Times were hard. The nation was in the depths of the worst depression of the century and Buffalo County residents were suffering from the effects of three years of drought and grasshoppers. Despite the difficult times, Kearney was already a substantial town in 1877. The Buffalo County census published at the beginning of May disclosed a total population of 3,321 persons with 1,447 of them living in Kearney precinct, an area larger than the town. Business buildings lined either side of Wyoming (Central) Avenue with most residences nearby and others scattered across the plain. Kearney's streets were not paved nor laid out neatly as shown on the city plat or the Bird's Eye view map of 1876. Outside of Wyoming and its immediate environs they were trails wandering between homes and across vacant lots, all of them dusty or muddy as the weather dictated. Some effort was made to grade and fill along Wyoming, but, even there, mud holes were to be found and drainage was poor, especially near the railroad tracks. Wooden side walks of different width and elevation existed at some places along Wyoming and there were some cross walks at the main intersections. Keeping them in repair was a constant and often neglected chore. Few trees were to be found, although some residents had begun plantings and the city was putting trees in the parks.
NATHAN CAMPBELL
First elected mayor of Kearney, 1874
The preponderance of frame structures left the town vulnerable to fire and Kearney had neither a fire department nor a public water system. The city did own some buckets and ladders and there were private wells. Everyone was expected to rally around in case of fire. Prairie fires were a common scourge, particularly in the fall, and fire guards were regularly plowed around the town. In 1877 the County Commissioners offered a reward of $100 for information leading to the conviction of anyone setting prairie fires.
The drought and grasshoppers of past years were reflected in the number of paupers -- individuals and families -- receiving assistance from the county in the form of coal, housing, food, medical aid and burial expenses. A petition requesting the construction of a poor house for the needy was rejected by the county commissioners. Instead, L. D. Forehand, the sole bidder, was granted a contract to board and lodge the "county poor for $2.45 per week per head with the privilege of working them." Also, a petition from the farmers of Buffalo and Grant precincts asking for seed grain was turned down.
Small pox, a much dreaded and dangerous threat, confronted Kearney's citizens in January. A man living at the Junction House Hotel (once the Smith-Collins house, since moved to town) had the disease. The hotel was immediately quarantined and "all persons prohibited from going to or from without permit of the Mayor." Several men were employed to stand guard at the hotel. The small pox victim, William Burridge, died a few days later. The city council then declared the Junction House a public nuisance until the "owner or keeper thereof remove all bedding materials or things whatever infected with small pox effluvia." As Burridge had had $181.75 in his possession the money was used to pay the expenses of his illness and death: a new suit, a cemetery lot, a coffin, burial costs, an unnamed physician, medicines, coal, food, and the guards.
One of Kearney's businessmen was on trial for cattle theft in May. Alvin C. Nash had come with his family to Kearney in 1874 and opened a meat market on the west side of Wyoming. He had operated his meat market and dealt in cattle since. Nash was apparently arrested and charged in December of 1876. A George W. Smith, who had worked for Nash tending cattle, was the principal witness against him. Smith said Nash was short of cattle to butcher, thus it was arranged that A.C. Nash would go to Plum Creek (Lexington) supposedly to buy cattle, while Smith and Nash's son, William, stole cattle from a nearby herd. Nash insisted he had made no such deal with Smith, that the cattle had been put in his yard by an unknown party to get him into trouble. In what may have been another explanation, the newspaper account is unclear, Nash said his son William had purchased the cattle from "a man I do not know". The cattle were branded and butchered as needed, he said. His account was to no avail. Nash was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison by Judge Gaslin.
At this distance in time and with the little evidence at hand the nature of politics in Kearney is difficult to discern. There were, of course, ardent democrats and republicans and surely more of the latter. There is no indication, however, that separate tickets were involved in the city elections in April. Elected without opposition were A. L. Webb, the hardware and implement merchant who had replaced Dr. Noble Holton as mayor at a special election in 1876, City Engineer Simon Murphy and police judge Thomas S. Nightingale. Sylvester S. St. John, active in real estate and insurance, was elected city clerk over the incumbent, attorney Charles P. Edwards, by a comfortable margin. David Anderson was chosen marshal over John Hoge. For the city council, August Anderson, wagon and carriage maker, was elected from the first ward; Wallace A. Downing, harness and saddle maker, was victorious in the second ward; and, Dr. J. C. Hull chosen by the third ward. The choice of the city treasurer, however, led to a long and rancorous dispute.
Attorney and County Judge James J. Whittier apparently won the election by the narrow margin of 91 to 89 over Dan W. Roe, then a bank cashier. The vote must have been challenged immediately as six days after the election the city council adopted two new ordinances: one on the method of canvassing votes and a second on procedures for contesting an election. Whittier had taken the oath of office by then. No mention is made of the contested election in the surviving newspapers, but the council took up the question in June, upon receiving evidence from Roe over the vigorous objections of Whittier's attorney. The case was discussed again the following week and two weeks later, June 25th, a decision was reached and Dan W. Roe declared the winner. The controversy did not end at this point. Whittier refused to turn over the treasurer's "books and papers", and, in 1878, Whittier and Roe filed separate treasurer's reports. In what he may have regarded as an act of vindication, Whittier was elected city treasurer in 1878 over William C. Sunderland, Roe seemingly having had his fill of politics.
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KEARNEY STATE BANK
Charles W. Drake, President |
The council also received a petition from a large number of ladies September 3rd seeking the suppression of a house of ill-fame near the school house south of the railroad. The council instructed Marshal C.T. Weldin and their own police committee to look into the matter. The Press of September 6th said there were several such houses in the city. The committee visited three. At the first, located two doors south of the Methodist church, they found nothing. The result was the same at the second house a few rods to the south and east, but a "fair harvest" was had at the third. One man found there declared he was attempting to collect a wash bill and another "lit out without interview". The men and the two ladies present were all served with warrants. The outcome of the case is unknown and future events suggest that no more than a damper was put on sin in Kearney.
Of much greater importance to the community in 1877 was the effort to exploit the opportunity afforded by the opening of the Black Hills. Other towns such as Grand Island, North Platte and Sidney were having similar thoughts, each seeing themselves prospering as the starting point for people, freight and mail bound for Deadwood. Serious preparations must have begun in 1876 in Kearney. C.W. Dake of the Kearney State Bank was the leading figure among local people involved and he became president of the company organized to operate a stage and mail line between Kearney and Deadwood. Monday, the 30th of April, 1877 the first stage left Keaney with John Campbell as driver and "little by way of passengers".
A great deal of work had been done before that first stage departed. The route had been laid out, mapped and described, stopping points established or begun, promotional literature prepared, and a mail contract won. Too, travelers and freight were already moving along the route. The newspapers record a considerable number of departures and returns. One man passing through Kearney had built a "house" on his wagon containing the "usual furniture, stove, bed, chairs, wife and children." Kearney merchants were also making the most of the opportunity, becoming wholesalers as well as retailers and advertising provisions for those taking the trail. Others engaged in hauling goods to the Black Hills. Nathan Campbell, on one occasion, drove a freight wagon loaded with 7,000 lbs. of goods pulled by five yoke of oxen.
The trade must have stimulated business for a time, but the fall papers are barren of comment regarding the stage line or travellers and, as none of the newspapers for 1878 or 1879 have survived, there is a void where we would like knowledge. We do know that the failure of C. W. Dake's bank in 1879 was in part attributed to losses suffered through investment in the Kearney and Black Hills line. It is probable that a great many hopes alive in the spring were dashed by fall. Although reminiscence describes the latter seventies as a time Kearney stood still, all was not dark in 1877, the weather was kind and the crops good and, in 1880, the population of the city had reached 1,782 persons.
Kearney City Council, Minute Book A; Buffalo County Commissioners, Minute Book One; Kearney Times, The Central Nebraska Press; and the Kearney Daily Press.
Proofread 2-2-2004
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