The Omaha Sunday Bee
A Paper far the Hccne
THE OMAHA DUO
Best West
HALF-TOilE SECTIOII
PAQKS 1 Tw
VOL. XXXVII NO. 13.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 15; 1007.
SIXULK COPY FIVE CENTS.
DANIEL HOTCHKISS WHEELER AN EARLY DAY NEBRASKAN
Michigan Schoolmaster Who Came West in an Early Day and Found Another Outlet for His Talent Prospers with the Growth of the Country He Helped to Develop and Bring to Fruitful Use.
1
DANIEL HOTCHKISS WHEELER has lived fifty years of the
real strenuous life In Nebraska. His activities have been
great and varied. He has acquitted himself with honor
In politics, In business, In society. He knew Abraham
A Lincoln. In boyhood he was a friend of William R. Shaf-
army.110 de8UDed maJr general the Unltea S,at
Nove!nebe?8260rr8?4 h,BHfather'8 farra ln St' J- count,. Michigan.
schooTh' 1 HS recelved hls ear'y eduratlon ln the log
btZ ! "ear h'9 blrthP'acc, fre the children all sat on
Tided wit?? f BlabS 88Wed frm lhC 8,d"8 of Pro
Tided with legs made of rough sticks of wood. When he was XS
years old he entered the academy In the neighboring town of School
"art. A teacher was needed at the log school house that winter and
ne left the academy and became teacher of the school where he had
been a pupn the preceding term. Thirty-one of his thirty-seven
pupils there were either sisters and brothers or cousins, the com
munity consisting almost entirely of members of the Drown and
Burson families.
He attended the Schoolcraft academy two years following his
experience as school teacher and then he went over Into another
county and taught school. In the neighboring district the school
was in charge of William R. Shafter.
"Shatter didn't show any special leaning toward the army
then," says Mr. Wheeler. "He was sort of a blustering fellow, al
ways going around with a chip on his shoulder waiting for anyone
to knock It off. And yet he was a quite likeable young man. We
had many a spelling match between his school and mine. Some
times I would take my pupils over to his school of -a Friday and
sometimes he would bring his over to mine. I knew him all througH
his life."
Low Pay for School Teachers
He entered the employ of his .uncle, a distiller at Three Rivers.
Mich., at the age of 20 years, as bookkeeper and remained there about
a year. Then his attention was directed westward, and In company
with his brother-in-law he emigrated to western Iowa. The trip
from Burlington to Council Bluffs took six days and nights by stage.
It was a trip he has never forgotten, through a glorious land full of
waving wild flowers, basking ln the spring sunlight. The vast acres
seemed to be lying waiting for the advance of the army of men who
should till the fertile soil and make it yield the great wealth which
was stored up In It. He had Intended to teach school, but on finding
that the salary was only $30, and board would cost about' $27
month, he decided that wealth was not to be gained in disseminating
knowledge. So he entered the employ of Nuckolls & Co., who had
stores in Glen wood, la., and ln Plattsmouth, Neb. He traveled be
tween these two points, making collections, buying furs from the
Indians and performing the other services of a pioneer merchant.
A girl had been left behind him ln Michigan and as soon as he
had a permanent location in the territory he hurried back over the
arduous miles to Kalamazoo, and on February 26, 1857, he mar
ried Charlotte A. Lewis, a cousin of the late Dr. Dlo Lewis of New
York and of former Judge of the New York Supreme Court Lorln L.
Lewis. It was on this trip that he first visited Omaha. It was on
New Year's day, 1857. He stayed ln the Douglas house on the
southwest corner of Thirteenth and Harney streets, where he shared
a bed in the crowded quarters with three other travelers. '
Reaching Plattsmouth with his bride, he determined to go Into
j business for himself with money he had saved. He erected a two
story frame building and put In a stock of hardware. He took a
leading part ln affairs at once, holding the position of county super
intendent of schools in 1868 and making the first educational report
ln that county. He was elected county clerk of Cafs county ln 1869
and at that time began the Insurance and real estate business, which
he has continued ever since.
Acquaintance with Lincoln
His acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln was intimate. He met
him first in Council Bluffs In 1869. The man who was to occupy
such a lofty position in American history was not very well known at
that time. He had begun his political career, but his welcome to the
west was not strikingly enthusiastic. Most of the pioneers were of
the opposite political persuasion and to them Lincoln was an
abolitionist and a radicalism
"I met Lincoln at the home of Dexter L. Bloomer In Council
v Bluffs," says Mr. Wheeler. "Mrs. Bloomer, by the way, was the
originator of the costumes for women, which bear her name to this
day. I liked Lincoln. He had an easy, careless, sociable way about
him and told funny stories that put us all at ease. He delivered
only one speech in Council Bluffs. The next time I met him was
In his own private office at Washington. The great and terrible
Calamity that was approaching cast no shadow before It. Even while
we sat there the assassin was getting ready to take the life of that
wonderful man who had brought the country through the greatest
crisis In its history. We were there on the afternoon of April 13,
and on the following evening Lincoln was shot.
"He was very approachable, only one man standing at the door
of his office between him and the public. I remember how he sat
up straight ln his leather-covered revolving chair. His movements
were very deliberate and his speech, had a drawl. He called every
body by his first name. William Pitt Kellogg was one of our party
and was seeking the appointment as collector at the port of New
Orleans. I remember Lincoln said to him: 'Well, Pitt, if I ap
point yon to New Orleans I think I'll appoint old Bill to your place
in Nebraska.' He referred to another Kellogg, whose name was
William and whom he proposed to appoint to the position ln the Ne
braska Judiciary, which would be left vacant by the appointment of
Pitt Kellogg to the New Orleans position.
"He bade us a cheery good-bye. I went to New York and .the
next evening, when 1 was at the Astor house, the news came of the
assassination. There were men on the streets of New York who
ventured to say In that awful hour that it 'served the "abolitionist"
right.' And when such an expression was heard the man was
promptly knocked down and kicked into the gutter. I attended the
mass meeting the next day where Ben Butler and James A. Garfield
spoke. That was the occasion when Garfield spoke that often-quoted
sentence: 'The president Is dead, but the government at Wash
ington still lives." "
Year as Indian Agent
. Like the other applicants who had visited the president that
last day of his life, Mr. Wheeler had been successful In his object.
He had com away with the appointment as agent for the Pawnee
indiaus on their reservation west of Columbus. He took up his
duties July 1, 1865. He succeeded ln maintaining peace among the
red men better than any7 of his predecessors. He used to drive out
from Plattsmouth, a distance of 110 miles. Once he made the trip
in a spring wagon, with a pair of ponies, ln a day. As a rule the
trip took longer and was often marked by hardbhlpa. One of the
first things he did after taking charge of the tribe was to ride 160
miles to the north, accompanied by the four big chiefs of the Paw
nees, and complete a treaty of peace with the warlike Sioux, which
tribe was accustomed to amuse itself frequently by going on the war
path and murdering Its red brethren of other tribes. Having smoked
the pipe of peace with them, he returned and took up his duties of
apportioning bright red calicos and brilliantly-striped blankets to the
noble red men.
"We had a peaceful tribe there." says Mr. Wheeler, "and every
thing went along swimmingly. It was hard to get the Indians to do
any work. About the only ones who would do manual labor for pay
were old squaws or those who had lost their husbands. The bucks,
of course, never stooped to toll and their squaws would work only
Cor them. Each Indian had from one to four wives and a liberal
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DANIEL HOTCHKISS WHEELER.
supply of pappoosea. We started a government school while I was
there, and that was one of the hardest Jobs I had. The pappooses
were as wild as rabbits and they didn't want to go to school. You
couTd hardly blame them, for It was something which they could not
understand ln Its ultimate object. We had the worst time getting hold
of them the first few weeks. They would run and hide ln the bushes
and I, assisted by my police Indians, had to chase them out', just as
one would chase out rabbits or other wild game. The parents of the
children were willing to have the girls go to school, but for the boys
who were to become braves they were convinced the school could
be of no advantage."
Perhaps President Andrew Johnson knew that Mr. Wheeler bad
voted against him as Lincoln's running mate at the national con
vention ln 1864. to which Mr. Wheeler was a delegate from Ne
braska. Probably some person who coveted his Job called Johnson's
attention to this fact. At any rate he removed Mr. Wheeler from
the place, and on October 1, 1866, he returned again to Platts
mouth, where he devoted bis attention actively to the real estate and
insurance business. But these Interests were not sufficient to take
.up all his time and he began reading law under T. M. Marquett.
He made such progress that he was admitted to the bar less than two
years later.
He was mayor of Plattsmouth during the most Important year
of that city's developement, 1869, when ground was broken for the
Burlington railroad and when the city voted $50,000 bonds to secure
the 'headquarters of the road. His little law office was the place
where the stock subscription of $7,600,000 to the road was made.
Perkins, Touzalin and Thlelsen. three of the great magnates of the
Burlington, were there. Mr. Wheeler took $3,000 of the stock him
self, this being the only block that was bought by a cltlicn of Ne
braka.
The Sheldon and Pollard families were Intimate friends of the ,
Wheelers during the residence of the latter ln Plattsmouth. Con- .
grcssman Ernest Pollard was named after the old'st son of Mr. and 1
Mrs. Wheeler, who died in his youth. Miss Lottie Pollard was named '
after Mrs. Wheeler. Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Pollard were once
participants In a typical Indian scare. They were alone with their
little children In the Pollard farm house, when they saw what they
thought was an Indian come riding over the hill, his blanket flutter- '
lng out behind him in the wind. They hurried Into the house, barrl- n
caded the door, and, armed with axes, determined to resist to the
end. But the supposed Indian turned out to be only a woman from
a neighboring farm, who was wrapped up ln shawls so that she re- r
scmbled an Indian at a distance. "'
Activities of Later Years
Mr. Wheeler was elected secretary of the State Board of Agri
culture ln 1868 and held that office for sixteen years. He was
selected secretary of the state senate In 1873 and occupied that posi
tion at the two following sessions and also at one special session. ,
Mr. Wheeler moved to Omaha ln June, 18S3. With hU son,
Daniel H. Wheeler, Jr., he established the firm of Wheeler &
Wheeler, Insurance and real estate apenU, which firm has continued , f
in business until the present time. He continued his strenuous actl- J
vitles after coming to Omaha. The first public position which he
held was that of secretary of the Omaha Fair and Speed assocla-
tlon, ln which capacity he served two years. ,
He was elected a member of the city council In 1889 and served
In that body seven years. For six years he was chairman of the 4
finance committee, and ln that capacity had more to do with dlsburs-
lng the city funds than any other man. He performed his duties
so carefully and was so vigilant ln detecting and resisting measures)
to spend money in a manner which he considered useless or lavish '
that he soon gained the name "Watchdog of the Treasury." Some ,
of the hardest work of his life was done while he was supervisor
of the census in the Second congressional district of Nebraska, in
1900. He had 197 people working under him and for eight months ,;
devoted himself to the duties of his position eighteen hours a day.
He came out of the ordeal with his health somewhat broken and has
never regained It fully. :
In the activities of the leading secret fraternities, Mr. Wheeler -has
been among the foremost. He Is now a thirty-third degree Ma-
son, wearing upon his little finger that three-banded ring of which
there Is but one ln the state. He-Joined the Masonic lodge in Mlch-
lgan ln 1856. He has been master of Plattsmouth lodge No. 6 andi
master of Nebraska lodge No. 1, ln Omaha. He is the oldest past ....
grand master of the lodge, having held that position ln 1863; past
high priest of Nebraska chapter No. 3; past grand high priest of
Nebraska chapter No. 3 ; past grand high priest of Nebraska grand :
chapter; grand master of the grand council. Royal and Select Mas-
ters; past commander of Mount Zlon commandery No. 6, Knights "
Templar, and past grand qommander of the grand commandery of
Nebraska. He Is a member of the Knights of Pythias, which order
he Joined ln 1868. He Joined the Odd Fellows ln 1856 and is past
grand master of that order. t
Taking Life Easy Now ,
Mr. Wheeler and the cheerful helpmate whom he brought to;
Nebraska ln the early days still live ln Omaha, taking their ease in',
their comfortable home at 659 South Twenty-sixth avenue. Flv
sons were born to them, of whom two are living. William Herbert
Wheeler resides ln Omaha and is associated with his father in the !
insurance business. Myron E. Wheeler lives ln Lincoln, where bV
has business interests and also acts as court reporter in the district'
court. The latter served a year in the revenue service in Cuba,
shortly after the close of the war with Spain. Later he was prtvatsj
secretary to George D. Mleklejohn while he was assistant secretary,
of war. William H. Wheeler was formerly reporter ln the United
States court here and also private secretary to David H. Mercer and
clerk of the congressional committee on public grounds and build
ings. Though Bomewhat disabled by partial paralysis, Mr. Wheeler
is still active In the pursuit of his varied Interests. He is a leader
ln the counsels of the secret fraternities to which he belongs. During
his long connection with these organizations he has received many,
medals and diplomas of honor in recognition of his services. These
form a valuable and interesting collection. He has also an extensive
library ln his home.
Campagna of Rome a Burial Place of Dead CUies
OME, Sept. 3. The Roman Campagna 1b a
I ) huge burial place of dead ancient cities,
the children of the great mother of na
JL V. tlons, Rome.
A vast undulating plain, tor the most
part a wilderness without a human habitation, here
and there covered with meadows and grassy slopes
where cattle and sheep pasture or with grain wav
ing In the wind; a pestilential region where swamps
and marshes are left to stagnate in the sun and gen
erate miasmas, and yet, rich and varied with every
kind of beauty such is the Campagna. Every
where cities, towns, temples, villas and the genera
tions of the dead He burled under one's feet.
Caere, which was alternately the enemy and the
ally of Rome, Is obliterated save for Its necropolis.
Veil, Rome's powerful rival, has vanished except
for traces of Its old walls and of its nine gates, and
until recently Its very site had been forgotten.
Gabll has all but disappeared.
The hills on which stood Fldenae are bare and
desolate, its walls have disappeared, not one stone
remains on one another and tombs are the sole evi
dences of Its existence. Not a trace remains' above
ground of Antemnae, the city of many towers,
whose daughter, ravished by the followers of Rom
ulus, became the mothers of the Roman race. 8u
trlum and Laurentum and many other cities of the
fifty nations which Pliny enumerates as belonging
to early Latlum have all vanished.
The villas of Pompey, of Julius Caesar, where
the nobles of Rome greeted him on his return from
Africa, and of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the site
of Alslum on the seacoast where they all stood,
have also disappeared. Tarqulnll, the capital of
Etrula, Is no more, and nothing is seen above the
ground where it stood but low mounds marking its
necropolis, sixteen miles In extent and said to con
tain over 2,000,000 tombs.
Sometimes, as ln the case of Ostla, a whole city
is laid bare, but very often only a fragment of ruin,
rising here and there above the ground, and mark
ing the remains of a theater or a temple, attests the
existence of a city. More often still only tne undu
lations of the turf show where the city once stood.
' High on the hills the remains of ancient sites
are more evident. The arch of a temple, a rock
hewn amphitheater and the remains of walls are
frequently, met with, further away, from Rome,
where classical buildings were scarce, mediaeval
palaces and fortified palaces are still standing, once
the center of Inhabited regions, but now the land
marks of a solitary wilderness, all as desolate and
dead as the ashes of a long extinguished fire.
The comparison of the Roman Campagna to a
huge burial place Is not a simile suggested by Its
barrenness, wildness and death-like silence. Be
sides the dead cities the Campagna contains a
mighty population of the dead.
The Latins are buried here, perhaps on the same
site where before them the ashes of generations of
the past without a history or a name were laid to
rest. Then followed the Estruscans and other
ancient peoples whose tombs have served as docu
ments of their history.
Next came the Romans, Pagan and Christian,
the latter filling subterranean cities where ln ave
nues winding for miles and miles the skeletons of
martyred and the persecuted lie in tier above tier.
The enemies of Rome killed in battle are there, the
victims of the Circus; the slaves killed more for
amusement than for punishment, the Goths, Van
dals and other barbarians and the innumerable vic
tims of every sex, age and condition that fell a prey
to their fire and sword.
The dead of the Middle Ages ln pillages and
sacks, wars and almost dally conflicts between the
popes and the nobles, the nobles and the people, are
burled with the later, victims of. brigands and
thieves, and even today with them are being laid
the victims of the malaria, which Is the scourge of
the place poor tillers of the land or shepherds
mostly, who come down from the mountains ln the
hope of profit and pay for their venture with their
lives.
Is It any wonder that the Campagna Is so full
of sad memories? It Is a cemetery of cities and
men, and though seemingly .dead, It Is alive with
vestiges of the past; though sad and wild ln some
parts, yet It is green with grass, golden with grajn
and gracious with wild flowers In others; It Is an
ever changing picture, peopled with the shadows of
dead generations, deadly yet alive, desolate yet
beautiful.
The depopulation and desolation of the Roman
Campagna and the plague of malaria date from the
time of Gregory the Great, that Is, the seventh cen-'
tury. 11 was then that villas and farm houses were
burned, olive orchards and vineyards uprooted, the
supply of water shut off, all sources of life and
thrift were drained, and the whole plain from the
Apennines to the sea was turned into an unhealth
ful and dangerous wilderness.
Yet this change was by no means sudden, but
very gradual, and many and different causes con
tributed to bring it about. The decline of Rome
and consequently that of the country surrounding
it which Pliny describes as one of beautiful amen
ity, the work of a rejoicing nature, with vital and
parennial salubrity of atmosphere, ferQle plains,
thick groves and rich varieties of trues began with
the change of the seat of the empire to Constanti
nople ln the year 336. In 410 Alarlc and his
hordes of Goths swept down from the north and
plundered the city for three long days.
It Is known that many houses outside the gates
were burned and that after the sack burials in the
Catacombs were abandoned on account of the Inse
curity of the suburbs, a proof that these, like the
Interior of the city itself, suffered greatly at the
hands of the barbarians. A result of the barbarian
Invasions was the burying and careful biding of
bronze statues and other works of art, and It may
be assumed that what was left unhidden, especially
ln the villas and temples scattered through the Cam
pagna, was destroyed and burned by the Goths.
Within a short time the second capture and sack
of Rome by Geuserio and the Vandals followed,
about the middle of the fifth century. The Van
dals, mixed with Bedouins and Moors, plundered
tho city during fourteen days and carted the booty
to the ships moored ln the Tiber.
Later Riclmer, Wltlges and Totila followed and
palaces, temples, houses, villas, and aqueducts were
razed to the ground and left to crumble to ruin and
to dust. The traces of the Barbarians along the
northern portion of Campagna may be seen almost
to this very day.
All through the route over which they poured
not a stone is left standing on another and hardly
a trace of a building is left. Here the Campagna
Is desolate and barren almost as if fire had crossed
it and burnt its very earth. (
During the siege of Rome by the Wltlges, which
lasted over a year, (37-38, Procopius says that the
aqueducte were cut off both by the besiegers and
the besieged, the former in order to bring about a
water famine, the latter to prevent the enemwj
from entering the city. This proved disastrous toj
the country surrounding Rome, and even the mosrJ
salubrious hills were rendered uninhabitable.
The Goths despoiled and ravaged the whole
Campagna, and it is easy to imagine what damage
was done. The barbaric eruptions were followed
by earthquakes. Inundations, famine and pesti-j
lence. The popes and anti-popes fighting for sul
premacy with the German emperors or disputing;
witn eacn omer xor ineir succession, naa no iimwt
to lend a helping hand.
Later came Robert Gulscard and the Norman-.
and in 1627 the constable of Bourbon, whose rav-J '
ages were worse than those of Genseric and Totila.
Fortresses were made out of tombs and monu-l
ments, everything rotted and crumbled away, and
as a result of the desolation of fields and gardens
and the annihilation of agriculture, malaria
stalked ln the footsteps of ruin, rendered the Camj
pagna uninhabitable and made it what it now is, sj
desolate wilderness, a huge cemetery. j
But even a cemetery has charms. Xa Italian
sky, abundant If wild vegetation, the memories of;
the past, variations ln color reflecting every as-'
pect of the sky and answering every touch of th)
seasons and sunshine, all contribute to make the:
Campagna perhaps the most varied and pict
uresque region ln the world. I
It is generally admitted that the only remedy
against malaria is cultivation, drainage and popu-t
lation, and It has been said that the scourge ot
malaria ln the Campagna is due to the mlsgovern
ment ot the popes. The church made feeble ef
forts to combat the scourge, but as six-tenths of
the Campagna land was held In mortmain by the
church, and It has been stated that It did not favop
agriculture, the old rule was fatal to agriculture
and the reclaiming of land. ,
This statement may be true; still, the improve
menu effected by the Italian government since
1870 ln the Campagna of Home have hardly al
tered Its condition, and this district is no bettefl
drained or cultivated or peopled ton ay than it was
under papal rule, while high taxation, practically
unknown under the church, handicaps all effort,
at improvement.
The land of the Campagna is of a deep rich
(Continued on Page Five.) !
