USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 45
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565
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
RAILROADS .- The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley road runs through this County from east to west, while the Omaha, Niobrara & Black Hills road runs from south to north, near its west line.
LANDS .-- Improved lands are held at $5 to $25 per acre, while unimproved range at $2.50 to $10.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The number of districts is twenty-two; school houses, twenty-one; children of school age-males 309, females 290; total, 599; qualified teachers employed-males, twenty, females, nine; total wages paid teachers for the year, $4,064.86; value of school houses, $10,631.08; value of sites, $405; value of books, etc., $700.50.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 250,951, average value per acre, $2.11; value of town lots, $6,915; money invested in merchandise, $3,925; money used in manufactures, $1,279; horses, 775, value, $18,703; mules, twenty-seven, value, $825; neat cattle, 1,833, value, $15,671; sheep, 2.440, value, $2,510; swine, 1,830, value, $1,074; vehicles, 280, value, $2,245; moneys and credits, $1,425; mortgages, $3,735; stocks, $700; furniture, $1,582; libra- ries, $95; property not enumerated, $2,994; total valuation for 1879, $608.320.
POPULATION .- The following are the Precincts into which the County is divided, and the population of each in 1879: Stanton, 1,106; Humbug, 217; Kingsberry, 163.
Total, 1,486-males, 788; females, 698.
STANTON,
The County Seat, is situated on the banks of the Elkhorn River, upon a beautiful elevation commanding a fine view of the sur- rounding country, and is nearly in the center of the County. It was laid out in September, 1870, and now contains a thrifty and intelligent population of 300; and its industries are expanding as the country developes through the influences of immigration.
The industries represented consist of one banking house, three general merchandise stores, one hardware, one drug, one millinery, and one furniture store, three carpenter shops, one harness, two blacksmiths', one carriage and one wagon shop, two hotels, one livery stable, three real estate offices, one weekly newspaper-the Register-three physicians, four attorneys, etc.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The different religious denominations are well represented, although at the present time there are but two Church buildings here-Methodist and German Lutheran. The Baptists, Congrega- tionalists, and Presbyterians also hold services in the two Churches mentioned, and in a public hall built for that purpose.
CLINTON, KINGSBERRY, CANTON, DONAP, ORION, and SCHWEDT, are villages having only a Postoffice, store, etc.
SIOUX COUNTY.
Sioux County was created by an Act of the Legislature, ap- proved February 19, 1877. It is located in the northwest corner of the State, bounded on the north by Dakota Territory, east by unorganized territory, south by Cheyenne County, and west by Wyoming Territory, and contains about. 7,344 square miles.
Sioux County is as yet unorganized and unsurveyed. Its population in 1879 is estimated at 550. A stage road from Sidney, on the Union Pacific Railroad to the Black Hills in Dakota, tra- verses this County from south to north, on the line of which, in this County, situated on White River, is Camp Robinson, garri- soned by United States troops.
THAYER COUNTY.
Thayer County was created in 1856 and organized in the fall of 1871. It is located on the southern border of the State, in the fifth tier of Counties west of the Missouri River, bounded on the north by Fillmore and east by Jefferson County, south by the State of Kansas, and west by Nuckolls County, containing 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The Little Blue River, affording numerous fine mill advantages, flows from west to east through the central portion of the County. Big Sandy Creek, also a good mill stream, enters the County at the northwest corner, flows southeasterly, and joins the Little Blue near the middle of the eastern line of the County. Rose Creek and branches water the southeastern portion of the County, besides which there are Little Sandy, Spring and a
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
dozen smaller creeks tributary to the above mentioned streams There is not a township in the County without running water.
TIMBER .- Along the Blue and tributaries there is a very con- siderable amount of native timber, a large per cent. of it being hardwood. 21,798 forest trees and twenty-two miles of hedge fencing are reported under cultivation.
BUILDING MATERIAL .- Limestone of an excellent quality is extensively quarried in various portions of the County. Potters,' brick and fire clays are abundant.
FRUIT .- 5,996 apple, seventy-two pear, 13,930 peach, 1,690 plum, and 2,494 cherry trees, and 1,641 grape vines are re- turned.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- Ten per cent. of the County is valley, and the remainder mostly rolling prairie with bluff's in occasional places along the river. The beautiful valley of the Blue varies from two to four miles in width in this County, and the valleys of the Little Sandy, Rose and Spring Creeks, from one to three miles. The soil is everywhere rich and mellow.
CROPS .- The area returned as under cultivation in 1879, was 32,285 acres. Winter wheat, 264 acres, 6,126 bushels; spring wheat, 11,124 acres, 146,634 bushels; rye, 2,026 acres, 16,960 bushels; corn, 8,006 acres, 317,432 bushels; barley, 2,740 acres, 76,709 bushels; sorghum, eighteen acres, 854 gallons; tobacco, three and three-fourths acres, 262 pounds; potatoes, 143 acres, 16,572 bushels.
HISTORICAL .- The first permanent settlements in the County were made along the Little Blue River, in 1869. Among the car- liest to take up claims were Isaac Alexander, A. T. Hobbs, Amasa Stevens, and J. Ball, who, however, did not remain long alone- other settlers flocking in so rapidly that in the next two years, the best locations along the Blue and most of its tributaries were taken.
The first County election was held in October, 1871, and re- sulted in the election of the following Officers: Commissioners, W. P. Wilson, J. C. Pluss, and G. D. Proctor; Clerk, Ed. S. Past; Treasurer, James B. Smith; Probate Judge, Newton Clarke; Sher- iff, Tracy E. Ross; Superintendent of Public Instinction, B. F. Young; Surveyor, C. E. Barton; Coroner, James Knox.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The first term of the District Court for Thayer County was held in June, 1873; Judge Gantt presiding.
The Methodist, Christian, United Brethren, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, and Universalist denominations, have organized Societies and hold regular services. At present, there are five Church build- ings in the County.
There are also six flouring mills, several saw-mills, and two chcese factories in operation in the County.
The St. Joe & Denver City Railroad traverses the County from east to weet, following the Valley of the Big Sandy Creek, a distance of 25.55 miles.
Wild lands vary in price from $3 to $7 per acre; improved, from $6 to $25.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- Number of school districts, fifty-two; school houses, forty-six; children of school age-males, 755, females, 710, total, 1,465; whole number of children that attended school during the year, 937; qualified teachers employed-males, thirty-four, females, thirty-five; total wages paid teachers for the year, $8,- 675.33; value of school houses, $23,748; value of sites, $987.75; value of books and apparatus, $2,281.65.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 327,908; average value per acre, $2.10. Value of town lots, $39,182. Money used in merchandise, $51,S21; money invested in manufactures, $11,700; horses 2,076, value $54,928; mules and asses 186, value $6,169; neat cattle 3,733, value $33,182; sheep 3,156, value $4,308; swine 8,921, value $10,984; vehicles S06, value $11,722; moneys and credits, $10,531; mortgages, $8,861; furniture, $4,286; property not enumerated, $29,222; railroad, $110,708.15; total valuation for 1879, $1,074,905.15.
The population of the County in 1874, was 1,781; in 1875, 2,139; in 1876, 2,410; in 1878, 3,391; and in 1879, 4,535.
HEBRON,
The County Seat, is located in the Valley of the Little Blue, near the center of the County, and about seven miles south of the St. Joe & Denver Railroad. It contains a $6,000 Court House, a fine brick school building, costing $8,000, a $20,000 stone flouring mili, a five stone Church, two newspapers-the Journal and Sentinel-
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
a cheese factory, plow factory, wagon and carriage shops, etc., and several well-stocked stores. Large quantities of grain from the southern part of the County and northern Kansas pass through Hebron to the railway stations, the farmers on their return purchas- ing most of their supplies at this point.
ALEXANDRIA, BELVIDERE, and CARLETON, are thriving towns of about 200 inhabitants each, situated on the St. Joe & Denver Railroad. Alexandria has a good weekly paper-the News.
DAVENPORT, SICKLER MILL, DRYDEN, FRIEDENSAU, KIOWA, GAZELLE, and PRAIRIE STAR, are Postoffices in the County.
VALLEY COUNTY.
Valley County was organized in 1871. It is located in the central part of the State, bounded on the north by Wheeler, east by Greeley, south by Sherman, and west by Custer County, con- taining 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The North Loup River flows southeasterly through the northeastern portion of the County, its principal tribu- taries being the Myra, Haskels, Ireland, Weaver, Terrapin, Clear, Davis, Dane, Shepherd, Messenger, Spring, Elm and Hawthorn Creeks. The Middle Loup River and branches water the south- western portion of the County. There are several good mill privileges in the County.
TIMBER .- A limited supply of timber is found on the streams and in the canyons, embracing the cottonwood, ash, elm, cedar and oak varieties. Three hundred and sixty-one acres, or 165,985 forest trees, and two and a half miles of hedging are returned.
FRUIT .- 627 apple, 575 peach, 211 plum, and fifty-four cherry trees are reported under cultivation.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- About thirty per cent. of the County is valley and bottom, fifty per cent. rolling prairie, and the balance broken and bluffy. The Loup Valleys range from three to seven miles in width, and the smaller valleys from one-half to two miles. Through the broken region run deep gulches and canyons in which water and the finest pasturage are usually found.
570
JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
CROPS .- Acres reported in cultivation, 7,350. Winter wheat, twenty-eight acres, 360 bushels; spring wheat, 3,042 acres, 39,568 bushels; rye, 360 acres, 4,214 bushels; corn, 1,123 acres, 28,781 bushels; barley, 281 acres, 7,997 bushels; oats, 877 acres, 49,309 bushels; sorghum, eleven and three-fourth acres, 1,348 gallons; potatoes, seventy-six and a half acres, 9,963 bushels.
LANDS .- There is a small amount of good Government land in this County. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company owns 120,000 acres here, ranging in price from $1 to $5 per acre.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .-- Number of districts, nineteen; school houses, fourteen; children of school age, males, 251, females, 225, total, 476; qualified teachers employed, males, six ; females, ten ; total wages paid teachers for the year, $1,341; value of school houses, $5,126.35; value of sites, $115.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 154,980; average value per acre, $1.66; value of town lots, $3,405; money invested in merchandise, $4,157; money used in manufactures, $585; horses, 681, value, $19,338; mules, sixty-eight, value, $2,503; neat cattle, 1,909, value, $20,568; sheep, fifty-four, value, $52; swine, 522, value, $509; vehicles, 320, value, $4,529; moneys and credits, $1,562; mortgages, $2,222; furniture, $2,959; property not enu- merated, $6,814; total valuation for 1879, $326,768.
POPULATION .- The County is divided into eight voting Pre- cincts, the following being the population of each in 1879: First, 268; Second, 261; Third, 187; Fourth, 107; Fifth, ninety-two; Sixth, 125; Seventh, 292; Eighth, 208; total, 1,540,-males, 838, females, 702.
ORD,
The County Seat, is located on the North Loup near the geo- graphical center of the County, and has a population of 150. It contains a hotel, good school house, the County offices, several stores, a grist mill, blacksmith shop, and a lively weekly paper- the Journal. A Howe truss bridge spans the river here.
NORTH LOUP
Is a small village situated on the Loup, ten miles south of the County Seat, at the mouth of Myra Creek. It contains a hotel,
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
store, blacksmith shop, and a good school house. A bridge spans the river at this point also.
VINTON, ARCADIA, SPRINGDALE, ADAIR, CALAMUS and IDA, are the names of Postoffices in the County.
WAYNE COUNTY.
Wayne County was organized in the fall of 1870, by procla- mation of Governor David Butler. It is located in the north- eastern part of the State, in the second tier of Counties west of the Missouri River, bounded on the north by Cedar and Dixon Coun- ties, east by Dixon County and Omaha Indian Reservation, south by Cuming and Stanton, and west by Madison County, containing 448 square miles, or 286,720 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The central and northern portions of the County are finely watered by Logan Creek and its numerous branches, which flow in a general easterly direction and furnish several fine mill privileges. The southern portion of the County is watered by Plum, Humbug, Spring and other tributaries of the Elkhorn River.
Well water is found at a depth of twenty to sixty feet.
TIMBER .- Along the Logan and branches there is a limited supply of native timber. 3252 acres, or 126,637 forest trees, and seven and three-fourth miles of hedging have been planted.
FRUIT .- 657 apple, eleven pear, 325 peach, 663 plum, 243 cherry trees, and thirty-two grape vines are reported.
CROPS .-- About ten per cent. of the County is valley, ten per cent. broken, and the balance gently rolling prairie. The Logan has a beautiful and fertile valley, with bottoms frequently four miles wide. Several of its tributaries have fine valleys ranging from one to two miles in width. In the vicinity of the sources of the several creeks, the land is considerably broken by deep ravines and gulches, in which stock find excellent shelter from the storms of winter. The soil is well adapted to the growth of the different cereals.
CROPS .- Acres in cultivation, reported for 1879, 5,1141; spring wheat, 1,344 acres, 16,420 bushels; rye 2652 acres, 4,132 bushels;
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
corn 1,589 acres, 52,898 bushels; barley, 117 acres, 2,161 bushels; sorghum 22 acres, 266 gallons; potatoes 33} acres, 3,435 bushels; tobacco ยง acre, 800 pounds.
HISTORICAL .- The pioneer settler of the County was Mr. B. F. Whitten. His honse, completed in April, 1869, was the first erected in the County. A month later, a small colony from Illi- nois located homesteads in the eastern part of the County, mostly along Coon Creek. In the spring of 1870, a colony of Germans located on Spring Branch, in the southwestern part of the County.
The first election for County Officers was held on the 5th of September, 1870, at the house of George Scott, on Coon Creek, and resulted as follows: Commissioners, W. E. Durin, M. T. Sperry, and Isaac Miner; Clerk, C. E. Hunter; Treasurer, B. F. Whitten; Sheriff, A. D. Allen; Probate Judge, A. A. Fletcher; Surveyor, Wm. G. Vroman; Superintendent of Public Instruction, R. B. Crawford; Coroner, Nathan Allen.
Mr. B. F. Whitten failing to qualify for Treasurer, George Scott was appointed to fill the vacancy.
The first Postoffice in the County was established September 8, 1870, near the Logan bridge, and was called Taffe ; Wm. Agler, postmaster. The second Postoffice was established at Laporte, Feb. 21, 1871; C. E. Hunter, postmaster.
The first child born in the County was a son to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phillips, near Logan Bridge, on June 1st, 1869.
The first death was that of a son of William Vroman, August 6th, 1870.
The first marriage occurred on the 14th day of May, 1871, between M. T. Sperry and Miss Sarah Eayrs.
The first sermon was preached by Mrs. M. B. Richardson, at the residence of Alexander Scott, in December, 1870.
The first practicing physician in the County was Dr. R. B. Crawford, who located June 1, 1869.
On the 4th of July, 1871, a grand celebration was held near LaPorte.
The first store was opened in June, 1872, by C. E. Hunter and Solon Bevins, near LaPorte. The first school district was organ- ized on February 11, 1871; first school teacher, Miss Jane Olin. The first school house was erected in October, 1871. The first
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
newspaper established in the County, was the Wayne County Re- view, by C. E. Hunter, August 5, 1876.
On the 24th of February, 1874, at a special election, County bonds to the amount of $15,000 were voted for the erection of a brick Court House at Laporte, forty by fifty feet in size. The building was completed by Sawyers & Leach, December 8, 1874, and cost $11,983.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The number of districts is eleven; school houses, eight; children of school age, 169; qualified teachers em- ployed-males, seven, females, six; total wages paid teachers for the year, $1,674; total value of school property,$6,334.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 239,267; average value per acre, $1.92; value of town lots, $2,420; money invested in merchandise, $875; money used in manufactures, $100; horses, 288, value, $6,90S; mules, ten, value, $275; neat cattle, 675, value, $5,649; sheep, 1,439, value, $1,314; swine, 878, value, $515.40; vehicles, ninety-two, value, $975; moncys and credits, $310; stock, $38.55; furniture, $201; property not enumerated, $2,580.50; total valuation for 1879, $482,059.88.
LANDS .- There are about 5,000 acres of Govenment land in this County. The B. & M. Company owns about 20,000 acres here, for which they ask from $1.25 to $6 per acre. Improved lands vary from $4 to $15 per acre.
POPULATION .- There are three Precincts in the County, the population of each in 1879 being as follows: La Porte, 228; Spring Branch, 119, and Leslie, 134; total, 481,-males, 269, females, 212.
LA PORTE,
The County Seat, is situated in the middle-eastern part of the County, and was laid out on the 22nd of May, 1874, by Mr. Solon Bevins. It contains a fine Court House, good school house, hotel, two general stores, blacksmith shop, grain warehouses, lawyers,' doctors' and real estate offices, and a weekly paper-the Review. Divine services are held every Sabbath in the school house.
LESLIE
Is the name of a Postoffice four miles southeast of the County Seat.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
A fine flouring mill is now being erected on Logan Creek. It is 26x60 and three stories high, and will contain a four and a half foot Turbine wheel and four run of burrs.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Washington County was organized by an Act of the first Territorial Legislature, approved February 22, 1855. It is located on the middle-eastern border of the State, bounded on the north by Burt County, east by the Missouri River, south by Douglas County, and west by Dodge County and the Elkhorn River, con- taining about 400 square miles, or 256,000 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The County is finely watered by the Mis- souri and Elkhorn Rivers and tributaries. The Missouri washes the entire eastern border, and the Elkhorn the southwestern border for a distance of about two townships. Bell Creek, a beautiful tributary of the Elkhorn, flows from north to south through the western portion of the County. Among the smaller streams are Fish, Long, New York, Stewart, North, South, Turkey, Deer, Moore, Little Bell, Brown, Walnut, and Papillion Creeks. Every township in the County has running water.
TIMBER .- There is an abundance of timber for fuel in this County. On the Missouri bottoms and along several of the streams there is a fine native growth. The amount of timber planted is 1,840% acres; hedging, twenty-four and a half miles.
FRUIT .- 59,629 apple, 1819 pear, 3,287 peach, 3,277 plum, 9,960 cherry trees, and 19,013 grape vines are reported under culti- vation.
TOPOGRAPHY .- Thirty per cent. of the County is valley and bottom, sixty per cent. rolling prairie, and ten per cent. broken and bluffy. The bottoms of the Missouri at this point are very wide, ranging from three to seven miles. The bottoms of the Elk- horn, on the southwestern border of the County, vary from three to six miles in width, while the beautiful valley of Bell Creek, extending through the County from north to south, is from one to three miles wide, with fine level table lands adjoining. Every- where in the County the soil is of an excellent character.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
CROPS .- The area in cultivation, reported for 1879, was 77,657 acres. Winter wheat, forty-two acres, 893 bushels; spring wheat, 23,057 acres, 259,241 bushels; rye, 1,857 acres, 28,002 bushels; corn, 34,084 acres, 1,308,486 bushels; barley, 1,597 acres, 17,856 bushels; oats, 7,772 acres, 36,662 bushels; buckwheat, sixty-six acres, 585 bushels; sorghum, 106 acres, 10,357 gallons; flax, 211 acres, 1,772 bushels; broom corn, 12 acres, nine tons; onions, five acres, 910 bushels; potatoes, 543} acres, 39,706 bushels.
HISTORICAL .- The first permanent settlement was made in the southeastern part of the County, upon the beautiful plateau upon which old Fort Calhoun stood. The buildings of the old Fort consisted of about sixty small brick structures, arranged in four lines inclosing about ten acres of ground. Outside of this inclo- sure, to the north, were a number of other buildings supposed to have been used by officers and Indian traders. The brickyard was southeast of the Fort, at the foot of the bluff. Some eighty rods to the west was a spring, where was erected a spring-house for dairy purposes, and still further to the north was a large cultivated field where grain and vegetables were raised to supply the fort. The stone magazine building was still standing in 1854. This site was selected as a claim early in the summer of 1854, by John Goss, Sr., who, however, soon after donated it, with the exception of two shares, to a Town Company consisting of Casady & Test, Addison Cochran, and H. C. Purple, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Mark W. Izard, A. J. Poppleton, and Hadley D. Johnson, of Omaha.
This Company built a cabin on the site of the old Fort, near the magazine; and in March, 1855, the town was surveyed and platted by E. H. Clark.
Several families came to the new town immediately after it was located, and a number of others settled on claims near by.
By Act of the Legislature, approved February 22, 1855, Fort Calhoun was made the County Seat; and at the same time the County was fully organized by the appointment of Stephen Cass, Probate Judge; George W. Newell, Recorder; and Thomas J. Allen, Sheriff.
During the spring of 1855, an immense immigration came into the County, and many settled at Fort Calhoun.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The first District Court in the County was opened here in June of this year, in the claim cabin of the Town Company. It was presided over by Hon. Fenner Ferguson, with Major J. W. Paddock, as Clerk; Gen. E. Estabrook, U. S. Prosecuting Attor- ney; and Thomas J. Allen, Sheriff. The attorneys present were A. J. Poppleton, E. H. Clark, Jonas Seeley, and J. McNeal Latham. The first case tried was that of Elias Wilcox vs. James M. Taggart for claim-jumping; verdict for the defendants.
About the 10th of August, the Calhoun town site was jumped by Charles D. Davis, who moved into the town house, where he and his friends fortified themselves. The Town Company and cit- izens undertook to put him off, which resulted in the killing of Mr. Goss, the shooting of Mr. Purple through the shoulder, and the wounding of Mr. Thompson in the thigh-all being of the Town. party. Thus matters rested until November, when Davis made sale, or pretended sale, of his interests; and a new Town Company was formed, taking in several new members, including the widow. of Mr. Goss.
During the summer of 1855, E. H. Clark built a hotel for the Town Company, which was opened to the public the following spring, by Col. Geo. Stevens.
A court house was built in 1856, in which Hon. E. Wakely presided as judge, with Hon. Geo. M. Doane, prosecuting attorney, Roger T. Beal, clerk, and Orrin Rhodes, sheriff.
During this summer, Rev. Collins, a Methodist minister, resid- ing at Omaha, preached in the court house once a month.
In 1857, the town was entered at the land office by Hon. Elam. Clark, Mayor.
In 1858, the Fort Calhoun flouring mills were erected by Z. Vanier & Brother, and in 1861, they passed into the hands of Hon. Elam Clark & Co., the present proprietors. These mills soon be- came widely celebrated, and during the days of freighting across the plains they manufactured thousands of sacks of flour for ship- ment to Colorado and Utah. Many of the early settlers came a distance of seventy-five to one hundred miles to these mills.
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