National" are a long ways off. We take a very close pride in our state, and the general history of the State of Nebraska, as a whole, is interesting. But it needs not words to describe even how much closer is the particular county in which one lives. It is this bringing the government, in smaller units and functions, close to us, that distinguishes the United States from many other nations. It needs no words to describe that feeling of even closer proprietorship and individual pride one feels in the local city hall and courthouse buildings than he does in even a more majestic appearing Federal postoffice building. Perhaps, for one thing, because he doesn't have to divide his ownership, as a citizen, with one hundred millions of others.
So in this volume, many things that might have been included in the treatment of the state governmental functions have been omitted to make way for the fol- lowing brief, synoptical analysis of the origin, organization and stage of develop- ment reached by each individual county in the state.
ORDER OF ORGANIZATION
Just as in the subject of their settlement, a short statistical review of the rotation in which the various counties perfeeted their governmental organization eannot but prove invaluable as well as interesting.
EIGIIT ORIGINAL COUNTIES
When the Territorial Goverment assumed the reins of government in 1854, Nebraska was then divided into what have been called, "The Eight Original Counties." These were clustered along the Missouri River, and starting at the
89
90
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
south end, were :- Richardson ; Forney (later changed to name of Nemaha), Pierce (later called Otoe), C'ass, Douglas, Washington, Burt, and Dodge, the one of the group that lay back away from the Missouri River.
In 1855, connties of Dakota and Cuming were organized; and in 1856, Pawnee and Johnson were organized. These four were virtually pioneer counties in the territorial government.
CHANGES BY FIRST LEGISLATURE
The original division according to eight counties above mentioned, was materially changed by the first legislature. The subdivision of so vast a domain as Nebraska was no slight task. Not only was it necessary to observe the wishes of the peti- tioners, accede to various requests as to locations, dislike and likes for certain names, conform to natural boundaries and divisions made by rivers, railroads and other natural factors in such determinations, but look to the future of a fast- growing territory. It will be observed in comparing the following table, with that showing the rotation of settlement of the respective counties, appearing in another chapter, or with the short synoptical analysis of each county appearing in the latter part of this chapter, that many counties were provided for, established as to boundaries, and named, by the early legislatures that did not materialize in latter years. Others, remained but a short time under the name first given, or the boundaries first established. Still others, had a portion of their original territory cut off and made into new counties. It is to keep these changes in mind, in a short, concise and comprehensible form, that the following table is intended.
On February 18. 1855, the Legislature re-enacted the boundaries of Burt County : on February 22d, those of Washington : on March 6th, those of Dodge; on March 2d, it had fixed those of Douglas and Otoe : on March 7th, those of Cass, Nemaha and Richardson. Thus the names of Forney and Pierce were dropped ; the other six original counties re-established. In addition to Dakota, C'mming, Pawnee and Johnson, heretofore mentioned as having been very shortly organized, twelve other counties were established by this Act. Of these twelve, the following eventu- ally were organized in somewhere approximately the boundaries fixed in this Act :-- Lonp, which territory was later organized as Platte and Colfax, but the county seat named therein, Pawnee, never materialized. Greene, named for a Missouri senator, whose course in the Civil war displeased Nebraskans and after organiza- tion the county's name was changed to Seward; Lancaster. Gage, and Clay, all later organized, upon a basis of twenty-four miles square, and county seats to be named for Lancaster and Gage, but that of Clay to be "Clatonia." After Clay was organized the only effort toward buikdling up a town in its borders was that of projected town of Austin. In 1864, a bill was drawn that attached the north half of Clay County to Lancaster and the south half to Gage, which accounts for these two counties being of the combined length of seventy-two miles. Jackson, apparently to be the western part of present Otoe County, never materialized as a county ; neither did MeNeale, of which Manitou was to have been the county seat. nor Izard, with Hunton as county seat. The territory embraced in the description of these two counties later became Stanton and Wayne counties. Saline County, York County and Buffalo County, as yet unsettled when this act was passed. later materialized into counties, although Buffalo County possessed vastly different
91
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
borders when it finally came into the family of counties; and its proposed county seat of Nebraska Center never materialized ; Blackbird County, for many years, for election, judicial and revenue purposes was apportioned between Burt, Cuming and Dakota counties; became the Omaha reservation territory, and eventually, in recent years, became Thurston County. The county seats named for the first twelve counties did not all retain that honor ; notably, Fort Calhoun in Washington ; Fontanelle in Dodge; Pawnee Village in Pawnee; Catherine in Cuming; Archer in Richardson ; Brownville in Nemaha and Blackbird City in Blackbird.
ACT OF JANUARY 26, 1856
This Act approved the boundaries of nineteen counties; repeating among the counties named in Act of 1855, York, Saline, Izard, Gage, Lancaster, Clay and Greene. This Act added the status of establishment to the following counties which were eventually organized; Jefferson, Fillmore, Polk, Monroe, which eventually became the west part of Platte, Madison, Pierce, Jones, which was originally Jefferson County as now constituted; Butler, Platte, Dixon and Calhoun, which eventually became known as Saunders.
Up until the end of this year, only the twelve counties first named above had been formally organized.
1857. In this year, the Legislature established three counties, naming boundaries for Cedar, L'Eau-qui-Court and Cuming. Cuming was already organ- ized ; and in this year the following counties perfected organization :-
L'Eau-qui-Court, which retained that name until 1867, when it was changed to "Emmett" and in 1873 to its present name, Knox. Cedar; Sarpy, which although the first county in the state to be settled, had remained a part of Douglas until this time, notwithstanding that at one time provision had been made to establish it as Omaha County. Gage and Platte were organized in this year.
1858. Legislative act provided for establishment or changes in boundaries of following counties; Nemaha, re-defined ; Dixon, re-defined; Calhoun, Merick, later spelled Merrick; Hall, and the three were organized in that year-Dixon, Merrick and Hall.
1859. Lancaster and Kearney counties, organized.
1860. Legislative provisions made for organization of following counties; Wilson, Morton, Shorter, Kearney, really organized the year before, and Dawson. It was six years before Shorter, which was eventually known as Lincoln County, and eleven years before Dawson County organized, and there are no records to show that Wilson or Morton ever organized and exercised any functions as counties. These two counties were to have been out in the North Platte River-Sweet Water River region. In addition to re-defining boundaries of several present counties, provision was made for West and Nuckolls counties. Nuckolls organized some eleven years later, West County, proposed up along the Keya Paha River. never materialized and its establishment was set aside in 1862.
1862. Saline County organized.
1864. Buffalo County was organized. Jefferson County organized. The present Jefferson County was originally Jones County, and when it changed its name re- tained the name Jefferson in order to retain the county records, and its neighbor,
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
Thayer County, which was separated from it, and had originally had name Jefferson, hunted a new name.
1865. Seward County was organized. As noted heretofore, it dropped its original name, Greene County, and adopted that of the national secretary of state.
1866. Saunders County, first known as Calhoun, organized as did Lincoln and Stanton counties.
1867. The Legislature in this year provided for the establishment of several counties, of which present Clay and Hamilton were already slightly settled, and Webster, Adams, and Franklin were not settled until some three years later.
1868. Butler and Madison counties organized.
1869. Colfax County organized.
1870. This year witnessed the organization of Pierce and Wayne in the north- east part of state, York, Polk and Hamilton in eentral part and Cheyenne in far western part.
1871. This year witnessed the organization of twelve counties, eight of which are adjacent to each other, five in the southern tier of the state and three in the next tier to the north, being Fillmore, Clay and Adams in the latter tier; and running east to west on southern tier, being, Thayer, Nuckolls, Webster, Franklin and Harlan. Antelope and Dawson heretofore provided for were organized, and Boone and Howard in the north central part were forerunners of another group organized about this time.
1872. In this year, Greeley, in the Loup Valley, and Frontier, to the west organized.
1873. This year saw the establishment by the Legislature of a number of counties, of which Phelps, Furnas, Red Willow, Hitcheoek, Keith, Valley and Sherman then organized. Authorization that was later aeted upon was given for the organization of Gosper, which eventually came off from Phelps; Dundy, in the southwest corner of the state; Chase, the next county north of Dundy.
1876-1877. The next manifestation of activity in the formation of counties was that of Holt in 1876, and Custer by Act of 1877, and Hayes was established by Aet of 1877, as was Wheeler County. After the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, necessity coupled with the desire of prospective settlers and goldseekers drove the Ogallala and Brule Sioux from their reservations in the part of the state, then called the Unorganized Country, and Sioux County shortly after emerged as a unit of vast territory that later became some sixteen separate counties.
1879. Nanee County organized.
1881. Wheeler County was actually organized on April 11th.
1883. This year saw the organization of three counties: Loup. Brown and Cherry.
1884. Keya Paha County was taken off from Brown County. Garfield County was formed from the western end of Wheeler County, and Sioux County was re- duced to almost its present proportion when in
1885 Dawes and Sheridan were formed. Logan County down in the sand- hills took shape abont this time.
1886. Blaine County temporarily organized. The Burlington Railroad line to Wyoming and Montana building through this district, caused the formation of numerous counties through the Burlington Sandhills. Box Butte took form in this year also.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
1884. Thomas County was established from the territory between Blaine and Box Butte counties; and a year later, Grant County took form, and in another year, Hooker County, completing the quartette of counties that border to the south on their vast neighbor, Cherry County, and through which the Burlington line runs. In 1887, two changes took place to the south, when MePherson was provided for, and Perkins County was taken off from Keith County.
1888. This year saw the formation of Rock County, between Brown and Holt counties, and from big Cheyenne, four counties were taken by an election of November 6, 1888 ; being Deuel, Kimball, Banner and Scotts Bluff.
1889. In addition to formation of Hooker County, in this year, the Indian reservation territory of old Blackbird County, on the Missouri River, was formed into Thurston County.
1891. Boyd County was taken off the north end of Holt County.
1908-1910-1913. In the last twelve years, the three youngest counties in Nebraska have been formulated. Morrill County was taken from new Cheyenne County in 1908, and two years later, Garden County was taken from Deuel County. and in 1913, Arthur County, long before provided for, and for years attached to MePherson County, was formed and organized from the western part of McPherson County.
INLAND COUNTIES
Railroad construetion in Nebraska in the past two decades has been very light, and Nebraska in 1920 still has five inland counties, in whose borders no railroad track traverses, and to which a trip by team, conveyance, automobile, other vehicle or aeroplane is the only means of entrance. These are Keya Paha. Loup, McPherson, Arthur, Banner. Several other counties, with railroad facilities at other towns in the county have inland county seats, without railroad facilities. These are, Hayes County, Hayes Center; Frontier County, Stockville: Logan County, Gandy, over a mile from the railroad, but with a station : Blaine County, Brewster, eighteen miles from Dunning : Wheeler County, where Bartlett is usually. reached from either Ericson in that county, or Spalding, in Greeley County : Boyd County. Butte; and Knox County, Center.
While it has been seven years since any new counties have been formed in Nebraska, there is no immediate likelihood of a ninety-fourth county coming very soon. The counties south of Cherry County strongly advocate the secession of a couple tiers of townships on the south from that vast county and their annexation to Grant, Hooker and Thomas, but this, if it came abont, would probably form no new counties. Division of Sheridan County is strongly advocated at times, and would be the most likely ninety-fourth county move. Division of the vast county of C'uster has withstood defeat in several elections, and with the development of good roads and general use of automobiles never seemed further of accomplish- ment than it does right now in 1920. County seat changes are desired in many counties by towns which would like to win this prize from its present possessor. But none have been made in very recent years, except in Franklin County in 1920.
THE COUNTIES OF NEBRASKA-INDIVIDUALLY
A very long narrative could be woven, and most interestingly at that, eoneerning each one of the counties of the state. But to do this in one volume would make
94
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
altogether too long a work. When this was attempted, and pretty thoroughly at that, some thirty-eight years ago, by the compilers of Andreas' History of Nebraska, 1882, it made a book of over 1,500 pages, and a great deal of that in very fine print. Then there were only sixty-eight counties fully treated and four or five others slightly treated, and forty years elapsed since on each one, would make necessary a set of more than one volume. So in this work, only the county assigned will be treated in full, and a very short synopsis of the facts or origin, organization and development included for each of the other counties.
POPULATION OF COUNTIES
The quickest and most comprehensive barometer of the growth of the "county" subdivisions of the state. is naturally reflected in the table of populations of the various counties, given here for each ten year period from 1860 to 1920, inclusive.
The 1920 census shows that in Nebraska, in common with many other central states of the Union, and especially those states outside of the manufacturing dis- tricts and depending more essentially upon agriculture, many counties show a slight decline since 1910. On the other hand, the towns and cities show a sub- stantially uniform rate of increase. There are fewer.farms in 1920 and fewer people living in the rural districts, and it will be noted that most of the counties showing a substantial increase between 1910 and 1920, are those counties with numerous or important towns and cities.
POPULATION OF NEBRASKA BY COUNTIES
Population, 1856-1920
1920
1910
1900
1890
1880
1870
1860
1856
The State
1,295,502
1.192.214 1,066,300 1.058,910
452.402
122.993
#8.841
Counties
Adams.
22.621
20,900
18,840
24.303
10,235
19
Antelope
15.243
14,003
11,344
10,399
3,953
Arthur
1,412
Banner
1.435
1.444
1,114
2,435
Blaine
1,778
1,672
603
1,146
Boone
14,146
13.145
11,689
8,683
Box Butte
6,407
6.131
5,572
5,494
Boyd
8,243
8,826
7,332
695
Buffalo
23,787
21,907
20,254
22.162
7,531
193
114
12,559
12,726
13.040
11,069
6,937
2.847
388
146
Butler
13,723
15,403
15.703
15.454
9.154
1,290
27
1,251
Cedar
16,225
15.191
12.467
7,028
2.899
1,032
246
4,939
3,613
2.559
4,807
70
Cheyenne
8,405
4.551
5,570
5,693
1.558
190
165
Colfax
11.624
11,610
11.211
10,453
6,588
1.424
S
Cuming
13,769
13.782
14.584
12.265
5.569
2,964
67
Custer
26.407
25.668
19,758
21,677
2.211
Dakota
7,694
6,564
6,286
5.386
3.213
2,040
$19
Dawes
10,160
5.254
6.215
9.722
] lawson
16.004
15.961
12.214
10,129
2.909
103
16
Deuel
3,282
1.786
2,680
2.893
Dixon
11,815
11.477
10,535
8,084
4,177
1.345
247
Dodge
23.197
22,145
22,298
19,260
11.263
4,212
309
Douglas
204.524
168,546
140,590
158,008
37.645
19,982
4,328
3,465
Dundy
4,869
4.098
2.434
4,012
37
Fillmore
13.671
14.674
15,087
16.022
10.204
238
Franklin
10.067
10.303
9.455
7.693
5.465
26
Frontier
8,540
8.572
8.781
8,497
934
Furnas
11,657
12,083
12,373
9,840
6.407
Gage.
29.721
30,525
30,051
36.344
13,164
3.359
421
Garden
4.572
3,538
Garfield
3.496
3,417
2,127
1.659
Gosper
4.669
4,933
5,301
4.816
1,673
Grant
1.486
1,097
763
458
Greeley
8.685
8.047
5,691
4,869
1,461
Hall
23,733
20,861
17,206
16,513
8,572
1,057
116
Brown
6,749
6.083
3,470
4,359
Cass
18,029
19.786
21.330
24,080
16,683
8,151
3,369
Chase
Cherry
11,753
10,414
6.541
6.428
Clay
14.486
15.729
15,735
16,310
11,294
54
646
313
91
......
4.170
Burt
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
Counties
1920
1910
1900
1890
1880
1870
1860
1856
Hamilton
13,237
13,459
13,330
14,096
8,267
130
Harlan
9,220
9.570
9,370
8,158
6,086
Hayes
3.327
3,011
2.708
3,953
119
Hitchcock.
6,045
5.415
4,409
5,799
1.012
Holt
17,151
15,545
12,224
13,672
3.287
Hooker
1,378
981
432
426
...
Howard
10,739
10,783
10.343
9,430
4,391
Jefferson
16.140
16,852
15,196
14,850
8,096
2.440
Johnson
6,940
10,187
11.197
10,333
7,595
3,429
528
Kearney
8,583
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