Seward County, Nebraska - Chapter 21, 1916

In the original plan of township division of Seward county there was no such thing as name or letter for the precincts. The government survey discribed or located each township by town number and range east of the principal maridian and homesteads were entered by section number, town number and range. While this was the established system for the government to divide up the wild land belonging to it and was the most accurate way of keeping track of that vast real estate, it was unhandy for general business among the residents of the different townships therefore a revision was shortly made and the sixteen townships established as precincts to be known by letter alter the first sixteen letters of the alphabet, running from A to P. In the location of the townships by town number and range there are but fjur town numbers and four range numbers in Seward county, the ranges being numbered one, two, three and four, east of the principal maridian, range one being the county's western tier of townships. They run north and south and include four towns. The town numbers run east and west, each town number representing four townships or the same town number in each different range. The towns are numbered nine, ten, eleven and twelve, from the south. We have drawn a diagram of the county by precincts, giving the location of each and showing the town number, range and precinct letter. By leaving out the letter the location of the township by the government survey will be easily understood. However for the benefit of school pupils who might desire a clear understanding of the system adopted by the United States Government to designate sixteen different towns in a county by the use of only four town numbers and four ranges we refer them to the fact that there is but one of the same town number in each range. For instance while there are four townships designated as town twelve, which are the north tier of townships, there is only one town twelve in each of the four ranges.

Each precinct contains thirty-six sections, being six miles square, the sixteen precincts amounting to five hundred and seventy-six sections or that number of square miles. One section contains six hundred and forty acres of land therefore the county is composed of 368,640 acres. In the original plan of the government to divide these sections into homesteads of a quarter section each, which was supposed to be a farm, the area of Seward county would have made one thousand, eight hundred and four farms. But that plan did not succeed after the rail road grant of every other section was made. And this deal cut the size of homesteads down one-half and in the final sale of the rail road's land the object aimed at by the government in the homestead act, to make an even division of the land among actual settlers, proved to be a failure. Not only did speculators take advantage of an opportunity to get a hold of tracts of land, but homesteaders who had got a start, purchased rail road land to more than twice the amount of the original homesteds. This enlargement of farms reduced the number of farms and also the number of settlers.

any one of the precincts designated by town and range number or letter. But the interests of the city of Seward, which is in G precinct, conflicted with the interests of the rural or farming sections and made it necessary to establish an independent and separate precinct of the city, which transaction occurred about 1886. However the original area of G precinct was not changed. In the rough and hilly precincts where the survey of the sections was made up and down hills the level area is shorter than in the more even surfaced precincts and some of the eighty and quarter section homesteads have been found scant of full measure from one to two acres. It is probable that those short tracts of land may have the full amount of tillable surface if tilled as they were surveyed.

In the organization of the county a commissioner system was enacted by which the interests of the entire precincts were placed under the controle of three commissioners. They were generally selected from precincts in different localities, but there was no regular district system comprising certain precincts to be represented by each trustee. As the interest of the county was mutually shared by all the precincts this arrangement was, for a short time, acceptaple. The first seeming cause for dissatisfaction with this plan of county government, whether it was so considered at the time or not, occurred at the beginning and during the contest between Seward and Milford for the perminent location of the county seat. A majority of the county board at that time was two and the system of representation left it more than probable that the majority would favor one or the other of the contestants as their own personal interests dictated, and considerable legal trickery was manufactured and a general contention was in progress with the board during the contest:, some of them being arrested on false charges made by parties on both sides of the contest. From that period on to the change to township organization when each precinct was represented by a supervisor, the three men county board was in disfavor. The change to the supervisor system was made in January, 1886 and each precinct elected a supervisor at the election in November of that year. But this system soon went out of favor on account of the expense for the salary of so many which was wisely considered unnecessary and in 1895 the system was revised and changed from the precinct supervisor to the district system which reduced the membership of the county board to seven. The districts under this arangement are composed of and represent precincts as follows:

-A- precinct is broken with hills and ravines. The soil is mixed in many places with an unusual amount for Nebraska soil, with gravel and in some localities large stones or "nigger heads," as they are called in their native country, appear above the surface. Regardless of these seeming defects the soil is as rich and productive as any soil in the county. The early settlers of the precinct were favored with an abundance of oak and other valuable native timber. A saw mill was built at Oak Groves in -A- precinct in the early sixties where oak lumber was sawed out to supply settlers of a large portion of the country, some of it rinding its way to the city of Lincoln. It was the banner precinct of Seward county for fuel timber. Springs of pure water abound along the ravines. Among the other natural advantages in -A- precinct was its deposite of lime stone from which lime was produced by the early settlers in sufficient quantities to supply the needs in that line of Seward county and ajacent towns including the capital city. The precinct has no village or town, but is in proximity to railway stations on two different roads in that many different directions - Bee on the C. & N. W., and Raymond on the Union Pacific. Settlement began in 1864.

-B- precinct is much more level than -A- but is quite broken in places where draws or ravines extend from Middle Creek which heads just west of it. In the original organization of the precincts in the early sixties, -B- was known as Plum Creek precinct and comprised two and one-half towns being six miles wide north and south by fifteen miles east and west. Under these conditions the precinct caught a large percentage of the county's settlement in the early sixties. It has at present one market, postoffice and trading place - the village of Bee, established on the C. & N. W. rail road line in 1887.

-C- precinct is a North Blue river township, that stream entering it in section three flows to the south-east corner of the precinct. It also has Lincoln creek in the south-west quarter. While these two streams cause it to be rough they have added their fertile valleys to the agricultural wealth of the precinct and in early times furnished the settlers with needed timber of spontaneous growth along their banks. It had a post office and trading place at Marysville early in pioneer days. It has a railway station and market at the enterprising village of Staplehurst.

-D- precinct is located, as will be noticed in the diagram, in the north-west corner of the county. It is mostly up-land from the North Blue river and Lincoln creek. In regard to the quality of the land we can say that it needs no recommendation from any one. It is sufficient to say that it is Seward county land and as good as the best.

-E- precinct lies south of -D- and has perhaps the most level surface of any other precinct in the county, the southern portion requiring artificial drainage. The B. & M. rail road passes through from east to west in about the center of the precinct. It contains Utica, the third largest village or town in the county.

-F- precinct is one among the best farming towns in the county. It is up-land that gradualiy slopes towards the North Blue river and Lincoln creek. And while it is not subject to damage during wet seasons it stands drouths as well as any town in the county. It contains Tamora,one of the later villages and an excellent market and trading place.

-G- precinct is more rough than the others named, having the hills and ravines leading from the North Blue river which passes entirely through the township in an angling course from north-west to south-east, also the breakes from Lincoln and Plumb creeks. It contains the city of Seward which has been transformed into a precinct within a precinct. There was a greater early settlement in -G- than in any other town in the county.

-H- precinct is on the east line of the county. It is broken with hills and ravines and springs and spring runs abound along which an excellent grade of native timber has added to its advantages. The precinct contains Germantown, a grain and cream market, with two elevators and one of Nebraska's large creamries.

-I- precinct is hilly. The Middle creek breaks extend through it. Springs are numerous along the ravines and Middle creek valley. There is an abundance of very nice red sand stone along the creek which constitutes fine building material. The village of Pleasant Dale is located in the southern portion of the precinct.

-J- precinct lies next west of -I- and in many respects is a model township. The North Blue river traverses it from the north-west to the south-east, giving it excellent water and drainage advantages, and adding its rich bottom land to the agricultural wealth of the precinct as well as the timber

-K- precinct is one of the most valuable tracts of farming land in Seward county. There is scarcely a foot of waste land in the precinct, either from roughness or swampy basins. The village of Goehner is located in the western portion of the town since the construction of the C. & N. W. rail road. But in pioneer time Seward was the market for the farm produce of -K- precinct.

-L- precinct bounds -K- on the west and extends to the York county line. It contains considerable rough and broken land. Beaver creek cuts the south-west corner and Walnut creek rises in the north-west corner and passes through to the south-east. And in addition to the roughness from those two creeks, ravines extend to the south half of the precinct from the West Blue river. But regardless of this seeming defect -L- town is an up-to-date farming precinct and its hills and hollows are worth from one hundred to two hundred dollars an acre. There is no village in the precinct. It has the advantage of markets at Utica, Tamora, Goehner and Beaver Crossing; being almost surounded by rail road stations near its borders.

-M- precinct contains a rough and rich tract of land. It is broken in the northern portion by the West Blue river which passes through it from west to east and Johnson creek passes through the southern half of the town from west to east, the ravines extending from these streams well over the land. There was an abundance of natural timber along the river in pioneer days which was nearly exhausted by the early settlers, but a second growth has about replenished the product. This precinct has more water than any other precinct in the county. In addition to the excellent water power of the West Blue river and its bed of running water there are a hundred or more flowing wells, from which enough pure water goes to waste every day to supply a power to run the county's eiectric light plants and grist mills. In fact a water power could undoubtedly be constructed from the flowing well body of water that would excel any other water power in Nebraska and not injure the natural system. -M- is the only precinct in the county that contains two distinct villages and rail road stations - Beaver Crossing, a pioneer town, in the northern portion, and Cordova, established later, in the south-west corner of the precinct.

-N- precinct is similar to -M- in the land surface and is favored with the same water advantages. The West Blue river and Johnson creek extend through the sections from west to east and flowing wells exist along the river bottom to near the east line of the town. There is no railway station nor postoffice in the precinct. Its market places are Milford on the north, Dorchester on the south and Beaver Crossing on the west. In -N- precinct Seward county's last remanent, a memorable sod house was inhabited as late as 1892. This interesting relic of days gone by stood midway between what was termed "the two churches" in the south part of the precinct.

-O- precinct is watered by both the North Blue river, which passes through its northern sections, and the West Blue in the southern portion. As must be supposed the precinct contains a broken land surface from the two rivers, but there is no discount upon its agricultural value, it being one among the best in the county. It has a railway station and excellent market at Milford. -O- was singularly noted in the late sixties and early seventies by what will be remembered by early settlers as "Dobie Town." It was located about a mile and a half west of Milford and consisted in a row of five pioneer dwelling houses, composed of adobe brick from which it derived its name. These unique dwellings were the results of the pioneer ingenuity of S. S. and John Atwood, Wm. H. and Lee Smiley and Ira Gallup who owned and occupied the structures in those early days of Seward county settlement.

-P- precinct is in the county's south-east corner and is the end of the alphabetical list oi townships. It contains, undoubtedly, the richest agricultural tract of land in Seward county. It lays largely upon the river bottoms, the vallies of the North and West Blue rivers coming together here form an extensive plteau of level surface of rich, loomy soil. The precinct has no railway station and its nearest and best market places are at Crete and Milford. It has the distinction of having the first village, Camden; the first postoffice; first school and first bridge, in Seward county all of which have received previous mention in this work.

In our brief mention of the precincts we have merely outlined in rotation and alphabetical order the sixteen localities which compose the whole area which we have had and still have under consideration - Seward county - :therefore we pass from their separate mention to the general work which includes all sections and towns of the county.