1. SETTLING IN 73
3 y
Settling In
The Fifties in Douglas County
The first decade of the Nebraska Territory and of Douglas County
[including Sarpy County which was split off in 1857] was populated
with a chaotic mix of entrepreneurs, gamblers, farmers, builders, and
politicians, all of whom lived in poorly-heated housing, made of logs
or sod or hay and infested with bugs. They enjoyed unbelievable
opportunity and natural resources as they faced drought, financial
depression, lack of services, and no amenities resembling “The Good
Life.”
There was no water except from rivers and a few private wells.
Following the first flurry of building no wood was left for miles
around. Cattle and pigs roamed the streets. Stories were told of
families shoveling snow out of their bedrooms. A prairie town was a
home for the hardy.
Speculation was encouraged by land-scam peddlers, some of
whom promised vast beds of coal ~ or granite ~ or almost pure
copper ~ or quantities of salt. “Buy it now before it is proven to be
true!”
The year 1854 saw big changes. Bellevue was organized on
February 19 and Florence and Omaha began settlement. Florence
even gained a bank ~ now the oldest bank building in Nebraska.
By the end of 1854, Omaha City had 20 houses, several saloons
and stores, and two shacks which served as hotels. The “more
pretentious of the two had no floor in the dining room. The table
was made by driving poles into the ground for legs, with rough
cottonwood used for the top. Sleeping arrangements were not so
luxurious.” Many merchants slept in their hastily-constructed
businesses.
The first Omaha newspaper, appearing as by magic in the first
months, touted the new city, its resources, people and future. News
sections were lifted from eastern sources. The paper of course was
written and printed in Council Bluffs, with costs paid by land

2. 74 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
investors. The business manager was a Mormon, living in Council
Bluffs with three wives.
The census for Douglas County showed 645 residents at the end
of 1854 [100 in Omaha, Bellevue about 50], 1,028 a year later [200
in Omaha, Bellevue about 100], and 3,465 two years later [800 in
Omaha]. Florence grew fast from 1856 to 58, then slipped in
numbers. The first half of 1857 gave Omaha fast growth, to over
4,000, before the collapse of the economy in September. We can see
evidence of the crushing effect of that crisis as we note that three
years later, in 1860, the Omaha population was 1861.
Omaha
“Omaha promoters eagerly watched for the rush
of settlers [in 1855] who undoubtedly would come
as a result of [the decision to locate the capitol
here].
“No rush came. Prospective buyers arrived, took
one look at the ‘town,’ and decided to invest their
money elsewhere. Young Byron Reed, one such
prospective customer, stayed about a week and took
a boat to Kansas. [He later returned in boom times
to open a real estate office.]
“[Another venturer] thought that what there
was of the town was ‘too tough,’ and he seemed a
little uneasy when a large group of Indians
followed him up from the landing. He
commiserated with a fellow passenger who had
paid $400 for a lot he described as ‘nothing more
than a hole in the ground.’ [The grumbling
investor sold it one year later for $800.]” 18-22
Members of the legislature chartered wild-cat banks and paper
towns, then hurried home to sell stock in them.
Banks issued $50,000 in paper, called “script,” without any hard
cash. The script was supposed to be redeemed later, when the
project or city succeeded. All of these “paper” banks in Douglas
County collapsed in the fall of 1857. Worthless bank notes, flooding
the countryside, were disastrous to the church and its people,
destroying the confidence people had in the frontier enterprise.
52-94
“The territory’s whole financial structure collapsed with the
banks. Town lots tumbled in value, businesses failed and hard

3. SETTLING IN 75
money became practically nonexistent.” Interest rates went as high
as 120%. Land was the best investment, but without money how
could farmers buy it? Some speculators actually began to farm their
land ~ a novel idea! 52-95
Dr. Miller reflected later in the Herald: “Omaha was practically
extinguished under the financial avalanche of 1857, and did not fully
emerge from its effects until the advent of the railroads.” 72-257
Early in 1857, Omaha had to borrow ‘real’ money, gold, to pay its
$500 fee to charter as a city. Bank notes were not accepted.
main street scene
§
However, if we could drop in by magic carpet to witness the
newborn Omaha, we would discover plenty of activity. Dr. Miller
painted one of the better pictures of the scene.
“Tents and wagons occupied every available
space. Sod shanties and dugouts multiplied, but so
did frame houses, usually small and one story, but
substantial and attractive. At 18th and Cass
George Bovey built a row of rental houses, that,
because they were ‘far out on the prairie,’ had
extra-thick walls and were arranged so that Indian
attacks [!] could be fought off easily. A number of
imposing mansions were being constructed in two
fashionable residential districts: one between
Dodge and Davenport, 15th to 18th; one on Harney
between 13th and 17th.
“[One who remembers staying at the Douglas
House, the first ‘real’ hotel] said it was ‘always
full of residents, speculators, lot owners,

4. 76 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
lawyers, and adolescent statement,’ all fired with
enthusiasm for the future of the county, all
believing that ‘all you had to do was buy today and
sell tomorrow.’ [He discovered] that squatters’
claims were no assurance of permanent ownership,
that ‘the best title was shotgun well loaded, and
that even this was not effectual unless you stood
guard night and day.’
“[However, he found able and brilliant citizens]
~ students, scholars, lawyers, surveyors. I doubt
that their equal could be found anywhere in the U.
S.’ ” 18-26
While a steamer unloaded, as many as 1500 residents came to
watch. A dance would often be held in the public room of the
steamer, which was the most luxurious and spacious room in town
for that night. The steamboat “Washington City” could sleep 250
“discriminating guests” and was purchased in 1857 by local
investors to be left at dock as a floating hotel. Its accommodations
far exceeded all that was on shore. 72-253
The rumor of gold in California generated an unforgettable gold
rush in 1859 and produced astonishing activity in Omaha. It was a
welcome addition to Omaha’s speculative and shaky start.
§
A river steamship could deliver enough supplies to stock a major
store. On one occasion, when most of the steamer cargo was
delivered to stock a large grocery outlet for its grand opening, the
demand for the precious supplies was so great that the entire
shipment was sold as workers attempted to carry the supplies from
the steamer to the store. Stores often had times of little stock on
hand.
The Mormons had crossed back over to the Iowa side of the river
in a dispute with the Indians, who had given a five-year lease. The
following simplifies the issues in the tension.
The Indians said they did not know the Mormons would plow and
plant in their hunting grounds. The Mormons replied that the
Indians seemed willing to share the corn. The Mormons said they
did not know the Indians would be killing some of their cattle. The
Indians said it was a hunting ground.
The Indians burned the 800 houses vacated by the Mormons and
the area was unoccupied until the new settlement in ’54. The new

5. SETTLING IN 77
Florence soon became a bustling economy, largely due to Megeath
and Co., who did a very large trade in outfitting Mormons who were
headed for Utah.
The first public school in Omaha was not provided until 1859.
Then only 1310 of the territory’s 4767 children were known to be in
school. 52-99 One of the first 23 colleges chartered by the
Nebraska Legislature survived: Peru, established by the Methodists.
The Territory had a strict prohibition law, making illegal the
manufacture, sale or consumption of alcohol. It was designed to
protect the Indians. Certainly members of the legislature and
citizens of Omaha paid no attention to it. One official got in big
trouble for his method of enforcing the law. He dumped a large
quantity of the illegal brew.
Another curious note of the time: the territorial legislature almost
passed a bill giving women the right to vote ~ sixty years before the
state legislature passed a similar bill!
“The town’s second Fourth of July was made
notable by an uninvited guest. Standing in the
street outside the Douglas House, Amelia Bloomer,
then a resident of Council Bluffs, gave an
impassioned speech. Her audience was at first
antagonistic toward her arguments for women’s
suffrage, but it warmed up to the point of
applause and even an invitation to address the
next legislature.” 18-22
She did and they almost did. The house voted approval by 14 to
11. The council did not vote. Imagine how our history would have
changed if they had passed it.
History of Slavery
Slavery was the divisive subject of a critical national debate and a
major factor in the location and development of Omaha. From our
psychological distance we almost forget the antagonism which was
experienced in a setting like Kansas and Nebraska. Slavery was a
highly emotional issue, which divided families and split early
churches. The route of the transcontinental railroad, the arrival of
settlers and the attitude of local residents were greatly affected by
passionate slavery arguments far beyond Omaha.

6. 78 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
From our distance, we can not begin to feel the emotions of that
era without looking at the facts and expressions of slavery. Slavery
and resulting racial issues so dominate the 150 years of history of
Metro Omaha we must give thought to it ~ and, hopefully, more
study, conversation and commitment.
Slavery was an unimaginably horrible system and we are not
likely to understand how it actually came to be a defended system in
a ‘free new’ world, founded through a revolution in which patriots
fought for rights and independence of its people. The motives of the
revolutionists were a strange mix.
Imagine owning another person’s body. Imagine insisting that
owning someone is your God-given right. Imagine dividing
someone else’s family, like the selling of a herd of cattle. Imagine a
culture which asserted owning bodies is the proper claim of the
families which had the most resources.
The blind arrogance of the system is beyond words. Many in the
slave system “woke up” to the horror of the attitudes required. In
Pennsylvania, the Quakers were slave-holders who realized the
contradictions and freed their slaves. A favorite Christian hymn,
“Amazing Grace,” was written by John Newton, who was converted
to a new understanding on a slave ship and ordered the ship to turn
around. “I once was blind, but now I see.”
§
Slavery appears to have been with us since the beginning of
recorded history. Biblical heroes owned slaves; the Hebrew people
lift as a centering experience of faith their ancestors’ escape from
slavery in Egypt; the building of the pyramids and massive Aztec
temples built with slave labor challenge the imagination. In
countless cultures, neighboring hostile tribes have captured as well
as tortured and killed their enemies.
Slavery in the United States
The slave trade in the colonies had help from British attitudes and
shipping. The slave-owner mentality developed slowly. American
colonies were the first colonial outposts to adopt slavery. The
practice in the colonies started with indentured servants, persons of
any race who had broken British law and who could pay off their

7. SETTLING IN 79
debts to society by providing labor for a period of time in the
colonies. Having served their time, indentured servants were
allowed to stay on in the new land and hold property. The critical
change came when a series of laws in the colonies declared that, for
Negroes [who had broken a law], their “service” would be for life.
The Native Americans were also enslaved, especially in
southeastern sections of the country. The native peoples grew
restless and went to war in 1715 in the Carolinas, seeking to drive
the white invaders and slave-owners back into the sea. They lost,
and most natives moved west to avoid the slave climate. However,
we find an example of this experience in the western territory. An
Omaha Indian who was captured by French fur traders in Nebraska
was treated as a slave.
Slavery in the colonies did not
come all at once. Laws adopted in the
colonies slowly but consistently put
the squeeze on ‘servants’ who had a
darker skin color. An example of the
incremental manner by which slavery
was embraced came as early as 1640.

8. 80 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
“Introduction of
Slavery”
An etching from
1870s
Three escaped indentured servants were caught. The two English
young men had time added to their duty. The African, John Punch,
was sentenced to a lifetime of servitude.
The major shift came with the declaration that for all persons of
color the servitude had no time limit. Rights to own property were
denied. Right to vote was denied slaves.
Many laws affecting slavery simply added to the status of
“owner” and “property.” Limit of entrance to stores, restaurants and
theaters, seating in public places and buses, and on and on ~ all came
later.
Massachusetts was the first colony to recognize slavery, this in
1641. Virginia, in 1643, declared that a slave’s children could also
be slaves. Add these types of laws to the plantation system, which
was becoming a way of life for the wealthy, and we find that slavery
became an early part of the very foundation of the social order in
certain states. 94
Slaves were prohibited from owning land, as ‘aliens.’ They were
designated as “non-Christian,” which helped ease the mind of slave
traders who were trading humanity for gold. Owners who shared
Christian teaching with Negroes in the first years of slavery were
severely criticized. Africans were not “persons for whom Christ
died.” A theological concept basic to conservative Christian faith is
the critical importance of the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, in the
eyes of some masters, slaves could not qualify for salvation. Such
heavy-minded pre-judgment quickly reinforced prejudice.
§
Even northern New York had a law limiting Negroes at funerals
to a total of twelve, in order to prevent them from coming together in
a large enough number to plot a riot.
The break in this discouraging front line came with the
Revolutionary War, when more of the citizens began to examine

9. SETTLING IN 81
their proclamations and what they were really saying. A good
number of the soldiers on the revolutionary side were African. As
their descendants found when they returned from fighting for
freedom [for the next 200 years!], they were not given freedom at
home.
The “Great Awakening” was a religious revival in our early
national history and was bi-racial.
There was hypocrisy everywhere ~ on the plantations, between
family members, between neighbors, in the community and
businesses, in the churches, in the legislature, in high-vaulted rooms
where the Constitution was signed and in the offices and homes of
presidents.
Slave Trade
African and Native American slaves were usually captured by
neighboring tribes or their enemies and were sold to the traders for
good profit. In the colonies, an adult Indian could be traded for 160
animal pelts, a child for half that. In Africa, typical payment was 15
to 20 pieces of cloth, about two yards each, for one healthy adult.
African slaves were much more valuable than Indian slaves, as they
were more likely to remain healthy. 4-136
Slavery was practiced in Africa, supported especially by raids of
tribal enemies. However, that system had a major difference: the
slave in Africa maintained rights in the community, with some
personal respect and with consideration of working conditions.
Once taken to the coast and sold to traders who operated out of
large fortresses, the newly-captured African was subject to a totally
different world of torture and neglect. Typically one third to one
half of the slaves on ships from Africa were dead when the ship
docked in the colonies. Often the bodies were still on board, plus all
the putrid remains of a crowded ship hold with no toilet facilities,
little food, and no medical provisions for those who became ill. We
have records of mayors along the colonies’ coastlines complaining
about the bodies that were washed ashore and which thereby
polluted their beaches.

10. 82 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
A portion of the slaves were treated humanely, but all were thrust
into a system which was totally degrading. They were stripped of
rights and were subject to increasingly punitive laws and regulations.
They had no input on those laws and no voice on their own future.
They were not considered to be people and were even rated as only
3/5 of a person in the U. S. constitution. They were property, a tool,
a thing to be used or neglected. A body claimed by an owner.
Treatment of Slaves
Families were separated, like cattle at an auction barn. Persons
worked until they dropped ~ literally. Slaves were whipped,
branded, castrated and otherwise humiliated, for punishment.
Laborers who died in the heat were ‘mourned’ by the owner as an
economic loss. Children were not taught to read, lest they get
‘uppity’.
For slaves who got too uppity, communities sometimes provided a
‘Work House.’ Here, for a 25 cent fee, a civil employee provided a
beating of the noncompliant slave. Hiring someone else to do the
beating was a way for the owner to avoid being splattered by the
slave’s blood. Severe beating was the rule, cutting deeply enough
that flesh would putrefy and create an odor so strong and pervasive
that no one could stand to be near the person.
Slave-holding is a horrible part of our nation’s history and that
piece of history continues to be one face of racism.
The ratio of African to
European population in southern
colonies was often three Africans
to one European. Owners had a
great fear that they could be
overcome by an uprising of the
slaves. Several rebellions were
attempted. The bloodiest slave
revolt in the colonies was in 1739,
in the Carolinas.
At its strongest, the band of Negroes moving through the
countryside was about 100 men. They killed all the whites they

11. SETTLING IN 83
could find, sometimes beheading their victims and leaving the heads
on the front steps of the plantation home.
The militia was called and planters organized an impromptu army
while most of their families moved to town for protection. When the
white forces were able to overcome the revolt, some of the Negroes
were beheaded and their heads placed on fence posts along the road,
for all to see.
The Negro Act of South Carolina was one governmental response.
It raised the stakes on rebellion and set up a system of passes which
were required of all slaves who traveled away from the plantation. If
a master sent slaves to town for supplies he had to give them passes
authorizing them to be off of his property. 4-140
§
Perhaps the most shocking aspect to slavery was how “good”
citizens accepted it. One would expect more colonists to have been
like the Quakers or John Newton. Quakers were so repelled by all
that went with it, even when slaves were treated with respect, they
turned away from the practice, freed their slaves, and legislated
against the system which other owners felt was necessary for them to
be successful in business.
How could a ‘Christian’ gentleman include slaves in a will which
read “Including a worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to
bless me”?
Ball’s book is recent, the result of extensive investigation of his
white slave-owning ancestors, their African slaves, and the
descendants of both. As one might expect by accepted sexual
practices of that day, he is a distant relative of the present generation
descended from one family of slaves.
He visited with a young black woman whom he met in this
process, a ‘cousin’ who was also interested in exploring the strange
relationship, She said: “Maybe you can tell me. I mean, the
plantations. Who thought this thing up? Who said, ‘Okay, we’re
going to go to this continent, take a bunch of people, chain them up,
bring them over to this place, and make them work’? Who was
standing around and said, ‘Hey! That’s a great idea!’ ” 4-133
Kansas-Nebraska Act and Slavery

12. 84 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
The Missouri Compromise [1820] had declared the area that
became the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to be “free”. [The area
stretched to the Rockies and north to Canada.] The Kansas-
Nebraska Act in 1854 set up those two territories as “sovereign”
governmental units, free to choose for themselves whether to be
slave or free.
Those who study American history find this to be one of the most
fascinating and intense federal fights ever. Senator Stephen Douglas
[Illinois], for whom Douglas County, Nebraska was named, led the
fight. It was lengthy and bruising. Later he said “I could travel from
Boston to Chicago by the light of my own [burning] effigy.” 26-29
Stephen Douglas defended slavery. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
in the presidential campaign of 1860 centered on the system of
slavery. Lincoln was adamant in his opposition to slavery but, in
order to hold the union together, promised not to change the system
~ “right away” ~ an implied addition understood by all. The rebel
states knew what was coming if they did not secede.
However, Lincoln acknowledged the confusion of the times about
whether Negroes were “inferior” and felt a segregated society was
the solution. The Emancipation Proclamation, two years later, freed
only the slaves of the rebel states.
Again, it was clear, especially in the rebel states, where Lincoln
was headed. He intended to hold the union together and end slave-
holding. The K-N Act had weakened the Democrats in the north,
giving Lincoln an advantage in the 1859 debate and the election.
Thomas Johnson, a Methodist minister from Iowa, and Hadley D.
Johnson, a resident of Missouri, were the two men who were
informally elected to represent the unorganized territory in
Washington. The two men agreed to split the territory into what
became Kansas and Nebraska, and after extended negotiation both
consented to the 40th parallel as the dividing border. The tension
and debate was on how far north to push the border between the new
territories. Some argued for the Platte River, to give more room for
slavery. This point was aided by the nature of the Platte itself, which
was so broad and unstable it was exceedingly difficult to cross and
therefore was a natural barrier. The Iowa man protested to the Platte
choice, threatened a stalemate if the land across from Iowa was
‘slave.’ He won. The border went south.

13. SETTLING IN 85
The assumption of the compromise was that Kansas would vote
“Yes” to slave-holding, with a large number of new citizens from
Missouri, and Nebraska would vote “No” because new settlers
would have a northern orientation. The admission of California as a
free state in 1850 had upset the equal count thought to be assured in
the Missouri Compromise. Until the votes in Kansas and Nebraska
came, years later, the tension and friction was unrelenting. The
President had to send troops to quell the uproar in “Bleeding
Kansas.” At least it drew attention away from lesser conflicts in
Nebraska.
Senator Douglas wanted the Nebraska territory opened to enhance
the prospects of a northern route for a transcontinental rail line
[through Chicago]. Southern routes had been favored, largely for
climate reasons, until the Civil War. Then Council Bluffs strategists
and Douglas saw the opportunity to move the road out of the
rebellious south. Senator Douglas was leading a divided party and
sought a compromise “acceptable to all.”
§
Powerful cross purposes, expansionist politics and local ambition
combined to pass the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas accepted the
sovereignty argument to appease Missouri, a slave state, and to get
southern support for the bill. Northern congressmen heatedly and
bitterly attacked the bill as “a gross violation of a sacred pledge .... a
criminal betrayal of precious rights .... an atrocious plot [to make
Nebraska] a ‘dreary region of despotism, inhabited by masters and
slaves.’ ” 26-26
Slavery sympathizers opposed Omaha as the Capitol. They and
others were eventually successful in removing the capitol from
Omaha, to a location south of the Platte ~ an area which had even
tried to merge with Kansas after the K-N Act, in the hopes of
avoiding the stubborn anti-slavery mindset of Whig and [later]
Republican legislators north of the Platte.
“Popular sovereignty” was the shouting phrase used by pro-
slavery orators and it focused the national debate. The New York
Herald editorialized:
“The triumph of popular sovereignty over the
usurpation’s of congress .... is a substantial
declaration of congress that they have no power
over slavery, neither in the states nor in the

14. 86 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
territories, but that .... it is a subject which
belongs entirely to the people. This is the
constitutional doctrine and the constitution is a
rock upon which the country .... may securely
stand.” 72-46
Events Coming Out of Slavery Debate
The independent sovereign attitude encouraged free-wheeling
strategies on many other frontier subjects. “Sovereignty” was
designed to apply to the slave issue only, but squatters and venturers
applied it to all aspects of governance. The new Republican party
grew quickly, capitalizing on a curious combination of anti-federal
and anti-slavery sentiments. Early delegates to congress spent more
time defending their seats from agitators and divisive politicians than
working for Nebraska. 52-135
Upon approval of the K-N Act, allowing a state to vote on
slavery, anti-Nebraska meetings were held throughout the North.
Kansas extremists made it an ugly scene. The political uproar gave
additional support to the development of the Republican Party,
which became firmly anti-slavery.
“No sooner had the bill passed than population from the North
and the South flowed rapidly into the new Territories, each desirous
of getting control. The great battlefield of the pro-slavery men and
anti-slavery men was Kansas, and here for a few years the storm
raged fearfully. Aggressive thugs known as ‘border ruffians’ and
‘Jayhawkers’ reigned triumphant for awhile .
“The scenes that were acted and the outrages
committed upon the innocent and helpless during
these troubles beggar all description. A
Methodist minister, an eye-witness of some of
these outrages and atrocious crimes [told me what
he saw].
“The acts are too shameful and harrowing,
however, to place upon record. To shoot down, in
cold blood, helpless women and children, is an
awful crime. But to torture to death by slow and
the most infamous and cruel processes that human
ingenuity can invent is a thing too monstrous to be
described.” 14-133

15. SETTLING IN 87
A bill was introduced in the Nebraska Legislature to allow the
killing of “plunderers” [translation: Jayhawkers] without penalty. It
did not pass.
Ministers and churches from across the nation sent petitions to
Congress opposing the K-N bill. The most dramatic action after the
passage of the bill was by 3,050 New England ministers who
organized the New England Emigrant Aid Company to help anti-
slave advocates ‘emigrate’ to Kansas. Their astonishing objective
was accomplished, directly affecting the debate in the Kansas-
Nebraska territories. They recruited 1,500 citizens who would
relocate to Kansas, with the commitment to vote it a free state!
How did they accomplish such a venture? In July, 1855, the
ministers sent a “Circular of the Committee of Clergymen” to all
clergy in New England, urging life membership in the Aid Company
and support for its work on behalf of freedom and education.
“Religious enthusiasm became a powerful
motivating force in raising money for the
enterprise. Emotions ran high. To many the
divisive war which finally began in 1861 had
seemed an irrepressible conflict several years
before.” 28-37
“Months before passage of the K-N bill, hundreds of settlers
collected along the border to wait until settlement was legalized.
The number grew to more than twenty thousand.” 28-37
§
The Methodist Episcopal Bishop had to have a troop escort in
1856, to travel from Omaha to Topeka in order to conduct the
official business meeting of the Kansas and Nebraska churches. The
Methodists had come from a church split on slave holding, so these
leaders were unequivocally opposed to slavery. Bishop Osman
Baker presided with militia guarding one end of the tent and a
federal marshal at the other end, as members of the conference
restated their bold stand with plain-spoken words of their own:
“We declare that we are as much as ever
convinced of the great evil of slavery and ..... we
do most sincerely deplore its existence amongst us
as a Church, even in a limited extent, believing as
we do that it is a robbery both of God and Man.
‘All souls are mine,’ saith God [Ezek. xviii2].
Slavery virtually and practically denies this, by

16. 88 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
stealing, buying and selling, and claiming to own
the bodies and souls of men, women, and children.
“That it robs man of his manhood cannot be
consistently denied by those who are acquainted
with the facts connected with that system. The
slave is deprived of his freedom to will and to act
for himself either in reference to the common
pursuits of life, or that which appertains to his
intellectual, moral and religious well-being.
“Therefore, Resolved, that in the opinion and
judgment of this Conference no slaveholder
should hereafter be admitted to membership in the
M. E. Church, where the laws of the State allow
emancipation, without first executing deeds of
manumission in conformity to law; and those who
are already [members] and claiming property in
man should be required to take immediate steps for
the legal emancipation of all such slaves,
wherever and whenever the civil or common law
will permit the same to be done, or forfeit their
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.” 36
-146
§
The intense feeling spilled into the new Nebraska territory. There
were events to fuel the fire. At one point all three owners of the
major outfitter in Nebraska City owned slaves. On December 5,
1860, two slaves were offered for sale at public auction in that city.
There were fifteen slaves in the territory that year. 28-61 The first
governor of the Nebraska territory was unapologetically pro-slavery.
Another effect of the bill was little noticed in the passions of the
time. The K-N Act ended the policy of maintaining a permanent
Indian reservation on the plains and thus doomed the traditional
lifestyle of Native Americans living there. 26-27
Senator Douglas stated the K-N Act was “to serve notice on the
Secretary of War to discontinue using that territory as a dumping
ground for Indians.” The Senator’s regrettable distracting comment
came only ten years after “that territory” was promised to Indian
nations as their permanent home.
Homestead Act

17. SETTLING IN 89
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed persons to make legal and
easy claim to 160 acres of land on the frontier. By 1900 almost
69,000 people had acquired land in Nebraska under this Act. Plus,
many more tried and did not “prove up” on the land, usually in areas
of low rainfall where 160 acres was not an adequate base for a farm
operation.
Previous to the Homestead Act, land was claimed through the
Preemption Act of 1841. By this method a male or female head of
house, or a male citizen at least 21 years of age, could mark out a
claim. Claimants were limited to land not reserved for government
use or for new towns, or land with Indian claims that were unsettled,
or land with a spring. The act was complicated, providing for the
process to be followed when, for example, the claimant died before
title was granted.
Claimants were required to build a “12 by 14” structure on the
property. After a government survey, and when the land was
authorized for sale, the person would swear to have met these
conditions and could then purchase the land. Most of the early land
was obtained in this way since surveyors came well behind the first
settlers. 38-40
Without the protection of legal filing, others would come to
“claim” the same piece of land. As was illustrated in Chapter 1,
“claim jumpers” ranked well below horse thieves in local opinion
and would receive harsh treatment from Claim Clubs if they did not
leave quickly. Hickey reports finding much evidence of fraud in
preemption transactions. One fellow’s structure was 12 by 14
inches. 26-101
Qualifications under the Homestead Act were similar ~ head of
household or a citizen at least 21 ~ but were simpler. The claimant
could file for a quarter section of land [160 acres] for $10, and own it
simply by living on or cultivating the land for five years. The
“citizen” requirement could be met by applying for citizenship.
There was much fraud here also, but the Act placed settlers on one
third of the newly-acquired land. About 60% “proved up” and
eventually owned the land.
§
The Kincaid Act in 1904, sponsored by a Nebraska congressman,
authorized “proving up” on 640 acres, a more realistic size of farm

18. 90 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
or ranch for some areas of Nebraska. Other acts provided land
through development of timber, or in promotion of education.
In the first years, wherever track was laid down, the railroad
received every other square mile of a 40 mile wide strip as
reimbursement for its investment. The Union Pacific received nearly
five million acres in Nebraska by this agreement.
It was a good deal for the government, as well as the railroad.
The alternate sections became more valuable with a railroad nearby,
plus the towns formed along the line. The total investment of the
Union Pacific exceeded the value of the land and the loans. Many
farms were purchased in this strip, and of course most of the towns
were developed by the railroads, to provide a market base.
Veterans had the right to “military land warrants,” which
speculators would buy from needy soldiers and sell at a high profit.
This also gave the dealers the chance to charge 40 to 60% interest,
which often meant that the settler could not meet payments and the
land merchant received it back and found another victim. 52-9
Territorial Legislature
The shenanigans of the legislature for the Nebraska territory is
another major piece for our picture of the setting in which those first
congregations were attempting to be in ministry. “Zoo” would be a
polite term for some of the legislative sessions. The pastors had
other words as they expressed dismay that they had come to a place
“beyond civilization.” The legislators had much more descriptive
terms for each other: liar, thief, hypocrite, rascal, wolf in sheep’s
clothing, scoundrel, coward ~ are the ones that can be printed.
Elections were stolen by reporting false figures from a remote
community. It took so long to receive an accurate count that one
time both candidates for congress were in Washington, ready to be
seated, before the count was verified.
The governor of a territory was appointed by the President, so was
an “outsider” from the beginning. With severely limited means of
communication in the early years, the President was considered
distant. Legislative actions did not require approval on a federal
level. All of this, combined with frontier attitudes, resulted in a high
spirit of independence

19. SETTLING IN 91
man
Manipulation of public discussion was practiced from the
beginning. Bellevue built a building for the legislature before the
first governor arrived, in order to settle the capital issue before it
could be debated. Cuming, the second governor, assigned more
representatives to the area north of the Platte [his party], though
twice as many people lived south of the Platte [according to his own
census].
The major point worthy of all the fights: where to locate the
capitol. The first governor, appointed from South Carolina, was ill
following the long trip. Governor Burt went to the home of Father
Hamilton in Bellevue for care, where he died two weeks later.
Common understanding was that he planned to convene the
legislature in Bellevue and that city then would have the inside
chance at being a permanent location. Pastor Hamilton turned down
a local offer of $25,000 to purchase Presbyterian land in Bellevue for
the new capitol, so the church was in the process early. [A gift of
land owned by the Methodist Mission Board was an essential part of
the later decision to locate the state capitol in Lincoln.]

20. 92 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
woman
Acting Governor Cumings convened the legislature in Omaha,
whose enterprising citizens had quickly constructed an appropriate
building ~ brick, no less, 34 X 75 foot ~ to attract such an important
body. The Bellevue Paladium found it to be too small and added:
“We were struck with the singularity of taste
displayed in the curtain furniture of the
different rooms, which consisted of two folds of
plain calico, the one green and the other red,
which we took to be symbolic of jealousy and war ~
which monsters, we fear, will make their
appearance before right is enthroned and peace
established.” 38-13
The officials were probably pleased to have any cloth at all.
Again, the curious reader can find hilarious accounts of how the
legislature did business. There are several blow-by-blow
descriptions with “He said .... and then he said” details. The fight
over location so dominated the legislature that they did not have time
to debate a civil and criminal code for the territory. They simply
adopted Iowa’s, in toto! 52-87
§

21. SETTLING IN 93
The Nebraska Territory had two official bodies: the Council, 13
members, and the Legislature, with 39 members. The legislature
was an especially loud, angry assembly. The vote to organize, with
certification of delegates and declaration of the first organization by
the governor, was done in 30 minutes. The quick action was planned
to outmaneuver citizens waiting in the hallways, dressed in Indian
robes and intending to put on a ‘savage’ act to dramatize their
opinions about the governor.
In short form, a few examples can catch a bit of the feeling ~ and
confusion. Persons would bribe the legislators. On the floor. While
in session. A typical bribe was ‘scrip’ ~ pieces of paper which cost
nothing but which would give title to a lot in a new town. Which
town would exist [Eureka!] IF the legislature voted to locate the
capital there. Sometimes no location was precisely defined. “Vote
our way and you could be worth $5,000!”
Throw into this strange mix that most of the legislators did not
live in the territory. The Nebraska delegate convention in January,
1854, was held in St. Joseph, Missouri. 52-52 In the minutes of the
legislature we can read “Mr. Richardson of Michigan….” The
‘representatives’ presumably had met the residence requirement,
which was to sleep within the district one night. With a chuckle, we
wonder if sleeping one night was preferred to working one day on
the district.
Most had not met their constituents. Some did not have any
constituents and found humor in saying, “I am here to represent my
constituents.” Most of them were there to represent land-
development interests.
The first council had members from Tennessee, Maine [2], New
York [4], Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky, Virginia ~
and one from Nebraska [Florence]. One Nebraska legislator, during
a legislativebreak time, came very close to winning a seat in the
Kansas legislature at the same time.
Glenwood Iowa had so many
representatives in the Nebraska
legislature that they called a town
meeting to reprimand “their” six men
who had voted with Omaha instead
of one of the other fine choices.

22. 94 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
[Every town in Nebraska had some
hopes of becoming the capital.] The
townspeople were agitating for
Plattsmouth, or as a second choice,
Bellevue, so the capital would be
directly across the river.
Glenwood would then have a better chance of getting a river
bridge and possibly the great advantage of the proposed
transcontinental railroad coming through town. 72-80 Humor note:
140 years later, Glenwood residents renewed their plea for a bridge.
§
Germans had control of politics and decisions in the early years.
The minutes of the first state legislature were published in both
English and German. Swedish residents were next in strength. [The
great influx of new immigrants, twenty years later, and the emotions
surrounding World War I brought the Germans down to a persecuted
group sixty-five years into Omaha’s history.]
Shouting and acrimonious debate were common. Parliamentary
delay, with an early adjournment, prevented serious discussion and
provided opportunity to spread out to the bars. The Chair, after one
such ‘lunch’ break, offered to recognize anyone sober enough to
claim the floor. The response was more confusion.
Once in a while it was fisticuffs. Hanscom, who would rather
fight than talk, and he loved to talk, in one session was ordered off
the floor by the Speaker. [He was not a member at that point.]
Hanscom defied the Sergeant-at-arms to come near him and was not
removed.
On another occasion, the Speaker, a small man, tried to physically
take back his chair from the Speaker Pro Tem, [who had gained the
chair through trickery], so that he could entertain a motion to move
the capitol out of Omaha. A fight broke out and he was flat on the
floor of the chamber in the brawl, getting the worst of it. Hanscom
was too busy handing out bruises to protect the poor fellow, so he
grabbed the man by his collar and belt and threw him under a low
table for protection ~ and to keep him out of the chair.
Omahans were not shy or stingy about bribes. They dug in their
pockets to pay for town lots which could be given to the legislators

23. SETTLING IN 95
in return for votes. The operative word was “inducements,”
according to General Estabrook, the Attorney General.
One leading legislator had received 1/12 of the half mile wide
strip of land added to the city, to be used for this purpose, but in an
expansive private moment [drunk] he said he would not vote for
Omaha. The word got around. An Omaha official who was in
charge of distributing scrips asked the man for his collection of scrip
so that the secretary could number the pieces of paper, as, “The
operators had neglected to do that after printing them.” The man
gave them over for this purpose and of course did not see them
again. 72-78
Another legislator, friendly to Omaha, was given scrip for several
lots, which he was to use for inducement with resistant “doubtful”
members. He kept them all. He later said he was the most doubtful
man he knew. 72- 79
One representative, from Florence [which was also vying for the
capital], gave his critical vote to Omaha in exchange for the right to
locate the capital site. When the time came, the promise was kept
and he drove a stake near 60 lots he owned in Omaha. His stake
located the capitol and, by that action, the site of the future Central
High School. He then was able to sell his lots for $60 each.
Omaha played other games. Omaha did not transfer the land to
the territory, so that Omaha owned the capitol and even used it as
collateral for a local bond issue. That added considerable fuel to the
legislative fires in future years. 8-57
§
“Some men carried the art of winking to the highest perfection.”
[Herald] Friends of the presiding officer winked to get the floor.
The Speaker told negative types to sit down or be knocked down
[while others were winking]. It worked. 72-81
The following year, the Democrat leaders who were in opposition
to Omaha brought forth a sweet-talking resolution about Governor
Izard, whom they despised. The hope was to get him to go to
Washington on a mission while they voted the capital to another
location. The lieutenant governor was ready to sign the resolution if
the governor was out of town. Someone had to explain to the naive
governor that the legislators did not mean the nice things they said.

24. 96 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
He liked the resolution anyway [wanted to hear more of it!] and it
passed. But he stayed in town.
§
The next year the opposition created an imaginary town to be
located somewhere in Lancaster County. [Actually, two groups had
indefinite locations, which helped to cause the plan to fall apart
when the filibuster was on.] They gave out scrip to the lots in the
proposed towns and won the vote of all except the eight Omaha
legislators. They could over-ride the expected veto. The group
demanded $20,000 in cash from the Omaha delegation to change the
vote. One man was so frightened in the turmoil he asked for $5,000,
in exchange for which he would go home. 72-91 Omaha delegates
thought he could go home for free.
Omaha stalled, filibustered, picked at the minutes from the
preceding day, pointed out the expense to all of building another
capital [and the loss of value in the lots some of them had been given
in the original deal] ~ until the coalition began to crack.
The governor’s veto of the bill to move the capitol held. He
presented a reasonable statement on the deficits of the bill: people
have not had a say, a building is in progress, no other funds are in
sight, present population is served well from an Omaha location, the
proposed town has no site, and the change of location of the capital
city requires the consent of the governor.
At one point, a convention of representatives from south of the
Platte met at Brownville and voted to secede from Nebraska and
merge with Kansas. The Kansas border would be brought up to the
Platte river, which they felt would provide a more welcoming
climate for pro-slavery sentiment. Kansas said NO.
§
A ‘sometimes’ preacher double-crossed Hanscom and came to
regret it. The minister promised Hanscom that if he were seated in a
debatable situation, he would vote for Omaha in the contested
situation. In further exchange, he would appreciate being appointed
the chaplain of the legislature so he could pray for the body each
day. Hanscom agreed and the man was seated.
A few days later, the preacher met Hanscom on the street and
stuttered out a retraction. He now had ‘circumstances’ which would
make it impossible for him to vote for Omaha. [Someone offered a

25. SETTLING IN 97
better deal.] Mr. Hanscom had lost a vote and his famous temper
flared. He declared the man to be “a ___ ___ infernal lying old
hypocrite!”
“Those are hard words, my dear Mr. Hanscom, but ~”
“I reiterate it, that you are an infernal lying old hypocrite. You’re
a wolf in sheep’s clothing....”
He declared that the man would do no praying for the legislature.
If praying was needed, “I’ll do it myself. That’s the kind of man I
am.” Hanscom made it stick. The Omaha legislators kept life in the
legislative chambers so uncomfortable for the minister that he did
not run again. 72-81
As a part of one of these fights, a majority of the legislators
picked up their marbles and journeyed to Florence [two hours trip!]
to continue business. They said it was for safety. The governor
ordered them back, saying nothing they did would be recognized as
official and they would not be paid while away. He ventured the
thought that they did not have to worry about personal safety.
The year previous, the ‘South Platte’ representatives asked
Governor Izard for 300 militia to protect them against the Omaha
crowd. Izard was a weak governor, whom they privately referred to
as “Grandmother.” He reminded them the ‘Omaha crowd’ consisted
of only eight persons, and added his personal guarantee of their
safety: “Behave yourselves, and your ‘grandmother’ will protect
you.” 72-91
The first three sessions of the legislature were this kind of turmoil,
with a new plot each year. The Democrats, who tended to be pro-
slavery, were strongest in the territory south of the Platte. The
representatives of Omaha, who lived north of the Platte and were the
budding Republican group, were usually anti-slavery. Bellevue,
Plattsmouth, Nebraska City Brownville and Florence each felt they
had a stronger case to be the capital, which added fuel to the
dissension. They finally ragged the subject dry.
§
When Nebraska became a state Omaha no longer needed the
capitol and all who were involved quickly agreed that it should be
south of the Platte. With better overland transportation now
available, the capitol building could be constructed away from the
river. However, the rancor of the long fight was not forgotten.

26. 98 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
The new capital city nearly lost its new status. The Lincoln
promoters had a deadline of January 1, 1869, to be ready for the
legislative sessions or risk losing it all. They advertised for
drawings. Only one response came, from Chicago. They accepted
those plans and advertised for bids. Again, one bid came, from out
of state. The leaders did not trust Omaha, so they mixed the state
funds in with their personal accounts. The new state governor was
impeached as a result.
The shabby building lasted only fourteen years. But it was there
on time!
§
Descriptions of a reception for Governor Izard provide humor as
well as another quick look at local color. The plain room of a small
hotel on a very cold winter night provided the “theatre of a scene
perhaps the most ludicrous that was ever witnessed in the history of
public receptions.”
Dr. Miller, writing for the Herald several years later [1867],
continued: “Izard was a stately character physically, mentally rather
weak, and accordingly felt a lively sense of the dignity with which
the appointment had clothed him. He had never known such an
honor before and it bore upon him heavily.”
So the legislature and community leaders humored him with the
best “Executive Ball” the primitive village could muster. All nine
ladies in town came in their finest, which the locals said was an
amazing sight. The room was poorly heated in the extreme cold, so
fresh mud plaster on the walls had frozen. Water seeping from the
green cottonwood floorboards had turned to ice. The imported
music for the grand occasion was a fiddler from Council Bluffs,
squeezed into one corner. Several persons fell as they tried to dance
on the very rough icy floor.
The governor made his appropriate remarks and, at 11 p. m., they
had the executive ball dinner. The main items: dried apple pie,
sandwiches of a “somewhat peculiar size” made of a “singular
mixture of bread of radical complexion” [they were brown bread and
bacon], and coffee with brown sugar, no milk. 72-82 ff.
The gentle reader does not want to know all the shenanigans of
vote fraud, clever deals, fights and threats that took place in other

27. SETTLING IN 99
parts of Nebraska’s government in this period. If someone is curious
the record is there. 72-138, ff.
The Responses of Congregations
So, you are pastor ~ or elder or deacon ~ in this time and setting.
How do you finance your project? You formulate your pitch for a
‘grant’ from congregations ‘back east,’ using all the arguments of the
previous pages: we can help fight slavery, we will get a railroad, we
have settlers enough for the entire territory ~ and Omaha is in the
right spot to be the distribution and collection center for the whole
thing. If you want a good investment, send money.
They sent money. Plus people and leaders. Well over 100
congregations were organized in Omaha in the next 35 years, and
ninety survived in 1890. Resources, as always, were inadequate.
The commitment of leaders was exceptional.
We have many stories of deep appreciation for congregations
back east who selected a specific pastor’s family for support. The
supporting churches would, for example, send a large steamer trunk
at Christmas, filled with necessary clothing items for each family
member, plus a special gift for each child ~ items simply not
available to a prairie family. “The thought counts” even more when
your eastern support congregation is working to provide love and
care to a family living in the isolation of the frontier.
A much lower percentage of pioneers were interested in
Christianity than is the case today. After a few decades, church
membership grew to about 10% of the population. The risks were
great and the guarantees non-existent. But the eastern churches
poured leaders and money into ministry for the people. A single
denomination established more churches in Nebraska than there are
post offices.
Religious influence in those first years was more an expression of
faith than of reality. However, the next chapter will illustrate the
remarkable witness and growing influence of religious-minded
citizens.

28. 100 OMAHA BLOSSOMS
church with lamp post
§
A Nebraska pastor’s wife made the story of that support personal.
Years later, she remembered her anxiety as her husband faithfully
made the rounds, responding to every kind of pioneer crisis. She
tried to make a warm and welcoming home for them and their two
children, while keeping everyone’s spirit up.
The breaking point came in a Christmas week. Her family did not
have enough warm clothing for the winter and food was meager.
The members of the parish shared what they had, but they were also
desperately poor following a drought year.
The day before Christmas she “lost it.” Her husband was gone to
help a pioneer family a day’s journey away and when he arrived
home he would be tired and discouraged. She knew he would be
unable to help his family in their need.
She remembered telling God off in plain fashion. “God, I
promised to be faithful and you promised to provide what we need. I
kept my promise but you broke yours. Tomorrow is Christmas. I
have only dry bread to offer my family in celebration of the birth of
our Lord. I have nothing for a gift for my children ~ not even a

29. SETTLING IN 101
piece of paper ~ and I know when he comes home my husband will
not lift his eyes to look at me in our wretched condition.”
That afternoon, a member stopped by to tell her that a trunk had
arrived at the rail station. He would fetch it. By the time he brought
the trunk to their home her husband had arrived, as weary and
disheartened as she had expected.
But the trunk! It was carefully packed by their support
congregation back east, who knew their family. The couple could
not hold back the tears of relief as they held up winter coats for each
person, new underwear and winter clothing, and cloth to make what
may have been missed.
At the bottom of the trunk was a pair of ice skates for each child ~
the special gift. She could not celebrate the gifts until she went to a
side room, in prayer to God, to ask forgiveness for her loss of faith
and her anger.
Then they had Christmas.