USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 33
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FIRST DISTURBANCE
The first disturbance came early in the history of the institution. T. II. Leavitt, a state accountant, having been assigned to investigate the accounts of the hospital. reported August 5, 1891, for the previous twenty-five months. The report was made to the president of the Board of Public Lands and Buildings, A. R. Humphrey. The report charged lax methods generally for the period, and declared that it was impossible to trace where some of the public money had gone to. It could be seen, for instance, that on May 25, 1889, J. V. Smith had been paid $300 for a team of horses, but to whom had been paid $106.35 for a barn. harness and wagon could not be ascertained from the record. After enumerating some of the obscurities, the report said: "There are probably irregularities in the accounts in sight, cov- ering from $12,000 to $20,000, which neither the papers in my hands nor the time to which you have limited me have made it possible to examine into." "Bills have been paid in duplicate or in excess of what was due." "It is noticeable concerning the checks given to par- ties named in the payroll that some of them are far less than the sums
*NEBRASKA
STATE
HOSPITAL
CE
INGLESIDE
1887 - 1912
1
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named in the vouchers to the state treasurer." It was also charged that spurious names had been entered upon the payroll and money drawn to pay their salaries. Such is a sketch of early irregularities reported at Ingleside.
NEW REGIME
The theory underlying the legislative enactment of 1913, which created the board of commissioners of public institutions, was to improve the checking and accounting systems and to lessen the political patronage feature. Since its creation, this board has appointed the superintendent, Superintendent Fast being the first. If the theory works out, superintendents will not hereafter be necessarily changed as the fortunes of political parties change. 'The board is appointed by the governor, the members having six-year terms, except the first board, which gave Henry Gerdes, of Falls City, six years, Judge Howard Kennedy, of Omaha, four years, and Silas A. Holcomb, of Broken Bow, two years. At the expiration of his first term, Mr. Holcomb was reappointed.
GROWTH IN VALUE
When Superintendent M. W. Stone assumed his duties in 1889 the property put in his charge was valued at $80,598.66. This included land and all other property. The last inventory made was February 20. 1913, when the value of the Ingleside property was listed at $1,265,995.91. The estimated value at present is $1,500,000.
FIRST PATIENTS
Patients were first received at the hospital August 1, 1889. Forty- four were brought from Lincoln on that date. The first of these to be taken, becoming Number One, was Melvin Meals, who remained an inmate until his death, October 7, 1895. Of the party that came that day. Peter Hedstrum is the only one that remains. There had been received up to December 18, 1916, 4,115 patients in all, and the inmates upon that day numbered 405 women and 747 men.
NOTABLE PATIENTS
Among the notable patients at Ingleside at present is Hans Albert. a violinist of distinction and who still plays his instrument with much
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skill and feeling. Hans Albert relates that he was born in Austria and was brought to this country by Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Another musician of much ability is George MePherson. He is a colored man and was graduated from several musical conservatories. He is a skilled pianist and spends many hours at the piano, and has played at concerts. Another notable inmate, though with a different talent, is Bertha Liebbecke. She is known throughout the United States as "Fainting Bertha." She gained this name through her habit of fall- ing in a faint into the arms of pedestrians on city streets. Generally, when the pedestrians had disengaged themselves and provided care for the fainting woman, they found afterwards that they had been relieved by Bertha of their pocketbooks, watches, jewelry or other valuables. "Fainting Bertha" has escaped from Ingleside on some occasions and afforded opportunities for sensational captures.
THE STAFF
There were at Ingleside on December 18, 1916, 155 employees, with an aggregate payroll of $6,000 per month. The staff at present is: Superintendent, Dr. W. S. Fast; assistant physician, Dr. W. H. Crutcher: second physician, Dr. C. A. Oaks; third physician. Dr. W. W. Hedlund; fourth, physician, Dr. Clara M. Hayden: patholo- gist, Dr. J. S. Leisure. Percy M. Jones has been bookkeeper and Michael O'Mera steward since February 20, 1913. Mrs. Libbie Thors- den is the matron.
Ingleside is a world to itself, a community full of human interest. Cheerfulness and optimism among the employees is brought into strong relief because of its nearness to the great tragedy enacted by the unfortunates who find their home here. Among the employees there exists a bright social life. By them the institution is often referred to as the "matrimonial bureau." Many marriages have resulted from acquaintances made at Ingleside. The care bestowed upon the buildings and grounds makes Ingleside, in spite of the nature of the place, an object of pride to the people of Hastings and Adams County.
CHAPTER XXIV
JUNIATA
SETTLEMENT AND LOCATION
Juniata, with a population according to the census of 1910 of 471, is located around the center of section 12, township 7, range 11. It lies four miles west of the western extremity of Hastings and the Burlington station at Juniata is seven miles west of the Burlington station in Hastings.
Juniata is the oldest town in Adams County and was the county seat until September, 1878, although the electors had voted for the removal of the county seat to Hastings the year before.
The first settlers around Juniata were a colony from Michigan, at the head of whom were Adna H. Bowen, now residing in Idaho. and Samuel L. Brass. The exact location was determined by two representatives of the Burlington Railroad, D. N. Smith and another man who some of the early settlers recall by the name of Wylsie. The four quarters of section 12 were preempted by Titus Babcock, R. D. Babcock, Isaac Stark and John Stark. The Babcocks were brothers and Isaac Stark was the father of John Stark. These four took their preemptions in February, 1871.
Under each of the four inside corners of the quarters of section 12 the preemptors erected houses which were ready for occupancy about the middle of March, 1871, and these formed the nucleus around which Juniata was built. The houses were built of lumber hauled from Grand Island, and each was 14 by 16 feet and 11/2 stories high. These first settlers came to Grand Island over the Union Pacific and then came overland to Juniata bringing their supplies with them. The greatest drawback upon reaching the place was the lack of water, and it was about a month after their arrival before the railroad bored a well for their use at about the present location of the G. A. R. Hall. Until the well was bored, drinking water was hauled from Martin's Ranch on the Platte, a distance of about twenty-five
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miles. Mrs. A. H. Bowen arrived in Juniata February 22, 1871, following her mother, Mrs. Titus Babcock, by only a few days.
The four preemptors of section 12, after receiving their patents from the government. disposed of their holdings to the Burlington Railroad and took up homesteads. The colonists, as stated, were brought from Michigan through the efforts of Mr. Bowen and Mr. Brass, and when the preemptors sold to the railroad every other lot within the town site became the property of Mr. Brass and Mr. Bowen; that is one-half of the lots belonged to the railroad, one- fourth to Mr. Bowen and one-fourth to Mr. Brass.
John and Isaac Stark lived upon their homesteads some four or five years and then returned to Michigan, where John died. Titus Babcock who was the first postmaster of Juniata and also the first judge clected for Adams County, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. A. H. Bowen, in Hastings, February, 1892, and was buried in the Juniata cemetery. His wife had died in Juniata, May 16, 1877. R. D. Babcock is now a resident of San Francisco.
FROM MIRS. COLE'S SCRAPBOOK
In a letter to the Adams County Old Settlers' Association from Long Beach, Cal., March 6, 1915, contributed from "scraps from a scrapbook and reminiscences of early days in Adams County," that throws light interestingly upon early affairs in the county, writes Mrs. Cole :
"I never shall forget the black prairie as I saw it in 1872. just after a prairie fire had swept over it. To me, coming from Southern Michigan with her clover fields, large houses and larger barns, trees. hills, and running streams, the vast stretches of black prairie, never ending- no north, south, east, or west-dotted over with tiny un- painted houses and-no, I can't say barns-but shacks for a cow, and perhaps a yoke of oxen-that picture struck such a homesick feeling in my soul it took years to efface. I still see that picture. But it is only in my mind, for time has changed the black prairie into green fields of alfalfa and grain; the tiny dots of houses and outside sheds are gone like the prairie fires, and in their stead stand large com- fortable farm houses, and real barns, where not only the spotted cow, called 'Speck.' lives but, in more stately style than oxen or horse. stands the big motor car. Who would have believed it, when in December, 1871, the little town of Juniata was located as the County Seat of Adams County !
"In November, 1871, the Adams County Gazette was first pub-
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lished by R. D. Babcock and C. C. Babcock. The town site contained 360 acres. The first birth in Juniata was John Babcock, 1871. The first sermon preached was in November, 1871, by Rev. J. F. Clark- son, a Congregational minister, in S. L. Brass' home, in April, 1872. The first Sunday school was organized with S. L. Brass as its super- intendent. The first school teacher in Juniata was Miss Lizzie Scott. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, by E. M. Allen and Ira G. Dil- lon. Titus Babcock was the first postmaster, holding the office from 1872 until October, 1881. He was succeeded by William Knicker- bocker, who held it one month, when he was succeeded by L. J. Shir- ley.
"The first railroad train pulled into Juniata the eighth day of June, 1872. It was a joyful occasion, and celebrated by a public dinner. Before this the mail was carried by a carrier from Grand Island and Sutton.
"The very first stock of merchandise brought into Juniata was by John Jacobson, who kept the first hotel; also the first livery stable. In 1872 Frank Mitchel, C. R. Jones and W. H. Burr put in large stocks of goods. The first grain buyers were D. H. Freeman and R. S. Langley. The first clerk employed was Ed Jones. Mrs. Forgy kept the first millinery store. The first meat market was kept by Wil- liam Twidale; the first drug store by Nathan Platte. The first physi- cian was Dr. Morgan. The first death was a young man who died from being badly frozen while out hunting.
"In 1875 we held our first donation party at the residence of Thomas Peatt, Thursday, October 21, for the benefit of Elder Charles Reilley, the Methodist minister. The committee on invitations was D. H. Freeman, S. L. Brass and Mrs. A. V. Cole. I find an account of an entertainment given by Geary G. A. R. Post in 1885, and the first thing on the program was a peek-a-boo song by little Edna Brass, daughter of S. L. Brass. A pan of beans was voted to the larg- est man present, 175 votes cast at ten cents a vote; R. S. Langley getting ninety votes and D. R. Ball eighty-five. The item says three of the finest looking men in town were voted a cake for being the homeliest, and that Mr. Lockwood got the cake; the defeated men being John T. Hill and L. F. Pickerd.
"But the greatest excitement of the evening was in disposing of a large doll to be voted to the prettiest little girl present. The three- year-old daughter, Lottie, of Rev. and Mrs. Borger, and a three- year-old daughter, Bessie, of Mr. and Mrs. George T. Brown, were the contestants. J. M. Sewell had charge of the Borger tickets. E. M. Allen the Brown tickets. Excitement ran high until 2,960 votes Vol. 1-23
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were cast, the little Borger girl getting a few votes the more and hav- ing a doll costing $296. The entertainment netted the Post $400. The proceeds went toward paying for the new G. A. R. Hall.
"I have said a great deal about Juniata, but I know more about her. Those were our days. I chronicle no more of Juniata, for Has- tings, the Queen City of the plains, sprang into existence in 1872, when the St. Joseph & Denver Railroad formed a junction with the Burlington. Her rapid growth soon took from Juniata the county seat, and along with it the only building we had that in any way sug- gested that we were the honest, legitimate county seat of Adams County. It was the Adams County jail. Such an addition to our town! About as large as a good sized dry goods box, but our hopes were built on nothing less than that every man, woman and child in Hastings would find in it an abiding place. So with wrath in our hearts, and tears in our eyes, we watched it disappear toward the east, and poor Juniata was no more the metropolis of Adams County.
"Today, with loyal hearts, we point with pride to Hastings, the Queen City, and her beautiful little suburb, Juniata, where most of us have spent our hard days, along with many happy ones."
The jail which Mrs. Cole writes of as being hauled away to Has- tings still stands in that city, though not as a jail. It is located at 1023 North Saunders Avenue and is an outbuilding on the property of Anthony Holloran. The jail is built of 2 by 6 timbers and is remarkably well spiked.
In 1872 the first lumber yard was established by Henry Van Allstyn and the first livery barn by Ira G. Dillon. By the beginning of November, 1872, Juniata had fifty residents and about fifteen houses. A. V. Cole arrived in Juniata October 24, 1871. Mr. Cole walked from Sutton. Early in 1873 he established a grocery business and in August of that year Ira G. Dillon opened a general merchan- dise store and in November S. J. Shirley opened a restaurant. In 1878 Ira G. Dillon erected a grain elevator.
JUNIATA AFTER 1878
Although Juniata had definitely lost the county seat the year be- fore, 1879 was a year of great business and building activity. Wil- liam B. Thorne erected a business block at a cost of $15,000, and among those erecting residences were P. B. Hungerford, P. W. Warner, Ray L. Pomeroy, R. S. Langley, H. Barth, Samuel Dodge, Rev. J. W. Dobbs, Rev. H. A. Guild, Ira G. Dillon, William Twi- dale, D. H. Freeman, Edward Moore, James Laird, A. V. Cole and
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others. It was estimated that the building operations aggregated $75,000.
January 29, 1883, is the date of the great fire in Juniata when property with an estimated value of $25,000 was destroyed. The fire wiped out the business block south of Tenth Street and facing Juniata Avenue. Among the losers by that fire were A. V. Cole, H. E. Wells, W. D. Sewell, John T. Hill, Adams & Miles, A. T. Showen, William Twidale & Company and Company F, Militia. There was at that time a brickyard in Juniata and the burned area was rebuilt largely from brick of Juniata manufacture. Not long after that the brick business suspended. At present there are nine brick business buildings in the town.
Although the oldest town in the county, Juniata was not incorpor- ated intil June 15, 1880, upon the petition of sixty-four taxpayers. Ira G. Dillon, S. L. Brass, H. E. Wells, E. M. Allen and L. F. Picard were the first trustees, appointed by the county commissioners. The present trustees are E. P. Hubbard, J. L. Whitesell, L. F. McFerren, J. W. MeHarry and Theodore Trausch.
GRASSHOPPERS
In common with all of Adams County, and in fact all western Nebraska, the settlers around Juniata suffered complete loss of crops by the grasshoppers in 1874. An excellent crop was promising when the grasshoppers descended about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of July 4th. S. P. Howland, who at that time was located on his homestead on the southeast quarter of section 4, township 7, range 11, says that he observed the grasshoppers early in the forenoon but did not realize what they were. They appeared like a peculiar cloud drifting from the northwest and some declared that it was smoke from trains on the Union Pacific.
The grasshoppers alighted about 3 o'clock and by sunset the corn- fields were stripped of their blades. The hoppers tarried for three days and left no vestige of a crop. Mr. and Mrs. Howland made a desperate effort to save an eighth of an acre of onions that they had planted by driving away the hoppers, but off the entire three-eighths of an acre they harvested only six bushels of onions. "That fall." narrates Mr. Howland, "all the corn that we gathered from twenty acres was not more than enough to fatten one pig and in addition there would be fodder enough for one cow." All Adams County suffered that year in like degree and it was necessary to distribute
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relief among the settlers. A. H. Bowen and S. L. Brass were the committee in charge of this work at Juniata.
EASTER STORMI
Many of the settlers around Juniata suffered hardships during the great blizzard of 1873. In this vicinity the storm came driving down from the north about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 13th of April. It seemed to be about one hundred yards high and obscured the land- scape so that it was practically impossible to get about. On the farms men could not see the outbuildings from the house and had the greatest difficulty in keeping their direction in traveling only a few rods. Indeed, they could not always do so as the instance of George Sanger shows.
Mr. Sanger had paid $150 for a yoke of oxen and they were in his barn eight miles northeast of Juniata. The storm which had begun Sunday afternoon had not abated on Monday morning. and Mr. Sanger resolved to make his way out to the barn to feed the oxen. The barn was about twenty rods east of the house. When he reached the barn he found that one of the oxen was dead, smothered by the snow. When he had cared for the remaining ox Mr. Sanger started to return to the house. After taking a dozen steps, he could see neither house nor barn. There was nothing but the swirling. white snow and the unbroken roar of the wind. In a short time he was bewildered, lost all conception of direction and wandered helplessly in the storm. He went with the wind and by chance came to the school yard of District Fourteen. He did not know where he was but happened to stumble against an outhouse that stood in the school vard. All but exhausted and with nothing to eat Mr. Sanger stumbled into the outbuilding. IFere he stood up until Wednesday evening when the storm abated and he was rescued, more dead than alive. This is but one of many cases of endurance resulting from the great storm.
MILLING IN JUNIATA
From the earliest days of Adams County's history Juniata has been prominent as a milling town. The first mill was built in 1874 by R. S. Langley and D. H. Freeman & Company. Juniata precinct voted $6,000 in bonds almost as soon as the county was organized to aid in the building of a flour mill. The bonds were not paid, however, and the matter was taken to the district court where it was held that
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the bonds were illegal because the district had superseded its authority when it issued bonds in aid of a private enterprise. The cost of the mill was about $12,000.
When the mill was completed it was placed under a mortgage of $8,000 which was held by Nordyke, Marmon & Company, of Indian- apolis. The mortgage was foreclosed and the property sold at sheriff's sale and bought by S. W. Clarke. Later, in the settlement of William B. Thorne, the mill, as a part of the Thorne estate, was turned over to Adams County and in January, 1890, it was purchased by Oliver E. Palmer for $2,100. In 1892 the mill was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by George Collins but afterwards was taken over by Mr. Palmer who operated the mill until it was purchased by the present owner, W. H. DeSanno, in 1901. Mr. DeSanno was an experienced miller before coming to Juniata from Beemer, Nebraska.
In 1907 the Juniata flour mill was destroyed by lightning and the present plant was at once erected. When the mill was rebuilt during 1908, Mr. DeSanno's son, H. C. DeSanno, installed an electric light and power plant in connection with the mill. The electric light plant has flourished until at present there are about one hundred con- sumers, and the village streets are well lighted with about twenty-five street lights. The Juniata roller mills have a grinding capacity of sixty barrels of flour per day.
A HOME INSTITUTION
The Juniata Grain & Livestock Association is an important farmers' cooperative institution that operates both grain elevators and the stoekyards at Juniata. It was originally incorporated January 25, 1897, with the following incorporators: J. A. Cates, W. J. Cotes, O. Rutler, Ephraim Weeks, Albert Mecham, W. H. Stephens. John Parr, George W. Hall and George Pratt. At this time the capital stock authorized was not less than $250 nor more than $2,000. At first the association operated only one elevator, but for a number of years it has handled all the grain and livestock shipped from Juniata.
Some time after the first incorporation the association was reorgan- ized with a capital stock of $10,000. This time the incorporators were R. J. Ashmore, E. J. Hanchett, A. P. Slack, W. II. Waldron, T. G. Whiting, Ephraim Weeks and J. L. Blue. E. P. Hubbard is the present manager of the association.
Juniata was surveyed by Anselmo B. Smith and by that survey, made in November, 1871, South Street forms the south line of the
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town with the streets numbered from First to Tenth running parallel to South Street. South and North Depot streets run on their respect- ive sides of the Burlington Railroad track. Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth streets run east and west north of the Burlington track.
The avenues running north and south, beginning 160 feet east of the west line of survey, are named Platte, Blue, Juniata, Adams, Bowen and Brass.
POSTMASTERS
Titus Babcock was the first postmaster in Juniata, receiving the appointment in April, 1872, at a salary of one dollar per month. In 1881 William Knickerbocker was appointed, but only occupied the office one month before being succeeded by S. J. Shirley. Samuel L. Brass succeeded Mr. Shirley and in December, 1889, D. V. Stephens succeeded Mr. Brass. W. E. Shaver received the next appointment and was succeeded by I. H. Rickel who was postmaster for nearly seventeen years. Mr. Rickel was succeeded by the present post- master. IIenry L. Sergeant, who received his commission October 1, 1914.
JUNIATA CEMETERY
The Juniata cemetery, located on section 11, about one mile west of Juniata, is the oldest cemetery in Adams County and a number of the very earliest settlers rest in this ground. The first cemetery association was organized in 1873 and was composed of Titus Babcock, Daniel V. Stephens, J. H. Freeman and B. F. Smith. William B. Thorne, originally donated the ground, but it afterwards passed out of Mr. Thorne's hands and the association was compelled to pay forty dollars per acre for the cemetery to successors of Mr. Thorne, getting a deed for the property in 1884. The cemetery com- prises twenty acres and is well kept. Mrs. David Bigelow was the first to be buried in Juniata cemetery; this was early in 1873.
HAZEL DELL SCHOOL DISTRICT
In the early days because the schoolhouses were the social centers of the communities it was common to name them and they were known by these names rather than by the district numbers as at present. District 16 was Pleasant Hill, district 36, Liberty, and dis- triet 49 was Hazel Dell. Mrs. S. D. Marsh of Juniata has written a sketch of the Hazel Dell District which reveals much of the circum- stances surrounding the formation of the early schools.
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"The Hazel Dell School District," writes Mrs. Marsh, "was organ- ized in 1873. It was a part of what was at that time the 'Watkins district.' My father, F. M. Thompson, was elected director; Tole Morehouse, moderator, and a Mr. Bonebrake, treasurer. These officers were elected temporarily, or until the regular annual meeting was held.
"In April, 1874, a special meeting was called to vote bonds to build the schoolhouse and the next summer agents for school furniture were numerous all over the state, saying 'Build good schoolhouses. The railroad company will have them paid for before the home- steaders' land becomes taxable.'
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