USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
The Congregationalists commenced the erection of a brick Church on Sixteenth street early in 1856, and finished it in 1857, chiefly through the indefatigable exertions of Rev. Reuben Gay- lord, its first pastor. This Society at present has a neat frame house of worship, corner of Nineteenth and Chicago streets.
The Episcopal congregation was organized in 1856, by Rev. G. W. Watson, and in 1859 Trinity Church, a small brick edifice at the corner of Ninth and Farnam, was built on leased ground. In 1867 Trinity Society erected a frame church at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Eighteenth streets, which was destroyed by fire in 1872, and their present house of worship was immediately erected on the site of the old one. It is now contemplated to erect a new edifice at a cost of $25,000.
The Lutheran Church, on Douglas street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth, was built in 1861, and dedicated February 16, 1862. It is a large brick edifice, and its erection is mainly due to the persistent efforts of Rev. A. Kountze, who organized the first Lu- theran Society in the city.
The German Catholic Church, a frame structure on Douglas street, between Sixteenth and Seventeeth, was erected in 1869.
The Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Seventeenth and Dodge streets, built in 1869, is a handsome and spacious. brick structure.
St. Mark's Church (Episcopal), in South Omaha, is a frame building and was erected in 1869.
20
306
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The United Presbyterian Church, a frame, at the corner of Eighteenth and Webster streets, was erected in 1869.
The Unitarian Church, a brick, on Seventeenth street, between Cass and Davenport, was built in 1869.
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, a frame, on Nineteenth street, between Cass and California, was erected in 1870.
The Baptist Church, a brick, on the corner of Davenport and Fifteenth streets, was built in 1870.
The M. E. Church, on Eighteenth street, a frame, was moved to its present location from North Omaha and re-constructed in 1873.
The Lutheran Church (Swedish) a frame, on Cass street, be- tween Eighteenth and Nineteenth, was moved to its present loca- tion in 1875.
The M. E. Church (African), a small frame, at the corner of Eighteenth and Webster streets, was erected several years ago.
The Baptist Church (African), a frame, at the corner of Eleventh and Harny streets, was moved to its present location in 1875.
The Lutheran Church (Scandinavian), a frame, on Jackson street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth, was finished in 1875.
The Lutheran Church (German), on St. Mary's Avenue, is a brick, and was finished in 1876.
The Catholic Church, a frame, at the corner of Cuming and Eighteenth streets, was erected in 1876.
The North Mission Church (Episcopal), a frame, in Shinn's Addition, was erected in 1876.
The Union Mission Church, a small frame on Twenty-third street, between Saunders and Cuming, was built in 1877.
The Latter Day Saints, or Mormon Church, a small frame near the corner of Cass and Sixteenth streets, was built several years ago.
The Odd Fellows are the oldest of the Secret Societies in Omaha, the first Lodge having been organized in January, 1856. There are now several Lodges of this Order in the city. Odd Fellows' Hall, a splendid three-story brick building at the corner of Dodge and Fourteenth streets, was completed in 1874, at a cost of $18,000.
307
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Capital Lodge, A. F. and A. M., was established in 1857. The Masonic fraternity is very strong in the city, numbering several Lodges, including the higher orders of Royal Arch and Knights Templar. Masonic Hall, a handsome three-story brick structure at the corner of Sixteenth street and Capitol Avenue, was com- menced in 1876 and finished in the Spring of 1877, at a cost of $15,000.
The Knights of Pythias is also a strong Order; and there are besides numerous German and Irish Orders, Temperance and Benevolent Societies.
CHIC CO ENG-CO.
U. S. POST OFFICE BUILDING.
The Postoffice, fronting on Fifteenth and Dodge streets, com- pleted in 1873, is one of the handsomest Government buildings in the country. It is built of a fine free stone from Ohio, is four stories high, occupying two lots, and cost, with the furniture, $450,000. The first floor is occupied exclusively by the postoffice, and the upper floors by the United States Courts and Government officers, while the basement is fitted up as a prison, with quarters for janitor and attendants.
D
308
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The Court House, on Farnam street, is a two-story brick building, which was commenced in 1857 and finished in 1859. Its dimensions were then considered ample, but are now entirely inadequate and inconvenient. A plot of ground has been selected and a Court House more in accord with the needs of the city, will, no boubt, be erected during the coming year.
The Omaha jail is one of the handsomest buildings and most secure institutions of the kind in the West. It was erected in 1879. The walls are of brick and the cells of hardened steel.
DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE .- Since 1865 Omaha has been the headquarters of a military division, known as the Department of the Platte, which includes Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and a portion of Dakota. A large share of the commercial and financial supremacy of Omaha in the Missouri Valley, is due to the heavy purchases and distribution of military supplies at this point, and the handling of the Quartermaster, Commissary and Paymaster funds of the department by the city banks. In 1872 the National Government acquired eighty-two and a half acres of land on the plateau two miles north of this city. Upon this tract was estab- lished what was known as Omaha Barracks, which has recently been re-christened as Ft. Omaha. Over $100,000 has been expended in buildings and upon improvements of these grounds. The quarters for soldiers have accommodated from two to fourteen companies of troops each winter. During the past year about $60,000 has been expended at Ft. Omaha, for an elegant brick resi- dence for the Department Commander, brick storehouses and the re-construction of officers' residences. The grounds are tastefully laid out. The present Commander of the Department of the Platte is Brigadier General Crook.
During the present year, 1879, the telephonic system of communication has been introduced in the city. The Telephone Company, with general offices in Union Block, corner of Fifteenth and Farnam streets, has erected lines through the principal streets of the city, and almost every prominent business house, and many private dwellings, have connecting wires.
Water works-of which the city stands badly in need-have engrossed the attention of the City Fathers during the past several months. Rival companies have made propositions to the city for
309
JOHNSON'S IHISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
the construction of works, and much discussion has followed over the merits and demerits of the different systems. The matter is not yet fully settled, but that Omaha will have water-works before another year is assured.
Omaha has a most exellent steam fire department, which is, at present, under the efficient management of Chief John Galligan.
Horse railways traverse the principal streets, leading from the Union Depot, in the southeastern portion of the city, to the north- western boundary line. During the past three years the growth of the city has been greater, and more permanent and substantial improvements have been made than at any period heretofore in its history. The improvements reported in 1877 footed up $800,000; for 1878 they amounted to $1,000,000, and for the present year the increase has been at least twenty-five per cent. greater. Omaha is also a port of entry, and has the privilege of importing goods in bond, by rail or river.
FLORENCE,
Located on the Missouri, six miles north of Omaha, is now a small village of less than one hundred inhabitants. The place was first settled by the Mormons, in 1845, and was called by them Winter Quarters. They, however, made Florence the chief onttitting 'point for their emigrant trains to Salt Lake, and for several years it was a lively business place.
The Florence Town Company was organized in 1856, and the same year the town was chartered as a city. Up to 1858 it grew very rapidly and was a good business point, several of the Omaha merchants opening branch stores there.
At an election in August, 1857, for delegate to Congress, Flor- ence gave 700 votes for Fenner Ferguson. During the same year a newspaper called The Courier, was published there, and a theater was in operation; but the great financial crisis of that year erippled those mostly interested in the city's growth, and it began to recede. At present Florence has a couple of general merchandise stores, a hotel, blacksmith shop, school house, and a water-power grist mill.
MILLARD,
A station on the Union Pacific Railroad in the south-central part of the County, was laid out in the spring of 1870, by Ezra Mil-
310
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA,
lard, of Omaha, after whom it is called. It contains several neat dwellings, an excellent school house, a blacksmith shop, two gen- eral stores, two hotels, a grain warehouse, large corn cribs, and a large water-power grist mill, on Little Papillion Creek, which runs past the town. Millard is twelve miles southwest of Omaha, by wagon road.
ELKHORN STATION,
On the Union Pacific Railroad in the western part of the County, is a flourishing village, pleasantly located on the high ground about two miles east of the Elkhorn River. It contains a Catholic Church, school house, two general stores, a hotel, blacksmith shop, and large grain warehouses. The surrounding country is a well- settled excellent farming section, making this an extensive ship- ping point for grain and stock.
WATERLOO
Is a small town in the western part of the County, situated on the west bank of the Elkhorn River, and on the line of the Union Pa- cific Railroad. It contains a hotel, two stores, a school house, blacksmith shop, and one of the best water-power flouring mills in the County. An excellent wagon bridge spans the Elkhorn here, also.
VALLEY STATION,
At the junction of the Omaha & Republican Valley with the Union Pacific Railroad, in the northwestern part of the County, is situated on the fertile bottoms, midway between the Platte and Elkhorn Rivers, about three miles from each. Since the Omaha & Republican Valley road commenced operation in 1876, Valley Station has improved very rapidly, and it now bids fair to become an important business center. It has a school house, hotel, good general store, grain warehouses, etc., and the surrounding country is admirably adapted to farming and stock raising.
ELKHORN CITY,
On the old Military Road, twenty-five miles northwest of Omaha, was a flourishing village in the early days of the County, but is almost entirely deserted. It was surveyed and platted in the
31 L
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
spring of 1856, and while staging and freighting across the plains lasted, it was a lively business point. The largest cheese factory in the County is located here.
IRVINGTON,
Is a small village on the Military Road, eight miles west of Omaha. It has a general store and school house. The Congregationalists have erected a neat Church here, and hold regular services.
DODGE COUNTY.
Dodge County, named in honor of Augustus Cæsar Dodge, a United States Senator from Iowa, was organized by an Act of the first Territorial Legislature, approved March 6, 1855, which also fixed the County Seat at Fontenelle.
The Legislature, March 2, 1858, re-defined the eastern boundary of the County, and December 22, 1859, the southern boundary was changed to where it still remains, on the south bank of the Platte River. In January, 1860, the eastern boundary was again changed and placed upon the Elkhorn River, which cut off Fontenelle, the County Seat, and left Dodge County without a Capital. In Feb- ruary, 1867, a portion of the territory lost by the Act of 1860, known as Logan Creek, was re-annexed to Dodge. In March, 1873, some slight changes were made in the boundaries, and in February, 1875, the Legislature described the limits of the County as they exist at present.
Dodge County is located in the middle-eastern part of the State, in the second tier of Counties west of the Missouri River, and is bounded on the north by Cuming and Burt Counties, east by Burt and Washington Counties, and the Elkhorn River, which is the dividing line about one-half the distance; south by Douglas County and the Platte River, which separates it from Saunders County, and west by Colfax County, containing 540 square miles, or 345,600 acres, at an average elevation of 1,176 feet above the sea level.
WATER COURSES .- The Platte River washes nearly the entire southern border of the County. The Elkhorn River, affording magnificent manufacturing advantages, flows in a sontheasterly
312
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
direction through the eastern portion of the County, being joined in the northeastern part by Logan Creek, also a fine mill stream. Maple Creek, a clear, beautiful stream, and tributary of the Elk- horn, flows from west to east through the central portion of the County. Pebble and Cuming Creeks water the northern townships, and Rawhide Creek, a sluggish stream, with low banks, flows from west to east through the southern portion of the County, all being tributaries of the Elkhorn. There is not a township without running water.
TIMBER .- There is considerable native timber in the valleys and skirting all the streams. Well developed artificial groves now adorn almost every farm, and furnish plenty of fuel. In 1879 there were 2,152 acres, or 59,457 forest trees, and 124 miles of hedging under cultivation in the County.
FRUIT .- The number of fruit trees under cultivation in 1879, was reported as follows: Apple, 20,082; pear, 544; peach, 10,359; plum, 11,271; cherry, 2,696, and grape vines, 1,310.
PHYSICAL CULTURE .- At least one-third of the area is valley, and the balance gently rolling upland. Extending across the southern portion of the County are the wide bottoms of the Platte; in the eastern portion are the fertile valleys of the Elkhorn and Logan, here from four to seven miles in width; and through the central portion extends the beautiful Valley of the Maple. The Rawhide, Pebble and Cuming Creeks, each have fine reaches of dry bottom. The surface is almost everywhere tillable, the only exception being in occasional places on the ridge dividing the valley and upland.
CROPS .- The following is a statement of the crops reported in 1879: Acres under cultivation, 102,195; winter wheat, 209 acres, 3,701 bushels; rye, 4,825 acres, 66,324 bushels; spring wheat, 39,070 acres, 467,923 bushels; corn, 39,726 acres, 1,415,538 bushels; barley, 2,094 acres, 46,989 bushels; oats, 8,962 acres, 271,351 bushels; buekwheat, thirty-one acres, 529 bushels; sorghum, thir- teen acres, 621 gallons; flax, seventy acres, 406 bushels; broom corn, six acres, one ton; millet and Hungarian, fourteen acres, twenty-five tons; potatoes, 393 acres, 37,206 bushels.
HISTORICAL .- The first election in the County was held on the 12th day of December, 1854, at Fontenelle, at which Dr. M. H.
313
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Clark was elected to the Territorial Council, and J. W. Richardson and Col. E. R. Doyle to the House of Representatives. Only eight votes were polled at this election.
Dr. Clark, on the 16th of February, 1855, made a most exhaustive report to the Legislature upon the subject of a Pacific Railroad, advocating the Platte Valley route as the one most practicable, and predicting " that before fifteen years have transpired, the route to India will be opened, and the way across this conti- nent will be the common way of the world." Viewed in the light of to-day, it seems almost prophetic, and indicates largely what must have been the character of the man.
Arthur Bloomer, of Platte precinct, is the oldest settler of continuous residence, in the present County of Dodge. There are others, such as J. H. Peters, John Batie, and John Cramer, of Maple, and Samuel Whittier, of Fremont, who came to Fontenelle previous to Mr. Bloomer coming into Dodge, but none who have lived so many years continuously, in this County, as he. J. H. Peters, Samuel Francis, John Evans, Thos. Gibson and several others made claims in 1855, near Fontenelle, and did some plowing during that year. John and Arthur Bloomer made their claims, near the mouth of Maple Creek, early in April, 1856, and broke on the first of May following, twenty-five acres of prairie.
Mrs. Wealthy Beebe, with her minor children, and her son- in-law, Abram McNeal, and family, located in the Platte Valley, two miles west of where Feemont now stands, on the 25th of May, 1856. Twin daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. McNeal on August 8, 1856, were the first children born in the County.
George Emerson made the first settlement west of the Beebe's, in the following month.
On the 4th of July, 1856, the settlement at North Bend was begun by a colony of ten adults and ten children, viz; Geo. Young and wife, Robert Miller and wife,. John Miller and wife, Miss Ezra Miller (now Mrs. W. H. Ely), William and Alexander Miller and George McNaughton. Their numbers increased very rapidly, and soon North Bend was a flourishing town. A steam saw mill was brought here from Cleveland, Ohio, in July, 1857, by M. S. Coterell, J. M. Smith, Jas. Humphries and Alex. Morrison. Seth Young, son of Geo. Young, born November 30, 1856, was
314
JOIINSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
the first birth at the Bend, and his mother dying a few days after, was the first death. Rev. J. Adriance, of the Methodist Church, organized a class here in September, 1858.
On the 23d of August, 1856, E. H. Barnard and John A. Kountz located claims on the site of the present city of Fremont, setting their claim stakes on the swell ground near what is now " D" and First streets, after which they proceeded to the cabin of Seth P. Marvin, about two miles off, on the California road, where they were hospitably entertained. Three days later-the 26th- a Town Company was organized under the name of Pinney, Ber- nard & Co., which consisted of E. H. Bernard, John A. Kountz, Seth P. Marvin, George M. Pinney, James G. Smith, Robert Kit- tle and Robert Moreland, the last named four having arrived im- mediately after Messrs. Bernard and Kountz.
James G. Smith was elected President of the Company, Rob- ert Kittle, Vice President, John A. Kountz, Secretary, Geo. M. Pinney, Treasurer and E. H. Bernard, Surveyor. A plot of ground one mile square was immediately laid off for a town site, and on the 3d of September the company adopted the name of Fremont. for their new town, in honor of Gen. John C. Fremont, who was at that time the candidate of the Republican party for the Presi- dency of the United States.
On the evening of the organization of the Town Company the Platte Claim Club was organized, with Seth P. Marvin as Presi- dent, J. W. Peek, Vice President, E. H. Barnard, Secretary and George M. Pinney, Recorder.
All the members of the Town Company, except Mr. Pinney, either remained or soon returned, and by their united efforts con- tributed to form the nucleus of the future city.
The first shanty erected was upon the lot now owned and oc- cupied by the Congregational Church, which was completed and used for the first time by its owners, Messrs. Bernard & Kountz,. on the 10th day of September, 1856; Robert Kittle, James G. Smith and Wm. E. Lee were the boarders, and Leander Gerard, now banker at Columbus, cook of the establishment.
That cabin, insignificant as it was, broke the solitude of the wilderness; it was a station upon the Great American Desert, a hotel, boarding house, and a wonder to the Pawnees, whose village,
315
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
1,500 strong, was upon the high bank of the Platte, three miles south.
In October, 1856, the Pawnees notified the settlers that they must leave within three days or they would kill them and destroy their property. A council of the settlers was called, and James G. Smith dispatched to Governor Izard for assistance. The Gov- ernor gave him a box of muskets and some ammunition, and re- enforced the settlers with eight men, which, added to the inhabi- tants of Fremont and surrounding country, made a total grand army of twenty-five, who, by marching and counter-marching, by bon-fires and torch-light processions and the burning of hay stacks, produced the impression upon the Pawnees that it was a vast army, and had the effect of over-awing them, and at the end of three days they sent a flag of truce, saying that the chiefs had re-con- sidered the matter and concluded to let them go unmolested for the present.
The Pawnees, however, continued to be a great annoyance to the settlers during the succeeding winter, demanding pay for the timber that had been cut upon their lands, and making all sorts of threats to compel payment; but the settlers pursued a pacific policy toward them, which resulted, finally, in a lasting peace. In the Summer of 1859, when the Pawnees started on the war-path against the whites of the Elkhorn Valley, they made no hostile demonstrations until several miles beyond Fremont, although the war party passed through the town on their way out.
It is a mooted question as to who built the first permanent house in Fremont, that honor lying between Robert Kittle and Wm. G. Bowman; but there were but a few days' interval between the completion of each. Rev. Isaac E. Heaton's was the first fam- ily in the place, and he was the first clergyman. The first black- smith was John Homel, who was induced to remain by the offer of a town share (nine lots) and material for a shop. James G. Smith was the first merchant, John C. Flor the first hotel keeper, and S. B. Colson the first shoemaker. E. H. Rogers and William Cartney made the first brick. The first male child born in the town was Fred Kittle, and the first female child, Alice Flor. The first post office in the County was established here in the Summer of 1857, with James G. Smith, P. M. The first marriage in the town
316
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
and County was that of Luther Wilson to Eliza Turner, August 25, 1858.
A re-organization of the County took place in accordance with an Act of the Legislature, approved January 13, 1860, which pro- vided for an election to be held on the first Monday in February, following. At this election Fremont was made the County Seat, and the following County officers elected, viz: E. H. Barnard, Probate Judge; Wm. S. Wilson, Sheriff; H. C. Cambell, Treasurer; J. Reynolds, Clerk, and George Twiner, George Tutton, and Thomas Fitzsimmons, Commissioners.
The County, at this time, was divided into the three precincts of Fremont, North Bend and Maple Creek.
The Western Union Telegraph was built through the County in 1860.
The Union Pacific Railroad was built through the County in 1866. Length of road in the County, twenty-five miles.
The Sioux City & Pacific Railroad made a junction with the Union Pacific, at Fremont, on the 12th of February, 1869. Length of road in the County, seven and three-sixths miles.
The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad had the first ten miles of their road completed by December 31, 1869. Length of road in the County, twenty-nine miles.
Henry J. Robinson is the proprietor and builder of the three water-power flouring mills in the County, viz: one on Maple Creek, erected in the summer of 1859; one on Logan Creek, built in 1863, and one on Pebble Creek, built in 1867-68. There are now several mills running in the County.
Dodge County, out of a total population of less than four hun- dred, furnished twenty-five volunteers, during the rebellion, for frontier protection.
RELIGIOUS MATTERS .- The first sermon preached in the County was by Rev. I. E. Heaton, November 2, 1856, at Fremont; text, Psalıns, 111, 10-" The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- dom." On the following Sabbath, services were held at the house of Robert Kittle, and from that time onward public worship was continued regularly at Fremont. A Congregational Society was organized at Fremont on the 2d of August, 1857, with Rev. F. E. Heaton as pastor.
317
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA ..
The second minister in the County was Rev. Mr. Cooley, a Baptist, who located near Timberville, in February, 1857.
In September, 1858, Rev. J. Adriance, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, organized Societies in Fremont and North Bend.
The first Church building was fitted up by the Congregation- alists, in Fremont, in 1861. They dedicated a second and larger one on the 2d of August, 1868, and enlarged it in the spring of 1874. Until 1875, this Church contained the only bell in Fremont, 1,118 pounds, which was used for Church, school, public meetings, fire alarms, and for all purposes of a general public nature.
The St. James P. E. Church, of Fremont, was erected during the summer of 1867, and consecrated on the 15th of September, of same year, by Bishop Clarkson.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.