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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1916)
TOL, XXXIV. PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 191C. No. 12S. EARLY PIONEERS OF CASS COUNTY WHO ARE HERE Some Early Experiences of the Young Family in the Early Days. From Saturday's Dally. Anioni' the hale and hearty pioneers of Cass f-ounty is Mr. David A. Youni of Murray, who is spending the home coming period in Plattsmouth with his sisters. Mrs. Henry Boeck of Piatt. s mouth and Mrs. M. A. Stafford, of Clarinda, la., who came here for the purpose of greeting her old friends ; rul lelations. William Yourg, tlie father came to the territory of Nebraska in 154 and filed on a homestead three miles north east of Murray and moved hi? fnn :ly from Garwood, la., March 5. 1S"". For a period the elder Young lived in a tent, and in 18-")") built a caDin of rough hewn logs for the reception of his family. The Young home at Glenwood was the land on which the Institute for the Feeble Minded now stands in tne southern portion oi ( den wood. In 1h.V another log house was built on the new home site which for a number ot years vas the best count ry home in ('a?.-, county. Part of that lo house, is still standing on the farm and its umbeis of white oak are as solid as rock. Mrs. Henry Boeck. born Elizabeth Young, was the eldest daughter and .-he wns born in Nodaway count'. Mis souri. David A. was born in Glen wood and was four years old at the time of the family's removal to Cass county. Ellon Young, now Mrs. M. A. Stafford of Clarinda. Ia., was also Imrn at Glenwood and was one and rule-half years old when the family moved to Nebraska. Oi course the county was then fparsely settled with whites and the Young family saw mere Indians than they did of their own color. Not long after the family had set tled in their new hame two Indians came one n:rht to the horse ard by signs let it be krown that they wanteci to be kept over night. As the season was winter and bitter cold the Youngs let them into the house. Mrs. Young had just finished knitting a pair of woolen stockings for some member of the family and had hung them over the fire place to dry. The next morn ing when the Indians left they carried with them the stockings which evi dently had proved too great a temp tation for their honesty. About a year later two Indians vis ited the Young home and then Mrs. Win. Young thought she recognized the pair as the same ones who had stolen the stockings. She asked their, point blank if they were not the ones who had taken the stockings and they both acted in such a confused manner that it was thought they were really the guilty ones. One of the older brothers of the family bought a pony from an Indian for 35 cents. It developed into a racer of the first class and the girls had many a race over the hills near their home and beat everything in horse flesh in the neighborhood. One day Mary Pollen, now the wife of William Tavlor who lives south of . Plattsmouth was riding the pony with a party of other girls. When the party reached the place where the races were usually pulled off the pony thought it was time to get to going and started off at a fast clip. Miss Pollen was thrown off and was laid up for quite p. time. There were many Indian scares but none of them resulted seriously. All members of the Young family were industrious and Mrs. Henry Boeck wove cloth from wool from sheep that were sheared on the Young farm. The cloth was made into garments that were worn by members of the family. Mrs. Stafford has at her home in Clarinda a comfort that was made fifty years ago from pieces of cloth that were woven on her father's farm. The family home is now owned by Mr. David A. Young. Mr. Young re cently moved into Murray and the homestead is now run by William R. Young, his son. 3oth Mrs. Boeck and Mrs. Stafford are fine specimens of womanhood and time has dealt lightly with them both. David A. Young is still active and in perfect health and is likely to remain long in the land which he has seen to grow into the garden spot of this great and well favored state. Manv Friends Greet Him During His Slay in Plattsmouth. . One of the notable visitors to the Home Coming festival is R. W. Hyers, now a resident of Lincoln, Neb. Mr. Hyers stopped off in Plattsmouth to visit old friends and neighbors on his way home from the G. A. R. Na tional Encampment at Kansas City. From 1876 to 1882 Mr. Hyers was sheriff of Cass county and made one of the most efficient officials this com munity ever had. He came to Cass county in 1870 .iind bought a farm six miles southwest of Weeping Water. He devoted his time to farming until 1876 when he was elected to the office of sheriff. He succeeded the late M. B. Cutler who before being elected to the posi tion was for many years a grain dealer in Plattsmouth. Mr. Hyers moved his family to Plattsmouth in 1877 and remained until 1889 when he received the appointment as warden of the state penitentiary at Lincoln. In 1884 while a resident of Cass countv he was elected a state senator and served one term. He was one of the state game wardens during the administration of Governor Aldrich. At the present time Mr. Hyers is keeper of the Lancaster county jail. Mr. liver's son, Gus A. Hyers is now serving his second term as sheriff of Lancaster county and is a candidate for re-election to a third term with good prospects of succeeding himself .Mr. Hyers, Sr., has many friends in Plattsmouth and Cass county and they were delighted to grasp his hand and wish him all kinds of good fortune. A Former Plattsmouth Girl Wins a Pair of Trousers. The person to come the greatest distance for the Home Coming festival was Mrs. W. E. Maxon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Homer McKay of this city. Mrs. Maxon, having made up her mind to come home took a steamer at Colon, Panama for New York and came thence by rail to Plattsmouth and she is now having. the time of her life among old friends and with her parents. Mr. Maxon is a civil engineer in government service in the Canal Zone and has been engaged there ever since the United States took charge of the zone. The Maxons have lived at Ancon most of the time and now like that place. Shortly after her arrival home Mrs. Maxon learned that C. E. Wescott's ons had offered a prize to the per son paying the largest sum for trans portation back to Home Coming week. She called yesterday at the Wescott store and after stating her travel record it was decided that she was en titled to the first prize a pair of Dutchess trousers. Mrs. Maxon hes itated about accepting the prize at first but finally decided to take them and it is a good bet that Mr. Maxon's stalwart form will a little later on be adorned at least in part by the Home Coming premium for the long distance trip home. Returned to His Former Home in Plattsmouth. Professor E. L. Rouse, dean of the Peru State Normal school and former superintendent of Plattsmouth schools has been visiting his many friends and admirers in this city during Home Coming week. . - Professor Rouse endeared himself to a large circle of both young and older people during his administration of the public schools at this place. He made an extra effort to come here for the festival. He wished to see his old pupils and he marched in the school parade on Friday. His gen ial "hello" was heard up and down 'Main street as he greeted former friends and he was the recipient of many congratulations on his success as a teacher and friend to the young people with whom he has been associ ated both here and elsewhere. FESTIVAL NEWS NOTES. Gust Brandeen, a successful mer chant of Waverly, accompanied by his wife, was a visitor to the Home Com ing festivities. Mr. Brandeen lived in Plattsmouth a number of years before engaging in business for himself. He was with C. E. Wescott & Son and other houses here and he still re mains the astute and handsome blonde individual he has always been Charles D. Cummins is one of the familiar faces seen during the week He is the son of the late J. C. Cum mins, formerly in the lumber business in Plattsmouth, and things have pros pered with him. Frank Hager an old timer and for mer Burlington engineer was here with his wife during the festival. His wife is a daughter of Mrs. William Herold and the couple passed an en joyable visit in their old home. They now live in Lincoln. A book containing the list of Cass county taxes for the year 1857 is on exhibition in one of the show win dows at C. E. Wescott's Sons' store It contains the names of many persons whose names are still familiar to those of the present generation. A Plattsmouth Pioneer Here From California for Home Com ing Week. Among the pioneers visiting old friends in Platsmouth is Mr. Morgan Waybright of Los Angeles, Calif. Mr. Waybright landed across the river from Plattsmouth from the steamer Waverly which brough him up the river from St. Louis, November 10, I860. The water on the Nebraska side of the river was too shallow for a land ing so the boat put up on the east bank of the river and the- ferry boat brought them to the Nebraska side. Mr. Way bright was from Virginia and he came to Plattsmouth because he had friends here, the Snyder family of pioneer days. Mr. aybright farmer for a while after his arrival and then came into Plattsmouth and for a number of years ran a dray to the steamboats and the railroad when it was built. In 1873 he went to work for the Bur lington and in various capacities re mained with the company until 1904 when he quit and moved to California where he has made his home ever since. He is visiting with County Judge Beeson and . will remain at least a couple of weeks longer. He is surprised and gratified at the vast improvement in Plattsmouth and says it makes him rather home sick to get back to the scenes of hie earlier life. The Jury Deliberates in a Hazel Brush Patch. Mrs. Magdelena Vallery, widow of the late Jacob Vallery, Jr., who died here in 1906, is the oldest pioneer of Plattsmouth and Cass county. She with her husband was one of the five families that came here from Glen wood, la., late in the fall of 1833. Mr. Vallery, who was a man of some means bought the interest of William Garrison in a general store, the first in Plattsmouth that had bc.r. conducted by Slaughter & Garri son. It was a two story log house, of eight rooms and the Slaughter and Vallery families both kept house in it besides providing temporary hemes for new comers until they had found ccommodations elsewhere. Mrs. Vallery is a bright and intel ligent woman of 83 years, and still retains all of her faculties unimpaired. She remembers that the first law yer in Plattsmouth was Joseph Brown, who moved here from Glenwood in 1855. He used one of the rooms in the Slaughter and Vallery building for an office and home. The late Hon. T. M. Marquette who afterwards became general toun- 3l for the Burlington railroad, came to the Vallery home in 1854 and lhed with the family for seme time. In 1856 the Vallery rs built a home on Third stieet just north of the Per kins hotel, and shortly after that Mr. Vallery loaned Marquette money to buy a piece of ground across the street from their home and just north of the Plattsmouth hotel. He build a small frame office on the lot and for a num ber of years practiced his profession and roomed in the single room which comprised the building. Mrs. Vallery remembers the first law suit tried in Plattsmouth. She is certain the case was a civil one and was tried in a little one-room frame school building that stood just west of the present First Methodist church on Main street. . It occurred in 1854 and the room was so small that after the argu ments had been made and the Judge charged tho jury that body retired to the privacy of a hazel nut bush patch on the side of the hill near the school house to deliberate on their verdict. Miss Mollie Slaughter, daughter of Vallery 's partner was the first white girl born in Plattsmouth and Miss Lottie E. Vallery, now Mrs. F. E. White of Omaha wa the second girl born here. Mrs. White is now in Plattsmouth for Home Coming week and is visiting with her mother, Mrs. Vallery and with Mrs. Minor, a sister and also Mrs. Will Streight and .irs. Dr. Livingston, other sisters. Mis. Vallery as a rule has excellent health but during the recent heated term became indisposed DUt is now feeling much better. Jacob Vallery was an active man in the early days and among otl er enterprises built with the late Conrad Heisel, father of George Heisel, the first Hour mill in Plattsmouth or Cass county. It stood on the site of the present Heisel mill and burned dov.n and was replaced by the present mill owned by George Heisel. Helps Make the FJag for a Nebraska Company in the Civil War. Mrs. J. E. Clement, an estimable lady residing in Plattsmouth since 1858, remembers a number of inter esting incidents of the early times. Mrs. Clement was a young girl when her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. John Urwin, arrived in Platts mouth. She remembers the principal stores then in business here. They were, Stroud and Anderson, E. G. Dovey and Tootle andHanna. Jacob Vallery afterward bought into the Stroud and Anderson firm. In 1862, Jane Urwin was married to J. E. Clement, and the couple lived together until Mr. Clement's death in 1874. Mr. Clement was tax assessor for Cass county for a time, and was a man greatly esteemed in the com munity. In 1861, when the First Nebraska regiment was formed in the territory, Plattsmouth and Cass county fur nished one of the companies. Mrs. Clement, Mrs. J. D. Simpson, Mrs. Major McCord, Miss Abbie Buck and Mrs. Klepser formed the circle of ladies who made the battle flag the Plattsmouth company carried through out the civil war. Mrs. Clement still retains some of the pieces that were cut in shaping the glorious emblem of liberty, and she cherishes the relics greatly. Mrs. Clement tells of an early inci dent which occurred not long after she was married. Indians wandered through the white settlements begging and stealing what they could. One day, two of them came to Mrs. Clem ent's door and asked for something to eat. She was just preparing to bake bread, and she picked up the batch of dough and showed it to the In dians, telling them to come back in the afternoon. They came all right, and were furnished a first class lunch, which they thoroughly enjoyed.- Mr. John Urwin, Mrs. Clement's father, was the first man buried in the Plattsmouth cemetery. Mrs. Clement still retains good health and spirits and takes a lively interest in all things that appertains to Plattsmouth's welfare. John D. Tutt Recalls an Incident of the Cass County Claim Club. John D. Tutt, one of the well known pioneers of Plattsmouth came here here from Glenwood, la., in the spring of 1855. He first engaged in sur veying land and town sites, the firm being Bixby & Tutt. After two years in this work Mr. Tutt went into mer chandising with the firm of Stonder & Anderson whose store was located on the corner of Sixth and Main streets where the Coates Block now stands. After one year with that firm Tutt moved over to Iowa in 1859 and built a flour mill at Pacific Junction. He operated the mill until 1862 when he sold out and followed freighting until 1866 when he returned to Plattsmouth and took a position with Tootle and Hanna until he quit to go into busi ness for himself. Mr. Tutt saw many stirring in cidents in the early days. There was a claim club in Cass county late in the 50's and it pulled off a number of stunts that were not according to law but was the result of the way the members figured out things for their own advantage. During 1859, four men, a man named Johnson and his son, and one known as Kelley and a son, all known as claim jumpers, mysteriously dis appeared from Cass county and were never afterwards heard of. The sup position is that they were shot and their bodies thrown in the river. It appeared that numbers of the claim club would pick out a quarter section and preempt it. Afterwards by some means they would take pos session of an adjoining 160 acres and hold both. Johnson and his son formed one such claim and Kelley and his son another one. It was shortly after wards that all four were missed and 'they were never afterwards found. Johnson's widow pressed a claim for the 1C0 taken by her husband and her claim was sustained by the general land office. It was thought the only persons who knew what became of the men were members of the claim club and they never told. Mr. Tutt is still in good health and resides in Plattsmouth where he expects to pass the remainder of a long, useful career. He has many friends in the com munity and is happy and contented. Mr. C. E. Wescott and Wife Here for the Home Coming Week. Mr. C. E. Wescott, wife and grand son are in Plattsmouth from their home in Los Angeles, Calif., for the home Coming festival. Mr. Wescott is in prime health and speaks in glow ing terms of his home in the golden west although he still has an exceed ingly warm place in his heart for Plattsmouth. He talked yesterday of his early struggles at this place. He came here in 1879 from La Porte, Ind. Before fixing upon Plattsmouth as a place of residence he visited Fre mont, Grand Island, Hastings, and Kearney and after looking them all over decided to cast his lot here. He opened a store in April 1879 in a small room on Main street near Third street. Soon afterwards he moved into a larger room on Main street near Fourth. A fire in 1880 wiped out his entire stock in trade and things looked dark for a while for besides having a light insurance he was unable for quite a while to collect all of it. All details were finally adjusted and soon afterwards he bought the pres ent location of the C. E. Wescott's Sons store and resumed trade. When the Wescott family first came here Clif was about five years old and Hilt less than a year old. Plattsmouth at that time was the only trading point in Cass county of any consequence and business in all lines was good. Mr. Wescott says that land which now sells for $200 per acre could then be had for $25 and a great deal of it changed hands and went into the ownership of per manent owners. The twn was a great market place and after he had often counted more than fifty loads of grain in a day coming into town. There were from six to eight grain buyers here and money was in great abundance. The Wescott business grew steadily. In 1894 Clif, having finished school, was taken into the firm and in 1901 Hilt was also made a partner and in 1916 the senior Wescott retired from busi ness. From 1906 to 1916 the firm has be;n known as C. E. Wescott's Sons and its growth and success has ben con tinuo" and steady. Another son, Earl, lives in Los An geles, and it is his son aged 3 year.-, that accompanied his grand parents to Plattsmouth to get acquainted with his Nebraska relatives. He is a bright boy and has the Wescott characteris tics of easy manners and kindly dis position. The elder Wescotts will visit their two sons in this city for a time after which they will take a trip east and then return to their home in Los Angeles. A Resident of Cass County Since 1855 and Still Hale and Hearty. Just south of the city limits of Plattsmouth, on the brow of a beauti ful hill, stands a fine home occupied and Owned by Captain Isaac Wiles. Captain Wiles came to Cass county in the spring of 1855 and bought 320 acres of land, the same that he now occupies from Lafayette Nuckolls, pay ing for the same $1,050, in gold. Captain Wiles has had an import ant and useful career in the growth and development of Nebraska. He was captain of Company H of the second Nebraska regiment which was organized during the civil war times for protection against Indians and rebel bushwhackers. The regi ment was organized in the fall of 1862 as a nine months' regiment and served about one year before being mustered out of service. During a greater part of the time it was attached to General Sully's command and it participated in that General's campaigns against the hostile Indians in Western Ne braska and South Dakota. At the bat tle of White Stone Hill in Dakota in September, 1863, casualties in the sec ond Nebraska, were seven men killed, fourteen wounded and ten missing. The enemy were composed of the up per and lower bands of Yanktonai Sioux, the Black Feet Sioux and the Brule. San-Arc and Cathead bands of Sioux, numbering about 2.000 war riors, under the command of the cele brated Yonktonai chief, Two Bears, who, with his forces, was completely routed. In their flight the Indians abandoned their tents, clothing cook ing utensils and valuables of all kinds, even leaving behind many of their children. About the first of June, 1864 two horses were stolen from Captain Wiles' place and one from John Dry der of Cass county. The thieves were followed as soon as the loss was dis covered. It seems the theives quar reled about the division of the plunder. One of them gave the other two away. The informer was taken in charge and on his information the other two were followed and found hidden in a loft at Mullen's ranch on the divide south of South Bend. They were taken into custody and brought back to Eight Mile Grove. In the men's trial which took place before a self-constituted court there was no doubt or denial of the men's guilt. A plea was offered in behalf of the one who had given the other two away, but as it was supposed that his action was caused by a desire for revenge and for no moral motive all three were convicted and hung up to trees. Captain Wiles was a member of the lower house of the Nebraska legis lature when Nebraska was admitted as a state in 1867. It was he who in- troducted the bill for the adoption of a design for the great seal of the state, and he was responsible to a great extent for the design itself. The Captain's home is one of the most sightly and valuable in Nebraska. On it is a living spring of water, which was used by the Indians as a medi cine spring. It is highly charged with medicinal properties and it was used by the medicine men in helping to ef fect their cures. Captain Wiles was personally ac quainted with many of the old time men who governed Nebraska and was in the legislature and voted for Thomas W. Tifton and John M. Hager, first United States senators from Ne braska. Although now past eighty years of age he is as active as a man of many less years. His mind is as active as that of many men of fifty and he bids fair to grace this favored state many more years with his valued presence. Relates a Story of a Military Salute to St. Joe, Missouri. Joseph W. Johnson, who came to Plattsmouth April 17th, 1857, has had an active and eventful career. When he arived, Plattsmouth was begin ning to assume the proportions of a frontier town. He recollects that a man named Harper carried on a gen eral merchandise business, and that Joe Schlater, the cashier of the First National bank, had a small jewelry store on Main street. A man named Billings also operated a general store, .and Joe Buttery and Dr. Donelan also maintained small busineses. Shortly after his arrival Johnson lo cated on 160 acres west of Eight Mile Grove, built a shanty on the place in 1857. Three other young men located homesteade near him at . the same time, and frequently, in bad weather made their home in the same shack. There was a deep pool of water in ffront of Johnson's place, and one cold night, when in need of a pail of fresh water, the four men drew straws to vsee who should go after it. It fell to Joe Cox, and he started out in the dark. He mistook the distance and walked into the water over his head. His cries brought the others out and he was rescued, a cold and shivering mortal. After proving up on his claim John son came back to Plattsmouth and looked for work which he could not find. The winter of 1856-7 was the most bitter and distressful of which there is any record in Nebraska. Deer and antelope would cut through the deep, snow and could not get out. They died by the dozens. The cattle and stock of the white settlers starved for lack of food, and everyone suffered severely. A small herd of cattle per ished south of town in -what was known as Happy Hollow, a place be tween the Burlington station and the railroad bridge. A band of thirty In dians located it and they made a camp at the place and lived all winter on the carcases of the dead animals. Mr. Job-son went to the civil war with Con A of the Nebraska First regiment. The soldiers took pas sage in a steamboat at Omaha for Jefferson Barracks, Mo. The troops were under command of the late Gen eral John M. Thayer, then colonel of the regiment. As the boat neared St. Joe the colonel thought it would be a good thing to fire a salute to the Mis souri town. He inquired among hi men to find one who could load and fire off on'j ol the two cannons the icgiment had. He could find no one able to do it, and finally, ws-.lking i.p to Johnson said to him: "Joe, d you J-cnow how to fire a cannon? It will ! .a good thing to let these people ..i St. Joe know what we are here for, and I would like to fire a salute." Johnson told Colonel Thayer that a Company A man named Jack McDon ald comIu do it. McDonald was brought to the col onel, and preparations were made to fire the salute as the boat cam" near to the town. The gun was leaded and pointed to the west, toward the Kan sas side of the river as the boat boie southward. It is always customary when making a river landinir to point the stern of the beat up the river. A the boat neared the St. Joe landing the pilot swervi.l her s.ro::C. and when Colonel Th:-. ar gave h.- oide to fire, the boat was hj-ulo! u; Ptreem. McDonald !-t go the g'in an 1 amid the roar fol .'vlng, the d j.-t and c.T.d on the St. J -e levee va, y.-en to rise, and th? jeople on the lev--were running for shelter. "My God, man. what do yo 1 moiiii by firing at tV se peope?" sai l Colonel Thayer t; McDonal-V "Yon tcld me to fire, :.nd I firec'." replied McDonald. "I thought maybe you wanted to shoot oC.me of tho.. Mi iouri coperheads." The colonel had not taken into account the r.utho 1 pursued by the pilot in making hi. landing, and had not noticed the boat turning its head to the north. After four years' service in tho civil war Johnson came back to Platts mouth, and was soon drafted into the service of the town as a special police man. After that he was city mar shal for a number of years, and was elected sheriff of Cass county, in which office he served three terms. altogether six years. He was then elected mayor for four yearc, and then served one term as county judge. In all his public life Mr. Johnson has uniformily maintained the respect and good will of his fellow citizens. He is 82 years old and is at this time an up-standing man who mifht easily be taken for one of at least ten years less age. JACK McDANIEL, OLD-TIMER. Among the very early residents of Plattsmouth is. John McDaniel, com monly known as "Jack" McDaniel-.. He came here in 1855 and has made this city his home ever since. He is still as strong and sturdy as one of the oaks that crowns Wintersteen hill and be enjoys the best of health. In the early days he was a steam boat man, and for a time saw service on Peter A. Sarphy's ferry boat, the Surviver. He tells of an excursion up the river from Tlattsmouth on July 4th, 1861 when the boat was loaded with a merry crowd of dancers and others bent on having a god time. Accord ing to Jack's account the good time was continuous from the time the boat loosed its moorings in the morn ing until the return late that night. McDaniel says the Survivor no longer survives but lies buried in the sand just east of the Burlington tracks op posite the grain elevator. JAMES A. WALKER, PIONEER. One of the most widely known and best liked pioneers of Cass county is James A. Walker, who lives near Mur ray in Rock Bluff precinct. He came to Rock Bluff precinct in 1856 and has lived within its borders ever since. He moved from the vilage of Rock Bluff early in the 60's to his present home and has been engaged in farm ing until a short time ago. He has never varied in his efforts in the production of corn, hogs and cattle and is one of the solid and pros perous men jn the community. With his wife and daughter, Mar garet Ann he lives a contented life and bears the good will and respect of all his neighbors. A daughter, Elizabeth is married to a physician of Murray.