USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 41
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Pokrok Zapadu is the oldest Bohemian newspaper in Omaha, if not in the entire Missouri Valley. It was established in 1871 by Edward Rosewater and was at first published twice a month. It then passed into the hands of John Rosicky, who began to issue it weekly and gave it a wide circulaton. It is now published by the Pokrok Publishing Company, at 1417-19 South Thirteenth Street, every Wednesday. Editions of this paper under different names are printed for circu- lation in various counties of Nebraska, Kansas, Dakota and Minnesota, where there is a Bohemian population. It is republican in its politics.
Posten, a Swedish weekly, was started in 1886 and for a time was edited by C. A. Jacobson. It is now published every Wednesday by the Posten Publishing Company as an agricultural paper and has a large circulation among the farmers of that nationality throughout the Northwest.
The Protector, the organ of the liquor interests, began in 1897. Henry Keat- ing is the present editor and publisher.
An independent paper called the Rural Weekly is issued every Wednesday. It was established in Omaha in 1911 in connection with the Clover Leaf weeklies of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Stampa (English Press ), an independent Italian weekly, made its first appear- ance in 1915. It is now published every Saturday by the La Stampa Publishing Company at 2123 Pierce Street and is edited by Claudio Delitata.
Tidings, a monthly fraternal magazine, has been published by the Woodmen of the World since 1896 and is devoted to the interests of that order. The publication office is in the Woodmen of the World Building and the magazine is edited by S. G. Smyth.
Trade Exhibit is published every Saturday in the interests of the mercantile business of Omaha. The paper was established in 1891 and is now edited by Charles B. Ayers. Closely allied to it in character is the Tradesman, which was started in 1909. It is published monthly and is edited by L. A. Higgins.
The Tribune, formerly the Nebraska Tribune, is a German daily and weekly, which was started in 1882 by F. C. Festner, with Frederick F. Schnake as editor. Editions are issued every day of the week except Sunday and the weekly edition comes from the press on Thursday. Val J. Peter is the present editor and the paper is published by the Tribune Publishing Company.
True Voice is a Catholic weekly, which was started in 1903, and is issued every Friday from the offices of the True Voice Publishing Company in the Barker Block, at the southwest corner of Fifteenth and Farnam streets. With the issue of December 5, 1913, the company published an extra large, illustrated edition to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the paper's birth. In this edition were given historical sketches of every Catholic parish and institution in the ('ity of Omaha, as well as a great deal of miscellaneous information regarding the city's industrial life and activity. The True Voice is ably edited by Peter C. Gannon.
The Twentieth Century Farmer, a farm journal conducted along modern and progressive lines, was established in 1900. It has a large circulation among thie farmers of the Missouri Valley; is edited by T. F. Sturgess, and is published by the Bee Publishing Company.
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The Western Banker was started in 1906 by the Chase Publishing Company. It is a monthly magazine devoted to the banking interests of the Middle West. Clement Chase is the editor.
The Western Laborer, a weekly paper published in the interests of the trades unions, was founded in 1891. It is now edited by Frank A. Kennedy. The Laborer is a newspaper of the "patent inside" type, though it contains a great deal of news relating to the labor organizations of Omaha and the surrounding towns.
A medical monthly called the Western Medical Review was started in the fall of 1896, being the legitimate successor of the Clinic, already mentioned. In 1916 the Review was well edited by Dr. A. L. Muirhead and was published by a corporation known as the Medical Review Company.
The Western Scot, a monthly published for the promotion of the Scottish societies and for the entertainment and instruction of the Scotch people of the Missouri Valley, was established in 1904. It is published by the Western Scot Publishing Company and is edited by Alexander McKie, who is a representative of his race.
A little monthly called the Woodmen News is published by the Woodmen of the World and is edited by John T. Yates, sovereign clerk of that order. Besides the news relating to the Woodmen, it contains in each issue entertaining short stories, anecdotes, etc. It was started in 1900.
The Drovers Journal-Stockman is a small daily published in South Omaha in the interests of the live stock trade. It was started in 1888, about four years after the stock yards were opened, and has grown in importance until stock dealers and shippers over a large territory rely upon it for authentic informa- tion concerning the markets. It is edited by Bruce & McCulloch and published by the Journal-Stockman Publishing Company. No edition is issued on Sunday.
Another South Omaha paper is the Gwiazda z Zachodu ( which in English means Western Star), an independent Polish newspaper established in 1904. It is issued every Thursday by the Gwiazda z Zachodu Publishing Company and has a good circulation among the Polish population.
The Nebraska Democrat, also published in South Omaha, is a weekly demo- cratic newspaper that began its career in 1901. The publication office is located at No. 2421 O Street and J. M. Tanner is the editor and publisher.
WESTERN NEWSPAPER UNION
Situated on the corner of Fifteenth and Jones streets are the headquarters of the Western Newspaper Union, which claims to be the largest newspaper service corporation in the world. It was established in 1880 by George A. Joslyn and now has branches in thirty-one cities of the United States, extending its field of operations gradually until it now touches New York on the east and Salt Lake City on the west. The new building, recently occupied by the concern, is five stories in height, exclusive of the basement, constructed of reinforced concrete and cost $100,000. Hundreds of newspapers in the smaller cities and towns receive service through this great corporation, which supplies reading matter to suit the editor, who furnishes and puts in type only the local news. Mr. Joslyn was president of the company at the time of his death on October 3,
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1916. The other officers, of the company at that time were as follows: John F. Cramer, vice president ; H. H. Fish, secretary ; C. L. Farnsworth, treasurer.
Connected with the Western Newspaper Union is the Western Paper Com- pany, which supplies the paper, printers' ink, etc., for the rural papers that depend on this house for their "patent insides." Consequently tons of paper are received in Omaha, printed on one side and then shipped to the publishers of the smaller publications. The business of the Western Newspaper Union runs into millions of dollars annually.
RURAL NEWSPAPERS
In the chapter on Towns and Villages is given an account of the early news- paper ventures in the smaller town of Douglas County. The following list of present day papers is taken from Ayer's Newspaper Directory for 1916:
The Bennington Herald, an independent weekly, was established in 1913 and is now published every Friday by C. J. Wilcox, editor and publisher, who runs a job printing department in connection.
The Benson Times was established in 1903, when Benson was only a village. It is now ably conducted by George D. Lawson, editor and publisher, and is issued on Friday of each week as "an independent newspaper."
Elkhorn has a weekly newspaper called the Exchange, but it is printed in the office of the Waterloo Gazette.
Florence is the center of several publications. The Crozier, a monthly reli- gious magazine, is published by a committee of the Episcopal Church. A little weekly paper called the Fontenelle was started in 1915 and is now published every Friday by J. M. Myers, editor and publisher. The Tattler was also estab- lished in 1915 and is published every Saturday by E. L. Platz. The Trans- Mississippi Elk, the official paper of the Nebraska State Elks Association, is published at Florence by G. L. Barton, under a permit granted by the Grand Lodge of Elks. I. W. Miner is associate editor. The Tribune, the oldest paper in Florence, was started in 1903. It is an independent weekly and is now published by Earle C. Webster, who is also the editor.
Millard, like Elkhorn, has a local newspaper called the Courier, which is in reality the Millard edition of the Waterloo Gazette.
Ralston has a paper called the Industrial, which is devoted largely to the manufacturing interests of that suburb. Since the great tornado of March 23, 1913, which damaged the factories of Ralston so seriously, a large part of the patronage of the paper departed and its issues have been somewhat irregular.
Valley has two newspapers. The Enterprise was started in 1887 and is now published every Friday by C. E. Byars, editor and publisher. Its chief mission is to advocate measures for the advancement of the local business and social interests. The West End Advocate, established in 1915, is an independent weekly and is published every Thursday by Albert C. Hedberg, who is also the editor.
The Waterloo Gazette dates back to 1895, being one of the oldest rural news- papers in the county. It is an independent weekly and is issued every Friday by James H. Riggs, editor and publisher. The Gazette also issues weekly editions of newspapers for Elkhorn and Millard.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE BENCH AND BAR
PURPOSE OF THE COURTS-TENDENCY TO CRITICIZE-THE LAWYER AS A CITIZEN-
TERRITORIAL COURTS AND JUDGES-DISTRICT COURTS-LIST OF DISTRICT JUDGES-COUNTY COURTS AND JUDGES-COUNTY ATTORNEYS-THE MUNICIPAL COURT-THE BAR-CHARACTER SKETCHES OF EARLY LAWYERS-BAR ASSOCIA- TION-A FEW NOTED TRIALS-LAW SCHOOLS.
Much of the history of any civilized country or community centers about its laws and the manner in which they are enforced. Civil law made its appearance as soon as men began to realize that some system of rules was necessary for the protection of person and property, and to at the same time conserve the communal interests. The legislator and lawyer therefore made their appearance with the very dawn of civilization. At first the laws were simple and the methods of the courts were crude. But as the occupations and interests of the individual became more varied, through advancing civilization, the laws became more complex and were arranged into codes. A fairly good history of any country might be compiled from its statutes and court decrees alone.
"To establish justice" was written into the Federal Constitution by the founders of the American Republic as one of the primary and paramount purposes of government. The founders of the republic also showed their wisdom in separat- ing the functions of the government into three departments-the legislative, the executive and the judicial-the first to enact, the second to execute, and the third to interpret the nation's laws. States have copied this system, so that in every state there is a Legislature to pass laws, a Supreme and subordinate courts to interpret them, and a governor as the chief executive officer to see that they are fairly and impartially enforced.
Robert Burns, the celebrated Scottish poet, wrote a cantata entitled "The Jolly Beggars," in which he pictures a band of vagabond characters gathered at the house of "Poosie Nancy," to while away an evening with mirth and drinking. In the course of the evening's entertainment a strolling tinker sings a song, all joining in the refrain, which is as follows :
" A fig for those by law protected, Liberty's a glorious feast- Courts for cowards were erected, Churches built to please the priest."
That sentiment may find lodgment in the mind of some "Jolly Beggar" today. But it is a mistaken notion to think that courts were erected for cowards. They
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are intended to protect the interests of all alike-the brave as well as the timid, the weak as well as the strong. And liberty under just laws is a far more "glorious feast" than liberty without law; for liberty without law quickly becomes unbridled license, which has no regard for the rights of others.
The law is a jealous profession. It demands of the judge on the bench and the attorney at the bar alike a careful, conscientious effort to secure the adminis- tration of justice-"speedy and substantial, efficient, equitable and economical." Within recent years there have been some rather caustic criticisms of the courts for their delays, and a great deal has been said in the columns of the public press about the need of "judicial reform." Concerning this tendency to criticize the courts, one of the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court recently said :
"A reasonable amount of criticism is good for a public officer-even a judge. It keeps reminding him that, after all, he is only a public servant ; that he must give an account of his stewardship, as to his efficiency, the same as any other servant ; that the same tests applied to private servants in private business should be applied to public servants in public business, whether executives, legislators or judges-at least that is the public view. Would it not be more wholesome if more public officers, especially judges, took the same view?"
No doubt some of the criticisms have been well founded, but, unfortunately, many have condemned the entire judiciary system because some judge has failed to measure up to the proper standard, and the entire legal profession has been stigmatized as one of trickery because here and there a lawyer has adopted the tactics of the pettifogger. It should not be forgotten, in exercising the right of free press or free speech, that a large number of the greatest men in our national history were lawyers. John Marshall, one of the early chief justices of the United States Supreme Court, was a man whose memory is revered by the American people and his legal opinions are still quoted with respect and confi- dence by members of his profession. Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe, who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and gave to their country an empire in extent, were lawyers. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Thomas H. Benton, Salmon P. Chase, Thomas M. Cooley, Stephen .1. Douglas and a host of other eminent Americans wrote their names permanently upon history's pages through their knowledge and interpretation of the laws, and all were men of unquestioned loyalty, patriotism and love of justice. And last, but not least, stands Abraham Lincoln, self-educated and self-reliant, whose consummate tact and statesmanship saved the Union from disruption.
TERRITORIAL COURTS
On June 29, 1854, President Pierce commissioned Fenner Ferguson, of Mich- igan, chief justice of Nebraska Territory. At the same time commissions were issued to Edward R. Hardin, of South Carolina, and James Bradley, of Indiana, as associate justices ; Experience Estabrook, United States attorney, and Mark W. Izard, marshal. Acting Governor Thomas B. Cuming divided the territory into three judicial districts, each of which was assigned to one of the judges. The First District, composed of the counties of Dodge and Douglas, was assigned to Judge Ferguson ; the Second District, including the four counties south of the
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Platte River, to Judge Hardin; and the Third District, Washington and Burt counties, to Judge Bradley.
The Territorial Supreme Court was organized at Omaha on February 10, 1855, with Chief Justice Ferguson and Judge Hardin on the bench, Judge Bradley being absent. Mr. Estabrook was present as United States attorney and J. Sterling Morton was appointed clerk. No business appearing before the court, an adjourn- ment was taken until June. The only business transacted at the June session was the admission of Origen D. Richardson, Andrew J. Poppleton, Andrew J. Hans- com, Silas A. Strickland, Leavitt L. Bowen, Samuel E. Rogers and Alfred D. Jones as members of the bar. Messrs. Poppleton, Richardson and Strickland were the only ones of this group that ever became active attorneys.
Fenner Ferguson, the first chief justice of Nebraska Territory, was born in Rensselaer County, New York, in 1814. After attending the public schools and the Nassau Academy, he entered the office of Coon & Bramhall, at Albany, as a student, and in 1840 was admitted to the bar. Entering into partnership with his preceptors, he soon came into prominence as an attorney, his practice extending to the courts of New York City. In 1845 he removed to Albion, Michigan, where he served as prosecuting attorney and master in chancery, and was elected to the State Legislature. In the fall of 1854 he arrived at Council Bluffs, where he remained for about two weeks before crossing the Missouri and taking up his residence at Bellevue, where he and his family occupied one of the buildings of the Indian agency. During the first session of the Territorial Legislature he acted in the capacity of adviser to the acting governor and was freely consulted by members of both house and council as to the merits of certain proposed legislation. He was elected delegate to Congress in 1857, which office he held for two years. His death occurred at Bellevue in November, 1859.
Edward R. Hardin, judge of the Second District, was born at Savannah, Ga., in 1815. His grandfather, Edward Hardin, was a general in the Revo- lutionary war, and his father, also named Edward, was a general in the War of 1812. Judge Hardin graduated at the Georgia State University in 1833, after which he studied law and removed to South Carolina, where he was engaged in practice at the time of his appointment as associate justice of Nebraska Terri- tory in 1854. He continued as judge of the Second District until May, 1860, when he was appointed one of the judges of Utah Territory. At the breaking out of the Civil war he returned to Georgia, entered the Confederate army and served for four years as a soldier. He then practiced law at Cuthbert and Quitman, Ga., his death occurring at the latter place on June 12, 1884.
James Bradley, who was the first judge of the Third District, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1810. He was educated in the schools of his native county, taught a few terms and then became a civil engineer. In 1840 he went to Laporte, Ind., and was one of the engineers that constructed the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. In the meantime he had taken up the study of law, and in 1841 was admitted to the bar. In 1850 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature as a democrat, and in 1854 was appointed associate justice of Nebraska Territory. On account of his wife's health, he resigned in December, 1856, and returned to Indiana, where he subsequently served a terni as state senator. He died at Laporte on April 30, 1877.
When Judge Ferguson was elected delegate to Congress in 1857, he was
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succeeded on the bench by Augustus Hall, of Iowa, who entered upon his judicial duties on March 15, 1858, and served until his death in 1861. He was succeeded by William Pitt Kellogg, of Illinois, who resigned to become military governor of Louisiana under the reconstruction regime, and was afterward United States senator from that state. On May 8, 1865, William Kellogg, also of Illinois, assumed the duties of judge of the First District and chief justice of the Terri- torial Supreme Court, and continued to serve in that capacity until Nebraska was admitted into the Union as a state.
In the Second District, Judge Hardin was succeeded by Joseph E. Streeter, who served from 1861 to February, 1863, when Elmer S. Dundy was appointed his successor and continued on the bench until the admission of the state in 1867. Judge Dundy came to Nebraska in 1857 and had served two terms in the Terri- torial Legislature prior to his appointment to the bench. When Nebraska was admitted he received the appointment of judge of the United States District Court and held that office until his death. For some time he resided at Falls City, Richardson County, but later removed to Omaha. While on the United States District bench, his name became known all over the United States, on account of his ruling in the habeas corpus case of the Ponca Chief Standing Bear, an account of which is given in another chapter.
Eleazer Wakeley was appointed by President Pierce in January, 1857, to succeed Judge Bradley in the Third District, though he did not take his place upon the bench until April 22, 1857. Judge Wakeley was born in Homer, Cortland County, June 15, 1822. Soon thereafter his parents removed to Erie County, New York, where he attended the public schools until he was about thirteen years old. The family then went to Elyria, O., where young Wakeley finished his education in the high school taught by John P. Cowles. He then entered the law office of Joel Tiffany, one of the leading lawyers of Lorain County, and in 1844 was admitted to the bar. Not long after his admission he decided to try his fortune in the West and located at Whitewater, Wis. He represented Walworth County in the last Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, and afterward served for four years in the state senate of that state. His first term of court in Nebraska was held in the residence of Judge Hyde, at Tekamah, Burt County, Mr. Hyde being the clerk of the court. The session lasted about one hour. In Dakota County, Judge Wakeley's first official act was to fine the sheriff twenty- five dollars for not being present at the opening of the court. The next morning the sheriff appeared and presented a satisfactory excuse for non-attendance and the fine was remitted. In January, 1861, Judge Wakeley was reappointed by President Buchanan, but soon after President Lincoln was inaugurated Judge Wakeley resigned and returned to Wisconsin. He located at Madison, where he formed a partnership with his brother, C. T. Wakeley, and resumed the practice of his profession. Subsequently, as a member of the firm of Wakeley Brothers & Vilas, he was associated with William F. Vilas, afterward United States senator and postmaster-general during the greater part of President Cleveland's first administration. In 1867 he returned to Nebraska and located at Omaha, where he quickly built up a lucrative practice. For seven years he was assistant counsel for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1871 ; was a candidate for judge of the Nebraska Supreme Court in 1879, but was defeated with the rest of the democratic ticket; and in 1883 he
JUDGE ELEAZER WAKELEY
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was appointed district judge by Governor Dawes. At the expiration of that term he was elected for a full term of four years. Judge Wakeley died in Omaha on November 12, 1912, in the family home on the corner of Nineteenth and California streets, which he built in 1868.
Upon the resignation of Judge Wakeley in May, 1861, he was succeeded by William F. Lockwood, who continned in office until the admission of the state in March, 1867. Samuel W. Black and Joseph Miller also each served as territorial judge for a short time to fill vacancies. It is a coincidence worthy of note that Arthur N. Ferguson, Richard S. Hall and Arthur C. Wakeley, sons of three of the territorial judges, were afterward contemporaneously identified with the Douglas County Bar.
DISTRICT COURTS
The first session of the District Court in the Omaha district convened on March 12, 1855, at Bellevue, and remained in session until the 24th of the same month. Judge Fenner Ferguson presided, Experience Estabrook appeared as attorney for the territory, J. W. Patterson was deputy marshal and George Armstrong served as deputy clerk. The lawyers present were: Experience Estabrook, Origen D. Richardson, Andrew J. Poppleton, Silas A. Strickland, Samuel E. Rogers, L. L. Bowen, Alfred D. Jones and Andrew J. Hanscom, who had been admitted by the Territorial Supreme Court the preceding month. The principal business of the session was to order a venire for a territorial grand jury and the admission of D. H. Solomon to practice in the territorial courts.
On April 12, 1855, the second session of the District Court met, but imme- diately adjourned to October 16, 1855, when the first action of the court was to appoint A. J. Poppleton, Experience Estabrook and D. H. Solomon a committee to examine applicants for admission to the bar. Before the close of the term, O. P. Mason, Allen Root, William E. Moore, Thomas B. Cuming, Charles Grant, Bird B. Chapman, D. W. Price and John M. Thayer were admitted. On the 23d, P. G. Peterson, sheriff of Douglas County, reported the following venire for grand jurors: Jesse Lowe, Alexander Davis, R. Hogeboom, I. P. Halleck, Sylvanus Dodge, J. F. Kimball, S. Driskall, A. W. Trimble, J. Sailing, H. H. Smith, W. H. Smith, H. Johnson, J. C. Reeves, P. Cassidy and J. R. Allen. Out of this venire were chosen "twelve good men and true," who returned an indict- ment against Charles A. Henry for the murder of George Hollister.
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