USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 31
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CHAPTER XXI
THE HOMESTEADER-THEN AND NOW-POPULA- TION AND OTHER STATISTICS
The first bill passed by the Congress of the United States pro- viding for homestead entries was presented to James Buchanan, President of the United States, for his signature and approval, in June, 1860, and upon the 22d day of that month was by him vetoed in a vigorous message denying the power of Congress to dispose of the public lands in that way. The closing sentence of the message was that "This bill, which proposes to give away land at an almost nominal price out of the property of the Government, will go far to demoralize the people and repress the noble spirit of independence. It may introduce among us those pernicious social theories which have proved so disastrous in other countries."
On May 20, 1862, the Homestead Bill was presented to President Lincoln for his signature and approval, the same having passed both houses of Congress. The bill was promptly signed and approved. This became the original homestead law, and under its provisions every person who is the head of a family or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years and is a citizen of the United States, or has filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public land.
Under the law as passed, anyone filing upon public lands within the limit of a railroad grant could only acquire title to one-half of the quarter section. These homestead filings carried with them the right on the part of the entryman of commutation after one year's occupancy and improvements. That is to say, he could pay to the Government at the rate of $2.50 per acre for land within the limits of any railroad grant, and upon payment and proof of compliance with the terms of the law in other respects, receive his patent for the quantity of land filed upon. In like manner, with entryman who had filed upon land beyond the limits of any railroad grants, except in his commutation he would only be required to pay $1.25 per acre
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
for the quantity of land filed upon to entitle him to the issuance of a patent upon the same. As a badge of title in the interim between the acts of commutation and the issuance of a patent, the entryman received from the receiver of the local land office a receiver's final receipt, which was a valid basis for subsequent transfers.
In the absence of commutation, entrymen were required to occupy, cultivate and improve their claims as specified in the law for the period of five years at least. Public lands were also acquired through complying with the preemption and timber culture laws. By means of the three methods, homestead, preemption and timber culture, one person could acquire title to three tracts, not exceeding in the aggregate 480 acres. From experience it was found that as a means of securing the permanent settlement and improvement of the public domain, the homestead method was the preferred one, and the preemption and timber culture acts were repealed and wise amendments were adopted for the homestead law. Chief among these amendments was that allowing the entryman within railroad land grant limits to take additional lands sufficient to make the total of each holding a quarter section. In the semi-arid lands the home- stead entry may cover an entire section. While there are none of the semi-arid lands near Adams County, yet many of her citizens have taken advantage of the tempting provisions of this amended law and emigrated to parts where these lands are found, and under the stimulus of pioneer pluck have prospered.
It is conceded that a great body of the men who have acquired land titles by virtue of these generous land laws were soldiers of the United States Army in the Civil war. Their number and influence were such that from the early '70s until overtaken by age and infirm- ity this soldier element dominated in the offices of school, church and state. Having been faithful soldiers, they readily became good citi- zens, and by patient industry have transformed the wild and raw prairie into the richest and best farm lands in the world.
All have moved out of the sod house or dugout into well- appointed modern homes. Their sons and daughters return home from the State University and other colleges each year in large num- bers, carrying back to father and mother well-earned diplomas. The father and mother found their way to their claim forty years ago in an ox cart. They meet their sons and daughters now at the railroad station with an elegant motor car that conveys them to a beautiful home upon a farm valued from twelve thousand dollars upwards.
The prairie farmer, now a gentleman, bids fair to become a prince under the rapid improvement of the methods of tillage and the con-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
version of products into cash. In this county now, in the year of our Lord 1916, the average homestead of 160 acres, whose entry fee was the trifling sum of a few dollars, is now readily sold in some instances for $20,000 and always at a very satisfactory price. To speculate as to the future advance in the price of these farm lands would only be a leap into the midst of uncertainties. Prices are now beyond the reach of the man of moderate means, and with enhanced yields resulting from a more intensive culture, they will go higher.
THE SOD HOUSE
A very considerable number of the homesteaders who settled in Adams County in accordance with the provisions of the laws outlined in the foregoing portion of this chapter by Judge William R. Burton lived in sod houses very similar in appearance to that of Mr. Dean's, a photograph of which is among the illustrations of this history. William Croft, who now resides in Hastings, at 803 North Burling- ton Avenue, has had a good deal of experience in the building of sod houses. Many of the homesteaders had had no experience in constructing these houses and so they sought the assistance of those who had built them before.
Mr. Croft was among those who assisted many in the erection of their houses. "To build a sod house," said Mr. Croft. "would require about three weeks' work for a man and team. The first thing done was to clear a place the size of the house, which would usually be about 16 by 24 feet. The walls would then be built inside the clearing and would be about two feet thick. The door and the front window were made in one opening. The best place to get sod was from lagoons, where furrows would be plowed that would make strips of sod about a foot wide. The strips would be about two feet long and in building the wall would be laid on top of one another. The ridge pole at the top was generally about ten inches in diameter and quite often brush would be used in place of rafters, and then the sod laid over them. Many of the sod houses were papered with newspapers, and a well-made sod house was cool in summer and warm in winter.
"Where a side hill was available, dugouts were often made, and there were a few log cabins. The last man to live in this kind of a house that I remember was Jacob Yocum, who lived in his dugout in the southwest part of the county until about 1905."
A PIONEER SOD HOUSE
The Home of James M. Dean, at Pauline, in 1885
VIEW OF HASTINGS IN 1978
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
DEVELOPMENT IN VALUES
When the first county commissioners, E. M. Allen, S. L. Brass and Wellington W. Selleck, ordered the first taxes to be levied in Adams County they declared the number of acres subject to taxation to be 182,043, and the valuation they placed averaged a little more than $5.00 per acre, making an aggregate of $921,235. The aggre- gate value of the personal property in the county that year was placed at $20,003. The value of the town lots in Juniata was placed at $15,945. These were the valuations in 1872. The total valuation of the taxable property the first year was $957,183.
In 1875 the total valuation of taxable property in the county had increased to $1,117,328.50; in 1876 it was $1,048,913.60; in 1880 it had grown to $1,943,060, and in 1881 it was $2,234,579. In 1881 the number of city lots was 902, with an assessed valuation of $154,378.
The assessor's record shows that in 1904 the total acres of taxable land in Adams County was 345,826, with an aggregate actual value of $10,467,511. Of the total acreage, 316,625 acres were under cul- tivation and 29,201 not under cultivation. The actual value of the cultivated lands is recorded as $9,997,776 and of the uncultivated as $469.735.
In 1916 the cultivated acreage is recorded as 350,244, with an actual value of $18.274,225. The improvements on the farms are recorded with a valuation of $1,370,675, bringing the total of tax- able lands and improvements, actual value, to $19,644,900. In so far as the assessor's records indicate the total increase in the valuc of farm lands in the twelve years intervening between 1904 and 1916 amounts to $9,067,399.
In 1904 there were in Adams County 5,529 improved city lots, with an aggregate actual value of $4,030,657, and 7.791 unimproved lots, with an actual value of $353,563. Total value improved and unimproved lots, $4,384,220.
In 1916 there are recorded 6,390 improved lots, the lots having a valuation of $2,819,825 and the improvements $4,349,505. The unimproved lots are recorded as numbering 7,737, with an actual value of $813,300. Total value of lots, improved and unimproved, $7,982,630. In 1916 there are 1,177 more lots than there were in 1904, and there was an increase of $3,638,410 in the total actual value of city lots throughout the county. This includes improvements.
The total assessed value of all taxable property in Adams County as equalized and corrected by the county board since 1912 is recorded
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
as follows: 1912, $7,638,237; 1913, $7,661,957; 1914, $7,682,885; 1915, $7,847,559; 1916, $7,924,659. These figures represent one-fifth of the actual value and include lands, personal property and rail- roads. The assessed valuation in 1916 is apportioned as follows: Personal property, $1,277,960; lands, $3,924,383; lots, $1,599,381; railroads and car companies, $1,122,935. According to these figures, the total wealth of Adams County in 1916 is $39,623,295. It is the consensus of opinion of many versed in land values that the figures on the assessment books representing actual values as a matter of fact represent about 80 per cent of actual values.
Some of the items in the personal schedules of 1904 and 1916 afford an opportunity for some interesting comparisons. In 1904 there were scheduled for Adams County 494 pianos, 906 organs and other instruments, 70 threshing machines, 63 corn shellers, 2,084 dogs, 467 automobiles, tricycles, velocipedes, bicyeles, motorcycles, and like vehicles, 4,822 carriages, 10,745 horses of all ages, 765 mules of all ages. 20,374 cattle of all ages. 28,006 hogs of all ages, and 81.485 poultry.
Personal schedules for 1916 show 1,502 pianos, 549 organs and other musical instruments, 124 threshing machines and power corn shellers, 1,172 automobiles, 1,011 cream separators, 3,732 carriages, wagons, coaches, hacks, drays and other like vehicles, 9,948 horses of all ages, 1,850 mules of all ages, and 13,713 cattle of all ages.
In 1880 there were 4,219 horses, 744 mules and asses, and 4,938 cattle.
FIRST AUTOMOBILE
In 1904 automobiles were not considered of enough importance to schedule separately, but were listed with bicycles. tricycles and other similar vehicles. Charles Jacobs of Hastings brought the first automobile into Adams County in the spring of 1901 and the first motorcycle in 1894. The automobile was a Mobile Steam, made by the present manufacturers of the Maxwell. One of the first trips made by Mr. Jacobs took him past the Presbyterian Church at Han- sen, where a great commotion was caused among the horses and some very hard things were said about the automobile by their owners who were worshiping in the church. The car had neither windshield nor horn nor scarcely any of the equipment with which the automobile of today is identified. It could travel about twelve miles per hour and it consumed about a gallon of gasoline per mile, but gasoline
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
sold at 8 cents per gallon. Dr. C. V. Artz and Rev. William Mc- Donald were the first in Adams County to ride in the first car with Mr. Jacobs. The growth in the ownership of cars is indicated as follows in the office records of the assessor: 1914, 646; 1915, 876; 1916, 1,172.
FARM PRODUCTS OF COUNTY
Probably the first farming done in Adams County was by "Wild Bill Kress" and his partner, Jerome Fouts, or "California Joe," in 1870, upon their homesteads in Little Blue Township. That year they planted a few acres of sod corn, which yielded fairly well and indicated something of the future of the county agriculturally. In 1880 there were cultivated 57,809 acres of wheat, 31,276 acres of corn, 3,793 acres of oats, 4,443 acres of barley, 571 acres of broom- corn, 295 acres of rye, 58 acres of potatoes, and there were 353 acres of tame hay.
How the county where M. N. Kress planted a few acres of sod corn developed as a farming country can be sensed by reflection upon the report made by the Nebraska State Department of Labor upon the products of Adams County in an average year like 1914. In that year there were planted 60,089 acres of corn, yielding 1.448,145 bushels; 134,253 acres of winter wheat, yielding 3,060,968 bushels: 42 acres of spring wheat, 378 bushels; 13,714 acres of oats, 479,990 bushels : 8621/5 acres of rye, 21,131 bushels; 570 acres of bar- ley, 15. 390 bushels; 13,940 acres of alfalfa, 30,668 tons: 1,465 acres of sorghum; 54 acres of speltz; 191 acres of speltz and Hungarian; 1,247 acres of Irish potatoes, 121,030 bushels. There were also 9,100 acres of wild hay, yielding 14,560 tons; 946 acres of timber; 78,740 poultry.
ADAMS COUNTY'S SHIPMENTS
The surplus shipments of farm products made by Adams County in 1914 is thus summarized by the state board of agriculture:
Products
Head
Cattle
2,994
Hogs
13,533
Horses and mules
1,776
Sheep
5,235
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
Products
Bushels
Apples
1,220
Barley
14
Corn
23,524
Oats
3.075
Onions
542
Popcorn
3,003
Potatoes
14,590
Rye
2,589
Wheat
4,817.344
Products
Tons
Alfalfa
100
Cement blocks
18
Hay
557
Ice
144,274
Sand and gravel.
1,100
Stone
Straw
231
Sugar beets
Products
Number
Brick
19,873,087
Products
Gallons
Cider
Cream
40,592
Ice cream
7,935
Products
Crates
Blackberries
977
Raspberries
1,084
Strawberries
3,715
Products
Cases
Canned goods 7
Products
Pounds
Alfalfa seed
22.764
Butter
693.975
Broomcorn
350
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
Products
Pounds
Cane seed
1,200
Celery
5,700
Cheese
2,980
Clover seed
Dressed meat
43,512
Dressed poultry
427,619
Dried fruit
7
Flour
3,615,163
Fresh fruit
253,655
Furs
815
Garden seeds
456
Hides and pelts.
295,571
Honey
500
Lard
4,392
Live poultry
2,845.175
Melons
16.000
Mill feed
941.022
Millet seed
14,564
Nursery stock
35
Nuts
6,300
Tallow
37.092
Tar
Timothy seed
Vegetables
60,635
Wool
11,909
Products
Baskets
Grapes
13,700
Peaches
4,300
Plums
2,900
Products
Dozens
Brooms
194
Eggs
536,562
In 1914, 817 Adams County farms were occupied by the owners and 690 by tenants ; in 1915, 778 were occupied by owners and 947 by ten- ants. In 1914. the first year that income tax was collected, tax was paid by fifty-one Adams County individuals; of these forty-four resided in Hastings and the remainder outside.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
ADAMS COUNTY'S POPULATION
The United States Government census report gives the following among other facts concerning the population of Adams County: The population in 1870 was 19; 1880, 10,235; 1890, 24,303; 1900, 18,840; 1910, 20,900. State census taken in the earlier years show that the ingress of settlers into the county was at the rate of about one thou- sand a year. The population given for 1874 was 2,694; 1875, 3,093; 1876, 3,940; 1878, 5,583; 1879, 8,162.
The decrease between 1890 and 1900 was 5,463, or 22.5 per cent; the increase from 1900 to 1910 was 2,060, or 10.9 per cent. In 1910 the population per square mile was 37; rural population, 20.5 per square mile.
The population of Juniata was 528 in 1890, 543 in 1900 and 471 in 1910. The population of Juniata Township, including the town, was 1,231 in 1890, 1,233 in 1900 and 1.056 in 1910.
The Town of Kenesaw had a population of 504 in 1900 and 657 in 1910. Kenesaw Township, including the Town of Kenesaw, had a population of 668 in 1890, 913 in 1900 and 1,082 in 1910.
The population of Highland Township was 603 in 1890, 600 in 1900 and 520 in 1910.
The Village of Ayr lies partly in Ayr Township and partly in Zero. The total population of Ayr Village in 1890 was 173, 141 in 1900 and 142 in 1910. The part of the village in Ayr Township had 107 inhabitants in 1890, 70 in 1900 and 87 in 1910. The part of Ayr Village lying in Zero Township had a population of 66 in 1890. 71 in 1900 and 55 in 1910. Ayr Township, including a part of the village, had 792 inhabitants in 1890, 715 in 1900 and 702 in 1910. Zero Town- ship, inchiding a part of the Village of Ayr, had a population of 712 in 1890, 709 in 1900 and 603 in 1910.
Blaine Township had a population of 622 in 1890, 554 in 1900 and 360 in 1910. Cottonwood Township, inchiding Holstein, had a population of 548 in 1890, 552 in 1900 and 564 in 1910. The popu- lation of the Village of Holstein in 1910 was 323.
The population of Denver Township in 1890 was 756, 1,360 in 1900 and 1,729 in 1910. Hanover's population in 1890 was 655, 593 in 1900 and 351 in 1910. Little Blue Township's population was 517 in 1890, 503 in 1900 and 546 in 1910. Logan Township was 324 in 1890, 301 in 1900 and 501 in 1910.
Roseland Township, including the Town of Roseland, had a pop- ulation of 782 in 1890, 847 in 1900 and 857 in 1910. The Town of Roseland had a population of 227 in 1900 and 249 in 1910. Silver
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
Lake Township had a population of 518 in 1890, 550 in 1900 and 479 in 1910. Verona, including Prosser, had a population of 789 in 1890, 773 in 1900 and 714 in 1910. Prosser was incorporated in 1907 and in 1910 had a population of 163.
The population of Wanda Township was 602 in 1890, 621 in 1900 and 523 in 1910. West Blue Township's population was 600 in 1890, 628 in 1900 and 375 in 1910.
The population of Hastings for 1890 is given as 13,584; 1900, 7,188: 1910, 9,338. At a special census taken in 1915 and announced upon December 18th, that year, the population of Hastings was announced as 10,843. The population of the First Ward in 1910 was 2,970; Second Ward, 2,404; Third Ward, 1,470; Fourth Ward, 2,494. The population as given for Hastings in 1890 is an indication of the padding throughout Nebraska that year and should not be taken as a measure of decrease, as the census figures of subsequent years seem to indicate.
The population of Hansen in 1910 was 72: Panline, 250; Leroy. 76; Hayland, 33.
The 1910 census shows that those of foreign birth, white, resident in Adams County when the census was taken were apportioned among the nations as follows: From Austria 124, Canada ( French 21, other 110), Denmark 150, England 160, France 12, Germany, 1,227. Greece 8, Holland 9, Hungary 2, Ireland 133, Italy 13, Norway 17, Russia 768, Scotland 28, Sweden 161. Switzerland 15, Wales 22. other foreign countries 28. In 1890 there were 327 negroes, 63 in 1900, 97 in 1910. Of the negro population of 1910, 83 were black and 14 mulattoes.
CHAPTER XXII
RAILROADS AND NEWSPAPERS
Adams County now has 150.97 miles of railroad lines belonging to the Union Pacific, Chicago & Northwestern, Missouri Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy systems and enjoys the advantages afforded by these great transcontinental trade and passenger routes. Not all these roads were built by the systems now owning them, some of them have been acquired by purchase from the original companies.
The Burlington was the first railroad to traverse Adams County. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska was organ- ized in 1869, though it was not completed through Adams County until the summer of 1872. It was a part of the main line of the Bur- lington system, but the portion built at this particular period extended from Plattsmouth by way of Lincoln to Kearney Junction. In a com- munication to the publisher of "The Book of Hastings." under date of November 12, 1906, E. Bignell, superintendent of the Lincoln division of the Burlington, wrote: "I ran an engine, hauling con- struction material for the line west of Hastings, before there was a house in Hastings, except one sod house, but I don't remember the date of the first train being put on. I remember my first trip very well because, on arrival at Juniata, where there was a water tank and a station building, I asked the agent if it was Hastings. Ile replied in the negative, saying Hastings was seven miles east. This was in June, 1872." In the letter of Mrs. A. V. Cole, printed in the chapter on Juniata, the date of the arrival of the first train in Juniata is given as June 8th, 1872.
In May, 1882, the Burlington was completed to Denver, building from Kenesaw by way of Holdrege. The completion of this line greatly improved the railway facilities afforded by the Burlington in Adams County and had a general stimulating effect. The connection with the Burlington's main line with its southern system, the Red Cloud branch, was built towards the close of 1878. The last spike in the construction of the Aurora branch of the Burlington was driven at
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
7 o'clock P. M., September 7, 1886, and the first regular train departed for Aurora at 11:05 A. M., September 13. Jolly "Pap" Willis was the conductor in charge. This was the last line constructed by the Burlington in Adams County.
It was the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad, now with the extension to Grand Island called the St. Joseph & Grand Island Rail- road, that brought Hastings into existence. As has been written pre- viously. Juniata was the official town of the Burlington and Hastings was an incident of the building of the St. Joseph & Denver City to the line of the Burlington at the point where Hastings stands. A fitting monument to the indebtedness of Hastings to the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad, is the name of the city. A man by the name of Hastings was a member of the firm that had the grading of the last section of the road into the city and the name was given to the town in his honor. Train service did not begin on the St. Joseph & Western until the fall of 1872.
A deficiency of funds frustrated the plans of the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad Company to extend the line from Hastings to Denver as was the original plan although the road was once graded for a considerable distance toward Kearney, the grade passing near the present location of the Lepin Hotel. About a year after the com- pleting of the road to Hastings a movement was inaugurated in Hast- ings to complete the road to Grand Island. The prime movers were W. L. Smith, who was connected with the St. Joseph & Denver, and J. J. Worswick, an Englishman, who was to finance the project. Asso- ciated with these were George H. Pratt, T. E. Farrell, C. K. Lawson and some others. A company of men were also associated in Grand Island for the same purpose, the plan being for the Grand Island men to look after the building of the road in Hall County and the Hastings men in Adams County. Grading was done north up what is now Bur- lington Avenue and northwards almost to the county line, while from Grand Island a grade was made almost to the Adams County line. When the project had proceeded thus far Mr. Worswick departed for England and did not return, and the enterprise was abandoned. If no rails were laid upon the grade for some time afterwards it was used as a track upon which to give trotting horses their practice bouts, and thus it was regarded as not having been wholly useless.
Hastings was the terminus of the St. Joseph & Denver City until 1879 when a connection was formed between the Union Pacific Com- pany and the St. Joseph & Denver Company. The twenty-five miles of road were constructed that year and soon thereafter the two com- panies were consolidated and the road was called the St. Joseph & Vol. I-22
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
Grand Island Railroad. Litigation grew out of the joint ownership of this line, minority stockholders complaining that the road was man- aged in the interest of the Union Pacific regardless of the rights of minority holders. Through a decision of the Supreme Court in 1916 the control of the road passed wholly into the control of the Union Pacific.
The Missouri Pacific Railroad with its western terminus in Prosser affords connection with the Burlington at Superior and the Missouri Pacific's connections in Kansas. It was formerly called the Pacific Railroad. It was built into Hastings in the winter of 1887-8 and extended to Prosser the following spring.
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