USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 22
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P. G. Peterson, the first Sheriff of the County, built the fifth house, a small, one-story frame structure, which then stood at the southwest corner of Farnam and Tenth streets.
S. E. and Wm. Rogers built the next house, on the south side of Douglas street, between Tenth and Eleventh.
In the latter part of 1854, Mr. A. D. Jones built himself a residence in the south part of town, in a lovely grove, known as "Park Wilde."
About the same time Cam Reeves built a residence near the large spring south of town, near where now stands the Cold Spring Brewery. Mr. Reeves opened the first stone quarry in the County,
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near his claim, and supplied the stone for the foundation of the old State House, Capitol and other prominent buildings.
The frame residence, still standing on the south side of St. Mary's avenue, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets, was built in the fall of 1854, by the author, and was occupied by him for fifteen years.
The old State House, built by the Ferry Company for the meeting of the first Territorial Legislature, was the first brick building erected in the city. It stood on Ninth street, between Farnam and Douglas, and was used as a State House until the completion of the Capitol building, in the Winter of 1857-8. The brick for this building was hauled from Council Bluffs.
The Douglas House, a large frame building, which stood on the southwest corner of Thirteenth and Harney streets, was the first regular hotel opened in the city. It was commenced in the fall of 1854 and opened to the public on the evening of January 14, 1855, with a grand ball. This house was headquarters for the politicians and speculators for a long time, and for several years did an immense business. In 1879 the old building was removed to make room for a fine brick, containing five large store rooms.
The City Hotel, a frame building, still standing on the south- west corner of Eleventh and Harney streets, built by Ed. Burdell, was opened as a hotel next after the Douglas House. In this house a ball, or reception was given, in January, 1855, in honor of Mark W. Izard, the second Governor of the Territory, on his arrival in the city.
The Western Exchange Bank building, a fine brick, on the corner of Twelfth and Farnam streets, was built in 1855, by Jesse Lowe. The Western Exchange Bank, the first banking house in the city, opened in this building early in 1856, and was a flourish- ing institution until the fall of 1857, when it went under in the great money crisis, with the rest of the wild-cat banks of the day. The building is now occupied by the banking house of Caldwell, Hamilton & Company.
The Pioneer Block, on Farnam, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, built in 1856, by Dr. Henry, H. H. Visscher and A. Root, was the first brick block in the city. This block was destroyed by
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fire in the spring of 1877, and replaced the same year by much finer buildings.
The frame residence at the southwest corner of Dodge and Eighteenth streets, was built by Secretary Cuming, in 1855-56, and his widow, a most respected lady, still resides there.
The first lumber yard was opened by the Hon. William A. Gwyer, his lumber arriving by steamboat, July 10th, 1856. Mr. Gywer, this year, built the Farnam House, now called the Donovan, on Harney street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth.
The second lumber yard was opened in the spring of 1857, by J. N. H. and N. T. Patrick.
Dr. Lowe's brick residence, at the southwest corner of Harney and Sixteenth streets, was built in 1857.
The Herndon House-built by Dr. G. L. Miller, Lyman Richardson and others -- at the corner of Farnam and Ninth streets, the largest brick hotel in the city, until the Grand Central was built, was commenced early in the spring of 1857 and finished in 1859, as a company enterprise. It was a commodious house, elegantly furnished and fitted up with all the conveniences of a first class hotel, and when opened to the public it at once became the fashionable resort of the city. In 1870 the building was rented to the Union Pacific Railroad Company for offices, and in 1875, the Company purchased it for $42,000.
Several other brick houses had been erected in the city by this time, also a large number of frame dwellings, hotels and business houses.
Among the places of note in the early days of the city was the " Apex" saloon, on Harney street, been Twelfth and Thirteenth. In the summer of 1856, two horse thieves were tied to a liberty pole in front of this saloon and soundly whipped, previously having had their heads shaved, after which they were kindly permitted to leave for parts unknown.
The first general merchandise store in the city and County was opened by Tootle & Jackson, on Farnam street, early in the spring of 1855.
Shields & Carr opened another general store the same spring, as did also Megeath, Richards & Co., John R. & H. B. Porter and others. The Messrs. Porters' store was destroyed
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by fire in the Winter of 1856, being the first building burned in the city.
Dr. C. A. Henry opened a small drug store in 1855. Dr. James K. Ish, the same year, opened the first drug store, keeping a full assortment of drugs and fancy articles.
O. D. Richardson, and A. J. Poppleton, both from Michigan, were the first practicing lawyers, both arriving at Omaha early in the fall of 1854. Mr. Richardson is now dead, and Mr. Poppleton is the attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
Dr. George L. Miller was the first physician in Omaha, he arriving in the fall of 1854. Dr. B. Y. Shelly also arrived at an early date.
Rev. Peter Cooper, of the Methodist Church, delivered the first sermon in the city, at the St. Nicholas Hotel-Mr. Snowden's residence-on the 13th of August, 1854.
Rev. Mr. Koulmer, of the United Brethren Church, was the next minister to arrive. He preached a while at Omaha, Fonte- nelle and Bellevue, in 1855.
Rev. Isaac F. Collins, of the Methodist, Rev. Reuben Gaylord, of the Congregational, and Rev. Wm. Leach, of the Baptist Church, each held services in Omaha during 1855.
Rev. Moses F. Shinn was the first Presiding Elder in Nebraska. He was appointed by the Iowa Conference, in 1855. His district was known as the Nebraska and Kansas district, with stations at Omaha, Old Fort Kearney, Waukaressa and Fort Leavenworth.
The first marriage in the County was that of John Logan to Miss Caroline Mosier, at Omaha, November 11, 1855, by Rev. Isaac F. Collins. Mr. Logan was one of the first grocerymen of the city; both he and wife still reside at Omaha.
The first grave dug upon the town site was by Wm. P. Snow- den, in the summer of 1854, where Turner Hall now stands, to bury an old Omaha squaw, who had been abandoned by her tribe.
The second death among the settlers-Mr. M. C. Gaylord's being the first-was that of a Mr. Todd, who died in the fall of 1854, and was buried on the south side of the creek, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, the Union Pacific Railroad now passing over his grave. Mr. Todd came to Omaha in August,
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1854, and erected a cottonwood shanty on Jackson street, near the St. Nicholas, where he kept a small store.
The first white woman to die in the city was Rev. Isaac F. Collins' wife, in the summer of 1855, in child-birth; the next was a Mrs. Driscoll, who died in February, 1856. She was the first person buried in the old burying ground, southwest of the city, now Shull's Addition.
The second birth in the city was that of Margaret, daughter of James Ferry, in November, 1854.
Mr. A. D. Jones, who surveyed the town site in June and July, 1854, was the first practical surveyor to locate in the city, being one of its very first settlers.
W. N. Byers and Col. Loren Miller, both practical surveyors, came in the fall of 1854. Mr. Byers sectionized a large portion of the County, and was one of Omaha's most active business men. He and Thos. Gibson, of Fontenelle, left in 1859 for Pike's Peak, with a printing press, type and material for a newspaper, with which they established the Rocky Mountain News, in Denver City, Colorado, in the spring of 1859-the first newspaper of that Terri- tory. Col. Miller surveyed Scriptown during the spring and summer of 1855, also several other towns in the eastern part of the Territory. He is still a resident of Omaha, and has held the office of Mayor and several other prominent positions within the gift of the people.
The Omaha Arrow was the first newspaper of the city. It was a four-page, six-column paper, printed in the Bugle office, at Council Bluffs, and was ably edited by J. W. Pattison and Joe. E. Johnson. It had a brilliant but brief career, the first number appearing July 28, 1854, and the last-the twelfth-on the 10th of November following.
The Nebraskian, established in the fall of 1854, was the first paper printed at Omaha. Its first editor was John Sherman. The press and material for the paper were brought from Ohio, by Hon. Bird B. Chapman. The Nebraskian ceased as a paper in 1864.
The Times, established in 1857, by W. W. Wyman, and the Democrat, established in 1858, by Hon. Hadley D. Johnson, were both short-lived.
The first saw mill in the County was a steam mill built at
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Omaha in the fall of 1854, by Samuel Bayliss and Alexander Davis. On the 25th of November, 1860, the boiler of this mill exploded, instantly killing Mr. Sperry, the engineer, and injuring several others.
Saulsbury & Smith built the second steam saw mill at Omaha in 1856. It was located on the bottom, above where the Union Pacific Railroad machine shops now are.
The first grist mill in the County was a steam mill, located on the Missouri, four miles below Omaha, built in 1855, by E. L. Childs. The mill was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1859. Mr. Childs has the credit of manufacturing the first flour in the County.
There are at present in the County six water and two steam flouring mills, and several steam and water power saw mills.
OMAHA MADE THE CAPITAL OF THE TERRITORY .- Acting Gov- ernor Cuming having designated . Omaha as the place for holding the first Territorial Legislature, that body met in the old State House, on Ninth street, on the 16th day of Janu- ary, 1855. The session lasted till the 17th day of March following. It being the duty of the first Leglstature to locate the Capitol, the greater part of the session was taken up with this important ques- tion; and excitement ran at fever heat all the time the Capitol con- test was being fought. The contestants for the prize were Omaha, Fontenelle, Florence, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, Brownville, and several other towns south of the Platte; but Omaha finally came out victorious. The joint resolution locating the Capitol at Omaha was passed February 22, 1855.
The first County officers were appointed by Governor Cuming, and were as follows: Probate Judge, William Scott; Register of Deeds, Lyman Richardson; Treasurer, T. G. Goodwill; Sheriff, P. G. Peterson.
The first regular election was held on the 8th of October, 1855, and resulted in the election of the following County officers, viz: Commissioners, Jesse Lowe, Thomas Davis, and James H. Mc- Ardle; Treasurer, George Forbes; Register of Deeds, Thomas O'Connor; Sheriff, Cam Reeves.
Omaha was chartered as a city by the Legislature in Febru- ary, 1857, the first city election occurring on the first Monday of March following, with the following result: Jesse Lowe, Mayor;
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L. R. Tuttle, Recorder; J. A. Miller, City Marshal; Charles Grant, Solicitor; Lyman Richardson, Assessor; A. S. Morgan, Engineer; A. Chappel, Health Officer; A. D. Jones, T. G. Goodwill, G. C. Bovey, H. H. Visscher, Thomas Davis, W. N. Byers, W. W. Wy- man, Thomas O'Connor, C. H. Downs, J. H. Kellom, and James Creighton Councilmen. On the 5th of March the Council was organized.
OLD CAPITOL BUILDING.
The old Territorial Capitol, which stood on Capitol Hill, on the spot now covered by the High School building, was a large, handsome brick building and from its commanding position could be seen for many miles from the city. The contract for its erec- tion was awarded to Messrs. Bovey & Armstrong, of Omaha, who commenced work on the building in November, 1855, and the structure was completed by January, 1858, sufficiently for the meeting of the Legislature. The cost of the building was $150,000.
Upon the admission of Nebraska as a State, March 1, 1867, and the removal shortly afterwards of the Capitol to Lincoln, the old Capitol building was donated by an Act of the Legislature to the City of Omaha for educational purposes, and in 1870 it was torn down to make room for the present High School building.
On the 9th of February, 1869, by Legislative enactment, Omaha became a city of the first class; and on May 15th follow- ing, the Council, by an ordinance, divided the city into six wards.
CLAIM CLUB .- The Omaha Claim Club was an institution
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established with the first settlement of the County, and for three or four years, or till the opening of the United States Land Office, it held absolute sway over all matters pertaining to claims.
Before the public lands in the Territory liad been surveyed, the laws afforded the settlers no protection against land sharpers and jumpers, and the only title they could get to the land upon which they were located was what was called the "claim," or "squatters'" title; therefore, for their mutual benefit and pro- tection, and for the adjustment of all disputes arising in regard to claims, the settlers of the County formed themselves into a Club, electing a Judge, Clerk, Recorder, and Sheriff, and enacting a code of laws for the government of all claim matters.
The first meeting of the Omaha Club, for the purpose of or- ganizing, was held on the afternoon of July 22, 1854, under a large elm, known as the "lone tree," which stood on the bank of the river at the landing of the ferry boat. Samuel Lewis was chosen Chairman, and M. C. Gaylord, Secretary. A constitution and by- laws were prepared and adopted, after which a full sett of officers were elected, as follows: A. D. Jones, Judge; S. Lewis, Clerk; M. C. Gaylord, Recorder, and R. B. Whitted, Sheriff.
The Club was the recognized high tribunal of the land. There was no stay of execution or appeal from its decrees. Although some injustice was undoubtedly done under its workings, the com- munity was in the main benefited by it, as claim-jumping and claim quarrels were of daily occurrence, and it was only through the arbitrary power wielded by the Club that much bloodshed was prevented.
Claim clubs were a necessity as long as squatter titles existed, but as soon as government title to land could be obtained, there were no further use for such organizations, and accordingly the Omaha Claim Club, as well as all other similar associations in Ne- braska, disbanded in 1857-8.
The land in Douglas County was surveyed by the Govern- ment during the year 1856.
The United States Land Office was opened at Omalla for the entry of land on the 17th day of March, 1857. Col. A. R. Gilmore was the first Receiver, and Col. J. A. Parker the first Register of the Land Office.
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The first entry of land made in Nebraska was on the day of the opening of the Land Office, March 17, by Jesse Lowe, Mayor, who entered 320 acres as the town site of Omaha.
The land covered by the site of Omaha was granted in two patents-one to John McCormick, dated May 1, 1860, the land having been bid off by him at the public sale of July 5, 1859, act- ing as trustee, and deeded by him to David D. Belden, Mayor of the City, in trust for the owners, and the other to Jesse Lowe, Mayor, dated October 1, 1860, on the entry made March 17, 1857.
STEAMBOATING DAYS .- Before the advent of the railroad con- necting Omaha with the eastern markets, the steamboat played the most prominent part in the matter of transportation. Stage coaches were also run across the State of Iowa, but the steamboat brought the great bulk of the emigrants, provisions, lumber, and in fact everything needed in the way of building up a new country.
The first steamboat of the season was hailed with the greatest joy by the settlers, who looked upon its arrival as the opening again of another busy season after a dreary, tedious winter. Men, women and children, merchant, mechanic and Indian, all flocked to the levee at the first sound of the whistle to greet its arrival and welcome the emigrants. Frequently gay cotillion parties were held on board while the cargo was being discharged.
During the busy season often seven and eight boats a week would arrive, filling the levees from end to end with all manner of merchandise, and presenting a scene of bustle and business not witnessed since then.
The levee where the greater part of the business was done has since been nearly all washed away by the river. Steamboating died out gradually as the railroads advanced, and it is now con- fined principally to the Upper Missouri.
FIRST MURDERS, EXECUTIONS, ETC .- One of the first homicides that occurred in the County was the killing of Jesse Wynn, a brick mason, who was shot near the old California crossing on the Elkhorn River, in the winter of 1855, by a man from Council Bluff's. The shooting was the result of a quarrel over a claim. The man was arrested in Council Bluffs, tried and dis- charged.
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On the 4th of July, 1857, a Mr. Kingsley was stabbed and killed at Florence, by a blacksmith named Biggs, who accused Kingsley of being too intimate with his wife. Biggs was confined in jail at Omaha, and being allowed considerable liberty while awaiting trial, he took advantage of it and made his escape.
In the latter part of March, 1858, two men named Braden and Dailey were captured with some horses that had been stolen near Rockport, a village several miles above Omala. The men were confined in the Omaha jail, and a couple of evenings after- wards a party of disguised men took them from the jail by force and placing them in an open wagon drove rapidly to a point about two miles north of Florence and there hung them to a large tree. Public sentiment, however, was so strongly against this proceed- ing that four men, suspected of being implicated in it, were sub- sequently arrested and tried on the charge, but were acquitted.
One night in April, 1861, two men named Bouve and Iler went to a stable near the military bridge in Omaha, and taking a horse apiece, rode twelve miles into the country to a Mr. Geo. C. Taylor's place, on Big Papillion Creek, at the crossing of the old California road. Tying their horses, they entered the house, the lower part of which was used as a bar-room, in which they found the hired man, sleeping. This man they bound securely with a lariat, and then helping themselves to what liquor they wanted, they proceeded up stairs, cocked revolvers in hand, to Mrs. Taylor's room (Mr. Taylor being absent) of whom they demanded the money and valuables of the house.
Bouve was very abusive and ugly, threatening several times to take Mrs. Taylor's life, and was only prevented from doing so by bis comrade, Iler. After securing all the booty they could find- some ten or twelve hundred dollars in gold, a watch, revolver and some silverware-the robbers jumped on their horses and were back again to Omaha before daylight, returning the horses to the stable from which they had taken them.
The authorities at Omaha being notified of the robbery the next day, Bouve and Iler, who were strangers in the city, and spending money very lavishly, were arrested on suspicion of be- ing the perpetrators, and placed in jail to await the arrival of Mrs. Taylor, who was immediately sent for to identify them. When
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she came she readily picked ont Bouve and Iler from amongst a room full of men in which they had been placed, although they had in the meantime been shaved and otherwise altered in appear- ance. The identification of the thieves being complete, they were returned to the jail to await trail. A meeting of the citizens was held that night in front of the Pioneer Block, in regard to the matter, and on the following night about twelve o'clock, a vigilance committee took the prisoners from their cells and hung Bouve to the bridging of the upper floor of the building, and liberated Iler on account of his intercessions for the life of Mrs. Taylor. Iler, it is said, afterwards enlisted in a Nebraska regiment and made a good soldier for the Union.
The first legal execution in Nebraska was that of Cyrus H. Tator's, who was hung at Omaha, in August, 1863, for the murder of Isaac Neff. Neff was engaged in the freighting business, and had returned from Denver, Colorado, a short time before the murder, accompanied by Tator. In June, 1863, Neff's body, with two log chains wrapped around it, was found by some boys, lying in the shallow water of the river, near the sulphur springs, at Omaha. It was evident that he had been murdered. It was also discovered that Tator had sold some of Neff's cattle and effects, and that he had gone West with a wagon load of goods and team of horses formerly owned by Neff. He was pursued and arrested at Shinn's Ferry, in Colfax County, by Thomas L. Sutton, Sheriff of Douglas County, who brought him back and lodged him in the Omalıa jail. The Court being then in session a special Grand Jury was impanneled, which found a bill of indictment against Tator, and he was tried and convicted of the murder, and was sentenced to be hanged on the 28th of August, on which day he was executed, at precisely one o'clock, the scaffold being erected on the high ground near the sulphur springs. Tator was a native of New York, thirty years of age, was a lawyer by profession, and had lived in Kansas for several years, where he had been a Judge of Probate and a member of the Legislature. The evidence in his case was purely circumstantial, but so clear and positive that it left no doubt in the minds of the public as to his guilt.
The second legal execution in the County was that of Ottway G. Baker, for the murder of Woolsey D. Higgins, on the night of
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November 21, 1866. Mr. Higgins was the bookkeeper and Baker the porter of the wholesale grocery store of Will R. King & Co., of Omaha, then kept in the brick building which stands on the south- east corner of Twelfth and Farnam streets. On the evening of the murder, Mr. Higgins received fourteen or fifteen hundred dollars, after banking hours, which he placed in the safe of the store, Baker being aware of the fact. Higgins and Baker slept together in the store, and that night, while Higgins was asleep, Baker got up stealthily and struck him two fearful blows on the head with an axe, killing him instantly, after which he unlocked the safe, took out the money, then dressed himself, went out the back door, and walked to the west side of. Eleventh street, between Harney and Howard, where he hid the money under the board sidewalk. Returning again to the store, he undressed himself, then collecting a lot of combustible material together in the cellar, he set fire to it, hoping thus to destroy the building and all traces of his crime. Before the fire had made mnuch headway, however, it was discov- ered by the night watchman of the block, who gave the alarm, which soon brought the fire department and a large number of citizens to the scene. Baker, at the proper time, rushed out of the building in his night clothes, yelling fire, murder and thieves, having previously shot himself in the arm with his revolver, making a slight flesh wound. The fire was extinguished before any considerable damage was done. Baker protested that the store had been entered by burglars who had set fire to the building, and that after a desperate fight with them, Mr. Higgins had been killed and himself wounded in the arm. His story received little credence, and at the inquest over Higgins' body, he was held for the murder. After a long and tedious trial, he was convicted and sentenced to be hanged on the 14th of February, 1868, the execution taking place on the day appointed, at a spot about a half mile west of the High School building. Sometime before his execution, Baker con- fessed his guilt, and also to the firing of Hellman's warehouse previously, by which half a block of buildings were destroyed.
On Saturday, December 10, 1874, Thomas Keeler, a farmer living a few miles north of Elkhorn Station, in the western part of the County, was killed by David S. Parmelee, a grain merchant at the Station, who also owned a farm in the neighborhood of Keeler's.
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An ill-feeling had arisen between the two men in regard to the trespassing of Keeler's cattle on Parmelee's land, and it appears that Keeler had threatened to shoot Parmelee on sight, and on ac- count of his threats against him, Parmelee was in the habit of going armed. On the afternoon of the shooting, they met with their teams on the outskirts of the town, and when they came within shooting range, both men jumped from their wagons and fired at each other-Parmelee with a Winchester rifle and Keeler with a double-barreled shot-gun-so nearly together that the re- ports of their guns were barely distinguishable. Keeler was killed outright, but Parmelee escaped unhurt. Immediately after the shooting, Parmelee surrendered himself to a deputy sheriff and was taken to Omaha, where he gave bail for his appearance at court; but he was never indicted by the Grand Jury. Mr. Parmelee still resides at Elkhorn, and has been three times elected to the Legis- lature.
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