'/- " 9 \ \ X' .0 S'f'^Cv .^-r.^ V^ <>- ^^. %-^ " ^ .-.V ^J-^ A > O "' -V' V V- >\^ ■■^^^".-^' <--*"-. ^'"^\x^^ .'-^. % '*^^\^^ ..^ 0' X oo' •Y V n^ *^*"a/^. ,\- -i^^ "^^ c'^"- O- -\,' ■f ^' ci- ■X '< ■/ • J V. ^ * \ O *f , u V** ■ =?J>' '"^A v*^ - r,.^t ' ^0 o^ ,\ v^' '^. '- 'V '3'' -^^ .\V vOo, c. "^^^^ J- V'^'^V^v'^'IV*^^'* ><'^'^ #' ^i *" iJtV'^X' -^/. v^ ^ .-^^ ' *. 'c . ... ..V -. s^ .•P' s- V^^^^'^'-- 0' ^ .^^ 't.- :\ ,■^■ 'p .0- -.^,^^ ^i^-^^. a /*' A^^' ••/^^o.' > * v'\ •-J> ■N' V ^' ^ '• '/ 'h ■" 1 v^ ^\V ^,.. , .0 :.-3^^ "^, N.-^' ^>. '-.. ■•-' .■ o- \, ' » X " V .A :?^ •^. ^%: \V . ,., -•vv . V. ,vN^^ ""^-^ v^' r^^^.^:^^'^ "'oo^ ' '•i-' ^J^ ^ ^% ,^^ "^. c,V- •^ ■^,' '.^; ^0■ o5 -^^ ->/ \\- \\. %-<<^ "^ %"> ^.' .t^f -.■.<.<>' OO •\'-' ^ „^^, - ^ -^^ ■\ #■ a\ \V , '>■ v^'' c\"^oA'' -^bo^ •>'^, r^X •<-. -;\- \' \ = -^ .<^ ..' M't2^ '■s -^y ~ :^ a Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/centennialsketchOOclay CEITTEITITIAL' p>K^JCji Of NEBRASKA. COMPILED BY THE HISTORICAL COMMITTEE AND READ BY DR. CLARK, CHAIRMAN, AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE AT SUTTON, THE COUNTY SEAT, JULY FOURTH 1876. B. H. WHITE, PUBLISHEIi, SUTTON, NEBRASKA. ^ulliX ' /^Y^y^^^ y^y> ^ ■ vVk TliE 'CEITTENITIAL' ^fiflJCji Of SAT e@'^ a r J NEBRASKA. .COMPILED BY THE HISTORICAL COMMITTEE AND READ , BY DR. CLARK, CHAIRMAN, AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE AT SUTTON, THE COUNTY SEAT, JULY FOURTH 1876. Jt', K. WHITE, PUBLI8HilB, SUTTON, NEBRASKA, H^jki- Printed at the Office of th» Clay Co. Globe, PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY. p. H. "WHITE, Editor * Proprietor. SUTTON NEBRASKA. ^7^. A History OF COMPILED BY THE HISTORICAL COMMITTEE, AND READ BY DM. MARTin CLARK, CHAIRMAN, AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OE AMERICAN INDEPEyDENCE AT S UTTON. NEBRASKA July 4th., 1876. INTRODUCTORY. In accordance with a joint resolu- tion of Congress on the Centennial celebration ®f American Independ- ence in the several towns and coun- ties ia the United State?, approved March 13, 1876, and the Proclama- tion of His Excellency, Silas (barber. Governor oi the State ot Nebraska^ don^ at Lincoln, the Capital, April 25, 1S76, meetings were held, after having been advertised., at Sutton and Harvard ia J/ay, 1876, to appoint committees to compile the history of Clay county, and the several towns situated in the county, and to make proper arrangements to cele- brate the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America, The committees appointed were Dr. Martin Clark, Sutton. Judge J. R. Maltby, " Erastus H. White, " Ezra Brown , Harvard. Ira F. Pearsall, '* J.T. Fleming- *<■ To which were added by appointment of the committees elected at Harvard and Sutton, VVm. J. Waite, Edgar, and Richard Bayly, Fairfield. At a joint meeting of the above historical committees held at Sutton, June 26, 1876, it was decided to au- thenticate the history of the organisa- tion of the county and all statistical material, &c-, from the County Rec- ords, which has been don^; also that the county history should be written by Precincts, and an extended histo- ry of each town be adde.i as part of the same. It has been the aim of the commit- tee to present in the following pages, a history that shall be alike impartial, accurate and truthful. Historical Sl^ of N, Wji^ Sec. 2, Town 7, Range 5, upo;/ which is the origin J town of Sutton, on the the 14, day of March 1^70. June 5, of the same year he moved upon it and made penaianent settlement, camping near the north section line, on the creek, for a few weeks, when he built his house, partly in the banks of School Creek; he was the first white settler in the town and precinct The house is still standing on the mar- gin of the grove and was logged uj),on the inside, covered with bark and dirt, having the ground for a floor, and is in much the same condition as when built though long since abandoned. On one side of the dug-out was a blind chamber, under ground, this was connected with the outer world by a subteiranean passage some rods m length and reaching down to the creek bank below. Here Mr. French gathered and hid his treasures^ — 1 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. flock of motherless children, when attackei by Indians, Tnat summer Mr. French broke about six acres of land at the east X)ar/rf town- nis nearest neighbors in the county were at Spring iiranche on the Little Blue, j-onie twenty-five miles south. west, at which i)lace the settlement of the county commenced The next settler on the town site was Janifs C. Vroman who took a soldiers homestead upon the quarter section Kouth of Mr. French, built a, dug-out on the creek near C, AT. Turner's present residence, and began culti- vating the land. Z>uring 1870 there were plenty of elk, deer, antelope, beaver and wolves. In the sprii'g of 187 1, Mr- 7a-ench soved about four acres of whe'eb., folla\Ted soon afler by Wni. A. Way. Tbese me'' jumped '.be claim d i. V. Vrcoian coutes'ing it at Lincoln a«d TFasbinalon and succeed- ed in gellint- it canceled, and tbe title ])erf'ecied in tbemsclves, as elsewhere' recorded. In February, 1873, tbey .'aid it out a? the Ursi addition to tfutlo;). August, 23d 1S71. Tliurlow Weeil came from Lincoln and brought with bim a car- loud of lumber, tbe iirs't one in tbe county, and for pomt; lune managed the lumber trade for Monnell, Lashley is >Fer'd, of "wbirb tirm he was a luember. Ou tbe following day , John jI. G-av & Co., shipped a car-load of lumber from Lincoln and tiave continue I in tbe same busiuf=s uulil Ibe present time. J. M. Gray w^js commissioueJ a Notary Public s«on after, tbe first oae in tlie county. Among tbe early men, of tbe '.owu, vviio have gone away, are Asa J racy wl.o kept tbe first boarding and lodging bon^e, and afterwards a store; gone "west. Cbas. Calkins who followed Ibe same business; gone west. Old father LyL-cU a comical and very good-natured maa kepi & SiilooD iu tbe builluig now occu- pied bj' Bagley * Bemis: alter losing bis beallli, qnit tbe busmes?, bcquealbed bis property to charitable purposes aiid die.l. Thornton 11. Liutou ca'ne from Iowa and commenced tbe livery business with four boracs, ^ept, 20lb 1871. His first stable w: s built out of pole? covered with prairie bay; He now bis a spacious sta- tde ou launders avenue, well supplied with horses and carriages. August 12th, 1871, Mr, French laid out the lovvii iu about 600 lots, and 0.1 a suj^-geslna of Air. Maltby it was named Suitou from a town (»i' the same name iu Rlassachuselis. '1 be first caucus in tbe town was held in the fall 0/ 1871 at French's dugoul. Octo'jer lith 1871 an elect ioa was held at the house of Alexander Campbell, near Harvard, at which e'ection Button was made the cou'.ity seat by a vote oi' 58 to 43, and has retained it ever since. The fi;st white child born here was the little daughter, since decea-^ed, ot Mr. and Mrs, F, A. Gross, boiu Febru- ary lolh 1S72. Tbe lirst death was that of ■iitic 3Iaude Tracy, ciaugbcer of .Mr, aud Mrs. Asa 7'racy, A pril 2lsf, 1872. J( was the lirst i-b-jUow tliat death had cist over the town She was a geneial favorite — everyone missed her. To her funeral all went; -^lilioug'i uo solp.ran bell tolled, everyone wass sad, aud the well linovvn requiem was sung at hcv grave. '"aS/w sleeps ui the Vallei/ so sweet.'' HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. The first sliootua' aflVay ibat occurred im tiie loTTD aud in t'us part of the couu' *y w«s occasioned by a jealousy between Mulleu and his prriner, sal( on-keepers; Flynu flot Mnileii i^ Mie face al- ttouth Bot seriously. These fellows were tacinated by the charms of an Oma- ha belle. Gray & Bemis estabished a nursery business Nov. 1st 187:, shippius? a gen- eral as-scrtment of fruit trres, small fruits shrubs and ornamental tree?. In February 1872 the tirst directory of the t(^wn and county was published by tjoustou aud Street, since dissolved, at Lincoln. llie descripiion of the town in Ihat directory foims Ihe basis of near- ly all that has since been written. The directory contained in ciry-2,oods and gro- ceries 3. flour and feed 2. Drugs 1. hardware 1, lumber '2, lolels 1, imple- iAents= 1, nursery 1, livery 1, fur and hides 1, meat market 1, real estate 2, doctoisl. attorneys 1, notary public 1. ghoemaker 1. Wm TVonlnian was then the shoemak- er aud also the lirst resident minister in the town. lu all there were but 21 busintss and professional meu. Then the combined capital of the town fvas'$15,00D, amount of business per year $25,000. Whole number of houses and buildings in town was 2i>. Today we have in dry goods and gro- ceries 5, dry goods 1, grocers 1, hard- ware 2, drugs 2; milliueiy 2, meat market 1, shoe store 1, shoe makers 2, bhckso'iiLs 3, carriage makers 2. cabinet milker and iurcitiue 1; builders 4: jewel- ers 1; Livery 1; Hotels 2. Lumber dealers \ 2,Grain dealers H. Siock dealers 3. Implenjciits 5. Proprietary medicine mauutticlurers 1. newspapers 2 lawyers 7. doctors 4. clergymen 2. notaries 4. brickmakeis 1. ice dealers 1. billiard halls 3. harness makers 2. barber 1. Other business aud agencies of all kinds 61. Total business aud professions 126 Ifthiscari be considered an index to our material progress, then we have (be rem.arivabie ratio of increase, as 1 is to 6^. The combined capital ol yuUon, exclu- sive ot fcieign agencies, invested in trade is ^70,000; I'otsI yearly tiade 1310,000; this Clots not include either the Fxpress. Postcthce nor Railroad business. POPULATION, •< Four years ago the population was in &11 35; p( pulation now, 415, VALUATION. Present tax valuation of real Sutton is Personal piopcrly Railroad bed For assistance, in gathering material from public records for this sketch: the committee recognize, the valuable ser- vices of J B Dinsmore county clerk, his deputy JT J Hull and F M Brown former county clerk, Nov, l&t r971, Isaac N, and Martin ClHrk came from Illinois and Ohio, re, spectively, and purchased the unsold portion of the town site of Mr, French lor $4,000. They immediately commenc ed the building 'vhich is new the Clark House and in Februarv the following ye'^r put in a stock of harcwa'e aud drugs, These stocks were the Erst of their kind in the town or county and the earliest on the B, & M. west of Crete, I, N. Clark & Co. opened the hardware February 20, and ifartin CUrk & Co., the arugs February lOlb 1872. Total estate in 34,016 38,988 4. 000 177,004 v.. M. Turner, on Nov. 17, 1871, came up from Crete, and built a store near where he lives, facing north to a street that has since been moved several lots soutli aud new called E'm street. Dee, 9!h he opened a stock of general merchandise and shipped the first full carload of flour to the town. Corey & Co. came up at the same time and built beside Mr. Turner. These two firms were always spirited rivals. Corey & Co. sold out to Stewart 4d Evans, went to Crete and have since faded. At this time most of the town was all on this, now obliterated street, which ex- tended down as far as the present switch acd was called "whiskey row." After wards the town, like a balky, bead strong horse, went east across the draw. The Clarks and Grays build'og the trus- tie bridge east of the Court house to go over on. i, N. Clark & Co built and stocked a hardware store down on Mam avenue, also Martin Clark and Co a drug store, this was late m 1872. Then came Merrill & Co.. built and stocked a general store, early in January followed bv Jihn I, Smith in the harness busiticbs a'id Chas. Meyer boot and shoe shot). About the sime time A, Burlin- game bought out Judge Maliby's interest in the building he had previously built lor a post oflSce; afterward Mr. Burlin- game tulded a lean -to, and J. M. Gray put. up a building south ot the post-office. Charley Calkins aud W. B, Jenkins built houses and Grays moved the Mines building, which was the tirst scbocl- hoUse, over for an ofliice. The new town auurished. A lot of sorghum cane grow- ing in that parloftown gave itthename of Sorghum, The impetus given by the es- HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. lablislimcnl of the depot, and flie survey- ing ot Ibe (iist addition to Sutton by Mul*by and Way. checked the progress oC the bniidiuo- of east Snttoa, ibr a busi- ness point, and accordingly the business men one by one came back, and except- iuc J, M. Gray and Co and H W Gray located ou 5 who flourished in Sorghum's palmv days, and whose business card still rsmains all over the the front of his toimer shop on Main avenue. On the same day J F Evans and Co opened their lum- ber yard successors to Mounell, Ijasliler and Weed. F W Hohmann came in from Lincoln Neb. and opened a dry-goods aud grocery stoi'e, in June 187-1 He was a musician by profession and organized Come!, bands at Harvard and Suttvu. John B. Ealou and Sou bu'lt a grain ware house Feb 1. 1874 The building was afterwards sold to Eaton and Pyle and later pissed into the bauds of F A Pyle and Co. Eatou and Pyle enlarged it to a horse power elevator having a storage capacity of 7,000 bushels anci a daily capacity of 1,000. J F Evans and Co, T A Margrave manager commenced the giain business iu thH fall of 1874- This company are extensive dealers it being a series of seven extending from the Mississippi River to .button, there being tive in Iowa and two in ISebraska. The daily capac- ity of their elevator in &uttou is 2, OCO hushels- McKee and Robinson commenced the phoiograpb business iu the summer of 1873. Afterwards McKee bucceeded to the business, W J Keller and Co, druggists, coramea- ced operaticns Nov. 30, 187-5; they are successors to J Tuompsou and Co. who commenced business iu the fall of 1873. Alcorn and Clyce commenced business in asricullnral impleuients Sept. 15, '75; successors to Alcorn and Colvard, J E Ryan Jicni Illinois commenced business May Isl, 1S76; operating the HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NKBRASKA. first exclusively dry-ffOoJs store in the conniy. Mav 19, 187fi, Mrs F A Gross opened a inlliDcry store and dress-making es- lablisliment, ill llie Sprin": of 18V6, B B Crorin commenced ic tlie boot and shoe trade, tbetirst of the kinl la Sat Ion. Tlie ^u^ton Brick Companv, J S LeHew. Superintendent, I N Clark. Treasurer commenced the successlul manulacture oC brick June 1st, ISTfi. Joiil 22. 1876, Shev-wood and Torrev opened their meat market. Kriejrer and B^ltKer were in ihis business before fheni acd had a shop ,)ust. north ot Grays Inrober yard. After the shop was mov- ed osto " Saurders avenue. W Cunnins bought into the lirm and sold out again lo Kieiger. Afierwards Cunning- was appointed deputy sheriff which office be holds up lo the present time. Earliar he used to be a great man to drive work and did mostof the heavy hauling in the town Later Eugene B°mis succeeded (o the business and had a dray built, the fir^t one in the town. The first builder in town was Henry Potter now of bprina "Rauche, He built P. H. Cuirau's saloon near the last ot May 1S71. The Urst plastered building in t^utton ■was ihe County Court houps built and plastered early in 1873. The masons came from Crete. Other I raises not before mentioned are A A t^colt. Montgomery and Bro. Emery and Bro. and I B Teriyll: Builders. W W Jordau, and Farris and Co. mason's. Spencer and Co. Wm Smeltser and James Mcvey; Blacksmiths. Daniel Crouin and F. J, Hoerger; car riage aud wagon makers. Paul Braitseh, successor to J D Har- ris, Jeweller. B B Crouin and Geo KarcLer; shoe makers, Ramsey and Griffith, house and sign i:ainter£. John Nehf; harness maker. Augustus. Meyer. Barber. Wm Ryau, l' H Curran aud James Stewail; Billiards, BUILDINGS. '^mong the residences having considerable pretentions to elegance, are the hotses of J B Dinsmore; couniy ckrk aud F M Davis Treasurer, also that of J ^ Bagley. P if Browu. W E Bemis. Samtiel Conn; James ifelviu; 8 B Montgomery and Geo Stewart, And the costly houses of the leaders of the Russian colony; Gj-osshans: Hoffman and Griess; also the rpsic'enccs of Messr.s. t) M Turner. Geo A loom, J W Shirley, D L Cornwell and J D Harris' two story 24x50 frame building. Not'ceable among Uie many buiJdinns ..that space does not allow montio:i is the two story buildinu with Masonic hall above o; I N (hu'k and Co; store build- ing ot Conner aud Hheppard one story, 22x70. the two story building, with Odd Fellow-g Hall ot John Grosshaus 24x60. and the one story build'ng of Henry Griess, har'^lware 24x60, one story of IFeed and Co, and store same size occupied by J E Ryan, aud T'urner and n outer's store 20x80. Coun y court house two stories. r-^ew public school buildinj; 40x40, with appropriate and artistic projections, each vvay; 24 loot po8!s, with a belfry and dome. It has two rooms below r.ud a chapel lull size above, with all the modern coriveniei ces of cloak and apiratus rooms, cost $4,000.00. The First Congregational Church, the tirst church buildinsr jn the town or coun- ty, i«i 28x40 feet, 16 foot ceiling, and wag erec'ed in the fall of 1875. cost $1,500. The first, Methodist Episcopal church of brick: now, buildiug, 30x40 18 feet hisrh- Tolal number of buildings in town four yf-ars ago, 20 Total number of buildings how 150* In that period of time there has bcea five busioess failures, the period includ- ing the money panic of 1873 and giass hopper famine of 1874 The county commissioners appointed the tirsr board of trustees for the town of Sutton in November 1874. They were F M B-owu, Martin Clark; James Mel- vin: John C Merrill. Win A Wav. The uex* board were elected in May 1875; and were .1 {) Merrill. Martiu Clark, Geo- Stewart. Paul Braitseh aud Wm A Way The present board elected in May 1876 aie E P Church. I N (71ark, F A. Pyle, James Sheppard aud J W Shirley. The flist school biii.din;.j in Suttou \va< a rrama house, built b, r>wsn Mine?, an.t stood i early be- l^^eeQ the presents sideuces of C. M. Turner aad Mr. Rowe; It was sold ai shiTifl's sals to the Clark Brothers lo satisfy a lumber debt in favor ofMr. We«J; afterward it was rented one jear tor what It cost, lo Thompson & Youa?; then soldioJ. M Gra^A Co, tor aa office, whch ihe/ now occisDy William Weed tausht ths first scUooi in the town, aud Ihe ■second iu toe couutr, comraen ing about the 20th of January, 1ST2; avtrase altendaucs 14. SUTTOJV HOTELS. William Shirley came from Lincoln, Nebraska December 7 h, 1871; In February, 1S72 he bailt the first hotfl la Uie ulace; Tue part buiU then, was moved buck, in JunelSI4, and is now ns?d tor a kitchen, aud in it:> place was built the pres- ent ' Central Hotel," which was formaliy oy.dLied for giie-ts June 22d, 1874, the event bein^ cete-' brated in the evening by toasts and speeches. HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASkA. The bnildiiig bow kuovvn as the 'Clarii House, ' ,wa.« used, up to January l^t, 18T3, by Slark Bros, for the f ale of hardware aad dra;'-!; at tbat date ft was opened a« a hotel, hy Z>'idly Hoisinarton, until the 10th of Au just 1S73, when it passed int ) the I'aDcIs of B. ¥. Char'h, who has t>een its pro- prietor ever siacp; Mr. Church is a native oi' NcW York, buccame to Sutton from Beatrice Neb. JV^ WSPAPERS. '•'TheSatton Times," weekly, was eofabii.-hed and issued i(s fir.< mimher on Friday, June •20th fST.S; It was at that tini" a five colittnu quarto, with '-patent inside;"* It hid nine cohnmns of advertising and eleven columns of local reading matter; inibeflrst issue vras an anicle on the early settleraent of Suttom; mere were represpnt- ed m its ftd i'ert'.siH'S ma'ter, twenty three dfie:^ ent branches of business and pro-"e'--sioris; It is now an eight colramn fdio, "i>atei)t inside," with 8 columns of advfrti-in? and 44 advertiser.-'.; ex- ceptins for a short, tfmn atter st'ininy', it has bcin the officia' paper of the county ; Hepublicm in pol- itics; edited and p?ibli^hed at comiiieucoment by Wtllman & Brakeman, and succs-sively by Well- man & White, wellman Brothers,, and now by i ank B. Wellman. "The Ci.ay Couuty Herald"' wa? star ed nnd issued its first number Saturday, June Slst,. 18'53; edited and Dublished by J. M. Sechier, snd Wm. J, Cowan; Its last issa?, was published in the fall ol 1873, when it failed r It was a seven columu f*lia>, '"patent inside," with a liberal amount of advertising; Independent in poliiics. "The Clay County Globe," semi weekly, was established and issued its fii-st number Jaiy lith 1S75, F. M. Comstock. editor, J. S . LeHew„ busi- ness manager; It was a 4 column lolio. all primed at home ; Independent in politics . October 1st 1875, it.was purchased by E H. White, who has edited and pub lishrd it since weekly; Eepublicau i«p'olitics; October 29th, 1875, it was eul^rged lo a six column folio, ^'oatent msic'ie," and is now ihe official paper of the lowj of Sutton. It now has six columns of local reading matter and six eoJaians of advertising,, aad forty-twn acvertissrs. A B Lucore settled and built a large two sloiy business bouse, 18?-40' feel, ou Maiu avenue in the sprirg of 1873. He first came to S utton with Messrs Gray, Cunning and Iiemis,.jn 1871. and located at tbat time on land a few miles' east of tawn, upon wbieb be built a laiifge fiame fiouse. THE LAW TEES The following is a list ol the lawyeis in the order in which they settled and eeaimenced practice; Kobert G. Brown,, a native of Illinois, settled April 10th., 1871— th& I'tirst law- yer in the county. His Hrst case and the first law-suit in the county, was be- fore John R. Maltby, Probate Judge, November 2nd, 1871. The case was about a well, James S Schermerhorn, Plaintiff, vs David P , Jayne, Defendaint. Mr Brown was attorney for the plaintiff, and won the suit, receiving a fee of $10. He is a Notary Public; and was a dele- gate to the National Ke publican eon- ?eBtioji at Cincinnati, Ohio, June Idth. 1876, Hosea W Gray, a native of Pennsylva- nia, settled May 4th, 1871, and com- menced pra69-: was Pro- lessor of Pharmacy fowr years in the former college and a member of tue convention lo revise the Uaited States Phartnacopoeia of 1870; commenced the practice of medicine at this place Nov 1, 71— the first physician in the county. Markus W. Wilcox. M. D., a native of Genesee county Ne-w York: took his first course at the Eclectic school; Cincin- nati Ohip and graduated at the Ohio gMed ical college in 1850: and took aa addenda at the Chicago Medical college in 1864 conmenced piacticeim this place in July 1878: he is the present Commissioner of Insanity for this county: and U S pension Surgeon, both positions having been previously held by Dr» Clark from 187atolS75v HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. W.M. Pammis., M. D. anative oflili- iiiois: took l)is first course at tlie Kentucky School of Medicine and eraduateil at the ■Louisville Medical college early Id 1875: ■was (or some time thereafter in the Louisville ciiy fiosyital: seftlfd here and comm^'nced practice July 26tb, 1875. R M Cotton: M. D.: Ph.D., a native of Portage county Ohio: graduated m Tcchnoloffy with the degree of Doctor of Piiilosopby. and lu Medicine at the Lni- versitv of Michigan 1875: po^tled here and commenced practice March 1st 1876. THE EUSSIAKS: A colony of Germans from southern Russia, near t'je port of Odessa on the Black sea. came to Sutton and settled iu th« town and adjacent country, in the Jail of 1873. The principal leaders of the colony were John Grosshans, Hen- ry Griess and H nry Hoffman. The "whole number of -families is fifty-five, 1'bey bought, in the agregate, 16,120 acres of land at an average cost of seven dollars per acre, making 1 12, 8^' dollars that was paid the B and M. R, R. com- pany and to homesteaders for land, their property iu Sutton cost them eighteen thousand dollars: thsir combined wealth in this county is five hundred thousand do'ilars. They are a sober, temperate peo- ple and belong to the German Reform church. societies; The leligious Societies in Sutton are the Methodist Episcopal church, — Rev. C L Smith, pastor. Congregational; — Rev, John Gray pastor: Christian — without a pastor. Baptist — without a pastor. Free Congregational — C M Tur ner president; F M Brown secretary: F M Davis Treasurer, Sutton S cientilic Association, for the advancement of Science and pursuit of technical knowledge — M V B Clark il D President, E H White Vice President, U H Malick, B S, Secretary, and H W Gray, Treasurer. OKDEES. A F and 'A M.— John C Merrill, W M A K Marsh S W; and J E Bagley, J W.' Lebanon Chapter A F and AM, U D, M J Hull, G H P, A K Marsh G S W. Geo VauDuyne G J W. I. O. O. F.— R G Merrill, N G., Jo- seph Grice, V G., D J Towslee, Sec. A O H — not yet chartered. FOTJETH OF JULY CELEBRATIONS, The first celebration in the county since its organization was at Sutton, July 4th 1872. 'H W Gray president of the day. Rev A Burlingame Chaplain, A Burlingame reader of the declaration; R G Brown delivered the oration, follow- ed by Hon W H H Flick, of the House of delegates of West Virginia. It will be long remembered as one of the best we ever had. At the celebration July 4th 1873, it be- ing a union celebration between Harvard and Sutton. E J Moger of Harvard was president of the day, Rev A Burlingame Chaplain. Miss Annie Foster reader of the declaration. Attorney General Rob- erts, orator, 7 Weed, marshal. At the celebration July 4th, 1874, Dr. M WWilcox was president of the day Rev A Burlingame, Chaplain, T Weed reader of the declarition. Hon John I Redick, of Omaha, orator, George Stew- art, marshal. July 4th 1875, H W Gray was presi- dent of the day, T Weed Chaplain. Mrs I N Clark reader of the declaration, ora- tors were R G Brown, J E Bagley, Q W Bemis and George Nuse, the latter iu German. .Tames Sheppard marshal. The Cenlennial celebration July 4ih,, held at Sutton had for its officers, C M Turner, president of the day. Rev C L Smrth, Chaplin, Dr W M Sammis, reader of the Declaration, Dr. M W Wilcox orator, followed by George Nuse in Ger- man, and N. Anderson \n Swede; Dr Martin V. B Clark chairman, and reader Judge John R, Maltby and Erastus H White, county and town historical com- mittee. FINE AETS. Teachers iu organ and piano music were. Miss Phebe Dewstoe, Mrs G W Bemis anc" Mrs F A Pyle, Band and instrumental music. Prof. F W Hohmann; Amateur landscape painter D Cronin. Plastic artist, James Stewart. StrirON POST- OFFICE - Luther French was the first Post-mas • ter. and was appointed in the summer of 1871; at this period the office was ia French's dug out, and he was ia the hab- it of carryrng th3 mail matter in hia coat pocket. Afterwards, as the mail receipts increased, he distributed the mail to the settlers froiH an 8x10 glass box, A, Burlingahie, formerly an M E Clergy cran; came in from Iowa and settled Aug. 18th 1871. He succeeded Mr, French as post-master January 1st, 1872, and has held the appointment continuously to the present time. His salary was in creased from $12 to $400 per year July 1st, 1872, two years belore a railroad statron was built here. A money order office was established July 1st 1873; Post-office money order number one was issued J uly 7th. 1873 to Russel Merrill ibr 110.50 in favor of Samuel Burns, a crockery dealer at Omaha: During the contest with the railroad company, the post-office department was a staunch friend of the town, The terms of the 8 HISfORY OF CLAY COlt^TY, ^%iR^SKii. (Contract for cairyiog the mail between Uie rail road eompaoy and t'le depar*- nienl cblifred tbe company to deliver all mail?, not only at but literally into tlie ppst office wlieu tlie same ^'as less than SO rods from the station . To the creciit ct P M General (Jrcsswell, be it said, be alwtiyiS exacled tbe fulfillment o tbig prevision. ^Stopping tbe cari= to leave the mail, allowed passengers 1o get on and oti', wbicb for convenience of" travel inc. made /Sutton a station, But; tliis wonld not serve tbe purpose of liie com pany, ;*nd accordingly, trains were run by. last tuouab to prevent passengers gettiflo- on or off, and tbe mail baa ^^'^^ Ibrown off, and tbe out-g!nng mail was cangbf from tbe bands of the pos'masler. On tbe morning of August l^itb, J^os'- master Bur/mgauie refuEed lo endanger bis Jife aov Ioniser by boluing the mail bag out for tbe swiftly passine; train, and left it in tbe otSce— as was bis right to do. About Ibis time tbe mail agent tlirew out tbe mail bag inf* the ditcb. Fiom ♦ bis time forvyard tbe attitude ot tbo company was verr bosiile. and tbe war grew 1© be a bitler one. Our post-'iias- ter ''eporied tbe beaavfor of tbe company to tbe departmeul. and the goverumeut r.idered tiio iiiaii lo be carried to >".!id from Gration, it ibe company's expense. T K Linlon. who \n those days was tbe freighter to and from that point, took tbe con tract, at $100 :i quarter, and r<)utin- ijed lor some time, uuiil tbe company, tired of paying for tbe carrying from juration, sr-ugbt ot ibe department tbe privile£re o) asain delivering it in SuftOii. The compyny accordingly built a crane nearlj' opyosile Gray's lumber yard, up- on wbicli they expected to catch tbe out going mui bap: as the train flew ibrougb the towi:; this was in the fall of 1S72; shortly afterwards some of tbe b>y&" i?awed the crane down, which was tbe onl> unlawful act committed by tbe citizens during ibe cf)utest. In those sober days of s'ruggle, theie cccurred some incidents ot a laugbable nature, that gave zest to tbe contest and served to smooth over its asperity and biilerne's. One sifting, snowy moraiug il'.e B «& M lioute agent was sure be espied the mail sac'K hanging on the crane tor tbe first lime; be accordingly bung on tbe ib'utlon mail sack and grab bed wl.'at be supp )sed was tbe eastern mail; but it was so tightly laatened to the ciane that Le catie near beiuj jerk- ed out of ihe cjr. Tbe obj?cl proved to be a dead dog, which some one bad Lung to tbe crane for a joke. The company (ben offered lo stop at tbe water tank, as the tank near Har- vard was dry; and they could take wat- w and mail at the same lime. All this time tbe ofHse was kept in the middle bniidi'T2: in Ibe wtobj row opposite Grays Inmbn- yard a-od was over SO r,)ds from the tank. By rLis means the com- pany succsederi in obliging tbe depait- ment to furnish a crrrior. In this manner the office wa«! supplied with miil until tbe final solu- lioii of tbe diificaiiy bv the eslsblisbmfjac of a depot. Th? ye:irly amount of moa • ey orders issued at button pose officio' is $33,800; ainount pud out 115.000; amoniii. of samp? soldj $1,200; number of rHgistered'ie t;;r:3 s?at out yearly 500. whole liumber of ord r is?a3ci t') i\ns datesi-ve o.430, yearly ■b;ioinj3S of thu offiL-e 50.8:^0 dollars. THe ROLEDA.D WAR. The Urst rail laid oi tb? lovi site ofSuttoi by tb^ Bir!!a,>;'';0 i .^ M;.^- sonri !{iverraib'oad e.)mf}iMy v-^iis pit In'o ifs p'o-ca o"j 1,be liJ*-.h, liay of ^ ig. 1871. J?Tot lorn after, Mr. Joseph Wils-y an attorney of Crete reortj^e-iuiir;' tlu railroad company, wai'c I on. Mi". Fl"3 i3'i ia bis du.i-out aud iiK]«c-,'J biin to sivt'i a con tract, deejlag: Ui? rixit of \vif fhrougii toM'ii to tm o;>a"\r>-au^, the coi- eideiutiou for ■■>vbioh ws^s a pro nisei rje- pot at SiiftoB. 'i'bis de3:l "^as not re- corded until .^rt"r Preach s.old to the Clark Bros., and was consequeDiiy in- valid. A freight car had besn u?3l here f n* a st.iiion bon^e, and was kno>va as J.2i; which nuo^ber was pai.ited on a blea'?Q'.^'.l butt do skull, hunn on k stick and naileJ to one end oi the car. December I5:b or l«;b. 1871. tiie con- pany moved their slatum from this pi;c3 to a new town they had laid out 4-k qrilea east, ca'led Graftoa, wiiich c )a?i:^te J (jf four bouses. Originally tha inlea^iosi of tb3 B & II company was to make a station here, tbe distance bein^ abiuit half way befwx-eu Fairmont and HirVi'rd aul betwpn Lincoln and Kearney, and tbe ready 'ac- cess to water in tlir valley of School Creek, and tbe fneudiy protection o.'ihj ucigiiboriug bills and the timbJi' on the creek were appreciate.! by ('ol. Thorn i« Doane, chief eniiineti of tbe company. The ca'u>e tf the l->ng and disagreeable contest is now a matter of great iutefe:t. Tbe railroad compiuy, witb its un- told landed wc.iltb, iirou.^d €Vjry thing to bear on thcttrugg ing town that bad started out s-o lull of hope and good intentions. It instrHcted its officers to deny the existence of Sutton, ev^n a? a- toicii, as well as a station. How bravely and well the people bore up --often beiry hearted, buc uev^'r quite discourav^cd — under their truiits it will l>e for om* HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. readers to conclude; as to who were in the right, and who were victor? in the end. ff-indius tor you to decide for your- selves. It has been claimed by the company that because Sutlou tolerated saloons, and also the title o the Vromau claim ■ being in dispute, were suflBcieut reasons lor discarding it as a station, The } ecple were ever wiJlinu to yive a reasonable proportion of their lands for a station. lu due time the contest between. Vromau and Maltby aud TFay was decided, and the tills perfect- ed in Maltby and Way, negotiations: About the 1st, of Jan. 1872, Mr. T. Weed, deputed by tlu- citizens, was sen* to Creie with a proposition to the I'ailroad company Irons the land owners ot the town, otfering one half of the un- sold porticm ot ihe Clark. Maliby and Way eighties, upon which the lowc was afieiwsrds built. In aodition, Malibv and Way ottered twenty acres of the best of their laud for depot grounds. Col. Doane wauled two thirds of the lots besides depot grounds. and ne- gotiations tailed. t^imultaueously with this movement, Mr 1 N Clark waited on D JM Smith, president of the t.wwu site company, an organization accessor}' in tact, though - not in pretense, to the railroad company. This so called company, had charge of aud manipulated the location of towns and stations. Mr. Clark remonstrated with Ml. iSmifh as to the action of the company in removing tde station, but Mr. Smith would do uothiog to reliev3 the situation. Wmfer, co]d and excessively snowy, htid set in, and ihe settieis, strangers ni a new country with entire dependence on the railroad company to transport tuel, and food, made the prospect gloomy indeed. /Stoli;!, cold, calcuUt,iDg -a perfect di plomatist-was this man, ?mith; although acting under orders he was very courie; ous. He "never g(«'te gave Su ton up," and it was puzzliuito know just wuai he meant, lie had such periect command of himself and uis words. The next movement for a depot was uuaeriaken by Judge Maltby, who went to Boston at his own expense and inter, viewed the chief officers of the road. He found that they were, or claimed Ihey were,jectirely ignorant ot the actio;: of tne tovvu sue company in relation to this place, and promised jhim they would investigate the whole trouble. Later in the fall another proposition wag m-ide lo the company by the laud owners similar to the hrst, except that reservations were made for public parks. Toward Christmas, Marfhis & bobbins, dealers in Gioceries at Grafton, indicated theii desire lo move to Suttou. with their building and goods. Jd accord with the enterprising aud liberal spirit, characteristic of the early men of fue town, the Clark brothers donated ihem a lot and W. Cunning and G. VV. Bemis took their <■- ing a rivaH liiie gave a low rate ou Jrieght, and it had a preat influence in le os'ablishini?; the station at Suflau. Onr merchants learDin.2; seM leMance. wern uow shipping a largo pe-rlion of their good? over this route, and Ly this means Chicago to day ha's lost thousands <)! dolh'.rs in ti'ade that now aoes to 6't. Joseph and will continue to go I'lere. Early in ^Ipril 1S73 the last etJort was ni&de to secure i station. 1. N. and M. Claris, and H. W. <^ray, at the'r own expense, made a journey to Lincoln snd Fialtsmouth to treat dire?(iy with the officeis of ihe road, aiid lay the mat ler, lor the las' lime, before the compa- ny, Theie had, howtver, been seme changes iu the officers of Hie company. Col. Doane was stpplanled by C, P. Mcise as superintendent, and D. N. ^milh by Arthur Gorham as presiileut of tl.e toun site company. T he new superintendent was quite bashful and seemed i!l at ease. 'I hcse men showed him by freight receipts of the St. Joe. and Denver railroad, tht^t it wou'd be easy to throv; 1^20.000 a year our of their hands and into the hands ol their rivals. No arguir-ent had been so attentively listened to as this. 1 he superintendent promised to lay the matter before Mr, Perkins, president of the road, tnd gave substantial encourage- ment that (he'e would be a station at ISutloc. ^bout the 20th uf April 1873 president Gorham came up to see about tbe equal- ization of taxe?, and repeated the pro- visional piun^ise of the superiuteud'int About the 1st ot May Ib^To, Arttiur Gorham and D. IS'. /Smith came to arale tliem. May the men ory of their sfrugsles be kept ever green by posierity. General History of CJay County. The county ot Clay 'n the stale of Neb raslyii is (wentv tour ijjiles square and composed of sixteen townships or pre- ciircls: co3ia:eocing at the northeasr, cor- ner au'J euumeraiing- westward aie r..iffjed School Creek, Lincoln. Harvard. Lccifster.. .'>e(>tf Lynn, Lewis, Sutioa, Sheridan, JIarshall. L:)ne Tree. Ulenvil'e, Sp-nio; Ran Che, Fairlield, Edgar aud Loaan> It is vafeiud on the northern border bv the West Bine river aud one of its tiibuttiric-s. ."^cbool Creek: On the souHi bolder bv the Lille BIi;e Uiver and the Big and Ltlle l^andys its tributaries. Tlie I wo ^-aiidjs aud School Creek rise ju tie western poitioiis of the coun ly. Tht Little Bine is a much more n-,pid stream ttiaa the West ii'ue and has uiinK-rons deposits in its bauks of u-irtffnesiai' limes'oae. I'he hr^t white settler upon the ter 1 iimy now known as Clay county wa? John B Weston, now Auditor of the S'ale of Nebr-isk?., who settled some time iu 1857, aud built a ^og bouse at Jpawnee jianche on sec 16, town 5, : inge 8 on the Litlle Blue River *jn ^-pring !^:i!!C!iP precmci. \'r!ii. H, iiune.-' acting governor of Xt-iMiisk'j, on a ] <- ilion of cifixeu voters i..tu<-u y Fiochnvn-U>i), Sept, 11th, 1871 tuillriri/i;:,' :;■) i;i:-fii(,n and desigudtina: liicMiUK :u«] iilucc of holding llic same !(.; local:- ';;e ouniy seat, aud to elect a huarC of county officers: accordingly Die tarsi elL'CLion in this couoty was held Oil the 1-JtL-, (hiy of Ociober 1.S71, at the liou.eoi A.i;xr.id:;r Campbell ou sec 6, l')W!) 7. rani^c G, ut.ar the present water lunk uu the B. 3c M. R, R. east of Har- vtad. At that election there were 81) voios palled; ^iQ of tlie?e were cast lor button, mak'iig it the county seat. The coiuaiissioneis elected at that e'lecliou were: A. K. Mirsh, three years; r. O. Nornida, two years: A. A . Corey, one year F, M. Brown, (.;ierk. J. Hollingsworth, Treasurer. P. T. Kearney, sheritt. K. S, Fitzgerald, surveyor. J, S. Schermerhorn, saperintend- eat Public Instruction. J. Steiumetz. Coroner, The first session of the biard of com- missiones was ou Nov. 4th. 1S71: at tha* iveetin^ the county wa^ divided into three equal portions and desi2:n-i'ed ".s commi«siouer auc voting precincts, and were named Harvard, ^Little Blue and School Creek. 'i ho. Op nrpFoner- precints remrdn, but the voiing inecincts wete increased to sixteen iu the spring 1875 December 4th. 1871 R. G. iSrowu was appoitod Treasurer to iill the vacancy caused by the failure of Hoilingsworth fo qualify, At the December 4th. ses- sion of the commissioDer board G. W. Bemis ivus appointed assessor for School Creek, and resigned, J (7, Merrill was anpoiuted to till the vacancy. Charles CanGeld for Harvard aud JohuW. Lana- ford ibr Little Blue Precincts. The second board ol county officers elfc!;ed iu the f:ill of 1873 were A K. Marsh, Ezra Brown and i^ichard Bayly Coaimisioners, E, P. Burnett. Probate Judae. F. M. Brown, Clerk F, M. D-Ji'i^, Tteasurcr, John B. Dinsmore, S'leriff. J. T. Fleming. Surveyor, D. W. Garver. sup'l Instiuction. Dr. M. Clark, Coroner. The the third aud present board was flecled in tha fall of 1875, aud are Richard Bayly ) C- M. Turner > (7oQ:missIouers Ezra Brown, ) E. P. Burnett. Couuly Judge. John B Dins'iiofc, Clerk. F. M. Uavis. Treasurer*. (J P. Alexander. Sheriff. T. W, Brookbank, Sup't Instruction. M. S. Edgington, Surveyor. Dr. M. Clark. Coroner. I'he Commissioner board is given as orginizad at, Die time of each" county eleetiou proper. The term of offlcs of one cocmvssioner expiring each year. To fill vacan.-v caused bv expira- tion of term of office of A. A. (Jorey, !>L L. Latham 01 Harvard was elected; o-a his resignation Mr Ezra Brown was ^:ppointed to till the vacancy. A. Tracy was 'elected treasurer to till Ihe remaining vacincy of Hollingsworth's terra at the general election following R, G. Brown's i I o in".;r""^ "■"" . T , appoinlme':t, P, O, JNorniau lesiaued .iohu R, Maltby, Piobxte Judge. I j. B- Dinsmore appointed to iill hisprace- 12 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. Markus W. Wilcox was elected dele- gate to the Constitutional conveutiou cf Nebraska, April 1875 At the general eltr'Ction hi the same year the new "conptitutiou was adopted aud under it ibe present board of office'^s were elected. The cou'Jtj' 3 ti-aversed on every sec tion line by wagon roads and has two railroads exrendinff entiicly acros? it, The Burlins,toa and Missot^ri Kiv- PT railroad in Nebraska, rnns acioss its northern portiou nearly east and west be- tween towns 7 and 8. The St. Joseph and Denver City rail- road rurs across- its soutbern portion, en- tering- I he soulL east corner and running westerly bearing considerable north. The B. & M. Ti R n in Neb, was bnilt into the county in the spring of 1871 and completed in the tolluwing year. The St, Joe & Denver road was built through the county in the snriog of 1872 Names of stations on the B & M are Sutton and Harvard; On the St. Joe & Denver are Glenville, B'aitfield and Edgar, The population in the fa'; of IS71, when the county was oraanizrel. ^^s f'sti- mated on the basis of the vote then takfn at 356. The census taken by the asses- sors in the spring of 1876 wrs 4 797 The tax valuation tor 1872 was $909,322. Tax valuatioii for 1876 was $1,311 952. Present rate of taxation 1876, includins: both state and county purposes is two per cent. Highest number of votes polled in. the county was 1,210, Ratio of increase in population is as 1 is te 13^; in other words we have in- creas-ed 13z times, xheie ai?e fiiteen (rustle briuges — iron and wooden in the county bfside numerous culverts buiii by the county also. The bndees proper and their s^ppproacbes rae^jsure over 1,000 feet; The present indebtedness of county is P, 000; During the year just past there have been births 192; marraiges 37; deaths Jrom asthma 1, ioflamation ol the brain 1, child birth 1. Cholera in- lanlum 3, convulsions 1, croup 2, nia- rhrea 1, typhoid fever 3, lung disease 1, paralysis 2. puerpural lever 1. scaili'aua 2. spinal disease 3, ^plenetls 1, leelhin^ 1. unknown 8, whoupiLg C(>uah 2. acci- (ievl 1, drowning 1, in all 36. The greater poi tion of the first settlers were U S fcoklieis duriug ihe war tor the tJuion. and took a qudrler section of land under the homestead act, CHURCHES IK THE COUNTY, METHODIST EFISOOPAL: About the last of June, 1871, Will'am TThilten, a theological student f om Tou- lon Illinois preached at the house of l^ Fitzgerald in the northeast part of the <"ounty and organized a class. T'he Har- vard class was organized in May 1372; that at Glenville May 1872. Tn April 1873 Rev. E. J. Willis was sent by the Couference ; litv- Jo,ju Gray pastor: south '' ' Rev :i^'iirmas Pugli, " The Harvard soci'^ty are building a ciiurcb building aud have over forty members- OATHOLIC: The first mass was celebrated by Path • 8'- Kelley at Clay center in ' a tent June 15th 1871 with eight men bers, most of whom were railroad men, building Ihe road bed of the B & jI, Meetings were held 6-oulh ol Sutton at the house of M, McVey in Sheridan Precinct, This church numbers in the county over aOO Father Lechleituer. Pastor Crete Neb. BAPTIST The Baptist church of Harvard was organized on the 25t,h day of July 1872 at the resicence of (.'harles H Warren town 7 range 7 on section 30 by Rev J N Webb Borne Missionary from American Baptist Home Missiouary so- ciety. At that time ten joined the church: HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 13 since (hat time tliere bas been sixteen additions b*' letter and S'X dis'tniosed by letter lo join otter churches and two dn^iped: The first regular preaching was by Kev 1 n ISewell Jauuary 26ih 1873 in the MsFsonic Hall in Harvard: Rev Newell held regular services at about the same tiu.e at the house of Harry Hull near 8uiton where there was a church oioanizat'on of 10 members: services' discontinued at the latter place in that .year and were afterwards held for a time in the court house at ISution. He preached most of the time to the Hai- Vard society until Feb 2od 1876. when regular services were discmtinued 0HE1ST14.N OHUEOH. The first sermon at Sutton was preachfd Dec. 30th 1875 by Elder J, M. YeaiDshaw of Lincoln, three members being in attendance, Ihe first sermon at Marshall was on the 3fl day of Jan. 1876. Meetings continued until the 11th, Jan. 9, a -igunday fcIooI and church was ortian'zed. the result of Elder Yearn - eha'^'s labors: The first sermon preach at Fairbeld was by Elder New comb Feb 13ih. 187H. Members present Kere only three, April Sth 1876 aperies of mee'liififs were commenced by Eidei li, C. Barrow stale evangelist of iS'eb, A chuich of 26 members was organized at iSuttou on the 16th. The meeting closing on the 19Lh At the present time the church at button numbers 30. To tal number of churches in the county 4. I Total number of members 125. The first V and ocly Christian tSuuday school in the ' county was organized ^ept, 14th 1874, \ with four scholars by Mrs. P, A. Haileck / at her residence in /Sutton; at the expi- ' ration ot nine moTJths the school number- , ed 35 when the p'ace of meeting was changed tj tbe Court House and contin- ued at that place until the county com- missioners closed the Court House to all church organ izatious. FEEE-MASOKS. A preliminary meeting of the Masonic Fraternity was held in the hall of what is now known as the Clark House, but not finding a suitable room in town no aci ion wtiS taken o trganize a lodge. Nothing more was done toward an or- ganization until late io the tail of 1873. Meetings were held t<^) arrange matters ot organization at the Court house. The first resular communicaticn ot this lodge was, U. D. at Melvin's liall Dec. 23id., lb7B. Evening btar Lodge A. F. & A, M.. U: D. was the name adopted. Ihe cflScers at tna* lime were J. Arnot, W, M., M. VV. Wilcox, S. W,, J. C. Mer- rill, J, W. June 28tn. l874 the lodge received a charter from the Grand Lodge of Nebraska A. F, 60 A.M. The char- ter roembers were R, L. Garr, J. B. Dins more, A K. Marsh, C. L. Hemv, F. M. Brown, J. C Merrill, M. W. Wilcox, C M. Turner, James Arnol. M. J. Hull, Wm. D. YonnsT, M. V. B. Clark, J. M. (iray. J, J. Melvin, I N, Clarlc. In June 1874 the lodsre moved from Melvin's ball to their present hall over I. N. Clark & Co's ptore. Present num- ber 40. At the session of the Grand Lodge of the state in June 1876 M W. Wilcox was appointed Grand Orator. LBBANON OHAPTEE, TT D. The first regular communication of the chap'er took p'ace at the Hall of A. F. & A, M. Dec. 23d 1875. M, J, Hull. G. H. P. A. K. Marsh, G. S. W, Geo VauDuyne, G. J. W. Chapter numbers 16, ^ INDEPENDENT OEDEE Of ODD FELLOWS 6'utton Lodge number 53 Independent order of Odd Fellows, was i'lstituted at Crosshans Hall in Sutton on the even- ing of Nov. 15th 1874 by the Grand Master, Ira A. Gallup, assisted by Bto«. from Crete, York and Fairmont lodaes Charter members were W. A. Way, Geo. t^tewart, J. F. Evans, I. B. Tyr- rf 11. E, P. Church and George Krieger, All fifth degree members. Evans and Church past grand?. W. A. Way was elected N. G., I. B, Tyrrell V. G. Geo. Stewart, 5?ec. and George Krieger, Treas. Following the iD«tal]ation of officers by the Grand Master, petitions from R. G. Merrill, y, B. Montgomery, W. J- Keller, S. Carney and J. Grice to join by initiation; and D, J. Towslee as aa Ancieut Odd Fellow, all of whom — a dis- pensation permitting— were elected, ini- tiated and made members the same everi- ug, and SuMon lodge started on its mis sion of Mriendship, love and truth' with twelve member. It now — June 24th 1876 — has a membership of 25, and by next Centennial we eypect them to reach the hundreds, not enumerating the swarms that may have lelt the pirent lodge. The Grand Master assigned Clay and Hamilton counties aa district num- ber 28, appointing E P. Church district deputy, I here is no othc lodge iu the county and but one other. Centennial lodge, in the district instituted June 8th. at Hamilton county, Total amount of moneys paid into treasury of Sutlou Lodge by the members $595 50 Total paid lor sick benefits $12. ("iish on hand gen. fund $75. Widow and orpt:a^?s lund % 6. Yalue of Lodge property $316. Debts None. A. o. H. A lodge of the Ancient order of Hiber- nians was instiiutec* Jan. 15th 1874 at Sutton, The first one iu the state, It bag 24 members. 14 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. PATEO^'S OF HTISBANDEY The first iodae of Palrons of flusbuudry ■was f()rn]ed al Loiie 'Iree pcbool Louse .Sepiember 20fli, 1873: ibe unrrber of raen^bcrs now in the courily is qbonr 500; il^e order in o'.ber states rendered sub- stamial aid to tb^ir destimte bretbren iia this coumy and btute lo disfribufin^^ great qnaiiliiies of uarden seeds, seed wheat and ecru, iu the spring of 1875; GOOD TSMPLAESr Baivard Lodge ot Good Templars was oiiianizeu about the 20tb. of February, 1873 bv G. W, C. T. J, ^4, Fairbanks E. B Baldwin wes elected W. C. T. and E- P. Burnett W. S. and is still kept tip. The Lodge at Edgar was organized April 8th. 1876 by P. G W, C. T., J , D. McCasland; A, S. IJobinson W. C- T. and A. B. Canlield W. S These lodges a.re reported in a ftourishiug eondiiion b? T. A. Barbour deputy G. VV, V,. T. for 15lh district— Clay and Adams counties. AGElOULTUEAL SOCIETY: The Clay County Agricullnral Society was organized ^pril 15tb, 1872; a lair has, been held each year since at Sutton: December 14tli 1871, in the forenoon, fhe scu*h cast quarter of iSchoul creek precinct was organized into school dis- trict runber one and A. A, Corey. A K Marsh and H S Fitzgerald were e'.ec'^ed to serve as moderator, director treasnr- tr rfspectively; School district number tv/o in which is fhe town of Sutlon was organized iu ihe afternoon ot Dec 14tb. 1871, only a lew hours behind district number one, Officers elected were Charles Moon, moderator, Tburlow Weed, lieasurer and Wils Cunniag, director. During the tirst tv\o years following the date of Ihe tirst district orsamzation, iLere bad been sixty-two dislricis oraan- izfcd iu most of which there had been substantial frame houses built, at ihe dale of the first school report April 1874 itiere were 9t)6 srholais in the county between five -and twenty. one years of age — the school age in this state, The three earliest teachers iu the county were "W L Weed district number iwo, Thomas M Gregory district num- ber five and Laura M Baccrolt district nnmber six; Mr Gregorv taught the lirst school commeuciug about the hist of Dec lb71 beicie the the district was organized, '1 he total amount expended for school purposes during the past three years Teas $68,324 Yalr;ation of school property at present time $96:748 '1 he average wages paid male t jachers iu 1874 was per monih 32 Female teachers average 22 Present mimber of pupils in the county 1,570 Material in relation to the article on the schfols was furnished bv Thomas W Brookbauk superintendent public Insiruction. THE GEEAT SNOW STOEM: Sunday night April 18: 1873 there com- menced a storm that will be long re- membered by the early settlers ot Clay county. It had been raining throuah tbe day and just before dark the wind veered from south-west around to north west — tlie rain increasing; Long before light Monday morning the rain changed to sleei. aiid at day break: the morning stil. dark fhe air was tilled with what seemed like solid snow, so wet was it and carried so swilt by the gale that it was almost impossible to move against it: it would wet a )ierson through like rain in a fev>' moments. All day Monday and Monday niaht Tuesday and Tuesday night it snowed and blowed incieasmg all the time until Wednesday moruina'. Many banks ofsnow were as high as the houses and many of the draws, creeks and rivers were level lull «>f snow. Driven before the g-ile almost the entire live «tock of the county perished in snow: InScbcol Creek precinct Mrs K> ley and child wfire trying to go a few rods U> a neighbors; gof lost, chilled and froz3 to death in the wet s^ow: Before starting ont she remarked thdt she would die with her child it sue could not get through with it a'ive; 'Ihey vt'ere both found dead, after the storm: GEAS3H0PPEE PLAGUE; In July 1S74 swarms of grasshopper came from the uoriheaEf in such count- less numbers as to make the sunlight dim, tjo swiiily did they destroy the crops, that a foity or an eighty acie corn field would not last them more than two hours The rank growing corn would literally bend over to gfnind by the iveight of grasshoppers. Potatoes, gar- den vegetables and ciops of all kinds exceptiua wheat and barley already harvested, sugar cane aud broom coro were swept out of existence in )eveiy part of Ihe countv in the short space of two days, ^oiabu'helot corn was raised- n the coimty- Thd jear before settlers buined corn, it being only fifteen cents a bushel. The giasshoppir year it was shipped from Iowa aud brought a dollar a bushel. The people had nothing but wheat and barley to eat and feed their stock. When winter set in many ct the settlers had no money, no fuel aud scarcely anything to eat. Want aud star- HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 15 vation v^as npou them, wlien, by the timely aid of tLie easiern states the S3t- tlers wore rescued irom actual death by s^tar aiiou Id the tail ol' 1S74 a coui- mittee 1o procure and distribute aid was ii<)ii!:edat t^utton cdiisistina; of C. M. Turner cl airmau and dislribuiing agent, with F. W. Hcbmaun, R, G/ Merrill, Geo. btewart f.nd J. .Sleinaielz, Mr. Turner went to Omaha at his owsb expense and secured lioin the state aid gocieiy the power to const iiute yutton an aid supply depot. Paris or Fillmoie, York ar d Hamillo" couuties were includ ed in ibis aid district. There was distnb- iuied Iroci 'S«o6t to another; their custom was to ride always at tall gallop through this part of the countiy, then considered a dan- gfTOES pait of the route. The Indians re- peatedly broke up the route and at times- it was entirely abandoned to them. Some time in 1858. Jame^. h. Lemon kept the ranebe and was succeeded by Renjbmiu Royce, who, with his brother John, mtlves of Ogle county. 111., settled in the latter part of 1867. Ben. was at that time a state militia man, in the United State service, and siatioaed at the milita- ry post at Kiowa, on tae Blue, in Thayer county. He was in the numerous battles between the Sioux and the settlers. Soonafiche took hi« claim the Indi- ans broke up the entire settlement along the Bine, stealing tbe stock, burniug the ranches «nd driving the settlers down the river to Kiowa. In the fall of 186S and spring of 1869 the Indians were driven t>atk, and practi- cally gave up their hold on the country, and from this time forward settlements took place with aittonisbing rapidity. T. A, Shaw, John R. Lavvhead, Cyrus Griffith, John R. Thompson and Reuben Peachy were among ihe early settlers; Mr. Peachy built and stocked a store sometime in 1870. He was the first postmaster appointed in this county after the re-establishment of tbe mail routes. The mail was brought from Hebron via. Kiowa, Liberty Farm and Spring Ranche to the stockade at Red Cloud on the Republican liver. Early in 1870. Richard Bayly, %• work- er in metals and one of the present Com- missioners of Clay county, settled on his farm at tbe moutli of Butfalo Creek and operated a blacksmith shop. H, J. Hig- gins settled soon after. Up to this time ihe settlements bad been confinedr to the river and its tributaries, but in the falh oi 1871 tbe table lands on either side of tha Little Blue began to be occupied. xlfred Mills built a water saw mill on the river near the old Liberty Farm Ranche in tbe year 1871. In 1872 a small ruD ol stone was i>ut iii to grind feed. Among the ear'y settlers, coming in 1872 are A.S. WiUis and his son in law W. H. Frey, both justices of the Peace. EDGAK In norember 1871, J. K. Sanborn made the first settlement, in this precinct and bniltalog hoo«e. A.F. and .Tacob Rit- Jerbush came in the spring of 1872 and settled on lands adjoining the town site of Edgar. Mr. Carr came in soon after. Henry Gipe preempted the land upon ■which Edgar now utandp. The first store in what ia now Edgar was started by iJilterbusb & Graham, in a lo» house S. 2' <7aldweU staried the second store and Rilterbush & Mills the third. Ihe first postoffice in that part of the County was established at Edgar; A, F* Ritter- bush was the first postmaster; W. A. Gunn the second, and W. J. Waite tbe HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 19 third and present postmaster. Situated in tbis precinct on tbe !St. Joe. & Den- ver City Railroad is tbe flourisbing; town of Edgar, witb a weekly newspaper; it is tbe tbird town in sizein »he county. David D, Jones and faraily, from Col- umbus Obio. settled bere June 7tb 1872. The Town of Fairfield. Some time in 1871, Maxmilliaa Reed took up tbe nortb east^ of section 4 town 6, range 7. Tbis claim be sold to A. B. Smith, H. J Higgins. H. Bayly, Cor- nelius Durn and otbers — twenty in all — and tLey projected a town upon it. Smith in 1872, and John Epley in 1873, opened stores on the site, and there was a black- smith shop started'. Soon after sellin?, Jleed shot and killed* himself accidentally. ^ June 1872, the Ht Joe, and D. C, rail road company built a depot on land adjoining on tbe east of the little town started by the citizens. Near and arouud tbe depot the town site company of that road projected a town and invited the owners and business men of tbe old town to come over. The ue^r to'vn site being on railroad land, and they not being able to perfect the title to the same until a foreclosure suit against all the lands ol that company was settled, the old town refused to move, even in tbe face ot a threat from the company to remove their depot from the vicinity. However, in the summer of 1873 the company succeeded in perfecting their title; the new site was surveyed, and the citizens weut over and established the town thsre. David P. Javne started a lumber yard in the lallof 1872 near tbe depot. A. B. Smith and John Epley moved , their stores over I o their present location when the present town was establish«t«)res, 1 grocery store, 1 hardware srore, 2 drug stcres, i furniture store, 1 photograph gallery, 1 milHnery store, 2 lumber yards, 2 billiard halls, 2 hotels, 2 livery stables, 1 saloon, 1 harness shop, 1 shoe shop, 3 real estate agents, 2 lawyers, 2 notary publics, 2 physicians, 1 newspaper and job printing office, 3 grain dealers, 2 restaurants, 2 resident ministers, 3 church organizationfe, 2 Sunday school^. The number of scholars in the public school district ia 53; population of the town about 2'00. Edgar was incorporated as a town oni the 15th ot March 1875, and John Glazier, Andrew Sherwood, S. J. Whitten, Henry Gipe and E, E. Howard were appointed: town tros'ees for one year. 22 HISTORY OF CLx\Y COUNTY, NEBRASKA. '-d CONCLUSION. lu tbe foregoing summary of lacls re- lating to the settlement of Clay County and its seireral towaa, we bave endeavor- ed to sliew ILeir progFcss by submitting a sketcb of the business represented in each locality, their public isnpro'vements and such incidents as bave become prom- inent in their loeal history. It shows "what has been accomplished in a county from which the red men were expelled but ten y*-ar8 ago, nearly all of the present improvements having been made during the last six years. This county, situated in the central portion ol' the fertile '^Soath Platte' coun- try, (onslstiog of prairie land, excepting the strips of timbered land on the borders ol all streams ol wat^r, has been tians- formed li< m an apparently barren waste into a tiuitful garden. Groves of young trees are springing up on evtry l«rm. each settler striving to add to the beauty and fertility ol the country by raising not only fruit, but also lorest decs, that will make this a 'timbered' county lu the near future. We impoit lumber now» and start thetoresis that in ages »o come are lo supply the present waste in the lorests of tbe ea&t. Each succeeding "Arbor Day'' adds, thousands upou thaii- ! s«»nds of young trees to those already planted. The two railways that span the county have given an impetus to immigration and swelled our property valuation, les- sening taxes and aflording competing trans|)ortatiou faciliites. And it is com- torting to know thai, the county is free from bonded debt, and I'jat the entire debt on all other accounts does r-ot now exceed three thousand dollars. Where six years ago the deor and tbe antelope skipped over the plain in their native freedom, new roam great herds of cattle, fattening on the luxuriant grass. Then the wild flowers blooB:ed in their virein beauty unnoticed. Now, great fields of waving grain are wu every Irind, telling,, in silent clocpuence, a story of peace and plenty. Gathered heie from every dime are representatives of the strongest and b^st dicipUned races of the earth,, wiio are- bui'ding up a communily on a foundation most lavoiable to the permanent prosper- ity Ol the ••b.'^ne and sinew" of the woiil — wliere leligious freedom, a free press, free speech and Iree schools flourish under a Constitution extending equal protection to all men. All of which ia respect fully submitted by The CoMMiXTiE. ERRATA. Tow n of S u tto n.. Page 1, Luther Frencli was born in Lake county, not 'Geauga.' Page 2, Mr. French c3.Tmeiiced s^nr- veying the town ^ugiast 12th. cot 10th. Page 2, County seat was located l>y a vote ol 5& to. 33 not 43. Page 5, Alter the word 'Crete/ read. Turner Bros., V,. M. and O. M , had a general assortment store lu the building next to the Central Hotel, occupying it as such trou: the tall oi 1874 until the summer ot 1875, at which time it was moTed oyer to 1 mner & iluncer'* store. Page 7. Fine arts Mrs. J, 11 Maltby,. piano and organ teacher, COUNTY HISTORY. Page 14, Read, in York county near the JS, E. corner of ijchool Creek precinc t, Mis. Kaley," » to Page 15, School Creek precinct — P. O, Normau and John K.eyiuedy settled iui 15*70 instead of 1871. Page 15, Lincoln precinct — F. M. Dav^is- Ezra Brown and Samuel Sloat were the tirsf settlers, instead o>f the Coaants, etc. Page 15,, Harvard preci net— Read,, the lirst a^tileiuput was by Isaac Daw.-on and John. Hockeuthaler, in the fall of 1871 iu the northern part of the precinct. Pase 16, >utton precinct — After the name ol J. .6^. Scherraerhorn add a period in^ead of a comma. Page 16. Lewis precinct- -A. D. Pet- erson, no' "F. D,' Page 20, Town of Harvard - Dr. Yan- derslice setlei iu '/lay 1872 and moved away the follovvius year. Drs, Todd, .Tr. •>nd Sen., came in the spring ot 1872, iht; ohl peullemaii is still practicing. L)r. I. U. Howard, Ecieciic. settled iu May 1873 and IS still in the practice. Page 17, Logan precinct — lu the last line", read Jonalhai' Sanderson instead of J. K. Sanborn. Also iusirl the word ""liame" before ^'school house," in the l«,uvlh line from tlie last. ; ///. / /. Qf/mx > i ■*> * 8 1 A ^/^: vX^' *V, '^^ ^^•%^^«^^./% S, >. » « > 'Z' ' * * ^ \A^ ... ^ '" * ■^^>. ■' " •' ..-{^ ."5^^ s • G y^ .0- - , * .0 s " ' X^^ %. * « , ^ ^^^, ^V§//V= %-.V-"~^^-r"': '. .^^■ ^/ ^■^% ' ■■■ .0 0^ '> ^ ?:"*l '. -^.<^ ^^' :^^. ^-. v^^ XN^ ''^ -Bl x*^^- , ^'.^ '^<^^ ^-^ ; ^ '^. => w:^ * .v^ ^^' ,^\^' .^<<. ■^ s » « ; h- x^ o. "< * f > rV' . •> ^ '/ C" il ' .av s- s<^ \f^^" ^ \SfM^^ ^>%> '^^i^,^ ■^''\°-, vVi-^ .x^^'% ='^'. k'^/