USA > Nebraska > York County > York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state, Vol. I > Part 42
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Kansas-Nebraska Boundary Line. George W. Martin. Ms. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
Organization of Parties.
Ilistory of Nebraska, v. 1, ehap. 12.
TERRITORIAL BANKING.
Illustrated History of Nebraska. v. 2. chap. 1, and references.
Banking in Nebraska. Henry W. Yates. Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2. chap. 8.
Wild Cat Banks. A. G. Warner. Transactions Nebraska State His- torieal Society, v. 2, p. 22.
Early Nebraska Currency and Per Capita Circulation. Henry W. Yates. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society. v. 1. 2d series, p. 67. Some Financial Fallacies among the Pioneers of Nebraska. J. Sterling Morton. Ibid., v. 1. 2d series, p. 201.
SLAVERY IN NEBRASKA.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2, chap. ?. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society. v. 1. 2d series, p. 109. Underground Railroad in Nebraska. Alice A. Minick. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 2, 2d series, p. 70.
THIE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2, chap. 3. Western Incidents Connected With the Union Pacific Railroad. Seymour. History of Union Pacific Railroad. Davis. How We Built Union Pacific. Gen. G. M. Dodge.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
MORMONS IN NEBRASKA.
Illustrated Ilistory of Nebraska, v. 2, chap. 4. Mormon Settlements in the Missouri Valley. Aitchison. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 10, 2d series. p. 7.
MILITARY HISTORY.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2, chap, 5.
Colonel Leavenworth's Arikara Expedition. Ibid., p. 141. Explorations in Nebraska. Lieut. G. K. Warren. Executive Docu- ments, 1858-59, v. 2, Doc. 2, p. 669.
First session 18th Congress. v. 1. Doc. 2, p. 90. In the Library of Chicago University.
Indian Wars on the Nebraska Plains, 1864-1880. Albert Watkins. Ms. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
Pewnee expedition, 1859. John M. Thayer. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 5, 2d series, p. 232.
The Indian Campaign of 1864. Eugene F. Ware. Ms. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
Adventures of Major Frank North. Ms. Library Nebraska State Ilis- torical Society.
History of Nebraska. Andreas, p. 227. The Utah Mormon Expedition, 1857. Capt. John I. Ginn.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2, chap. ?. Address of J. Sterling Morton, ibid., v. 1, p. 390, foot note. First Territorial Fair, ibid., v. 1, p. 387. Salt Works, ibid., v. 2, p. 275. Salt Works, Transactions State Historical Society, v. 3, p. 87. History of the Lincoln Salt Basin. Ames. Ibid., v. 15, p. 83.
TERRITORIAL PRESS.
Illustrated History of Nebraska. v. 2, chap. 9.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 2, chaps. 12-21. Life and Labors of Reuben Gaylord. Gaylord. History of Nebraska Methodism. David Marquette. Ms. by Samuel Allis. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society. Ms. by John Dunbar. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society. Sketch and Diary of Moses Merrill. Transactions Nebraska State His- torical Society, v. 4, pp. 157-191.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 1, p. 72, foot note 3.
Ibid., v. 2, p. 244 foot note 4. Ibid., v. 2, p. 249, foot note 5.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
Ibid., v. 1, p. 222, foot note 2 and cut.
Ibid., v. 2, p. 253, foot note 7.
Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet,
S. J. 1801-1873. De Smet, according to index.
Congregational Church in Nebraska. Miscellaneous Documents. State Law Library.
Solitary Places Made Glad. Henry T. Davis.
Four Years of Cooperation. A. D. Williams,
Congregational Nebraska. Motier A. Bullock. The First Catholic Priest in Nebraska. Michael A. Shine. Ms. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
ADMISSION TO STATEHOOD.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 1, chaps. 14-15. Admission of Nebraska into the Union. Charles II. Gere. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 1, p. 162.
CAPITAL REMOVAL.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, forthcoming v. 3. chap. 1.
THIE FOUNDING OF LINCOLN.
Illustrated History of Nebraska. v. 3.
GRASSHOPPER INVASION.
Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1864. Executive Documents, 1864-65, v. 5, pp. 492, 526. Ibid., Executive Documents, 1868-69, p. 689. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society. v. 10, 2d series, p. 172. Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3. Indian Wars on the Nebraska Plains, 1864-1880. Albert Watkins. Ms. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society. pp. 65, 77, 85, 90, 139, 144. Reminiscences. Edgar Reynolds. MIs. Library of Nebraska State His- torical Society. Laws of Nebraska, 1875, p. 173. Ibid., 1827, pp. 63, 154, 253. Nebraska Senate Journal, 1825, pp. 54, 88, 91, 93. Ibid., 1877, p. 104. Clippings. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS, 1871, 1875.
Official Report Debates and Proceedings in the Nebraska Constitutional Convention, 1871. Addison E. Sheklon. Nebraska State Historical Society Publications, v. 11, 12. Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3. The Nebraska Constitution. Charles S. Lobingier. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 5, 2d series, p. 96.
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN NEBRASKA,
Regulation of the Liquor Traffic in Nebraska. Albert Watkins. Library of Nebraska State Historical Society. First Prohibition Law in America. Melvin R. Gilmore. Journal of American History, v. 4, No. 3, p. 397.
Ms.
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
History of Nebraska, p. 210. Andreas. History of the Nebraska W. C. T. U. Ada M. Bittenbender.
STATE UNIVERSITY.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3. History of the University of Nebraska. Albert Watkins. Report Superintendent Public Instruction, Nebraska, 1910, p. 630. A Brief History of the University of Nebraska. H. W. Caldwell. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 3, p. 201.
INVESTIGATIONS OF STATE ADMINISTRATION AND IMPEACHMENT OF STATE OFFICERS.
Senate and House Journals, 1893. Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3,
THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE MOVEMENT.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3.
The Farmers' Alliance in Nebraska. Thompson. Transactions Nebraska State Historical Society, v. 5, 2d series, p. 199.
THE GOLD-SILVER SCHISM.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIE STATE.
Illustrated History of Nebraska, v. 3.
Biennial Reports Bureau of Labor and Statistics, v. 1-10.
Bulletins Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 1902 to date. Address of Governor Ashton C. Shallenberger at the Astorian Centennial Celebration, Bellevue, June 23, 1910.
Historical Sketch. A. E. Sheldon. Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska. p. 114. Clippings, Library of Nebraska State Historical Society.
Bulletins of Nebraska Conservation and Welfare Commission.
HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
Vol. 1-22
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
THERON EMMONS SEDGWICK
CHAPTER I
THE STORY OF YORK COUNTY
PHYSICAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY-THE SOIL-LOESS PLAIN SOILS-CLIMATE- EASTER STORM OF 1873-THE BLIZZARD OF 1888-LATER STORMS-THE GROWTHI OF YORK COUNTY (CENSUS FIGURES, 1920 AND PRIOR).
Coming from the story of the state of Nebraska, just covered in the preceding pages, we come to the story of one of the "stars in the constellation of ninety-three stars that form Nebraska's canopy."
A considerable part of the story which follows has been unconsciously compiled and narrated by the people of York County themselves. For many years the Old Settlers Historical Association of York County carefully considered, narrated and rehearsed the stories of the settlement, development and growth of their beloved county, until along about 1913 the officers conceived the glorious idea of putting this valuable information in print before it was too late. So in 1913 they placed before the people of York County a little book called "The Old Settlers' History" of York County. In making their research for the material to compile and narrate the story of York County the editorial board of this work found they could not improve upon the work done by the noble set of pioneers, so we have tried to perpetuate that work by giving it to you, as far as it reaches, and then fill out what they did not find. Of course, it is impossible within the limited space that can be allotted to tell the full story of every phase of the county's activities, and the selection of material has necessarily had to be confined to such available data as will tend to show how each result achieved in the county came about, and to whom belongs the credit for the present stage of progress.
But it is desired at this point to perpetuate the roster of officers of the Old Settlers' Association in 1913, who were largely the men upon whom fell the burden of the task above mentioned. John Lett, president, George B. France, vice president, N. A. Dean, treasurer, George F. Corcoran, secretary, and J. P. Miller, Robert Copsey, Robert Henderson and M. Sovereign, executive committee. These men and a few faithful assistants, such as Miss Arminda Gilmore, Mrs. W. E. Morgan, and Blanche Hammond we may thank for the completeness with which the early memoirs of York County are preserved.
PHYSICAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY,
York County is located in the southeastern part of the state, in the third tier of counties north of the Kansas line and the fourth tier of counties west of the Missouri River. It is bounded on the north by Polk, east by Seward, south by Fillmore, and west by Hamilton County. There are 5,764 square miles, or 368,954 acres, at an average elevation above sea level of 1,600 feet. Ten per cent
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
of the county is valley, and the balance mostly undulating prairie. There is scarcely any land too rough for tillage The soil is a black vegetable mould, everywhere deep, rich and productive. Wide, fertile valleys extend the entire length of the larger streams, while the fine table lands are drained by gentle draws or ravines. Water is obtainable anywhere at a depth varying from twenty to sixty feet. There are numerous streams coursing through the county, which afford abundant power for flouring mills and other manufacturing establishments, the principal ones of which are Beaver and Lincoln creeks and West Blue River, all of them flowing from west to east, and on them are already located several first- class mills. Besides the light growth of natural timber along the streams, there are several thousand acres of forest trees, planted during the early settlement of the county, which are now of sufficient growth to furnish fuel.
A very comprehensive, and for those days elaborate, account of the physical features of York County was prepared in February, 1882, by T. E. Sedgwick. This will serve, even at this late date, to introduce to the reader a pictorial panorama of the topography, climate and soil qualities of York County. Some of these points will be considerably elaborated in later chapters.
"The West Blue River traverses the southern portion of the county, running a zigzag course, the general direction being from west to east. The stream furnishes excellent water power, and there are now located upon it some of the best mills in the state, three of them being in York County. There are a number of mill sites along the Blue yet unoceupied.
"Beaver Creek crosses the west line of the county near its center north and south, and runs nearly due east about half way across the county, when it turns southward and runs in a southeasterly direction until it meets the West Bine about one and one-half miles cast of the county line. There is one small mill at present on the Beaver in York County, which is located near the City of York. Lincoln Creek also traverses the north half of the county from west to cast, and furnishes a number of good mill sites within the county. There is already one fine mill upon this creek, and the proprietor is building another upon the same stream.
"The Blue River, the least important of the four streams mentioned, traverses the northeast portion of the county. These streams are not "mighty rivers rush- ing madly to the sea:" not at all; but they are large enough for boys to bathe in, and they furnish water for stock and to drive machinery, all the year round. They are skirted by a belt of timber. in some places very light, and heavier in others. The valleys traversed by these streams are very beautiful and in many places the view is almost enchanting. Those who talk of the dull and lifeless seenery of the western plains have never visited this county, or have no appre- ciation of the beautiful.
THE SOIL
"The soil throughout the entire county is uniformly rich and productive. The divides or uplands seem equally fertile with the valleys. and wherever in the county land is well farmed, and erops are well tended, a good yield is almost assured. Since the first settlement of the county, a failure of crops has never been experienced here. We do not mean to say that every year there has been a good yield of all varieties of products. There have been partial failures of one or more
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
of the cereals, but there has always been a harvest, and since the first severe trials incident to the settlement of a new country have been surmounted, the county has been more than self-supporting. But these trials and privations which have always attended the pioneer have been reported to our eastern friends as inci- dents peculiar to this western country, and have east a shadow over the entire history of this and all other counties of our state.
"There are people in the East now-and they are no insignificant minority- who actually believe that the wind blows here a perpetual tornado, transporting everything that is loose; that it never rains and seldom sprinkles here; that the grasshoppers make us annual visits, devouring what wind and drought have not destroyed. The same could be told with equal truth of Illinois, lowa, Wis- consin, or any other western state. Minnesota has suffered more than three times as much from grasshoppers as our state ever has, while in Iowa, Kansas and Wis- consin their ravages have been greater than here. We feel safe in saying that twenty-five per cent of the last crop of this county would amount to more than all that has ever been destroyed by grasshoppers within its limits. So much for this great bugbear.
"We have a good, copious rainfall every year, and the soil and subsoil are such that the earth is always moist just below the surface. No matter how dry the air, or how hot the sun, if one takes the trouble to look, he will find moisture an inch or two below the surface. So it is that during a long, dry season, when crops in other states are literally burned up and killed, they continue to grow and look green and healthy here. We say candidly that the Sonth Platte country is less affected with drought than any section we have ever seen in any state. The record will bear us out in the statement that Nebraska has suffered less in the last decade from winds and severe storms than any other state west of Lake Michigan. Wiseonsin, Illinois, Minnesota, lowa, Missouri and Kansas have all suffered considerably from cyclones during the last few years, but none has ever disturbed the peaceful rest of this South Platte country. The wind does blow here some, and we would hardly desire, even if it were possible, to live in a country where it did not. In summer, a fresh, cooling breeze starts up at about the setting of the sun, which cools the atmosphere, insomuch that there is very seldom a night, even in the warmest weather, in which one cannot sleep com- fortably. So vastly different from the sultry nights through which we have sweat and suffered in states farther east. The winters are usually short, and very little really cold weather is experienced. We have some very sharp weather, but only for two or three days at a time."
In an early chapter of the state section of this work, a very elaborated and detailed analysis of the soil survey of Nebraska is incorporated. No separate soil survey of York County, as an individual unit, has been completed and published at the time this work is being finished, so we will simply refer again to the particular class of soil most common, and refer the reader to the general soil sur- vey of the state for further data on this important and valuable phase.
LOESS PLAIN SOILS
The plains are mantled with twenty-five to about one hundred feet of silt loam, known as the plains loess, the texture of which is quite uniform, but becomes
.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
somewhat lighter westward and on knolls. The loess is not a soil. It is one of the richest soil-forming deposits. and through slight modifications gives rise to some of the state's most uniform and productive silt loam, very fine sandy loam, and fine sandy loam soils. The principal soils developed upon the plains loess are the Grundy silt loam, Holdrege silt loam, Colby silt loam, and Scott silt loam. Some of the small areas in Dodge, Wayne, and other northeastern counties are occupied by the Marshall silt Joam (flat phase). The loess plains are dark silt loam soil areas.
The Grundy silt loam occupies most of the eastern and central upland plains as in Butler, Polk, York, Hamilton, Fillmore, Saline, and Clay connties and parts of Jefferson, Thayer, Nuckolls, Adams, Howard, Gage, Cass, Madison, and several other counties. Formerly, it was called the "flat phase" of the Marshall silt loam. The surface soil is a dark brown, heavy silt loam, eight to fifteen inches deep, friable and rich in organic matter. The upper subsoil consists of brown silt loan, considerably heavier than the surface soil and passes abruptly into dark, heavy clay mottled with yellow and brown. This heavy part of the subsoil, sometimes called "hard pan" or "gumbo," is underlaid with a more friable part of the subsoil passing gradually into the unmodified loess. The Grundy soils grade locally between silt loam and clay loam. The silt loam, however, has the larger distribution.
The Grundy soils grow wheat, corn, alfalfa, oats, and other leading crops and support stock raising. Much of the land is in cultivation.
CLIMATE
The climate is milder than the same latitude east of us. The wells of York County furnish a bounteous supply of very nice, soft water. Though the water varies somewhat in different wells, and that, too, in wells located in the same vicinity and neighborhood, yet the water in all of them is very clear and cool, and in most of them quite soft, so much so that well water is used for laundry purposes, withont breaking. Wells range from twenty to one hundred feet in depth, accord- ing to the altitude of the surface, as the water is found in all parts of the county at or near the same level. A great many farmers have windmills for raising the water, which are also ntilized by some of them to grind feed, turn grindstones. fanning-mills and corn-shellers.
EASTER STORM OF 1873.
The first great devastating storm to leave its imprint permanently branded upon Nebraska's climatical history was that of 1873. That spring had opened varly, the farmers had their fields plowed and harrowed and had even sowed oats and spring wheat as unusually early as February and much in March. By the opening days of April the grass was nicely green. The prairies were, of course, unhampered with fences, hedges and trees to any extent, to break winds or catch snows. The settlers had been Julled into carelessness, and Sunday, April 13th, a delightfully mild Easter day ushered in with total unpreparedness for its finish. On that afternoon a rain started up. followed by a heavy thunderstorm by 4 o'clock. The story of this storm ean best be told by those who went through the terrible ordeal.
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
Judge Charles B. Letton, of the Nebraska Supreme Court. who was then liv- ing at Fairbury, described for the "Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences" issued by the Nebraska Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, the following description of this ordeal :
"The fury of the tempest was indescribable. The air appeared to be a mass of moving snow, and the wind howled like a pack of furies. I managed to get to the granary for some oats, but on looking into the ravine no stable was to be seen, only an immense snow drift which almost filled it. At the point where the door to the stable should have been there appeared a hole in the drift where the snow was eddying. On crawling into this I found that during the night the snow had drifted in around the horses and cattle, which were tied to the manger. The animals had tramped it under their feet to such an extent that it had raised them so that in places their backs, lifted the flimsy roof, and the wind carrying much of the covering away, had filled the stable with snow until some of them were almost and others wholly buried, except where the remains of the roof protected them."
York County was, of course, in the path of the storm, as well as Jefferson, and the following account of the effects of the storm narrated by Judge Letton applies with equal force to York County.
"Many settlers took their cattle and horses into their houses or dugouts in order to save them. Every ravine and hollow that ran in an easterly or westerly direction was filled with snow from rim to rim. In other localities cattle were driven many miles by this storm. Houses, or rather shacks, were unroofed and people in them frozen to death. Travelers caught in the blizzard, who attempted to take refuge in ravines, perished and their stiffened bodies were found when the drifts melted weeks afterwards. Stories were told of people who had undertaken to go from their houses to their outbuildings and who, being blinded by the snow, became lost and either perished or nearly lost their lives, and of others where the settler in order to reach his well or his outbuildings in safety fastened a rope to the door and went into the storm holding the rope in order to insure his safe return. Deer, antelope, and other wild animals perished in the more sparsely settled districts. The storm lasted for three days, not always of the same intensity, and freezing weather followed for a day or two thereafter. In a few days the sun shone, the snow melted, and spring reappeared ; the melting drifts, that lay for weeks in some places, being the only reminder of the severity of the storm.
"To old settlers in Nebraska and northern Kansas this has ever since been known as 'The Easter Storm.' In the forty-six years that I have lived in Nebraska there has only been one other winter storm that measurably approached it in intensity. This was the blizzard of 1888, when several people lost their lives. At that time, however, people were living in comfort ; trees, hedges, groves. stubble, and cornfields held the snow so that the drifts were insignificant in com- parison. The cold was more severe but the duration of the storm was less and no such widespread suffering took place."
Many references and short narrations of experiences of York County pioneers in this storm, and that of 1888 also, will be scattered through the pages which follow, but we will at this point include one rather detailed account of a York County pioneer.
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IHISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
THE GREAT EASTER STORM
"One great event in the early history of York County that stands out most prominent of all, and never to be forgotten while an early settler is alive, is the awful storm that began the evening of Sunday, April 12, 1823. The spring had been early and small grain was all up, and farmers had their spring work well under way. The weather had been dry and the wind blowing strong from the south for more than a week, and Sunday, April 12th, the wind quieted down and the day was pleasant until in the afternoon a bank of heavy clouds made their appearance in the northwest. Soon there began a heavy rain and as night approached the rain turned into sleet, and then to snow, then for three days and nights without a moment's cessation the storm raged in all its fury, with the air so full of whirling snow, it was impossible to see an object scarcely a rod away. Fortunate for the carly settlers that their dwellings were mostly sod houses, or dugouts, and in the place of being blown away they were most likely to be snowed under, which happened in many cases; in several instances the settlers took their meager stock in the sod houses with them and all lived together for three days. Many interesting incidents have been related by persons who experienced such a strange make-up of families, and although the milk and eggs were handy none have desired a repetition of the novelty. After the storm was over the neighbors who were not snowed in' had interesting experiences digging their neighbors out of their dugouts: one family that was snowed under in a dugout held a conversation with their rescuers through the stovepipe, which stuck up through the snow, and showed them where to dig down for the door by running the broom handle up through the snow. The writer went to one dugout where nothing but the stovepipe was visible, and hallooed down through the stovepipe and asked the owner what he was doing. He promptly answered he was reading the B. & M. advertisements about the beautiful climate of Nebraska. Mrs. Capt. Read tells us that Andy Hansen, a Dane, had a home- stead on section 32 in Thayer Township, and had built him a comfortable sod house on the south side of the draw, front door opening to the north, and that he was away from home when the storm came, and that the storm blew the front door open, and when Mr. Hansen came home after the storm his house was so full of snow he could not find place for a dog to crawl in. In Thayer Township a band of Pawnee Indians came along after the storm and discovered some stock that had drifted to the ercek in the storm and perished. The Indians immediately went into camp and remained as long as the supply of meat lasted. The Bhie, near the west line of the county, was literally full of dead stock that had drifted as was supposed from the Platte River bottoms. Mr. John Davis, who had settled in Leroy Township, did not have his stable up when the storm came, and his stock, which was tied to the wagon, all perished. Much stock was lost under similar conditions. Our townsman, N. A. Dean, had his stable built under a bank: in one end of the stable were two mules, in the center horses, and in the other end hogs and chickens: the snow kept drifting in, and the mules tramping to keep on top until they got up to the roof and broke through and went. ont, the hogs and chickens in the other end were snowed under at least twenty- five feet deep, and Mr. Dean was surprised when on digging them out a week later found them all alive and hungry. As far as known only three lives were lost in the storm in York County: one, the fifteen year old son of J. S. Gray, in
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