USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 26
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 26
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
democratic circles, ten Bryan delegates, headed by W. J. Bryan, and six Hitchcock delegates went to San Francisco, giving Senator Hitchcock only six from his own state in his quest for the democratic nomination, which on the forty-fourth ballot was won by Gov. James M. Cox of Ohio.
The fall election of 1920 was the first occasion upon which the women of the state exercised the full right of franchise, and the vote of the state was almost doubled, with this added vote and the natural increase. Senator Harding, the republican candidate for president, carried the state by the unprecedented majority of 127,000, and secured a majority in every one of the ninety-three counties of the state, and numerous state officers on the republican ticket had majorities hovering around one hundred thousand. Governor McKelvie was re-elected by a majority of approximately twenty-two thousand over Governor Morehead, who polled about forty thousand more votes than Arthur G. Wray, the independent petition candidate. All six of the republican congressmen were re-elected. The 1921 Legislature had only four democrats among the 100 members of the house and the thirty- three senators were all republicans. The Legislature of 1921, met, confronted by many problems, in the passage of legislative acts to carry out numerous pro- visions of the new constitution: the first state "budget" submitted to it, a new code of laws on pardons, parole and commutations, a new code of laws upon the blue sky question and other difficult, but pressing legislative questions. Lieut .- Gov. Pelham A. Barrows presided over the Senate with R. S. Norval as President pro tem. and Clyde H. Barnard as Secretary. Walter L. Anderson of Lincoln was speaker and Frank P. Corrick of Lincoln, Chief Clerk of the House. The passage of a new pardon and paroles code, strengthened blue sky code, reapportionment for legislative districts, revenue measure, reassessment of real estate biennially instead of quadrennially, five-sixths jury act, strengthening Simon act requiring teaching of English rather than foreign languages in schools, refusal to authorize sale of school lands, and passage of several bills included in the child welfare commission program were the chief achievements of this session.
STATE INSTITUTIONS
Nebraska has well provided for her wards and unfortunates in numerous state institutions. A brief review of these will be given.
Hospitals for the Insane. Up until 1820 Nebraska arranged to send her insane patients to Mount Pleasant, lowa. From July to Deemeber of that year, the Pawnee County jail was used, and then the institution at Lincoln was finished. The hospital at Norfolk was established by aet approved March 4, 1885. The state hospital at Hastings was established by act approved March 30, 1882, and now Nebraska has these three well built, splendidly equipped institutions.
The School for the Deaf is located at Omaha, and was established by an act approved February 7, 1867, and a building built in 1871. In 1909, the legislature changed the name of this institution from "Institute for the Deaf and Dumb" to the "Nebraska School for the Deaf." The Institute for the Blind, established in 1875, is located at Nebraska City. The Institute for Feeble Minded Youth was estab- lished at Beatrice by an act in 1885. The Industrial School for Boys is located at Kearney, and since this institution was taken charge of some years ago by Hon. R. V. Clark, has been raised to a standard high among institutions of its class.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
The Industrial School for Girls is located at Geneva. The citizens of Kearney donated 320 acres of land to secure the former institution, provided for in 1879. The latter school at Geneva was built in 1892. It seems to be a very difficult institution to handle and has had numerous changes in management. There are two soldiers' and sailors' homes. The older and larger was established at Grand Island, by act of 1887 and opened on July 1, 1888. The citizens of Grand Island donated 640 acres of land for this institution, and it receives some federal aid. A branch home was located at Milford, in 1895, upon a site of thirty-five acres leased on annual rental, and the site purchased in 1899. As the number of veterans of Civil war decreases, it is expected to develop these institutions for the use of veterans of the Spanish-American and World wars, and other military services. A Nebraska Industrial Ilome was established by aet of 1882 at Milford for the shelter and protection of penitent women and girls. In 1918, an institution in the nature of a "Remedial Farm" for unfortunate women and girls was established. and located near York. The Legislature of 1906 provided for a "hospital for crippled ruptured and deformed children" to be located at Lincoln on the grounds of the home for the friendless. This institution developed into the Orthopedic Hospital. The Home for Dependent Children is another institution located on the outskirts of Lincoln and was created in 1909, an outgrowth of the work of a private association since 1876. Its funetion is to receive those children under six- teen, and under the new constitutional amendment of 1920 this will be changed to eighteen, who are neglected, ill-treated or left destitute by parents, and do not come within the orphan elass. The Legislature of 1911 established a hospital for tubereular patients, and this was located at Kearney. The State Penitentiary is located at Lincoln.
STATE OFFICERS
Gorernors
David Butler, 1867, until impeachment in 1871, succeeded by W. Il. James, secretary of state.
Robert W. Furnas, 1823-1875.
Silas Garber. 1875-1879.
Albinus Nance, 1829-1883.
James W. Dawes, 1883-1887.
John M. Thayer, 1887, to January 15, 1891. May 5, 1891. to February 8, 1892.
James E. Boyd, January 15. 1891, to May 5, 1891, February 8. 1892- 1893.
Lorenzo Crounse, 1893-1895. Silas A. Holcomb, 1895-1899.
Williams .1. Poynter. 1899-1901.
Charles H. Dietrich, January 3, 1901. to May 1. 1901.
Ezra P. Savage, May 1. 1901-1903. John 11. Mickey, 1903-1907.
George L. Sheldon, 1907-1909.
Ashton C. Shallenberger, 1909-1911. ('hester H. Aldrich, 1911-1913. John H. Morehead, 1913-1912. Keith Neville, 1917-1919.
Samuel R. McKelvie, 1919-1923.
Lieutenant Governors
Othman A. Abbott, 1877-1879.
Edmund C. Carns, 1829-1883.
1. W. Agce, 1883-1885.
H. H. Shedd. 1885-1889.
Geo. D. Mieklejohn, 1889-1891.
Thomas J. Majors, 1891-1895.
Robert E. Moore, 1895-1897.
James E. Ilarris, 1897-1899.
E. A. Gilbert, 1899-1901.
C. F. Steele, 1901-1905.
Edmund G. MeGilton. 1905-1907.
M. R. Hopewell, 1907 to May 2, 1911 : died May 2, 1911.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
John H. Morehead (president pro tem. senate), May 2, 1911-1913. S. R. McKelvie, 1913-1915. James Pearson, 1915-1917. Edgar Howard, 1917-1919. P. A. Barrows, 1919-1923.
Secretaries of State
Thomas P. Kennard, February 21, 1867, to January 10, 1871. William HI. James, 1871-1873. Acting Governor. June 2, 1871, to Jan- uary 13, 1873. John J. Gosper, 1873-1875. Bruno Tzechuck, 1825-1879.
S. J. Alexander, 1829-1883. Edward P. Roggen, 1883-1887.
Gilbert L. Laws, January 6, 1887, to November 20, 1889, when he resigned to fill unexpired term in congress caused by death of James Laird.
Benjamin A. Cowdery, November 20, 1889, to January, 1891, viee Laws. John C. Allen, 1891-1895. Joel A. Piper, 1891-1897.
William F. Porter, 1897-1901.
George W. Marsh, 1901-1905.
A. Galusha, 1905-1907. George C. Junkin, 1907-1911.
Addison Wait, 1911-1915.
Charles W. Pool, 1915-1919.
Darius M. Amsberry, 1919-1923.
State Auditors
John Gillespie, 1867-1823. Jefferson B. Weston, 1823-1879. F. W. Liedtke, 1879- John Wallichs. November 12, 1880- 1885.
H. A. Babcock, 1885-1889. Thomas HI. Benton, 1889-1893.
Eugene Moore, 1893-1897. John F. Cornell, 1897-1901. Charles Weston, 1901-1905. Edward M. Searle, 1905-1909. Silas R. Barton, 1909-1913.
W. B. Howard, 1913-1915. William H. Smith, 1915-1919. George W. Marsh, 1919-1923:
State Treasurers
Augustus Kountze, February, 1867- 1869.
James Sweet, 1869-1871.
Henry A. Koenig, 1871-1875. J. C. MeBride, 1875-1879. George M. Bartlett, 1879-1883.
Philip D. Sturdevant, 1883-1885.
Charles H. Willard, 1885-1889.
John E. Hill, 1889-1893.
Joseph S. Bartley, 1893-1897.
John B. Merserve, 1897-1901.
William Stuefer, 1901-1903.
Peter Mortensen, 1903-1907.
L. G. Brian, 1907-1911.
Walter A. George, 1911-1915.
George E. Hall, 1915-1919.
D. B. Cropsey, 1919-1923.
Commissioners of Public Lands and Buildings
F. M. Davis, 1877-1881.
A. G. Kendall, 1881-1885. Joseph Scott, 1885-1889. John Steen, 1889-1891.
A. R. Humphrey, 1891-1895.
Henry C. Russell, 1895-1897. Jacob V. Wolfe, 1897-1901.
George D. Follmer, 1901-1905. Henry M. Eaton, 1905-1909. E. B. Cowles, 1909-1913. Fred Beckman, 1913-1917. Grant L. Shumway, 1917-1919. Dan Swanson, 1919-1923.
Attorneys General
Champion S. Chase, 1867-1869. Seth Robinson, 1869-1871. George H. Roberts, 1821-1873. J. R. Webster, 1823-185. George H. Roberts, 1825-1879.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
C. J. Dilworth, 1829-1883. Isaac Powers, Jr., 1883-1885.
William Leese, 1885-1891.
George II. Ilastings, 1891-1895. Arthur S. Churchill, 1895-1897.
Constantine J. Smyth. 1897-1901.
Frank N. Prout. 1901-1905.
Norris Brown, 1905-1907.
William T. Thompson, 1907-1910.
Arthur F. Mullen, October 31, 1910, to January 5, 1911, vice Thompson, re- signed.
Grant G. Martin, 1911-1915. Willis E. Reed, 1915-1919. Clarence A. Davis, 1919-1923.
Superintendents of Public Instruction
S. Dewitt Beals, appointed February 16. 1869, to 1821.
J. Il. MeKenzie, 1871-1871. S. R. Thompson, 1877-1881.
W. W. W. Jones, 1881-1887. George B. Lane, 1884-1891.
A. K. Goudy, 1891-1895.
Henry R. Corbett, 1895-1897.
William R. Jackson, 1897-1901.
William K. Fowler. 1901-1905.
Jasper L. MeBrien, 1905-1909.
E. (. Bishop, 1909-1911.
James W. Crabtree. January to October, 1911.
James E. Delzell, October, 1911-1915. A. O. Thomas, 1915-1912. W. Il. Clemmons, 1917.
J. M. Matzen, vice Clemmons, deceased, 1920 ; reelected 1920.
United States Senators
John M. Thayer, 1868-1871. Thomas W. Tipton, 1867-1875.
Phineas W. Hitchcock. 1871-1821.
Algernon S. Paddock. 1825-1881. and 1887-1893. Alvin Saunders, 1812-1883. 6. 11. Van Wyck, 1881-1887. Charles F. Manderson, 1883-1895.
John M. Thurston, 1895-1901. William V. Allen, 1893-1899; Decem- ber 13, 1899, to March 28, 1901.
Monroe L. Hayward, elected March 8, 1899, died December 5, 1899, never qualified. Joseph H. Millard, 1901-1901. Charles H1. Dietrich, 1901-1905. Elmer J. Burkett, 1905-1911.
Norris Brown, 1907-1913. Gilbert M. Hitchcock, 1911 to date.
George W. Norris, 1913 to date.
Representatives in Congress Entire state in one district
Turner M. Marquette, March 1-4, 1867. John Taffe, 1867-1873.
Lorenzo Cronnse, 1843-1871.
Frank Welch, 1822 : died 1872.
Thomas J. Majors, elected 1828 to fill vacancy.
E. K. Valentine, 1879-1883.
First District
A. J. Weaver, 1883-1887. John A. McShane, 1887-1889.
W. J. Connell. 1889-1891.
W. J. Bryan, 1891-1895.
J. B. Strode, 1895-1899. E. J. Burkett. 1899-1905. E. M. Pollard, 1905-1907. John A. Maguire, 1909-1915. C. F. Reavis, 1915-1923.
Second District
James Laird, 1883 to August, 1889. Gilbert L. Laws, vice Laird. 1889 to 1891.
W. A. MeKeighan, 1891-1893. David HI. Mercer, 1893-1903.
Gilbert M. Hitchcock, 1903-1905: 1907- 1911. John L. Kennedy, 1905-1901. (. O. Lobeck, 1911-1919. Albert W. Jefferis, 1919-1923.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
Third District
E. K. Valentine, 1883-1885. G. W. E. Dorsey, 1885-1891.
O. M. Kem, 1891-1893. Geo. D. Meiklejohn, 1893-1897. Samuel Maxwell, 1897-1899.
John S. Robinson, 1899-1903. J. J. Mccarthy, 1903-1907.
J. F. Boyd, 1907-1909.
James P. Latta, 1909-1913.
Dan V. Stephens, 1913-1919. Robert E. Evans, 1919-1923.
Fourth District
E. J. IIainer, 1893-189%. William L. Stark, 1897-1903. Edmund II. Hinshaw, 1903-1909.
Charles H. Sloan, 1911-1919. M. O. Mclaughlin, 1919-1923.
Fifth District
W. A. McKeighan, 1893-1895. W. E. Andrews, 1895-1897. R. D. Sutherland, 1897-1901.
1. C. Shallenberger, 1901-1903.
G. W. Norris, 1903-1913. Silas R. Barton, 1913-1917.
A. C. Shallenberger, 1917-1919.
W. E. Andress, 1919-1923.
Sixth District
O. M. Kem, 1893-1897. William L. Greene. 1899-1901. William Neville, 1901-1903. Moses P. Kinkaid, 1903-1923.
Vol. 1-14
CHAPTER VIII
THE RAILROADS OF NEBRASKA
THIE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD-WHAT THE ENGINES SAID THE BURLINGTON SYSTEM -RAILROAD BUILDING AND EXTENSION ( BY YEARS)-THE STATE RAILWAY COM- MISSION-RAILROADS PALMY POLITICAL DAYS.
THIE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
The father of railroads in this state was the Pacific Railroad project. Whether it is correct as intimated in past records that Jonathan Carver foreshadowed its construction in 1728, or whether in the years that the first railroads in the eastern part of the country were being built, the idea of a railroad to the western coast was being scouted as impracticable, it is realiably credited that Senator Thomas H. Benton, as early as 1825, urged upon Congress the "occupation of Columbia" with a view of forming a "communication for commercial purposes between the Pacific and the Mississippi, and to send lights of science and religion into Eastern Asia." The development of this idea will be carried chronologically as the briefest way to fully cover its evolution into the finest system traversing the western plains,
1835. Rev. Samuel Parker, in his journal of a trip across the continent, recorded an opinion that the mountains presented no insuperable obstacle to a rail- road.
1836. The first publie meeting to consider the project of a Pacific railway was called by John Plumbe, a civil engineer of Dubuque, Iowa. Editorial mention of such a project appeared in the columns of the Emigrant, Ann Arbor ( Michigan Territory), February 6, 1832, presumably accreditable to Judge S. W. Dexter. Lewis Gaylord Clarke, in the Knickerbocker Magazine, in 1836, urged such an idea. Jonathan Carver's grandson, Heartwell Carver, was urging it in 1832.
Maj .- Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railway from 1866 to 1870, the period of its most active construction, has narrated the story of "How We Built the Union Pacific Railway" (published in Senate Docu- ment No. 447; 61st Congress, Second Session). Stating that interest in the project of a Pacific railway increased from 1836, he continues :
"The explorations of Fremont in 1842 and 1846 brought the attention of Congress, and A. C. Whitney was zealous and efficient in the cause from 1840 to 1850. The first practical measure was Senator Salmon P. Chase's bill, making an appropriation for the exploration of different routes for a Pacific railway in 1853. Numerous bills were introduced in Congress between 1852 and 1860, grant- ing subsidies and lands, and some of them appropriating as large a sum as $96,000,000 for the construction of the road. One of these bills passed one of the houses of Congress. The results of the explorations ordered by Congress were
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
printed in eleven large volumes, covering the country between the parallels of latitude thirty-second on the south and forty-ninth on the north, and demonstrat- ing the feasibility of building a Pacific railway, but at a cost on any one of the lines much larger than the Union Pacific and Central Pacific were built for. It is a singular fact that in all of these explorations the most feasible line, in an engineering and commercial point of view, the line with the least obstaeles to over- come, of lowest grades and least curvature, was never explored and reported on. Private enterprises explored and developed that line along the forty-second parallel of latitude.
The route was made by the buffalo, next used by the Indians, then by the fur traders, next by the Mormons, and then by the overland immigration to California and Oregon. It was known as the Great Platte Valley Route. On this trail, or close to it, was built the Union and Central Pacific railroads to California, and the Oregon Short Line branch of the Union Paeifie to Oregon.
In 1852 Henry Farnum and Thomas C. Durant were building the Mississippi Railroad, a line westward across the state of Iowa as an extension of the Chicago and Rock Island, then terminating at Rock Island, Ill. They desired to end that line at the Missouri River, where the Paeifie Railroad following the continent where the forty-second parallel of latitude would commence. Under the direction of Peter A. Dey, who had been a division engineer of the M. & M., in Iowa. I made the first survey across the state of Iowa, and the first reconnoissances and surveys on the Union Pacific for the purpose of determining where the one would end and the other commenee, on the Missouri River. I erossed the Missouri River in the fall of 1853 and made our explorations west of the Platte Valley and up it far enough to determine that it would be the route of the Pacifie road."
General Dodge goes on in an article on "How We Built the Union Pacific" some forty pages long and from which the compiler of this brief review can take only enough to give the reader an idea of the magnitude of the task, and the difficulties surmounted in securing the selection of the eventual route:
"The times were such that the work on the M. & M. Railway was suspended for some years. Meanwhile I located at Council Bluffs, continuing the explora- tions under the directions of Messrs. Farnum and Durant and obtaining from voyagers, immigrants, and others all the information I could in regard to the country farther west. There was keen competition at that time for the control of the vast immigration erossing the plains, and Kansas City, Fort Leavenworth (then the government post), St. Joseph and Council Bluffs were points of eoncen- tration on the Missouri. The trails from all points converged in the Platte Valley at or near old Fort Kearney, following its waters to the South Pass. A portion of the Kansas City immigration followed the valley of the Arkansas west, and thence through New Mexico. The greak bulk of the immigration was finally concentrated at Conneil Bluffs as the best crossing of the Missouri River. From my explorations and the information I had obtained with the aid of the Mormons and others, I mapped out and made an itinerary of a line from Council Bluffs through to Utah, California and Oregon, giving the camping places for each night, and showing where wood, water and fords of the streams could be found. Dis- tributed broadcast by the local interests of this route the map and itinerary had no small influence in turning the mass of overland immigration to Council Bluffs, where it crossed the Missouri and took the great Platte Valley route. This ronte
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
was up the valley to its forks, and then up either the north or south fork to Salt Lake and California by way of the Humboldt, and to Oregon by the way of the Snake and Columbia rivers. This is today the route of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific to California and the Union Pacific to Oregon.
"After collecting all the information we could as to the best route for a railroad to the Pacific. I reported to Messrs. Farnum and Durant, who paid out of their private funds for all of my work.
"In 1854, when Nebraska was organized, we moved to its frontier, continuing the explorations under the patronage of Messrs. Farnum and Durant, and obtain- ing all valuable information, which was used to concentrate the influence of the different railways east and west of Chicago to the support of the forty-second parallel line."
General Dodge continues :
"In 1861 we discontinued the railroad work because of the Civil war. The passage of the bill of 1862, which made the building of a transcontinental railroad possible, was due primarily to the persistent efforts of Hon. Samuel R. Curtis, a representative in Congress from lowa, who reported the bill before entering the Union service in 1861. It was then taken up by Hon. James Harlan, of Iowa. who succeeded in obtaining its passage in March, 1862."
Ini commenting upon how this road obtained its name, General Dodge narrates that various lines proposed had received the names of the "North Route," "Buf- falo Trail." "South Route," but that in 1858 a bill was fostered that gave out the name "Union Pacific." One of the arguments advanced for the bill that eventually passed was that the route proposed would tend to hold the people of the Pacific Coast in the Union. He adds:
"Lincoln advocated its passage and building. not only as a military necessity, but as a means of holding the Pacific Coast to the Union. This bill became a law in 1862, and there is no doubt but what the sentiment that the building of the milroad would hold the Union together gave it the name of the Union Pacific." General Dodge described the initiation of this work as follows:
"In 1862 the Union Pacific Railway was organized at Chicago, and soon after Mr. Peter A. Dey continued the explorations, and in 1863 he placed parties over the Black Hills and in Salt Lake and over the Wasatch in Utah. In 1863 I was on duty at Corinth when I was called to Washington by Mr. Lincoln, who had met me in 1859 at Council Bluffs and had questioned me very systematically as to the knowledge I had of the western country and the explorations I had made there. Remembering this he called me to Washington to consult with me as to where the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railway should be. I explained to him what my surveys had determined, and he fixed the initial point of the Union Pacific (at Council Bluffs). At this interview with Mr. Lincoln he was very anxious to have the road constructed. It was my opinion then that it could not be constructed unless it was built by the Government, and so I informed Mr. Lincoln. He said that the United States had at that time all it could handle, but it was ready to make any concession and obtain any legislation that private parties who would undertake the work would require.
"I then went to New York City and met Mr. Durant and others connected with the Union Pacific and informed them of what Mr. Lincoln had said. It gave
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
them new hope and they immediately formulated the amendments to ila law of 1862, which was passed in 1864 and enabled them to push the work.
"The ground was broken in Omaha in December of 1863, and in 1864 about $500,000 was spent in surveying and construction, and in 1865 forty miles was completed to Fremont. Mr. Dey, who had charge of the work as chief engineer, resigned, and stated in his letter that he was giving up the best position in his profession this country had ever offered to any man.
"In May, 1866, I resigned from the army, came to Omaha and took charge of the work as chief enigneer, and covered the line with engineering parties from Omaha to California, and pushed our location up the Platte Valley.
"In 1866 we built 260 miles.
"In the winter of 1866 we planned to build the next year 288 miles to Fort Sanders. During 1867 we reached the summit of the Black Hills and wintered at Cheyenne, where the population of nearly 10,000 gathered around us."
John P. Davis, in his history of the Union Pacific Railway, describes the great moment in American railroad history entitled "Done," when, on the morning of May 10, 1869, the Union and Central Pacifics were ready to meet. except about a hundred feet left open between the "ends of the track."
"Early in the day, Leland Stanford, governor of California and president of the Central Pacific arrived with his party from the west ; during the forenoon, Vice President Durant and Directors Duff and Dillon of the Union Pacific, with other prominent men, arrived."
Davis describes the final culminating scene :
"The ties were laid, about one hundred feet space left open for rails, and while the coolies from the west laid the rails from one end, the paddies from the east laid them at the other, until they met and joined. The 'last spike' remained to be driven. Telegraphic wires were so connected that each blow of the descending sledge would flash the report to cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Spikes of gold, silver and iron were presented by the officials of Arizona. Nevada. and ('alifornia, and when the last spike of gold was driven with the sledges of silver by President Stanford and Vice President Durant the word Done flashed over the wires. The Central Pacific train back up, and the Union Pacific loco- motive, with its train, passed slowly over the point of junction and back again." The story has poetically been told in the lines of Bret Harte, which Mr. Davis quoted in his work :
WHAT THE ENGINES SAID
What was it the Engines said, Pilots touching-head to head, Facing on the single track, Half the world behind each back ? This is what the Engines said, Unreported and unread.
With a prefatory screech, In a florid western speech, Said the Engine from the West,
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
"I am from Sierra's crest, And, if altitude's a test, Why, I reckon, it's confessed, That I've done my level best."
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