USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 35
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In 1866, E. H. and T. F. George, Jacob Hardenberg, and S. B. and W. Linderman, representing a New Jersey Company, bought out Gregory's claim, and established the " Nebraska Salt Company." They expended several thousand dollars on the enter- prise.
All this time there had been entries made on the most valu- able of the Basins, and these claims had passed into the hands of J. Sterling Morton and Col. Manners, one of the government sur- veyors who had made the discovery of the basins. Soon after Nebraska became a State, the Governor leased the Big Basin for twenty years to A. C. Tichenor and J. T. Green, and they expended about $12,000. About this time, however, Messrs. Morton and Manners got their elaim into the courts by writ of ejectment, and the work of building ceased. After years of litigation, the State made good its claim to the land, and her title was made perfect by a decision of the U. S. Supreme Court, in 1875.
In 1870, Isaac Calin obtained a lease of land adjacent to the Big Basin, and sank an artesian well to the depth of 600 feet, striking a vein of saline; but the Legislature refusing to grant the franchises he asked for, he abandoned the enterprise. The artesian well sunk by the City of Lincoln, on the block occupied by the U. S. Government building, pours out a steady stream of salt water, highly impregnated with other minerals, and powerfully magnetic. But at the Big Basin, the supply of water flowing up from the numerous springs is inexhaustible, and it is not difficult to utilize it without sinking wells. Considerable salt of an excellent quality is at present made at the Basin, with the appliances already provided.
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Upon the admission of the State into the Union, in March, 1867, the Legislature appointed a commission to select a site for the new Capitol. The commission, consisting of the Governor, David Butler, Secretary of State, T. P. Kennard, and the Auditor, John Gillespie, were directed and empowered by law to select a site from lands belonging to the State within certain boundaries prescribed, which embraced the Counties of Lancaster and Seward, aud a part of Butler, Saunders and Saline. The general govern- ment had set apart twelve salt springs, and with each six sections of land, for the use and benefit of the new State, and these springs. were immediately selected by the Governor, and the lands located. Most of this land was located within a radius of twenty miles of the Great Salt Basin, principally in the County of Lancaster. In July, the Commission selected about a section and a half of land, which embraced within its limits the old town of Lancaster, as a. site for the Capitol. Prior to the formal location, the proprietors of the land and lots embraced in the site made deeds of the same to the State, either by way of a gift or in exchange for State lands in the vicinity.
According to the provisions of the Act, the Commission was. directed to lay out the new site into lots and blocks, and to sell the alternate blocks at public sale to the highest bidder, and to use the proceeds for the erection of a State House. A. B. Smith, of Platts- mouth, and Hon. Aug. F. Harvey, of Nebraska City, were employed by the Commission to survey and lay out the new city. The streets running north and south, commencing on the west side, were numbered, and the streets running east and west, commencing at the south boundary, were named from the alphabet. "A" and "U " were the boundary streets on the south and north, the First and Seventeenth on the west and east; making thirty-seven streets, with an average length of over one and a quarter miles. The site was, however, ent into by a reservation on the northwest corner of about twenty acres for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and another on the northeast corner, penetrating as far as O street to the south, and Fourteenth to the west. The blocks were 300 feet square, and laid out in twenty-four business, or twelve resi- dent lots each, with a frontage of twenty-five and fifty feet. The streets were 100 feet wide, with the exception of D, J, O, S,
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Seventh, Eleventh and Fifteenth, which were called avenues and were laid out with a width of 120 feet. A reservation of four blocks, bounded by H and K and Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets, was made for the Capitol, another of the same size, bounded by R and T and Tenth and Twelfth, for the State University, and another of the same size, bounded by D and F and Sixth and Eighth streets, for a park. Reservations of one block cach were made for a Court House, a State Horticultural Society, a market square, and for ward and High Schools. All Churches applying had reserva- tions set ont to them of three lots each. Forty acres, three miles south of Lincoln, were given to the State by Messrs. Donovan and Hilton for the site of a Penitentiary, and afterwards eighty acres were received on Yankee Hill, a mile and a half south of the city, for an Insane Asylum.
In October, 1867, the survey was completed, and the even numbered blocks offered for sale to the highest bidder, a minimum price having been first set upon cach lot. At the close of the sale on the site, at which $34,000 was realized, two other sales were held one at Nebraska City, and the other at Omaha, and as $53,000 had been realized and only a comparatively small portion of the alter- nate blocks disposed of, the State still owns a large number of these lots, the Commissioners proceeded to advertise for plans and speci- fication for a Capitol building.
THE CAPITOL .- The plans and specifications for the Capitol were opened at Omaha on the 10th of October, 1867, and those of Mr. John Morris, of Chicago, were selected. Mr. Morris was also appointed superintendent, and at once proceeded to procure mate- rial for the foundation of the building, the first ground for same being broken November tenth.
January 11, 1868, the contract for erecting the building was awarded to Joseph Wood, of Chicago, for $49,000. The walls of the building were constructed of magnesian limestone, from the Beatrice quarries in Gage County. The building, as it now stands, except the cupalo, was completed sufficiently for occupation before the close of the year, and on December 3d, the Governor issued a proclamation announcing the removal of the Scat of Government to Lincoln, and ordered the transfer of the archives of the State to the new Capitol.
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OTHER STATE BUILDINGS .- By the Act of June 14, 1867, for locating the Seat of Government, the State University and Agri- cultural College were consolidated, and a reservation for a site for the buildings for the same, also the seventy-two sections of land for the University, and the 90,000 acres for the Agricultural College, were located by the Commissioners, under the direction of the Governor.
The Legislature of 1869, that met in January in the new State House, passed an Act organizing the "University of Nebraska," vesting its government in a Board of Regents, to be appointed in the first instance by the Governor, who was ex-oficio chairman; the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the University being also ex-officio members of the Board. Under the new Constitution there are only six Regents, who are elected by the people.
By an Act, approved, February 15, 1869, the Governor, Secre- tary of State, and Auditor, were appointed Commissioners to sell the unsold lots and blocks in Lincoln, and to locate and erect a " State University and Agricultural College, and a State Lunatic Asylum." From the proceeds of the sales, $16.000 were appropri- ated for the completion of the dome of the Capitol, $50,000 for the erection of the Insane Asylum, and $100,000 for the erection of the State University and Agricultural College building. Fearing that the proceeds of the sales of lots would not amount to the aggregate of these appropriations, the Commissioners were author- ized to sell not to exceed forty sections of the Saline land grant to meet any deficiency that might arise.
In pursuance of this Act, the Commissioners advertised on February 24, for plans and specifications for these two buildings. On June 1st following, the plans and specifications received were examined, and the designs submitted by M. J. McBird, of Logans- port, Indiana, were accepted for the University and Agricultural College building, and those of Prof. John K. Winchell, of Chicago, for the Lunatic Asylum.
The Commissioners let the contract for the excavation of the basement of the University on the third of June, 1869, to Messrs. D. J. Silver & Son, of Logansport, Indiana, for the sum of $23,520, and for the same work on the Lunatic Asylum to Joseph Ward, of Lincoln, for $18,055.
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The work on the Lunatic Asylum was shortly afterwards com- menced, and on the University, about the 15th of July; but the walls of the latter were ready for the laying of the corner stone on the 23d of September, and it was put in place on that day with Masonic ceremonies. During the first week of September, the basement was completed. In the meantime the architect had made alterations in the plans for the super-structure, suggested by the Regents, which necessarily increased the expense of the building. The Commissioners, feeling that considerations of public policy demanded that the building should be such as the present and pros- pective needs of the State indicated, decided to take the responsi- bility of exceeding the appropriation.
In pursuance of advertisements published July 15th, the con- tract for completing the University was awarded on the 18th of August, to D. J. Silver & Son, for $128,480, making the total cost of the building $152,000. The contract for the completion of the Lunatic Asylum, was let September 18, to Joseph Ward, for $119,- 300, making it cost $137,550.
Prior to the commencement of the work on the superstructures, the Legislature, at a call session, passed a joint resolution, March 4, 1870, approving the action of the Commissioners in exceeding the appropriation and letting the contracts, and also passed an Act, approved March 4, providing for the care and custody of State prisoners, and for the erection of a Penitentiary on the site selected by the Commissioners, in 1867. Three Prison Inspectors were elected, who were to act as a Commission in the erection of the Penitentiary, and to sell the 34,000 acres of Penitentiary land granted by the general government for that purpose.
The Inspectors, Messrs. W. W. Abbey, W. W. Wilson, and F. Templin, proceeded to advertise for plans and specifications for a State Penitentiary, to be opened on the sixth of June following; also proposals for the erection of a temporary prison, for which the Legislature had appropriated $5,000, to be opened April 28th. Perkins & Hallowell were awarded the contract for the temporary prison, and the designs of Wmn. H. Foster, of Des Moines, Iowa, for the Penitentiary, were adopted, and the proposal of W. II. B. Stout, of Washington County, Nebraska, and J. M. Jamison, of
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Des Moines, Iowa, for building the same, was accepted, and the contract awarded to them for $312,000.
The brick work on the University was commenced April 7th, 1870, and the walls were up and the roof nearly completed by the 9th of August following. The Asylum was pushed forward at the same rapid pace, and the buildings were completed and accepted by the Commissioners on the 29th of November, of the same year.
The University was formally opened and dedicated on Wednes- day, September 6, 1871, and Chancellor Benton inducted into office by Acting Governor James.
Shortly before the Asylum was completed, it was set on fire in the wood work of the roof, by some unknown person, but the flames were extinguished before any serious damage was done. Dr. Larsh, of Nebraska City, was appointed Superintendent, and the insane of the State were placed there in his charge. On the night of April 18, 1871, it was set on fire again in the roof, and this time it was totally consumed, and two of the patients perished in the flames.
The building had been insured in various Companies for $96,000, but the State received only $72,000. After the usual pre- liminaries, the diagrams of Wm. H. Foster, of Des Moines, Iowa, for a new building, were accepted, and the contract awarded to Robert D. Silver, for the construction of the main building and one wing. According to the design, the exterior walls were to be faced with limestone ashlar, rough finish, but this was afterwards changed, and Carrol County, Missouri, sandstone, with ruble work finish, with rustic joints, substituted. The building was completed by October 1, 1872, and is a credit to the State.
The Asylum was filled with inmates almost as soon as finished, and the Legislature of 1875, appropriated $25,000 for the building of the second wing, which was completed under the supervision of the trustees.
The Penitentiary was completed in the fall of 1876, under the contract made by the State, and is a substantial structure, well ventilated and heated, and is regarded as perfectly secure. Its walls are built of a hard magnesian limestone taken from the quar- ries near Saltello, about twelve miles south of Lincoln. With the
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addition of cells it is large enough to hold all the criminals likely to be sent there for years to come.
RAILROADS .- There are five railroads in the County, as follows:
The Burlington & Missouri River, running from Omaha and Plattsmouth, via Lincoln, to a connection with the U. P., at Kearney, Buffalo County.
The Nebraska Railway, running from Nemaha City, on the Missouri River, via Lincoln, to a connection with the U. P., at Central City, in Merrick County.
The Atchison & Nebraska, from Atchison, Kansas, to Lincoln.
The Lincoln & Northwestern, now being rapidly constructed to a connection with the U. P., at Columbus, Platte County.
The Omaha & Republican Valley, which has now about com- pleted a branch line from Valparaiso, Saunders County, to Lincoln, a distance of twenty miles.
LANDS .-- Improved lands sell from $8 to $30 per acre. The B. & M. Railroad lands, of which there are about 75,000 acres here, sell from $4 to $10 per acre.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 475,449, average value per acre, $3.55; value of town lots, $771,919; money invested in merchandise, $110,303; money used in manufactures, $30,752; num- ber of horses, 7,390, value, $181,339; mules and asses, 695, value, $21,311; neat cattle, 15,330, value, $127,698; sheep, 5,406, value, $5,SSO; swine, 31,487, value, $24,984; vehicles, 2,633, value $41,392; moneys and credits, $24,771; mortgages, $19,477; stocks, etc., $77,745; libraries, $251; property not enumerated, $85,283; railroads, $508,192.45; telegraph, $1,467.45; total valuation for 1879, $3,762,039.90.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .-- Number of districts, 104; school houses, 97; children of school age, males, 3,187, females, 3,090, total, 6,277; whole number of children that attended school during the year, 4,372; number of qualified teachers employed, males, sixty-eight, females, 113; wages paid teachers for the year, males, $8,858.26, females, $15,764.15, total, $24,622.41; value of school houses, $69,720; value of sites, $6,286.50; value of books and apparatus, $1,309.92.
POPULATION .- The following are the names of the Precincts, and population of each in 1879: Olive Branch, 726; Highland, 472; Denton, 219; Middle Creek, 353; Elk, 387; West Oak, 240;
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Buda, 427; Centerville, 535; Yankee Hill, 734; Lincoln, 2,285; Midland, 2,221; Capital, 2,813; Oak, 482; Little Salt, 436; South Pass, 819; Saltillo, 648; Grant, 473; Lancaster, 519; North Bluff, 307; Rock Creek, 552; Panama, 442; Nemaha, 832; Stockton, 450; Stevens Creek, 266; Waverly, 520; Mill, 509.
Total population of County, 18,675-males, 10,092; females, 8,583. Population of County in 1878, 15,658; increase in past year, 3,017.
LINCOLN,
The Capital of Nebraska, and the County Seat of Lancaster County, is a very remarkable and progressive city of some 10,000 inhabitants, and is situated about three miles from the geographi- cal center of the County. It is emphatically "beautiful for situa- tion." The view from the heights of the exquisitely rounded bluffs ean seareely be surpassed. The Capitol Building, which is undergoing extensive repairs and additions, occupies the highest point, and from this the prairie shapes off on all sides, for miles, in gentle waves and undulations, encircled by low, rounded hills, which plainly mark the shore line of an ancient lake, in the basin of which, upon this beautiful elevation, stands the city.
No place can afford a scene of quiet beauty that surpasses this view, when all the hills are covered with the emerald green of the summer months. The slope is dotted all over in every direction with groves and farm-houses that lie nestled in the valleys or crown the gently swelling bluffs that rise on every side and form a land- scape of which the eye never tires. To the northwest, a mile or two distant, the Salt Springs come boiling up from the depths be- low, and yield an inexhaustible supply of pure salt; to the sonth- west are seen the commodious buildings of the Insane Asylum, with the extensive and attractive grounds surrounding them-an institution fully ranking with the very best in the country; on Yankee Hill, and further to the south, is the State Penitentiary, a model institution. In the northern part of the city, in a large . square adorned with shade trees and evergreens, stands the State University and Agricultural College-a fine building of the Ital- ian style. The college grounds are surrounded with elegant residences, handsome Churches, and fine public buildings, among
·
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which are the new United States Postoffice and Court House and the City High School building. The latter cost over $40,000, and the former fully $150,000.
There are other buildings of note in the city, including fine business blocks noticeable for solidity and capacity, and showing the confidence of business men and capitalists in the future of the city, and the enterprise and ability to erect structures that are not only ornamental to the city, but profitable to those who seek investment. The Opera House is the finest structure of the kind in the State.
Among the places of business represented in the city are the U. S. land office, the First National, State National and the Lan- caster County Banks; the Lincoln Foundry and machine shops; the State Journal Company, printers, lithographers and blank book manufacturers, employing fifty hands; two steam flouring mills, two breweries, two marble cutting establishments, a carriage manu- factory, etc. The newspapers are the State Journal, the Globe and the Democrat, published daily and weekly, besides three or four monthly publications.
The first Church erected in the city was by the Methodist Episcopal denomination; there are now twelve Churches, some of them very fine structures.
From small beginnings Lincoln has grown rapidly, in ten years, to its present large proportions. This has been due to sev- eral combined agencies, among which are the location there of the Capitol and the public institutions of the State, and the push, energy and enterprise of its citizens. Its excellent social and edu- cational surroundings, its pleasant and central location, its broad agricultural country stretching without limit from its center, with the most fertile soil and delightful climate; and above all, its mark- ed railroad facilities, making it with its present and proposed rail- road connections, that will be completed in the near future, the Indianapolis of Nebraska.
It is now the second city of importance in the State, and with the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad crossing its bridge over the Missouri at Plattsmouth, and stretching through the State to the Union Pacific at Kearney, the Atchison and Nebraska run- ning south to Kansas and St. Louis, the Nebraska Railroad 29
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RUSSELL RICHARDSON
VIEW ONE MILE SOUTH WEST OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
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connecting it with Nebraska City, and other projected railroads to span and gridiron the State and join important connections East to the Atlantic, and West to the Pacific, South to the Gulf and North to the British Possessions, it cannot fail to have a magnificent future. It must be our inland central city of wealth, immense agricultural and other resources, and as the Capital, will be as it now is, the pride of the State.
Lincoln illustrates the boundless capacity of the Great West. Little more than a decade since the antelope and deer and wolf, and the retiring red man held full sway over the open prairie where are now all the appliances of comfort, civilization, education and commercial enterprises of a great city. It has no water-courses, no outside influences nor resources, except the railroads and the broad fertile prairies stretching from the Missouri to the Moun- tains, and yet it is destined to number its tens of thousands in the near future, and become a central power in a great State.
WAVERLY and NEWTON, promising towns on the B. & M. Rail- road, east of Lincoln, each have about 200 inhabitants, good school and Church advantages, several stores and mechanics' shops, ship- ping facilities, etc.
BERKSHIRE, DENTON and HIGHLAND, are fine young towns on the B. & M. Railroad, west of Lincoln.
FIRTH, HICKMAN and SALTILLO, located on the A. & N. Rail- road, are rapidly growing into prominence as business centers.
BENNETT,
On the Nebraska Railway, sixteen miles southeast of Lincoln, has about 300 inhabitants. It contains two Churches, an elegant school house, several stores, elevator, mechanics' shops, etc., and is surrounded by an excellent grain and stock producing country.
MADISON COUNTY.
Madison County was created in 1856, and organized in Janu- ary, 1868, by proclamation of Governor Butler. It is located in the northeastern part of the State, bounded on the north by Pierce, east by Stanton, south by Platte, and west by Boone and Antelope Counties, containing 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres.
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WATER COURSES .- The Elkhorn River flows from west to east through the northern portion of the County, a distance of over twenty-five miles. The North Fork enters the Elkhorn in the northeast corner of the County. Dry, Buffalo, Deer, Battle, Tay- lor, and Big and Little Union Creeks, tributaries of the Elkhorn, water the central and southeastern portions of the County. Shell Creek, a tributary of the Platte River, waters the southwestern townships. The Elkhorn, Shell, Union and Taylor Creeks afford excellent mill privileges. Well water can be obtained on the up- lands at a depth of from thirty to sixty-five feet, and in the valleys, from ten to twenty-five feet.
TIMBER .- There is considerable timber along the banks of the Elkhorn, and on several of its tributaries. On Shell Creek, there. is a beautiful natural grove. 1,658 acres, or 1,547,551 forest trees, and twenty-two miles of hedging, are under cultivation. Many of the artificial groves are sufficiently grown to furnish the farmer with all the fuel needed.
FRUIT .- 2,718 apple, thirty-three pear, 267 peach, and 758 cherry trees, and thirty-eight acres of grape vines, are reported un- der cultivation and in promising condition.
THE SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY .- The north half of the County lies in the fertile Valley of the Elkhorn, which here varies in width from three to six miles. Union and Battle Creek Valleys are from one to two miles wide. The uplands are gently undulating prai- ries, and comprise about forty-five per cent. of the area. There are: few steep bluffs, and the surface is rarely too broken for tillage.
SOIL AND CROPS .- The soil is a black vegetable mould, from two to three feet deep on the uplands, and three to six feet deep in the valleys.
The number of acres under cultivation was 39,356. The yield of the principal crops was as follows: Winter wheat, sixty-five acres, 869 bushels; spring wheat, 17,869 acres, 185,045 bushels; rye, 1,871 acres, 30,229 bushels; corn, 12,301 acres, 309,877 bushels; barley, 601 acres, 12,161 bushels; sorghum, fourteen acres, 857 gallons; potatoes, 266 acres, 26,944 bushels.
HISTORICAL .- The first settlements were made in June, 1866, by a small party from Illinois, consisting of L. D. Barnes, Wm. H. Bradshaw, D. L. Allen, Mathias Carr and Win. A. Barnes, who
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located near the month of the North Fork of the Elkhorn, on the ground now occupied by the town of Norfolk. In the following montlı, a large German colony from Wisconsin settled in the vicin- ity of Norfolk. In October of this year, Nicholas Paul surveyed the County. Erastus Jones, of Norfolk, was the pioneer merchant of the County. He was followed by Barney Barnes and a Dane by the name of Nelson, who kept an Indian trading post in the fall of 1866.
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