NEGenWeb Project OLLibrary, Journals
NE History & Record of Pioneer Days
Vol II, no 4 (part 2)

Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days

5


tain in their places of business, accessible to their customers, the government price of each kind of coal and coke handled, the maximum gross margin allowed, the retail price at the yard, and the drayage and delivery charges. This enabled consumers to analyze prices. The order which was effective April first was superseded June 25, 1918, by a state wide order dated June 22, 1918. The later order materially increased the margins and permitted the retail dealers to add the cost of unloading from the cars to the cost of the coal to them. The April first order was too close to permit a reasonable profit to the retail dealers. The order of June 25 was liberal. In the meantime, between these dates, the cost of handling the coal and carrying on the retail coal business had very materially increased. December 27, 1918, an order was made, which took effect January 1, 1919, reducing the margins on yard screened coal ten cents per ton and establishing a maximum average unloading charge of twenty-five cents per ton.
   The retail coal dealers in Omaha and Lincoln claimed,that they should have higher prices and margins than the dealers in the smaller towns, because their expenses were greater. The dealers in the small towns urged that they should be allowed greater margins than the dealers in the large cities, because they transacted so little business, and had to maintain their coal yards and equipment. My opinion was that the entire state should be on the same basis. In the cities the greater volume offset the increased expense. In the small towns the business was light and the expense in proportion.
   The state wide margins were equitable and fair to all retail coal dealers in the state and gave general satisfaction.
   The orders of the administration were generally complied with throughout the state. There were few instances of overcharging, and these were due largely to loose business methods.
   The margins and prices established and maintained in Nebraska related to the retail coal business. The commissions allowed to wholesale dealers and jobbers were provided for by direct orders of Dr. Garfield.
   Where instances of overcharging were brought to the attention of the administration, coal dealers were required to make refunds to their customers; or they were obliged to turn over the amount of their overcharges to the American Red Cross.

Conservation

   The "lightless nights" orders of Dr. Garfield were enforced in Nebraska; and requests by the state administrator for the late opening and early closing of stores and places of business were generally complied with.
   After careful investigation through the several county committees, I prepared a conservation order covering the late opening and early closing of stores for the winter of 1918-19. The signing of the armistice obviated the necessity for putting it into effect.
   The campaign for the conservation of fuel had considerable effect in Nebraska. It is estimated that during the administration period 360,000 tons of domestic coal and 160,000 tons of steam coal were saved in the state. The steam coal estimate includes 792 tons saved in Omaha by the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Company through the adoption of the skip-stop system, and 2,337 tons by the interconnection of the Central Light & Power Stations in Grand Island and Fremont.
   These figures represent an average saving of 8 1-3 per cent on the estimated normal consumption of 6,000,000 tons during administration control. The saving on steam coal is figured at 5 per cent, on account of the poor quality of coal used, and the saving on domestic coal is figured at 11 2-3 per cent. In drawing the line between domestic consumption and stationary steam plants, a half of the total consumption is allotted to each.
   There would have been a further increase in the saving of coal if consumers had been able to get the kind and quality previously used. Under zone restrictions they were obliged to use coal of inferior quality, with reduced heating capacity.

Summer Storage.

   During the summer of 1918, at the request of the administration retail dealers and consumers purchased large stocks of coal at summer prices. Several fires resulted from the storing of lignite, and much of the coal slacked in the bins. The mild weather and the signing of the armistice lessened the demand, and the coal dealers were left with large stocks on hand, which they had difficulty in disposing of to advantage, in competition with Illinois and other eastern coal which later was obtainable in Nebraska.

 

Retail Coal Dealers Registered.

   A registration system for retail coal dealers was adopted in Nebraska. Upon application filed with the local committees, certificates of registration were issued. When the flat was complete it was arranged alphabetically and numbered consecutively. It was then printed in pamphlet form, the address following the names. There were 1,392 dealers registered, each of whom received a copy of the pamphlet. Copies were also furnished the committeemen, wholesale dealers, distributing representatives, mine operators and others interested.

Cooperation.

   The fuel administration had in Nebraska the complete and cordial cooperation of the governor, the state council of defense, the food administration, commercial and industrial associations, and patriotic organizations throughout the state. The wholesale coal dealers and jobbers rendered invaluable service. Almost without exception, the retail dealers handled their business as directed by the administration, with the utmost good will and with excellent results.
   The state fuel administrators of the western states, particularly Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, had several meetings during 1918, usually at Kansas City, and discussed fully and freely important questions pertaining to administration affairs. These meetings were helpful and, while many of the resolutions adopted and recommendations made to Washington were without result, the exchange of views contributed to a better understanding of the problems involved.

 

Expenses.

The vouchers submitted to Washington for the expenses of the

fuel administration in Nebraska, from October 17, 1917, to March 27, 1919, aggregated less than $7,000. The office furniture and equipment purchased for the use of the administration brought at auction more than the original cost. Economy was practiced in every branch of the fuel administration service in the state. My check for $1, in compensation for my services, is dated December 20, 1918. It will never be presented for payment.

 

Expression of Appreciation.

   In closing this brief summary of the work of the federal fuel administration in Nebraska, please permit me to express my profound appreciation of the cordial cooperation on the part of the people of the state. The committees in the several counties were loyal and efficient, and their work should be gratefully acknowledged. In connection with the reduction of expenses at light and power plants, I wish particularly to mention the services of Prof. E. J. McCaustland, dean of engineering at the University of Missouri, who made several trips to Nebraska.
   I would be lacking in loyalty if I failed to pay a tribute of respect to Dr. Garfield. His high character and integrity cannot be questioned. As United States fuel administrator he was capable, courageous and consistent. He is a splendid type of sturdy American citienship [sic].


Three Military Heroes of Nebraska
(Continued from Page Three.)

tonment Missouri, soon afterward named Fort Atkinson, "to discover a route, across country," between that post and Fort Snelling, which was established about a month before Fort Atkinson was started. The expedition proper comprised Captain Matthew J. Magee and First Lieutenant Charles Pentland of the Rifle Regiment, Second Lieutenant Andrew Talcott, of the Engineers, fifteen soldiers, presumably of the Rifles, four servants, and an Indian guide with his wife and papoose. It was under command of Captain Magee assisted by Lieutenant Talcott. Lieutenant Colonel Willoughby Morgan, of the Rifle Regiment, and Captain Kearny, of the Second Infantry, accompanied the expedition but were not an official part of it. Probably because Captain Kearny kept a journal of the expedition, it has often been said that he led it. The journey required twenty-four days - from the 2nd of July to the 25th, inclusive. Captain Kearny wrote that the officers of Fort Snelling
   "were a little astonished at the sight of us, we having been the First Whites that ever crossed at such a distance from the Missouri to the Mississippi river. The object of the exploring party which I have accompanied from the C. B. being to discover a practicable route for traveling between that Post & this (on the St. Peters), the one we had come is not, in the least; adapted for that purpose. Our circuitous & wavering route is to be attributed to the Guide's advice, being in direct contradiction to our opinion, & we being occasionally guided by the one then by the other.".
   But the fact that the route approximately paralleled the subsequent lines of railroads from Omaha to St. Paul,' at no great distance from them, and that the captain pronounced the region through which it ran as incapable "of supporting more than a thinly scattered population," impeaches his judgment, putting him in the same class with Major Long, who proved himself a false prophet in the same way and year.
   All of the officers accompanying the expedition were garrisoned at Cantonment Missouri. General Atkinson, who was colonel of the Sixth Regiment Infantry and also commander of the Ninth Military Department, arrived from St. Louis, his headquarters, and assumed command of the troops at the post on June 15th, 1820, and also established there, temporarily, the headquarters of his department. The fact that Captain Kearny was acting assistant adjutant general of this department, accounts for his presence at Cantonment Missouri when the expedition to Fort Snelling started.
   One historian erroneously includes Captain Kearny as an official member of the party, presumably because he could not otherwise account for his presence at the starting place. Another accounts for his presence there by guessing that, "Probably he accompanied the Sixth, Infantry, under Colonel Atkinson, when that regiment went west to form part of the Yellowstone Expedition, for in 1820, when he began his journal, he was at Council Bluff, when a camp had been established by that command in the spring of that year."
   Stephen W. Kearny became lieutenant colonel of the First Dragoons in 1833 and colonel in 1836. In 1838 he recommended Table Creek, now Nebraska City, as the site for the post which was established in 1846 and named Fort Kearny; in 1845 he led the first military expedition via the Oregon Trail, through the territory afterward named Nebraska, to the Rocky Mountains. His command on this expedition comprised five companies of the First U. S. Dragoons. First Lieutenant Philip Kearny, of the same regiment, accompanied the expedition. Stephen W. Kearny was awarded the rank of brevet major general of the regular U. S. army, for his service in the Mexican war -nominally not as high an honor as the full major-generalship of volunteers, bestowed upon the nephew; but it meant more.
   An unfortunate partiality - unintelligent rather than perverse - for the letter e has done great injustice to the three military heroes whose careers are sketched above. The town of Casper was so named in honor of Lieutenant Caspar; the county and city of Kearney, in Nebraska, were named in honor of General Stephen W. Kearny. These names were given to the municipalities as commemorative successors to those of the abandoned forts. The name of the Wyoming post is commonly alike misspelled, but that does not matter much, for the fame of General Phil Kearny was not closely identified with the Nebraska country. It is quite practicable to cut out the intruding a from the second syllable of Kearney and to restore the rightful a in place of the wrongful e in the second syllable of Caspar. It is obviously a corrollary, then, that the misnomers should be righted.

ALBERT WATKINS.


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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days


Picture or sketch

Judge Samuel H. Sedgwick

   Samuel H. Sedgwick, associate justice of the supreme court of Nebraska, died at his residence in Lincoln, on Christmas day, 1919. Of his immediate relatives, his wife, two daughters, and a brother, the well known Timothy E., of York, survive him.
   Judge Sedgwick was born at Bloomingdale, Dupage county, Ill., March 12, 1848, received the degree of bachelor of arts from Wheaton College (Ill.) in 1872 and A. M. in 1874; studied law at the University of Michigan, 1871-72; was married to Clara M. Jones, of Rockford, Ill., September 25, 1878; practiced law in Kewaunee, Wis., 1874-78 and at York, Neb., from 1878; in 1895, elected judge of the fifth judicial district of Nebraska, which comprised the counties of Butler, Hamilton, Polk, Seward, Saunders and York; defeated at the election for the same office in 1899, by a candidate upon the fusion ticket; appointed a commissioner of the state supreme court, April 9, 1901, but resigned January 7, 1902, to become judge of the supreme court, having been chosen at the election of 1901; defeated as a candidate for the same office by Manoah B. Reese at the primary election of 1907; one of the three judges of the supreme court elected in 1909 by virtue of the amendment to the constitution adopted in 1908, which increased the number of judges from five to seven and on the nonpartisan ticket prescribed by a statute enacted the same year, and was again elected in 1916. He had served two years of this term when he died.
   In politics, Judge Sedgwick was a Republican, of the conservative type, but in his latter years he become somewhat progressively liberal. His chief merit as a judge lay in faithful industry, a fairly poised judicial temperament, an attitude more than ordinarily independent, and unquestioned integrity. In his social relations he was very kindly and affable. He possessed and cultivated a religious temperament, his beliefs leaning, distinctively or uncommonly, somewhat toward orthodoxy. He had been a member of the Congregational church at York for about forty years. His example was wholesome and his career useful.


Burt County in the World War


   (A paper by J. R. Sutherland, read at the forty-third annual meeting of the Nebraska Plate Historical Society, January 13, 1920.)

   I regret that Burt county has not been more active in this Historical Society work, for no county in Nebraska contains more data, of the early history of the state than Burt. From the burials on the adjacent hills, I am led to believe that Tekamah must have been an Indian camp for centuries. I have been a resident in the county for over fifty years, and I have witnessed its development from a hunting ground of the Indian to one of the best agricultural counties in the world. I was secretary of the Burt County Agricultural Society when, in 1891, 1892 and 1893 it won first prize on county collective exhibits at the state fair, competition being open to the world. The last year it had to compete against the state of Kansas, whose exhibit was under the auspices of the state board of agriculture, but still Burt won over all, and was awarded the gold medal, which barred it for a term

of years from competition. At the close of the state fair that year, the state board insisted that I should send a carload of our best products to the world fair at Chicago. The exhibit was made at our county's expense, and it was awarded more medals on farm products than were won by any state in the Union. At the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Burt county maintained a booth alongside the exhibit of Douglas county and advertised itself as the gold medal county of Nebraska, after which it retired to enjoy the honors won.
   After the armistice was signed the active workers began to recount what Burt did toward winning the world war. A demand was generally expressed that someone should be induced to compile the story in book form, and I was chosen for it. I had never seen anything of this kind, but in consultation with a delegation who waited on me to urge me to assume the responsibility of compiling the record, I proposed that if I could have their cordial cooperation I would endeavor to make a book that would contain photographs of all soldiers from the county, all the service records, and also authentic reports of all home activities with photographs of the officers of each organization, at a cost of $7.50 per book. The photographs of the soldiers were to go in free, without any obligation on their part to me to purchase a book. Every photograph relating to the home activities was to be accompanied with an order. I proposed to sell or contract for the sale of books in advance of publication and to print only the number of books that I had orders for when they were ready for the press. My estimate was made on the basis of the sale of 1,000 books. I calculated that each picture would sell a book, that Burt county had over 800 men in the service and that I could sell at least 200 to other patriotic citizens. I assured the delegation that the quality of the books would be as good as labor and material could produce. I agreed that I would obtain a guaranty by a bank that money I should receive for any book, and give a receipt for in advance, would be refunded if the book should not be delivered. The order for payment on delivery was in note form, "promise to pay for value received on demand." That made it bankable paper. I also assured the delegation that my object was to make it a county affair, free from personal or sectional bias, with no partiality for friends or foes. My outline was endorsed by the delegation, and they gave me good support.
   I began by procuring the list from the county selective draft board, and I arranged the names by towns, of which we have five in the county, namely: Craig, Decatur, Lyons, Oakland and Tekamah. I carried that distinction all the way through the book, giving each town due credit for all war work. I then started a campaign to obtain the names of all volunteers and credited them to their respective towns.
   Being a newspaper man, I had much faith in the efficiency of advertising, so I bought liberal space in every paper of the county and I had heart to heart talks with the people for two months, in which I outlined my plan and object. At that time I intended to put a man in the field to make a house-to-house canvass, to secure the photographs and service records and take orders for books at the same time. At this juncture, Mrs. E. C. Houston, chairman of the Burt county chapter of the American Red Cross, informed me that the members thought it would be a fine thing to present each soldier with a book. She said that she had called a special meeting of the Tekamah chapter to consider the matter, and she wanted to know what reduction I would make in price it they should buy three hundred books and pay for them in advance. Each branch, Mrs. Houston informed me, had a local fund that could be used for any purpose, that these were not Red Cross funds, but they had been raised to assist in other drives and had never been reported to state headquarters. At the special meeting the plan was approved, my reduction in price was very satisfactory, and they bought three hundred books. Mrs. Houston informed the other branch chapters of the action taken at Tekamah, and within a week Craig, Decatur, and Lyons bought books for all their soldiers. These purchases disarranged my plans of a house-to-house canvass. I then devoted my efforts to obtaining photographs of the soldiers and sailors and the data from all home activities. I devised a plan of filing and checking that kept in a separate large envelope each photograph with data, or anything pertaining to each individual. 1 used those envelopes until the photographs came back from the engraver and were returned to the owner with the copy of the data sent to the printer. It was an immense task to handle a thousand pictures, but the system worked out without an error.
   In assembling the data of all war funds contributed in Burt county, I was astonished at their magnitude. They aggregated three and a half million dollars, for a county of only a little over 12,000 population by the last census, an average of over $269 for every man, woman and child in the county.
   The liberty bonds purchased amounted to $2,819,550, $216 per capita. The war savings stamps purchased up to May 1st, 1919, amounted to $366,235, an average of $28 per capita. The total contributions to the Red Cross aggregated $150,000, or $11.50 per capita for every man, woman and child in the county.
   Burt county also won the prize offered by State Chairman Frank W. Judson (a silk Red Cross flag) for being the banner county in Nebraska in Red Cross membership in proportion to population, and Nebraska led the nation. In the united war work and all other drives for funds, Burt went over the top in every instance. So you see that the people of Burt county were justified in being desirous of having their wonderful record of patriotism put in book form for preservation.
   After the data had been compiled and the proofs of all the cuts had been returned from the engraver, I was confronted with my most perplexing task, the arrangement of the materials in the book. It was up to me to paste all the pictures in a dummy form and mark the pages for copy to correspond. I began by giving the post of honor to the memorial section of twenty-four boys who gave their all to the service of their country; next came the Red Cross nurses, soldiers,


Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days

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and sailors in panel groups of twenty to a page, with service record opposite; then reports and pictures of six Red Cross chapters, the champion knitters, Red Cross auctioneers, county council of defense, selective service board, county liberty loan report in detail, women's liberty loan report, war savings stamps, united war work drive, Armenian and Syrian relief work, food conservation, fuel conservation, legal committee report, Burt county press, the four minute men from the five towns, home guards companies from each town with full roster of each. The Burt county schools were an important factor in all home activities. They were the avenue of publicity and distribution in all drives; so I incorporated the names of all school officers and the number of the several districts. The closing section consists at page panels of war scenes in France, made from photographs brought home by the soldiers, which is interesting to many of them who saw service over there.
   Before closing I call attention to the proud record made by our home state. I am informed that, in proportion to population, Nebraska sent more soldiers into the army than any state in the union. The aggregate was 49,614 according to a report at the provost marshal general, without counting the medical corps or Red Cross enlistments. Nebraska's war drives totaled $264,760,000, thirty-four million more than the quota assigned to the state, and an average of $220 per capita, based on the last census. Nebraska held first place on food conservation cards, and Burt county was one of the first counties to adopt the system. Nebraska was first in all war activity drives, and first in Red Cross membership in proportion to population. During the Red Cross drive in 1918, Nebraska's quota was $800,000. It gave $2,300,000, 260 per cent above the quota. No wonder that I am proud of being a resident of the banner county, in the banner state. I am thankful that it was my privilege in years gone by to assist in putting Burt on the map as one of the best agricultural counties in the world. I am gratified now over the fact that it was my lot to compile in book form Burt county's splendid record of patriotism in the world war.


NOTES

   In the report of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for 1893, it appears that sixteen counties of Nebraska and one - Shawnee - of Kansas, were competitors for the prizes offered that year for county exhibits, and that Burt county won the first prize - six hundred dollars.
   The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reports that the war savings stamps sold to Burt county applicants up to May 1, 1919, according to the record, amounted to $34,270, and the amount of thrift stamps sold to $200; but the report explains that "many war saving stamps and thrift stamps were sold through the post offices in Burt county in addition to those which were purchased from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City."
   The bank says that it is unable to verify the statement that Nebraska war drives totaled thirty-four million more than the quota assigned to the state. "There was no quota assigned in the first and second liberty loan."
   On the 2nd of February, 1920, Mr. Leonard W. Treater, acting state director of the American Red Cross, gave this magazine the following interesting data in part supplementary to Mr. Sutherland's statements and in the main agreeing with them:
   " . . . during the war and for the period ending December 31st, 1918, Nebraska had a total senior membership of 421,821 members or 32.53 per cent of the total population. This was the highest percentage of any state in the union being exceeded only by the territory of Alaska which had 23,594 members or 36.34 per cent of the population.
   On February 28th, 1919, we, Nebraska, had 230,645 Junior members, or 75.68 per cent of the population, being surpassed only by the state of Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia with the added exceptions of the four states of Arizona, California, Delaware and Nevada, which claim to be 100 per cent. It is my understanding, however, that these states attained this percentage by proclamation of various states having made all school children in those states members of the Junior Red Cross. There are in the United States over 11,000,000 Junior members.
   During the first war drive Nebraska was not asked for any definite sum, in fact no definite quota was assigned this state owing to the fact that Nebraska was not organized at that time. The state office was not organized until after the first of July, 1917. In the second war drive Nebraska was asked for $800,000.
   The first war drive was conducted between June 18th, 1917, and June 25th, 1917; the total gold was $100,000,000 and the collection's totaled $114,023,640.23; there was an over subscription of 14 per cent. For campaign and collection expenses national headquarters appropriated $278,114.27, and it is estimated that the chapters spent approximately $500,000 for this purpose., The cost of conducting the drive therefore was less than .7 of 1 cent for each dollar collected.
   The second drive was conducted between May 7th, 1918, and May 17th, 1918. Again the goal set was $100,000,000. Up to February 28th, 1919, collections totaled $169,575,598.84, and there was an over subscription of nearly 70 per cent. Campaign and collection expenses totaled a trifle less than $100,000, less than .6 of 1 cent for each dollar collected.
   Of the above war fund drives Nebraska was asked to contribute $800,000. That actually contributed up to February 8th, 1919, was $3,206,772.98, or 1.2 per cent of the grand total collected in the United States. This figures $2.0473 per capita, or .8 per cent of our state wealth.
   Figures as to production are not so readily available. However, the sum throughout the United States, with the help of the Junior

members, produced in twenty months, ending February 28th, 1919, was over 371,500,000 relief articles with a value of $94,000,000, for the benefit of the allied soldiers, sailors and destitute civilians. These articles include surgical garments and articles for soldiers and sailors. at which Nebraska produced over 15,000,000. From these figures you can readily see that Nebraska did her share," - A. W.


 

Picture or sketch

(handwritten below photo - "See C 2376")

W. H. Woods

   The historian and guardian of Fort Atkinson, its relics and site, for many years has been W. H. Woods, or "Grandad" Woods, as he is affectionately called by himself as well as the children. Mr. Woods has lived at Fort Calhoun since 1871. He has given more time than any other person to study of the local history and to its publicity. He was asked to give a biographical sketch with this result:
   I was born in Leeds, England, September 28, 1839, third son of William Woods, a locomotive mechanic. My mother's first known ancestors were among the Saxon invaders of England. I attended school at Brighton, Manchester, and Patricoft and studied grammar as far as pronouns. The doctors ordered me to take a long sea voyage in 1849, and after nine weeks I reached New Orleans. My father died of cholera in 1860, and soon after his death I was selling papers and setting type in a printing office at Beardstown, Illinois. I was generally known as Bill Woods, Devil. For, the next ten years I was a wanderer in printing offices, on a farm, blacking boots in hotels, working in a livery stable, and many other things.
   In 1861 I responded to the three months' call of President Abraham Lincoln, but my farmer employer refused to let me go until August, when I bought my time out and enlisted as a hoof soldier in Company B, Tenth Missouri Infantry. In September I was detached and after a few weeks training assigned as acting brigade wagon master and in charge of $40,000 worth of property and later became company M. D., driving six mules. Got into the last skirmish on Corinth Road, Miss., April 8, 1862, and heard the bullets singing "Oh, what jolly boys we are!"
   After this I was sent from Corinth to St. Louis to inspect hospital service and later to Keokuk for a month's vacation at government expense. After eighteen months' education there in chemistry, medicine and college lectures, trying to make a surgeon of me, I took charge at the refugee hospital until I was sent to St. Louis and discharged in August, 1864, glad to be still a private soldier with $100 extra pay. I was married at Keokuk in August, 1863, to Miss Margaret McBurney. In 1865-66 I clerked as a druggist in Pekin, Ill., and later sold the great Robert G. Ingersoll his cigars and soda water in Peoria.
   I was for two and a half years superintendent of city missions, including Y. M. C. A., secretary of Citizens Relief Association, and one year International Y. M. C. A. secretary for Illinois. I came to Omaha as Y. M. C. A. secretary in May, 1870. I was chicken eater on the Fort Calhoun, Florence and De Soto circuit for the Methodist Episcopal church in 1871-72.
   I began the study of old Fort Atkinson in 1883 to please Governor Furnas and the schools. I am a life member of the State Historical Society, member of the International Archeological Society, historian of the Washington County Pioneer and Old Settlers' Association.
   I have had eleven children, of whom two died in early life and nine are married. This picture was taken for a book of the noted men of Washington county. They togged me up and tried to make me look like a gentleman. I was better looking then than I am now.


   Among the Nebraska books recently added to the Society's library are two anniversary volumes of Swedish churches - one from the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Omaha, the other of the Fridhem congregation of Funk. Both these books are illustrated and both contain a great deal of good historical matter. It is of great importance that copies of all books of local history be placed in the library of the Historical Society. In future years historians will go direct to this library for information upon the early period. Nebraska churches which issue anniversary volumes are deeply interested in having copies preserved in our library.


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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days


BUILDERS OF EARLY NEBRASKA

A Long List of Familar Names Among Pioneers Who Have Passed on,
Having Done Their Work Well

   Addison C. Beach, Weeping Water, Born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, October 21, 1834, died October 2nd; drove overland from Ohio to Weeping Water in 1866.
   J. G. P. Hildebrand, pioneer editor, born in Keokuk county, Iowa, died in Lincoln, October 8th, where he had resided for more than twenty-five years, appointed deputy internal revenue collector for the Lincoln district in 1913, and held the office until his death.
   Mrs. Anna Katherine Wetenkamp, Lincoln, born in Germany, April 2, 1833, died October 8th; married John L. Wetenkamp at Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1856; drove overland to Cass county in 1861; in 1862 removed to Lancaster county, homesteading on what is now the O street road six miles from Lincoln.
   William Dunn, pioneer of Syracuse 1858, died October 9th. He was a well known overland freighter across the plains.
   Melville Sperry Wilcox, Burt county; born in Litchfield, New York, September 20, 1842; died October 9th.
   Frank T. Hamilton, born in Omaha in 1861, died October 11th. He was president of the Omaha Gas Company, vice president of the Merchants National Bank and president of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Company, succeeding Gurdon W. Wattles.
   Abraham Towner, veteran of the Civil War, born in Missouri in 1836, died at his home in Butler county October 12th.
   Josiah Kent, 83 years old, died in Omaha, October 14th; came by wagon from Philadelphia to Nebraska in 1857.
   Mrs. Salina Guss Mettlen, pioneer of Wayne county, 1861, died October 14th.
   Melville S. Cox, Burt county, was born in Litchfield, New york, September 20, 1842; died at his home near Tekamah, October 16th; settled near Elk Creek, Douglas county, in 1867.
   Mrs. Margaret Prendergast McDermott, pioneer of Omaha before 1860; died October 21st.
   Rebecca Evans, resident of Nebraska since 1866, died at Liberty, Neb., October 21, at the age of 92 years.
   Mrs. Elizabeth Knoell, Fremont, died October 22; having resided continuously in Dodge county since 1865.
   John B. Colton, owner of Buzzards' Roost ranch near Eddyville, Neb., died at Grand Island, October 23rd. Hamersley's Army and Navy Register records that he became captain and then quartermaster of the Eighty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteer infantry, November 26, 1862 and resigned November 17, 1863. He was active in the organization of his regiment and resided at Galesburg, the place from which he enlisted, from 1836, when he was five years old until the time of his death, with the exception of twenty-four years spent in Kansas City. He was on his way from Galesburg to his ranch in Nebraska when he was stricken with pneumonia which caused his death at Grand Island. It is said that his estate amounted to more than a million dollars, most of which was invested in stock of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. Colonel Colton, as he was commonly known, acquired his Nebraska ranch, which contained about 5,000 acres, thirty-five years ago.
   Mrs. P. S. Gibbs died at Craig, November 6th. She and her husband were very early settlers in Burt county.
   Eldora Dell Kunnemann Beezley, pioneer of Syracuse, 1863, died November 11th.
   Mrs. Mary A. Pearman, widow of Major J. W. Pearman, died at Crawford, Neb., November 9th; married at Rockport, Mo., February 4th, 1856; came with her husband to Nebraska City, where he had settled in 1854. The Pearman family were among the best know early settlers. Major Pearman bore the title "Squatter Governor" and was a witty newspaper writer.
   Walter Parker, Johnson, Neb., died November 13; born in England in 1841, came to the United States in 1866 and the same year to Brownville, after twenty years moved to Johnson.
   Hiram Burch, University Place; first minister of the Methodist Episcopal denomination ordained in Nebraska, died November 15th; born in Canada December 11, 1829; arrived in Nebraska City, November 29th, 1855, to become pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Burch assisted in establishing the Methodist Seminary at Peru and in the organization and development of the Methodist college at York.
   Fred Krug, pioneer Omaha resident and first Nebraska brewer died November 18th. He was born near Cassel, Germany, in 1833; came to America at the age of nineteen; arrived in Omaha February 13, 1859, and in that year established the first brewery of that town. He was a heavy investor in many Omaha enterprises among which was the Krug theatre. He is survived by his wife to whom he had been married over sixty-three years.
   Amelia Holland, pioneer of Saunders county since 1867, died November 19th.
   John E. Caselman, Julian, Neb., died November 21st at the age of eighty-four years; born in Ontario, Canada, in 1835; came to Nebraska in 1859, settling first in Nebraska City; enlisted at that place September 9, 1861 in Company C, of the Curtis Horse Nebraska Volunteers, which was merged into the Fifth Iowa Cavalry June 25, 1862; honorably discharged at Nashville in 1864, having served three years and thirty-seven days.
   John A. Foster, Omaha, Neb., died November 22; born in the East Indies in 1836; served in the British army in the Crimean war; enlisted in the Civil War in the 16th New York Provisional Cavalry; He was a cornetist and played at the inauguration and at the funeral services of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Foster also served in the Indian wars and was a survivor of the Fort Sill massacre. He came to Nebraska in 1866.

   William A. Taylor, pioneer of Plattsmouth since 1857, died, November 24th.
   Mrs. Lucinda Bolejack, Shubert, resident of Nebraska since 1862, died November 24th.
   Mathias Kubicek, pioneer big Blue precinct, Saline county, since 1856, died November 25th.
   Mrs. George Higgins, a resident of Omaha for fifty-five years, died November 27th.
   Charles Wesley Lockwood, Gibbon, died November 27th, came to Nebraska in 1867.
   James Kleihauer, Johnson, died November 27th, born in Hanover, Germany, in 1834, came to America in 1845, settled in Nemaha county in 1865, where he resided until his death.
   Mrs. Lena M. Chalfant, Nebraska City, daughter of Daniel Gantt, justice of the supreme court of Nebraska 1873-1878, died December 2nd, resident of Nebraska since 1860.
   Joseph Frank Portrey, Falls City, resident of Nebraska since 1863; died December 3rd.
   Mrs. Sarah Jane Wood, pioneer Dakota City in 1858, died December 3rd at Woodbine, Iowa.
   John K. Watson, Peru, died December 4th, at the age of 92 years; resided in Nemaha county for 53 years.
   Mrs. D. C. Cole, Peru, died in Omaha December 6th; born in Bureau county, Illinois, March 14, 1843; came to Nebraska in 1857, where she resided until her death.
   Daniel B. Hall, Minden, veteran of the Civil war and resident of Nebraska since 1866, died December 10th.
   William R. Babcock, Jefferson county pioneer, died December 10th, having lived his entire life of 54 years in the county.
   Mrs. Elizabeth E. Goodwin, resident of Nebraska since 1860, died in Plattsmouth December 11th.
   David Silvers Reed, Syracuse, veteran of the Civil war, died December 11th; came to Nebraska in 1864.
   John K. Watson, pioneer Nemaha county since 1865, died December 11th.
   Mrs. Mary a. Teats, a resident of Fremont since 1857, died in Blair, December 11th.
   Mrs. Ella Byrne, 83 years old and a resident of Omaha since 1866, died December 11th.
   Mrs. William Burrow, Humboldt, died December 12th; born in Russia, January 22, 1814; came to America in 1858, settling at Brownville.
   William John Fowlie, pioneer Bennet since 1866, died December 14th.
   Dighton W. Hotaling, pioneer of Johnson county, 1865, died in Holyoke, Colo., December 19th.
   John Nelson, resident of Cedar county for more than sixty years, died December 21st.
   George A. Mayer, Lincoln, died December 22nd; came to Nebraska in 1859, settling at Plattsmouth; removed to Lancaster county in 1862 where he resided until his death.
   Mrs. Mary D. Hauptman, resident of Nebraska since 1860, died in Lincoln, December 25th.
   James Armstrong, resident of Auburn since the early sixties, died in San Diego, Calif., December 28th.
   Mrs. Henry Halbeck, pioneer Dodge county since 1865, died October 25th.
   Herman Henry Stork, born December 1, 1838, in Germany, settled at Arlington in 1865; died October 26th.
   Johannes Christian Wunner, resident of Stanton and vicinity for fifty-four years, died October 28th.
   Conrad Bauman, pioneer of Sarpy county in 1866, died October 29, in Georgetown, Colo.
   James Harrison Cook, born in Otoe county, September 12, 1865, died November 1; spent his life in Nebraska until his removal to Spokane, Wash., in 1911.
   Richard Whitehead, resident of Lancaster county since 1867, died November 4; entered employ of the postoffice October 15, 1884, as mail carrier and at the time of his death was the oldest carrier in point of service.
   Mrs. Anson B. Crabtree, Maywood, Neb., died November 5th; moved with her parents to Iowa in 1849, settled in Cass county, Nebraska in the very early fifties.
   Mrs. Andres Everett, Lyons, Neb., who settled in the Logan valley in 1867, died November 6th.


A War Program

   The program at the annual meeting of the Historical Society for 1920 was designed to place in our records some of the first hand material upon Nebraska's part in the World War while the actors were living and the facts fresh in their minds. The program follows:

Demobilization and Return to Peace ....... Governor S. R. McKelvie

The Nebraska Fuel Administration .......... John L. Kennedy, Omaha

The Nebraska National Guard ........ Col. P. L. Hall, Jr., Greenwood

The Nebraska State Council of Defense ........ R. M. Joyce, Lincoln

The History of Burt County in the World War ...............................

......................................................... J. R. Sutherland, Tekamah

The Three Hundred Fifty-fifth Regiment .......................................

.................................................. Capt. Earl Cline, Nebraska City


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