USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 38
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 first election for County Officers and location of County Seat, occurred in November, 1879, under the supervision of D. E. Stearns, George McClusey and J. W. Whitney, special Commis- sioners appointed by the Governor for that purpose. The results of the election are not yet fully assured, Genoa had a small majority, but it is contested on illegal votes, by its rival town Fullerton. The Governor located the temporary County Seat at Fullerton.
The old village of Genoa, in the northeastern part of the County, is building up very rapidly since the organization of the County. At present it contains forty or fifty dwellings, good stores and a school house. The Omaha, Niobrara and Black Hills Railroad, now being constructed from Jackson, on the Union Pacific to Albion, in Boone County, will pass through Genoa and assure its prosperity.
FULLERTON
Is a town recently established on Cedar Creek, fifteen miles west of Genoa. It has already three stores, two livery stables, one hotel, lawyers and doctors offices, a newspaper, the Journal, and other improvements.
The estimated population of the County in 1879, was 1,000.
480
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
THE BEAVER VALLEY, NEAR ALBION, BOONE COUNTY.,
481
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
OTOE COUNTY.
Otoe County was organized by an Act of the first Territorial Legislature, approved March 2, 1855. It is located on the south- eastern border of the State, bounded on the north by Cass County, east by the Missouri River, south by Nemaha and Johnson Counties, and west by Lancaster County, containing about 575 square miles, or 368,000 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The County is most excellently watered by the Missouri and Little Nemaha Rivers, and several large creeks. The Little Nemaha River, affording fine mill advantages, flows diagonally through the central portion from northwest to south- east, its chief tributaries being the North and South Forks, Muddy, Porter, Deer, and Fox Creeks. The eastern portion of the County is watered by the Weeping Water, North and South Table, Dunbar, Stanton, Rock, and Camp Creeks. There are but very few quarter sections of land which do not furnish good stock water.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- The surface of the country consists chiefly of rolling prairie, about fifteen per cent. being valley and bottom. The Missouri bottom is exceedingly fertile, yielding from fifty to eighty bushels of corn per acre, and the bottoms of the other streams are equally as productive. The bluffs of the Missouri are high, cut through with innumerable draws, or ravines, and are admirably adapted for grape growing. From the valleys of the streams in the interior, the land rises and falls in gentle undula- tions, gradually blending in long stretches of nearly level prairie. The area in cultivation in 1878, was 94,247 acres, and in 1879, 104,439 acres. Bushels of spring wheat returned, 300,000; corn, 1,200,000.
TIMBER .- The bluffs of the Missouri and banks of the other streams of the County are well clothed with timber, the varieties most common being oak, ash, elm, maple, cottonwood, box-elder and hackberry. The estimated number of acres of timber planted is 11,000. Well developed groves gladden the eye on every hand,
31
482
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
and many of the farms are surrounded with honey-locust and osage hedges.
FRUIT .- Otoe has more vineyards and orchards than any other County in the State. Hon. J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska City, has a fine orchard of forty acres. Ex-Chief Justice Masou has an orchard near the same place, containing some 15,000 choice fruit trees. Apples, pears, plums, grapes and all the minor fruits grow to perfection. A few years ago an apple was grown in the orchard of Perry & Walker, near Nebraska City, which weighed twenty- nine and a half ounces.
BUILDING MATERIAL .- Limestone abounds throughout the middle and eastern portions of the County. Sandstone also crops out in several places. Good building sand and fine clays for the manufacture of brick are abundant.
COAL, in thin seams, has been discovered in several localities.
HISTORICAL .- The first settlements in the County were made where Nebraska City now stands. In 1844 the United States Gov- ernment occupied a portion of the present townsite for a Military Post, which was named Fort Kearney. The Fort proper, a block- house, was built in 1846. It stood in what is now Fifth Street. A log cabin, used for officer's quarters, barracks, or hospital, stood about 150 feet easterly of the block-house.
A Mr. Hardin was put in charge of the government buildings, when, in 1848, the Military Post was removed to New Fort Kear- ney, on the Platte River.
Col. John Boulware, who came to the Fort in 1846, and established a government ferry, was appointed in Mr. Hardin's place, in 1849; and Hiram P. Downs, formerly a sergeant in the United States army, was, in 1850, put in charge, instead of Col. Boulware.
The original settlers and claimants of the ground embraced by Nebraska City, were John Boulware, Hiram P. Downs and John B. Boulware. John B. Boulware built, in 1852, a ferry house, and the first permanent habitation on the townsite, on the river bank, at the foot of Commercial street. His father's claim was the pres- ent Kearney Division of the city, and was staked off in the spring of 1853. Hiram P. Downs claimed 320 acres, and in the fall of 1853, Charles W. Pierce surveyed the claim, running the north line
483
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
from the river nearly along North Table Creek, to Tenth Street, the west line along Tenth Street, and the south line south of the present Kansas street. John B. Boulware claimed 320 acres from the south line of Down's claim to South Table Creek, and from his father's, on the east, nearly to the west line of what is known as Hail & Co's Addition. West of Tenth Street, Mr. Pierce also sur- veyed 160 acres for a Mr. Fawks.
Hiram P. Downs sold his claim-which embraced the greater part of the land now occupied by Nebraska City-to the Nebraska City Town Company, which was composed of S. F. Nuckolls, A. A. Bradford, H. P. Bennett, Wm. B. Hail, Lafayette Nuckolls, John Doniphan, L. D. Bird, Jas. Doniphan, S. E. Frazee, Marshall & Woodward, N. B. Giddings, C. F. Holly, J. W. Kelly, W. S. Van Doren, Robert Cook and J. Sterling Morton.
The Town Company, as aforesaid, employed Chas. W. Pierce, to survey the land and make it into streets, alleys and lots. On May 5, 1855, the first grand sale of town lots was held. The three lots where the Nebraska City National Bank now stands, on the corner of Main and Sixth streets, were sold for twenty dollars each; the lot on Sixth street, now Hawke's Hall, was donated to Conrad Mullis for a blacksmith shop. At figures ranging from fifty to sixty-five dollars, almost any "claim" within a distance of four miles from Nebraska City, could have been readily purchased.
The survey of the original plat of Nebraska City was made by Chas. W. Pierce, assisted by Dr. Wm. Dewey, Cornelius Schubert, Samuel Saunders, and others, in the fall of 1854.
By Act of the Territorial Legislature, approved March 2, 1855, Nebraska City was declared to be the seat of justice of Otoe County. The charter was amended in 1867.
In 1857 a small patch of corn was grown where the court house now stands.
Chas. H. Cowles erected the first, and Chas Pierce the second frame house on the town site. The former stood on the corner of Fifth street, and the latter next door to where the Press office stood. The first brick house was built by Mr. Nuckolls, upon the north- west corner of Main and Fifth streets. The first hotel was built by Mr. Downs, in the fall of 1854, and called the City Hotel. A few years later Mr. Simpson Hargus erected a four story brick hotel
484
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
upon the site of the old City Hotel, which he named the Morton House, and now called the Seymour House.
The first stock of goods brought to the city was by Charley Cowles. The next store was opened by Joel Deneen, in Kearney, and the third by Nuckolls & Hail, afterwards Nuckolls, Hail & Van Doren. The Platte Valley Bank was estableshed at an early day, by S. F. Nuekolls, Joshua Garside and N. S. Harding, and maintained its credit by the redemption of its whole issue.
The first Postoffice was called Table Creek; it was established in 1852, with John Boulware as Postmaster. In 1854 the name of the office was changed to Nebraska City.
The first regular preaching in the city was by Wm. D. Gage, a local preacher of the Methodist Church. The first build- ing for religious services was erected in 1854, by the Baptists. The first Methodist Episcopal building was commenced in 1855. The walls were thrown down by the wind the following winter, but were rebuilt and the house finished in 1856. The Presbyterian Society was organized not long after the founding of the city, with Rev. Henry Giltner as Pastor. Their Church was completed in 1857, and the bell which adorns it was taken from the wreck of the steamboat " Genoa," which was sunk in 1856. The Protestant-Episcopal Church (St. Mary's Parish,) was organ- ized in April, 1857, with Henry B. Bartow, as Rector.
The first newspaper, now the oldest in the State, was the Ne- braska City News. The press-work of the first number was done in Sidney, Iowa. It was dated November 14, 1854. The office was first opened in the old Block- House; Thos. Morton was the printer.
The second United States land office in the State was located at Nebraska City.
The first and only slaves that were ever brought into the Territory, were owned in Nebraska City, in 1857. There were eleven in all.
The People's Press was established in 1858, by O. H. Irish and L. L. Lurvey. It still flourishes as the Daily Nebraska Press; W. A. Brown, publisher and proprietor.
The first steam ferry boat-the "Nebraska" -- was brought to Nebraska City by Mr. McLennan, in May, 1854. The next was the "Comet," brought from Ohio, in -1857.
485
JOHNSON'S IIISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Game, which before the winter of 1856-7, had been abundant, perished from cold and hunger that winter. Deer run through the streets seeking safety from wolves, which followed them on the ice-crusted snow, making them an easy prey. Herds of deer frequently passed from the northi between J. Sterling Morton's house and the court house square.
The population in the early days was made up of emigrants from Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. The Camp- bellites and Methodists were the largest of the religious denomi- nations. The Old School Presbyterians were also quite strong.
During the early spring of 1856, immigration was nnusually heavy. While this continued, the price of lots steadily advanced, and a number of additions were made to the town plat.
The first election in Otoe County was held on the first Monday in November, 1854. Henry Bradford, Hiram P. Bennett and Charles H. Cowles, were elected to the Territorial Council, and Jas. H. Decker, Harvy C. Cowley, Wilson M. Maddox, Gideon Bennett and Wm. B. Hail, to the House of Representatives.
The first city election was held in April, 1855, and the follow- ing officers were elected: Mayor, Dr. Henry Bradford; Alder- men, Wm. R. Craig, John W. Pearman, Wm. B. Hail; Recorder, Martin W. Riden; Treasurer, W. D. Gage; Marshal, Smith Mc- Manus, and Assessor, Alfred B. Wolston.
The first election for County officers was held October S, 1855, and resulted as follows: Wm. B. Hail, Probate Judge; Wm. Birch- field, Sheriff; J. W. Pearman, Treasurer, and C. C. Hail, Recorder.
On March 31, 1857, Mayor Bradford "entered" Nebraska City as a town site, in the land office at Omaha.
In 1858, Nebraska City and the suburban cities of Kearney, South Nebraska City and Prairie City, were consolidated and organized into Nebraska City, as it now stands.
In the winter of 1856-7 the corporation of Kearney was organ- ized by the election of Mills S. Reeves, Mayor; Henry C. Norton, Recorder; Byron Sanford, Marshal; Councilmen, David Lindley, John Boulware, and J. C. Campbell.
Kearney was surveyed as a town in June, 1854, and was entered at the land office in Omaha, under the town site law, by Mayor Reeves, on April 13, 1857.
486
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
On the first Monday in May, 1857, the corporation of South Nebraska City, comprising the old survey, and Hail & Co.'s ad- dition, was organized by the election of John B. Lull, Mayor; Recorder, Fountain Pearman; Marshal, Henry Brown; Treasurer, Samuel W. Burnam; Attorney, Chas. F. Halley; Councilmen, Wm. W. Saper, Simon Hooper, and Geo. Allen. It was surveyed in 1854-5, and entered by Mayor Lull, on the 25th of June, 1857.
PRAIRIE CITY
Was organized in August, 1858, by the election of Benjamin F. Hayward, Simpson Hargus, John H. Croxton, H. M. Giltner, and James F. Hoffinan, Trustees. It was surveyed by John A. Good- lette, and entered as a town site by John H. Croxton, for the Trustees, on the 7th of October, 1857.
Besides the towns named already, there was up to 1857, ground adjacent to the present city, surveyed and staked off in Marietta, McLennan's Addition to Marietta, Anderson's first and second Additions, Cambridge, Belmont, Elmwood, Greggsport, Gregg's Addition to Greggsport, Cowles Addition to Greggsport, and Condit, while the island rejoiced in two towns under the euphonious titles of Woodlawn and Woodville.
Russell, Majors & Waddell, government freighting firm, established themselves in Nebraska City, in the spring of 1858. The Government had made this its point for the transhipment of army stores destined for the plains and mountains. The next few years witnessed scenes of great activity. The levee and several great warehouses were constantly filled with immense piles of merchandise. The streets and byways were filled with a multitude of heavy freight wagons drawn by six to ten yoke of oxen each. Hundred of millions of pounds of army stores were transferred from here prior to the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad.
The following statement taken from the books of Mr. Majors, of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, will illustrate the im- mense amount of freighting done by a single firm, over the great Central Route leading from Nebraska City across the Plains to Pike's Peak, Utah and the Forts: "From April to October, 1859: Number of pounds transported, 2,782,258; number of oxen used, 5,682; number of wagons, 517; number of mules, seventy-five;
487
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
number of men employed, 602." There were a great many other heavy freighters, among whom were Robert Hawks, S. F. Nuck- olls, and A. & P. Byram.
The first child born in the County was the son of George H. Benton, in August, 1854. The first death was that of - Clemons, in January, 1855. The first marriage was that of George W. Nuck- olls to Sarah Kennedy. The first marriage license was issued August 11, 1856, to Francis Berger and Mary Ann Jameson.
The first term of District Court was held in March, 1855, beginning on the 19th of the month; Edwin R. Hardin, Judge; M. W. Riden, Clerk.
The first case of murder in Nebraska City, was committed on April 23, 1856, by Simpson Hargus, who shot Benjamin Lacey, during a claim quarrel. Hargus was indicted, and had two or three trials, but finally escaped.
In 1860, the great fire occurred. On Saturday, the 12th of May, at a few minutes past 12 o'clock, noon, a fire was kindled in a butcher's shop in the rear end of the bank building where Hawk's store now is. A strong, hot south wind was blowing, and in less than three hours the business part of the city-forty buildings-was in. ashes. The sun which rose that morning upon a young city full of life and promise, set behind a cloud of blackest gloom and dis- aster. But with a will of iron, the people rallied and commenced life anew. The calamity of the fire, however, closed the youthful days of the city, and became the foundation of the strength of its manhood. The insurance on the property destroyed by the great fire amounted to more than sixty thousand dollars; but out of that entire sum, less than three thousand dollars was re-invested in the city. The era of speculation, its fallacies and its fever, had passed away.
September 18, 1860, a telegraph office was opened in Nebraska City.
In April, 1861, the First Nebraska Cavalry, afterwards the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, was partially organized in Nebraska City. Lieut. A. Mathias, editor of the Press, recruited one of the com- panies, and afterwards became its Captain.
Company F, second Nebraska Cavalry, was recruited in Ne- braska City; Lieut. D. P. Rolfe, recruiting officer. Its Officers
488
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
were: D. Laboo, Captain, Nebraska City; Robert Mason, First Lieutenant, Nebraska City; C. W. Hail, Second Lieutenant, Peru, Nebraska.
Company B, First Nebraska Infantry, was recruited in Ne- braska City, in 1861. Allen Blacker, Captain; Lee P. Gillette, First Lieutenant. J. C. Potts, a corporal at the organization, be- came a captain after the regiment veteranized.
On the 4th of July, 1860, the corner stone of the Methodist Church was laid. Rev. Isaac Chivington performed the ceremony. Copies of the People's Press and Nebraska City News, sketch of Nebraska City, and Act of Consolidation, etc., were placed in a tin box and deposited in the foundation of the building.
The erection of the Catholic Church, on Kearney Heights, was commenced in October, 1860.
The first exhibition of the Otoe County Agricultural Society was held in September, 1861.
J. A. Ward's new banking house, the finest in the Territory at that time, was completed in 1861.
. In 1861, when the " burnt district " was being rebuilt, a board of trade was organized.
The " Nebraska Staats Zietung," edited by Dr. F. Renner, made its appearance in April, 1871.
The first annual session of the M. E. Conference for Nebraska, was held at Nebraska City, in March, 1861. Bishop Morris, of Cincinnati, presided. H. T. Davis was appointed Presiding Elder, and T. B. Lemon, Pastor for this station.
At this time there were the following Churches in the city: Baptist, Rev, J. M. Taggart, Pastor; Duer's Hall, Rev. J. Stickney Haskell, Pastor; Episcopal, Rev. Eli Adams, Pastor; United Pres- byterian, Rev. Wm. M'Cartney, Pastor; Protestant-Methodist Church, Rev. J. M. Young, Pastor; Methodist-Episcopal Church, Rev. T. B. Lemon, Pastor; Lutheran, Rev. Mr. Muhlenbrook, Pas- tor; Roman-Catholic, Father Phillip, Pastor; First Presbyterian, Rev. H. W. Giltner, Pastor.
In September, 1866, a lad named Hamilton, while herding, cattle, was riddled with buck-shot and killed by a man named Dirks, who afterwards stripped the body and threw it into a creek near by. The crime was soon detected, and Dirks was arrested, tried
ยท
489
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
by a jury of twelve citizens, found guilty, and was hung the same day in the court house yard.
The court house, Nebraska City, was finished in December, 1866. It is a fine building, eighty-two by forty-six feet, two stories high, and cost, with furniture, about $35,000.
The Union School House, on Ferry street, was completed in 1866, and cost upwards of $38,000. It is a model of architectural neatness and beauty.
In 1866, the citizens voted $40,000 to aid in the construction of the St. Joe & Council Bluffs Railroad, which runs along the east bank of the Missouri River. The first train of cars on this road reached Nebraska City station in 1867.
In 1867, the County voted bonds to the amount of $150,000 for the construction of a railroad running from Nebraska City westwardly to a connection with the Union Pacific, and on the 15th of November, 1867, the Midland Pacific Railway Company was organized at Nebraska City. On the second day of March, 1868, the first spade full of dirt was turned at Nebraska City to make smooth the bed for the iron highway. It was a joyful occasion; cannons were fired and speeches and processions were the order of the day.
Hawk's Hall, and one of the finest Church buildings in the city-the Methodist Episcopal-were erected in 186S.
The Nebraska College and Divinity School, formerly Talbot Hall, was established by Bishop Talbot, of the Episcopal Church, in 1867. Cost of building, $20,000.
The Opera House, formerly called Turner Hall, was finished in 1869, at a cost of $20,000.
The Nebraska City Gas Light Company was organized in March, 1869.
The Third Ward School House was completed late in the sum- mer of 1869, and cost $10,000, exclusive of the grounds.
The County having voted two hundred thousand dollars in aid of an Eastern railroad connection, and the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company having proposed to build a railroad from Red Oak, Iowa, making Nebraska City its terminus, a contract was entered into in May, 1869, Otoe County paying $150,000 in bonds drawing eight per cent. interest, payable semi-annually from
490
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
January 1, 1870, for the building of the said road from Red Oak to that city. The road was finished in 1870.
In 1871, Mr. Jacob Shoff, an old and wealthy citizen, began the erection of the Shoff House. The name was afterwards changed to Grand Central Hotel. The building cost $50,000, and is an ornament to the city.
The city was illuminated with gas, for the first time, early in the year 1872.
The Nebraska City Elevator Company was organized in the spring of 1871, by T. Ashton, J. Metcalf, W. E. Hill, O. Stevenson and B. J. Newsom. The Elevator was built at a cost of $22,000.
The city voted $100,000 in bonds for a bridge across the Mis- souri River at this point. Ten thousand dollars were expended by the Bridge Company, James Sweet, J. Sterling Morton and others, in surveys, soundings, etc. The Trustees, Messrs. Tuxbury, Horace Monroe and Gen. Coe, turned over the balance of the bonds, $90,000, to the City Council, which body, on the 25th of Angust, 1873, destroyed them.
The Congregational Church was dedicated in January, 1873.
Work was commenced on the distillery at the foot of Main street, May 2, 1873. Capacity of the building, six hundred bush- els per day, and the cost about $50,000.
At a special election on the 6th of December, 1873, $75,000 in bonds were voted for an extension of the Midland Pacific south, in accordance with their amended charter, to Brownville; and in the following year the road was completed.
On the morning of the 24th of February, 1874, the Third Ward School Building burned to the ground. The building was insured for $10,000, and was immediately rebuilt.
The High School Building was erected in this year (1874). Cost of grounds and building, $50,000.
The State Institution for the Blind is located in this city. The State appropriated $10,000; Otoe County, $3,000; total, $13,000. The ground was purchased of John M. Gregg for $2,400; cost of building, $9,795.
March 20, 1875, the Third Ward School House for the second time was burned down. The insurance, $7,000, paid for the re- building of the present handsome edifice.
491
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The "City Mills," of Messrs. Pinney & Thorp, are one of the best mills in the State.
The " Star Mills," located on South Table Creek, are owned by Messrs. Schminke & Reiber. Their mill building is one of the finest in the County.
Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F., was organized March 24, 1856. Two other Lodges have been organized from the members of this Lodge-Golden Era, No. 16, and Nebraska Lodge, No. 1.
Eureka Lodge No. 7, Knights of Pythias, was organized in May, 1871.
Mount Olivet Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, was or- ganized in February, 1869.
Early in December, 1878, Henry Martin, Henry Jackson, colored, and Wm. Givens, a white man, broke into the house of Charles Slocum and wife, at Nebraska City, an aged couple, killed the husband, outraged the wife, and robbed the house of a small sum of money. They were promptly arrested and indicted; their trial begun inside of a week after the crime was committed; Judge Wm. Gaslin, of the Fifth District, occupied the bench; the evi- dence was circumstantial until Givens offered to turn State's evidence on condition of being released from arrest for being acces- sory to the murder. His offer was accepted, and it was on his testimony that Martin and Jackson were convicted of murder in the second degree only, for which Judge Gaslin sentenced them to the penitentiary for life-the heaviest penalty the statutes allowed him to impose. But confinement for life was deemed to be insuffi- cient punishment; and in the still hours of the night of December 10, a number of citizens of Nebraska City, went to the jail, took the prisoners Martin and Jackson therefrom, and hung them.
PUBLIO SCHOOLS .- Present number of districts, eighty-five; school houses, eighty; children of school age, males, 2,840, females, 2,345, total, 5,185; wages paid teachers for the year, males, $8,264.21, females, $7,615.60, total, $13,879.81, value of school houses, $38,725; value of sites, $2,820; value of books and apparatus, $1,032.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 369,527; average value per acre, $4.27. Value of town lots, $638,232. Money used in merchandise, $128,575; money invested in manufactures, $15,820;
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.