The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, July 03, 1924, Image 1
vc\V^ s*-8'*’* The Frontier. r VOLUMN XLV. O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1924. NO. 5. Notes From The History of O’Neill As Prepared By The Late Jud£e J. J. McCafferty The Frontier, through the courtesy of Mrs. It. E. Gallagher, is permitted to give its readers some reminiscences • of the very early life of this part of Holt county as gathered by the late John J. McCafferty. These reminiscences are taken from the notes prepared by Judge Mc Cafferty for a history of O’Neill and Holt countv the compilation of which the Judge was engaged at the time of his death. On the 12th of May, 1874, General John O’Neill landed his first colony on the present city of O’Neill. It is needless to say that the town is called in honor of the General, notwith stnding the claim set up by Patrick Fahy, who claims General O’Neill ^vas in his pay and service and that he (Fahy) named it after Red Hugh O’Neill who flourished in Ireland in the flime and reign of Queen Eliza beth. His followers consisted of Neil Brennan, Patrick Hughes, Timothy O’Connor, Henry Carry, Thomas Con nolly, Michael Dempsy, Thos. Kelly, Robert Alworth, Ralph Sullivan, Pat rick Brennan, Thos. Cain, Henry Carry, Patrick M. Karney and others, but many of them returned back when they saw the raw and barren naked ness of the vast and virgin prairies undisturbed by the habit of man or the sign of human life. O’Neill ad vertised the country pretty thoroughly in the east and although there were a few trappers and nomadic settlers in the northeast and northern part of the county and the McEvony settle ment a few miles east of O’Neill, the thorough and systematic settlement of the county starts with O’Neill’s first colony, if it may be so called. The o. iginal colonists dropped out one by one until there was only left in the fall or autumn, Patrick Hughes, Neii Brennan, Tim O’Connor, Tom Connolly, M. H. McGroth, and Thos. N. J. Hines. Robert Alworth went back east but afterward returned and settled twenty miles above here in the Eikhorn valley. The McEvony set tlement was effected on July 13, 1873. and consisted of H. H. McEvony, Frank Bitney, John T. Prouty, Her man Hoxsie and sons, Henry and Wil son and E. H. Thompson, and in the autumn of the same year they were joined by David Wisegarver and Sam Wolf. The next spring Eli and John Sanford came. It is said that years before any of the present settlers came to the county there wras an attempt to settlement near the mouth of the Redbird creek by some discharged federal sodiers who selected claims and built cabins out of cedar logs cut and dressed on their own claims but were continually disturbed, horrified and finally put to flight, and at least one of their num , her killed by Sioux Indians who had : a reservation and lived just across the river “qui court” or “Running Water” now the Niobrara. But the first set tlers who stuck to the claims and maintained their posts of honor on the frontier were Wm. T. Berry who came in June, 1874, and T. H. Berry and J. B. Berry who came in the fall of the same year. J. B. was a man of family who accompanied him but T. H. was a bachelor. In 1875 Emery Belezure from Iowa, moved his family there. Ryland Parker and wife, two sens and daughters moved in from Wisconsin about this time and a little later Clement Lamereaux. The old settlement was called Tory but about that time the star of A. S. Paddock, one of the pioneers and early statesmen 6f the state, and a very worthy citizen, was in the ascendant, and so, hence, the settlers discarded the historic name and adopted the name of the poppular Senator Pad- J dock. On November 1, 1874, Rody J. Hayes, Jas. Ryan, John Reddy ar rived and in May, 1875, General O’Neill came with his second colony, consisting of Patrick Hagerty, John J and Thomas O’Neill, his nephews, John Cantlin, Michael Ryan, Michael Gastello, D. P. O’Sullivan, Herman Strasburg, Wm. O’Sullivan and others, a few bringing their families. In the spring of 1876, General O’Neill brought in his third colony consisting of 102 men, women and children; and in 1877 his fourth colony consisted of about 70 people all told. As those were grass hopper years these new arrivals scattered in all directions, many returned to their former homes in the east accompanied by some of the former colonists and j homesteaders all the* way down the valley from here to Wisner. In speaking of the grasshoppers, I was of the opinion before I came here that they were natives of the high and dry regions of the Rocky Moun tains. I read that their natural home and habitat was comprised between longitude 43 and 53 north, and lati tude 103 and 114 west, but you may guess at my astonishment when I tell you that one afternoon in the later part of July, 1876, I went to the house of Mrs. Patrick Murray, whose clain later comprised the McCafferty addition to O’Neill. We were all batch elors and most of us got our washing done and our bread baked by her as she was the nearest woman. As I passed south of her home I saw a field of corn on second break ing, of the most luxuriant growth that I have ever seen. I may have been in the house ten or fifteen minutes when all cf a sudden everything became dark and when we rushed out the door, we were ankle deep in a mass of grasshoppers and they were still alighting. We were all awed and I dumb-founded when we cast our eyes i in the direction of the beautiful and i healthy field of maize which I had just i passed a fewr minutes before. Not a j vestage of green growth, not even a j stalk was left, all were downed in less time than it takes to tell the dismal story. The hoppers continued to alight for hours ’till the ground was covered to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. The aerial flight of the insects was about one and one-half mildS to two miles wide and lasted for nearly two days. In the early history of the county the colonists were over a hundred miles from civilization and many of them over fifty miles from a post office. The nearest railroads were at Wisner, Nebraska, and at Yankton, South Dakota, and the supplying post office was at Frenchtown in Antelope county. We had neither, clergy, doctor or school teacher excepting one Father Bedard, who was a combination of priest, farmer and pedigog in the vil lage of Frenchtown on the north side of the Elkhoin liver east of what used to be called the “Yellowbanks.” A postoffice was established in O’Neill about, the time I came here in 1876, and Patrick Hagerty was the first mercantile store in the county and first mercantile store in the cunty and at one time did a vast business em ploying from ten to twenty hands all told; at time he took in $1,000.00 per day. He was an old soldier, a stu dent of men and possessed a college education. When Sanford Parker, who was the first active county clerk, brought the books and records from Paddock to O’Neill on August 1, 1879, he located them in a little building 10x12 feet, standing, I think, about where Robert Morrison’s grocery now is. And by the way, that, was a very historic and important land mark and building, be ing O’Neill’s first court house, the first school house, the first drug store, the first grog shop, the first law office and seat of justice as it was the place when Chas. O’Neill opened his office and where was held O’Neill’s first suit of litigation before passing into the hands of the WJcox Lumber <’o., to become their office and hence O’Neill’s first lumber office and is now a part of the establishment of O. 0. Snyder & Co.’s office. In 1880 Neil Brennan, the senior member of the old O’Neill hardware firm of Brennan & McCafFerty, built the house in which he now resides and the county commissioners rented it from him and moved the county offi ces into it. It then stood on the block south of Douglas street and on the east side of the original townsite and the first important legal proceedings transacted in it was the trial of “Kid Reed” for the murder of Holt County’s sheriff, Barney Kerns. Through his attorney, Mr. Cowan, Reed made a favorable showing in his plea for a change of venue, which was granted and the case set for trial at the county seat of Antelope county. That was the first time I ever saw John 0. Cowan, who defended the prisoner Reed and finally got him acquitted. When the trial was called in O’Neill it was a very hot day and when Get the Tonic of the Out-of>Dom The Touring Car P. O. B. Detroit Demountable Rime and Starter *85 extra Be sure that your efficiency a. 1 your comfort thi9 summer have the help of that c r you have always intended to buy. You know its value—you know what an essential aid it is to a fuller activity, an easier life, more healthful hours out-of-doors. Delay invites disappointment. Why wait? Buy nou)I f'vl) Detroit, Michigan Runabout $265 Caupe$ 525 Tudor Sedan J 5 90 Fordor Sedan #683 AH |>ricee /. o. b. Detroit SEE THE NEAREST AUTHORIZED FORD DEALER You can buy any model by making a small down-payment and arranging easy terms for the balance, Or you can buy on the Ford Weekly Purchase Plan, The Ford dealer in your neighborhood will gladly explain both plans in detail _ — —— ■ ■ ————— ■ ■ BHB T MBi the big Omaha attorney arose to ad dress the court he took off his coat and vest and removed his necktie and rolled up his shirt sleeves like as if he was going to do a hard days work with a shovel, hoe or ax; and when he got warmed up with his subject and began rolling his big eyes Snd shaking his black locks of curly hair, there was a stream of eloquence and ora tory freely flowing and which has never been surpassed since or before in the precincts of a Holt county dis trict court which is saying a great deal too. Well Mr. Cowan gained his point, got the change of venue, and the trial was sent to Neligh, where, at the next term of the Antelope district court he got Reed acquitted and it was said W. A. Paxton, a big and burly ranchman, living in Omaha, paid him (Cowan) a big fee of five thousand dollars (raised by subscription from tihe owners of the big western ranches-. The size of the fee was commented on far and wide and it was said to have been the largest ever paid for such a purpose up to that time in the history of Nebraska. But whether the fee was the largest or not the trial of the suit stamped John C. Cowan as a great criminal lawyer, in which branch of his profession he had no successful trials for several years, though he finally gave up the practice of criminal law and devoted his entire time and attention to the commercial branch of his profession, in which he has gained for himself a monument of fame and a large fortune. JERRY HOWARD SAYS GEN. O’NEILL REMAINS CAN BE MOVED HERE Jerry Howard, of Omaha, writes Hon. T. V. Golden, president of the organization that will transfer the re mains of General John O’Neill from its resting place in Omaha to O’Neill, that there will be no particular oppo sition to its project. Following is a copy of the letter received by Mr. Golden; Omaha, Neb., June 28, 1924. Hen. T. V. Golden, Charman, General John O’Neill Association, O'Neill, Nebraska: Dear Sir: The ideals of the Irish is a puzzle to many of those not of the Irish race, perhaps that is the reason why Vicar General Colaneri does not look with favor on this na tional project to transfer the remains of General O’Neill, the hero of the Battle of Ridgeway, and the monu ment erected to his memory, from Omaha to O’Neill, the city founded by this Irish Martyr patriot. The* sentiment that prevailed in transfering Colonel John O’Mahony, O’Donovan, Rossa, Rev. Father O’Growney and other Irish patriots from this Republic to the Irish Re public prevails in this national move ment. The Irish World in its issue of June 7th stated that the readers of that great paper are interested in the movement. History repeats itself, General O’Neill writing to the Irish World during the colonization period of O’Neill stated that the greatest op ponents to his policy of getting the Irish away from the cities were the politicians. """ It is unfortunate for Ireland that these politicians are everywhere. “Tim” Healy & Co., replace Keongh and Saddlier in infamous memory. These rascals, too* often deceive the clergy. However it is consoling to learn that the hierarchy is getting on to the political grafters. The latest report, the new Bishop of Cloufret, Iteland, the Most Rev. Dignan has arrayed himself on the side of the Irish Republic. There are some small editions of the despised and hated “Terrible Timothy” in our midst, who through their nefarious intrigues are able to influence some of the clergy to look with disfavor on any genuine Irish movement. It is universally known that there is a pro-British Irish element (Shoe neens) in America, who are opposed to arousing any Irish agitation that may disturb the ulterior motives of the Wilsonian politicians. Father Gannon’s paper, the True Voice, in this week’s issue, has an editorial headed “How Strange” that throws some light on the schemes of these political trimmers Now, Brother Golden, the eccle siastical authorities will not object to transferring the mortal remains of the hero of the Battle of Ridgeway to the City founded and established by this Irish Martyr patriot. Yours truly, JERRY HOWARD. “AINT NATURE WONDERFUL” (By Uncle Pete in Omaha Bee.) O’Neill, Neb., June 29.—Doe Wil kinson expects to re-establish himself in the good grace of the horsemen of Beaver Flats at the races at O’Neill the Fourth of July through the ac complishments of Jack McKenna’s running horse, Sapolio, which the doctor himself has entered in the races, paying the entry fee and all in an effort toward redemption. Sapolio is the horse which although possessed of remarkable speed, also had a sheep’s heart which caused him to quit at the last minute and come in behind the money to the great grief and financial embarrasment oi his owner, Mr. McKenna. Last fall, just before the count} fair, the doctor endeavoring to over come this defect in the animal’s make up for Mr. McKenna transplantec some glands into Sapolio from one oi Glen Shiviey’s string of famous rela} One Man And His Town A man by himself is just—one man. Multiply him by hundreds of thous ands or millions and he becomes a town or city or notion. If he “gets on in the world,” so will dozens or hundreds or thousands of his associates. If he fails, so will a greater or less number of others—for no one man can affect only himself by his actions. Because of this fact of human nature, our bank exists to help our friends succeed. Any problem of finance put up to it is carefully con sidered and its best advice is freely given. You are invited to take ad vantage of this service. The Nebraska State Bank ♦ horses, but by mistake got the glands from Rock of Ages, Shively’s champ ion bucking broncho outlaw. As a result when the jockey tickled Sapolio with the spurs in the finish of the Beaver Flats derby the nag threw his rider and kicked out several pannels of the track fence, injuring one or two rail birds. The doctor’s mistake nearly resulted in a suit for damages and malpractice, in Judge Kir win’s court by the irate owner of Sapol'io. Since then and to avoid the litiga tion Doc has been engaged in secret experimentation with glands of vari ous animals and several weeks ago equipped Sapolio with a new set of jackrabbit glands taken from Charley Harding’s racing rabbit. The horse .with his new glands was given a try out on the private track at the doc tor’s ranch just north of The Flats last week, and showed even better than his oldtlime form. He also has apparently abandoned his bucking proclivities and runs in stead of sunfishing when spurred. On the outcome of the races in which Sap olio is entered at O'Neill the Fourth will depend whether or not the doctor and Mr. McKenna patch up their dif ferences. LOCAL MATTERS. Rev. Father Kohler left Monday morning for a visit to his heme in Erie, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Nellie Frawley left for her home in Omaha after a three weeks visit with frinds here. Albert Herrick came up from Waterbury Wednesday to attend the Home Coming and Race Meet this week. R. H. Lienhart and Frank Huston, from the South Fork country, trans acted business in the city Saturday. V. B. Jones and wife drove up from Sioux City Saturday night in their new Chandler. The roads are very muddy. J. B. Ryan left Saturday for Cedar Point, Ohio, where he will attend a National Hay Convention held there this week. Petersburg Index, June 27: Sr. Radcgundis, of O'Neill, is visiting at the home of her father, Edward Everett, this week. Petersburg Index, June 27: Mrs. Grant White and daughter, Carrol Jane, of O’Neill, are spending a week at the Henry Hellrich home. A new restaurant opened in the Joel Parker establishment in South O’Neill. The place has been thoroughly reno vated and is a first class eating place. Emil Sniggs has purchased a large size tuba, in order to celebrate the Fourth of July and three days race meet and home coming in an appro priate manner. Mrs. Jesn Mills and two children, Shirley and Bruce arrived in O’Neill Friday from Omaha, for an extended visit with her father, Emil Sniggs and other relatives. Dr. and Mrs. Vince Goldan and their daughter, Miss Mildred, ca^ne over from Creston, Iowa, this morning for a visit with O’Neill relatives and to attend the Home Coming this week. Valentine Republican: Upon the completion of the new Borman build ing this week it was promptly occu pied by E L. Davey with his panto rium. He has a large, light room for his work, with a tile building in the rear for his cleaning apparatus. ARE YOU TAKING BITTER MEDICINE? A shock is never pleasant medicine to take, but many have to take this medicine often because of poor invest ments. Wise banking connections will help wonderfully in re ducing these shocks to a minimum. This bank carries no indebtedness of officers or stockholders. Resources over $600,000.00 T5he 0*Neill National Bank 1 i --————————