USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 6
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On September 27, 1878, the county seat contest came up for the last time in the District Court. The motion of the defendants to substitute copies for the original papers which had been destroyed by fire was allowed. These papers were copies of the affidavit for injune- tion, the original petition, the order allowing the injunetion, the undertaking upon which the injunction was allowed, the amended petition. the answer and reply and the report of the referee. In the ruling. Judge Gaslin said that the plaintiff's had neglected to file copies of original papers as the court had ordered them on July 10th.
The court then passed upon the motion of the defendants to con- firm the report of the referee, filed December 3d of the previous year. The next words of Judge Gaslin announced the final victory of Hastings in the legal contest which had lasted from April 14, 1877, to September 27, 1878. These were the momentous words: "It appearing to the court that all the papers herein and all the evidence
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taken and proceedings had before the referee have been consumed by fire, and that they cannot all be supplied by copies or otherwise, and the court being fully advised in the premises, it is ordered that the injunction heretofore issued in this cause be and the same is hereby dissolved without prejudice, and that each party pay their own costs."
It was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when Judge Gaslin dis- solved the injunction. A little after 4 o'clock the news was received in Hastings. R. A. Batty and his partner, Mr. Ash, lost no time in looking up C. L. Alexander (Curt) and to him was entrusted the mission of transferring the county records to Hastings from Juniata. At that time Mr. Alexander was engaged in the livery stable and horse selling business. He had in his employ a cowboy by the name of Smith, a thorough westerner and an excellent shot with the revolver. Mr. Alexander pressed Smith into the service for the enterprise at hand. Mr. Batty and other Hastings men were anxious lest some new legal move made by Juniata would result in another court order retarding the movement of the officers to Hastings; accordingly Mr. Alexander was instructed to act as rapidly and quietly as possible.
Mr. Alexander and his man arrived in Juniata at about dusk. They had brought with them two teams and two lumber wagons with sideboards. Lamp lights flickered from the windows of the Juniata residences as they entered. The inhabitants were eating their evening meal. Immediately upon the arrival of the wagons there was great activity in the office of the county clerk, A. H. Cramer. Mr. Cramer hastily piled the records upon the desk and Mr. Alexander and Smith industriously deposited them in the wagons. An air of apprehensive excitement pervaded the place, for feeling in Juniata was high, and though they had lost the legal fight, it would be an exasperating sight to see the records thus loaded upon the wagons.
It is just as well that no Juniata residents witnessed these last activities. In a few minutes the wagons were rumbling across the prairie towards Hastings, where they arrived about 8 o'clock. A large delegation from town met the returning wagons at about the vicinity of the present Burlington roundhouse. The remainder of the journey was a noisy triumphal progress. The records were deposited in a little frame building, 20 feet long by 20 feet wide, belonging to Mr. Cramer and located at about 509 West Second Street, the present location of the water commissioner's office.
April 9. 1877, the election day, was a day of great excitement throughout Adams County. The conflict raged with great fury at both Hastings and Juniata, perhaps reaching the greater turbulence at the latter point. A considerable number of Hastings people were
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at Juniata throughout the day. Mr. Cramer was delegated by the Hastings contingent to watch the polls and challenge the votes he thought to be illegal. For Juniata a similar service was performed at the polls at Hastings by A. H. Bowen, assisted by a number of others. Towards noon a large crowd gathered in Juniata and the rising babel of voices grew ominous. Mr. Cramer felt that something was brewing and he surmised that an effort would be made to rush the polls for the casting of illegal votes.
Conspicuous among those arguing loudly upon the streets during the morning was a fiery Irishman by the name of Tom Murphy. He was eager for a fist fight in behalf of Ilastings. Opposed to Murphy was Sam Saulisbury of Juniata. Saulisbury was more or less of a professional boxer, and how Murphy and Saulisbury managed to refrain from combat during the first few hours of voting is inex- plicable.
It was just before noon that matters assumed a serious aspect. A force of Juniata men approached the polls in a body. At the head of the column marched Saulisbury, the boxer, but near him marched "Jim Laird," the generalissimo of the affair at hand. Other Juniata men that had been standing close to Mr. Cramer near the polls now crowded closer and closer as their reinforcements approached. Closer and closer they crowded until at length Mr. Cramer could only stay at his post by bracing himself against the pressure.
Meanwhile Hastings men formed to oppose the advancing line. One feature of the Hastings lines was the "Committee of Toms"; Tom Farrell, Tom Kernan, Tom Pardue, Tom Murphy and one other. The Ilastings line was there to protect the polls, because the word had gone out that Juniata was planning to cast a number of illegal votes. The lines met and then the fight was on. At last Murphy and Saulisbury closed in combat, but their encounter failed to hold attention because of a general charge all along the Hastings line. Heads and bodies were made sore that day. Tom Farrell used to relate that while in the midst of the battle, he found before him an old, white-headed Juniata man. Tom Farrell had drawn back his fist to strike the foeman, but the white hairs of his opponent gave him pause. "This won't do, county seat or no county seat," thought Tom. But the white-haired man thought, too, but differently. With a quick movement he suddenly produced and swung a club and Tom Farrell fell, stunned, to the ground.
In a moment more the crowd behind Mr. Cramer surged forward with a yell and the Hastings challenger was forced to retreat and the polls were in the hands of Juniata.
ADAMS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, HASTINGS
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Mr. Cramer saw that the Hastings partisans were not numerous enough to enable them to keep any further watch over the voting. The scene resembled a riot. Some Hastings men were drawing away wounded. Tom Murphy's hat was off and he was just stooping to recover it. A man approached, apparently with the intention of kicking Murphy on the head. But the Irishman was not to be caught. He sprang like a panther and with a well-directed blow laid his assail- ant full length upon the ground.
Mr. Cramer now sought his horse and mounted, rode to Hastings on the gallop to apprise the citizens of the state of things. Arriving, he found that Hastings already had the information. Oswald Oliver had telegraphed from Juniata. A moment later Tom Dodd arrived, also upon a foaming horse, and by these messages Hastings was thoroughly wrought. The first care of the men of Hastings was to drive Mr. Bowen and the Juniata watchers of the polls away from their post and out of town.
Then a force assembled and every vehicle was pressed into service to furnish transportation to Juniata. The county seat army carried toward the western village a motley equipment of weapons -- whips. clubs, scythes, whatever could be first found. The Hastings men came in such numbers that they were able to overwhelm Juniata, and Mr. Cramer was reinstated at his post as challenger. That evening another disturbance threatened to develop to dangerous proportions, for Hastings insisted that Mr. Cramer and Tom Lee should sit within the enclosure and watch the election officials count the ballots. and in this they were finally successful.
The ballot was a small piece of paper, bearing the words, "For Relocating the County Seat of Adams County." and the names of the contending towns. The ballots had been prepared on rolls per- forated, so that each one could be readily torn off. Mr. Cramer and Mr. Lee objected frequently to the counting of certain ballots. One notable instance was where a number of ballots had been cast into the box without taking the trouble to separate them. This probably happened in the excitement about the noon hour. The report of Referee Calkins, however, later indicated that Juniata was not alone in this overzealousness.
The little frame building on Second Street which was the first home of the county offices in Hastings was not a very pretentious affair. It was a square building measuring about 20 feet long by 20 feet wide. This building was occupied by the county for about sixty days. After the expiration of about that time the offices were moved to the present Courthouse Square and housed in a frame build-
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ing about 115 stories in height. This building stood a little southeast of the southeast corner of the present courthouse. It was the property of the Paine Lumber Company, who, upon its completion, leased it to Adams County.
This building was subsequently sold to Harrison Bostwick, who remodeled it and disposed of it to James Madgett, father of William Madgett, who at present is mayor of Hastings. It was removed from the Courthouse Square and at present is located at 203 West Seventh Street and is the property and residence of Mrs. S. C. Johnston. It was in the fall of 1880 that the building was removed from the Court- house Square, and at that time the county offices were once more moved and installed in the Stone Block, on the second floor. Here they remained until during the week of September 5 and September 12, 1890, when they were once more moved, this time to be established in the Adams County courthouse that stands on the Courthouse Square.
For some time after the removal from Juniata, Mr. Cramer at times carried on the business of the county clerk in his private office at different locations. Also when the records were moved, Septem- ber 27, 1878, there was not included the office of the county treasurer, W. B. Thorne was the county treasurer and a strong friend of Juniata. Mr. Thorne did not transfer his office to Hastings until late in the fall of 1878.
As soon as Judge Gaslin decided in favor of Hastings in the elec- tion contest of 1877 steps were taken, at the urgent suggestion of Mr. Cramer, to secure to Adams County the block of ground which had been offered as an inducement for the removal of the county seat. This was block 15 in the original town, the present Courthouse Square. Litigation resulted from this move.
Prior to the election of 1875 The Hastings Town Company had been prevailed upon to set apart block 15 for the use of the county and to be occupied for the purpose of erecting a courthouse and other county buildings. The company entered into an agreement, with bond, with the county commissioners to deed or release all their right, title or interest in the stated block upon the removal of the county seat to Hastings. The election was held April 6, 1875, and Hastings lost. By its articles of incorporation, the Hastings Town Company would dissolve May 18, 1875. Having lost the election, the friends of Hastings were desirous that the inducement of a public square should be available for the next contest. Before another elec- tion could be held, however, the Hastings Town Company would be dissolved. P rision was made for this contingency when on April
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30, 1875, the Hastings Town Company, by a vote of all its members, instructed and authorized the president and secretary of the company to make a deed or deeds to parties entitled thereto by reason of any prior contract. When shortly afterward the company wound up its affairs and prorated their interest in property undisposed of, block 15 was not prorated, because it had been set aside to be given to the county upon the condition that the county seat should be removed.
Therefore, when the county seat had been removed the president of the company before its dissolution, Charles K. Lawson, and the secretary, Thomas E. Farrell, executed a quit claim deed to Adams County. This instrument was executed October 8, 1878. Follow- ing the dissolution of the Hastings Town Company, May 18, 1875, however, a member of the company, James D. Carl, disposed of certain of his interests to his nephew, John O. Barada, of St. Joseph, Mo. Employing as his attorneys R. A. Batty and John M. Ragan, Barada commenced ejectment proceedings against Adams County on the ground that his uncle had conveyed to him Carl's interest in block 15. At that time two trials were had in all ejectment proceedings, decision in the first trial formally being made in favor of the plaintiff. The first hearing was held in this case May 17, 1880. and a finding was made for Barada. The attorneys for Adams County were Hewett, Yocum and A. T. Ash. December 9, 1880, attorneys for the plaintiff announced the death of Barada, and the following March Mr. Batty appeared in court as administrator of the estate and party plaintiff with Deliaha Barada, mother, and Mar- garet Barada, sister of John O. Barada. On March 17, 1881, Judge Gaslin delivered judgment in favor of Adams County. The court reviewed the history of the Hastings Town Company from its organi- ation and pointed out that block 15 had been set apart to be turned over to the county upon condition that such was the purpose of all members of the company, including Carl. The court also found no evidence that the sale by Carl to Barada had involved any considera- tion. Plaintiff's were ordered to make a quit claim deed to Adams County within sixty days.
The plaintiff's, however, were determined to contest the case to the end and appealed from Judge Gaslin's decision to the Supreme Court. The case was submitted and argued in the higher court in the January term. 1882. In July of that year the court, of its own motion, ordered a reargument. Not until January, 1884, was a deci- sion rendered. Judge Gaslin's decision was affirmed. The question raised in the case was: Did the deeds from the president and secretary of the Hastings Town Company convey the title to the land in ques-
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tion? The Supreme Court decided that they did, Judge Maxwell remarking in the ruling that the dedication originally made would have been sufficient, although that matter was not gone into.
It was in 1876 that Carl conveyed the lots assigned to him, and also a one-fourth interest in block 15 and other property, to Barada, and in 1879 the latter instituted his proceedings.
Almost immediately after the settlement of the controversy con- cerning the Courthouse Square, steps were taken for the erection of a suitable courthouse. On April 30, 1889, bonds in the sum of $75,000 were voted for the erection of a courthouse. The votes resulted as follows: For the bonds Kenesaw gave 11, Highland 10, West Blue 22, Juniata 3, Denver 14, Blaine 20, Roseland 8, Ayr 6, Hanover 8, Logan 2, Zero 9, Little Blue 7, Hastings 1,301; total for the bonds, 1,416. Against the bonds Kenesaw gave 108, Verona 66, Highland 51, West Blue 20, Wanda 73, Juniata 239, Denver 35, Blaine 12, Cottonwood 69, Roseland 94, Ayr 73, Hanover 34, Logan 54, Silver Lake 33, Zero 27. Little Blue 49, Hastings 7: total against the bonds. 1,040.
On July 9, 1889 the bonds were sold for $77.500, and shortly afterwards the contract to furnish the material and build the court- house was let to J. R. Sims of Hastings for $59,900. It was stipu- lated that the building should be finished and ready for occupancy on or before September 1, 1890. Owing to litigation concerning the validity of courthouse bonds in Gage and Cass counties, the buyers of the Adams County bonds refused to receive or pay for the bonds until the litigation in the other counties was settled, which was several months after the bonds were sold.
The contractor, however, proceeded with the work forthwith, and the building was completed near the time stipulated, and the county offices were housed in the new structure during the week elaps- ing between September 7 and September 12, 1890. The building was constructed under the direction of a committee from the board of supervisors, with Aaron Powers chairman. The other members of the committee were F. J. Benedict. William Vastine. B. B. Snod- grass and T. T. Jones. C. C. Rittenhouse of Hastings was the architect.
Under the direction of the committee a number of changes were made in the original specifications for the building. The total cost, as shown by the report of the committee, was $77,815.86. That figure includes furniture and sidewalks. The ground dimensions of the building are 95 by 115 feet. The height to the roof deck is 60 feet and to the top of the statue 133 feet. The foundation is of
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Colorado sandstone, the walls of St. Louis pressed brick with Wichita stone trimmings. The roof is of slate and the cupola has a covering of metal. The jail, located in the basement, has eight cells, one of which is for women. In the basement, too, are the apartments of the sheriff. The District Court room is on the second floor. Its auditorium is equipped with 240 opera chairs.
Reverting to the long, bitter struggle attending the removal of the county seat, it is pleasing to note that at last the feeling aroused by that contest has subsided. This can be shown in no better way than by quoting from a paper written by Mrs. A. V. Cole for a meeting of Adams County people living in California, in March, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Cole were pioneers in Adams County and settled in Juniata. Speaking of the days of the contest, Mrs. Cole says: "Hastings, with her rapid growth, soon took from Juniata the county seat, and with it the only building that in any way suggested 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 here spent our hard days, along with many happy ones."
The county commissioners held their last meeting in Juniata Sep- tember 27, 1878. Something of the triumph felt by those who had battled for Hastings is evident in the bold flourish of letters with which County Clerk A. H. Cramer wrote in the record the date upon which the deliberations of the board began in Hastings, October 10, 1878.
CHAPTER V HASTINGS
The location of a settlement upon the land on which the City of Hastings stands was due to the operation of American immigration agencies in Great Britain. These agencies, through the means of advertisements inserted in the British newspapers and through per- sonal interviews with prospective colonists, set forth in glowing terms the inducements offered in the middle western section and other parts of the United States not already populated.
There assembled in Liverpool one day a little company of colo- nists bound for America, who eventually settled in Hastings, Neb. They embarked upon passenger vessel Scandinavia of the Allan Line, and in due time arrived in Portland, Me. From Port- land they continued westward, as directed by the immigration agents, until they reached Lincoln. Here they bought horses and wagons, a few simple agricultural implements and provisions and continued their journey overland. In the spring of 1871, in either April or May, this little company halted at Thirty-Two Mile Creek.
A number of these colonists had had no experience in farming before coming to the prairie country, some others had had a little experience with farming as it was carried on in the British Isles. On the whole, it was a dreary outlook, but as George Wilkes remarked: "We couldn't walk back, so there was nothing to do but stay." Among these colonists were Joseph Hopkins, John G. Moore, Thomas Watts, William Wallace and family, Walter Micklen, Thomas Johnson, Mr. Binfield and family, George Wilkes, Thomas B. Wilkes, James Kemp, the Rev. J. F. Clarkson and Will Roberts. The women of the colony were Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Watts and Mrs. Binfield.
The greater number of these British immigrants took homesteads in the vicinity of Hastings, the land upon which Micklen settled after- ward becoming the site of the original town. Micklen's homestead is described as the west half of the southeast quarter of section 12, township 7, range 10. The boundaries of the original town are as fol-
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lows: On the north, Seventh Street; on the south, South Street; on the west, Burlington Avenue; on the east, St. Joseph Avenue.
The eighty acres adjoining the original town on the west was the homestead of John Gillespie Moore; out of a portion of this holding Moore's addition was platted. James Watts took for his homestead the eighty acres immediately west of that taken by Moore. Thomas Jolmson homesteaded the eighty acres to the east of Micklen's land, the eastern boundary being Wabash Avenue. The addition when platted was therefore called Johnson's addition. The half section thus described became the possession of members of the British colony in 1871. They were located on their places by Surveyor Babcock of Juniata. Of the remainder of section 12, Samuel Alexander home- steaded the northeast quarter in the spring of 1872. The east half of the northwest quarter was the homestead of James Haire, who came to Nebraska from Michigan. The west half of the northwest quarter was filed upon by George Grosse. The locations of these homesteads may be identified today by the additions which bear the names of the original settlers.
The first dwelling house was built of sod by Walter Micklen on his homestead in 1871. It was located near the corner of Third Street and Burlington Avenue. About the same time, Watts and Johnson put up sod houses on their claims. Watts' sod shanty stood near the present location of the residence of Emil Polenske, 1235 West Second Street. In the same year John G. Moore erected a small frame shack, which was the first frame building to be erected in the town. This building stood between Second and Third streets, not far from Saunders Avenue. The lumber to build this shack was hauled from Grand Island. The activities of these British colonists constituted all the life in Hastings during 1871.
The following year showed a very considerable growth. On April 22d Samuel Alexander arrived. He came to Hastings on the recom- mendation of Thomas Kennard. Nebraska's first secretary of state, by whom he was employed. Mr. Alexander when he came did not intend to remain. His plan was to file upon a quarter section of land, live upon it the one year required by law, and then return to Lincoln. Instead, he was caught in the whirl of new town develop- ment, and it is interesting to note that he did not again see Mr. Ken- nard until after the lapse of twenty years. Indeed, he continued to reside in Hastings until his death, April 19, 1908, and upon the day of his funeral the business houses of Hastings remained elosed for one hour as a mark of respect for the pioneer.
Almost immediately upon his arrival, Mr. Alexander was con-
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vinced that the little settlement had a very fair show to become a considerable town. Upon his homestead he erected a frame dwelling house, the second to be built in the town. This structure was 20 feet long by 16 feet wide. It stood immediately west of the present Alexander residence at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Lincoln Avenue. Towards the end of the spring he also erected a frame store building of about the same dimensions as the house, and installed a small general merchandise stock. This was the begin- ning of the mercantile business in Hastings. The store faced south on the south side of First Street, at about 15 North Hastings Avenue, the present location of the Hastings Fuel Company. Lumber for this building was hauled from Inland, afterward known as "Old Inland," and "Halloran," which was located on the southwest quarter of section 12 in Blaine Township, four miles east of Hastings.
Mrs. Alexander joined her husband the May following his arrival and at once encountered the difficulties of housekeeping in a pioneer western town. A new three-ply carpet served to divide the little house on Seventh Street into two rooms. Small as the house was, it was necessary to supply board and lodging to many who were joining in the struggle to make a town upon the prairie. Among those who from time to time or for certain periods found entertain- ment in the Alexander home were F. J. Benedict, C. G. Ingalls, C. K. Lawson, G. II. Pratt, Tom Farrell and many others. Mrs. Alexander arrived before the small house was completed and found her first night's lodging in Hastings in the frame shack of John G. Moore, the latter generously yielding his own apartments to Mrs. Alexander and Mrs. Sehryer, the latter also seeing the first of the new country, where she came to join her husband on his homestead.
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