The Omaha Sunday Bee
PART III.
Gcxt Into thet Homn
THE OMAHA BEE
Best c'h. West
IIALF-TOIIE SECTION
PACES 1 T 0.
VOL. XXXVI-NO. 39.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, MAKC1I 17, 1W7.
S1NCJLK COPY F1YK CKNTS.
DENNIS LONERGAN A STURDY PIONEER NEBRASKA FARMER
Son of Tipperary Finds a Douglas County Farm a Most Inviting Haven and There Builds a Boas that Has Endured Half a Century of Rush and Bustle and Grows Brighter Every Day.
FROM the sunny hills of Tipperary, Ireland, two peasants,
man and wife, with their family, departed in the spring of
1841. They had spent many years there In the toll and un
der tho oppression that has been the heritage of the warm
hearted, sturdy sons of turbulent "Erin go Brash." Those
'storme of human passion which had drenched with blood and swept
with flame the fertile fields of the Emerald Isle had not left them
entirely unscathed. But they had maintained the reputation of
their race; they had worked and saved and, like millions of their
fellow countrymen they pushed bravely out toward the western land
of promise to plant their sons and daughters In a soil where they
might grow and flourish.
It was a family which conformed liberally to the Rooseveltlaa
doctrines, for there were thirteen children, tho youngest 5 years old.
Today father and mother and all the children save one are dead.
This one is Dennis Lonergan, a pioneer of tfniaha and Douglas
county and today an active man, living on his farm, five miles north
west of Florence. When his parents left Ireland he was 7 years old,
having been born June 9, 1834, in Cashel, county Tipperary. It
took courage to cross the ocean In those days. There were no
steamships; the vessels were made of wood; there was danger of
fire, and the time of the passage wad entirely uncertain, being very
largely dependent on the winds and weather. The good ship "Scot
land," on which the big family took passage, was tossed about by
the waves for eight weeks before It sailed Into the harbor of Ne
York, April 6, 1841, a day rendered memorable by the fact that the
city was draped in mourning for the death of former President
William Henry Harrison.
The family went Immediately to t'tlca, N. V., where they re
mained two years. They went from there by ship over the lakes to
Milwaukee, then a small but thriving city. Thence they pushed
twenty miles west through the almost primeval forest and over
roads which Mr. Lonergan says are the worst he ever saw. A piece
of land was selected and the family set to work to clear it, building
a log house with the first trees felled. It was an Immense under
taking in those days to raise enough money to buy 160 acres of
land at 81.25 an acre, but the sturdy Irish father and his sons de
termined to do it. Labor of the best kind was worth oiriy 50 cents
a day. Their only capital was their strength and their axes. The
trees were dragged into piles and burned up as fast as they became
dry enough and thus by springtime a small area was cleared, though
the stumps and stones still remained to be contended with. Mr.
lonergan remembers plowing with crude castlron plows with
wooden beam and reaping grain with the sickle.
Early Days of Hard Work
In this strenuous frontier battle with nature he grew to man
hood. When he was 18 years of age he left the paternal roof and
secured work in the lumber camps of northern Wisconsin, where he
remained four years, working for wages and frugally husbanding
every penny. For in his heart was an ambition to siezo hold of the
opportunities presenting themsVlves in this new and thriving coun
try and to make something of himself. This ambition was further
Increased and augmented 'when in 1854 he married Miss Margaret
Duffy. Horace Greeley's well known advice to young men, "Go
west," had reached him and he resigned his position in the spring
of 1856 and, first paying a visit to his parents, left, with his wife,
for Omaha.
"I had made the. acquaintance of a bricklayer who came aboard
the boat at St. Joseph," says Mr. Lonergan. "He and I left the
boat and came uptown together when we reached Omaha, and I
remember asking him where the city was. There were only a few
straggling shanties In sight and the reports back in Wisconsin said
the 'city had 1,500 people. The old capitol building on the high
Bchool hill was Just being erected, and I decided the city" must be
back of that hill. When evening came, though, and-1 saw them
gather into the City hotel, on Harney street, where I was fortunate
enough to get lodging for myself and wife, I knew the people were
there, though no large buildings were to be seen. I remember
writing back home and telling the folks they were sleeping about
three deep on the floor at the City hotel."
The young man, being a lumberman, first tried to get work at
his own trade, but horg was little to do in that line. Eventually he
secured work In "rtftn" lumber down from the village of DeSoto
to Omaha for the firm of Davis & Salsbury. Later he worked for
a time In a sawmill. There was great rivalry at that time between
Florence and Omaha. Many believed Florence was to be the city
of the future. The moving spirits there were giving a building lot
to anyone who would erect a house, and young Lonergan accepted
the proposition and cast his lot with Florence.
Flowery Days for Florence
Those were flowery days for the present Omaha suburb. The
great boom had passed somewhat. Lots had sold for $1,500, which
even today are not worth one-fifth that sum. Houses had been built
and abandoned. It was the day of the greatest Mormon activity.
Florence was the gateway from the east into the west for the hordes
of faithful followers of Brlgham Young. They arrived dally from
the east during the summer months and there they rested and pre-
pared for the long, perilous journey across the plains and mountains
to Utah. Mr. Lonergan was a witness of all this activity and he
took much part in the movement in the way of dealing with those
in authority over the faithful. He sold hundreds of cattle to the
Mormon leaders and had an intimate acquaintance with 6ome of the
elders. '
Among these was George Q. Cannon, for a time chief Mormon
agent at Florence, and an influential man in the church. Another
was Mrs. Painter, wife of a wealthy manufacturer of wagons in
Illinois. The Painter wagons were used by the Mormons to a large
extent. Painter was not a Mormon. His wife left him with the
purpose of making the trip to Utah. She got as far as Florence,
but there her courage gave out and she returned eventually to her
husband. He also knew Joseph Young, a nephew of Brlgham
Young, and was slightly acquainted with a son of the great head of
the church. He was well acquainted with "Dave" Kimball, a son
of Heber C. Kimball, one of the twelve Mormon apostles. Young
Kimball was on his way to Europe on a mission and. Mr. Lonergan
says, was a "harum-scarum sort of fellow," always up to some
"devilment." Of the Mormon emigrants, Mr. Lonergan has nothing
but good to relate.
Mormons Ordinary People
"They were an ordinary people," he says. "They were liberal
in their dealings and some of them had a great deal of money. They
were of many nationalities. A considerable number of them had
come direct from their native countries. They came from Den
mark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland. There were a great many
from England, .Scotland and Wales and a few, a very few from
Ireland. There were alto a number from South Africa and these
seemed to me to be more like the people of western America than
any of the others. I remember one man named Talbot from South
Africa. He had a very expensive outfit, worth probably in those
days and lu that country $100,000. He talked Just like we did and
we had conriderable sport over our apparent likenesses. They
were not all rich by any means. There were many poor who were
brought out at the expense of the church, but were under a contract
to pay this back when they arrived in Utah."
The authorities in Florence gave the Mormons a tryct of land
consisting of seven acres north of the preseut waterworks. There
the Mormons built their warehouse and maintained their stock yards.
They had agents all through Iowa aud Illinois and Missouri buying
up cattle to supply this station. This stock la Florence v:is drawn
upon to fit out the trains for the west. The order had gone forth
from the head of the church to "kill no calf." It was strictly
obeyed. . In the later df they began dciviag c&Ula from Utah, mak-
'U. ' .
',, ' "V ' . .
'! 1
v ' ",. . r - 1
xl' 'ri ' i
yr
DENNIS LONERGAN.
Ing one round trip to Florence in a season. It was a surprising
fact that cattle driven from Utah were In better condition than
those bought up cIobo to Florence. They had been toughened and
accustomed to travel.
The steam ferry across the Missouri river at Florence was kept
busy during the migrating season from May to September. Some
times 600 emigrants would arrive In a single day and the arrivals
of cattle and wagons were proportionately large. The people
camped In tents and made good use of some of the houses built dur
ing the boom and abandoned later.' . Thoy were fitted out and seut
on to the west as rapidly as posstble.by the agent and his assistants
in Florence.
But before the days of wagons and ox teams was the day of push
carts. The world's history may be searched in vain for an Instance
of a braver migratory movement of human beings than that of the
Mormons who started from Florence in the early push-cart days.
More than 1,000 miles of unexplored country lay before them In
fested with savages, overrun with wild beasts. There were hun
dreds of miles of sand, hundreds of miles of muddy clay, towering
mountains, cliffs, crags, canyons, precipices. Through all this these
wonderful people went almost unarmed and pushing their two
"I used to see them start out every day," says Mr. Lonergan.
"They always had some sort of service before a train would start.
There were usually from thirty to forty carts In a train and three
persons to a cart, two pulling on a rope in the front and one push
ing and guiding with the handle behind. The burden of each cart
when it left Florence was 300 pounds. I can see them now going
up the hill zlg-zagglng to make It pull easier. They would tug and
push and pull with the greatest enthusiasm, sometimes singing songs.
When they reached the summit they went along the divide for sev
eral miles toward the northwest and there were lost to view In the
immense wilderness Into which they ventured.. I never saw them
with any arms to speak of, certainly not enough to withstand an
attack from the Indians. Yet very few were molested on the way.
I believe they had emissaries among the Indians who established
friendly feeling toward them."
Polygamy wa3 not practiced among the Mormons in Florence, at
least not openly. There .was one fellow, a Mormon named Joseph
E. Johnson, who lived In Crescent City, la., a few miles from Flor
ence, and who was reputed to bo a polyg.-unlst. His home was re
ferred to as "the harem." There was also one exception to tho
rule. In Florence In tho person of Henry Keller who had two wives
and W'as afterward confined In tho Insane asylum at Lincoln. (Mr.
Lonergan notes that these two facts are not to be regarded as cause
and effect.) Keeler became so violent he had to be chained to tha
floor. He was confined in this manner when the asylum burned
and was the only Inmate who perished in that conflagration.
Two Dead-Game Toughs
Wild and wicked were some of the men in Douglas county In
the early days. But they possessed a recklessness and bravado
that made one almost admire them for tho 'nrtistic" Hnd picturesque
manner in which they carried through their wickedness. With two
of these desperadoes Mr. Lonergan was well acquainted and, though
they came to a most dishonorable end, they met it with a "nerve"
that was wonderful. The two men were Harvey Braytoif and Jack
Daly. Brayton's father was a Mormon who hnd come to Floreucs
in 184 6 and gone on to Utah. Daly was a laborer. They stole two
horses from P. Connor, who lived southeast ot the present town ot
Calhoun. They crossed tho river, but Connor pursued and captured
them after a desperate fight In Shelby county. They were brought
to Omaha, taken back to Culhoun and finally returned to Omaha
to await trial.
Connor, R. S. Bryant and some others decided to pee that the
men were punished without any delay. They went in a wagon to
Omaha and In some way secured the keys from Sheriff "Cam"
Reeves. The men were placed on the wagon shackled. The two
asked what was going to be done with them and when thoy were
told they wore about to "stretch hemp" they said thoy would prefer
that to lying In that "measly Jnll in Omaha." It Is said there was
many a Joke told and many a lie "swapped" on the weird trip to
Florence. Mr. Lonergan saw the men when they were brought In
to the village. The wagon stopped at a Baloou and Drayton asked
Connor If he didn't mean to' treat.
; "It'll be the last drink we're likely to get," ho said, laughing,
And Connor treated. A man went to the 6toro and bought forty
feet of rope and when the storekeeper asked what he was going to
use it for, calmly replied: "Oh, just goln' to hang a couple o' fel
lers." The wagon drove off into tho nlcht and the next morning
the bodies were found hanglnc from a limb near the old Vander
cook house, two miles north of Florence
.Claim Club Operations
The Claim club also furnished some excitement. The land in
Douglas county was thrown on the market in 1857 and the club
immediately claimed it all. If a man tried to pre-empt a tract ha
was called a claim Juniper and dealt with summarily. One man,
Steve Neal, was thus brpnded and the Claim club "tried" him and
sentenced him to be flogged. He was beaten into unconsciousness
and then thrown into the river to see whether he was shamming.
He was taken out before he drowned and upon regaining conscious
cess still refused to sign the papers. He never did sign them Rnd
retained possession of his land. Most of the men preferred to forego
the land rather than secure it at such a price.
Mr. Lonergan has continued to live In Douglas county since tho
early days. He believes there Is no place in the world to surpass
it. He has a beautiful farm of eighty acres, where his daughter,
Emma R. Lonergan, lives with him. He is still actively engaged In
farming, for his 73 years sit lightly upon him. He is straight and
strong. He took the temperance pledge from tho famous Father
Mathey while still a boy.
On adjoining farms, one on each side of him, live his two sons,
Charles and William, and their children gladden the house of the
pioueer. The two sons are general farmers and make a speclalty.of
breeding fine hogs. Mr. Lonergan has two other children, Mrs.
Mary L. McCarthy and Miss Margaret Lonergan, the latter a
teacher in the Omaha public schools. Mrs. Lonergan died in 1873
and Mr. Lonergan has not remarried.
He has been a member of tho Catholic church all his life. He
has never sought political office, though there were tlmc3 when he
might have had It. He has never missed an election. He consid
ers the franchise a sacred responsibility.
Living at ease in his latter days upon the broad and fertile acres
of the home he has carved out of the wilderness, Dennis Lonergan
is a fair example of what Nebraska, so long maligned as part of the
"great American desert," does for her sons. The men who had
faith in her and In her possibilities, scratched the wilderness and
found a paradise. Their labors were richly rewarded. Dennis
Lonergan in Ireland might have spent a laborious life In earning
a precarious living. In Nebraska he has three farms to show for
his efforts and has established a homo for his children and hit
children's children.
Weidensall on Work of the Y. A. C. A. in Holland
IMMEDIATELY after leaving Belgium I en
tered Holland and visited two of its noted
cities, The Hague and .Amsterdam, which
are very peculiar, remarkable and important
cities. The Hague, though smaller than some of
the Netherland cities, is none the less in its char
acter aiid quality for that. In some respects it
intensifies its real excellences. The Hague is
very beautifully located naturally, which has been
improved very much by skill and labor. It has
fine and extensive parks, boulevards and very
charming suburban places. It has large and at
tractive public and private buildings. Its resi
dence quarters are very homelike and clean and
seem like very desirable places to live. There
are two quite large Protestant cathedrals or
churches. " The chief attraction of The Haue is
its wonderful seaside resort, Schevenlngen, with
its delightful beach and surf, its splendid pier that
extends far out into the sea. The many institu
tions, hotels, restaurants, stores and places of
amusement, make It one of the most desirable re
sorts for wholesome pleasure and recreation that
can be found anywhere. Then it is so clone to
the city that no time is lost in going to and from
it, which also makes it easily accessible to the
common people. The Hague, doubtless because
of its central location and because of its many
other excellencies, has bej'n chosen by the nations
of the world as a most desirable place for the
Peace Tribunal, or the court for the settlement
of national questions In a manner that will avoid
resort to war. If this should succeed, as it cer
tainly ought to do. no place in the world would be
more notable than The Hague. The exact place
in The Hague chosen for the Peace pulace la a
very durable one, with very peaceful and charm
ing surroundings.
Amsterdam, the capital of Holland, is a re
markable place in many respects. In the lan
guage of another: "Amsterdam is ps good as
Venice, with a super added humour and grotesque
ne&i whic h gives the sightseer the mo6t singular
list and pleasure; a run through Peking one could
hardly fancy to be more odd; strange, yet famil
iar, the rush and crowd and prodigious vitality;
the immense swarm of life; these busy waters,
crowded with barges; piled ancient gables, spa
clous markets teeming with people; that ever
wonderful Jewish quarter, that dear (ld world of
painting and the past yet alive and throbbing and
palpable, actual and yet passing before you swiftly
and strangely as a dream." Amsterdam orig
inated at the beginning of the thirteenth century
by the building of a dam across the Amstel river,
and its life has been full of historical changes and
events. "The older part of the city is in the form
of a semicircle, the diameter being formed by the
Y; canals, or gratchen, of various sizes Intersect
the city in every direction and divide it into
ninety islands, which are connected by means of
300 bridges." All the buildings are constructed
on foundations of piles. The whole city is lower
than sea level and is protected from the sea by
extensive and well built dykes and great pumping
stations. The cost of the works for the protection
of the city is estimated at several thousand florins
per day. Amsterdam has a population of 500,000
Inhabitants, 80,000 Roman Catholics and 3,500
Portuguese Jews. The city has many great
buildings the Royal Pulace, churches, museums,
picture galleries, etc., and no end of splendid pri
vate buildings. The churches are mostly Dutch
Reformed, but some very large Lutheran churches.
The Rijks museum has a mammoth building and
contains a special hall dedicated to Rembrandt,
in which some of his best pictures (originals) are
kept. Amsterdam has canals for streets like
Venice, and canals and streets running side by
side like Stockholm. It Includes many of tho ex
cellencies of both Venice and Stockholm; while
it is net as large a shipping point as Antwerp. It.
is one of the chief commercial centers of Europe
and has a very large trade, chiefly In the products
of the Dutch colonies tobacco, Java coffee, sugar,
rice, spices, etc.
Holland Is a small country, but important in
many respects. It occupies a very strategic out
post of Europe and maintains peaceful relations
with the neighboring nations. It has an exten
sive colonial system, but conducts it so quietly
and unostentatiously that tho world at larce is
scarcely aware of it. It is none the less effective,
however, on that account. The Dutch are natur
ally a sturdy people, honest and reliable. When
I was a small boy there was a statement in my
little geography, "The Dutch are great smokers."
They have more than maintained their early rep
utation, for I believe, from what I saw and ex
perienced, that they are now greater smokers and
more of them.
Soon after leaving Belgium I reached The
Hague, Holland, Thursday, November 8, and put
up at the tourist hotel near the station, a good
place. I immediately called at the rooms of the
association, Prlnsegracht No. 4, a very central
part of the city. I met tho general secretary, Mr.
F. W. Laarman, a fine man, and soon became ac
quainted with him. He made an appointment
for me by telephone to meet Baron A. S. Mackav.
former president of the association. Secretary
Laarmau accompanied me to the house of Baron
Mackay, where I was heartily welcomed. Tho
baron is comparatively a young man yet. I pre
sented him and his wife-wlth some of the letters
T had from various nations and told them some
facts about my trip around the world. Afterward
I spoke ot the association work in general, then
of The Hugue and Holland work. Tho baron Is
a strong association man and believes in it. He
has an intelligent and practical knowledge of as
sociation work. The whole presentation of ,the
work seemed to be much appreciated by the baron
andhis wife. I enjoyed the entire evening's visit
at their home. They are experts in tho v.ay of
entertainment. It Is done bo royally and yet so
quietly that you are unconscious that you are being
entertained. This is an art.
The next day, Friday, November 9, I called at
the association rooms. Had ft sood interview
with General Secretary Laarman. I took dinner
with Baron Mack ay at his club, after which I vis
ited with him Beveral noted places, chiefly the
great seaside resort of The Hague, Schevenlngen.
He took me all about tho resort and far out on
the great pier. On our return to his oflko he
pointed out the place where the Peaco palace it
to be built. All the while I had a splendid op
portunity to speak of the association work in The
Hague, Holland, and in tho world. I had other
meetings with the general secretary and a short
evening visit of Baron Mackay at my hotel. I
was well satisfied with my trip to The Hague and
would like to have had more of it that I might
have helped them more. The Hague association
is in a position to do a larger work than is being
' done I feel sure it will do so soon.
Early Saturday morning, November 10, I went
to Amsterdam and, by request, reported at tho
house of Baron W. C. Quarles Van I'fford, a mem
ber of the world's committee Baron Van Ufford
is married to a cousin of Mr. R. Sarasin. chair
man of the world's committee Young Men's
Christian association. I was warmly welcomed;
I soon realized that I was In the house of friends.
After a very pleasant visit with tho baron and
his fhmily I wenttto the Excelsior branch of the
Amsterdam association and attended the anni
versary meeting of 1U literary society. There
was a full attendance of live younu men deeply
interested in their special Literary society and ulso
in the association. After thes business s'-sslon I
attended, by request, and partook of a splendid
banquet. Lively toasts were made and lespouded
to. I was ai.ked t; address the members of the
Literary society, which I was delighted to do,
speaking well of the literary society i.nd of the
association. Th1 whole soc iety m inif este l t lit ir
appreciation of my visit aud addre ss In a manner
I shall not soon forget.
The next day, Sunday, November 11, I ut
tended the Ent-iish Presbyterian church In the
morning; heard a very eood sermon. It was a
quaint service in a quaint church buildiu. Men
Continued on Page Five.)
