USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume I > Part 40
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On Friday morning, March 30, 1912, John Strong, a negro convict, was killed by Thomas Davis, a white convict. The killing occurred just after the morning breakfast had been served at 6.30. This made the eighth death since the murder of Warden Davis in February.
THE STATE HOSPITAL
The State Hospital for the Insane is another of the state institutions located at Lincoln. Prior to the location of this hospital the insane were sent to the asylum in Iowa.
By the act providing for the sale of the unsold lots and blocks in Lincoln the commissioners were directed to locate near the town a site for a state lunatic asylum and from the proceeds of the sales the sum of $50,000 was to be taken for the erection of a suitable building. Accordingly a site of 160 acres located about two miles southwest was selected and, after having issued the notices re- quired and adopted the plans of Architect D. Winchell, of Chicago. the contract for the construction of the building was let on August 15, 1869, to Joseph Ward, for $128,000. On December 22, 1870, the hospital was opened for the patients. A short time previous to this a small fire occurred and a little damage was done to the roof. Doctor Larsh, of Nebraska City, was appointed the first superintendent of the asylum and had twenty-six patients when he took charge.
On April 18, 1871, fire caught in the building and it was burned to the
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ground. It has never been determined whether the blaze was caused by acci- dent or purposely set by some person. The City of Lincoln immediately appro- priated $4,500 for the temporary care of the patients and this sum was afterwards repaid by the state. The building carried $96,000 in insurance. On June 6, 1871, a bill was passed by the Legislature authorizing a new building which was not to cost over seventy thousand dollars. The insurance almost paid for the rebuilding. Gray limestone from the Atchison quarries was used in the construction. William H. Foster, of Des Moines, Iowa, was the architect of the second building and R. D. Silvers the contractor. The work was finished on October 2, 1872. The original contract called only for the main building and one wing, but the Legislature of 1875 appropriated $25,000 for an additional wing. Additional wings and buildings have been added since.
THE STATE FAIR
Every year in September there is held at Lincoln the Nebraska State Fair. Thousands of people from over the state crowd the hotels of the Capital City during this time and witness one of the most complete and best fairs of any state in the country. The fair is well patronized, not only by attendance, but in exhibits of every kind of produce, especial attention being paid to the agri- cultural and dairy exhibits, the departments in which the state is most strong.
The first fair, territorial fair, was held at Nebraska City on September 21-22-23, 1859. The fairs of 1868 and 1869 were also held there. In 1870 and 1871 Brownville drew the exhibition and in 1872 Lincoln was given the honor for the first time. In 1873-74-75 the fair was held at Omaha; in 1876-77-78 at Lincoln ; from 1879 until 1884 at Omaha ; from 1885 until 1894 at Lincoln; from 1895 until 1897 at Omaha. In 1898 and 1899 there were no fairs held in the state owing to the Trans-Mississippi Exposition held at Omaha. The Legislature of 1899 passed an act, approved March 30th, providing for the permanent location of the state fair at Lincoln. Under this act the first fair was held in 1900 at Lincoln and has continued annually since this time.
The old Lancaster County Fair Grounds north of the city were purchased, enlarged, and many new buildings constructed. The state fair enclosure is now well supplied with exhibition space and has racing track, amphitheater, coli- seum and other appurtenances of a fair ground which compare favorably to any in the Middle West.
CHAPTER XXX
MISCELLANEOUS
BRIEF HAPPENINGS IN LANCASTER COUNTY IIISTORY
August 14, 1867-Location of the seat of government of Nebraska at Lincoln.
June II, 1868-One hundred and thirty acres of a school section south of Lincoln sold for $14,000.
September 2, 1868-The land office at Lincoln was opened for business.
August 1, 1870-Organization of the Lincoln Board of Trade.
October 13, 1870-First agricultural fair of Lancaster County.
October 19, 1870-Bohanan Brothers of Lincoln advertised 3,000 pounds of fresh buffalo meat for sale.
March 15, 1871-Six wagons loaded with immigrants from Indiana arrived in Lincoln.
April 18, 1871-Sixty-two homestead and pre-emption filings were made in the Lincoln land office.
May 4, 1871-Total business done at the land office for April, 1871, was: number of acres entered, 110,672.62; cash receipts for the month, $14,915.20.
May 17, 1871-Sixty-seven immigrant wagons passed through Lincoln trav- eling westward.
June 9, 1871-Terrific rain and hail storm at Lincoln, doing nearly ten thou- sand dollars damage to the town. Cellars all over town were flooded and streets filled.
June 28, 1871-Indiana editorial excursion party visited Lincoln.
April 4, 1872-Organization of Lincoln Building and Savings Association.
June 15, 1872-It is estimated that there are thirty-three immigrant wagons passing through Lincoln westward every day.
July 27, 1872-Doctor Mckesson made satisfactory test of the new harvester invented by himself.
August 14, 1872-A cloud of grasshoppers was seen passing southward.
September 4, 1872-A train of ten cars carrying 552 passengers from Illi- nois arrived in Lincoln.
September 5, 1872-The B. & M. Railroad brought to Lincoln on a single train 720 passengers, over six hundred of them being from the State of Iowa.
October 9, 1872-Fourteen wagons of wheat were brought into Lincoln from Seward.
October 14, 1872-General offices of the Midland Pacific Railway brought from Nebraska City to Lincoln.
319
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LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
November 21, 1872-The Lincoln Coal Mining Company filed articles of incorporation. They proposed to mine for coal disclosed while boring for an artesian well. A 47/2-foot coal vein was discovered 850 feet under the ground surface.
December 10, 1872-The mail between Fremont and Lincoln was being carried on foot, due to the prevalence of a horse disease known as epizootic.
December 14, 1872-Gas was used for the first time in Lincoln.
January 20, 1873-The Union Pacific Railroad established a branch office of their land depot at Lincoln.
March 12, 1873-Organization of Lancaster County Taxpayers Club.
May 9, 1873-Organization of Nebraska Townsite and Land Company in Lincoln.
May 31, 1873-Salt Creek overflowed and the bottoms west of Lincoln were inundated.
April 1, 1874-Municipal temperance party formed at Lincoln.
June 1, 1874-James Whitebreast, Otoe Indian convict; died at the peniten- tiary and was the first to be buried in the prison cemetery.
June 13, 1874-Greatest flood in five years occurred in Lincoln and vicinity. June 24, 1874-First five graduates of the university formed an alumini club.
July 16, 1874-A pickle factory was established at Lincoln.
July 26, 1874-The grasshopper scourge was reported from many parts of the state.
July 29, 1874-A large party of Russian Mennonites encamped at the fair grounds in Lincoln.
June 1, 1875-Grasshoppers devastated the southern counties.
August 1, 1875-Destruction of the Atwood House in Lincohi.
November 15, 1877-Earthquake shocks were felt by the residents of Lincoln.
September 7, 1878-A phonograph was exhibited at the opera house in Lincoln for the first time.
July 1, 1879-Forty-two colored immigrants arrived in Lincoln.
March 15, 1881-Seven inches of snow fell inside of three hours.
March 25, 1881-Salt Creek flooded the B. & M. depot grounds and west bottoms from two to five feet in depth.
February 23, 1884-Death of Elder J. M. Young, founder of Lincoln.
August 23, 1884-A mob near Berks Station, Lancaster County, lynched a Mexican, Luciano Padillo, for the crime of rape.
March 11, 1886-The Fitzgerald Ilose Company of Lincoln won the 300- yard race at New Orleans, a contest open to the world.
August 19, 1888-A three-foot vein of coal was discovered on the farm of Joseph L. Ryons, eleven miles east of Lincoln.
June 6, 1889-William A. Wiggington was the first negro graduate of the Lincoln public schools.
April 28, 1890-The new Burlington Flyer made the Chicago-Denver run in 291/2 hours.
May 18, 1892-Salt Creek rose the highest in seventeen years. Three hun- dred families were made homeless.
July 26, 1892-Dr. W. B. Swisher by his secret process agreed to bring an inch of rain to Lincoln and vicinity within twelve hours.
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LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
July 27, 1892-One and two-tenths inches of rain fell in Lincoln and was general throughout the state.
April 2, 1896-Maxey Cobb, treasurer of Lancaster County, found dead near the penitentiary. His accounts were short.
May 24, 1897-Herd of bison and elk at Lincoln Park sold and sent to Germany.
September 16, 1899-Disastrous fire in Lincoln with property loss of $160,000.
May 30, 1902-Dedication of monument to soldier dead at Wyuka.
July 9, 1902-Salt Creek reached the highest point in its history.
October 11, 1902-B. & M. train held up by robbers near Lincoln.
May 20, 1903-University students during shirt tail parade had a bruising riot with the police.
July 1, 1906-Lincoln was flooded with water by a cloudburst. Creeks and streams were out of their banks.
December 29, 1906-Samuel D. Cox shot to death.
January 10, 1907-W. J. Bryan deeded ten acres of land along the Antelope for a park.
July 5, 1908-Lincoln was again flooded. Salt Creek overflowed and the gas works were put out of commission. Railroads were compelled to suspend business, hundreds were homeless and nine were dead.
May 4, 1909-Lincoln voted out the saloons, a "dry" condition which then prevailed for two years.
December 29, 1909-The Labor Temple of Lincoln was dedicated.
LANCASTER COUNTY CENSUS
Precinct or Town
1910
1900
1890
Buda Precinct
899
982
859
Including Hallam
168
Centerville Precinct
792
832
788
Denton Precinct
706
590
453
Elk Precinct
688
674
691
Garfield Precinct
1,072
443
611
(Parts of Garfield Precinct were annexed to Lincoln City in 1906 and 1910 ; a part of Lincoln City was annexed to Garfield Precinct in 1901 and 1906.)
Grant Precinct
2,149
1,494
893
Including College View
1.508
865
Highland Precinct
606
70.4
827
Lancaster Precinct
8,364
3,953
1,397
Including Bethany
948
3,30
Including Havelock
2,680
1,480
Including University Place.
3,200
1,130
57I
(Parts of Lancaster Precinct were annexed to Lincoln City in 1906; parts of Lincoln City were annexed to Lancaster Precinct in 1900 and 1906.)
Vol. 1-21
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LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
Lincoln City
43.973
40,169
55,154
Little Salt Precinct
5-47
600
515
Middle Creek Precinct
690
762
756
Mill Precinct
551
650
596
Nemaha Precinct
1,09I
1,291
1,352
Including Bennett
457
495
474
North Bluff Precinct
498
524
501
Oak Precinct
893
849
734
Including Raymond
236
200
Olive Branch Precinct
725
802
779
Panama Precinct
927
971
814
Including Panama
230
Rock Creek Precinct
741
877
961
Saltillo Precinct
1.176
1,297
1,266
Including Hickman
388
382
341
Including Roca
129
177
191
South Pass Precinct
1,180
1,257
1,249
Including Firth
343
307
259
Stevens Creek Precinct
592
625
560
Stockton Precinct
529
616
677
Waverly Precinct
736
802
916
Including Waverly
297
266
West Lincoln Precinct
692
584
723
Including W. Lincoln
200
220
443
West Oak Precinct
634
640
565
Yankee Hill Precinct
2,342
1,847
1,758
73.793
64.835
76,395
POPULATION OF INCORPORATED TOWNS IN LANCASTER COUNTY
1910
1900
1890
1880
1870
Bennett
457
495
474
214
....
Bethany
948
330
...
..
. . . ..
College View
1,508
865
Firth
343
307
259
230
. . . ..
Hallam
168
. . . ..
Havelock
2,680
1.480
Hickman
388
382
341
83
....
Lincoln
43.973
40,169
55,154
13,003
2,441
Malcolm
53
.
. .
Panama
230
...
..
.
. .
. .
...
Raymond
236
200
. . . .
. .
. ....
Roca
129
177
191
115
. .. ..
University Place
3,200
1,130
571
. .. ..
Waverly
297
266
916
132
.....
West Lincoln
200
220
443
. .. ..
.
.
.....
. . . ..
..
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LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
PAGEANTS
The first effort made by Lincoln in the direction of a pageant was in 1889, when the Tartarrax Pageant was held in the city. Mr. Robert McReynolds was the originator of this pageant which was held on the Fourth of July of that year.
In 1915 the Pageant of Lincoln was held on June 5th and was such a suc- cess that it is to be repeated each year. The first pageant, 1915, depicted the early history of Lincoln, the settlement by the salt basin, the founding of Lin- coln as the first state capital and the subsequent growth of the city. The idea originated with the Alumni Association of the University of Nebraska, and they sought co-operation of every business in town. The Lincoln Commercial Club aided them very materially and helped to make it a success financially. Two performances were given on the university athletic field and were attended by about three thousand people. A slight rain in the evening threatened to spoil the night performance, but fortunately did not. The book was written by Hart- ley B. Alexander and the music was composed by Howard 1. Kirkpatrick. Robert D. Scott was director of the pageant and Bessie F. Park was assistant director. The pageant was divided into six scenes entitled: Westward Ho !; The Salt Gatherers; Choice of the Site of Lincoln, June 29, 1867; Proclamation of the Capital City, August 14, 1867; Medley of University Life; and The Grasshoppers and After. The pageant was partly symbolical, partly historical. The symbolical scenes were set to music and made free use of allegory; the historical scenes were dramatic in form, and aimed to be vividly reminiscent of the events of early days rather than to reproduce these events with fidelity. Each scene was divided into three groups of two scenes each. The total cost of the production was $2,800. In 1916 the pageant will be given again, this time dealing with Omaha, the Gate City of Nebraska.
A PIONEER IN LINCOLN
The experience of Mr. Adam Bax in the early existence of Lincoln is typ- ical of others who were here at that time. Mr. Bax died in 1915, at the time of his death being one of the few pioncers left. Taking up the story of his life after his arrival in Lincoln an article in the State Journal on the date of the Bax golden wedding said :
"Mr. Bax was induced to go into business, and Nelson Brock, at that time a banker at Nebraska City, gave him a loan of $75 to start into the shoe business. Ile sent the money to a firm in St. Joseph, and instead of sending the $75 worth of stock he had requested, the company sent him $300 worth of leather, and offered to trust him for the balance. Mr. Bax got as much as twenty dollars for a pair of boots in those days, and a good share of the work was done by Mrs. Bax, who helped in the shop. The little shop where they worked was built for them by Robert Bain, at that time the county clerk. The building was 12 feet square, and stood on the rear of the lot where the First National Bank is now located. The rental was $12 a month. From there they moved to Eleventh and O streets, in a two-room house owned by Jacob Drumm. Mrs. Bax had tired of boarding, and accomplished the moving unknown to Mr. Bax. She made an excuse to have him go to the new location, where he found his evening
324
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
meal awaiting him. There were only two rooms, and this was to be the shop and home. Mrs. Bax at one time kept seven boarders at this place. They paid $30 a month for this house.
"George Ballentine offered to furnish the lumber to Mr. Bax for a shop to be built on the lot two doors west of the southwest corner of Tenth and O streets. This he did, Mr. Ballentine accepting his entire account for lumber in shoes. Mr. Bax built up a good trade in a short time, keeping one part of the shop for the seven or more workmen, and the other for stock and sales room.
"About this time the Legislature of Nebraska voted to send three men to Germany as emigration agents. Mr. Bax was chosen one of these, his salary to be $200 a month for two years. Nelson C. Brock provided the funds for the tickets with which Mr. and Mrs. Bax started for his old home in Germany, leav- ing on April 15, 1871. Mr. Bax was exceedingly homesick one day when seeing the stars and stripes floating at a Washington's birthday celebration, and he decided to return home, which they did not long after.
"On reaching Lincoln he bought a shop on the lot where the south wing of the Lincoln Hotel now stands. South of him was a grocery store of Torry & Reed, and north of him at the corner of Ninth and P was the Graham saloon. One morning he came down to the shop to find it was leveled to the ground from fire, together with the other two business places in the block.
"Mr. Bax then went to work for C. B. Parker, who was in the tombstone business. He traveled to the country districts taking orders for work, most of the customers being homesteaders. From this he went to work for W. A. Dogget. selling sewing machines, and later for the Davison, Shamp & Co .. implement and machine business.
"About this time a syndicate of Lincoln men was organized to give work to the convicts at the penitentiary, starting a shoe factory. The company was com- posed of A. J. Sawyer, N. S. Harwood, Sam McClay, R. H. Oakley and Mr. Fisher. Mr. Bax was engaged to take charge of this shop, and had a gang of twenty-three convicts working under him.
"Mr. Bax left this position to become one of the first mail carriers of Lin- coln. There were five carriers, the others being William Gillespie, John Sim- mons, Mr. Whitmore and Mr. Tarbox. The work laid out for Mr. Bax was to make two deliveries of mail each day, and to gather up the mail from the boxes over his district and bring it to the office before 6 o'clock each morning. His route was bounded by Salt Creek to the west, twentieth Street East, and from G Street to the city limits south, beyond South Street. Ilis salary was $850 a year. Mr. Bax would not work under a democratic administration, so when President Cleveland went in the front door of the White House, Mr. Bax stepped out the back door of the postoffice. He was then appointed the carrier of the mails between the state house and postoffice, which position he held for ten years. Then he was for seven years the assessor for the fifth ward in Lincoln.
"One of the incidents in the life of Mr. Bax was the starting of the German Methodist Church in Lincoln. The first Nebraska Legislature in the year of 1869 donated three city lots for the German Methodist Church at the corner of Fifteenth and M. There was no German Methodist Society and no German who was a member of a Methodist church, except Mr. Bax, who was connected with
325
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
the St. Paul's Church. Governor Butler called on Mr. Bax and insisted that he should build the church, and that it must be done before July Ist, in order to retain the lots, which would revert back to the state if not occupied by that date. The governor offered to contribute $125 as a starter to the building fund. Colonel Cropsey volunteered a donation of $120: Tom Kennard, then secretary of state, gave $75: John Gillespie, auditor, contributed $50. These were all voluntary contributions, the men understanding the value of having churches in the community, and even if there was no German organization they were willing to contribute toward a cause that would tend to bring settlers to the community. The presiding elder of the Methodist Church was appealed to to find a German preacher, and enough interested people gathered together to complete an organ- ization. Mr. Bax went over to the east side of the 'square' and by buttonholing his friends and acquaintances, he got the promise of just $840 for the new building.
"There were no buffalo in this part of the state when Mr. and Mrs. Bax came. There were great numbers of antelope, and one morning Mr. Bax counted a herd of sixty-two on the hill which is now Franklin Heights. There were also a great number of prairie chickens and quail.
"Mr. Bax filed on a homestead in his earlier years. His wife and a young woman held the place as their residence, while Mr. Bax was working at the shoe trade in Lincoln. The homestead was six miles from the present site of Germantown, in Seward County. The nearest neighbor was seven miles away.
"In recalling the boom in city property. Mr. Bax tells a story about Charles Morrasey, who purchased for $14 a corner lot at Seventh and S streets. He was ridiculed and joked to the limit. As he made his appearance among his chums he was greeted with a noise imitating the frogs. At that time these particular lots were under water. In less than a year, however, Mr. Morrasey sold his lot for nearly five hundred dollars. About this time Tom Robertson offered lot No. 2 in the block where the Rudge store now stands to Mr. Bax for $300.
"Mrs. Bax claims the honor of making the first American flag which was unfurled to the breezes in Lincoln. The material for the flag was bunting, and was furnished to her for sewing by the Grant and Tanner Club Society, in the year 1868. The flag was twenty-one feet long, and the stars were placed in such a way as to form one big star."
ANIMALS IN EARLY LINCOLN
It is said upon good authority that the growth of the new Town of Lincoln was so rapid during the first few years of its existence that the wild animals which had occupied comfortable quarters upon the site could not accomnio- date themselves to the presence of civilization and ventured to remain with the hope that the mysterious enemy might leave, but which hope generally resulted in the enrichment of the fur dealer's business.
Deer, wolves, and many smaller species of animals were captured and killed in the Town of Lincoln as late as 1872. Simon P. Benadom was a fur mer- chant of Lincoln at that time. In the winter 1871-72 he went East with a stock and returning, found that Rich & Oppenheimer had bought a quantity of furs. He immediately bought these and also another batch of Simon Kelly, who had
326
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
traded a few casks of whisky to trappers on the Blue River for the pelts. Be- sides this trade in animal pelts Benadom shipped inside of two months 16,000 each of prairie chickens and quail to New York, each bird in a frozen condi- tion. In 1868 Benadom killed about fifty deer upon the present plat of Lincoln, also about twenty wolves. Deer were especially plentiful in the Salt Creek bottoms.
AN EARLY CLUB
One of the most successful and energetic of tlfe clubs of early Lincoln was the Red Ribbon Club, which was organized by John B. Finch in November, 1877, at a place on the east side of Tenth Street, four doors north of N. For years the meetings were held in what was known as the Red Ribbon Hall at the corner of Twelfth and M streets. The roll of membership grew to large pro- portions, fully seventeen thousand persons being members here and in the state at one time. The purpose of the club was to help the moral condition of the city and to do charity and rescue work in general.
HOTELS
Reference has already been made to the pioneer hotels of Lincoln, the Pioneer, the Cadman House and the Atwood House. In 1869 a Mr. Wilson constructed a store foundation on the southwest corner of P and Eleventh streets. This site was sold to James Griffith, who in turn disposed of it to Cropsey & Eng- land. This firm passed the property over to Doctor Scott, who completed a building there and opened a drug store about 1869. In 1870 he converted the building into a hotel, which was managed by John Douglas and was called the Douglas House. The house continued under this management until November, 1873, when J. J. Imhoff bought it, called it the Commercial Hotel and enlarged it. The business of the hostelry increased rapidly and the building was again enlarged and made three stories in height. It became the political headquarters of the state and a general meeting place for the citizens. In 1886 C. W. Kitchen bought the place and changed the name to The Capitol Hotel. He managed it until May 1, 1887. when Edward P. Roggen became the landlord. This hotel continued for some years as the leading hostelry and is still operated, although in recent years it has ceased to have the popularity it once enjoyed.
The next hotel was Opelt's, at Ninth and Q streets, which was completed by 1880, having been built by J. S. Atwood. At that time it was one of the largest hotels in Nebraska. It was then named the Arlington. The next hotel to be constructed was the Windsor, first called the Gorham House, located at the southeast corner of Eleventh and Q streets. This hotel was erected by T. F. Barnes in 1884, and was opened January 5, 1885, by Gorham & Brown. This hotel, when built, was a notable addition to the city. The Windsor has in recent months been renovated and placed under an incorporated management and is now regaining prestige and popularity which was suffered to decrease for a number of years.
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