USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 27
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The city council increased the levy for the library at a meeting in August, 1915, and the appropriation is now $200 per month.
PARKVIEW CEMETERY
Parkview Cemetery is one of the most beautiful burying grounds in Nebraska. Its name was suggested by the commanding view its site affords of the parks in College and Parkgrove additions and the more distant City Park; in fact this excellent view determined the selection of this location for a cemetery.
The chief mover in the establishing of this cemetery was Davis Lowman, the father of William M. Lowman and, curiously enough, the burial of Mr. Lowman was the first to be made in the new ceme- tery; this was on October 26, 1886.
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On April 27, 1885, 200 citizens petitioned the city council to pur- chase suitable grounds for a new cemetery and to discontinue the sale of lots in the old cemetery. December 26, 1885, the council passed an ordinance forbidding the further sale of lots in the old cemetery. The city government declined to assume financial responsibility in the contemplated cemetery, and as a result a corporation of citizens was formed. January 19, 1886, a meeting was held in the office of James B. Heartwell for the purpose of forming a cemetery association. There were present James B. Heartwell, A. L. Clarke, Samuel Alex- ander, O. B. Hewett, William T. Putt, Oswald Oliver, F. H. Firmin, Davis Lowman, William Lowman, Jacob Fisher, T. E. Farrell, Har- rison Bostwick and D. M. MeElHinney. Mr. Hewett was chosen chairman and Samuel Alexander clerk. It was voted to form a ceme- tery association and nine trustees were elected, as follows: O. B. Hewett, A. L. Clarke, Sammel Alexander, Davis Lowman, F. H. Firmin, T. E. Farrell, Jacob Fisher, D. M. McElHinney and James B. Heartwell. On the same day the Hastings Cemetery Association was incorporated. Eighty acres of ground, which is described as the south one-half of the southwest one-quarter of section 5, town 7, range 9, were purchased for $6,000; the plan of the association was to pay for the cemetery from the sale of lots.
The cemetery was laid out and platted by A. N. Carpenter, a landscape architect of Galesburg, Illinois. The ground as platted contains 1,932 lots; about 30,000 burials may be made in the cemetery. There are four acres of ornamental grove and lawns, besides the avemmes and small lakes. One block has been set apart as a potter's field and a tract containing 157 lots was sold to the Mount Sinai Ceme- tery Association, to be used as a Jewish cemetery. This sale was made for $480, the actual cost of the tract.
HIGHLAND CEMETERY
In the city records the "Old Cemetery" is called Highland Ceme- tery, as the park in which it is located is called Highland Park in the records. The entire tract was acquired by contract with the Union Pacific Railroad at an early date, probably 1873, although the city did not receive a deed until 1883.
George F. Work was the chairman of the committee named by the City Council to plat the cemetery and most of the work was done by the chairman. The cemetery contains ten acres.
There does not appear to be a clear record as to who was first buried in Highland Cemetery nor what the date was. Some of the
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old settlers believe that Mrs. Thomas R. Boyce was the first to find a resting place here, early in 1873. Others say that a Colonel Burke who claimed to have been a soldier in the Confederate army was the first to be buried in the "Old Cemetery." A few say that the first burials were made at some point just south of Hastings and that after the cemetery was laid out they were removed.
The original potter's field was located in the northeast corner of the forty acre tract owned by the city and several burials were made at this point. The greater number of the bodies were removed, but a few graves remain as evidence of the first potter's field. Among the very early undertakers were Andrew Vieth and William II. Stock.
HASTINGS PARKS
Hastings has three beautiful parks within easy walking distance of the business section of the city and reached by good streets and sidewalks.
Highland Park, commonly called the City Park, and sometimes the Waterworks Park, is the oldest park with respect to ownership by the city. It is a part of the forty acre tract purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad by contract some time prior to 1876 and for which the city received a deed May 11, 1883. Upon the same tract the water works were located, and Highland Cemetery, commonly called the "Old Cemetery." was platted.
No move was made by the city to develop Highland Park as a park until 1886. During the administration of Mayor Yocum the council ordered that trees be purchased and planted. It is probable that Councilman C. C. Rittenhouse was the first to urge the council to develop the park, and Mr. Rittenhouse was made chairman of the committee to purchase and superintend the planting of the trees. Highland Park lies immediately north of the postoffice and the tract of which it is a part lies between Burlington and St. Joseph avenues and Twelfth and Fourteenth streets.
During the year that Highland Park was laid out, 1886, Hast- ings received Prospect Park, commonly called Chautauqua Park, as a Christmas gift from Dewitt C. Palmer and Daniel C. Crane. This park was transferred to the city by deed December 24, 1886. It comprises twenty-four acres of which Mr. Palmer donated eighteen acres and Mr. Crane six. It was at this time that Mr. Palmer, who had come to Hastings from the State of New York, was platting Palmer's Prospect Park Addition.
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The terms upon which the park was donated provide that it shall be used for park purposes forever and that intoxicating liquors shall not be sold within its limits. It was also specified that the park should be immediately fenced and that trees should be planted in 1887 and that the park should be kept in good condition. The conditions have been well complied with by the city, except the one specifying that a lake should be formed within the park. There is a fine growth of trees, and the comfort with which the many thou- sands have enjoyed the Chautauqua and other entertainments well fulfills any anticipations that the donors may have had. Mr. Palmer returned to New York many years ago, but he has visited Hastings while Chautauquas have been in progress and has been well pleased with the use that the city is making of his gift.
ITeartwell Park lies in the northeastern part of the city and com- prises blocks 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Heartwell Park Addition. It is an irregular strip lying between Wabash and Elm avenues and Forest Street and Park Avenue. A dam across the ravine at Cali- fornia Avenue forms a lake by storing the water from the city drain- age sewers. During the winter months Heartwell Lake affords good skating for hundreds of children and in summer there is some boating. Heartwell Park is well supplied with grass and trees and is a favorite resort for picnics, band concerts and similar recreations. In the summer of 1916, and once before, the state convention of the Seventh Day Adventists was held in Heartwell Park, the white tents with the great canvas pavilion completely filling the park. This park was acquired by the city during Mayor Jacob Fisher's administration, or between April 5, 1898, and July 15, 1901.
CHAPTER XVIII WOMEN'S CLUBS
Just when the first woman's club was organized in Hastings is not known; certain it is that it was in a very early day. Something like thirty years ago, about 1885, a Chautauqua reading circle existed that was greatly enjoyed by the fortunate few who composed it. This circle disbanded long ago, and the greater number of its members have moved away from Hastings. Among the membership the names of Mrs. John Ideson, Mrs. O. G. Smith, Mrs. II. B. Knowlton and Mrs. Lou Vance Phillips are recalled.
GEORGE ELIOT
The George Eliot Club claims the honor of being the mother of clubs in Hastings. It was organized in December, 1889, with a mem- bership of twelve, to which number the membership is limited. The first year's work was devoted to the study of the works of George Eliot. The first members were: Mrs. John M. Ragan, Mrs. J. N. Clarke, Mrs. C. L. Stone, Mrs. J. M. Ferguson, Mrs. Claus Frahm, Miss Katherine Graydon, Miss Carrie Renfrew, Miss Ella Royce, Mrs. II. Bostwick. Mrs. O. G. Smith, Mrs. H. B. Knowlton and Miss Margaret Jones. The personnel of the club has changed greatly from time to time; some members have been lost by death, some have moved to other places, and a few have dropped out, so that only four of the original number remain. The Eliot has remained purely a cultural club and it has done some excellent work along its chosen lines.
On the anniversary of George Eliot's birthday in the fall of 1897 this club gave a reception to all the other women's clubs in town ; it was given in the old Elks' club rooms in the Stern Block and was a most delightful affair. This was the beginning of a number of reciprocal social affairs between the clubs and it was probably due to these inter- changes of courtesies that the idea of one large club developed in later years.
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P. E. O.
The P. E. O. is a sorority chapter rather than a club proper. In Hastings, however, it has always followed some line of literary work and in addition has done its share of philanthropic and educational work as directed by its central organization. The Hasting chapter was formed in October, 1889, thus antedating the George Eliot Club by a few months. Its original membership was Miss Helen Officer, Mrs. W. M. Dutton, Miss Minnie Dutton (now Mrs. John Pickens), Mrs. Mollie Campbell, Mrs. Florence Lowman, Mrs. Grace Kipp, Mrs. Lillian Main, Mrs. Flora Pearl, Miss Carrie Brown, Miss Estelle Ryan, Miss Elizabeth Jones, Miss Mary Jones, Miss Ada Nolan, Miss Laura Dilley (now Mrs. Rainard Wahlquist ), Miss May Dilley (now Mrs. Graham). Unlike the Eliot, the P. E. O. is not a limited organi- zation, but only three of the original chapter remain.
CARLYLE
A small reading circle of neighbors, started in 1894, developed in 1896, into a club called the Carlyle. Eight delightful and profitable years were spent in a comprehensive study of German. English, French and Russian history, followed by five devoted to English liter- ature. The membership was limited to twelve. The social affairs of this club were few, the most notable one being the bringing of Prof. Paul M. Pearson to interpret the writing's of Rudyard Kipling. The members were Mrs. S. V. B. Holloway, Mrs. W. H. Fuller, Mrs. Lamson, Miss Bella Cooke, Mrs. L. J. Capps, Mrs. Robert Moritz, Mrs. W. N. Filson, Mrs. Rose Shedd, Mrs. Mary Michael, Miss Mary Forsythe. Miss Margaret Lynn and Mrs. Mary Isham. Death of members and the removal of others from the city caused the club to disband in 1910.
The Miss Margaret Lynn mentioned was the professor of English literature at Hastings College during her stay in the city, and is now a teacher of English in the University of Kansas. She has done some excellent work for publication ; among other things are a number of delightful essays with story elements contributed to the Atlantic Monthly. These were recently compiled in a book, "A Half-sister to the Prairie."
ROUND TABLE
The Round Table was organized in 1893 with the following mem- bers: Mrs. F. M. Crowe, Mrs. W. H. Holland, Mrs. L. B. Terrill. Mrs. Thomas McIntosh, Mrs. N. R. Hamilton, Mrs. N. F. Damron, Vol. I-19
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Mrs. Bertha Jefferson, Mrs. C. B. Hutton, Miss Harriet Fyffe, Miss Ella Royce, Miss Edith Damron, Mrs. W. H. Dillon. Miss Fyffe was the president for a number of years.
This club has followed a varied program, which has included his- tory, biography, fiction, poetry, the drama, and mythology; the year 1914 was devoted to the history of Nebraska. Thoroughness and en- thusiasmı have characterized all the work. Current events have been discussed informally at nearly all the meetings. The membership has greatly changed but the number has always remained the same, twelve being the limit. Mrs. W. H. Dillon is the only charter member re- maining in the club. The early members were Mrs. M. A. Hartigan, Mrs. S. S. Snyder, Mrs. Will Duer, Miss Grace Dillon, Mrs. William Sheldon, Mrs. C. J. Miles, Miss Clara Miles, Mrs. Russell, Mrs. D. W. Palmer, Mrs. McKee St. John, Miss Diantha St. John, Miss Pearl Tomlinson.
FORTNIGHTLY
Because the Fortnightly was the only one of the culture clubs to federate and also the only one to disband when the larger democratic club was formed, it seems to merit the distinction of having been the direct forerunner of the present Woman's Club. The Fortnightly Club was formed among the little group that gathered for study around a very remarkable man, the Rev. John Power, who was the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church at the opening of the present century. Mr. Power was a most accomplished Shakespearean scholar · and drew around him a group of friends who met to study the works of the great dramatist under his instruction and guidance. Later, when Mr. Power left the city to go to Brownwood, Texas, where he now resides, the little study club organized itself into the Fortnightly Club and began the study of the American novel; later, it took up varied programs. The members were Mrs. R. P. Falkner, Mrs. Lem Tib- bets, Mrs. S. E. Howard, Mrs. W. II. Ferguson, Mrs. M. Reed, Miss Grace Dillon, Miss Clara Miles, Miss Agnes Power, Miss Julia Vine- yard, Mrs. F. C. Wood, Miss Mande Faxon, Mrs. Louise Kimball, Miss Stella Payne, Miss Laura Payne, Mrs. L. H. Young, Mrs. William Dutton.
The Fortnightly was the only one of the small clubs that ever joined the state federation; it did so in the same year that it was organized and Mrs. S. E. Howard and Mrs. Lem Tibbets were sent as delegates to the meeting of the state federation in the fall of 1903. The club continued to do good work along literary lines until the Woman's Club was formed in 1906, when it disbanded.
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AMERICAN LITERATURE
The American Literature Club was organized in 1895 with the fol- lowing membership: President, Mrs. Nellie S. Willard; vice president, Mrs. May Weeks Mattocks; secretary, Mrs. M. E. Averill; critic, Miss Elizabeth Pease; Mrs. Isabel Work, Mrs. Nettie M. Scott, Mrs. Lulu J. Pease, Mrs. Minnie. L. Ferris, Mrs. E. M. Schaufelberger, Mrs. Susette E. Pease, Miss Emma Parker, Miss Matie D. Kelley. As indicated by the name, this club was organized to study American literature, which course it pursued for some three years, after that fol- lowed a period of art study, then English, French and German history and literature; also two years each to the study of Shakespeare and Browning. The club continues to flourish at the present writing.
JUNIOR CLUBS
A history of Hastings clubs would indeed be incomplete without mention of two junior clubs that met with Mrs. John M. Ragan and enjoyed the privilege of her instruction and guidance. The first was called the Odd Number Club, the latter was the Margaret Fuller Club. Various subjects were taken up from time to time. Among others was a comprehensive consideration of Dante's Inferno. Many of the brightest among the young women of Hastings look back with pleas- ure and gratitude to the time when they enjoyed the rare privilege of Mrs. Ragan's scholarly leadership and her influence is felt in many distant states through the altruistic service of these young women whose characters she helped to mould.
The Odd Number Club was composed of the following young girls: Ruth Wilson, Mary McCreary, Carrie Jones, Eugenie Hayden. Margaret Pickens, Gertrude Yocum, and the members of the Mar- garet Fuller Club were Essie Hamot, Luella Brach, Sadie Bailey, Vida Ferguson, Ona Reed, Grace McClelland.
MATINEE MUSICAL
The Matinee Musical or Musical Culture Club, as it was called later, was organized in 1908 at the home of Mrs. W. E. Barnes. The following officers were elected: President, Mrs. R. B. Wahlquist; vice president, Miss Clara Miles; secretary, Miss Lillian Brown; exec- utive committee, Mrs. John M. Ragan, Mrs. John Slaker, Mrs. Fred J. Schaufelberger, Mrs. Beall, Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Van Sickle, Mrs. H. A. Blenkiron; program committee, Mrs. O. C. Zinn, Mrs.
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O. Oliver, Mrs. W. E. Barnes; musical director, Mrs. W. E. Barnes. Sixty-five active members signed the constitution at the first meeting; subsequently the number reached eighty-five with twenty-five asso- ciate members.
This organization was active for ten years, giving a number of delightful programs. In 1908 this society ceased to be as a separate umit and became merged in the Woman's Club as the musical depart- ment, and has been a very valuable addition to the club, supplying musical numbers for general programs and rendering efficient assist- ance in many ways. Shortly after its fusion with the Woman's Club a series of reciprocal programs was arranged with Grand Island, Fairbury and Kearney. This department maintains a high standard of culture. In 1914 it gave its members two rare artistic treats in the form of two illustrated lectures, one on "Italian Music" by Mrs. C. F. Morey and one on "Parsifal" by Miss Grace Sylla. Both were accom- panied with appropriate music.
HASTINGS WOMAN'S CLUB
With such an array of small culture clubs already in existence it would seem that there was no place in Hastings for the larger demo- cratic club. But when it is considered that these clubs were all limited in membership and were purely self-culture circles it will be seen that their existence only emphasized the need for the general club. The small chibs, like the women's colleges, had been teaching women to think. The study of literature inevitably leads the student to the con- sideration of life in its various phases, and then comes the call to action.
The history of the Hastings Woman's Club, or rather, the history of the causes which led to its organization, is precisely the history of every club of its kind-north, south, east and west, England, the con- tinent and the islands of the sea. It is one chapter of the great social phenomenon of the age-the awakening of woman. As the small clubs, exclusive and aristocratie in their tendencies, outgrew their spirit of mere mental acquisition, there arose a desire to do and to be; then came the call to act their part, to bear their share in the world's work.
On the afternoon of February 10, 1906, a group of women met by invitation at the home of Mrs. William Dutton, 1200 West Third Street. Mrs. Alice Whitney was called to the chair and Mrs. W. R. Snyder stated the purpose of the meeting, which was the organization of a woman's club on broad, democratie lines, whose object should be "individual development, a united effort toward harmony, charity and
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that broad culture which comes through service to others." A com- mittee composed of Mrs. John Pickens, Mrs. J. D. French and Mrs. S. E. Howard was appointed to draft a suitable constitution and by- laws. Later, the committee reported and the proposed constitution was adopted, after which the following names were affixed:
Mesdames Ida M. Howland, Gilliam, Will Snyder, Robert Falk- ner, J. D. French, P. E. McCoy, John Pope, A. Meston, F. P. Olmstead, F. G. Endelman, C. L. Alexander, John Pickens, H. S. Rollins, R. H. Meyer, William Dutton, Laura M. Gaines, Effie C. Wilber, James Sewell, Frank Nance, William Madgett, M. J. Law- ler, F. C. Babcock, George Kimball, P. G. Cunningham, S. L. Stich- ter, Barnett, Percy Renner, William J. Falk, F. A. Watkins, H. E. Beaghler, Z. H. Hughes, Oliver Whitney, George M. Hoerner, T. B. Parker, O. E. von Oven, J. R. Corey, Pauline Ragan, J. T. Steele, M. E. Barnes, J. E. Warrick, Heartwell, F. A. Boller, J. V. Beghtol, George Churchill, Frank Schaufelberger, B. F. Barr, Herman E. Stein, Charles Kohl, Elizabeth Babcock, Harry Brewer, Harry Haverly, W. B. Kern; Misses Bertha Hope Lee, E. Virginia Reed, Annie L. Richards, Beatrice Walling, Matilda McClelland, Richards, Dorr,. Mildred McMillan, Birdsell. Gertrude Dietrich and Edna Work.
Temporary officers were then elected as follows: President, Mrs. Ida M. Howland; vice president. Mrs. Gilliam; recording secretary, Mrs. W. R. Snyder; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Robert Falkner; treasurer, Mrs. J. D. French. Meetings were held every two weeks at different places but considerable difficulty was encountered in find- ing a suitable club home; finally, the auditorium of the Carnegie Library was secured and regular meetings were held there until the spring of 1910 when the club moved into it's present comfortable quar- ters in Brandes Hall, on Second Street and Burlington Avenue.
In March, 1906. the following departments were formed: Parlia- mentary law, civics, current topics, household economics and physical culture. Excepting the last, these departments are all actively at work at the present time, and they have been re-enforced by literature. art, music and dramatic art departments.
May 12, 1906, the following permanent officers were elected : Pres- ident, Mrs. J. D. French; vice president, Mrs. W. R. Snyder; record- ing secretary, Miss Gertrude Dietrich; corresponding secretary, Mrs. J. M. Sewell; treasurer, Mrs. M. E. Barnes. These officers were re- elected in 1907.
In February, 1906, the club became affiliated with the state fed- eration and the following December it became a member of the gen-
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eral federation. At the annual meeting of the state federation held in Kearney in 1906 the club was represented by Mrs. French and Mrs. W. M. Dutton. Mrs. French as president of the Hastings Club ex- tended an invitation to the federation to hold its next meeting at Hastings. The invitation was accepted and the convention met in Hastings in the Methodist Church during October, 1907. It was a courageous thing for so young a club to attempt to entertain the whole state federation, but the meeting was a great success from start to finish and placed the Hastings Club in the front rank of the Ne- braska clubs that are "doing things," which rank has been maintained. Among the notable social events of the convention were a rare musical treat provided by local talent and a banquet at the Masonic Temple at which 150 guests were seated.
The officers elected in 1908, while meetings were still being held in the library auditorium, were: President, Mrs. W. E. St. John; vice president, Mrs. A. H. Brooke; recording secretary, Mrs. R. P. Falk- ner; corresponding secretary, Mrs. John M. Ragan; treasurer, Mrs. E. A. St. John. These officers were re-elected in 1909.
Among the things accomplished during Mrs. St. John's presidency was the furnishing of a room at the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion for the use of that association at a cost of $100; also the taking up of the club's abode in the new Fraternity Hall ( Brandes Hall), where there is ample accommodation in the parlors for general club meetings. also department meetings, with the free use of a well equipped kitchen and of the large auditorium for the physical culture class, and large social gatherings, including the annual elub banquet.
In January, 1910, the officers elected were: President, Mrs. John M. Ragan; vice president, Mrs. U. S. Roherer: corresponding secre- tary, Miss Louise Lepin; recording secretary, Mrs. Hurst; treasurer, Miss Ella St. John; Mrs. Ragan was elected delegate to the biennial convention to the general federation to be held in Cincinnati in June of that year. This was the first time that the Hastings Club was represented in the general federation.
The most notable event of this administration was the establish- ment of that organization known as the Civies Board of Charities. As early as 1907 the club had a charity committee. It sought to relieve suffering whenever possible, especially among women and children. A number of orphans and neglected children have been cared for: some placed in homes, others in the various state institutions such as the Institute for the Feeble Minded, at Beatrice, the Girls' Industrial School at Geneva and the Boys' Industrial School at Kearney. The club feels particularly happy over the fact that one of its proteges, a
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crippled boy, whom it was able to place in the Orthopedic Hospital at Lincoln, is greatly improved and is learning a trade, so that he bids fair to become a self-supporting and useful citizen. Among other activ- ities this committee collects cast off clothing from the citizens and dis- tributes them in different ways according to the need. In winter a room is open once a week where people, especially mothers, can come and replenish the family wardrobe. Mrs. Alice Brooke and Mrs. F. C. Wood are the leading spirits in this part of the club's activities.
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