1889 HISTORY OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

     (25) In 1673 the domain of modern Nebraska was claimed by Spain. It was a part of the great Northwest Territory, then but dimly known or appreciated. In 1683 LaSalle claimed this region in the name of the king of France. In 1762 the French formally relinquished Louisiana to Spain; but it was receded to France in 1800, and Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States, a master stroke of good policy on the part of the great Frenchman, and an act which alone would serve as a foundation for the fame of Thomas Jefferson. The sale was ratified by the United States October 31, 1803. The formal transfer was made December 20, 1803. On the 26th of March, 1804, Congress divided the territory into two sections, the southern portion being named "The Territory of Orleans," and the northern, "The District of Louisiana." Nebraska was included in the District of Louisiana, as was the domain lying west of the Mississippi, north of Louisiana, as far west as claimed by the United States, including Minnesota. This magnificent territory, of 1,122,975 square miles, was organized as the "Territory of Louisiana," under an act of Congress passed March 3, 1805. St. Louis was made the capital, and President Jefferson promptly selected General James Wilkinson for Governor, and Frederick Bates for Secretary. These two officials, together with Judges R. J. Meigs and John B. C. Lucas, of the Supreme Court, were given legislative control of the great Territory.

     Great Britain looked with resentful eye upon the success of the United States in getting possession of the splendid Louisiana domain. She had expected to wrest it from Napoleon, but by a swift stroke of diplomacy he placed it beyond her reach. But it was not her intention to give up the great advantages offered by the possession of at least a portion of Louisiana, and she only awaited the time when (26) relief from continental war should enable her to recover the lost advantage. Thomas Jefferson knew this, and with masterly decision and genius he proceeded to do all that lay in his power to seize upon the fullest possible interpretation of the stipulations with Bonaparte. To that end he set up a government under General Wilkinson, as related. He at once organized an expedition under the command of Captains Merriweather Lewis and William Clarke, known as the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, to go into this unexplored region byway of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, in order to claim portions of the territory by virtue of discovery, to estimate its resources, and find a short and practicable route to the Pacific ocean. This party of forty-three men left the Mississippi one mile below the mouth of the Missouri river on Monday, May 14,1804. On the 21st of July the expedition camped at the month of the Platte river, and the next day stopped near Bellevue. On the 2d of August, a council with chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri Indians of the Platte country was held, on the site of Fort Calhoun, in Washington county.

     The party proceeded northward, stopping near the mouth of the Niobrara river, on Nebraska soil for the last time until its return, in 1806, after having made its way through a trackless wilderness for over four thousand miles, in going and returning.

     The first permanent settlement upon the present territory of Nebraska was made by the American Fur Company, at Bellevue, in 1810, under the leadership of Col. Peter A. Sarpy, a shrewd, bold, and enterprising Frenchman. In 1842 John C. Fremont made a path across the Territory, up the Platte valley, and in 1847 the Mormons widened the trail in finding their way to the "promised land." About 1850 the great rush to the California gold fields opened the great highway across Nebraska never to be discontinued, and exhibited the splendid possibilities of the "Platte country" to a class of men who did not fail to let the light of Nebraska's great natural resources, which they had seen, shine before the Eastern States in after years, when the craze for the golden West had subsided. In 1847 the Presbyterian church established a mission at Bellevue. In 1848 Fort Kearney was planted by the Government, on the present site of Nebraska City, but was afterward removed to Kearney County, taking the name of Fort Childs, but later the name of Fort Kearney.

     Congress made an effort to organize a Territory west of Iowa and (27) Missouri in 1851-2, which failed, owing to the clash of party zeal for and against the spread of slavery.

     In 1852-3 a bill was introduced to create "Platte Territory," comprising all of the present domain of Kansas and all of Nebraska south of the Platte River. This bill went to the House Committee on Territories which reported a bill creating the same domain into Nebraska Territory. The people of Iowa were anxious to have the new Territory directly west of their border, and to that end such of them as were interested in having a good field for schemes of emigration, sent Hadley D. Johnson, of Council Bluffs, to Washington to induce Congress to readjust the boundaries of the proposed Territory. Through his zealous activity two Territories were recommended by the committee instead of one, in the famous Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which developed such a bitter war between the slavery and anti-slavery parties, in Congress and out.

     Finally, Nebraska was organized as a Territory on May 30, 1854, with an area of 351,558 square miles. It reached from the 40th parallel of north latitude to the present boundary of the British possessions, and from the Missouri river westward to the summit of the Rocky mountains. On February 28, 1861, 16,035 square miles were cut off to be attached to Colorado, and on March 2, 1861, 228,907 square miles were set apart for Dakota. Finally, on March 3, 1863, another slice was taken off to form Idaho Territory. This was the final change in the area of Nebraska Territory, and consisted of 45,999 square miles.

     President Franklin Pierce appointed as officers for the new Territory, the following: For Governor, Francis Burt, of South Carolina; for Secretary, Thomas B. Cuming, of Iowa; for Chief Justice, Fenner Furguson, of Michigan; and for Associate Justices, James Bradley, of Indiana, and Edward R. Harden of Georgia; for Marshal, Mark W. Izard, of Arkansas; and for Attorney, Experience Estabrook, of Wisconsin.

     Governor Burt readied Bellevue, the Territorial capital, October 7, 1854. He took the oath of office on October 16th, and died there October 18, 1854. Secretary Cuming became the acting Governor.

     The Territory was divided into the eight counties of Burt, Washington, Dodge, Douglas, Cass, Pierce, Forney, and Richardson. One or more voting precincts were established in each of these counties.

     (28) An enumeration of the Territorial inhabitants was made in October, 1854, for Legislative representation. According to this, each county was entitled to one Councilman, except Douglas, which was entitled to four, and Pierce, which had three. Burt, Washington, Dodge, Forney, and Richardson, each had two Representatives. Douglas had eight, Cass three, and Pierce five. The first general election took place on December 12, 1854, and the first Legislature met at Omaha, whence the capital had been removed, on January 16, 1855. This pioneer body was composed of the following-named gentlemen:

RICHARDSON COUNTY -- J. L. Sharp, President.
BURT COUNTY -- B. R. Folsom.
WASHINGTON COUNTY -- J. C. Mitchell.
DODGE COUNTY -- M. H. Clark.
DOUGLAS COUNTY -- T. G. Goodwill, A. D. Jones, O. D. Richardson, S. E. Rogers.
CASS COUNTY -- Luke Nuckolls.
PIERCE COUNTY -- A. H. Bradford, H. P. Bennett, C. H. Cowles. 
FORNEY COUNTY -- Richard Brown.
OFFICERS OF THE COUNCIL -- Dr. G. L. Miller, of Omaha Chief Clerk; O. F. Lake, of Brownville, Assistant Clerk; S. A. Lewis, of Omaha, Sergant-at-Arms; N. R. Folsom, Tekamah, Doorkeeper.

DOUGLAS COUNTY -- A. J. Hanscom, Speaker; W. N. Byers, William Clancy, F. Davidson, Thomas Davis, A. D. Goyer, A. J. Poppleton, and Robert Whitted.
BURT COUNTY -- J. B. Robertson, A. C. Purple.
WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A. Archer, A. J. Smith.
DODGE COUNTY -- E. R. Doyle, J. W. Richardson.
CASS COUNTY -- J. M. Latham, William Kempton, J. D. H. Thompson.
PIERCE COUNTY -- G. Bennet, J. H. Cowles, J. H. Decker, W. H. Hail, and William Maddox.
FORNEY COUNTY -- W. A. Finney, J. M. Wood.
RICHARDSON COUNTY -- D. M. Johnston, J. A. Singleton.
OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE -- J. W. Paddock, Chief Clerk; (29) G. L. Eayre, Assistant Clerk; J. L. Gibbs, Sergeant-at-Arms; B. B. Thompson, Doorkeeper.

     Napoleon B. Gidding was elected delegate to Congress at the same election that the Legislature was chosen.

     The several counties were divided into three Judicial Districts.

     A capitol building was completed in Omaha in January, 1858.

     Mark W. Izard was appointed Governor in February, 1855, and William A. Richardson in April, 1857, who resigned in 1858. J. Sterling Morton was then Secretary, and became the acting Governor until the appointment of Samuel Black, in 1856. He closed the line of Democratic Governors for Nebraska, and was succeeded by Alvin Saunders, of Mt. Pleasant, lowa, who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln, in 1861. Governor Saunders was succeeded by David Butler, in 1867, when Nebraska became a State.

     The question of organizing a State government was voted on in March, 1860, and the people rejected the proposition to erect a State, by a vote of 1,987 to 1,877. Congress passed the enabling act in 1864 for the admission of Nebraska. The Territorial Legislature framed a constitution in 1866, which was ratified at an election held on June 21st of the same year. Congress passed an admission act July 28th, which was vetoed by Andrew Johnson, who vetoed a similar bill in January, 1867; but it was passed over his veto on February 8th and 9th. There was one condition to this act: Nebraska must assent to "no denial of the elective franchise, or any other right, to any person by reason of race or color." The Legislature promptly ratified this condition on February 20th, and President Johnson proclaimed this compliance on March 1, 1867.

     As soon as the State was admitted, the Legislature decided to remove the capital from Omaha, which was accomplished by commissioners, in October,1867. A small hamlet named Lancaster, in Lancaster county, was chosen by the commissioners and approved by the Legislature. The new capital was named Lincoln, after Abraham Lincoln.

     David Butler had been elected Governor of the proposed new State in 1866, and now entered upon his duties as the first Governor of the state. He was re-elected October 8, 1868, and October 13, 1870, but was impeached and removed from office on June, 2, 1871, and (30) Secretary William H. James acted as Governor until after the regular election of 1872. Robert W. Furnas was then elected Governor, and installed on January 13, 1873. He was succeeded in 1875 by Silas Garber, who was re-elected, and served until January 9, 1879, when Albinos Nance was inducted into the office, and held it until January 4, 1883. James W. Dawes was the State's Chief Executive thence until succeeded by John M. Thayer, January 6, 1887, who is now serving his second term. Gov. Thayer is one of Nebraska's citizens most distinguished for long and honorable service. He was born in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and is the son of Elias and Ruth (Staples) Thayer. He graduated from Brown University, in 1847, having studied law. He removed to Nebraska in 1854, and settled at Omaha, near where he farmed for several years. He entered politics in 1855, becoming a candidate for Congress, but was beaten by Fenner Ferguson, perhaps the most successful politician of Territorial times in Nebraska. He was defeated for the same office in 1860 by Samuel G. Daily, but was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1860, and served during the term of 1860-1.

Image of Hon. John M. Thayer, Governor of Nebraska

     In 1855 he was elected Brigadier-General of the Territorial militia by the Legislature, and that year led a company of 150 men against the troublesome Pawnee Indians, and again in 1859 led 194 men, with a piece of artillery, against the same Indians, capturing an entire camp. He was also employed in peace negotiations with the Indians. This gave him quite a military experience.

     In 1861 he was instrumental in raising and organizing the First Regiment of Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned Colonel. After seeing some service in Missouri, he was sent with a brigade to help Gen. Grant at Fort Donelson, commanding the Second Brigade of Wallace's Division in that battle, and also at the battle of Shiloh. For able and gallant conduct in these two memorable actions he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. At the time Sherman stormed Chickasaw bayou, in his attempt to approach Vicksburg from the north, General Thayer led one of the most important of the storming columns, having a Horse shot under him. He participated in the Vicksburg Campaign, helped Sherman to capture Jackson, and then assisted to reduce Pemberton at Vicksburg. Here, he was appointed Major-General of Volunteers for gallant conduct. Subsequently he was engaged in a campaign with (31) General Steele in Arkansas, and near the close of the war he was placed in command of the Army of the Frontier, to subdue the Indians, who had been terrorizing the West with their barbarities.

     He was elected United States Senator for Nebraska by the Legislature of 1866, when it was thought the Territory would he at once admitted as a State; but it not being admitted until the following year, he did not take his seat until March, 1867. He drew the four-year term, and Thomas W. Tipton the six-year term. In 1875 he was appointed Territorial Governor of Wyoming, and served one term.

     In 1886 he was elected Governor of Nebraska by about 25,000 majority, and was reelected in 1888, making about thirty-four years since he began to distinguish himself in the public service of the Territory of Nebraska. He is the most distinguished military man of this State, and is Nebraska's oldest living United States Senator. His military service alone has given him a national reputation.

     He was married to Miss Mary T. Allen, a lady of ability and refinement, who was the daughter of the Rev. John Allen, a minister of the Baptist church in Massachusetts. Mr. John M. Thayer jr. is the Governor's private secretary.

     The growth of Nebraska has been steady and rapid, as the development of population will indicate. In 1855 the census returns gave the Territory a population of 4,494. In 1856 the inhabitants were set down at 10, 716. In 1860 the number had grown to 28,841. By 1870 there were 122,993. In 1875 the population had advanced to 246,280, and by the census of 1880, Nebraska had 452,542 people. In 1885 the enumeration showed an aggregate of 740,645, and the election returns of 1888 indicated a population of about 1,200,000. In other words, the increase from 1870 to 1880 was nearly 300 per centum, and that from 1880 to 1890 will approximate close to 200 per centum. By the year 1900, Nebraska will doubtless have quite 2,000,000 population, and her wealth will have increased accordingly.

     In fact, the development of the resources of the State has fully kept pace with the growth of population, and in some features has outrun the rate of settlement.

     In 1871 a constitutional convention assembled at the capitol, on June 5th, and adjourned August 19th. The people refused to adopt the constitution framed, on the 19th of the following September. In (32) the summer of 1875, a second convention framed another constitution, which was adopted by the people at the October election following. This constitution provided that there should be eighty-four Representatives and thirty Senators, until 1880, when the number should be regulated by law; but the Senate should not exceed thirty-three and the House should not exceed one hundred. The first Legislature under this constitution assembled on the first Monday in January, 1877. John M. Thayer and Thomas W. Tipton were chosen United States Senators in 1867, the former to serve until 1871, and the latter until 1875. The roster of United States Senators elected since the State was admitted is as follows:

     Nebraska is in the eighth United States Court Circuit, composed of Minnesota Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Colorado. The court officers for both the United States District and Circuit Courts are as subjoined:

     Hon. Brad D. Slaughter, who is now the United States Marshal for the District of Nebraska, was commissioned on the 19th of March, 1889. He is one of the best known public men of this State, and his administrative ability in a position of this kind is hardly excelled by any man in the State.

     His father was the Rev. W. B. Slaughter, D. D., and his mother was a daughter of Rev. E. Buck, both ministers being members of the Geneseo Conference of the M. E. Church of New York.

     Brad D. Slaughter was born in Wayne county, New York, on November 12, 1844. His father removed to Chicago, where Master Brad was educated in the city public schools, and where he learned the printers' trade and graduated as a newspaper correspondent. For this reason he is always most accommodating to correspondents, as any newspaper man knows who has reported the House during recent Legislative sessions.

     He enlisted in the Union army with his father, who was captain of Company G, 39th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which rendezvoused at Chicago. Afterward he enlisted in Company K, of the 67th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and gave faithful service to the cause of the Union throughout the war.

     At the close of the great conflict he removed to Nebraska City, where he married in 1866. He made his residence in Omaha for a time, and later removed to Lincoln, where he lived until 1879. At the close of the Legislative session of that year he took up his residence in Fullerton, Nance county, which county he had been instrumental in bringing into existence.

     He was first elected Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the Nebraska Legislature in 1877, and he has held this position at (34) every succeeding term except that of 1885. In this office he distinguished himself for the exceedingly able and thorough management he gave to its intricate affairs. He was also recognized as a very skillful parliamentarian, and many a time he has rescued the House and Speaker from a complication in the proceedings, the run of which he never seemed to lose. The House of the Twenty-first Legislature presented him with a beautiful silver tea service, as a token of the esteem of the members for his careful work as recording officer and the general esteem that body entertained for him personally. He is not a man of many words, and accepted the gift in a brief and pertinent speech, in which he used a sentence substantially like the following: "In all duties I have been called upon to attend to, I have made it a rule to do the work just exactly as near right as I knew how." This sentence contains the explanation of his success and that of all men who sustain themselves in responsible positions.

     In 1880 he was appointed Supervisor of the United States census, his district including the entire South Platte section of Nebraska. It fell to his province to appoint, supply, instruct, and obtain reports from 363 enumerators, but his management of this responsible and difficult office was as prudent and efficient as could be possible under the circumstances. Few supervisors performed better service, and of the sixty-one United States Marshals in the United States it may safely be doubted whether one will prove more faithful, able and successful than Marshal Brad D. Slaughter, of Nebraska.

     Nebraska as a Territory and a State has had eleven Governors and four acting Governors. The Territorial Governors were as follows:

     The State Governors have been six in number, as follows:

     + Died in office, October 18, 1859; office filled by Secretary Thomas B. Cuming until appointment of Governor Izard.
     # Resigned, the office being filled by Secretary J. Sterling Morton until arrival of Governor Black.
     § Elected in 1866, but did not become Governor until February 21, 1867, owing to the delay in admitting Nebraska into the Union. Secretary W. H. James acted as Governor from June 2, 1871, until installation of Governor Furnas, January 13, 1873.

     (35) Nebraska has had but five Lieutenant-Governors since she became a State, as follows:

     The Territorial Secretaries, were four in number, three of whom, Cuming, Morton, and Paddock, became acting Governors. They were:

     The Secretaries, since Nebraska became a State, have been as noted in the subjoined list:

     Gilbert L. Laws, now Secretary of State for Nebraska, was the sixth of a family of eleven children, and was born on a farm in Richland county, Illinois, March 11, 1838.

     His father, James Laws, was born near Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1801, of Scotch-Irish parentage, his father being a Scotchman and his mother an Irish woman. He removed with his parents to Southern Illinois, and in time, by industry and economy, became a large farmer and stock raiser, supplying in part the Indian Agency at Chicago with beef cattle. The corn from his own and neighboring farms was by him shipped in flat-boats down the Wabash and so on to New Orleans for a market. Opening farms and planting orchards, building houses and bridges, constructing roads and operating mills, taxed not only his own energies, but kept at work a number of men settled about him, who were constantly in his employ.

     In religious faith he was a Campbellite, uniting with that church in early manhood.

     Politically, he was an ardent Whig, and a great admirer of Henry Clay, becoming in later years a radical Republican, and so intolerant

     # Was Acting Governor from October 18, 1854, to February 20, 1855, and from October 25, 1875, to January 12, 1858. Died March 12, 1858.
     + Acting Secretary until the arrival of J. Sterling Morton.
     §Acting Governor from December 5, 1858, to May 2, 1859, and from February 24,1860, to 1861.
     ¶ Acting Governor from May, 1861, and so continued during most of the term of Gov. Saunders, or until 1867. 
     ¥Was Acting Governor from June 2, 18i1, to January 13. 1873.

(36) in his views during the war that he regarded every Democrat as a public enemy, and would not exchange the common courtesies of neighbors with any member of that party.

     The mother of G. L. Laws was Lucinda Calhoun, a second cousin to the statesman of that name. She was born in Abbeyville, South Carolina, in 1806. She, too, was a Campbellite, and her whole life was sacredly dedicated to the discharge of motherly cares and Christian duties.

     G. L. Laws spent the first seven years of his life on his father's farm in Richland county, attending school a few weeks in winter when old enough, dropping corn and helping "shear sheep" in the spring, carrying water and other drinks to "the hands" in summer, and "shucking the down row" in the fall. In school he became somewhat noted as a speller, and was a fair reader, these being the only branches taught boys under ten years of age in those days in that country.

     In 1845 the family removed to Iowa county, Wisconsin, bought a tract of land, and opened a farm. Here were no schools, and over five years elapsed before an opportunity offered to attend school again. In 1847 he worked a lead mine on the halves. In 1850 his father traded his farm for a tract of land on the Wisconsin river, where he opened a ferry, now known as "Laws's Ferry," and where he kept a lumber yard, the subject of this tale being obliged to make himself useful as ferryman and salesman in the yard.

     In the winter of 1851 and 1852 he chopped cord wood and split rails. Here, in the summer of 1853, he crossed the river and walked three miles morning and evening to attend a district school. In the winter of 1854 he "did chores for his board" and attended the same school. In June, 1855, he left home without consulting the family, for the sole purpose of making it possible to attend better schools for a longer term each year. During June and July he put in a number of weeks of very hard work for a good deacon of a church, for which he received no pay, and this fact may have affected his whole religious life.

     During the years 1856 and 1857 he worked a short time on a farm, rafted railroad ties, helped build the Illinois Central with barrow and spade, "rolled sugar" on a steam-boat, cooked for a crew of men in a logging camp, chopped saw-logs, drove saw-logs, and run a saw (37) mill, rafted and run lumber, landing in St. Louis in August of 1857, with a large "fleet" of lumber, which he could not sell, and was obliged to start a lumber yard in that city, which he did on Ninth street and Cass avenue. His experience as a ferryman, with something of an aptitude for such work, made him an expert riverman, and brought him from $3.00 to $10.00 per day during spring and summer months, rafting lumber down the Wisconsin river to Mississippi towns. After the first winter, during which he was a cook, studying meantime, and receiving much valuable assistance from the "boss," who was a graduate of Yale, he attended school winters and such parts of fall and spring terms as he could until twenty years old, when, after paying yearly some small debts for those in a measure dependent upon him, he found himself the possessor of $300.00 in cash. This fund enabled him to quit the more lucrative but less desirable lines of labor, and turn his attention to teaching school, reversing the order of former years, now working winters and attending school summers. He enjoyed, for longer and shorter terms, the advantages afforded by Hascall University, at Mazo Manie; at Silsby Academy, at Richland City; and at Milton College, all in Wisconsin; but, except the latter, all very poor and without libraries or apparatus. At one of the academies he finished a course in trigonometry and surveying where the only instrument for use was an old surveyor's compass with a broken needle. The teachers were all educated gentlemen, and some of them able men, earnest, honest, and patriotic in their efforts to establish "seats of learning" in the West.

     The winter of 1860-61 he was employed as principal of the schools at Richland Center, where he was accredited a very successful teacher.

     This was at the opening of the Civil War. "Men and steel" were wanted for national defense. In March, 1861, Mr. Laws signed his name to a paper, pledging his services provided the company was called into service before he became located in the University at Madison, Wisconsin, where he had arranged to complete his education. His school closed on Friday, the 2d of May, and the next morning a dispatch was received calling the company into service.

     On such little threads of time and circumstance hang the destinies of men!

     Mr. Laws went to the front with his company as its Fourth Sergeant, and with a military life comprising the usual routine, he (38) drifted into the Army of the Potomac, and his regiment was assigned to General Hancock's corps, and with McClellan's great army entered upon the Peninsular Campaign. Almost on the anniversary of his call to the front, May 15, 1862, Mr. Laws was in the field, engaged in the Battle of Williamsburg. He was twice wounded in that action, once in the left arm and again in the left ankle. With 1,200 other wounded men, of both armies and several nationalities, Mr. Laws was taken on board the steamer "Vanderbilt," which was moored above Yorktown, and all were conveyed to Baltimore, Maryland, for hospital care and surgical treatment. On the voyage those twelve hundred men had no aid or care except that given by four Sisters of Charity, who labored for the comfort of the suffering soldiers with an impartial fidelity that was the perfection of heroic Christian fortitude. No man was neglected; all were treated precisely alike. Those faithful women stayed at their posts as long as they could stand up, and the men almost forgot the agonies of their own wounds in grateful admiration of those most noble attendants. Mr. Laws to this day regards their grand devotion to duty as one of the most genuine and splendid exhibitions of human excellence that he has ever known. For eight days Mr. Laws's wounds went without surgical attention. The bones of his ankle being shattered to pieces, the flesh had begun to decompose when treatment was at last begun, and his leg above the ankle had to be amputated. Even with this severe remedy the battle for life was a terrible one, and his friends hardly expected to see him rise from his bed again. He lay on his back in the hot hospital until the processes of his spine protruded, and his flesh wasted away until he weighed but little over seventy pounds.

     The ladies of Baltimore carried on the most perfect hospital service organized anywhere in the Nation. Fifteen thousand of them were banded together, and every day they visited every sick and wounded soldier, administering comforts and delicacies until they, in matters of diet, actually killed some of the men with kindness. This they did without regard to which army the soldier fought in. But amongst themselves they enjoyed a partisan hate that was not excelled anywhere in the United States. Under their gracious care Mr. Laws continued from the 13th day of May until the 29th of July, part of the time hovering in the very shadow of the Dark Valley; but his strong constitution enabled him to pass the crisis safely.

     (39) On the 29th of July his brother came from Wisconsin and easily took him in his arms to the train which conveyed them back to his home county. In September he was able to get out on crutches, for the first time in over four months. On that day he went to the county seat to attend the Republican county convention, at the earnest solicitation of the loyal people. The moment the convention was organized a resolution was passed, unanimously and amid much enthusiasm, providing that G. L. Laws could take his choice of the county offices, and his selection would be ratified by the people.

     Mr. Laws agreed to accept the office of County Clerk, and the nomination was given him by the unanimous voice of the convention. He was elected on November 4, 1862, by a majority of 843, when the average Republican majority of the county was about 300. He was re-elected in 1864, and again in 1866, and served six years in that office. At the expiration of his term he was appointed postmaster of Richland Center, which position he filled with ability until April, 1876, when he resigned for the purpose of removing to Nebraska.

     Mr. Laws has enjoyed enough newspaper experience to fully entitle him to wear the badge of the craft. In November,1863, in company with Samuel C. Hyatt and William J. Waggoner, he bought the Richland County Observer. Although this was the first experience of these gentlemen in newspaper work, they made a live and successful paper of it. All were soldiers and fast friends. On May 12, 1864, he sold his interest in the paper to a brother of William J. Waggoner -- James H. Waggoner. On August 8, 1867, the Observer and The Live Republican were consolidated under the name of the Richland County Republican, of which Mr. G. L. Laws owned a one-fourth interest, in company with James H. Waggoner, who owned one-half and managed the paper, and C. H. Smith. In a few months Messrs. Laws and Smith sold their interest in the Republican to George D. Stevens. On September 1, 1874, Mr. Laws again bought a half interest in the Republican from Mr. Waggoner, and he continued a joint proprietor of the paper with W. M. Fogo for two years, and finally sold his interest to O. G. Munson, and so ended his newspaper work until he became a citizen of Nebraska.

     Incidentally it may be said that Mr. Laws was ever a very busy man. If he ever had any months of idleness from the age of six years to the present time, the records do not reveal when it was. Besides the (40) evidences of his industry already related, we find him president of the board of town trustees of Richland Center in 1869. About the same time he had a business connection with a real estate firm. During this busy period of his life, if one period could be much more busy than another, he was one of a board of five trustees who gave personal attention to the erection of the First Baptist Church of Richland Center. This structure was of brick, on a high stone basement, and cost $6,000, a very large sum for the pioneers of that locality to raise at that date. The work was delayed from time to time because of a lack of funds, but the trustees held on tenaciously and finally completed the building, which was the finest church structure in the county as late as 1884. The name of G. L. Laws also appears on the roll of Masters of Richland Lodge No. 66, A. F. and A. M., of Richland Center, which was organized in 1856.

     In April, 1870, Mr. Laws resigned the office of postmaster of Richland Center, and removed to Nebraska. He located at Orleans, in Harlan county, at which point he purchased the Republican Valley Sentinel, and took up the editorial pen for a fourth time. He soon became secretary of the Republican Valley Land Association, which position he held until about 1880, when he was succeeded by J. D. Macfarland, of Lincoln. In 1881 he sold the Sentinel to Wenn & Knight. From 1881 he was engaged as a clerk in the land office at Bloomington, and also assisted in a bank at Orleans during a part of this period.

     He was appointed and confirmed registrar of the Federal land office at McCook on March 3, 1883, and took possession of that office on June 15th following. He administered the affairs of this responsible post with unquestioned efficiency until he was removed by Grover Cleveland, on November 2, 1886. He had already been nominated by the Republican party of the State for the office of Secretary of State, and on the next day after he left the land office he was elected Secretary of State over Richard Thompson, Democrat, (who ran ahead of his ticket,) by 21,450 votes, the total vote cast being less than 139,000. Mr. Laws administered the affairs of this very important office with fidelity and success, combining, as it does, responsible relations to nearly all the State institutions, the State Board of Transportation, and other State executive boards, these complex relations calling for large executive ability and sound judgment. He performed the work (41) of his first term so well, however, that he was renominated for a second term by acclamation by the Republican State Convention of 1888, and was re-elected by nearly 28,000 majority. The present administration of Secretary Laws has been able in an eminent degree, and he ranks as one of the very safest and best officials that Nebraska possesses to-day.

     Though somewhat out of chronological order, yet, on the principle of reserving the best things for the conclusion, we will here refer to the marriage of Mr. Laws. This took place at the former residence of the bride's father, Mr. Isaac Lawrence, in Bear creek valley, in Richland county, Wisconsin, October 25, 1868. The bride was Miss Josephine Lawrence, and, as Mrs. G. L. Laws, is too well known to Lincoln society to require an introduction. Mr. Laws was one of eleven children. His own children are three in number, all daughters. Their names are Gertrude H., Theodosia C., and Helen Lucile Laws.

     The Territorial Auditors were six in number, as follows:

     The State Auditors have been six, Mr. Gillespie continuing from Territorial times into the State administration about six years. The list of State Auditors is as shown below:

     Hon. Thomas H. Benton, the present State Auditor of Nebraska, was installed in the very responsible position he now occupies on the third day of January, 1889. He was then but a little over thirty years of age, the youngest man who ever held such an important office in this State, and one of the few who have been elevated to so high a place of trust in the United States at so early an age. And in making him their choice for Auditor his fellow citizens exhibited a confidence in his ability to discharge the difficult duties of the place that was remarkable, as he received the highest vote of any state officer, notwithstanding the fact that a number of able men and tried officials were associated with him as candidates.

* Appointed to fill vacancy.

     (42) Mr. Benton was born in the city of New Haven, Connecticut, October 17, 1858. His father, William I. Benton, was engaged in the practice of law when a young man, but later in life followed agricultural pursuits. He was a plain, sturdy citizen, and with his wife, Mrs. Emaline Benton, believed in the good old customs and principles for which the descendants of the New England Puritans are distinguished. Both his parents were Americans, possessing the staunch virtues of the people who founded the civilization of the Western world, along the shore of the Atlantic.

     The State Auditor spent his boyhood on a farm until he reached the age of ten years, attending to the usual duties of farm life, and at the same time cultivating the advantages afforded by the common schools of the locality where he lived. At the age of ten, and in 1868, his father removed to Nebraska, and located in Fremont, becoming one of the pioneers of the State, and thus initiating his son, the future State Auditor, into the severe school of practical western farm life in the early days of Nebraska. He worked on a farm in summer time, and attended school during winters, at Fremont, until he reached his thirteenth year, when he spent a year, that of 1872-73, at Doane College, at Crete, Nebraska.

     In the summer of 1873 young Benton entered a telegraph office at Fremont, where he spent nearly a year, and became a practical operator. The following spring he became recorder in the county clerk's office at Fremont, then in his sixteenth year, and, perhaps, the youngest recorder of important public instruments who ever performed such work in Nebraska. But young Benton always made it a point to do his work well, and filled the position with credit to himself until January 1, 1877, when he secured the position of clerk in the office of' State Auditor J. B. Weston. This he filled acceptably until the summer of 1877, when he accepted a place as salesman in the bookstore of Arthur Gibson, of Fremont. Here he remained until the spring of 1878, when he was given the post of book-keeper for a foundry at Fremont, and discharged the duties of that position until December of that year.

     On the first day of January, 1879, at the age of twenty-one year, he was elected second assistant clerk of the House, and discharged the duties of that office with marked ability until the close of February, when he was given the position of book-keeper by State Auditor F. W. Liedtke.

Image of Hon. T. H. Benton, Auditor of State
Image of J. E. Hill, State Treasurer

     (43) In this situation Mr. Benton was at home, his ability and skill as an accountant being even at this time beyond question. He continued to occupy this responsible post during the entire term of Auditor Liedtke, and that of his successor, John Wallichs.

     On January 7, 1885, H. A. Babcock, then State Auditor, selected Mr. Benton for the position of Deputy State Auditor. In this important trust Mr. Benton acquitted himself with all that thoroughness, prudence and tact which the duties of an efficient administration of the duties of the place required, and to such a degree of success that when he became a candidate for the office of State Auditor, in the summer of 1888, the most searching criticisms of his opponents could not reveal a blemish in his integrity, nor a shortcoming in the execution of the work that had been assigned him. He was nominated against such strong competitors as H. A. Babcock, of Albion, and Henry Groshans, of Sutton. His election was accomplished by the highest aggregate vote received by any State officer on the ticket, a circumstance which affords Mr. Becton occasion for a large degree of just pride.

     On the third day of January, 1889, Mr. Benton was duly installed in the office of State Auditor of Nebraska, and he has discharged the complex responsibilities of this important position, since that date, with conspicuous fidelity to duty and the high manifestation of esteem expressed for him by the people of the State at the polls.

     Hon. Thos. H. Benton is a relative of the famous Senator Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, who so ably and honorably represented the people of his State in eminent positions of trust for a third of a century.

     Mr. Benton was married to Miss Fanny McManigal, of Lincoln, on the 8th of August, 1881, and is a brother-in-law of Hon. G. W. E. Dorsey, Member of Congress from the Third District. He esteems his Honors highly; but his little daughter, Hazel M. Benton, born August 24,1886, is regarded by Mr. Benton, next to Mrs. Benton, as the best of all his treasures. 

The three Territorial Treasurers are noted in the annexed list:

     Mr. Kountze was continued in office by the State. The list of State Treasurers is here shown: (44)

      Hon. John E. Hill, the Treasurer for the State of Nebraska, is by virtue of his office a member of the State Board of Transportation, the State Board of Educational Lands and Funds, the State Board of Public Lands and Buildings, the State Board of Purchases and Supplies, the State Board of Equalization, the State Board of Pharmacy, the State Board of Printing, the State Board of Banking, and the State Normal Board. In other words, he is a member of the main executive boards of the State.

     As biography is the foundation of history, a brief sketch of Mr. Hill's life is very appropriate to a history of Lincoln, in which he is now a prominent figure.

     His father's name was Samuel Hill, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He was descended on his father's side probably from the Scotch. His mother, a grandmother of the State Treasurer, was named Van Ordestrand. She was probably a native of Holland. Samuel Hill was apprenticed, when young, to learn the hatter's trade, and spent four years "bound out" at this occupation. Then he followed the life of a farmer, in Ohio, and later in life became a merchant. He was a prudent, cautious, business man. He spent his closing years at Heyworth, Illinois, where he died, in 1882. During his life he held several important public positions.

     The mother of the Treasurer was, before marriage, Miss Pamela Edgar. She was a woman of high spirit and energy, courageous, persistent, devoted to duty and success. She was born at Berlin, Holmes county, Ohio. On her mother's side she was descended from the Scotch. Her father was of Irish nativity. His ancestors made a name in the military history of Ireland, Col. Edgar and others of the name being brave defenders of the cause of Ireland's independence. Her father was a prominent Whig politician of Ohio, and was a member of the early Legislature of that State. Her death
occurred at Heyworth, Illinois, in 1871.

     The Treasurer, John E. Hill, was born in Berlin, Ohio. He spent its boyhood on a farm, working in summer, and going to school in winter, like most farmer boys had to do, from 1840 to 1865. When (45) seventeen years of age he removed, with his father's family, to Defiance county, Ohio, near Farmer's Center, where he continued to follow agricultural pursuits in summer, but taught district school in the winter. This was the routine of his life until 1861, with the exception of one year, which he spent at West Unity Academy, near his home. 

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