Nebraska Newspapers

    The Founding of O’Neiii,
By General John O’Neill
Burke’s Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
March 22, 1876.
Patrick Fahy, Esq.,
Sir: It is just two years and four
months, to-day, since I entered into a
written agreement, for four months,
!-m>rn to by each of us, with yourself
and S. M. Boyd, at Lincoln, Nebras
ka. You bought out another man’s
interest, as you informed me, for the
purpose of enabling you to enter into j
this agreement. I iiad then spent some j
two years in traveling through the
Western States for the purpose of see
ing the country and selecting places |
for locating colonies of my country- j
men, and on being informed by you j
that you were interested with others, |
in a town-site, then called Holt, now !
O’Neill City, in Holt County, Ne- J
braska, where the land is exceedingly
good, and a sufficient quantity of it,
to locate one or more colonies, and
that yourself and your associates in
this town-site would allow me enough
of money, one hundred and fifty dol- j
lars per month, for four months, to
pay my expenses to go East and work
up an immigration for the county.
Having fully satisfied myself as to the
quality of the land and the desira
bility of the location, I was more than
anxious to enter into an agreement
with you. This anxiety was increased
by your uniform kindness and at
tention to me wheh I first visited Lin
coln, to deliver a lecture on Ireland,
and before we had any talk about |
entering into business relations. I
might here remark that in my travels |
in the West, in almost every city ana ;
town 1 visited, I met Irishmen who
treated me as you did, for which, I,
df course, felt very grateful, particu
larly as I was then in delicate health,
and no doubt felt the kindness move
keenly han perhaps 1 would if I had
been in good health. I merely mention
this now because I have heard that
you accused me of ingratitude, which
I am not willing to admit is part of
my character. I was also more
anxious to make arrangements with
you because you are an Irishman, and
iis my mission is entirely in behalf of
the Irish people, I preferred dealing
with one of my countrymen. While
you were only one of the party to the
agreement, I looked to you and not to
Mr. Boyd, (who is not an Irishman and
with whom I would not likely have
entered into any business arrange
ments), for carrying out the agree
ment entered* into, but in this I was
very much disappointed. Both your
self and Mr. Boyd were fully aware ,
of my financial circumstances, for 1 |
very candidly told you and you knew \
that I could not travel, or do anything
unless you furnished the money as j
$ on had agreed to do. And yet to my i
ut astonishment, when you got me
compromised in the business and
started on the road, you treated me
shamefully, allowing me to remain for
weeks at a time, at Pittsburg, Phila
delphia, and New York, under expense,
without a cent of money to travel and
meet the engagements I had made for
attending meetings, etc., and would
not even answer my letters or tele
grams, but simply trifled with my
time so that 1 was unable to do any
thing worth speaking of. Had it not
been for the kindness of Mr. Ford, of
the Irisn World, who, when I explained
to him the situation I was in, very
kindly allowed me the use of hi3
columns to write the matter up, my
first effort to organize a colony would
have neon a complete iauure. Al
though the money which you agreed
to pay me has all been paid, yet it was
paid in such a way that it was of very
little use to me. In the conversations
w'hich 3 had with you on the subject
you threw the blame on Mr. Boyd,
and on meeting that gentleman in this
city a short time ago, I spoke to him
about it and he denied that he was in
any way to blame, and in a letter
which he wrote me, ho says: “My as
sessment I promptly paid, and on re
ceiving letters from you that you did
not receive the money, I made
inquiry and was informed that the
money bad been sent to you by Mr.
Fahy; md receiving a letter from you
again that you had not received the
money due you, I then refused to pay
over any more money on the “con
tract.” From this letter and the ver
bal statements of Mr. Boyd, it ap
pears that it was you and not him who
w’uS to blame in the matter.
Now, u my gelations with you had
ended here I should not write this let
ter, or publish it as I now intend do
ing for I had been so accustomed +o
disappointments and have had to bear
the blame for the failure of others to
do what they had agreed to do,solong,
that I < ould readily pass this over and
try to forget it with other misfortunes.
But you: 'ubsequent conduct, which
has been a very serious drawback to
me an i highly injurious to the colony
which 1 have worked so hard to build
up, forces me to make some things
public which I would much rather not
l>e compelled to do.
On my arrival in Omaha with the
first parly of immigrants, you handed
me a transcript from the Secretary of
State’s office, showing that Holt
County had been organized and faring
the names of the county officers, etc.,
but you did not say anything to me
about the organization being fraudu
lent. Perhaps you did not know it at
the time, although this appears a lit
tie strange, as the party who organized
or pretended to have organized the
county, a Mr. Charles Smith, as I am
informed was one of the original town
site company, who, with yourself and
others, located the town-site, and you
should certainly have known, if yo.i
did not, that there were not enough
people in the county to justify a countv
organization. If you did not suspect
that there was something wrong in
the premises, why did you go to the
trouble of procuring a transcript from
the Sei etary of State’s office to as
sure m> that everything was all right.
When I got to the settlement and
inquired for the county officers, whose
names you gave me, I learned for the
first time that the organization and
election said to have taken place in
Holt County was all a fraud, and that
no election had ever taken place in the
county. A man there, Mr. Inman, who
was, I believe, the first white settler
in the county, informed me th^t he had
received letters from bankers in the
East, who had bonds on the town, and
on the county for sale, which were
evidently gotten out by the same par
ties who organized the county on
paper. Thie was certainly very pleas
ant and encouraging news for me who
had gone there with the intention of
locating with Yny family, and induc
ing others to do the same. Being in
doubt as to whether the town and
county could be held responsible for
the payment of these bonds, I con
sulted some able lawyers in Omaha
and other places, and was informed
that neither the town nor the county
could be held responsible, but not
withstanding this, Mr. Inman, and a
few other bogoted persons in the
county who hated to see our people
settle tnere, used this bond business
and the fraudulent organization of the
county as an argument in trying to
discourage our people who went there
to settle, and openly insinuated that
you were one of the party who got up
the fraudulent organization and issued
the bonds, and as I was to all outward
appearances your agent or represen
tativo, I came in for a full share of the
odium attached to the business. So
well did Mr. Inman and others succeed
in this nefarious business, that several
of our people, who went there to set
tle, after hearing their statements left
without waiting to see either myself
or any of our settlers, and of course
left with a false impression of the
county and its advantages. One of
the arguments used by our enemies to
discourage our people from settling
there was that you were not making
any improvements in the town, ana
did not intend to, and that all you
cared for was to sell lots in the town
and make all the money you could out
of it, and that it was all a swindling
i operation, etc., and as proof of what
they said they wbuld point to the
town-site which had not the sign of a
house on it. In order to put a stop
to all this, I urged upon you the neces
sity of putting up some kind of a
building, no matter how small or cheap
it might be; but although you re
peatedly promised to do this, yet you
did not do it, and to mend the matter
you kept your brother there all the
summer of 1874, idle, (very much
against his will as he often told me
he wanted to go off some place where
he could be doing something), which
was an additional argument for our
enemies that you had no interest in
the place, and simply kept him there
for appearance sake. I felt keenly the
injurious effects of your giving no
sign of having any interest in the
town, and to think that O’Neill City,
which I had done so much to adver
tise. was fast becoming a laughing
stock. Parties who went out with the
intention of starting business there
seeing no signs of a town and hearing
Parts Supplies Hemstitching
' The Singer Shop
New and Second-Hand'Sewing Machines
All Makes'Cleaned and Repaired
W. A Guy, Manager
O’Neill, Nebraska
4k
-ct' r** fliiiPii::aii:3.
wJmT * W
Farm Loans; Fire, Lightning, Tornado, Wind
storms, Cyclone, Hail, Auto, Compensation, Public
Liability, Property Damage, Collision, .Accident,
Health and Life Insurance, see
Phone 9. L. G. GILLESPIE, O’Neill, Neb.
the unfavorable reports about how'to
was started, left in disgust. All this
I made known to you from time to
time, but to use your own expressive
language* you “didn’t care a G—-dd—n
what anybody said.” No, you did not
care, you were away from, their taking
advantage of the reputation which I
had made for the place by selling lots,
and would do nothing either to assist
myself or help to build up the town,
while I had to remain and defend you
and defend myself and the reputation
of the colony. I defended you because,
while i was by no means satisfied with
your actions and could not understand
how ihe county could have been fraud
ulently organized and bonds issued
without your knowing something about
it, yet I did not, and do not now be
lieve that you were a party to the
| transaction.
1 Accoruing to your own statements
last summer, you had then sold over
300 lots in O’Neill City, which at the
rate you advertised to sell at, from
i twenty to fifty dollais, say on an
average of thirty dollars each, would
i amount to nine thousand dollars, ($9,
i 00). Now, if you only got one-half
of this amount you could certainly
afford to do something to assist me in
j building up the town. You are a
I young, or at least a single man, and
reputed wealthy, with no one to look
ai'ter but yourself, while you knew
that I was struggling with poverty
and had a wife and family to provide
for, and that I was working directly
in your interest, but this you appeared
not to appreciate. I do not expect
you to enter into the spirit of the work
in which I am engaged, you have
neither the head nor the heart to
understand, or appreciate it, but you
have a stomach for dollars, and I now
want to tell you what you have lost by
your stolid indifference to my earnest
appeals. If you had acted as you
should have done, or, as almost any
other business man would have acted,
you might, to-day, be selling lots in
U’Neill City for from $50 to $150, for
they would be fully worth this amount.
Being satisfied that I could no
longer depend on you for doing any
thing, and feeling heartily ashamed of
not having a single house in O'Neill
City, notwithstanding that there was
a good settlement around it, which
was constantly increasing, and feeling
that in justice to myself and my
family, I no longer had any right to
continue working and spending money
in enhancing the value of your
property, I joined Mr. Patrick Hagerty
last July in locating a soldiers’ addi
tional eighty (80 acres) as an addi
tion to O’Neill City, which we intend
building up or having it built up as
the principal part of the town. This
of course was a bank movement which
you did not expect for you seemed to
have acted all along as if I was com
pletely at your mercy, and thab I must
continue to work for and build up
O’Neill City, because my name hap
pened to be connected with it. Well,
1 shall continue to work and do every
thing that I possible can to build up
O’Neill & Hagerty’s addition to O’Neill
City, and I shall give every man who
bought of me in O’Neill City a deed
of an equal number of lots in this ad
dition.
When you heard that Mr. Hagerty
and myself had located this addition,
you then for the first time paid a visit
to the settlement, and engaged Mr.
Maybury, one of the settlers to put up
a shell of a building for you. This
, m i- man spent his own money in
yim; lumber and putting up this
j i ding, and he now writes to me
i hi laining that you have not paid
1 m although he needs the money
I i.uly, and he has been obliged to take
a hen upon the house to have it sold
at Sheriff’s sale. This is certainly
helping the place with a vengence.
A short time ago you published an
advertisement in the Irish World,
stating that you “owaed all the unsold
I lots ir. O’Neill City.” This you knew
was not true—you knew that I had
some lots for sale there—you knew
that S M. Boyd had some lots for sale
there—a list of which I have got, and
you knew that William McLaughlin,
cf your city, had some lots for sale
there a list of which he sent me; but
I suppose in your sublime selfishness
you desired the public to understand
that you were the only one from whom
they should buy lots.
l o crown your generous conduct to
ward me I learn that you have been
going around like an old women telling
people that I took advantage of your
brother being absent sick to “jump”
his claim. I should think that respect
for the memory of your dead brother,
who I hope is in Heaven, would pre
vent you from thus lying about- me.
You know that your brother had no
claim at or near O'Neill City had
never entered a claim, and had never
taken out his papers on one, and you
also knew and so does every other man
who knows me at all, that if your
brother had entered a claim I would
be the last man in the world to inter
fere with it. I am aware that your
brother had selected a claim and talk
ed of entering it; but although he was
in the county some nine or ten months
he never enterd it, ami any man who
wanted a claim had a perfect right to
take it, and neither you nor I; nor your
brother could interfere with this right,
and no man knows this better than
you do.
Mr. Patrick Hagerty, one of the
settlers who went up last spring, see
ing that this claim was vacant, select
ed it for himself—which he or any
other man had a perfect right to do—
and now has one-half of it as part of
h s timber claim, and the other half
we bought between us for the addition
to O’Neill City. This “addition,” 1
presume, is what grieves you most. I
suppose the next thing you will com
r'ain of is my interference with your
^ >ht to retain for yourself all the
claims around the town-site, which
vo i secured at the land office by en
e ing soldiers applications on them;
Kut in this you will be right for I had
' promised the settlers going out there
| that they should have the privilege of
j taking up these claims, and when you
! informed me at Omaha, that you had
entered them, I protested against it
and demanded that you give them up.
As for my own claim, it was entered
by you with one of the soldier’s appli
cations, William Phillips, and the pa
pers relinquishing it you gave me
^ourself, and they are now in ray
possession.
In conclusion, permit me to say, that
it affoids me no pleasure to write or
publish this letter, but your own con
duct has forced the unwilling task
upon me.
Yours, etc.
JOHN O’NEILL.
M. O’Dowd, Agent For the Sale of
of Railroad Lands, Etc.
I have received numerous letters
from correspondents making inquiry
about Mr. O’Dowd, to which I reply,
that I know but very little about the
man, and that little is not very credit
able to him. He being an agent for the
sale of railroad lands when I first com
menced organizing colonies, appeared
^to imagine, I suppose, from his great
bulk, that the West was too small a
country for anybody but himself, and
as I was engaged in advising my
countrymen to settle upon Government
land, which they could get for noth
ing, he thought I suppose, that I was
going to interfere with his business
of selling land, and resorted to means
which no honorable man would be
guilty of to injure me. While he was
in the pay and employ of tjie B. & M.
R. R. Land Company, their lands
were of course the best) to settle upon;
but when he changed his position to
the U. P. R. R. Land Company, the
Platte Valley, in Nebraska, was then
the best, but now that he is in the em
ploy of the Kansas Pacific R. R. Land
Company, his opinions, of course, have
undergone another change, and there
is no place like the sunny South with
its “shady dwellings, shady pastures,
etc.” If he should take a notion to
remove to the North pole next time,
and get well paid for his services, he
will no doubt, recommend that country
as a perfect paradise. His own pub
lished contradictory statements should
satisfy any intelligent man that there
is no reliance to be placed in anything
he may say.
JOHN O’NEILL.
LOTS FOR SALE
—in—
O'NEILL & HAGERTY’S ADDITION
' —to—
O’NEILL CITY.
Lots around the public square are
23 by 180 feet, excepting corner lots,
which are 30 by 180 feet. Comer lots
are $40 each, all other lots around the
spuare $35. Lots away from the
square are 40 by 170 feet. Lots one
block from the square are $30, two
blocks $25, three blocks $20 each.
Lots In Atkinson.
The lots in Atkinson are the same
size as those in O’Neill & Hagerty’s
addition. Corner lots are $35 each.
All other lots around the square are
$30. Lots one block from the square
are $25; two blocks $20; three blocks
$15. and those in the suburbs $10 each.
A deduction of ten per cent on the
above will be made to all who buy two
or more lots in either town.
Fci price of lot in new town see
pages 22 and 23 of this pamphlet.
Persons who buy lots are not
obliged to live on them, or to make
any improvements until they get
ready.
The taxes upon these lots will be
very light.
Persons who have deeds of lots
which are not recorded can send them
to RcLert Wilson, Esq., Clerk of Ante
lope county at Oakdale, Nebraska, or
they can keep them for a short time
until we get Holb county organized.
I give deeds for lots myself.
As to which town is the best to buy
lots in, I think that there is very little
diffeience as the necessary arrange
ments have been made for building up
both places immediately. The number
of settlers already located, and the
number who are going out this spring
clearly indicate that both towns will
soon be built up.
O'Neill City will be made the County
Seat of Holt county this spring, and
Atkinson will, in course of time, be the
County Seat of the adjoining county
west: besides, being within 40 miles of
the Pine region, it is bound to become
a town of considerable importance.
Money invested in either of these
towns at the rate which I am now
selkng lots is sure to pay at least one
hundred per cent, per annum for two
or three years.
I will send a deed immdiately for
one or more lots to any person who
will send me the money by P. O. Or
der, or Bank Check, care Burke’s Eu
ropean Hotel, Madison street, Chicago,
Illinois, up to April 19bh, and after
that date to O’Neill City. I might
here state that this is the only means
I have of procuring the necessary funds
to enable me to continue the work of
organizing and locating colonies in
the west, and I respectfully request
all of my friends who approve of my
work to come forward and assist me.
JOHN O’NEILL.
Judge Hubbard’s Letter.
l'he following letter is from Judge
Hubbard, the Resident of the Coving
ton, Columbus and Black Hills rail
road. which will run through our set
tlement
Sioux City. Iowa, April 5th, 1876.
Gen. John O’Neill, Chicago, 111.
Dear Sir—Yours of the 1st inst.,
has been received and contents noted.
We are pleased to learn that there
will be a large emigration to Nc*
braska this season.
Work on the C. C. and Black Hills
railroad will, certainly be prosecuted
this sear on. Engineers are now on the
■ line locating it and we have some 25.
0C0 ties out ready, and some 40,000
more contracted for, and are expecting
to contract for 50,000 more soon. The
company will commence grading as
soon as the frost is out of the ground.
Iron and rolling stock for the first di
vision of the road are now being con
tracted for,, so that it is now settled
that some or the road will be built this
year. - -
We think the work in which you are
engaged will result in lasting and per
manent good to all of Northern Ne
braska. We will be glad to work with
you tv bring about the results desired.
Yours truly,
A. W. HUBBARD.
(THE END.)
(First publication August 21)
NOTICE TO CREDITORS.
Estate No. 1634.
In the County Court of Holt County,
Nebraska, August 19, 1924.
In the matter of the Estate of Joachim
Wabs, Deceased.
CREDITORS of said estate are
hereby notified that the time limited
for presenting claims against said es
tate is December 17th, 1924, and for
the payment of debts is July 14th,
1925, and that on September 17th,
1924, and on December 18th, 1924, at
10 o’clock A. M., each day, I will be
at the County Court Room in said
-County to receive, examine, hear al
low, or adjust all claims and object
ions duly filed.
* C. J. MALONE,
12-4 County Judges
(County Court Seal)
(First publication August i4.)
LEGAL NOTICE.
Thompson Rounsevelle and Willis
A. Rounsevelle, non-resident defend
ants, impleaded with Patrick E. Mc
Killip, A. Lugene McKillip, A. L. u.a
zell, first and real name unknown, —
-Brazell, first and real name un
known and John Doe, real and true
rame unknown, also defendants, are
notified that on July 12, 1924, Peters
Trust Company, a corporation, plain
t.ff, commenced an action in the Dis
trict Court of Holt County, Nebraska,
j against the defendants above named,
| tne object and prayer of which are to
: foreclose a real estate mortgage exe
| luted and delivered by Patrick E. Mc
Killip and A. Lugene McKillip, his
wife, to plaintiff on December 26,
1918, to secure a note of $1,000 and
interest, which mortgage was recorded
on January 2, 1919, in Book 122 oft
mortgages at page 717 in the office of'
t he County Clerk of Holt County, Ne
braska, and conveyed the Southeast
' Quarter of Section 17, in Township
32 North, of Range 13 West of 6th
Principal Meridian in Holt County,
Nebraska. Plaintiff alleges it is the
the owner of said note and mortgage
and that they are due and payable, and
i prays that an accounting be had of the
amount due thereon and that the
premises above described be sold to
satisfy the amount found due on said
mortgage.
You are required to answer said
petition on or before September 22,
1924.
PETERS' TRUST COMPANY,,
A Corporation,
11-4 Plaintiff.
S'l .PATRICK’S CHURCH CATHOLIC
Sunday Services: First Mass 8 a.
| m.. Second Mass 9 a. m., High Mass
! at 10.30 a. m. Vespers 7:30 p. m.
Daily Mass 8 a. m.
Catechetical Instruction foi First
Communicants 3 p. m. Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
Confession, Saturday from 3 p. m.
to 6 p m. and from 7 p. m. to 9:30
p. m. Children’s Confession, First
i hursday every month at 1:80 p. m.
Very Rev. M. F. Cassidy, Pastor.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
* SERVICES:
Sunday School at 10 o'clock.
Pleaching service at 11 o’clock.
Sunday evening at 8 o’clock.
Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock
bible study.
You are welcome to all of these
services.
Please note the change of time and
change in the order of the services.
GEO. LONGSTAFF, Pastor.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Sunday Morning Service, 10:00 a.
m., Sunday School 11:00 a. m., Young
People’s Service 7:00 p. m., Evening
Service, 8:00 p. m.
Midweek Services: Tuesday, 8:00
p. m.; Young People’s Prayer Ser
vice Wednesday 8:00 p. m., Regular
Prrayer Meeting, Thursday, 8:00 p. m.
Rev. J. A. Hutchins, P^stoy.
PUBLIC LIBRARY HOURS.
The Public Library will be open
each day except Sunday and Monday,
from 2:00 until 6:00 p. m.
MARY McLAUGHUN, Librarian.
>KBRASKA CULVERT AND
MM,. CO.
AUSTIN-WESTERN ROAD
machinery
\KMCo CULVERTS
Everythin* In Road Machinery
Representative
L. C PETERS
O’Will :: Nebraska
Ok I. A CARTER
Physician and Surgeon
Glasses- Correctly Kitted.
Office and Residence, Naylor Blk.
— Rhone 72
O’NEILL :: :: NEBRASK A
__ #
W. F FINLI Y /v\ I).
Phone, Office 28
O’Neill Nehraska
.
IGeoigs M. Haiiinglon j
A ITORNEY-AT-LAW |
PHONE II.
O’NEILL. NEBRASKA. p
^ -I I ^
■ mi m m ■ ■!■■■ —
NEW FEED STORE! |
In the Roberts Barn }
in connection with the }
Feed Barn. All kinds of !
feeds and hay carried j
in stock. We make de- }
livery. {
We do custom grinding, j
Office, 336. Res. 270 or 303 J
ROBERTS & HOUGH J
i
---- —
THE O’NEILL j
ABSTRACT COMPANY
—Compiles—
"Abstracts of Title”
THE ONLY COMPLETE SET OF
ABSTRACT BOOKS IN
HOLT COUNTY. {
OR. AILi ! N
Physician and Surgeon
Special Attention Given To
DISEASES OF THE EYE AND
CCfRRECI FITTING OF
GLASSES
H. L. BENNETT
GRADUATE VETERINARIAN
Phone 304. Day or Night.
O’NEILL, NEBRASKA.
.jOa, . i .», !
..
t'p
©TS«A.k.H.eo.
“HEARD A LECTURE
THE OTHER NIGHT”
said Aunt Julia, “a spectacled-lady was
scolding us all because we didn’t take
enough interest in the ballot. Well, just
having the right to go into a polling booth
doesn’t count for much with a woman
whose imagination is bounded on one side
by the back fence and on the other by the
front porch. After they’ve had their
hands full twenty years looking after a
house they’re not so likely to have the
time left to look after the nation.”
We think Aunt Julia is putting it too strong. Wo
men are getting away from the “housework mind" by
using every modern convenience for shortening house
work hours. For instance, more than 2,000,000 Ameri
can Women are using the laundry today. May we add
your name to the list
Phone 209
O’Neill Sanitary Laundry
Progress and Satisfaction Streets