The Conservative *
AS THE YEARS GO BY.
Wo miss n lovely innidon
Whoso memory HO dear , so sweet ,
Yofc lingers like a vision
Of blossom time , RO fair , so flcofc.
Ah , wo remember with ft High
To miss her as the years go by.
So young , HO bright and joyous ,
So glad and true her spirit's mirth ,
Her life was like a Hunbeam'H
That , Hitting , glimmers on the earth ,
A life that brightened but to die.
Wo miss its light as years goby.
A strain of tender music
Seemed blending with her winning ways ;
Her voice rang out in carols ,
Sweet melody ran through her days ;
She echoed bird notes floating high.
Wo miss the songs as years go by.
So swiftly passed her morning ,
The golden morning time of life ,
Which led her to the threshold ,
Perchance , of sorrow or of strife.
And then she went beyond the sky ,
Where morning time Hhall no'cr pass by.
Thank God , she has not lingered
In weary ways that lie below I
Thank God , her sweet existence
Had littln touch of human woo !
And yet our hearts must ever sigh
And miss her as the years go by.
If a moment from the angels
God should lend her by His grace
And she stood once more beside us ,
A smile , we think , would light her face
Iii answer to our loving cry ,
"Wo miss theo as the years go by. "
MAUY MORTON.
An interesting
A KELIC.
monument of the
very earliest administration of justice
in Nebraska has fallen into THE CON
SERVATIVE'S hands ; no less than a
record of court business kept by a lo
cal magistrate forty-three years ago , erin
in the year following that in which the
territories of Kansas and Nebraska were
organized. It is , as an inscription on
the fly-leaf recites , the "Docket of Mills
S. Reeves , a Justice of the Peace of
Otoe County , Nebraska. Elected No
vember Cth , A. D. 1855. " This the
squire wrote himself in his new book ,
in a hand that is a pattern of neatness ,
first drawing pencil-lines across the
page to go by. On another page ap
pears in the same elaborate script ,
' 'United States of America. Nebraska
Territory. Otoe County. " The book
*
isa slim volume with marbled sides ,
such as sells for about fifteen cents ; it
contained 108 pages , which were supple
mented , as the needs of the court re
quired further room , with a quire of
foolscap , carefully sewed in at the lat
ter end.
The record covers the period from
December ? , 1855 , to October 11 , 1850.
On the last day of
Marriage * .
January it became
Justice Reeves' privilege to unite in
marriage Mr. William J. Spry and Miss
Elizabeth Roberts , "a of Otoe County ; "
and ho started a record of such trans
actions on the inside of the back cover
of his book. During the time it was in
use he performed six marriages , two of
the other couples being residents of
Kearney City , two of Camp Creek , Otoe
County , and one coming across the river
from Fremont County , Iowa , to obtain
the benefit of his experience and skill.
Besides this there is a page devoted to
complicated calculations , which display
a profound knowledge of the arts of
multiplication and long division. Large
sums are dealt with , and as that was
before gold was discovered at Pike's
Peak it seems likely that the squire was
figuring profits on Kearney City lots ;
most of his results are divided by 27 , as
if there had been that number of stock
holders. And ornamental designs on
another page show where the baby got
at the docket one day with a lead-
pencil.
For the most part , Justice Reeves'
docket deals with the simple incidents
_ . . of commerce in a
JJUHlllOHH. ,
peaceful commun
ity. The transactions of his court con
sist mainly of actions for debt , on prom
issory notes drawn usually at one day
after date , for small amounts , but bear
ing interest at from ten to twenty per
cent ; of actions of assumpsit , for sheet
ing at three cents a foot , lumber at
thirty dollars a thousand or shingles at
$3.25 ; or of replevining oak and walnut
roils and similar merchandise. The
record opens with a petition wherein
Warren Atkins sets forth "that George
Glino wrongfully detained a certain
wagon from his possession. " A writ was
granted and delivered to Constable N.
T. Hallock for service , and the case set
for hearing in one week. On the day
"the Plaintiff appeared but the Defend
ant came not , " as is recorded in the
squire's beautiful handwriting. Further
on one learns with pleasure that the
custody of the wagon was awarded to
Plaintiff and the costs ( amounting to
$2.20) ) assessed against Defendant ; but
Atkins appears to have paid them , as if
he was glad to get off so easily.
Possibly the defendant Glines was
impressed by this exhibition of the
A Litigant. power of the law ,
for four weeks
later he in turn complains that Robert
Kennedy unlawfully detains two hogs
from his possession. This case was
warmly contested ; no fewer than nine
witnesses were summoned , and the ac
tive constable was enabled to pile up
fees amounting to $2.98. The hogs ap
pear to have been lost sight of in the con
fusion , but the costs were uuequivoo-
ably laid upon the Defendant. As they
came to $10.48 this was a serious mat
ter for him ; but perhaps still more so
for the constable and justice , for after
trying to collect it for a month the exe
cution was returned endorsed "No pro
perty found. "
Immediately thereupon Tootle & Arm
strong brought suit against Glines for
payment of a note of $20.65 , with 10 per
cent interest. "Notice was served by
leaving a copy at his residence with
Indiana Gline , she being a free white
person over the age of fourteen years. "
And after this troubles gathered thick
and fast over the unhappy Gliue , who
appears as Defendant in no less than
ten cases in the book ; and by October
he had fallen so low as to be fined two
dollars for assault and battery on the
person of Robert Fox.
Among other names that occur fre
quently in Justice Reeves' record is that
of one Charles B.
Others. _ , , ,
Fooks , who begins
by suing Mauldiug & Woods for fifteen
dollars , "for ten days work in the store
at posting books , " and subsequently
sues many other persons on many
grounds. There is also one Joel Helvy ,
who appears all too often as Defendant
in various cases of debt. The Boul-
wares , McMechaus and Nuckollses are
there , of course , usually endeavoring to
collect money from insolent debtors ;
the attorneys who appear most fre
quently are H. H. Harding and Wm.
M'Lennan , who was prosecuting attor
ney , and who will no doubt recall many
of the incidents of the period. The
only physician in evidence is Dr. Mat
thew Kelly Kay , who comes in two or
three times with notes which he desires
to have collected.
History relates , however , that the
Kearney City of 1855 was not altogether
the abode of peace ,
Ofluuscs. , . . . . . ,
and as a faithful
record Justice Reeves' docket reveals
the existence of some evil-disposed char
acters within his jurisdiction. In the
dead of winter , for instance , Stephen F.
Nuckolls charges James Crawford with
breaking his smoke house with in
tent to steal. "After hearing the evi
dence , " says the squire , and "duly in
specting all things touching the com
plaint , it appears to me that the crime of
burglary or house-breaking has been
committed ; " and the "culprit was held
to answer for the same. " Our magis
trate is as scrupulously careful in his
language as in his chirography ; but
there is room to suspect that in a larger
sphere he would have been what is
called a hanging judge , for of all the
miscreants brought before him he never
acquits one. There is Ambrose Beers ,
charged with stealing a pistol of the
value of twenty dollars ; there is one
Hazlerigg , accused of "finding Bank
Bills and appropriating them to his own
use ; " the same disturber up a short
time later for "an Affray ; " all , all
guilty. Some culprits would take the
short course and plead guilty at once ;
as Peter do Vallier , charged with as
sault and battery on Prosecuting Attor
ney M'Lonnan himself , and fined four
dollars therefor ; and Alpheus M.Barnes ,
who owned up to keeping a "dram
shop" and paid ton dollars for his trans
gression.
Others would demand a jury , and in
some coses escape thus the rigor of the
squire's justice. Lafayette Cowles ,
