USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume I > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
On July 4, 1863, the little settlement at the salt basin was augmented by several newcomers. Tradition has it that Mr. W. W. Cox, while picking goose- berries along Salt Creek for the Fourth of July dinner, heard men shouting to him. Upon closer inspection he found that the new arrivals, namely, J. M. Young, Peter Schamp, Dr. J. Mckesson, E. W. Warnes, Luke Lavender and Jacob Dawson, were seeking a place to locate and plant a colony. The party accepted Mr. Cox's invitation to join in patriotic exercises and during the day Elder Young and his associates became impressed with the possibilities of the salt basin site. Young returned to the basin on July 10, 1863, and located on section 23, a part of which he designated as a town and named it Lancaster. No effort was made to encourage settlement in the town until the next year, 1864, and this date may properly be said to have been the starting point of the Village of Lancaster, later to blossom into the state capital of Nebraska.
Upon the occasion of Elder Young's death on Saturday, February 23. 1884. or shortly afterward, the Nebraska State Journal had the following to say of him :
"It is seldom that the Journal is called upon to chronicle the death of a man who, living, had so many claims to the love and respect of his fellow inen, and who, dead, leaves so great a lesson of faith and works behind him, or is so sin- cerely mourned, as Elder J. M. Young, who has at last, after seventy-eight years of labor in his Master's vineyard, gone to receive the reward of his faithful toil.
"Up to within a year Elder Young had been quite vigorous and active, not- withstanding his burden of years. For the last year he had been suffering from bronchial affections, and for about two months was confined to his bed.
"Elder J. M. Young was born in Genesee County, N. Y., near Batavia, on the old Holland purchase, November 25, 1806. In 1829 he married Alice Watson. at that time eighteen years of age, who now survives him at the age of seventy- four. The following year he moved to Ohio, and from Ohio he went to Page County, Iowa, in 1859. In 1860 he came to Nebraska and settled at Nebraska City. In 1863, near the end of the year, he came to Salt Creek, and selected as a site for a town and what he predicted would be the capital of Nebraska, the present site of Lincoln. The following named persons located her at the same time : Thomas Hudson, Edwin Warnes, Doctor Mckesson, T. S. Schamp. Uncle Jonathan Ball, Luke Lavender, Jacob Dawson and John Giles. It was the orig- inal intention to make the settlement a church colony, but the idea was never utilized as projected.
"On eighty acres owned by him Elder Young laid out the Town of Lancaster.
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which was made the county seat. He gave the lots in the city away, half to the county and school district, and half to the Lancaster Seminary, a school which he hoped to see established here for the promulgation of his faith. He built from the proceeds of the sale of some of the lots a building, which was called the seminary, and which was occupied by the district school and church. It was burned in 1867 and was never rebuilt.
"A church was organized here and Mr. Schamp was the first pastor. Elder Young was then president of the lowa and Nebraska Conference. The next year after the capital was located the stone church was built. Elder Young's dream was to build up a strong church in the capital city. He worked assiduously for the object, and put into the work some eight or ten thousand dollars of his private means. When the church went down and he saw that his dream, in so far, had been in vain-that his dream could never be realized-he was almost broken-hearted; and this was the chief cause of his departure from Lincoln, which took place in 1882, when he went to London, Nemala County, the scene of his closing days.
"Elder Young began his labors as minister soon after he moved to Ohio, in 1829. He was president of the Ohio Annual Conference for several years and was president of the Iowa and Nebraska Conference for about twenty years. He was a man of rare vigor and fine attainments.
"Elder Young left four sons: John M., of Lincoln; James O., of London; Levi, Lancaster County ; and George W., of Taos City, New Mexico. He was buried in Wyuka Cemetery on February 26, 1884. Elder Hudson conducted the funeral services, by request of the deceased, assisted by Rev. D. Kinney and W. T. Horn."
The southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest quarter of section 23 were platted by Jacob Dawson, dated August 6, 1864. The streets were named North, Nebraska, Saline, Washington, Main, Lincoln, College, High and Locust from north to south. From west to east they were numbered from one to twelve. The original 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 be twenty feet wide. Upon the plat was a courthouse square and a seminary square.
In 1864 the Lancaster colony was increased by the location on or in close proximity to the site of a dozen more settlers. Up to that time Dr. J. MeKesson, Elder Young, Luke Lavender, E. W. Warnes, J. M. Riddle, J. and D. Bennett, Philip Humerick, E. T. Hudson, C. Aiken, Robert Monteith and his two sons, John and William, William and John Grey, O. F. Bridges, Cyrus Carter, P. Bil- lows, W. Porter, Milton Langdon and three or four others were the settlers here. In 1864 Silas Pratt, the Crawfords, Mrs. White and daughter, C. C. White and John Moore located on Oak Creek, about twelve miles northeast of this Lancaster settlement.
The Indian scare of 1864 caused many of the Lancaster citizens to hastily pack their belongings and start for the Missouri River, but some of them stayed, among the latter being Captain Donovan, who had once before fled for a like cause, John S. Gregory and E. W. Warnes. The Indians committed no depreda- tions in this vicinity.
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The year of 1865 was one of little settlement, due in no small measure to the Indian troubles of the previous year.
The county seat fight of 1864 is related elsewhere in this volume.
The second hotel was opened by John Cadman on the site of the old seminary and schoolhouse which stood on the rear of the lot occupied by the present State Journal Building. The hostelry was opened to the public late in 1867. Prior to this there had been a hotel known as the Pioneer House on the southeast corner of Ninth and Q streets. It was managed by L. A. Scoggin. The Pioneer was constructed in 1867 and burned down a few years later.
The afternoon of July 29, 1867, is a notable date in the history of Lancaster County. Upon this day the little hamlet of Lancaster was selected by the com- missioners, Butler, Gillespie and Kennard, as the site of the capital of Nebraska. Lancaster then did not contain more than ten small houses, some of logs and some of stone. The commissioners met in the home of Captain Donovan, which stood near the southwest corner of Ninth and Q streets. This was a small stone and cottonwood house. Jacob Dawson's home was on the south side of O Street, between Seventh and Eighth, and in the front part of this house S. B. Pound had opened a small grocery store. Dawson was the postmaster at this time also. Milton Langdon resided in a small log house near the southwest corner of Eighth and Q streets. Dr. John Mckesson had his home on the north side, near what is now W and Twelfth streets. S. B. Galey, who had come to the town in April. 1866, had a small stone building on P Street, near Tenth. Linderman & Hardenbergh, who were among the earliest merchants, sold a small stock of mer- chandise at a point now on Ninth Street, near P. They sold their shop to Martin and Jacob Pflug early in 1867 and it then was operated under the firm name of Pflug Brothers. Robert Monteith and his son, John, had a small shoe shop at what is now 922 P Street. Elder Young lived on what is now O Street near Seventeenth. The stone house erected by the elder is still standing, although it is now covered with a cement veneer and a porch added. Luke Lavender's log house was located in the vicinity of Fourteenth and O, about on the site of the present public library. Lavender's small log home was the first to be erected on the plat of Lincoln. Dawson's house was, however, constructed about the same time and the first term of court was held by Judge Dundy in his house in November, 1864. William Guy, Philip Humerick, E. T. Hudson, E. W. Warnes and John Giles had homesteads near the plat of Lancaster, all of which are now a part of the City of Lincoln. There were about thirty inhabitants of the Village of Lancaster when the commissioners decided to locate the state capital upon this site.
This ends the history of the little Village of Lancaster, for, when the plat of Lincoln was made and the site surveyed, the former plat was disregarded and the struggling little community was absorbed by the greater Town of Lincoln. Land owners of Lancaster were given equivalent estates in Lincoln, as shown by the table upon another page.
CHAPTER VII
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO LOCATE THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA
"To the Honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Nebraska :
"In pursuance of the requirements of the act of the Legislature entitled, 'An act to provide for the location of the seat of government of the State of Nebraska, and for the creation of public buildings thereat,' approved June 14, 1867, the commissioners . thereby appointed assembled at Nebraska City upon Thursday, June 18, 1867, and prepared for a personal examination of the district, viz. : 'The County of Seward, the south half of the counties of Saunders and Butler, and that portion of the County of Lancaster lying north of the south line of township nine,' within which a selection was to be made for the contemplated seat of the state government.
"Having provided an outfit, and employing Mr. Aug. F. Harvey as surveyor, to ascertain the lines of the proposed sites, we left Nebraska City on the after- noon of the 18th of July, and arrived at Lancaster, in Lancaster County, on the evening of the 19th. The 20th and 22d were occupied in a full examination of the town site of Saline City, or 'Yankee Hill,' as it is more familiarly known, and Lancaster, the adjacent lands on both sides of Salt Creek, and the stone quarries from two to eight miles south of the village.
"The 23d was spent in reviewing the townsite proposed on the highland west of and adjacent to the Village of Ashland, in the southeast corner of Saunders County. The surface of this site declined gently to the north and cast, sufficiently for thorough drainage, and is of such evenness that but little expense will ever be involved for grading. From any part of it a widely extended panorama is spread, embracing as it rises, many square miles in the valley of the Platte and Salt Creek. Timber is abundant, and inexhaustible quarries of fine rock outcrop along the bluffs near the mouth of Salt Creek and along the Platte, within one to four and five miles from the town. Salt Creek affords excellent water power for manufacturing purposes in Ashland. The distance of the site is about thirty- five miles from Plattsmouth, near the influx of Salt Creek to the Platte.
"On the 25th we went northwesterly along the old California Trail through Saunders County, covering the Wahoo River near its head, and arrived at night- fall at the residence of J. D. Brown, in Butler County. Upon this route we observed no situation of commanding advantages.
"Leaving Mr. Brown's on the 26th, we looked over the flat prairie between the heads of Oak Creek and the eastern tributaries of the Blue, in towns 13 and 14 north, ranges 3 and 4 east, in Butler County. Here is a wide tract of un-
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broken plain, upon which we drove for six hours without seeing a depression in the surface at either hand. We struck the Blue in town 14 north, range 2 east, passing down that stream. After a drive that day (including some diversions from the direct rout to examine points which looked well at a distance), of over seventy-five miles, we arrived at Seward Center, in the fork of Plum Creek and the Blue, and opposite the mouth of Lincoln Creek. All of the proposed site here could be seen at a glance. It lies on a high table between the streams named, is level, is surrounded by fertile valleys, adjacent to timber, stone, and first-class water power, and is remarkable for healthiness of situation.
"The advantages, indeed, are possessed in an equal degree by Milford, six to eight miles below Seward, and by Camden, in the fork of the Blue and West Blue, except that the last-named site was in a lower elevation. We remained in Milford over night, and on the 27th turned eastward, and arrived at Saline City in the evening.
"On the 29th we made a more thorough examination of 'Yankee Hill' and Lancaster and their surroundings. At the last named point the favorable impres- sions received at first sight, on the 19th, were confirmed. We found it gently undulating, its principal elevation being near the center of the proposed new site, the village already established being in the midst of a thrifty and considerable agricultural population, rich timber and water power available within short distances, the center of the great saline region within two miles ; and, in addition to all other claims, the especial advantage was that the location was at the center of a circle of about one hundred and ten miles in diameter, along or near the circumference of which are the Kansas state line, directly south, and the impor- tant towns of Pawnee City, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, Omaha, Fremont, and Columbus.
"The state lands which we observed in our tour were mainly away from considerable bodies of timber or important water courses, and did not possess, to all appearances, any particular advantages, nor was the title of them so far vested in the state at that time (the report of the selection of lands by the governor under the acts of Congress admitting the state to the Union, not having then been certi- fied or approved at Washington) as to warrant us in making a selection where there was a possibility that the title might fail, or in waiting until, by confirmation at Washington, the title had been secured.
"Under these circumstances we entertained the proposition of the people residing in the vicinity of Lancaster, offering to convey to the state in fee simple the west half of the west half of section 25, the east half and the southwest quarter of section 26, which, with the northwest quarter of section 26 ( the last- named quarter being saline land), all in town 10, range 6 east, the whole em- bracing 800 acres, and upon which it was proposed to erect the new town. In addition, the trustees of the Lancaster Seminary Association proposed to convey to the state, for an addition to the site named in the foregoing proposition, the townsite of Lancaster, reserving certain lots therein, which had been disposed of in whole or in part, to the purchasers thereof, and the owners of said lots reserved agreeing to a resurvey of the townsite as an addition to Lincoln, and the acceptance of lots according to the new survey in lieu of those acquired from the seminary company and surrendered by them.
"James Sweet, Esq., was appointed conveyancer to the commissioners, and Vol 1 - 6
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after his report upon the sufficiency of the titles proposed to be made to the state, and a careful consideration of all the circumstances of the condition of the state lands, the advantages of the situation, its central position, and the value of its surroundings over a district of over twelve thousand square miles of rich agricultural country, it was determined to accept the proposition made by the owners of the land. if upon a ballot the commissioners should decide upon a location at this point.
"In the afternoon of the 20th of July we assembled in the house of W. T. Donovan, of Lancaster, and after a comparison of notes and the discussion of advantages of the many points examined, proceeded to ballot for a choice.
"On the first ballot Lancaster received two votes and Ashland one. On the second vote Lancaster received the unanimous vote of the commissioners.
"The governor then announced the result to the people, many of whom were outside awaiting the decision.
"Having performed the business of the location of the seat of government, the commissioners returned to Omaha, leaving Mr. Harvey at Lancaster to do the surveying necessary to locate the depressions and elevations on the townsite, preliminary to his furnishing a design for laying off the blocks, streets and reservations, and making a plat thereof. He completed that labor on the 12th of August, when he notified the commissioners, and they again assembled at Lan- caster, on the 13th day of August. On the 14th the commissioners formally announced the founding of the Town of Lincoln as the seat of government of Nebraska. in the following proclamation :
"'To Whom It May Concern : Know ye, that on this the 14th day of August, A. D. 1867, by virtue of authority in us vested, and in accordance with an act to provide for the location of the seat of government of the State of Nebraska, and for the erection of public buildings thereat, approved June 14, 1867, we, the undersigned commissioners, on this, the 14th day of August. A. D. 1867, have by actual view selected the following described lands belonging to the state, viz. :
".S. E. 1/4 of section 23; the W. 1/2 of the N. W. 14, N. W. 14 of the W. 1/2 of the S. W. 14, of section 25, the W. 1/2 of section 25. of township No. 10 north, of range No. 6 east of the sixth principal meridian, and have located the seat of government of the State of Nebraska upon said described lands as a town to be known as Lincoln.
"'Further, that we have, upon the day above mentioned, designated within said location the reservation for the capitol building, state university and agri- cultural college, parks, and other reservations contemplated in the aforesaid act, which will be properly designated upon a plat and filed in the office of the secre- tary of state.
"'Done at Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska, this 14th day of August, A. D. 1867.
" 'DAVID BUTLER, " 'THOMAS P. KENNARD, "'JOHN GILLESPIE, ""Commissioners.'
"On the following day Messrs. A. F. Harvey and A. B. Smith, engineers, with a corps of assistants, who were sworn to perform faithful service, commenced the survey of the town. The design is calculated for the making of a beautiful
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town. The streets are 100 and 125 feet wide, and calculated to be improved on all except O and Ninth streets, and the other business streets around the Market Square and the Courthouse Square, with a street park outside of the curb line; as, for instance, on the 100-foot streets, pavements of 12 feet wide and park or double row of trees, with grass plots between, 12 feet wide outside the pave- ments : and on the 125-foot streets the pavement and park to be each 15 feet wide. This will leave a roadway of 52 feet on the streets 100 feet wide, and 60 fect wide on the wide streets, while on the business streets a go-foot roadway will be ample room for all demands of trade.
"Reservations of nearly twelve acres each were made for the state house, state university and city park, these being at about equal distances from each other.
"Reservations of one block each for a courthouse for Lancaster County, for a city hall and market space, for a state historical library association, and several other squares, in proper location, for public schools.
"The commissioners have also marked upon the book of record of lots, reser- vations of three lots each for the following religions denominations, viz. :
"Lots 7, 8, 9, block 65, for the Roman Catholic Church.
"Lots 10, 11, 12, in block 67, for the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"Lots 10, 11, 12, in block 87, for the Baptist Church.
"Lots 10, 11, 12, in block 89, for the Congregational Society.
"Lots 1, 2, 3, in block 91, for the German Methodist Episcopal Church.
"Lots 7, 8, 9, in block 97. for the Lutheran Congregation.
"Lots 10, 11, 12, in block 99, for the Protestant Methodist Church.
"Lots 16, 17, 18, in block 101, for the Christian Church.
"Lots 10, 11, 12, in block 119, for the Presbyterian Church.
"Lots 7, 8, 9, in block 121, for the Protestant Episcopal Church.
"These reservations were made with the understanding with the parties mak- ing the selection on behalf of the several denominations. that the Legislature would require of them a condition that the property should only be used for religious purposes, and that some time would be fixed within which suitable houses of worship, costing some reasonable minimum amount, should be erected.
"The commissioners have also reserved lot 13, in block 101, for the use of the Independent Order of Good Templars; lot 14, in block 101, for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and lot 15, in block 101, for the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons. We respectfully ask the Legislature to confirm our action in respect to all the reservations.
"The surveying of the town was done in a most careful manner, and with the utmost patience, and we believe that the lines are so well established that future litigation about 'lapping' of lots will be practically impossible. In every third street running north and south and every fourth or fifth street running east and west, there were set. at the center of intersection with every other street. a stone monument, even with the surface, in the top of which a mark was fixed at the exact point of crossing the lines. The work occupied Messrs. Harvey and Smith, and a double party of assistants, constantly, until the 10th day of Sep- tember, when having staked off every lot in town, except in a few blocks in the northwest part of the northwest quarter upon the 'Saline land,' the work was completed.
"In anticipation of the completion of the survey, and to insure parties pur-
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chasing the lots in time to build upon them for winter, and an early provision of the means of commencing work upon the state house, the commissioners, upon the 17th day of August, issued their advertisement for the first sale of lots, to be held on the 17th day of September.
"This advertisement was authorized to be printed in such newspaper as could give it the widest circulation. Upon the day of sale the weather, which had been excessively disagreeable for nearly a week, culminated in a cold, drizzly rain, in consequence of which not more than one hundred persons were present, and but few of these the bidders we had expected. The aspect of affairs was dis- heartening. Persons who had loudly boasted of their great expectations in buy- ing lots and building houses; others who had been lavish in prophecies of the unparalleled success of the enterprise; others who had been free with advice to us in regard to appraisements and sales-these, and still others, who were cer- tainly expected to be on the ground and foremost in purchasing, had given us the cold shoulder, and were not present nor within hearing. Indeed, your com- missioners almost felt that failure was after all to be the result.
"However, the first lot was put up, and after some delay in getting a bid- der, it was sold to J. G. Miller, Esq., for an advance of 25 cents on the appraise- ment of $40.
"This small beginning was an index to the proceedings for the day, and when the evening closed, the sales footing up to about one-tenth of our expectations, our spirits or our hopes were in nowise improved.
"The second and third days gave a better result, and on the fourth and fifth, sunshine having come again, bringing more persons to the sales, and getting everyone to feeling well, the bidding became encouraging, and the summing up of the five days' offering was nearly, if not quite, satisfactory.
"The sales here at this time amounted to about thirty-four thousand dollars.
"The offering of lots was continued at Nebraska City from the 23d to the 27th of September, inclusive, and in Omaha on the 30th of September to the 4tlı of October.
"The sales at Nebraska City and Omaha amounted to about nineteen thou- sand dollars, and aggregated, with the amount at Lincoln, about fifty-three thou- sand dollars, a sum sufficiently large to dispel all despondency and warrant re- newed exertions.
"We again met an obstacle which for a little while promised a good deal of trouble.
"Under the 'Capitol Bill' your commissioners were required to pay over the amount received from the sales of lots to the state treasurer, and pay all ex- penditures by warrants upon the state treasurer building fund held by that officer. We have, in this regard. to plead guilty to a technical violation of law. Except the sum of $148, none of the money received by us has ever been paid over.
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