USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 32
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After the departure of the Indians, and when the country had become more tranquil, emigration poured in very rapidly and soon all the best Government land was taken; the Little Blue was
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well settled, and claims were taken on all the streams; towns were laid out, and in 1871 the organization of the County was effected.
In 1874 a colony of Russo-Germans, numbering 350 persons, located on 27,000 acres of land in town 3, range 3, east, consisting of high rolling prairie, destitute alike of water or timber. Undis- mayed by these disadvantages, the colonists at once began the im- provement of their farms by boring wells for wind mills, and the planting of large quantities of forest and fruit trees, and now their settlement will compare favorably with any in the County. Con- spicuous for its size and substantial improvements, is the stock farm of Cornelius Jansen & Sons, which embraces about two sections of land. Under the energetic management of Mr. P. Jansen, good buildings, stables and corrals have been erected, and wells bored and supplied with pumps and wind mills by which a constant supply of good water is obtained. Mr. Jansen has large herds of merino sheep and fine blooded stock, the breeding of which is made a specialty.
A County Agricultural Society was organized in 1874, the first fair being held in October, 1876. The Society has about fifty acres enclosed near Fairbury, which embraces an excellent half mile track.
The St. Joe and Denver City Railroad was built through the County in 1872. It follows the valley of the Little Blue, the length of the road in the County being 27.46 miles.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .-- Number of districts, 64; school houses, 56; children of school age, males, 1,256, females, 1,115, total, 2,371; number of children that attended school during the year, 1,509; number of qualified teachers employed, males, 46, females, 52; wages paid teachers for the year, males, $5,143.08, females, $4,838.32, total, $9,981.40; value of school houses, $27,120; value of sites, $1,948.50; value of books and apparatus, $921.50.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 318,063, average value per acre, $2.22; value of town lots, $S7.090; money invested in merchandise, $47,415; money used in merchandise, $3,891; num- ber of horses, 3,116, value, $84,265; mules and asses, 309, value, $9,717; neat cattle, 6,197, value, $50,360; sheep, 5,029, value, $4,852; swine, 11,247, value, $13,035; vehicles, 1,068, valuc $15,264; moneys and credits, $26,218; mortgages, $5,763; stocks,
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$68; furniture, $13,492; libraries, $725; property not enumerated, $32,202; railroads, $118,984.18; total valuation for 1879, $1,221,- 415.18.
CROPS .- Acres under cultivation, 35,864; winter wheat, 237 acres, 4,493 bushels; spring wheat, 12,771 acres, 126,285 bushels; rye, 1224 acres, 31,363 bushels; corn, 10,650 acres, 376,315 bushels; barley, 2,100 acres, 50,899 bushels; oats, 1,649 acres, 58,693 bushels; buckwheat, 10 acres, 146 bushels; sorghum, 17 acres, 3,845 gal- lons; flax, 271 acres, 2,510 bushels; potatoes, 170 acres, 18,195 bushels; onions, 22 aeres, 200 bushels.
LANDS -- Improved lands are worth from $6 to $20 per acre. The B. & M. and other railroad companies own several thousand acres here, the price of which ranges from $5 to $8 per acre.
POPULATION .- The following are the names of the precinets and population of each in 1879: Buckley, 494; Meridian, 448; Lincoln, 117; Eureka, 262; Antelope, 446; Fairbury, 1,095; Rich- land, 488; Washingnon, 334; Newton, 1,108; Rock Creek, 290; Cub Creek, 518; Gibson, 249; Jefferson, 176; Plymouth, 255.
Total,-6,280,-males, 3,377, females, 2,903.
FAIRBURY,
The County Seat, has 1,000 inhabitants, and is a beautiful city. It occupies a fine plateau on the east side of the Little Blue, near the center of the County, and was laid out in 1870, by Messrs. Mc- Dowell and Mattingly. The St. Joe and Denver Railway was com- pleted to this point in 1872, since which time the growth of the city has been steady and uniform. Elevators and other conven- iences have been erected to facilitate the large shipments of grain and stock. All classes of business are well represented here. It has a commodious Court House, a fine school building, accommo- dating a graded school, and several handsome Churches, represent- ing the Baptist, Methodist, Christian and Presbyterian Congrega- tions. The Gazette and Telegraph, two well-managed weekly papers, are published here. The Fairbury Flouring Mills, owned by Messrs. Champlin & McDowell, will rank with the best in the State. They occupy a large three-story building with stone base- ment, situated on a side track of the railroad, and the power is transmitted from the river by a wire cable, a distance of 730 feet.
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The dam built across the river by the mill company affords over 200 horse power, of which only about one-fourth is used at present by the mill.
STEELE CITY,
Situated in the valley of the Blue, and on the line of the St. Joe and Denver Railway, thirteen miles southwest of the County Seat, is a prosperous town of 400 inhabitants. It was laid out in 1872 by Mr. Abner Baker, and has gradually grown into one of the best business centers and largest shipping stations on the line of the above mentioned railroad. It contains several stores, a flouring mill and other business establishments, a graded school, excellent Church advantages, grain warehouses, etc. The New West Index, a first-rate weekly paper, is published here.
ROSE CREEK CITY
Is a flourishing business town situated on Rose Creek in the south- western part of the County. A pottery establishment has been in operation here for some years past and turns out large quantities of earthenware. There are also good stores, a Church, large school house and a number of neat dwellings. Mark's Mills, by which name the town was formerly known, are located here. The sur- rounding country is well settled and fertile, and good building stone is abundant in the vicinity.
ROCK CREEK, GEORGETOWN, BOWER, PLYMOUTH, JEFFERSON, MERIDIAN, and LITTLE SANDY are the centers of close farming com- munities.
JOHNSON COUNTY.
Johnson County, named in honor of General R. M. Johnson, U. S. Army, was created by an Act of the first Territorial Legisla- ture, March 2, 1855, and organized in the fall of 1856. It is located in the southeastern part of the State, bounded on the north by Otoe, east by Nemaha, south by Pawnee, and west by Gage Counties, containing 378 square miles, or 231,920 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The Great Nemaha River, the principal stream of the County, flows diagonally through the central por-
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tions, from the northwest to the southeast corner, affording supe- rior mill privileges, and having several fine tributaries on either side. The principal creeks are Spring, Deer, Turkey, Yankee and Silver. Branches of the Little Nemalia River water the northeast- ern portion of the County. Every township has a stream passing through it, fed by never-failing springs. Well water is reached at a depth varying from twenty-five to sixty feet.
TIMBER .- There is plenty of timber in the County for fuel. The larger streams have a fine natural growth on their margins, and domestic groves are everywhere to be seen. 1,400 acres of forest trees are reported under cultivation, besides 647 miles of hedge fencing.
FRUIT .- Apple trees, 46,821; pear, 974; peach, S2,262; plum, 1,957; cherry, 8,024; grape vines, 6 acres.
COAL is found in thin seams at a depth varying from twenty to one hundred feet. Beds have been opened and worked for sev- eral years past.
LIMESTONE crops out along the hill sides, and is easily quarried and worked. The Court House and several of the school houses of the County are constructed of this material.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- The surface of the country consists principally of gently rolling prairie, about fifteen per cent. being valley, bordered with occasional steep bluffs. The Great Nemaha Valley, which divides the County into two nearly equal parts, aver- ages about two miles in width. Fine bottoms are also found along the smaller streams. There is scarcely any waste land, and the soil is very productive.
CROPS .- Area in cultivation, 70,789 acres. Winter wheat 819 acres, 13,107 bushels; spring wheat 9,219 acres, 165,852 bushels; rye 2,957 acres, 44,485 bushels; corn 38,742 acres, 1,549,697 bush- els; barley 3,307 acres, 49,615 bushels; oats 3,933 acres, 117,979 bushels; buckwheat, forty-seven acres, 705 bushels; sorghum, fifty- one acres, 4,500 gallons; flax 107 acres, 748 bushels; potatoes, 158 acres, 11,943 bushels; tobacco, 2,000 pounds; onions, 586 busliels.
HISTORICAL .- The two first permanent settlers in the County were James Riggles and Isaac Irwin, both natives of Indiana. They settled three miles southeast of Tecumseh, early in the spring of 1856; the first house being built on the northeast quarter of
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section ten, town four, range eleven. These were followed soon after by John Maulding, Price, Corson, Walker, Loomis, Baker, Lawrence, W. H. Strong, N. B. Strong, Sharrett, Swallow, Hol- brook, Goshen, Darby, Little, Drake, Bentz and Cochran.
The winter of 1856-57 was a terribly severe one on the settlers, and in many cases the suffering was extreme. They had to haul their provisions from the River towns, across the trackless snow, on hand-sleds, a distance of from twenty-five to thirty-five miles.
Mr. J. C. Lawrence represented the County in the Legislature of 1856-57.
COURT HOUSE BUILDING, TECUMSEH.
At the first election for County Officers, held in the fall of 1856, the following were chosen: W. P. Walker, J. D. Mntchmore, J. B. Sharrett, County Commissioners; James Bishop, Probate Judge; Charles A. Goshen, Register; Cyrus Wright, Sheriff; James
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A. Little, Treasurer; Amos A. Brewer, Surveyor; J. B. Haynes, Superintendent of Public Schools; Robert Wright and N. B. Strong, Constables; Israel Loomis, Justice of the Peace.
The County Seat was located at Tecumseh, February 12. 1357.
The first saw-mill in the County was built by Maulding & Moore, at Tecumseh, in 1856-57. It was replaced in 1997 by a flouring mill by Alexander and S. W. Bivens, who still own and run the property. This was the first flouring mill in the County. Wood & Co., erected a saw-mill at Butler, in 1803. and in 1865 it was turned into a grist mill by H. B. Strong. A new flowing mill was built upon the site of the old mill, by Albright & Cody, in 1872. Solomon Gould erected a saw-mill on section ten, town six, Helena Precinct, in 1864. Fanning & Hall built a steam saw- mill at Vesta, in 1866. William Mann erected a first-class flouring mill at Sterling, on the Great Nemaha River, in 1869-70. Mc- Clure & Root built a saw-mill on the Nemaha, above Sterling, in 1860.
The highways of the County are kept in good condition-all the principal streams being spanned with substantial bridges, sev- eral of which are of iron. A bridge was erected at Bivens' Mill, in 1856, which was replaced by a more substantial structure in 1866, the City of Brownville donating $800 towards its erection. Nebraska City donated money to build a bridge at Helena, in 1860, across the Little Nemaha River. The first iron bridge in the State of Nebraska was built across the Nemaha River, at Tecumseh, in 1869.
The Southwest Railroad, from Nebraska City to Tecumseli, was surveyed in 1869. The Atchison & Nebraska R. R. was sur- veyed and located in 1871. The Brownville & Fort Kearney R. R. was surveyed and located in 1872.
The Atchison & Nebraska-the only good road yet constructed through the County-ran the first cars to Tecumseh in April, 1872, and gave an excursion to the people of the County to Atchison and return-five hundred people availing themselves of the oppor- tunity.
The Catholics erected the first Church building in the County, at Tecumseh, in 1868. It was dedicated by Father Emmanuel; cost of building, $700.
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A Presbyterian Church was erected at HIelena, in the year 1870. This was the first Protestant Church in the County; cost, $1,500.
The Christian Church at Tecumseh was erected by voluntary subscription, in 1871; cost, $1,800.
The first Methodist Church in the County was erected at Te- cumseh, in 1870, and was dedicated by Rev. T. B. Lemon.
The Lutheran Church, at Helena, was built in 1870.
The First Presbyterian Church, at Tecumseh, and the seconu. in the County, was erected in 1873, and dedicated in February, of that year, by Rev. Cleeland, of Iowa; cost of building, $2,600.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church, at Sterling, was built in 1875, and dedicated by Rev. J. H. Pearson; cost of building, $800.
The Baptist Church of Sterling, was built in 1876, being the first of this Denomination in the County; cost, $1,500.
Church services and Sabbath Schools are now held in every Precinct in the County.
James Price, son of Ansford Price, was the first child born in the County.
Mrs. Radley was the first person interred in the Tecumseh cemetery.
The first newspaper published in the County was the Tecum- seh Gazette, in 1868, by Presson & Andrews. It was burnt out in 1869. The Tecumseh Chieftain succeeded the Gazette in 1869. The Tecumseh Herald was established in 1872, and afterwards con- solidated with the Chieftain.
The first banking house in the County was established at Tecumseh, August 1st, 1871, by James D. Russell and Chas A. Holmes. The first brick building in the County was erected by the same parties, at Tecumseh, in 1873, at a cost of $7,000. The lower part of the building is used by the banking house and stores, the upper portion by the Masonic, Odd Fellows, and other Lodge rooms.
The first threshing machine was brought into the County in 1872; the first harvesting machine in 1864; both were owned by Mr. Andrew Cook.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The first frame school house in the County was erected at Tecumseh, in 1856, by J. C. Lawrence. In 1879
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there were, school districts, sixty-five; school houses, sixty-two; children of school age-males 1,340, females 1,230, total 2,570; total number of children that attended school during the year, 1,766; number of qualified teachers employed-males, thirty-six, females, fifty-seven, total, ninety-three; wages paid teachers for the year, males, $4,984.66, females, $6,093.10, total, $11,077.76; value of school houses, $28,396; value of sites, $1,325; value of books etc., $935.30.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, TECUMSEH.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 229,130; average value per acre, $3.22. Value of town lots, $67,550. Money invested in merchandise, $34,550; money used in manufactures, $15,385; number of horses 3,494, value $68,695; mules 344, value $8,+42;
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
neat cattle 7,280, value $52,181 .; sheep 1,334, value $670.00; swine 14,257, value $14,058; vehicles 932, value $11,611; moneys and credits, $10,472; mortgages, $6,830; stocks, $12.00; furniture, $8,909; libraries, $255; property not enumerated, $15,207. Rail- roads, $128,243.92. Total valuation for 1879, $1,201,164.92.
MISCELLANEOUS .- The price of land ranges from $4.00 to $10.00 per acre, wild, and $5.00 to $25.00, improved. There are twenty- six miles of railway, thirteen Churches, three newspapers, one. bank and four flouring mills in the County.
POPULATION .- The following are the Precincts and population of each in 1879: Vesta, 853; Helena, 607; Todd Creek, 929 ;. Lincoln, 529; Spring Creek, 535; Nemaha, 1,695; Sterling, 1,160. Total population of County, 6,302-males, 3,391, females, 2,912.
TECUMSEH,
The County Seat, has 1,400 inhabitants. It is situated in the val- ley of the Great Nemaha, near the geographical center of the County, and was located and surveyed in 1856. The town was first christened "Frances," after the wife of General R. M. Johnson, but the name was shortly afterwards changed to Tecumseh, the name of the famous Indian warrior, who is supposed to have been killed in battle by General Johnson.
Tecumseh is the largest city on the line of the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad in Nebraska, south of Lincoln and west of Falls City. Her shipping and general merchandise trade is very large. The general business of the place is represented by an array of as finely fitted up stores and offices as can be found anywhere in a town of its size in the west. It contains one steam and one water power flouring mill, two stock yards, large elevators and grain ware- houses, two weekly newspapers, the Chieftain and the Journal, sev. eral Churches, etc. The court house was erected in 1868 at a cost of $2,800. It is built of stone and stands in the center of the city, the grounds fenced in and ornamented with shade trees. In 1873 a magnificent stone school building was erected at a cost of $10,000; architect and builder, Mr. W. L. Dunlap. The County jail was erected in 1873. It is a solid stone structure, and is a terror to evil-doers. A splendid iron bridge-said to have been the first
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erected in the State-spans the river at this point, which, besides the great convenience it affords the general public, is the means of drawing an immense trade from the country lying to the south- west.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, STERLING.
STERLING,
On the line of the A. & N. Railroad, twelve miles northwest of Te- cumseh, was surveyed in 1870, and at present contains seven hun- dred and fifty inhabitants. It is nicely located in the valley of the Nemaha and has excellent mill privileges close at hand. A first- class flouring mill was erected here in 1870 by Wm. Mann, and is kept running to its full capacity. A substantial bridge spans the river, adding greatly to the business of the place. The Methodist Church was erected in 1875, at a cost of $800. The Baptist Church
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
was built in 1876 and cost $1,500. The town is building up very rapidly and is now the next best business point on the line of the A. & N. Road after Tecumseh. It contains a couple dozen stores and other business houses, good hotels, fine shipping facilities, large lumber yards, elegant school house and a flourishing weekly newspaper, the News.
ELK CREEK, IN THE NEMAHA VALLEY.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
ELK CREEK
Is a prosperous town of 300 inhabitants located on the A. & N. Railroad seven miles southeast of the County Seat. It was survey- ed in 1873. An excellent water-power flouring mill is in operation here. The town is well provided with stores, has good Church and school privileges, a lumber yard, elevator, stock yards, etc.
HELENA
Is located on the south branch of the Little Nemaha River in the north eastern part of the County. It was surveyed in 1867 and for a while improved very rapidly. In 1870 the Presbyterians and Lutherans each erected neat houses of worship here. Good bridges span the streams in the vicinity, and make this a center for trade.
VESTA
Is situated nine miles west of the County Seat, in the midst of a well-settled farming region. It was laid out as a town several years ago and has improved steadily as a business point. Fanning & Hall erected a steam saw mill here in 1866. There are now good stores, several mechanics' shops, fine school house, and other evi- dences of prosperity.
SPRING CREEK, CRAB ORCHARD, and LATROBE are Postoffices in the County.
KEITH COUNTY.
Keith County was organized in July, 1873. It is located in the western part of the State, bounded on the north by unorganized territory, east by Lincoln County, south by Hayes and Chase Counties, and west by State of Colorado and Cheyenne County, containing 2,016 square miles, or 1,290,240 acres, at an average elevation of 3,190 feet above the sea level.
The County is watered by the North and South Forks of the Platte River and their tributaries. The North Fork flows in a southeasterly direction, and the South Fork in a northeasterly
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direction through the County, running nearly parallel and from three to six miles apart for the latter half of the distance.
Timber is scarce in the County. Scattered quantities are found along the Plattes and in the canyons.
With the exception of the valleys of the Plattes, which are here from two to five miles wide, the surface of the country con- sists of rolling prairie and tables, with high bluff and deep canyons along the streams. The prairies, with the aid of irrigation, may be made to yield excellent crops of small grain and vegetables. Very little attention is given to agriculture, however, stock-raising being the almost exclusive industry engaged in.
Keith is one of the greatest stock Counties in the State, and annually ships thousands of fat cattle to the Eastern markets. There are several ranches established in favorable localities whose herds are numbered by the thousands of head, and no country possesses finer advantages for the business. The high plains and slopes produce nutritious grasses, which, when ripe, dry upon the stock, forming uncut hay superior to that prepared by the most careful curing in the agricultural States, and upon which stock subsist, in excellent condition, the year through. The canyons or hollows among the bluffs skirting the streams furnish protection and shelter to the stock during storms.
The first permanent settlements in the County were made in 1867, at the time of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, which traverses the County from east to west, following the Valley of the South Platte.
During the building of the railroad through the County, con- siderable trouble was had with the Indians, every now and then; and even after the road was completed, attempts to wreck the trains were frequent. In September, 186S, a band of Sioux attempted to destroy a train between Alkali and Ogalalla. They fixed the rails the same as at Plum Creek, raising one end of each rail about three feet high, and piling ties under them for support. As the train came up, the rails penetrated the cylinders on each side of the engine, as it was a straight track there; the engine going over into the ditch, with the cars piling up on top of it. The engineer and one of the brakemen who was on the engine at the time, wer' thrown through the window of the cab, and were but little hurt.
ยท
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The fireman was fastened by the tender against the end of the boiler, and after the train had stopped, there being no draft, the flames of the fire came out of the door to the fire-box upon him, and the poor fellow was literally roasted alive. He was released after six hours in this terrible position, during which he begged the attendants to kill him, but lived only a few moments after his release. All the trains at this time carried arms; and the conduc- tor, with two or three passengers, among whom was Father Ryan, a Catholic Priest of Columbus, Nebraska, seized tlie arms and de- fended the train-the Indians meanwhile skulking among the bluff's near the track, and occasionally firing a shot. Word was sent to North Platte, and an engine and men came up, who cleared the wreck. Meanwhile word was sent to Major North, then at Willow Island, to take one company of his scouts and follow the Indians. He came to Alkali and reported to Colonel Mizner, who was marching for North Platte with two companies of cavalry, all of whom started in pursuit. They went over to the North Platte River, crossed that stream, and entered the sand-hills, where the scouts overtook and killed two of the Indians, the whole party go- ing about thirty-five miles, to a little lake, where the main body of the Indians had just left, and camped, finding the smouldering embers of the Indian fires still alive. That night, some of the white soldiers let their camp fires get away into the prairie, and an immense prairie fire was the result. This, of course, alarmed the Indians, and further pursuit was abandoned, much to to the disgust of the scouts.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 240; average value per acre, $1.00. Value of town lots, $2,485. Money invested in mer- chandise, $1,800; money used in manufactures, $11,780; horses 192, value $3,080; mules, six, value $200; neat cattle 19,094, value $115,032; swine, twenty-four, value $46; vehicles, fifteen, value $450; moneys and credits, $450; mortgages, $250; furniture, $590; railroad, $425,006; telegraph, $3,485. Total valuation for 1879, $564,894.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company owns many thousands of acres of land in this County, and the balance is nearly all gov- ernment land.
The estimated population of the County, in 1879, was 274.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
OGALALLA,
The County Seat, is situated on the Union Pacific Railroad, 351 miles west of Omaha, and near the geographical center of the County. It is the headquarters of an immense cattle trade, Texas and other cattle being driven here for distribution to the various ranches. It is also a great shipping point for stock. It contains two large general merchandise stores, two hotels, a school house, blacksmith shops, etc., and about one hundred and twenty-five permanent inhabitants, although during the shipping season it has a large floating population and business is very brisk.
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