Dixon County, Nebraska - Chapter 11, 1896

From 1883 to 1886 The Agricultural Society Holds its Annual Fairs - Talk of a Railroad Bridge - Robbery of the County Treasury Treasurer Knapp and his Bondsmen -- Township Organization Voted on in 1883 and Goes into Effect in 1886 - Another County Seat Project Voted on-Great Storm in June, 1885- Murder of Alexander by Blair in 1885.

The year of 1883, was without events of more than ordinary nature. There was some talk this year as there had been in 1882 of rebonding the county in order to pay the old C. C. & B. H. R. H. bonds and thus settle the suit which the county had in the U. S. supreme court, but such talk came to nothing. Dakota county had rebonded, and good attorneys thought the wisest course for Dixon county would be to do the same. But Dixon county refused then and afterwards, and was wise in so doing, as in the next year, 1SS4. the U. S. court settled the hash of the $87,000 fraudulent C. C. & B. H. bonds and Dixon county had that burden lifted from its shoulders forever.

In February the business of the agricultural society came to the surface again, and its officers for the ensuing year were elected. P. G. Wright was re-elected president and J. \V. Radford was elected secretary. From the interest which citizens throughout the county took in the society it was evident that the second fair would be as well patronized as the first.

In Ponca, Wakefield and other towns, as well as generally all over the county, everything tended to encourage citizens, and a healthy advance was made during the year. Crops, and especially wheat and oats, were good, as in fact they usually were every year.

It was and is a fact that at Ponca landing there is a better crossing for a railroad bridge over the Missouri, than can elsewhere be found on the river within a hundred miles. The river at that point has a rock bottom and has never since the first settlement of the country, changed its course.

Instead of extending the railroad west from Ponca, it was finally decided by the company to build a branch into Cedar county from Wakelield. On that branch work was commenced in -Inly and late in the fall was completed and in running order to the new town of Hartington near the center of Cedar county.

The second Agricultural fair of Dixon county was held on the 18th, 19th and 20th of September and like the first fair had a large attendance of citizens, and a great number and variety of exhibits in every department. Those who attended realized that one great advantage to be derived from a county fair is by seeing what others are doing. Men have their specialty. Some succeed in one thing, some in another. By coming together from all parts of the county, each one bringing with him specimens of his peculiar skill and comparing notes, the whole county is benefited. One man learns from his neighbor the method of procedure by which he attained success in his department, and in turn he imparts the secret of his success in another department, so the fair is in one sense an agricultural school; the best kind of a school; one of practical instruction which leads or should lead to immediate results in improved farming, improved stock, improved fruit culture and general elevation of agriculture in all departments.

On Sunday of fair week, a great sensation was occasioned by the announcement of County Treasurer Knapp, that during the night before, the treasurer's office had been entered and the safe broken open and robbed of between $8,000 and $4,000. Detectives were at once sent for for the purpose of unraveling the suspicious mystery which seemed to surround the affair, but they were not able to fix the robbery upon those whom Mr. Knapp had pointed out as possibly the guilty parties. Mr. Knapp had been treasurertwo years and had not Itoen renominated at the republican convention hold a few days before the robbery. While treasurer, Mr. Knapp had operated at Ponca an extensive creamery, which it was alleged had resulted in a financial loss. Those facts together with the fact that he had little property when he became treasurer, occasioned some doubt among many as to the reality of the alleged robbery.

This matter occupied much attention for two or three years and finally, on the charge of defrauding the county, Knap}) was tried in the district court at Dakota City, (to which place the trial had been transferred from Dixon county) and on such trial he was acquitted.

The acquittal, however, did not save Knapp's bondsmen as treasurer. There were forty of them, each of whom had to assist in filling up the vacum in the county treasury. At the time the bondsmen settled the affair with the county commissioners, (August, 1SS4,) Knapp in addition to what his bondsmen paid, deeded to the county a tract of 1()<> acres in Ponca township, which tract afterwards appropriately became the county poor farm. Knapp's deficiency was claimed to be about $9,000.

Late in the fall, (1883,) the new court house was completed. It had been commenced in the summer and was on one of the most desirable locations in Ponca. It was built of brick and had a large court room in the second story and commodious Offices for the various county officials beneath.

At the fall election of '83, the question of township organization was again voted on and carried, but did not go into effect until January. 1886.

During the years 1883 and 1SS4 a very largo amount of building and improvement was seen in the county. The county was filling up rapidly and land was in greater demand and at better prices since the decision in the railroad bond case.

Among the improvements during these years it may be mentioned that at New Castle were built a gristmill, a church and several dwellings. A great number of farms in the county had in 1884, new houses, barns, fences and groves. A general awakening seemed to have taken place all over the county to the desirability of citizens making improvements and additions to their possessions. Such improvements were mainly substantial and valuable and from them it might be certified that those who made them were contented with Dixon county and had concluded to stay in it. A few of the many farmers who thus helped to swell the list of improvements, were the Ellyson Brothers near Ionia, Enders near Ponca, S. Welden, (I. D. Russell, A. Caft'ee, Pat Casey, H. H. Jenkins, P. Bennett, John Roden, Win. Porter, V. Wilcox. E. Wilkinson, E. Manley, W. Blake, Aaron Smith, S. I. Hart, etc. In Ponca the value of improvements in '83 and \S4 was about $60,000. Of the more prominent improvemens were the brick M. E. church and the brick business houses of Thomas Crew, J. A. Mikesell and the Dorsey Brothers. The large flouring mill was also enlarged and improved. The largest skating rink in this part of the state was built and Gamble's opera house was doubled in size and attractions. Near the school house, S. P. Mikesell at a cost of $6,000 erected a magnificent residence and Mrs. Addis transformed her place into one of the best in town. These are a few of the most expensive buildings erected during the year. There were many others in all parts of town, some costly and others cheap, but there was not a house or building in town unoccupied.

Another county seat removal project came up in 1884 and was voted on at a special election held September 18. It resulted in 779 votes for Ponca and 605 for Martinsburg.

The first lawless act in the history thus far of the Agricultural society took place at the fair held September 23, 24 and 25. T. J. Caft'ee was attacked and stabbed by W. W. Westbrook. The trouble grew out of a dispute on the race course. Caft'ee, though badly hurt, recovered and Westbrook was arrested, tried and sent to the penitentiary.

In April, the Logan Valley Agricultural Society was organized by citizens of Wakefield and the southern part of the county, and it was resolved to have a fair in the fall.

The month of June of that year, is noted as having had the worst wind storm ever experienced in Nebraska within the memory of man. On Sundav. June 14, a hurricane inter- spersed with a myriad of small but vindictive tornadoes, swept over the county like a besom of destruction. At about ten o'clook in the evening an immense cloud, extending as far as the eye could reach to the north and south, and so low down as to nearly touch the ground, was seen approaching with rapidity from the southwest. The tremendous roaring of the wind, the vivid lightning and peals of thunder gave warning that an appalling storm was at hand.

Doors and windows were hardly closed to make everything as secure as possible, before the storm burst in unexampled force. In its grasp, as in the hands of an army of giants, every house in the county was shaken, some were moved from their foundations and others were crushed and scattered before the gale. Fortunate houses indeed, were those which lost only chimneys or roofs. Barns, sheds and outhouses were tossed about and in many instances were broken up and their fragments swept away. Fences were overthrown and trees were torn up by the roots. But little was seen of the storm by the people, beyond their own houses. Without, its devastating energy moved forward in its work wrapped in nearly impenetrable darkness. Occasionally a flash of lightning lit up the scene for a moment, and gave a transient view of what was transpiring in the distance.

The storm raged an hour. Those who had cellars went into them for safety, and in a few instances saw their houses carried away over their heads. Some went out of their houses intending to find safer quarters elsewhere. In such efforts they were beaten to the ground in a moment, or blown before a wind which the strongest man could not withstand.

In this terrific shaking up, Ponca fared badly. Its churches seemed special objects of fury. The new brick M. E. church was crushed into a shapeless mass of brick, mortar and broken timbers. The Baptist and Lutheran churches were also visited, the former being wrecked and the latter so racked and twisted as to render a new one necessary to be built. On Third street, Bauer's implement warehouse, an immensely large building which was filled with machinery, was blown down and ruined, together with much of its contents. Stough & Mikesell's store, the mill, the store of John Davey. the railroad depot, Gamble's warehouse, the livery stables and many residences lost their roofs; some were removed from their foundations and the new houses of A. Porter and I\ H. Beller were entirely swept away. Nearly every building was more or less damaged, and barns and sheds generally here and elsewhere were tossed to destruction by the gale. A hundred chimneys were overthrown in town, windows were blown in, costly fences were torn in pieces and groves and gardens were ruined. The wind blew from seventy-five to one hundred miles an hour.

For miles in every direction around Ponca, evidences were seen of the destructive march of the storm. The house on the Blackard farm, the Green brick house, Shomber's house, the houses of Carnell, Smith and Marble, the school house in the Roden district and the next one west, W. Matteson's mill near the landing, the Silver Creek school house, were total wrecks. Rev. Clark's academy at Silver Ridge lost its cupola and chimneys, and near New Castle, Tim Ralm's large two story house was scattered with all its contents.

At New Castle the Congregational ch urch was turned around and near there, in Ionia township, Warner's mill and numerous houses and barns were greatly damaged. At Martinsburg, J. Martin's store was torn down, Shultz and Matteson's store and the mill were unroofed, and many buildings in (lalena and Springbank were either destroyed or greatly injured.

At Wakefield and Emerson the loss was comparatively light, though in the country tributary to those towns, a few houses and barns were wiped out of existence. In the storm but one loss of life occurred, Henry Erickson,who was killed six miles west of Wrakefield by the timbers of a falling house.

Among other damage was that to the agricultural society buildings, on the fair grounds. The fences were blown away together with nearly everything inside of them, excepting the race course and the well. The agricultural hall was blown entirely off the grounds, and its fragments were distributed throughout the length and breadth of HammeFs corn field on the east.

The foregoing is but a partial list of the losses in the county. Nearly every building, grove and fence was injured, some slightly, others irreparably. The total loss in the countv was estimated to be from $35,000 to $50,000. As to the crops, the damage done to them was not so severe as might have been expected. Small grain was but little injured, and corn, though badly whipped about, was not so hurt that two weeks time would not restore it. Hence, after people recovered from the fright and saw that no material injury was done to the crops they were not discouraged but went to work to clear away the wreck and repair the damage. This was their first great storm and their hope that it would be the last has up to date been realized. But the storm induced nearly everyone to build a storm cave, to which when the clouds threatened they could retire and feel secure.

The census of the county which was taken in duly showed a great increase in the number of its inhabitants. It had 5,591) a gain of about 40 per cent in live years.

In following the path of events as they occurred, the reader is now brought to another tragedy, the most horrible in the life of Dixon county since the murder of Mr. Dunn in 1870 by Mat Miller who therefor was promptly hanged by the citizens as related in a former chapter.

James Alexander, one of the pioneers of the county, had lived on his farm about six miles west of Ponca many years. Robert C. Blair, a young man 26 years old, had been working a farm adjoining, and boarded with Alexander. On the evening of October "2*2. (1885,) Alexander and Blair went to the granary to sack wheat and while there Blair shot and killed Alexander and then mounting his horse tried to escape out of the country. Immediately pursuit was made and the day after the murder Blair was captured. Alexander was unarmed at the time he was killed and hence Blair's claim that he shot him in self defense was exploded. The further fact that Alexander had been shot in the back, made proof conclusive that the murder was cold blooded and deliberate.

Blair's trial came befoie the district court at Ponca. November 5, less than two weeks after the crime wTas committed. After a careful investigation of the facts the jury found Blair guilty of murder in the second degree and ho was sentenced by Judge Crawford to imprisonment for life. A week after he was taken to the penitentiary by Sheriff Pomeroy.

next January the county was in the fall divided into townships and at the election in November a board of fifteen supervisors were elected in place of the three commissioners. The first meeting of the board under the new order of things was held January 12, 1886, and consisted of the following members: A. Reynolds, Ponca township; Dr. Hasson, Ponca village; G. W. Waitt, Wakefield; P. G. Wright, Galena; C. W. Sherman, Daily; J. W. Ellyson, Ionia; Frank Renter. Logan; W. Jenkins, Concord; W. H. Pomeroy, Springbank; M. L. Rossiter, Emerson; D. F. Curtis, Clark; H. C. Fields, Hooker: G. C. Wilson, Silver Creek; H. Sayre, Otter Creek: H. Richards. New Castle.

In the early part of the winter of '85-'86, Sioux City parties bought lands of W. H. Porter, F. Conrad, A. Reynolds, F. Baker and others, GOO acres in all, along the bluffs north of Ponca and near the river. The sudden demand for land in an unattractive locality, gave plausibility to the assertion that it was purchased for a company which had in view the building of a railroad and bridge across the river. In connection with this purchase, we will add that in the following August a Mr. Massey of Rockford, Illinois, came and bought another large tract of bluffy land near that of the Sioux City parties. He said he wanted it for an "Angora goat farm." a business that needed the roughest land. It was noticed that the land touched Lime Creek ravine where the Nebraska end of the much imagined railroad bridge was to be. For some land which had been deemed too worthless to pay the taxes on, Mr. Massey paid from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre.

There is no doubt of the fact that a great project was in view, which, had it been carried out, would have brought one or more railroads and a bridge into Dakota. But like many other schemes in the west it resulted in nothing. The only ones who received benefit were those who had unloaded their worthless lands on the bluffs.

In the fall of '86, the Dixon County Agricultural fair had some novel features which will he useful as hints to the managers of fairs in future. There were special premiums by which the handsomest couple who would be married in Floral Hall on the third day of the fair, received an elegant rocking chair. The most attractive girl, the hand- somest woman and the best appearing man, all of Dixon county, lnul an appropriate gift to each. To the prettiest baby under twelve months, tive dollars in gold. To the man with the longest nose, and he who had the largest feet, were also remembered by special premiums. With such a remarkable combination of attractions it may safely be said that the fair was a great success. It was held four days that year and had an attendance of between three and four thousand.

Thus we have briefly touched on the main events which transpired up to the close of 1886. At that time the country and the towns seemed on the high road to prosperity. Dixon county was gradually emerging from obscurity and the truth was generally becoming known that in agricultural wealth it was nearly at the top of the column of the counties in the state.