TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: DECEMBER 19, 1909.
Story of Prosperity of a Sturdy Welsh Colony in Richardson County
D
O colony in southeastern N e-
N nruii ever piayea a mom i"
I portent prt r the develop
I mefit nf thn rtmm niin(rV than
the Welsh who came to Rich
ardson county, Nobrsika, from
l'omeroy, O., In the first thri or four
years following the civil war, settling In
a community known aa Prairie Union,
northnat of whera la now located Stella,
and about ten miles went of the Missouri
river. Preceding the Ohio Welsh there
rame here from Wisconsin three Welsh
families, David Thomaa and Thomas Hig
Klns, who-came together In IK, and Imnlel
Davis -who came In 13. The "Wisconsin
Welsh, mali the entire Journey by ox team.
They sit onon began to prosper and were
most enthusiastic over the new country.
Reports by Mr. IIlKsins or Mr. Davis were
Mlit ti n Welch paper Drych printed In
New Yiuk, and It was the reading of these
report a by tin; miners at l'omeroy thnt led
to the coming here of the Ohio WelHh. A
fulony of thirteen families nettled within a
radius of five mile In tlie territory east of
Prairie 1'nion. a number of other at
Salem and some at lirownvllle.
When Daniel Diivl started from Wiscon
sin JIT. represented his entire amount of
cash; ho had prcfUlons for the Journey, a
yoke of oxen and a pair of cows. . ITe died
Uio ir.nrnlng uf July 4. WO. and left an
estate worth $75,000. For forty-six years
Mr. Davis lived continuously on the same
farm. Of rll the early Welsh settlers he
had the reputation of belnvr the most liberal
giver, giving help wherever needed.
There was a bit? colony rt l'omeroy nf
Weltili who had come over, from the old
country 'to work In the coal mines. As
they h.til hern here but a comparatively
Hhoit time tliey did not enlist In the civil
wir. as did their American neighbors, so
many of whom were away from home that
tlie miners were paid higher wages than
usual. Inning any time of Idleness they
rtUoitssed opportunities for Investment In
land and the bet place to i;o. Alex Mc-
lochlo, a 'Scotchman, and some of his
Welsh ft lends from returning soldiers
heard wonderful stories of the country
about Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain
In Tennessee and made a Journey of In
vestigation, hut decided that section was
better adapted to mining.
Rev. John T. James was an important
personage In bringing the settlers to Ne
braska from Pomeroy. He and Caleb
Reese came to Investigate In September,
1SCS, and contracted to buy 600 acres of
land at Xi an acre. Reese and his family
moved to Nebraska that same fall, taking
up their residence at the old river town of
Asplnwall. where soon after he waa shot
and killed at dusk one evening by a couple
of drunken soldiers on the way to Fort
Leavenworth. They stated they had mis
taken him for a wolf. Mrs. Reeae gave up
her contract for the large tract, but bought
and resided on a quarter section In the
Welsh settlement. She died not long ago
in Quthrlo. Okl.
The wife of Rev. James waa largely re
sponsible for his western movement, aa she
had lived on a farm In the old country.
She died in December, after his purchase
here, but following her wishes to bring
the sons up on the farm, he moved here
the next summer.
Within the very next few years there
came from Pomeroy the following twelve
families, making thirteen in the settle
ment from the same place: David N.
Jones, Alex McGechle, John M, Lewis,
Richard Morris, Jonah Jones, Edmund Wil
liams, David N. Jones, David R. Jones,
Samuel Brlmble, James Evans, Robert
Roberta, David Phelpe and John Owens.
All were Welsh except Mr. McGechle. The
trip was made by water, aa Pomeroy was
on the Ohio, and Asplnwall waa made the
landing polat. At the time Mr. McGechle
and others came, six weeka were spent on
the boat Two weeks of this time the boat
was laid up on a sandbar, and three times
on the Journey the cargo waa unloaded.
Of the fourteen men named there are but
one survivor today, Alexander McGechle
of Broken Arrow. Okl, who waa S3 years
old last April, and is still strong and well
and keen of mind. Mrs. John M. Lewis of
Shubert, who waa 78 years old In August.
Is the, only surviving wife who moved here
with the homeseekers. David N. Jones,
the last surviving head of a Welsh family
among the settlers, died this week of
dropsy at his home seven miles northeast
of Stella. He was born in Wales In 1832,
Andrew Johnson the Poorest
HIS country has had five accl-
rW I dental presidents John Tyler of
I I Virginia, who succeeded to the
. . , u.m in j i , , coi
dent William Henry Harrison;
Millard Fillmore, who owed Ms
elevation to the death of President Zach
ary Taylor; Andrew Johnson, who suc
ceeded Lincoln; Chester A. Arthur, the
uocessor of President Garfield, and Theo
dore Roosevelt, who wm President Mc
Klnley's successor.
To Andrew Johnson belongs the distinc
tion of having been the poorest of the
presidents. Other presidents have been
poor men, but he was unlike all others in
that he went to the White House almost
as poor as when he entered the legisla
ture of Tennessee, while yet a jailor.
The earlier presidents were men of
means, excepting the second and sixth,
who were John Adams and bis son John
Qulncy Adams, and who may be dt scribed
as comfortably off. Tyler was a poor man
with a Urge family, but bla degree of pov
erty waa so far removed from Johnson's
thnt It appeared to be wealth by eompari
nm. Tylor had a Virginia plantation and
sluves to plant and harvest crops. John
son owiu.t his little tailor shop and his
home at (.Iretnvillo, Tenn., and the latter
was scarcely more than a ruin. It had
been uaeri as a hospital by the confederates
and was .spared from complete destruction
o.tly because It served the purposs.
Coiue Ip (rout People.
Many publlo men in this country have
risen from humble surroundings, Jack
son and Lincoln among ths presidents
being notabU examples; but no man of
national repute has sounded to the same
degree the depths of poverty aud obscurity
that encompassed the early life of Andrew
Johnson, yet no man baa left a record
of greater Integrity. Ha waa the personi
fication of honest Industry, and aa boy and
man be had a passionate hatred of debt.
His enemies, and he had his full share,
paid tribute to his honesty, and his bitter
est foes, such as Isham Q. Harris and-'
Parson Brownlow of Tennessee, admitted
that he had an Invincible shield In his
probity.
His attitude of dignified, cheerful ao
veptanoe of his fata from his boyhood
made him strong friends. He never alluded
to his poverty and never shirked the con
wcuencei of being poor. When he waa
a lad In Raleigh, N. C, his birthplace, be
worked at auy task assigned to him, and
he uncomplainingly accepted his fate when
hla mother had him bound out as an ap
prentice to tailor. The following Is
k : d. V '
r '
REV. J. P. JAMES.
From a photo taken when he was about 60, the only vone now existing.
came to America In K,7, and had lived
continuously on the same farm since the
spring of lWf. His first marriage took
place In Pomeroy, O., In and the wife
died here In 1M7 and was burled In Prairie
Union cemetery, where more than forty
two years later, this week ber husband
waa laid to rest beside her. He was mar
ried the second time in 1SC9 to Dorothy
Bebbe of the Wisconsin Welsh. Of the pall
abearers four were sons of the early
Welsh settlers, who were his associates:
Daniel Hlggins, David Lewis. W. W. James
and Morgan Williams; also Evan W. Evans
and Thomaa Edwards, two young Welsh
men, who camo Into the community in an
early day and became his friends. The
death of his first wife waa the first in the
Ohio colony after Reese's. While Reese's
death Was tragic in the Ohio colony, among
the Wisconsin Welsh there were also two
traglo deaths. David Thomas had a friend
here from Wisconsin and he was drowned
while attempting to cross the Nemaha in
a flat boat at Bennett's mill. He Is burled
at Prairie Union. Later Joseph Jones waa
drowned in a well at Liberty while drawing
water.
Of the heads of the above families, Mr. Mc
Gechle is the only one who ever went from
here to live 'elsewhere. It Is rather a sin
gular coincidence that as he and Mrs.
Lewis ore the only surviving heads of
families that his only surviving son should
be married to a daughter of Mrs. Lewis,
and for the last four or five years he has
resided with this couple on a farm near
Broken Arrow in tho old Indian territory,
whore he has large land holdings.
These pioneers prospered and their fam
ilies were an honor to the community.
Most of them, perhaps all, were of a de
vout religious nature; anyway, two Welsh
ohurohes were founded in the community.
Prairie Union and Penneil, the latter dur
ing Its existence being about two miles
northeast of the former. The home-
copy of the document which Indentured
him;
State of North Carolina,
Wake County.
At a Court of 1'ieoae & Quarter Sessions
begun and held for the County of Wake
at ihe Court house In Rulelgh, on the third
Monday of February, A. D., 1S2J, being the
8 year of American Independence, the
Uth day of February.
. Present
The Worshipful
CHARLES L. IHNTON.
NATHANIEL O. RAND,
MEHRIT'P DILLAKO.
It is "Ordered that Andrew Johnson, an
orphan boy, the son of Jacob Johnson
dee'd. 14 years of age, be bound to James
I. Selhy until he arrive to lawful age, to
learn the trade of a Tailor."
Was Not Asi Orphaa.
Why he should have been referred to as
an orphan Is Inexplicable, because his
mother and his stepfather were both
living in Raleigh at the time. The popu
lar Idea that Johnson was the only sun
of a widowed mother is incorrect. He
was ber youngest son and she was not a
widow dependent upon him until after
the death of her second husband, which
occurred near Greenville after Johnson had
been elected to the legislature. (
In the autumn of IS JO, Johnson and his
mother and stepfather went from Raleigh
to Greenville. They trawled In a cart
In which was carried all their household
goods and they camped the first nlht
in a lot which Is now a part of his old
home. As if led by some unseen hand
Johnson selected the' spot and then ex
plored the village. It pleased him, and
Its nearness to the college made him de
sire to remain.
His mother was of Irish parentage. Her
first husband. Jacob Johnson, was the jan
itor of the court house In Raleigh at the
time Andrew Johnson was born. He died
when the boy was very young and Andrew
Johnson never knew a father's care or had
a real home.
Ha was not yet AJB when he arrived In
Greenville. The family had started to go
to west Tennessee, where his oldest brother
was living, but the young man saw in
Greenville the place of opportunity for hint
and he refused to go further. In Green
ville In May, 1SJ7, he waa married.
Hur 1st Ills Meetla.
Johnson's bride, Eliza McCardle, was the
daughter of a widow, who sewed for a liv
ing, bite lived on the pike leading from
J ones bo ro through Greenville, and the day
that Johnson paased the house on his en
trance into the village her daughter stood
at a window of her home aud, seeing John
son, said to her mother: "There goes my
weetheart; that's the nioa I'm going t
seekers were peaceable, quiet loving men.
They stuck together like a band of broth
ers, helping one another until new ma
chinery made the necossity less. Alex Mc
Gechle, to the southeast of the settlement,'
and Sam Brlmble. to the northeast, have
walked many and many a time through
the tall, wet grass In the morning to do a
day's binding of grain, and the same may
be said of the other settlers.
These early pioneers kept attracting
other Welsh people from Ohio, and It is
less than five years ago the last, A. E.
Evans, now postmaster at Shubert, moved
west to be near a son, John M. Evans,
cashier of the Farmers' State bank of Shu
bert. Another son,' at Auburn, W. h.
Evans, is county superintendent of public
Instruction of Nemaha county. A big
colony also came from Pomeroy and neigh
boring towns to Ealem In an early day,
among whom Is Miles Jones, at one time
superintendent of public Instruction In this
county. Another Is Al Nace, a venerable
river man at Brownvllle.
Thomaa Hlggins was a devout and pious
man. It was .his dream that there should
be a Welsh settlement In the community,
and a Welsh church be founded. The Com
ing of the Ohloans made his dream come
true. At first Sunday school was held In
his residence, and so soon as Higglns'
school house was built It was the place of
holding Sunday school and preaching serv
ices; and next was Prairie Union church,
built in the early '70 s. Of the list of mem
bers appearing on the orglnal church book,
Mrs. Elizabeth Hlggins of Stella, a daugh
ter of Kev. James, Is the only one who le
mains. Prairie Union was organized as a
Welsh Baptist church, but as the younger
people grew up it became Eng.ish, and,
although a county church, Is today one of
the strong Baptist churches of the state.
Prairie Union In itself is quite a little
settlement. Four years ago the old church
waa struck by lightning and burned and a
marry." Mrs. Patterson, the eldest child
of the marriage and the Idol of her father
throughout his life, Is the authority for this
account of the meeting of ber parents and
also for the facts given In connection with
her father's life In Greenville.
From lhZl to 1830 Johnson worked and
studied, living in a log house of two rooms,
one of which was his shop. At first his
young wife helped him, doing the lighter
work, such as sewing on collars and ths
like, but It was not long before the young
tailor could hire help. He had all the best
custom of the place and when he aban
doned the business he had seven men In his
employ.
He was twice elected alderman and then
was sent to the legislature. While away
his shop waa run by his foreman, over
looked by Mrs. Johnson. When he was
elected to congress he sold Ills trade, but
not his shop, and no one ever occupied It
after he left It.
He taught his young daughter to sew,
and when she had learned to do good sew
ing he let her sew on the sleeves of coats.
For this he paid her, carefully measuring
her work and estimating its worth. She
waa put at school at the ags of years
and knew how to read before that age.
Her father had taught her, and as soon
HE use of mistletoe at Christ
mas time is one of the
links connecting the Chris
tian festival to oie tbat was
celebrated by our pagan ances
T
TV't
tors. The earliest religion that
can be attributed to the Aryans waa simple
nature worship, with the sun as chief
deity. Among the Greeks and Romans, this
worship has in hlstorio times evolved Into
the pantheon of Jupiter and Ms fellow di
vinities, but traces of the original system
can bo distinguished.
In Gaul and adjacent lands Inhabited by
the Celts, the old religion retained Its
pristine characteristics, and under the
name of Druldlsm received the study of
Tacitus, Pliny, and other classical writers.
Knough has been recorded by them to en
able us, with the aid of tl.e austuma of
the modern European peasantry, to recon
struct the ancient system.
The two principal festivals of the Druids
were In Jane and December. The first oc
Mistletoe an Ancestral Link of Our Festival
f..- - - i .. . ' .. .. . A I ... .
J '.--Ih-. - I-. --I vrriY Ldnl , n ; i -j i; r "
f ' ' ( ' -.-' iew( v ' d '
ORIGINAL, PRAIRIE
year lalar a modern church was dedicated
In Its place. The church hus stalnod glass
windows, Is furnace heated and has Its
own lighting plant. Several of the farmers
who are members attend church In auto
mobiles and touring cars. There Is a nice
parsonage with an acre or two of land, a
school and a cemetery, all within a short
distance of the church; also the sexton's
house. The cemetery Is beautifully located
and splendidly kept. The parsonage is al
ways occupied by a minister. The commu
nity Is bright Intellectually and the young
people have always had the privilege of
the best schools In the country. At the
present time Bert Evans Is professor of
electricity In the Colorado university at
Boulder. A number of these pioneers, Hr
their sons, helped to build a farmers' ele
vator at McCandless Siding so aa to have
a point nearer Shubert or Nemaha to mar
ket their grain.
Rev. James was Instrumental In organis
ing the Welsh Baptist church of Penneil,
the organization being later than Prairie
Union. But with the passing of the activ
ity of the elder Welsh this church became
no more. Rev. James was a minister in
Ohio, and also in the old country, yet be
worked in the coal mines. A son, W. W.
James, now mayor of Shubert. ' gave one
acre of his farm for the location of Pen
neil church and cemetery. The church is
no longer standing, but the cemetery is
maintained, and when Rev. James died
three years ago there he was laid to rest.
W. H. McGECHIE,
Prominent among the sons of the Welsh
Bettlers and now a resident of Tulsa, Okl.
d:--J ... Jv
of Presidents Yet Not a Taker of Gifts
as she was started at school he studied
with her.
Worked With Ills Daughter.
In after years she said of those days:
"My father would sew all day until about
dark, and then he would go out to meet
me as I came home from school. We
would walk togethor slowly to the house.
At that time our home was separate from
the shop. His invariable greeting was,
'Well, daughter, what have you learned to
day?' and I would tell him, and then re
peat all that I could of the different les
sons. v
"After supper we would read over the
lessons for the next day, and thus be
studied my lessons, and learned themy
sometimes better than I did. If I knew
my lessons better tlian the other girls
sometimes I would be taunted with the
remark, 'Oh, your father helps you. "
All the way along his Journey from
obscurity to the White House, Johnson
lived In an unpretentious and economical
manner, studying every day and trying
always to get knowledge from every one
he met. The course he pursued of avoid
In debt and cultivating a contented mind
eiiabled him to live a comparatively enrn
free life. When called to fill the highest
curred some days after the lonre.st day of
the year, when It could lie noticed that the
sun hod ceusvd Its upward o'.ltnb In the
heavens; the second followed the shortest
day. when the people saw that the dhlne
luminary had once more started its march
to the zenith to bring bock the kprliig. The
first festival was a period of fear, tlie
second of rejoicing. And they have both
survived; one in St. John's day (midsum
mer), the other in Christmas.
In both these festivals a principal rite
was the cutting of the !n!st!toe. Among
tlie Aryans, ths oak was always an object
of warship, either because they came
originally from a locality whore the oak
was the principal tree, or because, as
records, prove, the oak was at one time
far more plentiful In Europe than it is to
day. Now among these primitive Aryans the
only way to obtain fire was by rubbing two
sticks together As this practice wus
started whera only oak trees grew, It cama
to be thought than only such wood was
ultabte for the act. Even to this day In
UNION BAPTIST CHURCH.
It wus to the home of Thonius lliggins
most of the pioneers went when flrBt com
ing here. It is related of him that as be
prayed in public he would often start in
English, but as his zeal Increased he would
revert to his native tongue. In public, such
as at farm sales, the Welsh made It a
habit to converse with each other in Eng
lish. Upon being asked the reason the :e
ply was given that "No gentleman In com
pany speaks In a language that others can
not understand."
These pioneers grew up as miners and
none knew anything about farming as car
ried on In this country at that time. Many
had never hitched a horse or knew how to
turn a furrow. Consequently they learned
by experience, and many are most
amusing.
Of tho sons who came here with their
fathers, H; E. Williams, a merchant at
SI urbert. and W. W. James, are the old
est. Mr. James recalls a time when he
crawled quite a distance through the
grass, thinking to find a wolf, only to learn
the noise he was following was made by
a prairie chicken. He was nineteen when
h9 came here. A few days ago In talk
ing over their boyhood days, It was men
tioned once when at Shook's mill at Hills
dale. Mr. Williams did not know how
to back his team so as to get the wagon
in the desired position.
The first public school vas in the
kitchen of John Henderson, who came
from Wisconsin In 18S9. One of his sous.
Jack Henderson, resides in .Stella, and
a daughter, Mrs. Juste King at Shubert.
Charles Peabody, a young man from
the east was the teacher, and he was
paid perhaps $30 a month. The school house
at Prairie Ulnon Is known as . Pioneer.
The original school house is now used
for a feed store in Shubert.
In the early days every one walked to
church on Sundays. The pioneers believed
after their horses had worked six days,
they should then be given a day of rest.
The roads at first were Bcarco- more than
a trail or path; often the grass was tall
and wet or the path filled with dust, yet
Mrs. Elizabeth Hlggins recalls that It was
the early autumn of the young ladles to
go barefoot a part of the way, carrying
shoes and stockings so as to protect them
from dust or dew. Once she had a silk
Jacket of which she was very proud, but
It was ruinod one day on the way to
church by a big grasshopper alighting o
her back and eating a large round hoi
through the silk. She also recalls her
first Fourth or July here. The day was
spent at a big celebration at Hillsdaye
on the Missouri river. There was a barbe
cue, beef being roasted over the fire and
distributed free among the merrymakers,
and she laughingly tells of the young
office in the land he entered upon Its dutlea
poor but not oppressed with any sense of
poverty.
His family remained in Tennessee for a
long time after he and his oldest daughter
took possession of the president's house,
and. when they were finally established
there Mrs. Patterson had It under the same
careful control that had characterized the
governor's house at Nashville, She best
knew the sllmness of his purse, end she
had all the ambitions for him that he hud
felt for himself.
' Life In the White ltoase.
It wa3 with no lHtle anxiety that they
considered the management'of the salary
of the presidential office and the demands
of a public nature that would be upon It.
The one simple rule of his life he Insisted
should be carried out there, and a man
never had a more loyal and faithful
colaborer than this daughter.
Johnson had not the money-making spirit.
He was too ambitious to let a love of
"money dominate him, and he treasured his
personal Independence as above all wealth.
As president much was required of him
and ho was eager to meet all the require
ments of his position. His family knew his
wishes, and plain and unassuming though
they were, they . sustained the dignity uf
tlie various nooks and corners of Europe,
where annual fires are lighted, su'ii aa on
Hallowe'en, the ilre Is Ubually brought out
by rubbing oak wood. Our primitive an
cestors, therefore, conceived the fire us
being Inherent In the oak) UUe a miraculous
kind of sap. and consequently, they found a
mystical roninn tlon between ouk and pun,
the divine fire.
Therefore, when tl,ey noted this strange
plant growing out of tho oak, belonging
nejthw to earth nor sky and derived its
Sustenance from no visible source, they
concluded' that here was the eosence of
the oak. Hence, it was regarded as sacred
and gifted with strango powers. When
cut, it was not allowM to touch tlin dese
crating earth, but white cloths were spread
beneath It- ,
Cutting of the mistletoe w.n aUo piob
ably the signs! for festivllii that cul
minated In en unlicensed sstui iiqllu. as Is
suggested by a custom that formerly pre
vailed In New York on C'hrlstmts Kve,
when the high alter was ladtu with mistle
toe. New York Post.
FRAIR1K I NIUN CHURCH, STELLA, NEB
beuus walking about with a big chunk of
roast beef in their hand, taking a bite every
now and than. Mrs. Hlggins was sixteen,
when she came here and with her chum,
Miss Maggie Jones, now Mrs. William
Wilkingson of Lincoln, were the oldest
girls In the settlement, and accordingly
were very popular, In fact, they were the
belles In a large territory. Mrs. Higglns, un
til her marriage three years later, waa her
father's housekeeper. Corn bread and sorg
hum werd staple table, food. Once she
needed soda, and had to go about, a mile
to borrow at tho home of David R. Jones.
On the way, she saw two Indians com
ing on ponies. She was badly frightened
and tried to hide in the tall grass. They
saw her, but only grunted as they passed.
Strapped to the saddle of each was half
a hog with the hair still on. They hud
Just raided some farm, and were mak
ing way with their stolen property. Sing
ing school at the Hlggins' school house
was a great diversion of thty pioneer
young pedple, and many of the families
Intermarried, the courship being helped
along by going to singing school.
There was a big grove, known as Harg
ler's, on the farm of Rev. James. The
Indians had oeen in the habit of holding
councils and camping in this grove, and
ill l
Mrs. John M. Lewis of Shubert, her daughter, Mrs. W. O. McGechle; W. G. McGechle,
Jr., and William Ollon McGechle.
FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE SETTLERS.
their positions, while his eldest daughter
became a popular hostess.
The White House In the time of Presi
dent Johnson's administration was a simply
furnished and unpretentious place as com
pared with its present condition. All its
appointments were plain, while its equip
ages consisted of a plain old coach and a
general utility carryall. The president's
family rode about Washington in a car
riage that had done duty there since
Buchanan's day, and it was driven by a
colored coachman, whose only sign of
livery was a high hat. Spartan simplicity
characterized the stables, tho kitchens
and the drawing rooms. It never entered
the thoughts of any one to wish that a
new cttrrlage was needed.
Declines a Present.
In the early days of his administration,
before the shadow of the Impeachment
trial had fallen upon the president and
while yet he nad the good will of both
political parties, some of his admirers In
New York conceived the Idea of making
him a present. It was finally decided that
a suitable carriage was most nteded at
the White. House, and it was ordered to
be made. A pair of horses was purchased
to accompany tlie cariiugo to Washington,
To notify Johnson of the gift a large
pit co uf parchment was selected and a
suitable envelope was uiadu to hold it.
The letter, which Is now published for the
first time, was engrossed on the parchment
and the names of the donors appear on It
in tl.ree rows. Tho list, as will be seen,
represents many of the leading bankers
and merchants of that day. Tho letter was
sent to Washington by a personal friend of
President Johnson, a Tennessee union man,
w ho, knowing him well, went with many
misgiving an to the reception of the
gift. The biter is us follows:
The und'-rsigned citizens of New York
take great pleasure in knding to Washing
ton, by tiie Camden, and Amboy It. It.
cars, a coach, Sn ot horses, harness,
blvnkcts, et cnteia., respectfully asking
Aidrew Johnson, President of the I'niteH
States, to accept the same an a token of
their high appreciation of his fidelity to
the country as a statesman, well approved
by word and deed to all the various offices
to which h has been called.
Jioyu Urol hers. II. Armstrong &
ftieips, HodKe t uo. won.
J. S. Mchultz.
Heaver Calhoun
ro.
Horace B. Clufllii.
Hoyl lliolhers.
Hull, Houthwltk L
Co.
John K, Iawrence
& Co.
Wlcksml'h Co.
8. n. Chittenden.
Henry A. Smyth
Latin op, Xiudlii
glon
4t Co.
Daniel H. Rons.
Daniel Drew.
Sprague C. lljlbein. Homy Clews Co.
W Inslow Lanier & V lit. W. De Forest
Co.
St Co.
ChttS. A. Meigs
Son.
Eugene Kelly.
A. A. Low.
Arthur Leary,
tt E. A. Qulntard.
Wilson O. Hunt,
t'nas. H. Marshall.
Chan. H. Bosdlok.
Arnold Constable Co,
It is said took precautions to protect It
from fires. Along most of the Btream.
now covered with a. good growth of
timber, in those early days of the Welsh
there was not a tree, owing to the fre
quent prairie fires. In this community
some of the settlers, bought a small piece
of timber land along the Missouri, there
was, and still Is, what Is known as the
"half breed line." This was a lino at
one time, marking the boundary of alotted
lands set off by the treaty of Prairie dti
E'.uen, for half breeds and their decend
etits, including from tho Otoes, Sioux,
l'oncas and Omahaa. The line waa be
tween the two Nemahas, ten miles from
tholr mouth at the Missouri. At first
measurement was made by the actual
course of the rivers, but this waa not
satisfactory to tlie "half breeds," as they
believed it did not give them enough ter
ritory, and the survey was again made,
the second time ten miles from the mouth
of either Nemaha, to points on the rivers
In a direct line straight as the crow
files.
When these ploners first came, the near
est railroad was St Joe. BrownvIHe was
an important river point In those daya
and the settlers did much In their trad
ing there, aud also at Asplnwall.
William H. Fogg.
Hunt, Tllllnghttst A
r.awiii rioyt.
Shepard Knapp.
V ei'imo e Al t o.
Peter Huyden.
Co.
L. jt". Morton A Co.
Kelchum, Son & Co.
Reeve, Case ii
11. J tluKtr.
Ranks.
Wllliain i'. iilodaott. Georae II. Potts.
Peter Cooper.
New York, May 17, 1KC3.
Johnson's Answer.
The answer mut was returned was this;
WASHINGTON CITY, May ii, ltMtf.
Messrs. A. A. Low, Phelps 4oUgu St Co.,
Ho) t liros., J. S. Sciiuliznd others.
Ut,NThhMK.: I am In receipt of your
very complimentary note dated New York,
Muy IS, ltb(i, wlierelu you request my ac
ceptance of a coach, tpun of horses, har
ness, etc., us a token of your high appre
ciation of my publlo course.
While I fully appreciate the purity ot
your motives in thus generously tendering
me such substantial evidence of your re
gard, 1 am compelled soleiy from the con
victions of duty I have ever beld in ref
erence to the acceptance of presents bv
those occupying high official positions to
decline tho of tarings of kind aud loyal
friends.
The retention of the parchment convey
ing your sentiments and the autographs
of those who were pleased to unite In this
manifestation of regard Is a favor I would
ask, and I assure you, gentlemen, I shall
egurd it as the highest mark of respect
from any portion of my fellow citizens.
Trusting that I shall continue to merit
your confidence and esteem in the dis
charge of thn high and important duties
upon which I have but Just entered, and
with twst wishes for your health, etc.. In
dividually, I am, gentlemen, yours trulv,
(Slgnd ANDREW JOHNSON.
it is a fact that after the death of An
drew Johnson, but one present waa in his
family's possession. This waa a silver
service, consisting of a pitcher, ft dozen
goblets and a salver, given him by the
union men of Nashville. These men were
not a numerous body, and they had been
closely ussoclated with Governor Johnson
In his reconstruction work in Tennee,.,
They asked permission to give til m a
token of their appreciation of his efforts
beforo he left Tennessee, and lie agreed to
receive the offering In the spirit of com
radeship in which It was offered. This
gift was taken with him to Washington
and was one of the features of the private
dining room's decorations while be lived
in tlie White House. It occupied a place
of honor in his home In Oreenvllle and re
inultny in the possession of a grandson.
Tlie union men of Nashville were his per
sonal friends and, as he was leaving
then for an Indefinite stay, he made their
wlshts his own, and this was the sole ex
ception to his lifelong rule of Independence
In the matter of gifts.
It was said of him by his neighbors who
had known hint longest and best that he
never borrowed a dollar lu his life and
never spent orie that be bod not first
earned. t
