USA > Nebraska > Platte County > Past and present of Platte County, Nebraska : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
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"A question has arisen in regard to the right to hold slaves in the Territory of Nebraska, when the Indian laws shall be withdrawn and the country thrown open to emigration and settlement. By the eighth section of an act to authorize the people of Missouri Territory to form a constitution and state government, and for admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories, approved March 6, 1820, it was provided: "That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36° 30' North Latitude, not included within the limits of the state contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and hereby are prohibited; pro- vided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from labor or service, is lawfully claimed in any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person or persons claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.' Under this section, as in the case of the Mexican law in New Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed point whether slavery is prohibited in the Nebraska country by valid enactment. The decision of this question involves the constitutional power of Congress to pass laws prescribing and regulating the domestic institutions of the various territories of the Union. In the opinion of those eminent statesmen who hold that Congress is invested with no rightful author- ity to legislate upon the subject of slavery in the territories, the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri is null and void; while the prevailing sentiment in large portions of the Union sustains the doctrine that the Constitution of the United States secures to every citizen an inalienable right to move into any of the territories with his property, of whatever kind and description, and to hold and enjoy the same under the sanction of law. Your com- mittee do not feel themselves called upon to enter upon the discus- sion of these controverted questions. They involve the same grave
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
issues which produced the agitation, the sectional strife and the fear- ful struggle of 1850. As Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain from deciding the matters in controversy then, either by affirming or repealing the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the Constitution, and the extent of protection afforded by it to slave property in the territories, so your committee are not prepared to recommend a departure from the course pursued on that memorable occasion, either by affirming or repealing the eighth section of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of the meaning of the Constitution in respect to the legal points in dispute. * * It is apparent that the Compromise measures of 1850 affirm and rest upon the following propositions: First, that all questions pertaining to slavery in the territories, and the new states to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the decision of the people residing therein, by their appropriate representatives, to be chosen by them for that purpose." *
This bill received not more favorable consideration than its pred- ecessor had, at the hands of the slavery propagandists. Archibald Dixon, of Kentucky, gave notice that, when it should come up, he would offer as an amendment a clause that the eighth section of the Missouri act "shall not be so construed as to apply to the territory contemplated by this act (the Nebraska bill) or to any other terri- tory of the United States; but that the citizens of the several states or territories shall be at liberty to take and hold their slaves within any of the territories or states to be formed therefrom, as if the act, entitled as aforesaid, and approved as aforesaid, had never been passed."
The inevitable result of so pronounced an annullment of the Compromise was the reopening of hostilities by the contending parties. Mr. Douglas did not of course approve of the amend- ment, and it was openly asserted by the democrats that the proposi- tion was instigated by whig influence, as a political action, in the hope of producing dissensions in the ranks of the democrats. This, however, was but one of the bitter declarations made by both sides.
In the midst of this heated controversy, Hadley D. Johnson reached Washington. He had no official status, but, as representa- tive of a large region immediately affected by the measure, he was admitted to the councils of the committee on territories. By his logical arguments and able presentation of the claims of his con- stituents, Mr. Johnson enlisted the sympathies of the committee, not so much in regard to the principles at large as in the matter of boun-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
daries, perhaps; but in all things he fairly represented the wishes of his people. It was mainly through his efforts that Senator Douglas requested the recommittal of the bill. On the 23d of Janu- ary, 1854, a bill retaining the title, was offered, but so amended as to leave but little of the original document. Instead of one territory, to be called "Nebraska," two were now proposed. The south line of the newer territory, to be called "Kansas," was subsequently moved northward, to conform with the line between the lands of the Cherokee and the Osage Indians; or, from 36° 30' to the 37° North Latitude.
The amended bill contained the following provisions relative to slavery :
Section 21. And be it further enacted, That, in order to avoid all misconstruction, it is hereby declared to be the true intent and meaning of this act, so far as the question of slavery is concerned, to carry into practical operation the following propositions and prin- ciples, established by the compromise measures of 1850, viz: First. That all questions pertaining to slavery in the territories, and in the new states to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the decision of the people residing therein, through their appropriate represen- tatives. Second. That "all cases involving the title to slaves," and "questions of personal freedom," are referred to the adjudication of the local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Third. That the provisions of the Constitu- tion and laws of the United States, in respect to fugitives from service, are to be carried into faithful execution, in all the "organized territories," the same as in the states.
A protracted debate on the bill ensued. The position taken by Senator Douglas was that Congress had no power to legislate slavery into or out of any territory or new state to be formed therefrom; and, after an unsuccessful attempt by Senator Chase to strike out so much of the clause as declared the "restriction" of 1820 superseded by the Compromise of 1850, Senator Douglas himself introduced a clause affirming the principle of non-intervention by Congress, which amendment prevailed. Mr. Chase then moved that "the people of the territory, through their appropriate representatives may, if they see fit, prohibit the existence of slavery therein." This was voted down. The fight was a hotly contested one and cannot be here followed in detail. The debate stands available, to those who desire to follow it, in the Congressional reports of that period and forms one of the most inviting topics for the historian whose
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE. COUNTY
province includes national instead of state affairs. So far as the destiny of Nebraska is concerned, it remains to be said that the Senate, at a late hour on the night of March 3d-or morning of March 4th-passed the amended bill by a vote of 37 to 14.
In the House, a bill had been introduced by Mr. Richardson, of Illinois, which was practically a duplicate of that offered by Senator Douglas, and passed, as above stated. The House bill was met with disapproval by William H. English, of Indiana, who proposed to strike out the clause declaring that the institution of slavery could not be legislated by Congress into a territory, and substituting one in which it was expressly stated that the bill should not be construed to mean that the people were thereby prevented, through properly constituted legislative authority, "from passing such laws in relation to the institution of slavery as they may deem best adapted to their locality and most conducive to their happiness and wel- fare." The bill was allowed to rest, in order that the Senate bill might be taken up. After a vigorous discussion, on May 18, 1854, the House took the measure in hand, limiting debate thereon to two days. Horace Greeley, in his "American conflict," gives the fol- lowing summary of the action of the House:
"The right of the majority to prescribe a reasonable limit to dis- cussion-to afford fair opportunity for debate, but insist that it shall close at a definite and not too distant day and hour-has become a part of our parliamentary law. But the right of a minority to seek to improve what it deems a vicious and mistaken measure to soften, if it may, objectionable features, which it is unable to wholly remove -is still sacred; and it has accordingly been established, after much experience of the evils of the opposite rule, that even a vote of the House, enforcing the previous question on a reluctant, struggling minority, does not cut off amendments which may have already been proposed, but only arrests debate and brings the House to vote successively on all the propositions legitimately before it, including, it may be, the engrossment of the bill. But A. H. Stevens, when the hour for closing the debate in committee (of the whole) had arrived, moved that the enacting clause of the bill be stricken out, which was carried by a preconcerted and uncounteracted rally of the unflinching friends of the measure. Of course, all pending amend- ments were thus disposed of-the bill being reported as dead. Ilav- ing thus got the bill out of committee and before the House, Messrs. Stevens & Company voted not to agree to the report of the Com- mittee of the Whole (yeas, agreeing with report, 97 ; nays, 117), thus
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
bringing the House to an immediate vote on the engrossment of the bill. Mr. Richardson now moved an amendment in the nature of a substitute, being in effect the Senate's bill, and thereupon called the previous question, which was seconded-yeas, 116; nays, 90; when this amendment was adopted-yeas, 115; nays, 95; the bill ordered to be engrossed-yeas, 112; nays, 99; the previous question again ordered and sustained, and the bill finally passed-yeas, 113; nays, 100. Thus the opponents of the measure in the House were precluded from proposing any amendments or modifications what- ever, where it is morally certain that, had they been permitted to do so, some such amendment as Governor Chase's, or Mr. English's, would have been carried. The free states contributed 44 votes-all cast by democrats-to the support of the measure. From the slave states, 12 whigs and 57 democrats sustained it. Against it were 91 members from free states, of whom 44 were chosen as whigs, 3 as free soil proper and 44 as democrats. So that precisely as many democrats from free states voted for as against the final passage of the Nebraska bill. Only nine members from slave states opposed it, of whom but two had been regarded as democrats. Of the whigs who so voted, but two were returned to the next House. The bill had thus passed the House in form as an original measure of that body, although it was in essence the amended Senate bill. Being sent to the Senate as such (May 24th), an attempt to amend was voted down, and the bill ordered to be engrossed, by 35 yeas to 13 nays. It was immediately passed and, being approved by President Pierce, became a law of the land."
The bill received the presidential endorsement May 30, 1854. The tract embraced 351,558 square miles of territory, extending from the 40th parallel of North Latitude to the British possessions on the north; and from the Missouri River on the east to the summit of the Rocky Mountains on the west. The erection of the Terri- tory of Colorado, February 28, 1861, decreased the area by 16,035 square miles; and the creation of the Territory of Dakota, March 2, 1867, further diminished the area by 228,907 square miles. At one time, a triangular tract of 15,378 square miles was attached from Washington and Utah territories, lying on the southwest slope of the Rocky Mountains, north of the 41st parallel and east of the 110th meridian; but this was afterward included in the 45,999 square miles which went to form the Territory of Idaho, March 3, 1863.
It may be here observed that, as shown above, the present limits of Nebraska contain 75,995 square miles, which lie between the par-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
allels of 40° and 43º North Latitude and the meridians of 95° 30' and 104 Longitude west from Greenwich.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY
The first officers appointed by President Pierce under the pro- visions of the organic bill were: Francis Burt, of South Carolina, governor; Thomas B. Cuming, of lowa, secretary; Fenner Fergu- son, of Michigan, chief justice; James Bradley, of Indiana, and Edward R. Hardin, of Georgia, associate justices; Mark W. Izard, of Arkansas, marshal; and Experience Estabrook, of Wisconsin, attorney.
ARRIVAL AND DEATH OF GOVERNOR BURT
The opening page in the history of the new territory was destined to become a sad and tragic one. Governor Burt reached Bellevue, then the only point in the territory worthy to claim the title of vil- lage, where the Mission House was located, on the 7th of October, 1854, and became the guest of Rev. William Hamilton, in spiritual charge of the mission. The governor was soon taken ill, but not- withstanding that fact, received the oath of office October 16th, from Chief Justice Ferguson. Two days later the governor died. The official record contains the entry:
"Hon. Francis Burt, Governor of Nebraska, died at the Mission House, Bellevue, October 18, 1854, at 3 o'clock A. M. His disease was colonitis, or inflammation of the bowels."
It is easy to imagine the excitement and consternation which pre- vailed at the little outpost of civilization at this rude shock. Although but just arrived, the dignity of the official position to which he was assigned, and the courtly graces of an accomplished southern gentle- man, combined to win for the governor a profound respect; while the tragic method of his departure from the scene of earthly ambi- tions and sufferings increased the gloom which is inseparable from the closing of a mortal career.
LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL
The rivalry of aspiring men created intense excitement through- out the territory and adjoining State of Iowa. The fever of specula-
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tion lay burningly on those who saw millions in the air, and needed but the magic touch of the governor's pen to transmute their hopes to golden realities. As has been stated by Rev. Father Hamilton, the sacredness of death was not sufficient to deter these avaricious men from demanding instant settlement of the question in their favor; but, owing to the multitude of claims, it followed that many must suffer disappointment. Had Governor Burt lived a few weeks 'longer, it is quite probable that Bellevue would have been designated. The work of nature had been done more satisfactorily there than at almost any other site, but the influence of men was less potent in its behalf than in some of the other sections.
The Board of Missions had a "reserve" of four quarter-sections of land at Bellevue. It is reported on reliable authority that the proper manipulation of this landed interest would have secured the location of the capital there; but when one of the men who afterward acted as an escort to the remains of Governor Burt asked Mr. Ham- ilton what the board would be likely to demand for the property, the reverend gentleman replied: "$50,000; the board has been offered that sum for the land as a farm." The interlocutor replied that $25,000 would be paid, but Mr. Hamilton said: "The price is $50,000, but you can go and consult with the board in New York." This man, it is asserted, did go to the metropolis, and for some reason failed to secure the money necessary to a perfecting of the transfer. Hlad 'this plan been carried out, and the purchase been made, three men (one of whom was a high public functionary at the time) would have controlled the square mile of land which formed the choicest part of the plateau.
Florence, Omaha, Plattsmouth and Nebraska City were the con- petitors of Bellevue in the contest for the seat of government. Act- ing Governor Cuming used to visit these places frequently. Mr. Hamilton says, "Acting Governor Cuming asked me about getting the use of the mission building for the first Legislature, after he had decided upon Omaha as the capital, but before he was sure of having the building completed at the latter place in time. I gave my consent and agreed to remove the school to the Iowa Mission."
There seems to be little doubt but that Bellevue might have obtained the capital if inducements of a substantial character had been laid out to certain influential men by the Board of Missions. These were not proffered, however, and the vital question was determined in favor of the City of Omaha.
Col. I-3
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THE ENABLING ACT
On the 19th of April, 1864, an act by Congress was approved by the President and became a law, enabling the people of Nebraska to form a state constitution and government. But the continuance of the war and the consequent disturbance of national affairs, united with the partial suspension of emigration to the West, and the Indian troubles on the frontier, united in rendering this permission unde- sirable. The territory had been drained of many men and much treasure in its generous assistance of the Government during the years of its struggle for existence. With the return of peace and the suppression of border outlawry, however, came an awakening consciousness of the value of state institutions. The people once more turned their attention to the subject, and revived an interest in the Enabling Act.
CONSTITUTION OF 1866
Early in 1866, a constitution was framed, embodying these essen- tial features:
Declaring equal inherent rights of all men; prohibiting slavery in the state; maintaining freedom of speech and press; establishing the right of petition to the people, the justice of trial before the law, civil and religious liberty, the perpetuation of free government and the rights of the people, declaring the elective franchise belongs to "white" citizens; vesting the government of the state in the legisla- tive, the executive and the judicial branches, and defining their powers and jurisdiction; providing for methods of revenue and limiting expenditures; describing the jurisdiction of the state over the emi- nent domain, naming the boundaries of the state; and arranging for the fundamental machinery of a state, after the manner and order usual in such mighty undertakings.
The constitution provided that it should be voted upon June 2. 1866. The Legislature authorized the submitting of the question, and the election of state officers, by an act approved by Governor Saunders, February 9th. At that session of the Assembly, Hon. O. P. Mason was president of the council, and Hon. James G. Megeath, speaker of the House.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S VETO
A bill admitting Nebraska as a state was passed by Congress. July 28, 1866, but, owing to the near approach of the end of that
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
session of the national body, the quiet pocketing of the bill by the president was all that was needed to prevent its becoming a law at that time.
As Nebraska was still a territory, with Governor Saunders in the executive office, the government continued as theretofore.
In this condition was the territory at the assembling of another Congress, in December, 1866. A bill looking to the admission of Nebraska was at once presented, and in the following January, received the endorsement of both Houses. But the contest did not end here, for no sooner was the measure passed than it was vetoed by the President, on the ground that it embraced conditions not con- tained in the enabling act; that the proceedings attending the forma- tion of the Constitution were different from those prescribed, and that the population of the territory did not justify its becoming a state. The bill was, however, passed by both Houses of Congress over the President's veto, by a vote of 30 to 9 in the Senate, February 8th; and by a vote, the day following, in the House, of 120 to 44. .
The act was not to take effect, "except upon the fundamental condition that within the State of Nebraska there shall be no denial of the elective franchise, or any other right, to any person by reason of race or color, except Indians not taxed; and upon the further fundamental condition that the Legislature of said state, by a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of said state to the said funda- mental condition."
FORMAL ADMISSION OF THE STATE
By proclamation of Governor Saunders, dated February 14, 1867, the Territorial Legislature was convened February 20th for the purpose of acting on the fundamental conditions imposed on this state by Congress.
The measure was immediately presented for action in the form of a bill, and passed the Senate by a vote of seven to three, and House by a vote of twenty to six, and was approved by the governor.
The Legislature provided for the formal notification of the Presi- dent of the United States of the acceptance of the conditions pre- scribed, and then adjourned. March 1, 1867, President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation declaring Nebraska a state.
NEBRASKA AS A STATE
The boundaries of the state when admitted were: Commencing at a point formed by the intersection of the western boundary of the
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State of Missouri with the 40° of North Latitude, extending thence due west along said 40° of North Latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the 25° of longitude west from Washington, thence along said 25° of longitude, to a point formed by its intersection with the 41" of North Latitude; thence west along said 41° of North Latitude to a point formed by its intersection with the 27' of longi- tude west from Washington; thence north along said 27° of West Longitude to a point formed by its intersection with the 43' of North Latitude; thence east along said 43" of North Latitude to the Keya Paha River; thence down the middle of the channel of said river with its meanderings to its junction with the Niobrara River; thence down the middle of the channel of the said Niobrara River, and following the meanderings thereof to its junction with the Mis- souri River; thence down the middle of the channel of said Mis- souri, and following the meanderings thereof to the place of beginning.
From figures on file in the office of the secretary of state, the present area of Nebraska, by counties, is ascertained to be as follows:
Adams
576
Frontier 972
Antelope
864
Furnas
720
Boone
684
Gage 860
Buffalo
882
Gosper
468
Butler
590
Greeley 576
Burt
468
Ilall 576
Cass
500
Hamilton 576
Cedar
793
Harlan
576
Chase
900
Hayes
720
Cheyenne
6,840
Hitchcock 720
Clay
576
Holt
2,440
Colfax
400
Howard
376
Cuming
340
Jefferson
576
Custer
2,590
Johnson
400
Dakota
280
Kearney
576
Dawson
1,000
Keith
2,000
Dixon
468
Knox
1,040
Dodge
500
Lancaster 864
Douglas
360
Lincoln 2,590
Dundy
980
Madison
576
Fillmore
576
Merrick 406
Franklin
576
Nance 430
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
Nemaha
400
Seward
576
Nuckolls
576
Sherman
576
Otoe
648
Sioux
22,070
Pawnee
432
Stanton
576
Phelps
576
Thayer
576
Pierce
540
Valley
576
Platte
684
Washington
390
Polk
450
Wayne
444
Red Willow
720
Wheeler
1,150
Richardson
540
Webster
576
Saline
576
York
576
Sarpy
230
Saunders
756
Total
76,185
CHAPTER II THE PIONEERS
Previous to the year 1858, the great expanse of prairie land of Nebraska, with its streams and strips of timber, was the home of the red man, whose possession and enjoyment of the many bounties of nature, to be found on every hand, were disputed only by the wild beasts roaming at will over hill and dale. "Some white man's foot may, indeed, have marked the margin of the streams in the capacity of hunter and trapper, and certain it is that footprints had been made by government surveyor and topographical engineer far beyond. But not," grandiloquently continues Platte County's pioneer historian, I. N. Taylor, whose words have just been quoted, "until the still, sweet spring morning of 1856 did the pioneers of our westward civi- lization scent from afar the odors of these northern plains, arising at the touch of the morning sun of that new day of progress."
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