(153) WHEN the county was organized in June, 1871, it was of course entirely without funds, and no taxes were collected until the spring of 1872. The board of commissioners therefore had to run the county in debt for a set of books for the use of the county officials. As mentioned in a previous chapter a full set of county books was not purchased but only such as were of prime necessity. It cost something, too, to pay the fees and salaries of the several county officials and to keep up the running expenses of the county offices. Taxes came in very slowly and by July, 1875, there was a floating indebtedness against the county amounting to about eight thousand dollars. This was not caused by waste or extravagance on the part of the county board, but chiefly because the taxes due the county were unpaid. The personal taxes generally were paid up quite promptly, but the real estate taxes were nearly all delinquent. The taxes on the Burlington and Missouri Railroad lands, of which there were 57,526 acres, were wholly unpaid, and the taxes on the 32,800 acres of state lands, which had by this time passed into the hands of non-resident parties, were also mostly delinquent. These land taxes constituted more than two-thirds of the entire revenue of the county, and being unpaid crippled the county's finances badly. The county board therefore decided to issue bonds to fund the floating debt of the county. At a meeting of the (154) county board held July 5, 1875, the following action was taken:

     "Upon consideration it is hereby ordered that bonds be prepared for the purpose of funding the indebtedness of Antelope County, Nebraska, according to an act of the legislature of the State of Nebraska, entitled 'An Act to authorize the commissioners of the counties of Colfax, Platte, Boone, Antelope, Howard, Greeley, and Sherman, Nebraska, to issue bonds for the purpose of funding the warrants and orders of said counties. Approved February 18, 1875."

     It was decided by the board to issue at first bonds to the amount of five thousand dollars, these to be dated July 1, 1875, and to draw interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum. This amount proving insufficient, an additional issue of three thousand dollars was ordered May 6, 1876, to be dated the same as the first issue, but from which the first coupons were to be detached before the bonds were sold. These are the only bonds ever issued by Antelope County.

     In the early summer of 1879 it became evident that the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad, which was already completed to Norfolk, would continue on up the valley through Antelope County. Both Neligh and Oakdale were anxious to get the road. The road could easily miss one of these two places, but could not so easily miss them both. The railroad company could, however, if it chose, ignore both the towns and purchase townsites of its own. The railroad officials caused it to be given out that bonds might be voted, in which case the location for the depots could be designated by the people. Acting on this suggestion a petition was presented to the county board by I. N. Taylor and others, asking that an election be called to vote bonds in Twin Grove precinct to the amount of ten thousand dollars, said bonds to run twenty years at seven per cent, annual interest. The petition was granted and the election ordered for October 3, 1879. The railroad company agreed on its part to construct the (155) line to Oakdale by July 1, 1880, and to establish and maintain a depot at that place, and also to construct and maintain a depot at the east line of Antelope County. The bonds carried as follows:

     The board of commissioners examined the newly constructed railroad March 3, 1880, and reported that the road was completed to the county line December 1, 1879, and to Oakdale December 7, 1879, and that the cars were running to Oakdale on that date, and that all conditions of the contract had been complied with.

     November 6, 1879, B. R. Barnes and others presented a petition to the county board praying for the calling of a special election in Center precinct to vote bonds of said precinct to the amount of seven thousand dollars to the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad to build to Neligh. The election was held December 6, 1879, and resulted as follows:

     The road having been completed to Neligh, the county board inspected it October 6, 1880, and reported that the road was built to Neligh, and the depot completed and the cars running to that point prior to August 1, 1880. The building of the railroad west from Neligh was continued without interruption, but Neligh remained the end of the passenger division for about ten months. On May 31, 1881, the first passenger train passed through Clearwater on its way to O'Neill, and returned the next morning, June 1.

     During the summer and fall of 1882 that branch of the railroad running northwest from Norfolk was completed to Creighton, in Knox County. This branch passed through Bazile township and gave railroad facilities to the (156) settlers in all the northeastern part of the county. No depot was established in Antelope County, but one was placed at Plainview, about two miles east, and another at Creighton, about two miles north of the county line.

     The coming of the railroad gave a great impetus to the settling up of the county. As shown in Chapter XXVII there was little material increase in the population of the county for the four years from 1874 to 1878, the actual gain being only about fourteen per cent. In the year 1878 there was quite an addition to the immigration, and it was still greater in 1879, and continued to be large for a number of years, or until the government land was practically all taken. The increase for the five years from 1878 to 1883 was about 294 per cent.

     The railroad company having established a depot on their line of road at the east line of the county in accordance with a contract entered into with Twin Grove precinct, proceeded in October, 1880, to survey and plat the town of Burnett. This was located on the southwest quarter of section 18 and the northwest quarter of section 19, township 24, range 4, Madison County, and the southeast quarter of section 13 and the northeast quarter of section 24 in Burnett township, Antelope County, the depot being in Antelope County, but the principal part of the village in Madison County. The name of the village of Burnett was afterwards changed to Tilden, because of its similarity in name to Bennett, in Lancaster County, this similarity causing some confusion in distributing the mails. Another townsite was surveyed and platted by the railroad company in October, 1881. This was named Clearwater, and was located on the northeast quarter of section 1 in Clearwater township, thus giving Antelope County four depots within the county lines.

     At a meeting of the board of commissioners held June 27, 1881, the board having under consideration the petition of J. F. Hecht and others praying for the incorporation of the village of Neligh, it was ordered that the petition be granted and that the village of Neligh be incorporated.  (157) The following trustees were appointed: W. E. Adams, H. B. Hauser, J. J. Roche, N. Burr, William Lawrence.

     On the 31st of December, 1881, a petition signed by D. A. Holmes and others was presented to the board of commissioners, praying for the incorporation of the village of Oakdale. The petition was acted on favorably and the following were appointed trustees: F. H. Green, W. S. Smith, M. W. King, Robert Wilson, and D. E. Beckwith.

     It was related in Chapter XXV that the county was divided into five precincts on July 6, 1876, by the action of the county board. These precincts were called Twin Grove, Elm Grove, Cedar, Center, and Mills. This arrangement continued until August 4, 1877, when Sherman precinct was formed out of the northern part of Mills and part of Center, consisting of all the present townships of Royal, Verdigris, and Sherman and the north one-half of Garfield. This made six precincts in all. This continued until April 1, 1879, when Bazile precinct was established. It was formed out of the northern part of Elm Grove, and consisted of the north one-half of the present township of Crawford and all of Bazile. December 15, 1880, Willow precinct was added to the list. Willow was composed of the south one-half of the present township of Crawford, all of Willow, the east one-third of Custer, and sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36 of Ellsworth township, thus making eight precincts in all. This arrangement continued until January 11, 1882, when another precinct was added, called Clay Ridge. This precinct was in the southwestern part of the county and consisted of the south two-thirds of the present township of Stanton, all of Lincoln, the west one-third of Logan, and sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32 of Elgin, making in all, at this last date, nine precincts named as follows: Twin Grove, Elm Grove, Willow, Bazile, Cedar, Center, Clay Ridge, Mills, and Sherman.

     All parts of the county were now settled and although there was still a good deal of government land left, the new arrivals of immigrants were taking it up rapidly. The board of commissioners, therefore, thought best to (158) redistrict the entire county. This was done August 15, 1883, and seventeen precincts were formed, described as follows:

     Burnett --The east two-thirds of the present townships of Grant and Burnett.

     Elm Grove -- All the present township of Elm and the east one-third of Neligh.

     Willow -- All the present township of Willow and south one-half of Crawford and the east one-third of Custer.

     Bazile -- All the present township of Bazile and the north one-half of Crawford.

     Twin Grove -- West one-third of the present townships of Grant and Burnett and east one-third of Oakdale and Cedar.

     Cedar -- West two-thirds of the present township of Cedar and east two-thirds of Logan.

     Harmony -- West two-thirds of the present township of Oakdale and east two-thirds of Elgin.

     Center -- West two-thirds of the present township of Neligh and east two-thirds of Ord.

     Custer -- West two-thirds of the present township of Custer and east two-thirds of Blaine.

     Gurney -- Same as the present township of Ellsworth.

     Eden -- Same as the present township of Eden.

     Royal -- Same as the present township of Royal.

     Verdigris -- Same as the present township of Verdigris.

     Clay Ridge -- All the present township of Lincoln, the south two-thirds of Stanton, the west one-third of Logan, and sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32 in Elgin.

     Mills -- All the present township of Clearwater, the north one-third of Stanton, the west one-third of Ord, and sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Elgin.

     Frenchtown -- All the present township of Frenchtown, the south one-half of Garfield, and west one-third of Blaine.

     Sherman -- All the present township of Sherman and the north one-half of Garfield.

     
     After this no changes were made in the precinct lines until the 16th day of August, 1886, when the county was redistricted as at present, by making each congressional township a precinct.