a case" before a justice of the peace, near a postoffice known as
Henrietta. Having a light spring wagon and two ponies he invited his
wife and little baby to accompany him for the drive of twenty-five
miles. Anything was better than the monotony of staying at home, and the
boundless freedom of the prairies was always enticing. An hour's drive
and the heat of the sun became oppressively intense. The barren distance
far ahead was unbroken by tree, or house, or field. There was no sound
but the steady patter of the ponies' feet over the prairie grass; no
moving object but an occasional flying hawk; no road but a trail through
the rich prairie grass, and one seemed lost in a wilderness of unvarying
green. The heat-waves seemed to rise from the ground and quiver in the
air. Soon a wind, soft at first, came from the southwest, but ere long
became a hot blast, and reminded one of the heated air from an opened
oven door. Added to other inconveniences came the intense thirst
produced from the sun and dry atmosphere--and one might have cried "My
kingdom for a drink!"--but there was no "kingdom."
After riding about nine miles there came into view the homestead of
Teddy McGovern--the only evidence of life seen on that long day's drive.
Here was a deep well of cold water. Cheery words of greeting and hearty
handclasps evidenced that all were neighbors in those days. Again
turning westward a corner of the homestead was passed where were several
little graves among young growing trees--"Heartache corner" it might
have been called. The sun shone as relentless there as upon all
Nebraska, that scorching summer.
As the afternoon wore on, looking across the prairies the heat-waves
seemed to pulse and beckon us on; the lure of the prairies was upon us,
and had we chosen we could not but have obeyed. Only the pioneers knew
how to endure, to close their eyes to exclude the burning light, and
close the lips to the withering heat.
At last our destination was reached at the homestead of the justice of
the peace. We were gladly seated to a good supper with the host and
family of growing boys. After the meal the "Justice Court" was held out
of doors in the shade of the east side of the house, there being more
room and "more air" outside. The constable, the offender, the witness
and attorney and a few neighbors constituted the prairie court, and
doubtless the decisions were as legal and as lasting as those of more
imposing surroundings of later days.
But the joy of the day had only just begun, for as the sun went down, so
did even the hot wind, leaving the air so heavy and motionless and
oppressive one felt his lungs closing up. The boys of the family sought
sleep out of doors, the others under the low roof of a two-roomed log
house. Sleep was impossible, rest unknown until about midnight, when
mighty peals of thunder and brilliant lightning majestically announced
the oncoming Nebraska storm. No lights were needed, as nature's
electricity was illuminatingly sufficient. The very logs quivered with
the thunder's reverberations, and soon a terrific wind loaded with hail
beat against the little house until one wondered whether it were better
to be roasted alive by nature's consuming heat, or torn asunder by the
warring elements. But the storm beat out its fury, and with daylight Old
Sol peeped over the prairies with a drenched but smiling face.
Adieus were made and the party started homeward. After a few miles'
travel the unusual number of grasshoppers was commented upon, and soon
the air was filled with their white bodies and beating wings; then the
alarming fact dawned upon the travelers that this was a grasshopper
raid. The pioneers had lived through the terrors of Indian raids, but
this assault from an enemy outside of the human realm was a new
experience. The ponies were urged eastward, but the hoppers cheerfully
kept pace and were seen to be outdistancing the travelers. They filled
the air and sky and obliterated even the horizon. Heat, thirst, distance
were all submerged in the appalling dread of what awaited.
As the sun went down the myriads of grasshoppers "went to roost." Every
vegetable, every weed and blade of grass bore its burden. On the
clothes-line the hoppers were seated two and three deep; and upon the
windlass rope which drew the bucket from the well they clung and
entwined their bodies.
The following morning the hungry millions raised in the air, saluted the
barren landscape and proceeded to set an emulating pace for even the
busy bee. They flew and beat about, impudently slapping their wings
against the upturned, anxious faces, and weary eyes, trying to penetrate
through the apparent snowstorm--the air filled with the white bodies of
the ravenous hordes. This appalling sight furnished diversion sufficient
to the inhabitants of the little community for that day.
People moved quietly about, in subdued tones wondering what the outcome
would be. How long would the hoppers remain? Would they deposit their
eggs to hatch the following spring and thus perpetuate their species?
Would the old progenitors return?
But, true to the old Persian proverb, "this too, passed away." The
unwelcome intruders departed leaving us with an occasional old boot-leg,
or leather strap, or dried rubber, from which the cormorants had sucked
the "juice."
The opening of the next spring was cold and rainy. Not many of the
grasshopper eggs hatched. Beautiful Nebraska was herself again and
"blossomed as the rose."
SUFFRAGE IN NEBRASKA
_Statement by Mrs. Gertrude M. McDowell_
When I was requested to write a short article in regard to woman's
suffrage in Nebraska I thought it would be an easy task. As the days
passed and my thoughts became confusedly spread over the whole question
from its incipiency, it proved to be not an easy task but a most
difficult one. There was so much of interest that one hardly knew where
to begin and what to leave unsaid.
This question has been of life-long interest to me and I have always
been in full sympathy with the movement. When the legislature in 1882
submitted the suffrage amendment to the people of the state of Nebraska
for their decision, we were exceedingly anxious concerning the outcome.
A state suffrage association was formed. Mrs. Brooks of Omaha was
elected president; Mrs. Bittenbender of Lincoln, recording secretary;
Gertrude M. McDowell of Fairbury, corresponding secretary.
There were many enthusiastic workers throughout the state. Among them, I
remember Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, of Beatrice, whom we considered our
general; Mrs. Lucinda Russell and Mrs. Mary Holmes of Tecumseh, Mrs.
Annie M. Steele of Fairbury, Mrs. A. J. Sawyer, Mrs. A. J. Caldwell, and
Mrs. Deborah King of Lincoln, Mrs. E. M. Correll of Hebron and many more
that I do not now recall.
There were many enthusiastic men over the state who gave the cause
ardent support. Senator E. M. Correll of Hebron was ever on the alert to
aid in convention work and to speak a word which might carry conviction
to some unbeliever.
Some years previous to our campaign, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy
Stone on one of their lecture tours in the West were so impressed with
the enthusiasm and good work of Hon. E. M. Correll that they elected him
president of the National Suffrage Association, for one year. I also
recall Judge Ben S. Baker, now of Omaha, and C. F. Steele of Fairbury,
as staunch supporters of the measure. During the campaign, many
national workers were sent into the state, among them Susan B. Anthony,
Phoebe Couzens, Elizabeth Saxon of New Orleans, and others. They
directed and did valiant work in the cause. We failed to carry the
measure in the state, but we are glad to note that it carried in our own
town of Fairbury.
Thanks to the indomitable personality of our Nebraska women, they began
immediately to plan for another campaign. In 1914, our legislature again
submitted an amendment and it was again defeated. Since then I have been
more than ever in favor of making the amendment a national one,
President Wilson to the contrary notwithstanding--not because we think
the educational work is being entirely lost, but because so much time
and money are being wasted on account of our foreign population and
their attitude towards reform. It is a grave and a great question. One
thing we are assured of, viz: that we will never give up our belief in
the final triumph of our great cause.
It is a far cry from the first woman's suffrage convention in 1850,
brought about by the women who were excluded from acting as delegates at
the anti-slavery convention in London in 1840.
Thus a missionary work was begun then and there for the emancipation of
women in "the land of the free and the home of the brave." We can never
be grateful enough to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.
Anthony, and other noble, self-sacrificing women who did so much pioneer
work in order to bring about better laws for women and in order to
change the moth-eaten thought of the world.
Many felt somewhat discouraged when the election returns from New
Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York announced the defeat of the measure,
but really when we remember the long list of states that have equal
suffrage we have reason to rejoice and to take new courage. We now have
Wyoming, Kansas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Illinois, besides the
countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, New Zealand,
Australia, Nova Scotia, and some parts of England.
In the future when the cobwebs have all been swept from the mind of the
world and everyone is enjoying the new atmosphere of equal rights only a
very few will realize the struggle these brave women endured in order
to bring about better conditions for the world.
_Statement by Lucy L. Correll_
Hebron, Thayer county, Nebraska, was the cradle of the Nebraska woman
suffrage movement, as this was the first community in the state to
organize a permanent woman's suffrage association.
Previous to this organization the subject had been agitated through
editorials in the Hebron _Journal_, and by a band of progressive,
thinking women. Upon their request the editor of the _Journal_, E. M.
Correll, prepared an address upon "Woman and Citizenship." Enthusiasm
was aroused, and a column of the _Journal_ was devoted to the interests
of women, and was ably edited by the coterie of ladies having the
advancement of the legal status of women at heart.
Through the efforts of Mr. Correll, Susan B. Anthony was induced to come
to Hebron and give her lecture on "Bread versus the Ballot," on October
30, 1877. Previous to this time many self-satisfied women believed they
had all the "rights" they wanted, but they were soon awakened to a new
consciousness of their true status wherein they discovered their
"rights" were only "privileges."
On April 15, 1879, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, upon invitation,
lectured in Hebron and organized the Thayer County Woman's Suffrage
Association. This society grew from fifteen, the number at organization,
to about seventy-five, many leading business men becoming members.
Other organizations in the state followed, and at the convening of the
Nebraska legislature of 1881, a joint resolution providing for the
submission to the electors of this state an amendment to section 1,
article VII, of the constitution, was presented by Representative E. M.
Correll, and mainly through his efforts passed the house by the
necessary three-fifths majority, and the senate by twenty-two to eight,
but was defeated at the polls.
During that memorable campaign of 1881-82, Lucy Stone Blackwell, and
many other talented women of note, from the eastern states, lectured in
Nebraska for the advancement of women, leaving the impress of the
nobility of their characters upon the women of the middle West.
The Thayer County Woman's Suffrage Association was highly honored, as
several of its members held positions of trust in the state association,
and one of its members, Hon. E. M. Correll, who was publishing the
_Woman's Journal_, at Lincoln, at the time of the annual conference of
the American Woman's Suffrage Association, at Louisville, Kentucky, in
October, 1881, was elected to the important position of president of
that national organization, in recognition of the work he had performed
for the advancement of the cause of "Equality before the Law."
This association served its time and purpose and after many years was
instrumental in organizing the Hebron Library Association.
The constitution and by-laws of this first woman's suffrage association
of the state are still well preserved. The first officers were: Susan E.
Ferguson, president; Harriet G. Huse, vice president; Barbara J.
Thompson, secretary; Lucy L. Correll, treasurer; A. Martha Vermillion,
corresponding secretary. Of these first officers only one is now
living.
AN INDIAN RAID
BY ERNEST E. CORRELL
In 1869, Fayette Kingsley and family resided on the Haney homestead at
the southeast corner of Hebron, where Mr. Haney had been brutally
murdered in the presence of his three daughters in 1867, the daughters
escaping and eventually reaching their home, "back east."
On May 26, 1869, "Old Daddy" Marks, accompanied by a young man for
protection, drove over from Rose creek to warn Kingsley's that the
Indians were on a raid. While they were talking, Mr. Kingsley heard the
pit-pat of the Indian horses on the wet prairie. From the west were
riding thirty-six Indians, led by a white man, whose hat and fine boots
attracted attention in contrast to the bare-headed Indians wearing
moccasins.
In the house were enough guns and revolvers to shoot sixty rounds
without loading. When Mrs. Kingsley saw the Indians approaching she
scattered the arms and ammunition on the table where the men could get
them. There were two Spencer carbines, a double-barreled shotgun, and
two navy revolvers, besides other firearms.
Mr. Kingsley and Charlie Miller (a young man from the East who was
boarding with them) went into the house, got the guns, and leveled them
on the Indians, who had come within 250 yards of the log-house, but who
veered off on seeing the guns. One of the party at the house exclaimed,
"The Indians are going past and turning off!" Mr. Marks then said, "Then
for God's sake, don't shoot!"
The Indians went on down the river and drove away eleven of King
Fisher's horses. Two of Fisher's boys lay concealed in the grass and saw
the white leader of the Indians remove his hat, showing his close-cut
hair. He talked the Indian language and ordered the redskins to drive up
a pony, which proved to be lame and was not taken. The Indians continued
their raid nearly to Meridian.
Meanwhile at Kingsley's preparations were made for a hurried flight. Mr.
Marks said he must go home to protect his own family on Rose creek, but
the young man accompanying him insisted that he cross the river and
return by way of Alexander's ranch on the Big Sandy, as otherwise they
would be following the Indians. Mr. Kingsley, with his wife and three
children, went with them to Alexander's ranch, staying there two weeks
until Governor Butler formed a company of militia composed of the
settlers, to protect the frontier. A company of the Second U. S. Cavalry
was sent here and stationed west of Hackney, later that summer. The
Indians killed a man and his son, and took their horses, less than two
miles from the soldiers' camp.
On returning to the homestead, two cows and two yoke of oxen were found
all right. Before the flight, Mr. Kingsley had torn down the pen,
letting out a calf and a pig. Sixty days later, on recovering the pig,
Mr. Kingsley noticed a sore spot on its back, and he pulled out an arrow
point about three inches long.
The Indians had taken all the bedding and eatables, even taking fresh
baked bread out of the oven. They tore open the feather-bed and
scattered the contents about--whether for amusement or in search of
hidden treasures is not known. They found a good pair of boots, and cut
out the fine leather tops (perhaps for moccasins) but left the heavy
soles. From a new harness they also took all the fine straps and left
the tugs and heavy leather. They had such a load that at the woodpile
they discarded Mr. Kingsley's double-barreled shotgun, which had been
loaded with buckshot for them.
Captain Wilson, a lawyer who boarded with Mr. Kingsley, had gone to warn
King Fisher, leaving several greenbacks inside a copy of the Nebraska
statutes. These the Indians found and appropriated--perhaps their white
leader was a renegade lawyer accustomed to getting money out of the
statutes.
In 1877 Mr. Kingsley's family had a narrow escape from death in a
peculiar manner. After a heavy rain the walls of his basement caved in.
His children occupied two beds standing end to end and filling the end
of the basement. When the rocks from the wall caved in, both beds were
crushed to the floor and a little pet dog on one of the beds was killed,
but the children had no bones broken. Presumably the bedding protected
them and the breaking of the bedsteads broke the jar of the rocks on
their bodies.
Mr. Kingsley has a deeply religious nature, and believes that Divine
protection has been with him through life.
REMINISCENCES
BY MRS. E. A. RUSSELL
In September, 1884, Rev. E. A. Russell was transferred by the American
Baptist Publication Society from his work in the East to Nebraska, and
settled on an eighty-acre ranch near Ord. Mr. Russell had held
pastorates for twenty-six years in New Hampshire, New York, and Indiana,
but desired to come west for improvement in health. He was accompanied
by his family of seven. Western life was strange and exciting with
always the possibility of an Indian raid, and dangerous prairie fires.
It was the custom to plow a wide furrow around the home buildings as a
precaution against the latter.
The first year in Nebraska, our oldest daughter, Alice M. Russell, was
principal of the Ord school, and Edith taught in the primary grade.
On the fifth of August, 1885, late in the afternoon, a terrific
hail-storm swept over the country. All crops were destroyed; even the
grass was beaten into the earth, so there was little left as pasture for
cattle. Pigs and poultry were killed by dozens and the plea of a
tender-hearted girl, that a poor calf, beaten down by hailstones, might
be brought "right into the kitchen," was long remembered. Not a window
in our house remained unbroken. The floor was covered with rain and
broken glass and ice; and our new, white, hard-finished walls and
ceilings were bespattered and disfigured.
This hail-storm was a general calamity. The whole country suffered and
many families returned, disheartened, to friends in the East.
The Baptist church was so shattered that, for its few members, it was no
easy task to repair it. But they soon put it in good condition, only to
see it utterly wrecked by a small cyclone the following October.
The income that year from a forty-acre cornfield was one small "nubbin"
less than three inches in length.
All these things served to emphasize the heart-rending stories we had
heard of sufferings of early pioneers. The nervous shock sustained by
the writer was so great that a year elapsed before she was able to see
clearly, or to read. As she was engaged on the four years' post-graduate
course of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, her eldest son
read aloud to her during that year and her work was completed at the
same time as he and his younger sister graduated with the class of 1887.
Some time later the writer organized a Chautauqua Circle, Ord's first
literary society. Its president was a Mr. King and its secretary E. J.
Clements, now of Lincoln, Nebraska.
During our second winter in Nebraska the writer did not see a woman to
speak to after her daughters went to their schools in Lincoln, where one
was teaching and the other a University pupil.
Of the "Minnie Freeman Storm" in January, 1888, all our readers have
doubtless heard. Our two youngest boys were at school a mile away; but
fortunately we lived south of town and they reached home in safety.
In 1881 Fort Hartsuff, twelve miles away, had been abandoned. The
building of this fort had been the salvation of pioneers, giving them
work and wages after the terrible scourge of locusts in 1874. It was
still the pride of those who had been enabled to remain in the desolated
country and we heard much about it. So, when a brother came from New
England to visit an only sister on the "Great American Desert," we took
an early start one morning and visited "The Fort." The buildings, at
that time, were in fairly good condition. Officers' quarters, barracks,
commissary buildings, stables, and other structures were of concrete, so
arranged as to form a hollow square; and, near by on a hill, was a
circular stockade, which was said to be connected with the fort by an
underground passage.
A prominent figure in Ord in 1884 was an attractive young lady who later
married Dr. F. D. Haldeman. In 1904 Mrs. Haldeman organized _Coronado_
chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Her sister, Dr. Minerva
Newbecker, has practiced medicine in Ord for many years. Another sister,
Clara Newbecker, has long been a teacher in the public schools of
Chicago. These three sisters, who descended from Lieutenant Philip
Newbecker, of Revolutionary fame, and Mrs. Nellie Coombs, are the only
living charter members of _Coronado_ chapter. The chapter was named in
honor of that governor of New Galicia in Mexico who is supposed to have
passed through some portion of our territory in 1540 when he fitted out
an expedition to seek and christianize the people of that wonderful
region where "golden bells and dishes of solid gold" hung thick upon the
trees.
About all that is definitely known is that he set up a cross at the big
river, with the inscription: "Thus far came Francisco de Coronado,
General of an expedition."
And now, in 1915, the family of seven, by one marriage after another,
has dwindled to a lonely--two.
The head of our household, with recovered health, served his
denomination twenty years in this great field, comprising Nebraska,
Upper Colorado, and Wyoming. He retired in 1904 to the sanctuary of a
quiet home.
REMINISCENCES OF FORT CALHOUN
BY W. H. ALLEN
I reached Fort Calhoun in May, 1856, with my friends, Mr. and Mrs. John
Allen; coming with team and wagon from Edgar county, Illinois. I was
then eleven years old. Fort Calhoun had no soldiers, but some of the
Fort Atkinson buildings were still standing. I remember the liberty
pole, the magazine, the old brick-yard, at which places we children
played and picked up trinkets. There was one general store then, kept by
Pink Allen and Jascoby, and but few settlers. Among those I remember
were, my uncle, Thomas Allen; E. H. Clark, a land agent; Col. Geo.
Stevens and family, who started a hotel in 1856, and Orrin Rhoades,
whose family lived on a claim five miles west of town. That summer my
father took a claim near Rhoades', building a log house and barn at the
edge of the woods. We moved there in the fall, and laid in a good supply
of wood for the huge fireplace, used for cooking as well as heating. Our
rations were scanty, consisting of wild game for meat, corn bread,
potatoes and beans purchased at Fort Calhoun. The next spring we cleared
some small patches for garden and corn, which we planted and tended with
a hoe. There were no houses between ours and Fort Calhoun, nor any
bridges. Rhoades' house and ours were the only ones between Fontenelle
and Fort Calhoun. Members of the Quincy colony at Fontenelle went to
Council Bluffs for flour and used our place as a half-way house,
stopping each way over night. How we children did enjoy their company,
and stories of the Indians. We were never molested by the red men, only
that they would come begging food occasionally.
I had no schooling until 1860 when I worked for my board in Fort Calhoun
at E. H. Clark's and attended public school a few months. The next two
years I did likewise, boarding at Alex. Reed's.
From 1866 to 1869 inclusive I cut cord-wood and railroad ties which I
hauled to Omaha for use in the building of the Union Pacific railroad.
I received from $8.00 to $15.00 per cord for my wood, and $1.00 each for
ties.
Deer were plentiful and once when returning from Omaha I saw an old deer
and fawn. Unhitching my team I jumped on one horse and chased the young
one down, caught and tamed it. I put a bell on its neck and let it run
about at will. It came to its sleeping place every night until the next
spring when it left, never to be seen by us again.