USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 46
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FORT CALHOUN,
On the O. & N. road, has about 400 inhabitants, several stores, two Churches, a good school house, etc. The old Fort Calhoun steam
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
flouring mills, which gained such wide notoriety in the early days of the Territory, are still running to their full capacity.
FONTENELLE,
Situated in the middle western portion of the County, on a fine piece of table land commanding a splendid view of the Elkhorn and Platte Valleys, was settled in the summer of 1854, by a com- pany from Quincy, Illinois, called the "Nebraska Colonization Company," of which Jonathan Smith was President, and Rev. W. W. Keep, Secretary, and including as members, J. W. Richardson, J. C. Barnard, O. C. Barnard, H. Metz, John Evans, J. Armor, James, A. Bell, and others.
Before the close of the year many additional settlers had flocked to the town and surrounding country. The first stock of goods at Fontenelle was opened early in 1855, by Wm. H. Davis, who also kept the first hotel in a double log house, called the " Fon- tenelle House."
The first child born in the town was Mattie Francis, daughter of Samuel Francis, October 2, 1855. A few hours later, on the same night, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Davis, and named Fontenelle. In May, 1856, Rev. Reuben Gaylord, organized a Congregational Church, with abont twenty-five mem- bers, and Rev. Thomas Waller as pastor. A Sabbath School was organized at the same time. The new Church was presented with a handsome communion service by the First Congregational Church of Quincy, Illinois. In 1856 a college was erected under the auspices of the Congregationalist Church, and was a flourishing institution for a number of years, Professor Burt being the first teacher. The first saw mill was brought in by Thos. Gibson in 1856, and run by Samuel and Silas Francis. The first marriage was that of Henry Whitter to Miss Emily Strickland, in the fall of 1856. Miss Strickland taught the first school the winter previous. On the evening of the 15th of July, 1855, a Mr. and Mrs. Porter, and a young man named Demarec, came up from Bell Creek, where they had been breaking prairie, and encamped on Sam Francis' lake, a mile north of Fontenelle, intending to go up into the settlement on Sunday morning. As they were about to leave camp on Sunday, a party of Indians rode 37
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OHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
out of the willows and approached Porter's wagon. One of them snatched Demaree's hat off his head and was riding away with it, when the owner called to him to stop, or he would shoot him, pick- ing up his rifle as he spoke. The Indian turned, saw this demon- stration on the part of Demaree, called out "Pawnee!" and shot him instantly, the ball passing through Porter also, killing both men. The Indians then rode off, leaving Mrs. Porter alone with the dead. This double murder caused the greatest excitement in Fontenelle, all the settlers in the neighborhood flocking thither for safety, and it was many months before they considered themselves safe from assault and massacre by the Indians.
Fontenel:e is now a village of some 150 inhabitants. It con- tains a Church, school house, blacksmith and wagon shop, and a large general merchandise store. The adjoining country is well settled and fertile.
DE SOTA,
On the Missouri River, was laid out in the fall of 1854, by Dr. John Glover, Gen. J. B. Robinson, Potter C. Sullivan, E. P. Stout, Wm. Clancy and others. It was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature, in March, 1855. During the summer of 1855, thirty frame and log houses were built in the town. Dr. A. Phinney opened the first store, and Chas. Seltz the second, P. C. Sullivan was the first postmaster. Judge Jesse T. Davis located there in the fall of 1855. The first child born in DeSota, and probably the first in the County, was John Critz, in June, 1855. The first marriage was that of Thomas M. Carter to Miss Sullivan. In 1856 the Ken- nard Brothers established themselves in the mercantile business here, and the Bank of DeSota entered upon a career of brilliant, but short lived prosperity, with Samuel Hall as president, and Geo. E. Scott, cashier. In the same year the Waubeek Bank was estab- lished, and the following spring the Corn Exchange Bank opened for business.
Rev. Jacob Adriance; of the Methodist Church, was the first regular minister. In 1857, the town had fifteen or twenty business houses, and between six and seven hundred inhabitants, and pros- perity was the order of the day, until the Pike's Peak excitement broke out in 1859, when it was almost entirely deserted.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
DeSota which at one time boasted several hundred inhabitants, is now a mere village of half a dozen houses.
HAYES, KENNARD, MILLS, WASHINGTON, AMHERST, MEADS, NERO and ADVANCE, are Postoffices in the County.
CUMING CITY,
Was "claimed" in September, 1854, by P. G. Cooper, and two others, and in the spring of 1855, it was laid out as a city, and named in honor of the Acting Governor, T. B. Cuming. For a while it grew very rapidly, but the financial crash of 1857, gave it a check from which it never recovered, and it was soon afterwards abandoned entirely. Among the first settlers were Jacob Pate, Lorenzo Pate, J. Zimmerman, J. Gall, E. Pilcher, P. G. Cooper, J. S. Stewart, L. M. Kline, T. C. Hungate, and O. W. Thomas. In 1857, it had fifty-three dwellings, several business houses, and a weekly newspaper.
MURDERS .- In April, 1856, one Isaiah Peterson jumped the claim of a Mr. Coon, near Ft. Calhoun, and built a house upon it in an out-of-the-way place. Mr. Coon went to see him, and was there found dead soon afterward, with a bullet through his heart.
In 185S, a man named Blackwood, living near DeSota, was arrested for entting a man named Lamb, with an axe. He broke jail and returned to his house, where he barricaded himself, and Wm. Frazier, Deputy Sheriff, in endeavoring to arrest him, shot him dead. Frazier was tried and acquitted.
In 1859, Henry Seevers, while under the influence of liquor, stabbed a man named Povie. in a· saloon at DeSota, killing him. Seevers was arrested, but the Grand Jury failing to find an indiet- ment against him, he was released.
In 1861, Hiram Frazier, a boy thirteen years old, shot a Ger- man who had said the boy stole a whip, the man dying within a few hours from the effects of the wound. The boy was sentenced to be hanged, but the Governor commuted the sentence to im- prisonment for life. He was subsequently pardoned.
In the winter of 1869-70, one McAuley, a clerk at the Quimby House, at Blair, was killed by John Jones, head cook of the hotel. McAuley was running away from Jones, when the latter threw a butcher's cleaver at him, which severed the main artery of the arm,
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
causing him to bleed to death in a few minutes. Jones was tried in June, 1870, when the Jury disagreed, standing eleven to one. At the second trial he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and was pardoned at the end of two years.
On the Sth of February, 1875, Mrs. Phillip Kleinburg, living on the Brainard farm, a mile north of Fontenelle, was brutally murdered by having her throat cut, while her husband was absent, hauling wheat. Willard Randall, a young man, nineteen years of age, who occupied a house alone about a half mile distant, was arrested on suspicion of being the murderer. He was tried at Blair, in November, 1875, and the jury disagreeing, a change of venue to Douglas County was obtained. At the second trial, in March, 1876, a verdict of murder in the second degree was returned by the jury, and the prisoner was sentenced to ten years' imprison- ment.
In May, 1876, Henry Koing, a German, was killed by Minor Milton. It was the result of a feud which existed between Milton and two Swedes, named respectively, John Christian, and Jans Jensen, on the one side, and Henry and Edward Koing, brothers, on the other. The parties all lived in the same neighborhood, some ten miles south of Blair. On the day of the killing, the Koing brothers were overtaken on their return home from Blair, by Milton and the two Swedes, who immediately commenced an assault. The Koings jumped out of their wagon and started to run into a farm house. Henry was pursned by Milton, who struck him over the head with a heavy club, breaking his skull, and knock - ing him senseless to the ground. Edward Koing was also knocked down by either Milton or Christian, while Jensen held the team. Henry Koing died from the effects of his injuries, but his brother re- covered. Milton was found guilty of murder in the first degree at the special term of court held by Judge Savage, in the latter part of May, and was sentenced to be hanged, September 22, 1876. Chris- tian was tried and acquitted, and a nolle was entered by the State in the case of Jensen. The case of Milton was appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted him a new trial. At the second trial he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The number of school districts in the County is forty-five; school houses, forty-six; number of children
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
of school age; males, 1,481, females, 1,402, total, 2,883; qualified teachers employed, males, twenty-three, females, fifty-six; value of school houses, $43,470; value of sites, $2,935; value of books and apparatus, $2,355.
RAILROADS .- The Omaha & Northern Nebraska Railroad runs through the County from south to north, passing up the Missouri Valley. Length of road in the County, 24.47 miles.
The Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, connecting with the Union Pacific at Fremont, in Dodge County, runs through the central portion of this County, from east to west, a distance of 19.60 miles.
LANDS .- Improved lands range in price from $7 to $35 per acre. The Union Pacific R. R. Company owns 5,000 acres in this County, the price ranging from $5 to $10 per acre.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Land, 231,834 acres, average value per acre, $3.66; value of town lots, $136,271; money used in mer- chandise, $27,960; money used in manufactures, $3,690; number of horses, 3,666, value $85,154; mules and asses, 469, value $14,- 317; neat cattle, 10,656, value, $84,363; sheep, 1,313, value $1,323; swine, 18,408, value, $1,8153; carriages and wagons, 1,311, value, $14,710; moneys and credits, $16,209; mortgages, $11,799; furni- ture, $26,045; libraries, $1,050; other personalty, $26,976; railroad property, $167,902.89; telegraph property, $855; total valuation for 1879, $1,481,733.89.
POPULATION .- The population of the County in 1855 was 207; in 1860, 1,249; in 1870, 4,452; in 1875, 6,114; in 1878, 7,116; and in 1879, 8,361.
BLAIR.
Thirty miles to the north of Omaha, about three miles west of the Missouri River, on a beautiful plateau in the Missouri Val- ley, at the junction of the Omaha & Northwestern and Sioux City and Pacific Railways, is situated the thriving little town of Blair -the County Seat-containing a population of 1.589. The town was surveyed and laid out in 1869, and on the 10th of March in that year, town lots to the amount of over $100,000 were disposed of at anetion.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
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BLAIR HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Few towns in the State have developed more rapidly, or pre- sent a more inviting appearance, or offer larger inducements to business industries, than this. Possessing ample railroad advan- tages, and surrounded by a well-cultivated, rich farming country,
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Blair offers inducements to commercial and manufacturing indus- tries that may be looked for in vain in many other sections of the West. The buildings, including both business houses and resi- dences, are as a rule commodious, substantial, and attractive. The streets are wide, and ontside of the immediate business center, shade trees have been planted to a large extent, while the public squares are supplied with fine and well-developed groves of maple, cotton- wood, and other favorite varieties. To the south and southwest, the city is flanked by a crescent-shaped range of hills, all under a high state of cultivation, and from which a most charming view of the town is obtained. Having direet rail communication with all the prominent market centers at the East and South, it is an important shipping point for grain, live stock, and other farm products.
The first business house established there, was that of Her- man Bros., dry goods, and the next, that of Clark & Donavan, dealers in general merchandise. In 1879, there were six stores that handled dry goods and groceries, three hardware, three drug, two that handled groceries exclusively, three agricultural imple- ment depots, two millinery stores, one boot and shoe store, two confectionery stores, two meat markets, four blacksmith shops, four livery stables, one foundry, two elevators, one large flouring mill (steam), two lumber yards, three hotels, and two excellent weekly papers-Pilot and Times.
Religious and educational interests are also well represented, there being several fine Churches, a number of common school buildings, and one very attractive high school structure that was erected in 1872, at a cost of $15,000. Except the jail, which is a fine structure, the County buildings are rather modest in their ap- pearance. The town also has one bank, several loan agents, and a full complement of lawyers, doctors, and insurance agents. In brief, Blair is a pleasant, thriving city, and its geographical posi- tion insures for it a prosperous future.
BELL CREEK
Is a flourishing town of 550 inhabitants, situated on the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad, and near the mouth of Bell Creek, in the southeastern part of the County. It was laid out in 1869.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The first improvements on the town site were made by the railroad Company, by the erection of a fine depot and store building, which were soon followed by several dwellings, a lumber yard, by Samuel Francis, a grain warehouse, by L. H. Jones, and a general mer- chandise store, by A. C. Mansfield. At present all branches of business are well represented. A good water-power grist mill is located near the town. In the fall of 1876, a fine school house
BOND. COLOMAIIA
BELL CREEK SCHOOL BUILDING, WASHINGTON COUNTY.
was erected at a cost of $5,000, and in the following year a neat Methodist Episcopal Church was erected. The surrounding coun- try is most beautiful and fertile.
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
HERMAN,
Located on the Omaha and Northwestern Railway, in the northern part of the County, was laid out in 1870. It contains about 150 inhabitants, has two grain elevators, and transacts a large grain and stock business, being the principal shipping station between Blair and Tekamah.
WEBSTER COUNTY.
Webster County was organized in the spring of 1871. It is located on the southern border of the State, in the seventh tier of Counties west of the Missouri River, and is bounded on the north by Adams and east by Nuckolls County, south by the State of Kansas, and west by Franklin County, containing 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres.
WATER COURSES .- The Republican River flows from west to east entirely through the southern portion of the County, its prin- cipal tributaries on the north being Beaver, Guide Rock, Willow, Elm, Crooked, Indian and Farmer Creeks; on the south, Runakin, Hake, Cedar, Penny, State and Walnut Creeks. The northern townships of the County are watered by branches of the Little Blue River. Several of the creeks are fine mill streams.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- Fifteen per cent. of the County is valley, five per cent. broken and bluffy, and the balance rolling prairie. The prairies have a gradual rise west by north of about eight feet to the mile, the eastern border of the County being about 1,800 feet and the western border 1,990 feet above the sea level. The fertile valley of the Republican is from two to six miles wide. South of the river the land rises into low hills, and sinks into little valleys, each with its stream. The buffalo grass grows on the up- lands and the blue stem in the valleys. The surface soil is from one-and-a-half to three feet in depth. Corn and wheat and all the small grains grow to perfection.
CROPS .- The returns for 1879 show the number of acres under cultivation to be 52,277. Winter wheat, 2053 acres, 2,128 bushels; spring wheat, 17,680 acres, 157,934 bushels; rye, 513} acres, 4,805
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OHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
bushels; corn, 11,843 acres, 377,122 bushels; barley, 1,370 acres, 18,920 bushels; oats, 1,870 acres, 15,526 bushels; buckwheat, four acres, fifty-seven bushels; sorghum, 79g acres, 5,983 gallons; flax, twelve acres, sixty-eight and a half bushels; broom corn, 886 acres, 173 1-6 tons; potatoes, 281 acres, 32,525 bushels; tobacco, 22 acres, 158 pounds.
TIMBER .- Ash, elm, oak, walnut, box elder, cottonwood, cedar, and other varieties of natural timber are found along the streams. 1,519¿ acres, or 860,609 forest trees and ten miles of hedging are returned.
FRUIT .- 8,369 apple, 112 pear, 10,083 peach, 683 plum, and 1,034 cherry trees have been planted up to 1879. Many of the orchards are in bearing. Wild fruits are abundant.
LIME STONE of a fair quality is found in various parts of the County.
HISTORICAL .-- The first settlements within the present limits of Webster County were made in the fall of 1870, by a small colony under the leadership of Capt. Silas Garber, (ex-Governor of Ne- braska.) The party at once erected a stockade on the banks of Clear Creek, near its confluence with the Republican, for their protection against roving bands of hostile Indians. It was named the Guide Rock Stockade, from a bold rock bluff on the river, which had long been a land mark for hunters and trappers. In this stockade the colonists spent the winter in safety, and some of them located permanently in its vicinity.
In the spring of 1871, Captain Garber, with a part of the colonists from the stockade, and a few others who had arrived in the meantime, ascended the Republican till they came to Crooked Creek, near the mouth of which they selected a townsite, which was surveyed by Capt. Garber, and the name of Red Cloud given to it, after the illustrious Sioux Chief from whom they daily ex- pected a visit.
In April, this year, the County was formally organized, a full board of officers elected, and the seat of justice located at Red Cloud.
During the summer the mail was brought from Hebron by private carrier whom the settlers paid five dollars per trip; and in the fall the government established offices at Guide Rock and Red
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Cloud, Andrew Talbut being the first postmaster at the former, and Win. E. Jackson at the latter place.
RAILROADS .- The Republican Valley Railroad runs south through the center of the County to Red Cloud, on the Republican River, and thence along the valley of the river, west through the County. Other lines also have been surveyed through the County.
LANDS .- Improved lands are held at from five to twenty dol- lars per acre. The B. & M. Railroad Company own about 10,000 acres here, the price ranging from two to five dollars per acre.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The number of districts is seventy ; school, houses, forty-eight; children of school age-males, 1,207, females, 1,011, total, 2,218; whole number of children that attended school during the year, 1,523; qualitied teachers employed-males, thirty- four, females, forty-two; wages paid teachers for the year-males, $1,717.05, females, $1,304.00; total, $3,021.05; value of school houses, $11,857; value of sites, $902.50; value of books $95.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 198,895; average value per acre, $1.51; value of town lots, $42,027; money invested in merchandise, $56,725; money used in manufactures, $6,581; horses, 2,681, value $61,840; mules 413, value $11,660; neat cattle 5,032, value $36,166; sheep 3,922, value $2,732; swine 12,450, value $9,174.85; vehicles 1,074, value $13,683; moneys and credits, $12,968.50; mortgages, $16,807; furniture, $15,286.35; libraries, $712; property not enumerated, $37,658.95; railroads, $123,302.61; total valuation for 1879, $774,669.09.
POPULATION .- The following are the Precincts and population of each in 1879: Oak Creek, 403; Glenwood, 335; Stillwater, 451; Batin, 249; Harmony, 449; Walnut Creek, 333; Elm Creek, 331; Inavale, 430; Guide Rock, 721; Pleasant Hill, 287; Potsdam, 345; Red Cloud, 1,613. Total, 5,947-males, 3,233, females, 2,714.
RED CLOUD,
The County Seat, is situated on Crooked Creek, near the Republi- can River, in the south-central part of the County. It was located in April, 1871, and at present contains 900 inhabitants. The Re- publican River is here spanned by a fine bridge. Four miles east, on Elm Creek, there is a good water-power flouring mill, and an-
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
other is located south of the town, on the Republican, to which a saw mill is attached, The Republican Valley Railroad was com- pleted to Red Cloud during 1879, and has made it a consider- able trade center, not only for this County, but for the northern; Counties of Kansas also. Two newspapers are published here- the Chief and Argus; the mercantile interests are well represented, and the school and Church privileges excellent. -
GUIDE ROCK
Is an old village situated on the north side of the Republican, in the southeastern part of the County. It contains about 200 inhab- itants, has three or four large general merchandise stores, and enjoys a fine trade from a wide scope of country.
INAVALE, WHEATLAND, WELLS, CATHERTON, CLOVERTON, BATIN, THOMASVILLE, STILLWATER, ECKLEY, NEZUNDA and SCOTT are Post- offices in the County.
WHEELER COUNTY.
Wheeler County was created by an Act of the Legislature, approved February 17, 1877, and is as yet unorganized. It is located in the north-central part of the State, bounded on the north by unorganized territory, east by Antelope and Boone Counties, south by Greeley and Valley Counties, and west by unorganized territory, containing 1,152 square miles, or 737,280 acres.
Cedar Creek flows southeasterly through the central portion of the County. Beaver Creek, and branches of the Elkhorn River, water the northeastern portions, and the North Loup and branches, the southwestern portions of the County. No report of schools or crops.
The estimated population of the County in 1879 was 700.
YORK COUNTY.
York County was organized early in the spring of 1870. It is located in the southeastern part of the State, in the fourth tier of Counties west of the Missouri River, and is bounded on the north by Polk, east by Seward, south by Fillmore, and west by
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
Hamilton County, containing 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres, at an average elevation of 1,600 feet above the sea level.
WATER COURSES .- The County is finely watered by the West Blue River, Beaver, and Lincoln Creeks, all of which flow from west to east through the County, and are fine mill streams. Three flouring mills are located upon the West Blue, one on the Beaver, and one on Lincoln Creek, with many excellent sites remaining unimproved. Besides the above streams there are numerous creeks and rivulets in the County. Well water is obtainable anywhere at a depth varying from twenty to sixty feet.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- Ten per cent. of the County is valley, and the balance mostly undulating prairie. There is scarcely any land too rough for tillage. The table lands of the County are fine, and drained by gentle draws or ravines. The larger streams have wide, fertile valleys through their entire length. The soil is a black vegetable mould, everywhere deep, rich and productive.
CROPS .- The area in cultivation, reported for 1879, was 103,- 208 acres. Winter wheat, 152 acres, 2,428 bushels; spring wheat, 60,025 acres, 708,599 bushels; rye, 2,995 acres, 46,970 bushels; corn, 26,535 acres, 739,516 bushels; barley, 5,153 acres, 132,931 bushels; oats, 5,323 acres, 176,482 bushels; sorghum, seventeen acres, 938 gallons; flax, 311 acres, 2,953 bushels; broom corn, forty acres, eight tons; potatoes, forty-two acres, 5,612 bushels.
TIMBER .- One thousand nine hundred and fourteen acres of forest trees have been planted in the County, and the groves are now sufficiently grown to furnish fuel. There is a light growth of natural timber along the streams.
FRUIT .-- 13,692 apple, 402 pear, 8,720 peach, 1,642, plum, 3,180 cherry trees, and 3,068 acres of grape vines are reported in a thrifty condition.
BUILDING STONE in fair supply.
HISTORICAL .- Among the pioneers of the County, some of whom located homesteads as early as in 1863, are Elias Gilmore, John H. Parker, James H. Stewart, and Edward Bates. These were followed by others in such rapid succession that anything like a correct list could not well be given.
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JOIINSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
The first election for County officers was held on the 26th day of Aril, 1870, and resulted as follows: Commissioners, S. V. Moore, David Bussard, and L. F. Wyman; Clerk, Edward Bates; Treasurer, J. W. Frost; Sheriff, Geo. Flock; Probate Judge, D. T. Moore; Superintendent Public Instruction, W. H. Armstrong; Coroner, Randolph Fairbanks; Surveyor, Frank Manning.
At this election York was selected as the County Seat.
CHURCHES .- There are at present sixteen Church buildings in the County, and in the Precincts where Churches have not yet been erected, religious services are regularly held in the school houses.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- The number of districts is eighty-four; school houses, sixty-nine; children of school age, males, 1,702, females, 1,583, total, 3,285; whole number that attended school during the year, 2,358; qualified teachers employed, males, forty- seven, females, seventy-five; wages paid teachers for the year, males, $4,283.50, females, $6,618, total, $10,901.50; value of school houses, $21,495.72; value of sites, $840; value of books and appar- atus, $994.50.
TAXABLE PROPERTY .- Acres of land, 319,991; average value per acre, $2.30. Value of town lots, $86,416. Money invested in merchandise, 39,530; money used in manufactures, $2,420; horses, 4,755, value $146,994; mules and asses, 434, value $17,449; neat cattle, 5,647, value $44,167; sleep 1,383, value $1,151; swine 17,- 262, value $10,118; vehicles 2,389, valne $20,559; moneys and credits, $8,978; mortgages, $13,078; stocks, etc., $18,220; furniture, $21,400; libraries, 1,257; property not enumerated, $55,955; rail- roads, $52,278.07; telegraph, $562.95; total valuation for 1879, $1,278,953.02.
RAILROADS .- The Nebraska Railway runs from east to west through the central portion of the County, a distance of twenty- four miles.
LANDS .- Improved lands are held at from $6 to $25 per acre, according to location. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company owns 30,000 acres here, for which from $4 to $10 per acre is asked.
POPULATION .- The County is divided into nine voting Pre- cincts, the population of each in 1879, being as follows: Stewart,
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JOHNSON'S HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
885; Houston, 737; North Blue, 776; Baker, 905; Beaver Creek, 952; York, 1,879; West Blue, 1,035; Woodruff, 930; Henderson, 1,070.
Total, 9,112,-males, 4,944, females, 4,168.
YORK,
The County Seat, is handsomely laid out on a well-drained and gently sloping stretch of land on the north bank of Beaver Creek, and at the geographical center of the County. The Nebraska Railway was completed to this point in the fall of 1877, since which time thepopulation and business of the town have increased more than 100 per cent., it having at present 1,200 inhabitants. It contains three school houses, four Churches, two newspapers- the Tribune and Republican, four dry goods, four grocery, three hardware, four drug, five agricultural implement, three furniture, two harness, two boot and shoe, two clothing and six millinery stores, five hotels, two bakeries, three meat markets, five livery stables, five blacksmith and two wagon shops, one foundry, two lumber yards, one flouring mill, four grain elevators, etc.
WACO
Is a promising new town of 250 inhabitants, located on the Ne- braska Railway, six miles east of the County Seat. It contains a grain elevator, several stores and other business establishments.
ARBORVILLE
Is a flourishing village of about 100 inhabitants, situated on the North Fork of the Blue, in the northwestern part of the County.
PLAINFIELD, WESTFIELD, BLUE VALLEY, MCFADDEN, INDIAN CREEK, SEELEY, DANA, LONG HOPE, PALO, THAYER, CRESWELL and EUREKA, are Postoffices in the County.
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