USA > Nebraska > Seward County > History of Seward County, Nebraska, and reminiscenses of territorial history > Part 10
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an attache of said county and that he probably came nearest having proper jurisdiction than any other available person. The next serious question was where to get a coroner's jury. Mr. Gale thought that enough men could be found in the Morgan settlement, so a venue was hastily written with a pencil on a scrap paper taken from a memorandum. Mr. Gale was sworn in as special Constable and at once mounted a horse and instructed not to spare horse flesh. Just as the sun was sinking behind the western hills, our company had gathered at the scene of their dead friend. Those present were R. T. Gale. special constable, Father Imlay, William David and Joseph Imlay, Job Reynolds, Thomas and Will- iam Morgon and W. W. Cox.
It was a most solemn scene, a little meadow nearly sur- rounded by a beautiful fringe of timber: a calm autumn even- ing, a sad stillness in the presence of death. With uncov- ered heads and uplifted hands the jury took the solemn oath which, considering all the surroundings, made a deep and last- ing impression upon all present. Full forty years have now passed, but in spite of all efforts, tears dim my eyes as I write of this sorrowful event. The verdict of the jury was that they "verily believed that the old man came to his death from the effects of cramp colic." A rough board coffin was hastily improvised of lumber from the shanty, and by the "moonbeam's misty light" we buried him beneath the waving branches of a sturdy oak, there to rest until called on the morning of resurrection. We, late at night, returned to our homes with sorrowing hearts because the death angel had so early visited our infant settlement. His goods and chat- tels were properly cared for and turned over to the widow upon her arrival.
All things were made ready for our removal to our new home, and on the morning of Nov. 30, 1864 we loaded up the remainder of our earthly possessions with the assistance of Hon. Wmn. Imlay and started up the long ridge north- west of the Basin toward our new home and arrived there on the first day of December. The day we reached the home- stead was cold and gloomy, and the sight of our beautiful grove made us glad. We hastily built a huge fire with dry wood at hand, and while the north wind whistled making a
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melancholy sound as it rustled through the trees, we rejoiced in the comfort of a good fire at our own home. Our little cabin, although crude in the extreme, with its great fire- place was a home of comfort and pleasant memories
There were four families of us now in the community and we put in the time as best we could. We visited back and forth frequently; we chased rabbits, gathered wild grapes, trapped quail, etc.
Soon after our arrival, about the 8th of December, there was a cold night with much snow on the ground. In the small hours of the night a gentle rapping by Joseph Imlay was heard. He brought the refreshing news that a child was about to be born at the home of Mr. Gale who lived just across Plum creek east of the Bemis home. Wife hurriedly dressed, old Nig and Darb, our oxen, were hitched up to the old wagon, and away they went down the bottom and across the town site that was not yet a city, and to the bank of the creek. Here the poor oxen were chained to the wagon and the good wife was compelled to slide down a huge snow drift to the creek. When she arrived at the house she found that Miss Clara Gale had arrived just a little ahead of the ox team. This was the first white child born in "G" precinct. Miss Gale is now resident of Portland Oregon and is said to be an intelligent and accomplished lady.
CHAPTER VII.
Starvation near at hand -- Perils of the Night-Moffit's visit-New com- ers to different localities -- First boy of north half of county-First Sermon -- First house on the site of Seward -- Post-Office-Sabbath School-Slow progress in opening farms-Going to mill-Cold corn cake -Indian scare and panic-Early comers on the south Blue- First mill-First orchard-The last buffalo-First Post-Office-Mor- gan settlement increased-New settlers at Milford -- Moved the mill Milford founded-First county officers-Unborn Seward-A great Empire-First tax levy -- Bridges-County seat agitation-First store-Camden school-Camden mills-B. & M. R. R. abandons Camden- Milford eager for the contest-Seward not ready-Seward Surveyed-Three cornered fight-No choice-Second election-Mil- ford makes a point-Twelve votes thrown out-A wrangle ensues- A curious record.
The winter of 1864 and 1865 was a stormy one and rath- er cheerless. By some mismanagement there was not a sufficient stock of provisions laid in by the settlers to secure them against want should the winter prove severe. The writer was more fortunate than his neighbors in that he had by two long and wearisome trips to mill before moving se- cured a thousand pounds of flour and meal, but he had such good opportunities to lend it in the early spring when the rivers and creeks were overflowing and the whole settlement came near starving. There was not an ounce of breadstuffs in the settlement. There was no meat, no potatoes, and cruel as it may seem to tell it, one milk pan of shelled corn had to be divided up to keep the families from starvation; and there was scarcely a pound of boiled corn left when a load of provisions arrived that had been storm stayed and water bound. What a feast we had then!
In the month of February we had a very heavy rain. Fortunately for the family, Mr. Wm. Imlay had just re- turned from Omaha, else this would have been a more lurid - picture. Mr. Imlay and also Mr. Gale had built their cabins on low ground, never dreaming that the river could get on such a bender. Understand, the ground was frozen. The rain fell in torrents for about forty hours. On the second night at dark the river had risen comparatively little, and
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all went to bed not thinking of what terrors that awful night would bring.
Now to make the situation plain, we would say Mr. Im lay lived on the west side of the river. Mr. Gale and Grand- pa Imlay lived on the east side of Plum creek, and W. W. Cox lived on the east bank of the river. So we were power- less to render each other assistance, except Dave and Joe Im- lay were able to save Mr. Gale's family.
In the dead of night Mr. Gale discovered water rushing in at the cabin door. At this moment the water had sur- rounded the house and things looked perilous in the extreme. The only thing possible to do was to carry his wife and child to the roof of the cabin and wrap them up as best he could, and let them remain in that cold winter rain in a frightful wind until he could wade out through the ice water, some of the way waist deep, and go over a mile to grandpa Imlay's for help. A team was secured and the family was rescued just in time, for before morning dawned there was not a ves- tige of the house to be seen as the wild waters rolled entire- ly over it. What caused the sudden rise was this: the ra- vines leading to the river and creek were full of snow drifts which held the water back until the body of water became irresistible, and it all broke into the streams like a thief in the night. Mr. Imlay's family were awakened by a child crying in the night (David M.), Mr. Imlay got out of bed to attend to the child, and to his horror stepped into ice water knee deep. He rushed to the door and opened it, and a great volume of water rushed in that was appalling. The only possible show to get the family out of the house was to tear a window out at the back part af the house, which lead to higher ground. He got out himself and the frantic wife helped the children out, and he had to make many trips through the ice water for quite a distance to a hay stack. He carried all of the children, and there were lots of them, also his wife and then some bedding and provisions. They took refuge on the haystack for four days and were entirely surrounded by water. For the first day or so they had a lit- tle patch of ground upon which they could build a fire, then as the waters continued to rise there was no place to cook or build a fire. The haystack was all that was above the surg-
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ing waves of the mighty river. After four days and nights of suffering with cold and hunger the family were rescued. The wild waters had somewhat subsided, and Mr. Imlay on one side of the river and the writer on the other, two tall trees were chosen, and we cut them so the branches would lock, and the family were carried over.
Were it not for getting into this story too much, we might tell of our two unsuccessful attempts at their rescue in which we came so near losing our life. In the interesting historic letter of Mrs. Sarah F. Anderson that matter is well explained.
During that winter. Lewis Moffitt visited the neighbor- hood and entered the future town site and homesteaded a quarter of land on upper Lincoln creek near the present Marysville mill, which later he sold to old Mr. Hartman. Mr. Moffitt moved to the settlement in the July following.
In the spring of 1865 there were added to the settlement the Dunaway family, Richard Sampson, John N. Roberts, Thomas Skillman. who settled in the edge of "F" precinct on Lincoln creek, and John Durland who settled in "C" precinct near the present site of Staplehurst.
In the summer of 1864 Thomas L. Rodgers made a set- tlement near the Morgans.
During the spring of 1865, the first white boy was born in the north half of the county. On another page may be found a picture of the lad. It was Lincoln W. Cox, born March 16.
In June, Rev. Dr. Mckesson, of Lancaster, visited the community and preached the first sermon in all this region. This had to serve our purpose in that line until October, when the Rev. E. L. Clark drifted down from among the icebergs of northern New York and preached to us. The first sermon was preached in one of God's first temples, a grove, near our cabin. Rev. Clark preached at our home. Although we had no preacher or preaching during the sum- mer, we met from sabbath to sabbath and maintained a bible class. There were not enough children of school age to or- ganize a sabbath school. There were yet but four old enough. These four children, however, were properly cared for.
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Mr. Moffitt built the first cabin on the future town site. It was built of hewed logs and stood on the ground now oc- cupied by Mrs. Moffitt in the southeast part of the city It, was what we called a double log house, having two rooms. For the next year or two that house belonged to the public. We had it for sabbath school, for an election booth, for a church when a preacher happened that way, and finally we made a post-office of it, with its owner as the first in the line of Seward's honorable postmasters. The salary was a great inducement, "you know," one dollar per month.
During the summer of 1864, thirty acres of sod were broken on three farms, viz., Wm. Imlay's, D. P. Imlay's and R. T. Gale's, and during 1865 about one hundred fifty acres were broken on seven farms.
It is undoubtedly a surprise to the casual reader that no more was accomplished in the way of opening up the farms these first two seasons, but to those who "went through the mill," it is a surprise that we were able to ac- complish so much.
It may be well to state something of our environments. First the settlers were all as poor as "Job's turkeys," that had to lean against a stump while gobblin. We had but few and very poor teams. Corn was two dollars per bushel and money did not grow on our trees. Our breaking plows were crude, generally old, and more fit for the scrap pile than for business. Could the reader have seen the writer one hot summer morning with a pair of old dull plow shares strapped together and swung over his shoulder, trudging down the valley nine miles to old man Morgan's, and then watched the poor old soul as he pounded away on those shares for half a day, that were heated by a cob fire, and then followed us home again, foot-sore, weary and half starved; then watched our preambulations running through the brush perhaps for miles hunting the oxen; and again seen us with the old oxen traipsing off seventy-five miles to mill, camping out at night and eating cold johny-cake: could he have seen all these struggles to keep soul and body togeth- er, while we were menaced by Indians begging us out of countenance, and frequently showing a spirit of arrogance and impudence, so that it seemed dangerous to leave our
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families any length of time, the reader could more fully ap- preciate the situation.
Frequently, notwithstanding it seemed so dangerous to leave home, we were compelled to scour distant settlements in Lancaster, Otoe and Cass counties for meager supplies of provisions. Oh! it was so pleasant fording streams, get- ting stuck in the mud, perhaps breaking a wagon tongue or axle forty miles from anywhere, with scarcely any money and no credit. (Our wife's relatives were left far behind in the old states.) With but a meager supply of clothing we were compelled to struggle through the weary years of the first occupation. We had to make "bricks without straw," but we made them all the same. Houses had to be built without proper tools, and of such material as the country afforded, viz., logs and prairie sod. Every class of work had to be accomplished under most discouraging conditions. Iron bridges were not furnished then. We had to go to the timber, cut, haul and pile logs in the river as best we could during the day, and perhaps a flood would wash them all away before another day had dawned. Sometimes we have wondered that we did not all give up the struggle and go back to the wife's relations as some of the weak kneed people did. Happily most of us stuck to the text and waited the dawn of better days when our wife's relations came to us.
During the great Indian scare, August 1864, just after the terrible Minnesota massacre, and about the time the red- skins had plundered the Plum creek settlement west of Kearney and murdered many of the people, a general panic ensued all over the frontier settlements. This was at the time of the exodus from Salt creek, mentioned on another page.
This little community of four families also took fright and had prepared to vacate. Mr. Gale happened to be away from home at the time and his family was left to be cared for by the neighbors. The families had all gathered at Grandpa Imlay's on Plum creek and had prepared for flight, when Wmn. Imlay's old wagon tire burst, and before it was possible to get it in shape the scare subsided. This catas- trophe proved a blessing in disguise for it saved the infant settlement. It is gratifying to know how the pioneers stuck
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together in timer of danger. The other families would not go and leave one helpless family to perishal one, but stayed with him and his, to take a share in whatever trouble might come. Thus by this accident, these people were saved from sacrificing their homes.
The year 1865 brought a few scattering settlers to vari- ous localities. We note that this year brought to the South Blue, Mr. A. E. Buzzard and family (we have not been able to get his first name neither his exact locality.) C. G. W. Clark and Columbus Clark settled southeast of the present town of Beaver Crossing and Isaiah and Phillp Michael set- tled on what is now known as the Migott farm.
A little further down the river in the Johnson Neighbor- hood, 1864, brought David Barton and Samuel Englehouft, and 1865 there came the Campbell families, also the Wilsons, the McCrockens and Okeefes. We note by further scearch that Wm. J. Clark settled in the neighborhood of the Wests in 1862.
Jesse R. Johnson settled in 1864 two and a half miles above West's. This year Mr. West built our first mill, a small combination of saw and grist mill. He put in an old fashioned corn cracker and it was a God-send to the com- munity. Mr. Jesse R. Johnson claims the honor of planting the first orchard in the county.
As near as can be ascertaind a log school house was built in 1865 in the Johnson settlement in District No. 3. The old school-house stood on the David Barton farm.
I. M. J. Johnson followed his parents in 1865 and took a homestead.
In 1864 Thomas West, Jr., killed the last buffalo ever killed in Seward County.
In 1865 James Johnson became the first post-master of the county at the old Camden bridge. This office distribut- ed mail for a vast area of country. It supplied the South Blue valley as far as the settlement extended and it served all the people of this valley through Saline and Seward counties.
The Morgan settlement was increased in 1865 by the ac- quisition of C. J. Neihardt and family and in 1866 by I. D. Neihordt and family and a little further up the river Abra-
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ham and Van Hageman and also cld Mr. Wm. Hageman a mile further up the river. In 1863 Joseph Stockham and several of his kindred settled in "O" precinct, also Chris Lezenby, S. R. Douglass and Chas. Smith settled in 1865.
In 1866 the Milford settlement secured a goodly number of settlers when Abram Courtright, William Reed, Henry Wortendzke, Samuel Brown, Mrs. E. J. Badgley, William and Lee Smiley, L. D. Laune, S. G. Merrium, David Tift, Wm. Colier, Schuyler Clark, Dr. J. L. Bondy, Geo. Gillespie. N. Senott, Chris. and R. C. Hooker. This year Messrs. Dav- ison and Reed moved the mill from Weeping Water and the nucleus of village of Milford was formed and bright dreams of a prosperous future were had by the enterprising owners.
During the summer of 1865 the preliminary steps were taken to organize the county and at the Territorial election in October county officers were elected as follows: J. L. Davison, Probate Judge, Thomas West, County Clerk, C. J. Neihardt, Treasurer, Chapin, Sheriff and H. J. Parker, Wm. J. Thompson and Wm. Imlay were elected County Commis- sioners There is no record of the election of other county officers.
The board of commissioners were thoroughly representa- tive men. Parker and Imlay had each served terms in the Territorial Legislature and Mr. Thompson was a wide awake business man of more than ordinary ability. Both members were in dead earnest to do all possible to benefit their respect- ive localities, but all were loyal to Seward County. They bad each been long residents of the Territory and were well schooled in all the ways of the "Wild and Wooley West." Mr. Parker was on the lookout for the Camden interests. Mr. Thompson was the strong arm upon which Milford de- pended and Mr. Imlay was watching the interests of the yet unborn Seward. It is sometimes a pretty good idea to look out for cities yet unborn as well as for children yet to be born.
The county board was constructed on wheels, and their meeting places were just about as it happened they could find a camping-place The first was held at the Walnut Creek ranch, the home of Thompson, next they met at Thos. West's at the clerk's office and then they tried another
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change and met at the Treasurer's office, C. J. Neihardts on the North Blue. The county had no seat to rest on, and the boys could go where they pleased, so that something to eat was in sight and a shelter at night. These commission- ers had a great empire under their control, reaching westward their jurisdiction extended over York, Hamilton, Adams and. that part of Hall County lying south of the Platte.
We find buried up as among the "ancient and forgotten lore" of the county clerk's office a petition asking our com- missioners to have a voting precinct formed with the follow- ing boundaries, and also for the appointment of a justice of the peace for said precinct: Commencing at a point on the Platte river, beginning at the corner of township eleven north, range seven west of the 6th P. M., thence south to the south-east corner of township eight, thence west to the boundary line of Kearney county, thence north to the Platte river thence eastward to the place of beginning. Please ex- amine the map and trace the boundaries of that precinct and you will discover that it includes the southern portion of Hall and the northern portion of Adams counties.
The 1865 tax levy made by the board was six mills on the dollar and if all collected would yield four hundred and twen- ty-three dollars, but we expect much of the personal tax may yet be due and uncollected. At this time there were no schools to maintain, no county roads, no bridges except on the freight roads and they were built and maintained by priv- ate enterprise. There was one low water bridge on the farm of Wm. Imlay built by the neighbors.
The location of the county seat began to be agitated quite earnestly by the people in the southern portion of the county. The Seward people were in no condition to take a hand in the strife as yet as they had only a site, but no town by a long sight. H. W. Parker with the help of Fordice Roper of Beatrice, was building a grist and saw mill at Cam- den, and had a railroad in view, and although at the extreme south end of the county, they thought they had the world by the trail.
Camden was to be the city of the Blue valley. Wm. Buckhannan opened a little store. The enterprising citizens
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went over into Saline county and got a school house, (wheth- er they borrowed it or bought it, we are not advised.)
They opened a school in the winter of 1866 and 1867 with the Hon. Thomas Graham as teacher and we suppose one of the principal branches taught was, that all roads lead to Camden, the coming city of the valley. Quite a little town sprang up. The mill was completed in 1867. The pros- pects for Camden were bright, but somehow the settlement at Milford was gaining on them. Milford settlement could grow in all directions and Camden had that ugly county line just near their door, then during the heat of the contest the B.& M. folks had determined to abandon their Camden survey- ing and go through Saline county. The Milford people were anxious to have the county seat question placed before the people at once, but Parker was too scary and Imlay thought wise to defer the matter till the regular election of 1867. At this time a large perponderence of settlement was in the south half of the county. Milford was a village in fact with a mill and a good bridge, with a great freight road, a most splendid water power and a very strongly united people, ex- tending from east to west through the county and reaching southward within two miles of Camden and north as far as the center of "J" and "K" precincts. Seward community was rapidly gaining in strength, but we had some serious obsta- cles to contend with. We had no town. Although the com- munity had chosen a town site by common consent at the very first, long before the land had been entered in the early wint- er of 1865, yet the friends of Seward that were striving with might and main were powerless in the matter.
For three long years the friends of Seward coaxed, im- portuned and finally bull dosed the owner of the land to have the town site surveyed and platted and put on the market.
This is a scrap of bitherto unwritten history that is cer- tainly due to the men who first suggested the building of Seward and who stood by it in every hour of adversity when the proprietor seemed luke warm and careless or indifferent of the wants of the community.
He wanted a town, but would not and did not perform his necessary part and when the contest came our votes were cast for the Seward of faith that only existed in our brains.
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Well the contest came in October, 1867, in the shape of a three cornered fight with Milford, Camden and Seward with only a name in the contest. The returns of that election are entire- ly lost to the world. Uncle Tomy West, our county clerk, with all his good qualities was not a very good scribe or book-keeper and not much used to keeping county books. Then we guess he had no books to keep. We remember that Milford was in the lead and Seward a close second with Cam- den in the rear with thirty votes. Not much over one hun- dred votes were cast. The votes were canvassed and no place having a majority a special election was ordered. At the fall election the following county officers were elected: Wm. J. Thompson, re-elected commissioner; J. D. Main, county judge; Wm. H. Reed, county clerk; A. J. Walling- ford, sheriff; Thos. Graham, superintendent Public Instruc- tion; W. W. Cox, coroner(did not qualify); R. T. Gale, surveyor.
In this election Milford gained one important point, the election of Wm. H. Reed as county clerk, who had a very im- portant part in the contest to follow. At the special county seat election Camden withdrew from the contest and a share (probably a large share) of the Camden friends wanting to kill off their near neighbors threw their influence and their votes for Seward, the same shadow without a substance.
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