USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > History of the city of Lincoln, Nebraska : with brief historical sketches of the state and of Lancaster County > Part 14
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
made a permanent settlement on the town site of Lancaster. The southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest quarter, of section twenty-three, were platted by Jacob Dawson, and the plat is dated Angust 6, 1864. The streets were named North, Nebraska, Saline, Washington, Main, Lincoln, College, High, and Locust, from the north to the south side of the plat. From west to east they were num- bered from one to twelve. The plat contained sixty-four blocks, of eight lots each. The streets were to be sixty-six feet wide; the alleys were to run east and west, and were twenty feet wide. The plat had a "Court-house " and a "Seminary " square. Three years later, when the capital commissioners replatted the town on a much broader scale, the original plat was practically discarded. Much of the prosperity of the early part of 1864 was lost by the scare caused by the Indian outbreak of that year, and most of the settlers left in September. . Cap- tain Donovan, John S. Gregory, and E. W. Warnes, stuck to the vicinity of the Lancaster plat. The Indians committed several butch- eries west of the Big Blue, but did not molest the Salt creek settle- ment. Still, those who remained were in great fear at times lest they might be attacked.
The season of 1865 opened with but a few more settlers than that of 1864, on account of the Indian scare of 1864. Most of those who fled the fall before, returned in the spring of 1865, and others came and took homesteads.
Lancaster county had but one county-seat fight, which, owing to the few persons engaged, did not develop the exciting or sanguinary as- pects that often grow out of such contests. When John Cadman and John S. Gregory were in the Territorial Legislature in the winter of 1864, Cadman was in a scheme to partition Clay county between Gage and Lancaster. Gregory at first opposed this hotly, but he finally came around and supported the scheme. The agreement to dismem- ber Clay county was easy, comparatively. But when it came to the details of how it should be done, the problem was too much for Cad- man and Gregory. It was an original case, this taking the life of a municipal government, and it required skill in law and the principles of civil and constitutional government not thought of when the scheme was hatched. At this point in the dilemma Cadman and Gregory called in T. M. Marquett, representing this county in the Council, and he was made a sort of referee, after much higgling, for the adjustment of
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FROM PRE-HISTORIC TIMES.
the whole matter of division of territory, funds, and extingnishment of the life of Clay county. His work was so well done that it has never been questioned since.
This elimination of Clay county from the map was intended to fix the county seat of Gage county at Beatrice, and also that of Lancaster near where it now is. With Clay county in existence, the first would have had to go further south and the second further north. Cadman wanted the capital of Lancaster county at a point near the present In- sane Asylum, which he at once staked off as a town site under the name of " Yankee Hill." Elder J. M. Young caused his site to be platted the same summer of 1864, and then thse two generals set out to capture the county seat of Lancaster county. Gregory had caused the Legislature to appropriate $500 for a bridge over Salt creek "to be located in Lancaster county," hoping to get the bridge opposite Lancaster. But Cadman was not asleep, and when the commissioners came to view the ground he plead so well for a bridge at Yankee Hill that the money was equally divided between the Yankce Hill and Lancaster bridge sites. With the addition of subscriptions, both sites secured a bridge over Salt creek, and were so far even in the fight. Lancaster had the Salt Basin and Yankee Hill had the freight road from the Missouri, making them about a tie. Yankee Hill se- cured a blacksmith shop and a small store, and was a little ahead on the count. But Elder Young was a shrewd and energetic leader, and Cadman was unfortunate in at least one particular. The settlers south on Salt creek had generally located near what they supposed would be the county seat of Clay county, and the prospective capital they had named Olathe. When Cadman joined hands with H. W. Parker, of Beatrice, and slaughtered Clay county in cold blood, he also annihilated the prospects of Olathe. The visions of the Olatheans sud- denly went glimmering. Their anger against Cadman rose to a high pitch, and they "laid for him." And it is not recorded that Elder Young tried to smooth down the ruffled temper of the people of Olathe .. So, when the people came to vote on the location of the county seat in the summer of 1864, Lancaster was victorious by odds. Olathe got even with Cadman. But Cadman did not long sulk in his tent. He joined with the people of Lancaster to make it a successful town, and was soon afterward a hotel keeper in Lancaster, and the justice of the peace of the place. He was elected to the next Territorial Legisla- ture, and was a member of the first State Senate. He was also probate
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
judge, sheriff, and treasurer of Lancaster county. At present he is re- siding in California, but he paid Lincoln a visit during JJuly of the present year. He has a son residing in the city now, and another in Omaha.
Elder J. M. Young was a man of great enterprise, very large mind, and possessed of a warm heart. He was an antagonist whom most men could well afford to respect. He not only planted his colony on the sight of Lincoln, but was the inspiration which had much to do with indneing the commissioners to locate the State capital on his site rather than at Seward, or one of the other competitive points. He came to Lancaster county to found a female seminary when this region was almost literally a howling wilderness. Coyotes did the howling. So did the Pawnee and Otoe Indians. But he set about building his seminary, (in 1864, probably,) and had it in operation in 1866. It was built of the soft red sandstone of this region, and was about 30x50 ft. in dimensions, and two stories high. It stood on the rear part of the lot now occupied by the State Journal building, owing to the fact that the plat of Lancaster was totally disregarded by the surveyors who sur- veved Lincoln, in 1867. It then became the school house, meeting house and public rallying point generally, until burned down in the spring of 1867. The first school on the site of Lancaster was taught in the "seminary " by Mr. H. W. Merrill, in 1866, in the latter part of that season, with an attendance of about thirty. School was continued in the "stone house" in 1866, when it was in charge of Mrs. Mer- rill, whose husband had a homestead on the Antelope. After it was burned, in 1867, John Cadman opened a hotel on its site, late in 1867, using the walls, in part, for his hostelry. This was the second hotel in Lincoln. Cadman afterward sold out to N. S. Atwood, who greatly en- larged the Cadman House, as a brick structure, and after running it for some time, it burned also. Before the Cadman House was built, the Pioneer House was erected on the southeast corner of Ninth and Q streets. It was the first hotel in Lincoln, and was well managed by L. A. Scoggin, who afterward mysteriously left, and has not since been heard from. The Pioneer was built in 1867, and was burned a few years later.
When T. M. Marquett ran for Congress in 1866, with J. Sterling Morton as opponent, Morton challenged Marquett to a campaign joint debate. The campaign was opened by the first debate, in the "sem- inary " just referred to, in August. The pioneers came from far and
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FROM PRE-HISTORIC TIMES.
near, but this mass meeting numbered only about fifty persons. The meeting was a lively one, and the campaign resulted in the election of Marquett. So much for the history of the Stone Seminary.
The first term of the Territorial court in Lancaster county was held in November, 1864, at the house of Jacob Dawson. Dawson's house was a double log cabin, situated on the ground on west O street now occupied by the St. Charles hotel, between Seventh and Eighth, on the south side of the street. The officiating judge was Elmer S. Dundy, now United States District Judge for this district. Mr. Dawson aeted as clerk, and Judge Pottenger, of Plattsmouth, was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Territory, at a salary of $75. T. M. Marquett, of Plattsmouth, was present as an attorney. Milton Lang- don and John S. Gregory were the local attorneys, who were nearly always arrayed against each other in the local courts. The leading case of the term was that of Bird, or The Territory, against Pember- ton. The latter had shot his revolver into Bird's house, and thumped Bird with it afterward, owing to some difficulty Pemberton had had with one of Bird's daughters. The Birds had talked, and Pemberton "did up" the father in consequence. After a good deal of trouble, a grand jury was impaneled, the venires for both grand and petit ju- ries being exhausted in getting the panel. Then it took about three days to find a petit jury, owing to the lack of men. The eligible male inhabitants were nearly all on the grand jury. There were no pro- fessional jurymen in court on this occasion. The trial of cases was delaved about three days in the endeavor to find petit jurors.
The grand jury found several indictments. Pemberton was in- dieted and came to trial on a charge of "Malicious assault with intent to kill." T. M. Marquett defended him for a fee of ten dollars. He urged upon his honor, Judge Dundy, that his client should not be re- quired to lie in jail, (there was no jail until 1868,) and should not be required to give bond, even if he could, if the Territory was unable to try him. It was not his client's fault that a jury could not be found. Citizens should not be made responsible for the failures of the Territory. He therefore moved to quash the indictment. Judge Dundy granted the motion, and Pemberton was discharged. Pem- berton left, to avoid further trouble, Marquett assuring him that if he assaulted Bird again, that he would come to Lancaster and prose- cute him. Another indictment was quashed in the same way.
This term adjourned on the day Abraham Lincoln was elected for
146
IHISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
a second term, November 8, 1864. There was a foot of snow on the ground, and the day was stormy. In returning to Plattsmouth, the court and attorneys were obliged to shovel through drifts. When within eight miles of Plattsmouth, the party learned of the election of Mr. Lincoln, and all five of them then and there gave three cheers. The drive to Plattsmouth was made in a single day. This long drive was frequently made in a day. Simeon Benadom made the drive in a day in 1868, when he brought his wife to the city. She was one of the first women who became a resident of Lincoln.
There was one term of court in Lancaster in 1865, and probably one court in 1866. The famous litigation of those early years was be- tween John S. Gregory and his Uncle Eaton, of Plattsmouth. The war continued for several years, and was red hot. On one occasion Mr. Gregory expressed a decided opinion that Eaton would be a resi- dent of Sheol in the future. Eaton promptly replied that he should, in such a case, be compelled to regret his misfortune, owing to the neces- sity he should be under of keeping such company as Mr. Gregory.
The next term of court in this county was held under the Govern- ment of the State of Nebraska.
On June 21st, 1866, an election was held to ratify the State consti- tution framed by the Territorial Leigslature early in the year. The people ratified the instrument all right, and the Legislature elected under that constitution met July 4, 1866. But the bill for the ad- mission of Nebraska as a State, which passed Congress on July 28th, was vetoed by Andrew Johnson. This compelled the people to wait until 1867 for statehood. Congress passed another admission bill in January, 1867, which was also promptly vetoed by President John- son, on the grounds that the Territory did not contain sufficient popu- lation to warrant it in claiming statehood ; that the admission bill was at variance to some degree with the enabling act, and that the consti- tution had not been formed in the prescribed manner. It took Con- gress just two days to pass this bill over Johnson's veto: February 8 and 9, 1867. The Legislature met at Omaha, February 20th and ratified the provisions on which Nebraska was to be admitted : that she should enter into an obligation to deny no citizen the elective fran- chise on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. President Johnson proclaimed Nebraska a State on March 1, 1867. The Legislature immediately took steps to remove the capital from Omaha. How this was done is told in another chapter.
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GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE.
CHAPTER XII.
THE GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE-THE CHANGE OF NAME-THE EFFECT OF THE LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL - EARLY BUSINESS HOUSES AND RESI- DENCES -THE DAYS OF '67 AND '68.
In 1864 Hon. John Gillespie returned from the army, in company with a son of Elder J. M. Young, on a furlough. When the steamer reached Nebraska City Elder Young was on the wharf watching for his son, whom he greeted cordially. He then gave Mr. Gillespie a neighborly reception, and the latter inquired whether the Elder was still living in Nebraska City. Mr. Young replied that he had located at Lancaster, in Lancaster county. Mr. Gillespie had a high opinion of Elder Young's ability and character, and expressed surprise that he should be incarcerated in the wilderness on Salt creek, and asked what he expected to do there.
"Oh, I am founding a colony out there," said the Elder, "and am building a female seminary. We will soon have the county seat, and will have the capital there some day."
The idea of founding a female seminary on the raw prairie, where there was scarcely a young woman to attend it, and of getting the Territorial capital out in the same nondescript region, struck Mr. Gillespie as visionary, if not actually absurd. But no fiction is so romantic and surprising as real human experience, especially in a new State, where almost anything within reason is possible.
Within about a year from the time that boat touched the Nebraska City wharf, John Gillespie was elected Auditor of the Territory of Nebraska. As Auditor he acted as one of three Commissioners, three years after the boat landed, to locate the capital of the State of Ne- braska on Elder Young's colonial grounds, and in almost precisely three years from the time the Elder made the prophecy, the capital of Nebraska actually was in existence on the ground he had picked out for the site of "Lancaster" in 1863. His "seminary " was not very successful, but that was not very material, for in about five years from the date of his declaration to Mr. Gillespie that he proposed to found
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
a seminary, the contract for the erection of the building for the Uni- versity of Nebraska was let, and Elder Young lived to see all his dreams more than realized. His death occurred in 1884. Lincoln then was a city of about 20,000 people.
On the afternoon of July 29, 1867, the Commissioners finally met, at the house of Captain W. T. Donovan, to ballot on the location of the capital of Nebraska. The meeting was in the attic of the house. Lancaster had two votes on the first ballot and Ashland one. The one vote was by Mr. Gillespie, who said he feared that Lancaster was short on a water supply for a city of large population. But he was also influenced, doubtless, to vote for Ashland because that place was the favorite for a capital site of the Plattsmouth people, while Yankee Ilill was the chosen site of the Nebraska City schemers. Platts- mouth was opposed to almost anything that Nebraska City favored. Mr. Gillespie was really in favor of Lancaster, and on the second ballot voted for it and made the choice unanimons. The citizens of the hamlet were gathered about the house awaiting the result in hope- ful but anxious suspense. Presently Governor David Butler and Commissioners T. P. Kennard and John Gillespie came out of the house, and the Governor, standing on the east side to avoid the heat of the sun, formally proclaimed the decision of the Commission in favor of Lancaster. Of course the few settlers present rejoiced ex- ceedingly.
On that historie July day the hamlet of Lancaster did not contain more than six or seven buildings, "shacks," log-houses, stone build- ings, and all. The Commissioners then stood in front of Captain Donovan's house, which stood about sixty feet southwest of Opelt's Hotel, or near the southwest corner of Ninth and Q streets. This was a small stone and cottonwood frame house. Jacob Dawson's double log cabin of 1864 still stood on the south side of O street, be- tween Seventh and Eighth, where the St. Charles Hotel now is. In the front end of this house S. B. Pound had set up a small grocery store in 1866, and it was still in existence when the Capital Commis- sioners came. Dawson also had the postoffice at that time, and took it "up town" with him when he removed two blocks east, in 1867. Milton Langdon resided in a little log-house near the southwest cor- ner of Eighth and Q streets. Dr. and Rev. John McKesson, for he represented both the Methodist ministry and the medical profession,
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GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE.
lived on his claim on the north side; his house was being erected at what is now W and Twelfth streets. The cottonwood grove now there was planted by Mckesson, the trees at first being switches. The doctor added Mckesson's Addition to Lincoln, and was offered $40,- 000 for it in the early seventies, but declined to take it. He wanted more. He then went into the manufacture of a harvester he invented, and lost all his money, and now lives a poor man at La Cygne, Kan- sas. S. B. Galey, who came here in April, 1866, had a small stone building on P street near Tenth, on the site now occupied by John Sheedy's elegant block. Linderman & Hardenbergh, who next to S. B. Pound were the earliest merchants of Lincoln, had opened a small stock of goods at a point that would now be in Ninth street, near P, possibly partly in both streets. They had sold their shop to Martin and Jacob Pflug, early in 1867, who conducted it in the firm name of Pflug Bros. They kept a small stock of groceries, including a bar- rel of whisky, some hardware, and a few dry goods. Robert Mon- teith and his son John had a little shoe shop at what is now 922 P street. They soon after built the little frame building now on that lot and now used by M. Adler for a pawn shop. This is one of the few structures remaining of that date in the city, and when first built passed for quite a building.
Elder J. M. Young lived in what is now O and Eighteenth street. The sandstone honse now on that corner was afterward erected by the Elder. Luke Lavender's log homestead residence was at O and Four- teenth, his eighty acres lying to the south and east. This house has been considered the first residence erected on the plat of Lincoln. If this is true, it must have been placed there before the fall of 1864, for it is positively known that Jacob Dawson's double log-cabin, on the south side of O street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, was completed before the close of October, 1864, for Judge Dundy held a term of court in that house during the first few days of November, 1864, and T. M. Marquett was in attendance as an attorney. Dawson's and Lavender's houses were, doubtless, built in the summer of 1864. Both men came to the county in company with Elder Young's explor- ing party, in July, 1863. William Guy, Philip Humerick, E. T. Hudson, E. Warnes, and John Giles, had homesteads near the plat of Lancaster, and the farms they then were opening are now all part of the city of Lincoln. The walls of Elder Young's old stone seminary
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
stood on the rear part of the lots on the northeast corner of Ninth and P streets, where the State Journal block now stands. There may have been thirty inhabitants, all told, on the present site of Lincoln in July, 1867. Judging by the vote cast in the following fall election, there may have been five hundred people in the entire county. From thirty souls to fifty thousand inhabitants, in twenty-two years, is a record of rapid growth equaled by few cities of the world; but such has been the progress of Lincoln since 1867.
The Commissioners called the capital "Lincoln," according to the terms of the bill, which provided for the relocation of the seat of gov- ernment of the State of Nebraska. How the name " Lincoln" came to be selected is told in the chapter on the removal of the capital.
When it became known that the Commissioners had selected Lin- coln for the State capital, a number of men squatted on the site, ex- pecting to bid in the ground they were on at the fall lot sales. But there was a good deal of doubt about the outcome of this capital ven- ture. The North Platte people were generally unfriendly to the choice of the Commissioners, and Omaha was disposed to prevent the consummation of the removal, if such a thing were possible. The lot sales were not opened until September 17th, and the lack of confidence was so great that the sale, on the first day, was a failure. No lots could be disposed of. And the year of 1867 was practically closed before the sales were known to be sufficiently successful to assure the funds necessary to ereet a capitol building. Had it not been for the courage of the Commissioners and the enterprise of the Nebraska City men, who were friendly to this as a site for a new capital, it is very doubtful if this removal scheme would have succeeded. Nebraska City considered it good strategy to get the capital out of Omaha, when it was thought that the latter town might be outstripped, and Nebraska City become the metropolis of the Missouri. It seems never to have occurred to the schemers, who were trying to protect themselves from Omaha, that the new capital would spring into such importance in twenty-two years as not only to overshadow Nebraska City, but even to rival Omaha herself. As Lincoln has passed all other towns on the river, she may yet pass Omaha. This is much more reasonable than a prediction of her present importance would have seemed in 1867.
The real business existence, in fact the real existence of Lincoln,
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GROWTH OF THE VILLAGE.
dates from 1868. The lot sales had fairly succeeded. Confidence then had a substantial foundation ; so that business houses and inhab- itants came quite freely during 1868, and Lincoln became a town of about 500 people toward the close of the year.
Even now the records and traditions of 1868 are becoming dim - especially the traditions. It has taken days of patient inquiry to re- produce the landmarks of that year even with approximate correct- ness. Old settlers differ radically about various points. Certain buildings are located by some at one place and others feel sure they were somewhere else. But the village was substantially all confined to a space bounded on the west and east by Eighth and Twelfth streets, and on the north and south by R and N streets.
Jacob Dawson had left his historic double log-cabin on the present
....
SWEET'S BLOCK - NORTHWEST CORNER OF O AND TENTH.
site of the St. Charles Hotel, near O and Eighth, and had erected a large square stone and log house back some distance from the south- west corner of O and Tenth. The Sweet Block, on the northeast cor- ner of O and Tenth, was finished early in 1868, by Darwin Peckham, who still is a leading mechanic of the city, and one of very few who did business on this plat in 1868. This building was just half its present size. Where the O street stairway now is there was an out- side stairway for entrance to the upper story. The building was really three buildings erected together, by James Sweet, A. C. Ru- dolph, and Pflug Bros. Sweet and N. C. Broek opened the first bank in the city, in the southwest corner room, on the first floor, in June, 1868. This bank continued until 1871, when it was reorgan- ized as the State Bank of Nebraska, by Samuel G. Owen, James
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN.
Sweet, and Nelson C. Brock. About the same time that the bank opened, A. C. Rudolph opened a grocery store in the next room north, and Pflug Bros, a stock of dry goods in the third room from the corner. The upper part was used for offices, and later on, part of the county offices were there, and the State Treasury was practically at the bank in 1869, Mr. Sweet then being State Treasurer. Bain Bros, opened the first clothing house in the city in 1868, on the southeast corner of Tenth and O streets. They had previously had a real estate office fronting Tenth street, to the south of their clothing house. D. B. Cropsey had a real estate office on the southwest corner of O and Tenth, where the State National Bank now is, his father, A. J. Cropsey, being with him. During that year Bohanan Bros. opened.
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