USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 29
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 29
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The Grand Chapter of Nebraska, R. A. M., was organized March 19, 1867. The first officers were: H. P. Denel, Grand High Priest ; James W. Moore, Deputy Grand High Priest: Daniel H. Wheeler, Grand King: Edwin A. Allen, Grand Scribe: Orsamus H. Irish, Grand Treasurer; Elbert T. Duke, Grand Sec- retary ; George C. Betts, Grand Chaplain. The officers in 1882 were Samuel P. Davidson. Grand High Priest, Tecumseh : William H. Munger, Deputy Grand High Priest, Fremont ; James A. Tulleys, Grand King, Red Cloud ; Henry E. Palmer, Grand Scribe. Plattsmouth; Christian Hartman, Grand Treasurer, Omaha ; Wil- liam R. Bowen, Grand Secretary, Omaha: Frank E. Bullard, Grand Chaplain, North Platte: Robert W. Furnas, Grand Lecturer, Brownville: Oren N. Wheelock. Grand Captain of the Host, Beatrice: Parley M. Hartson. Grand Principal Sojourner, Omaha : James Tyler. Grand Royal Arch Captain, Lincoln : Ithamar T. Benjamin, Grand Master Third Vail, Crete: Walter J. Thompson, Grand Master Second Vail, Hebron: John D. Moore, Grand Master First Vail, Grand Island : Emanuel Fist, Jr., Grand Steward, Hastings : Wilson M. Maddox. Grand Steward, Falls City : Francis S. White, Grand Sentinel, Plattsmouth.
Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Nebraska was organized December 28. 1811. Its first officers were : H. P. Deuel, Grand Commander ; William E. Hill. Deputy Grand Commander: James M. Hurty, Grand Generalissimo; D. H. Wheeler, Grand Captain General: G. C. Betts, Grand Prelate; (. S. Chase, Grand Senior Warden; R. H. Oakley, Grand Junior Warden: Henry Bowen, Grand Treasurer : Robert W. Furnas, Grand Recorder. The officers in 1882 were: Eben K. Long. Omaha, Grand Commander: Francis E. White, Plattsmouth, Deputy Grand Commander; Samuel G. Owen, Lincoln, Grand Generalissimo : Charles B. Palmer. Beatrice, Grand Captain General ; Frank E. Bullard, North Platte, Grand Prelate: Thomas Sowell, Lincoln, Grand Senior Warden : James R. Cain, Falls City, Grand Junior Warden: James S. France, Omaha, Grand Treas- urer : William R. Bowen, Omaha. Grand Recorder: Dennis II. Andrews, Crete. Grand Standard Bearer: William H. Munger. Fremont. Grand Sword Bearer : John J. Wemple, Hastings, Grand Warden : Morris L. Alexander, Hastings, Grand Captain of the Guards.
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I. O. O. F.
The Odd Fellows also secured an early start in Omaha.
The first lodge of the I. O. O. F. in Nebraska was Nebraska Lodge No. 1, at Nebraska City, instituted May 29, 1855. This was followed by Omaha Lodge, No. 2, which was instituted January 1, 1856, under a dispensation granted by the Grand Lodge of the United States, dated November 17, 1855, and signed by William Eggleston, Grand Sire. The lodge was organized by J. P. Cassady, P. G., of Council Bluffs, and the following officers installed: A. D. Jones, N. G .; T. G. Goodwill, V. G .; A. S. Bishop, Sec .; George Armstrong, Per. Sec .; H. D. Johnson, Treas. This meeting and a few succeeding ones were held in the former council chamber of the old brick capitol. H. C. Anderson was the first candidate initiated into the mysteries of the order. Their meetings were held in Odd Fellow's Hall, on every Friday evening.
Allemanan Lodge No. 8, was instituted March 26, 1864. The charter members were Henry Grebe, W. Doll, J. T. Paulsen, H. Bruening and J. Schneider. The first officers were A. Grebe, N. G .; H. Bruening, V. G .; J. T. Paulsen, Sec .; W. Doll, Treas. The lodge met every Wednesday evening in Odd Fellow's Hall.
The Knights of Pythias order was started in Nebraska with the organiza- tion of Nebraska Lodge No. 1, August 13, 1868, and installed in October. George H. Crager came to this state for the purpose of rendering himself con- spicuous in promulgating the principles of this wonderful order. Damon Lodge No. 2 of the same order was granted a dispensation on the 29th of April, 1869.
The Grand Lodge of Nebraska, Knights of Pythias, was organized October 13, 1869, at Pythian Hall, in Omaha, at 515 Fourteenth Street, by the following representatives of their respective lodges: H. B. Case, Dr. L. F. Babcock, John Taylor, of Nebraska Lodge No. 1, of Omaha ; Dr. O. S. Wood, J. J. Curtis, E. E. French, of Damon Lodge No. 2, of Omaha ; John Q. Gfoss, of Bellevue Lodge No. 3, of Bellevue: John F. Kuhn, Charles Hollo, of Planet Lodge No. 4, of Omaha ; William L. Wells, of Platte Valley Lodge No. 3, of Plattsmouth. The following officers having been elected were presented and installed by Supreme Chancellor Read; Ven. G. P., George H. Crager, of No. 1; G. C., David Carter, of No. 2; V. G. C., John Q. Goss, of No. 3; G. R. & C. S., E. E. French, of No. 2; G. B., T. C. Brunner, of No. 1; G. G., William L. Wells, of No. 5; G. I. S., John F. Kuhn, of No. 4; G. O. S., John Taylor, of No. 1. There were, in 1882, in the State of Nebraska, twenty-seven subordinate lodges working by the authority of this Grand Lodge. The officers of the Grand Lodge in 1882 were: P. G. C., Frederick Mutton: G. C., H. F. Downs; V. G. C., J. G. Jones; G. P., Rev. W. E. Copeland: G. M. of the E., Joseph Rosenstein; G. K. of R. & S., E. E. French : G. M. at A., L. C. Dunn ; G. I. S., Daniel M. Stall; G. O. S., John Forrer ; G. L., John Q. Goss; S. R., John J. Morrell, Jr., and J. S. Shropshire. The Grand Lodge met annually at such place as was designated at its previous meeting.
Plattsmouth (1853). The first sermon was preached in October, 1856, at the house of Thomas Ashley, by Abraham Towner, who was appointed probate judge by Governor ('uming in the next March. This illustrates the necessity the early settlers often felt of starting religions services before a church could be organized. The early churches of this community were: First Baptist, October 17, 1856; First Methodist Episcopal, organized June 29, 1857, with, twenty members under
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pastorate of Res. Iliram Burch. First Presbyterian initiated in May, 1858. through .efforts of Rev. John Hughes. Christian Church organized in May, 1858. St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal, August, 1860. St. John's Catholic, 1860, building erected in 1861.
Plattsmouth Lodge No. 6, A. F. & A. M., dispensation, January 18, 1858. Plattsmouth Lodge No. 2, 1. O. O. F., March 4, 1814.
The first school was taught in a frame building then standing on Gospel Hill, m 1856, by Mary Stocking.
Brownville (1854). The first school district in Nemaha County was No. 1, 11. S. Thorpe, teacher. By 1860 the county had six districts, with one schoolhouse in Brownville and two in Glen Rock township.
Christian Church organized at Brownville, January. 1855: Methodist Episcopal, February, 1858; Congregational. June 23, 1858: Presbyterian, October 31. 1858; Christ Church ( Episcopal), 1863. Nemaha Valley Lodge No. 4. A. F. & A. M., organized at the residence of Jesse Noël on September 27, 1857; 1. 0. 0. F., on September 24, 1857 ; 1. O. G. T., October 12, 1867; Dramatic Society, 1816, and Cornet Band in 1868.
Nemaka City (1854). First school, 1857-8. Methodist> organized in 1857; St. John's Protestant Episcopal. September 18, 1860: Christian Church, 1865.
Hope Lodge No. 29, A. F. & A. M., November 18, 1868: I. O. O. F. Nemaha City Lodge No. 40, October, 1823: 1. O. G. T. (Independent Order of Good Templars), Nemala City Lodge No. 109, March, 1873. As we progress through this review, the numbers assigned to the various lodges indicate the rate of progress that had been made by the various leading fraternal orders up to that time.
Peru (1855). The first sermon in Pern was by a Methodist minister, Rev. W. S. Horn. in 1855. Their church was the first erected in Peru. in 1859. thongh class had been organized in 1951. The first lodge of the Good Templars in Nebraska was organized in Peru, and through its instrumentality a saloon wa- kept out of the town regularly for many years. The district schoolhouse was greeted in 1858.
Washington County Torns (1851): Fontanelle (185%) : This town secured Use charter for a college named " Nebraska University" in 1856, and a Congrega- Conal Academy was opened that year, with Professor Burt as the first principal.
Fort Calhoun (1854). In the summer of 1856, religious services were held in the court house once a month. being conducted by Rev. Mr. Collins of Omaha. a Methodist missionary. This fact again illustrates the methods used to secure religious worship before a church could be started.
De Soto (1554). Reverend Collins hold meetings here in 1855. At one time while this gentleman was holding meeting some rowdies threw a dead dog through the window from the outside. Upon which he remarked. "My friends, the devil is not dead in De Soto yet." and immediately resumed the services. The Methodists seared their first resident ampister in 1857.
Telanimal (1855). The Presbyterian, Methodist. Baptist. Lutheran and Epi- popal were the first five churches erected. Methodist organization, 1856.
Columbus (1856). School work was organized in Platte County early in 1860. St. John's Catholic Church was organized in 1860; the Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis established a hospital, monastary and school of the Francis-
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cans in the late "0s; Congregational Society organized in 1865; Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints ( Mormons) 1865; Presbyterian, November 1, 1869; German Reformed, 1872; Grace Episcopal, 1869; Methodist Episcopal, 1877; Baptist, 1880. Wildey Lodge No. 44, 1. O. O. F., March 5, 1874; Lebanon Lodge No. 58. A. F. & A. M., June 24, 1825; W. C. T. U. (Women's Christian Temperance Union), 1877.
Fremont (1856). Miss Charity Colson taught school in Fremont during the summer of 1858, Miss MeNeal the next summer taught the first district school.
Congregational Church was first, with Rev. I. E. Heaton as its first pastor, November 2, 1856. Methodist organization made in summer of 1857: St. James Episcopal, 1865; Roman Catholic Church was erected in 1869: Presbyterian, November 23, 1873. German Evangelical also organized in 1823; First Baptist, ' 1869.
Fremont Lodge No. 15, A. F. & A. M., dispensation, July 24, 1866; Fremont Lodge No. 859, Knights of Honor, January 24, 1828; Royal Arcanum, 1829; W. C. T. U., 1812; Y. M. C. A., December, 1869.
Tecumseh (1857). The Catholic church was the first church building erected in Tecumseh, in 1868. Methodists organized in 1865, with settled pastor in 1823; Presbyterians organized in 1820, and secured a church in 1873. St. Andrews Roman Catholic Mission was formed in 1866. Tecumseh Lodge No. 12. 1. F. & A. M., organized October 3, 1861 : Hamlin Lodge No. 24, I. O. O. F., instituted October 9, 1822; G. A. R. organized, May 1879; Tecumseh Lodge No. 17, K. of P., organized March 30. 1874; K. O. IL., 1829; W. C. T. U .. 1812.
Falls City (laid out in 1851). Methodist Church organized in Falls City in 1856, following similar organization at Archer, in 1855, with Rev. David Hart as the traveling missionary of this vicinity. Presbyterian organization, 1866; St. Thomas Episcopal, 1867: Baptist, 1843: Christian, 1876. Fills City Lodge No. 13. I. O. O. F. September 28, 1869: Richardson County District Lodge No. 1, I. O. G. T., April 2. 1829; Falls City Lodge No. 18, Knights of Pythias, June, 1824; Falls City Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A. M., October 13, 1864; G. A. R., 1882.
Rulo (185%). Methodist Church, 1864; Baptist, 1866; St. Peter's Episcopal, 1861: The Church of Immaculate Conception, 1870. though Catholic mission here since 1858. at times conducted. Orient Lodge. No. 13, Masonic, June 19, 1862 : Rulo Lodge No. 12, I. O. O. F., January 28, 1869; Rulo Lodge No. 132, I. O. G. T., June 2. 1848.
Beatrice (1851). The first school house in Beatrice was built upon the square known as the School Block, with Mrs. Francis Butler as first teacher. The Methodist Church organized about 1860, with Rev. John Foster, as pastor: Pre-by- terian, 1869: Christ Church ( Episcopal) April, 1821 : Christian Church, October, 1822: First Baptist, 1823; German Baptists, commonly called "Dunkards." 1815; German Methodists in Clatonia precinct, in 1820; Intherans in 1825. Blue Lodge No. 26. A. F. & A. M., was organized in 1869: Beatrice Lodge No. 19, I. O. O. F., instituted May 24, 1820; Knights of Honor, 1880; G. A. R. post. February, 1880; Good Templars, 1821: W. C. T. U., 1880.
Grand Island (185%). As early as 1864 a private school was conducted in the neighborhood adjacent to present Grand Island, where the first Grand Island
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settlement was located. This school was upon the Theo. Nagel farm, and a number of scholars attended Mr. Nagel's classes there. The school district Number Two, that of the City of Grand Island, was formally organized in 1868. The first public school was held in a one-story frame building on Second Street, opposite the present City Hall Block. Hon. O. A. Abbott, Sr., the first lieutenant governor of the state, was the first teacher in that public school building.
The church history of Hall County begins with the establishment of public worship by the Catholies near Wood River in 1861. The first Catholic church organization, however, was at Grand Island in 1864, with mass said by Father Ryan of Columbus once a month. St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Grand Island was organized in the summer of 1871. The Methodist Church here was organized in February, 1872; Baptist in 1870; Presbyterian in 1869, by Rev. Shedon Jackson; United Brethren, 1876; Evangelical Lutheran, 1882. Grand Island has become the see city of the Western or Platte diocese in Nebraska for the Catholic Church, with Bishop Duffy located here, and is a strong Lutheran center, with several Lutheran churches.
Ashlar Lodge No. 33. A. F. & A. M., organized October 5, 1870; Grand Island Lodge No. 60, I. O. G. T., and Sons of Temperance early in the "Os; Grand Island Lodge No. 22. I. O. O. F., December 17, 1870; K. of P. Nysian Lodge No. 46, 1885. The Grand Lodge of the A. O. U. W. of the State of Nebraska was organized June 8, 1886 at Grand Island. It was chartered under the Supreme Lodge, A. O. U. W., but in 1909 became a separate jurisdiction, and its head- quarters is located at Grand Island, where it owns its own office building.
From this point on, space will not permit the taking up in detail of every town, as it appears on the list of communities settled, and a few more cities in different parts of the state will be selected, to illustrate the spread of the various denomina- tions and orders throughout the state.
Kearney (1866). The first church organized in Kearney was the Methodist Episcopal, October 20, 1871, by Elder A. G. White and Rev. A. Collins; Presby- terian, 1822; Congregational, 1842: Baptists built in 1848 and Christian in 1829, and Episcopalians in 1882. The Roman Catholic Church was erected in 1895.
Robert Morris Lodge No. 45. A. F. & A. M., organized in 1875: Buffalo Lodge 38. I. O. O. F., 1873; G. A. R., 1874: Good Templars, 1823; W. C. T. U., in 1823.
North Platte (1866). The first school was taught in a small log house in 1868. The first church services in North Platte were held by a Rev. Mr. Cooke, a Lutheran minister. The Baptists built the first church in 1871. The Episcopal Church was built in 1873. The Catholic, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Lutheran and Methodist built later in the '70s.
Lincoln (1867). The first school in Lincoln was taught in a small stone schoolhouse, built by the directors in the fall of 1867. and situated at the corner of Q and Eleventh streets. After the school had graduated to a better building, this landmark became a temporary bastile for the confinement of the offenders against the peace of the city.
The first church organized in Lincoln was the Congregational, on August 19. 1866, or in fact this was in Lancaster, as the place was then named. The other denominations came in soon after the location of this fair, Capital City; German
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Methodist, 1867; Methodist in the spring of 1868 with their first house of worship on Tenth Street; Roman Catholic, in 1868, and their beautiful St. Theresa edifice built in 1829; Presbyterian, 1869; Episcopal, November 17, 1868, with a vestry chosen in May, 1869; Baptist, August 22, 1869; Christian, winter of 1869; Universalist, September 1, 1870; African Methodist, 1873; Colored Bap- tists, 1879; Lincoln not only started out with numerous churches, but no city of its size ever more faithfully, loyally and sincerely supported church work and moral reforms of every creed, purpose and description. Having grown to a eity with a student population of approximately seven to nine thousand within its gates nine months in the year, attending the State University and almost a dozen other colleges and schools within its borders and suburbs, this community feels a special responsibility to keep a wholesome atmosphere tending to the student welfare; even at the expense of certain pleasures for its own citizens that many other com- munities accept.
Four chapters of the Masonic order were early instituted in Lincoln : Lincoln Lodge No. 19, 1868; Lancaster Lodge, No. 54, 1874; and the Chapter No. 6, R. A. M., 1878, and Commandery No. 4, 1871. The Odd Fellows instituted three lodges : Capital No. 11, 1868; Lancaster, No. 39, 1873; and Germania, No. 67, 1878; K. P. P. Lincoln Lodge No. 16, 1873, and the various orders came in as rapidly as possible during the '70s and early '80s.
Schuyler (1869). Early churches were Presbyterian, 1869; Methodist Epis- eopal, 1869 : Holy Trinity Parish of Episcopal, July 4, 1870; St. Paul's Catholic, organized in 1829; and Seventh Day Adventists, 1881.
Acacia Lodge No. 34, A. F. & A. M., June 19, 1872; Schuyler Lodge No. 28, I. O. O. F., July 8, 1871; Sheridan Post. No. 34, G. A. R., February 25, 1880.
Wahoo (1869). Schools were started in Wahoo and at section 26, three miles north of Wahoo, shortly after the first settlements, and a school house was built in the country as early as 1870.
The 'Congregational society organized in Wahoo, in 1870, but services had been held for two years preceding in the schoolhouse. The Fremont and Wahoo Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized in 1871; the Methodist's first class in 1873; Catholic parish was organized in 1879, and Baptist in 1876.
Masonic Lodge here was started January 30, 1875, and Pioneer Lodge, C. S. P. S., March 24, 1878.
Blair (1869). First school, 1869, taught by Miss Sarah E. Kibby, though in 1868 Miss Lida M. Newall taught in the same little log house. Methodist Episcopal church moved over from Cuming City in the summer of 1869. Con- gregational work started February 12, 1870; Baptists, April, 1869, and their building was brought over from Cuming City in the fall of 1872. United Brethren built in 1879 and the Catholics late in the seventies. Cuming City Lodge No. 21, Masonie, chartered June 25, 1868, and name changed in November, 1869, to Washington Lodge. The Odd Fellows were instituted October 1, 1869; John A. Dix Post of G. A. R., organized July 2, 1880.
Fairbury (1869). The first school, in 1870, taught by Dr. R. S. Chapman. The early churches were, First Baptist, July 3, 1828, but services had started in . 1870; Methodist, established October, 1870; Presbyterian, January, 1871 ; Christian, October, 1871: Fairbury Lodge No. 35, A. F. & A. M., 1871 ; Lodge No. 54, Odd Fellows, 1874: Russell Post No. 77, G. A. R., September 19, 1881.
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Norfolk (1869). The first church building was erected in the fall of 1867 by Wir German Lutherans. This congregation built a nice structure in 1868 and a second German Lutheran congregation also built that year. Congregationalists built in 1872. the Catholics in 1882, and the Methodists and Episcopalians in the meantime. Mosaic Lodge No. 55, A. F. & A. M., started October 1, 1874; Norfolk Lodge No. 46, I. O. O. F., June 10, 1814. .
Madison. This town was settled in 1825, and is county seat of Madison County. The Presbyterian Church was organized here in 1820; Catholic, 1880; Lutherans, 1875.
Seward (1870). Early churches organized in Seward were: First Presbyterian, August, 1864, church built in 1820; First Methodist, as a mission in 1869, for- mally organized July 9, 1820; First Missionary Baptist, March 1, 1820; St. John's Lutheran, March, 1874; Gorman Evangelical, 1822; United Brethren, 1879. Oliver Lodge No. 38, A. F. & A. M., July 29, 1821; I. O. O. F .. Seward Lodge No. 26, instituted May 30, 1821 : Seward Post No. 3. G. A. R. December 16, 1880.
Milford (1866). In Seward County the Congregational Church organized April 10, 1869; Baptist, in summer of 1820: Methodist Episcopal had a mission at Milford as early as 1866. Emmanuel Evangelical Church was organized in May, 1880. Blue River Lodge No. 30, A. F. & A. M., chartered April 25, 1820: Mil- ford Lodge No. 18. I. O. O. F., chartered May 30, 1820; Winslow Post. G. A. R., mustored in September 1, 1880. J. J. Culver, Company K. First Wisconsin Infantry, one of the charter members of this post, has been a leader in G. A. R. work in Nebraska, and he and numerous associates were instrumental in securing i soldiers' home for Milford.
York (1870). The school district was organized June 14, 18:1. The organi- option of the Methodist class was perfected in the spring of 1821 at the David Baker home. Ex-Judge W. E. Morgan took charge of this as the York Mission. wach then included the entire county. The Presbyterian church organized July 23, 1821. in a group of chus. St. Joseph's Catholic was started as a mission m 1877. Congregational Church, 1872; Universalist, 1880. York Lodge No. 66. A. F. & A. M., granted dispensation August 2. 1824: York Lodge No. 35. 1. O. O. F., chartered October 2, 1822 : Robert Anderson, Post No. 21. G. A. R. unstored in during summer of 1880.
This brings us to 1871. a year in which a myriad of town- were settled. Good to prolong this review would only be to repeat the points already emphasized. though we give credit to the pioneers of communities just as much entitled to a roles as those that have been so far treated.
THIGHER EDUCATION IN NEBRASKA
This brief review of the development of Nebraska would not be complete ogloat a brief chronological charting of the many wonderful institutions of higher education built up in Nebraska. This state has taken an interest in educa- they got surpassed by any commonwealth in the country. The separate history of Fractally every county in the state will show that the schoolhouse arrived about the toto time as the first log houses, the courthouse, or any business houses.
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In fact, many of the first schools of the state, like the Church Sabbath schools started in the living room of some good mother who not only realized the necessity of giving instructions to her own children, but gathered under her wing those of her neighbors. From the small soddy or rough hut of logs and rough boards, the school house soon graduated to a small building of its own, which it generally shared with the Sunday and mid-week evening church services, until the church also was housed in its own home. But Nebraska has not stopped with the graded schools and its wonderful high schools, but it has a myriad of small colleges and several larger universities. Its State University has enjoyed such a phenomenal growth in attendance that it has up to date been impossible to keep an adequate building program moving as fast as the university's growth and physical needs. The attendance of this institution places it in the rank of the foremost dozen schools of the nation. But no adequate amount of credit can ever be given to the various denominations of this state, who have fostered and developed a group of small colleges, not so important in quantity of attendance, but surpassed by no schools, big or little. east or west, in the quality of their work, the splendid atmosphere and cultural opportunities they afford.
1855. The Congregational people were the pioneers of higher education in Nebraska. Just as these people fostered the foundation of Harvard in 1636 and Yale in 1701, they came into Nebraska as early as 1858 and took measures to lay the foundation of a "literary institution of a high order in Nebraska." This resulted in the foundation of a school located at Fontanelle, in February, 1855, known as the Fontanelle School, which was transferred to the Congregationalists in 1858. Fontanelle missed the distinction of becoming a railroad center. Fremont secured the county seat of Dodge County and Fontanelle was set over into Wash- ington County, and all of these circumstances conspired against its becoming a school center, with the ultimate result that this institution was abandoned, and the new Doane College at Crete became its successor in 1872.
1863. The institution with longest continuous existence in the state is Brownell Hall, a girl's school at Omaha started by the Episcopal Church. Bishop Talbot had purchased a property in 1861 in old Saratoga, at what is now Twenty-fourth and Grand Avenue, of the City of Omaha. A girl's boarding school was started soon thereafter and named "Brownell" in honor of the Bishop of Connecticut, a diocese from which considerable financial aid was being received for this work.
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