USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 58
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Lodge. No. 5, organized by Kt. Frank Vodicka, was instituted by II. C. Cole, D. D. G. C., with a charter membership of thirty. This lodge is composed of Bohemians, and the work and business of the lodge is con- ducted in that language.
May 9, 1890, Franklin Lodge, No. 123, was instituted by the district deputy grand chan- eellor, W. L. Scism, with a charter member- ship of thirteen. The membership of this lodge is composed exclusively of printers.
On the 21st day of May, 1890, Rathbone Lodge, No. 126, organized by Kt. II. A. Porter, was instituted by the grand chan- cellor, Macfarland, with a charter member- ship of sixty.
June 10, 1890, Mars Lodge, No. 130, was instituted by the district deputy grand chancellor, Will L. Scism, with a charter membership of twenty-two. The meetings of this lodge are held in the extreme north- ern part of the city, adjacent to Fort Omaha. At the close of the year 1891 there were eighteen lodges of the Order of the Knights of Pythias in the City of Omaha, whose aggregate membership exceeded fifteen hun- dred. March 31, 1891, Good Samaritan Lodge. No. 1, and on April 1, following, Virginius Lodge, No. 95, also consolidated with Nebraska Lodge.
On April 21, 1891, Park Lodge, No. 69, consolidated with Marathon Lodge, No. 82, and on May 27, 1891, Viola Lodge, No. 80, also consolidated with Marathon Lodge.
On May 16, 1891, Mt. Shasta Lodge. No. 71, Oriole Lodge, No. 76, and Franklin Lodge, No. 123, consolidated under the name of Triune Lodge, No. 56.
February 3, 1892, Rathbone Lodge, No. 126, consolidated with Nebraska Lodge No. 1, thus reducing the number of lodges in Omaha to eleven, whose aggregate member- ship June 30, 1892, was 995.
There are two sections of the Endowment Rank in the City of Omaha, officered as fol- lows: Section No. 95, Joseph Rosenstein,
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president; Jacob Frank, secretary and treas- urer. Section No. 735, James Donnelly, Jr., president; George W. Sabine, secretary and treasurer.
The Uniform Rank of the Order of the Knights of Pythias in Omaha, comprises seven active divisions, constituting what is known as the Omaha (Second) Regiment.
Among those who have attained promi- nence in the order in Omaha, by reason of long and active service, none are more deserving of special mention than J. S. Shropshire, who was initiated in Damon Lodge, No. 2, in 1869. Afterwards trans- ferring his membership to Nebraska Lodge, No. 1, with which he is still connected. lle has occupied every official position in the subordinate lodge, and on January 18. 1871. received the rank of past chancellor in the grand lodge, and at the annual session held in October, 1875, was elected to the office of grand chancellor. November 28, 1881, he was appointed representative to the supreme lodge of the world to fill vacancy. and at the expiration of his term of office. was elected for the full term of four years. He has distinguished himself in the councils of the supreme lodge as an able debator. parlamentarian and jurist. He is the author of " K. of P. Common Law," a book with an extensive circulation, and considered excel- lent authority as a digest of Pythian law.
Egbert E. French was initiated in Nebras- ka Lodge, No. 1, December 24, 1868, and at the organization of the grand lodge, was elected to the office of grand recording and corresponding scribe, (the title of the office was afterwards changed to grand keeper of records and seal.) At each subsequent annual session he was re-elected, and held the office of grand keeper of records and seal continuously for twenty years. At the session of the grand lodge, in January, 1872. he was elected supreme representative, and by subsequent re-elections held the office for six years, his service terminating at the session of the supreme lodge, held in 1878,
at Indianapolis. A vacancy occurring in the office of supreme representative, he was. on March 12, 1890, appointed by Grand Chancellor, Macfarland to fill same, and attended the biennial session recently held in the City of Milwaukee.
Jolm JJ. Monell united with Nebraska Lodge, No. 1, in 1873, by card from St. Albans Lodge, No. 17. of Council Bluffs. lowa. Ile received the rank of past chan- cellor in the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. February 4, 1874, and in August of the same year was elected to the office of grand chancellor. At the annual session in Octo- ber, 1875, he was elected representative to the supreme lodge for the term of two years. and at the session of October, 1877, was unanimously re-elected for four years, and again in 1881 for four years. The first movement in the direction of a higher rank in the order, was inaugurated in the supreme lodge by Representative Monell at the session of 1876, resulting later in what is now known as the uniform rank.
Alfred D. JJones was initiated in Nebraska Lodge, No. 1, in 1869. He was admitted to the grand lodge November 25th, of that year. At the annual session in January, 1871, he was elected representative to the supreme lodge and served for the term of two years. At the same session he was also elected grand vice chancellor, which position he resigned at the semi-annual session in July following.
To the energetic work of the four individ- uals last above mentioned, in connection with Col. George II. Crager, is due the pre- servation of what, for thirteen years, was the only American lodge of the order in Omaha. While hundreds of others who ob- tained membership, worked for awhile, be- came weary in well-doing and dropped out. these brothers have labored unceasingly for twenty years, and now have the satisfaction of seeing the order they love so well perma- nently established and occupying a leading position among the cryptic societies.
Jours Live Inour Schwester
CHAPTER XLIV.
TRANSPORTATION LINES - EARLY HISTORY OF THE UNION PACIFK - OTHER RAILWAY LINES.
THE UNION PACIFIC.
Closely allied in their prosperity are the Union Pacific Railroad-the pioneer railway line-and the City of Omaha, and a history of the latter would be incomplete that did not include that of the former. With respect to the earlier stages of work on this great line of railway no man is able to speak more intelligently than Hon. Peter A. Dey, its first engineer, now a member of the Rail- road Commission of Iowa. On this subject he writes the authors of this work as follows:
" During the year 1853 I was entrusted by parties interested in the construction of the Rock Island Railroad, with making sur- veys for a line of railway across the State of Iowa. General Dodge, J. E. House, of Omaha, and George C. House, of Iowa, were members of the corps. After reaching the Missouri River, we made a survey of that stream from the mouth of the Boyer to the mouth of the Platte, with a view of select- ing the most available point for bridging the river.
" About the first of December we crossed into Nebraska and over into the Platte Val- ley. The breadth of the Valley, and the knowledge that it extended to the base of the mountains, and that the branches reached to the divide of the continent, lead us to the conclusion that if a Pacific Railroad was ever constructed, the six hundred miles or more of this valley would be utilized.
"For a number of years following, when- ever opportunity offered, I had, from the surveys made by the general government and all other available sources, attempted in theory, at least, to extend a line across the continent that would be available for con- struction.
"During the next ten years the growing importance of California and Oregon, with the gold discoveries in Colorado, and the
industrial development of Utah, attracted public attention to the necessity of connect- ing by some internal way the Mississippi Valley with the Pacific States and Terri- tories. This matter gained importance after the war began, and the possibilities of disin- tegration developed with the unsatisfactory results of the first year. This resulted, in 1862, in the passage of the act making a grant of lands and a subsidy, which would be a first mortgage on the road, of sixteen thousand dollars per mile on that portion of the road on the plains, thirty-two thousand dollars per mile on four hundred miles of the more expensive road, and forty-eight thousand dollars per mile on one hundred and fifty miles of the mountainons work. In 1862 the company was organized tem- porarily at Chicago, William R. Ogden be- ing selected as President, and Mr. Orcutt, of Albany, New York, as Treasurer and Henry B. Poor, Secretary. For a year following nothing further was done except to make some reconnoisances with a view of selecting the data for subsequent surveys.
" After the adjournment of this conven- tion, at the solicitation of Henry Farnam. then president of the Rock Island Railroad, I examined most of the then known passes through the mountainous range west of Denver. I then followed north, examining the Black Ilills, and from there went west, crossing the divide of the continent and down the Echo Canon to the Weber River, and then down the Weber River to the Salt Lake Valley. I also examined a route up the Weber River from the mouth of the Echo to Kansas prairie, and then down the Tim- panoges River to Provo. The result of this was a report to Mr. Farnam, in which I stated that any line crossing the mountains west of Denver, and for a long distance north or south, was impracticable with the maxi- mum grade of 116 feet to the mile, fixed in the act of Congress. I took a copy of Stans- bury's map of Salt Lake, and on it traced
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the line of road that in my judgment was the most practicable. This left the Missouri River in the vicinity of Omaha, reaching the Platte Valley near Elkhorn, and followed up the Platte to the mouth of Lodge Pole, then up this stream until its bend to the south, where a tunnel was proposed, then crossing the Laramie Plains, reaching the Salt Lake Valley as above indicated. The matter rested for a year without anything further being done, but a small portion the stock required by law having been sub- scribed.
" In the summer of 1863 Thomas C. Du- rant, as I learned, individually subscribed a sufficient amount of stock to effect the per- manent organization, and under his instruc- tions, during the years 1863 and 1864, sur- veys were made from the Missouri River to Salt Lake, Messrs. . J. E. House, Samuel B. Reed, James A. Evans, Perey T. Brown and Ogden Edwards had charge of different par- ties in running preliminary lines and making locations. Mr. Reed made the surveys from Salt Lake to Green River; Mr. Evans from Green River to the eastern base of the Black ITills; Mr. House the eastern end of the line and Messrs. Brown and Edwards the inter- mediate region. The main difficulties to be encountered were crossing the Black Hills, the divide of the continent, and the rim of the Salt Lake basin. and reaching the plains below with the gradients allowed. These. however, were accomplished with a reason- able degree of success, with perhaps the ex- ception of the Black Hills, this, however, future surveys and examinations made prac- ticable.
" There were three lines of railway under construction from the east, crossing the State of Iowa; the Northwestern, the Rock Island, and the Burlington, with a view. probably, of fixing a terminal point that would be rea- sonably accessible to the three. Mr. Durant determined upon making Omaha the initial point, and although the surveys developed a much easier and more practical line in the vicinity of Bellevne, and also further north, he adhered with great tenacity to this point. Afterwards Silas Seymour, who, I think, was appointed consulting engineer, solved the problem of cheap construction, by practically adopting the Bellevue line, after reaching Mud Creek, some three miles west of the Missouri River. This was accomplished by an increase of distance of nine miles, in go-
ing fourteen miles west from the point of divergence. The Northwestern or the Bur- lington now occupies nearly the line of the original survey for some distance west. My impression is that each goes over part of the ground covered by the original survey. There was considerable discussion at the time of the change of the line, and it was thought it meant an abandonment of the initial point. This, however, was saved, and the general government advanced to the company, what was probably the ruling con- sideration for the change, sixteen thousand dollars per mile for each of the nine addi- tional miles, when the estimated cost of the fourteen miles was as great as the twenty- three.
" The discussion of this question was, to a great extent, confounded in the public mind, with the Hoxie contract, executed September 23, 1864. This contract practically con- veyed to Hoxie all the interest of the company in the first mortgage for 100 miles, which was made by the amendment of 1864, a lien on the road prior to the lien of the general government, the bonds furnished by the government, a land grant mortgage of the same amount, and stock to the amount of five thousand dollars per mile. Mr. Hoxie was to build the road for the first hundred miles at fifty thousand dollars per mile. The engineer's estimate for this hundred miles, with the limitations in the contraet, was less than thirty-thousand dol- lars per mile. The sidings were limited to six per cent of the length of the main line, the grades were subject to the control of the contractor, limited only to the grade of the New York Central out of Albany. The cost of station buildings, machinery. machine shops, tanks, equipment, etc., was limited to five thousand dollars per mile. The cost of iron delivered at Omaha was limited to one hundred and thirty dollars per ton. Mr. Hoxie was to pay for the first mortgage and government bonds, eighty per cent of their par value, and seventy per cent for the land grant bonds, or, he took $48,000 of bonds on the road and paid for them $37,600.
" The rate these securities were disposed of, a government six per cent. bond, and a mortgage that was prior to it at eighty cents on the dollar, seems extraordinary, yet this contract had the approval of five directors, who were specially selected to protect the interests of government, and a secretary of
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the interior, whose attention was called to the terms of the contract. This contract be- came the basis of the Credit Mobilier, and its iniquities have become so generally pub- lie property, and destroyed the reputation of so many statesmen, that it is not necessary to pursue it further. The motive for mak- ing these contracts has not generally been appreciated. At that time it was generally believed that two hundred miles west of the Missouri River was the limit of arable lands, except where irrigation was available, and that it was thought the entire country, on account of the absence of rain, would ever remain a desert. There can be but little doubt that the motive influencing Mr. Du- rant, if not his associates, was to realize from the contract for construction all the profit possible, and turn the property over to the government to operate, under the conviction that it could never earn its expenses. His conduct is consistent with this theory, for he gave personal attention to the construction, until the tracks of the Union and Central Pacific Roads were connected at Promontory, and left for New York, never seeing the road afterward. The extraordinary earnings and the property of the road for the first few years after its completion, though loaded clown with an indebtedness that should have bankrupted it, made a later and further de- pletion possible. My sympathies are strongly enlisted with Mr. Adams, who has, in a straight-forward, honest way, songht to res- que the property from the mis-management of his predecessors, and with his effort to have Congress so arrange the maturity of the indebtedness that the earnings of the road will eventually be able to put it in a position where it can be paid. Hlad such a management as he brought to the road been applied to the construction, and maintained in its operation, the Union Pacific stock, notwithstanding the competition, in my judgment, would be the best railroad prop- erty in this country."
Mr. Dey was so opposed to the conditions of the Hoxie contract, and the price at which the construction of the road was fixed under that contract, that he not only resigned his position as engineer, but set out his reasons therefor in two letters. The first is addressed to Thomas C. Durant (then the master mind of the railroad company, though his nominal
position was that of vice president), and was as follows:
ENGINEER'S OFFICE, UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY, OMANIA, Dee. 7, 1864. -
Dear Sir :- I hereby tender you my resigna- tion as chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railway, to take effect December 30, 1864, one year from the date of my appointment. I am induced to delay until that time that ] might combine the results of surveys of the present year and present them to the com- pany and to myself in a satisfactory manner. My reasons for this step are simply that I do not approve of the contract made with Mr. lloxie for building the first hundred miles from Omaha west and I do not care to have my name so connected with the railroad that I shall appear to indorse this contract. Wishing for the road success beyond the expectation of its members.
"I am respectfully yours, etc."
Ile wrote General Dix, president of the road, on the same day, as follows:
"OMANIA, Dec. 7, 1864.
Dear Sir :- With this I send in my resigna- tion as chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. My reasons I have given. I received the contract nearly a month ago. When I first read it I felt that it was made against my known views and ] could not be held in any measure responsible for it, but it has since been a constantly recurring subject of thought to me and I am not now satisfied that I shall be able to acquit myself of all blame if I become an instrument of its execution. You know the history of the M. & M. Road, a road that to-day could be running to this point if its stock and bonds only represented the amount of cash that actually went into it. My views of the Pacific Railroad are perhaps peculiar. I look upon its managers as trustees of the bounty of Congress. I can- not willingly see the repeat of the history of the M. & M. by taking a step in the incipiency of the project that will, I believe if followed ont, swell the cost of construction so much that by the time the work reaches the mountains the representative capital will be accumulated so much that at the very time when the company will have need for all its resources as well of capital as of credit its securities will not be negotiable in the
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market. From my boyhood I have associated Mr. Cisco and yourself with Mr. Bronson and Mr. Flagg, men whose integrity, purity and singleness of purpose have made them marked men in the generation in which they lived. Of course my opinion remains unchanged. You are doubtless uninformed how disproportionate the amount to be paid is to the work contracted for.
I need not expatiate upon the sincerity of my course when you refleet upon the fact that I have resigned the best position in my profession this country has ever offered to any man.
" With Respect, etc."
On the 30th of November, 1863, Messrs. Peter Dey, A. J. Hanscom, John MeCormick, George II. Mills, E. B. Taylor and Augustus Kountze addressed the city council on the subject of "granting the Union Pacific Rail- road Company certain rights and privileges on the levee," and the matter was referred to the judiciary committee, which com- mittee, through George B. Lake, chairman ! presented the following at a meeting of the council held December 7th, 1863:
"WHEREAS, The Union Pacific Railroad Company is desirous of obtaining the right of way over all that certain piece or parcel of land situated in the City of Omaha, in the Territory of Nebraska, lying along the bank of the Missouri River and designated on the lithographed plat of said city made and published by Poppleton & Byers as 'Levee,' for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating three or more tracks of said railroad over the same, with the required side-traeks, switches, water stations, warehouses, wharfs and appurte- nances and whatever else may be necessary to the operation, maintenance and security of said railroad, its property and business, and,
WHEREAS, The first grant of such rights and privileges to said company will be of great benefit and advantage to said city so long as the same shall be used by the said company, therefore:
"Resolved, By the city council of the City of Omaha, that the mayor of said city be and is hereby authorized, empowered and required to make, execute and deliver to the said Union Pacific Railroad Company, their
successors, assigns and grantees, in accord- ance with the charter of said city, and the ordinances in such case made and provided, a deed of grant of said city and the corpo- rate authorities thereof of the right of way over, upon and through the said premises. with the free and uninterrupted liberty of laying out. locating and constructing, main- taining. operating, furnishing and enjoying three or more tracks of said railroad over the same, with the requisite side-tracks. turnouts, switches, water stations, ware- houses, wharfs and appurtenances, and what- ever else may be requisite and necessary for the location, construction, operation, main- tenance, enjoyment and security of said rail- road and its appurtenances and business. with free ingress, egress and regress upon, through and over the same to and for the said company, its successors, assigns. grant- ees, servants, tenants, occupiers and posses- sors-its property, trains, passengers and freight, so long as the same shall be used. occupied and enjoyed for that purpose by the said company, its successors and assings. And it is further
"Resolved, That the rights and privileges hereby granted shall not be so construed as to confliet with or impair any privilege heretofore granted to any person or persons. or bodies politic or corporate whatsoever, in or to the aforesaid ground. That suitable crossings shall be made and provided by said company at all public streets crossed by any of the said railroad tracks, which it is necessary for the public to use to enable them to reach the ferryboat and steamboat landings, so as not to obstruct travel to or from the ferry or steamboat landings, and that the right of the publie to travel over and enjoy said ground shall be unimpaired only so far as the reasonable exercise of the privileges hereby granted shall abridge tlie same and that the substance of this last resolution be incorporated in said grant by way of limitation of the privileges of said company."
This resolution was adopted as was also the following, offered by Judge Lake:
"Resolved, By the city council of the City of Omaha, that the mayor of said city be and he is hereby authorized, empowered and required to make, execute, acknowledge and deliver to the Union Pacific Company a deed of conveyance in fee simple of the fol
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lowing described pieces or parcels of land, situated in the County of Douglas and Ter- ritory of Nebraska, to wit: Blocks L, N, O, P' and Q, in said city, as designated on the lithographed map thereof made and pub- lished by Poppleton & Byers, said convey- ance to contain a proviso that in case the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Rail- road on the Missouri River shall not be located and continued within one and one- quarter miles of Farnam Street in said City of Omaha, then and in that case the premises hereby conveyed shall revert to and become re-invested in the said City of Omaha."
December 2, 1863, there was a formal breaking of ground for the railroad, at a point on the river considerably above the present site of the shops. It was an eventful occasion, and enthusiastic addresses were made by Governor Saunders, Mayor B. E. B. Kennedy, Dr. G. C. Monell, Judge A. V. Larimer (of Council Bluffs), Judge George B. Lake and George Francis Train, inter- spersed with firing of cannon.
January 15, 1864, the following was pre- sented and adopted:
" Resolved, That the mayor be and he is hereby directed to convey, by deed in fee simple, to the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany, the following described lots in the City of Omaha, on condition that the principal depot grounds of said railroad be located on the eastern border of the City of Omaha, be- tween the bluff and Missouri River, and that the route of said railroad be westerly from said city, within one and one-fourth miles of Farnam Street, leaving township 15, range 13, from the western border of the same, to- wit: Lot 8, block 2; lots 5 and 6, block 3; lot 1, block 4; lot 7, block 35; lots 5 and 8, block 65; lot 1, block 66; lots 3 and 4, block 67; lots 7 and 8, block 69; lots 1 and 4, block 94; lots 2 and 7, block 96; lot 8, block 99; lots 5 and 6, block 126; lot 5, block 127; lot 5, block 130; lot 1, block 156; lot 3, block 157; lot 5, block 307; lot 6, block 308; lot 6, block 310; lot 5, block 312; lot 6, block 313; west half lot 7, block 315; lot 3, block 316; lots 1 and 6, block 317; lot 2, block 318; lot 1, block 319; lot 7, block 322; lot 8, block 323; lot 7, block 326; lot 2, block 327; lots 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. block 328; lot 3, block 331, and lot 3, block 333."-44} lots.
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