1889 HISTORY OF LINCOLN NEBRASKA

CHAPTER IX

THE DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED IN BUILDING THE NEW CAPITOL -- HOW OMAHA OPPOSITION DELAYED THE WORK -- THE FINAL SUCCESS AND MEETING OF THE FIRST LEGISLATURE IN LINCOLN

(114) The days of the capital removal, capital location, and capitol building, were full of stirring events, times of intense interest to the people then and now, when serious situations, which demanded prompt energetic, and clear headed action, were often met with. During these times, Hon. John Gillespie, State Auditor, and one of the Commissioners to locate the capital, played an important part, and to him, the authors of this history are indebted for the following, which was contributed entire by him:

The act authorizing the capitol location appointed the Governor. Secretary, and Auditor, Commissioners to seek a location, within the boundaries of Lancaster, Saunders, Butler, Seward, and the north half of Saline county, to be located upon State Lands, of not less than 640 acres in one tract, and to lay out and plat the same in lots, blocks, streets, and alleys, and make proper reservations for the several State institutions; when the same was completed to advertise the lots for sale at public auction to the highest bidder, and when the sales amounted to the aggregate of $50,000, then in that event to advertise for plans and specifications for a capitol building, and let the contract for building the same. The Legislature did not appropriate a dollar from the Treasury to carry out the provisions of the act, but all incidental expenses, as well as the completion of a capitol building, depended upon receipts from the sale of lots. The Commissioners understood that the success of the enterprise depended upon a most favorable selection for the future capital of the State. Otherwise a most stupendous failure, that would result in ignominy to the movers, especially the Commissioners having it in charge, would follow. After the passage of the act, and before the Commissioners entered upon their work, difficulties multiplied, owing to the opposition of the North Platte people, and especially from the citizens of Omaha.

(115) The citizens of that city were particularly opposed to the capital's removal from their midst, and commenced an opposition to prevent the carrying out of the enterprise. The Commissioners had to enter into a bond of $60,000 each for the faithful performance of duty. They did not hope or expect that Omaha citizens would sign their bonds, and had to look to other localities. Nebraska City was in full sympathy with the removal of the capital from Omaha to the South Platte country, and her best citizens volunteered as bondsmen for the Commissioners an offer which was most duly accepted and appreciated.

But there arose another difficulty: the bonds had to be approved by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and to be deposited with the State Treasurer, Mr. August Kountze, of Omaha. Previous to filing the bonds, a Mr. James E. Doom, a member from Cass county, (who voted for the capital removal, reported to the Omaha newspapers that the time prescribed by law for filing the bonds of the Commissioners had expired. So the Omaha Republican came out with a "double header," stating that the capital-removal enterprise had failed, by virtue of the Commissioners not having filed their bonds in time, as prescribed by law, and therefore could not give good title to the lands. The writer hereof had started that morning by steamboat to Nebraska City, to have the bonds approved by Hon. O. P. Mason, Chief Justice, preparatory to filing them. News had reached that city of the announcement made in the Omaha papers. In consultation with the Chief Justice, he said there was nothing in the statement, nor had the time prescribed elapsed. The bonds were returned to Omaha. Governor Butler and Secretary Kennard, accompanied by C. H. Gere and Col. C. S. Chase, repaired to the First National Bank of that city, and tendered the bonds to the State Treasurer for filing. Mr. Kountze said to them that he would not file the bonds, as they were not valid, the time for filing by law having passed; but he would place them in the vault. The proposition was satisfactory to the other two Commissioners, and they left.

The writer lived in Omaha at that time, and had to meet the abuse and denunciations of her citizens, who openly charged the capital removers as "land-grabbers" and enemies of Omaha. Several of her leading citizens tried by every means in their power to have me not file the bonds, and let the act become "null and void." One, now high up in authority in this State, spent several hours with me at my office, (116) in the old capitol at Omaha, trying to persuade me not to file the bonds, and have the law become void, claiming that if carried out it would "disrupt the party." The interview was finally cut short by my informing him that "I was into it, and would see it through." The Commissioners, after looking the field over which was designated by the act, selected the site where the city now stands. This conclusion was arrived at by a careful examination of a State map and the general topography of the country. They concluded that in the future, when railroads were built south of the Platte, this point would be easily reached and accessible from any direction. And a further consideration, at that time deemed important, was the great salt deposits near by, considered valuable.

But in this selection no one, except the few homesteaders on the town site, was pleased. The citizens of Nebraska City wanted the capital located at Yankee Hill, on the line of the "steam-wagon road" west to the mountains. Plattsmouth wanted the capital at Ashland, her citizens offering to guarantee $50,000 worth of lots in case we located at Ashland. Brownville wanted the capital located at Camden, on the Blue river, as they had a railroad survey west by way of Camden and Fort Kearney. The Commissioners were beset by the friends of their favorite localities, all of which had their land "syndicates" formed; but the location made was upon neutral grounds, and one which proved the wisest selection, as the other interested localities compromised upon this one, which could not have been effected at any other point.

After having the town site surveyed and platted, the Commissioners appointed a day for the sale of lots at auction, to take place upon the grounds. Thereupon arose another serious difficulty, that seemed to threaten the defeat of the whole enterprise. The act required the Commissioners to deposit the money received from the sale of lots with the State Treasurer, to be designated, separate from any other fund, as the "State Building Fund," and all expenses for incidentals, buildings, etc., to be paid out by the Treasurer, upon the order of the Auditor, the same as other State funds. The writer was informed by a leading attorney of Omaha that some of the leading citizens of that city had requested him to commence suit by enjoining the Commissioners, and attaching the money in the hands of the State Treasurer as soon as deposited with him, and thereby tie up the same, and by years of (117) litigation prevent the commencement of the capitol building. He informed me his fee was considered too large, and he was not employed, but that such action would be taken as soon as the money resulting from the sale of lots was duly deposited by the Commissioners with the State Treasurer. The Commissioners, after considering the possibility of such action by the enemies of the capital removal, thereby defeating the act of the Legislature authorizing the removal of the capital, called a meeting of the citizens signing their bonds, to be held at Nebraska City just previous to the day of the first sale of lots, and laid the situation before them. They advised us to proceed with the sale of lots, and prepared a written request, asking us not to deposit the proceeds of the lot sales with the State Treasurer, but to use the money in carrying out the provisions of the law, paying for the erection of a capital, and report to the coming Legislature our actions in full.

The sale of lots came off, and was reasonably successful; so much so that the Commissioners felt authorized to proceed to advertise for plans and specifications, and to let the contract for the building. The funds were kept in hiding, where no injunction or attachment could find them. I was often asked by certain parties of Omaha why the money for the sale of Lincoln lots was not placed with the State Treasurer, as the law directed. When pressed, one of the citizens said they wanted to enjoin the funds in the hands of the Treasurer from being paid out, and thus keep us from building the capitol at Lincoln. I informed the party that the fiends would be turned over to the State Treasurer the next day to pay his bill far advertising. The bills of the Republican and Herald for advertising lot sale, for plans and specifications, and for letting the contract, had been handed in. I deposited with the Treasurer a sum sufficient to levy their bills, and if they wished to enjoin payment, all right. The orders of payment were given, the money paid out, the Treasurer receipting for the same, and acknowledged the authority of the Board by paying the money out on the order of the Auditor of State.

The first sale of lots took place in the fall of 1867. The following Legislature convened the first of January, 1869; hence the necessity of getting the capitol building under contract at as early a day as possible, having the summer of 1868 to complete the same. As there ware no railroads, lumber had to be hauled from a point six miles east of Nebraska City, on the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph railroad. Stone (118) quarries had to be found somewhere for building material. The Commissioners advertised for plans in the Omaha, Plattsmouth, and Nebraska City papers. The time drawing near, we found that the Omaha architects would pay no attention to our advertisement, and the result would be no plans offered, so we sent a copy of our "ad" to the Chicago Tribune, which caught the eye of a fifth-rate architect, Mr. James Morris, who could obtain no work in that city, and he hastily prepared a plan and presented the same on the day set. It being the only plan presented, the Commissioners were more than pleased to adopt it. The plan contemplated a central building, with wings to be attached afterward, which, if added, would have made a symmetrical building, but without the wings not very imposing. Consequently, in after years the Commissioners had to bear the brunt of many jeers on their architectural choice for a capital building.

We advertised for letting the contract, and as in the former case, but one bid was offered, that one by Mr. Joseph Ward, of' Chicago, which was also accepted. He commenced at once, and had the excavation made and part of the foundation laid in the fall of 1867, intending in the spring of 1868 to push the work as fast as possible, and have the building completed in time for the Governor to announce by proclamation the completion of the capitol, and that the next Legislature would convene thereat on the first Thursday of January, 1869.

A stone quarry of blue limestone was found twelve miles south on Salt creek, and the contractor instructed to use the same; but after using it on the east side of the building, on the first story, it became shelly, and this quarry had to be abandoned. A man was sent out on horseback, who prospected a number of days all the streams in the vicinity for out-cropping stone without success, but finally visited Beatrice and reported a magnesia limestone in abundance, and easily dressed, which would harden by exposure. This stone was adopted, and all the teams that could be hired put on the road for Beatrice, (fifty miles,) to keep the work moving. This worked well for a short time, until we were notified by the contractor that the bridge over Salt creek had become dangerous, and that the owners of teams would not risk crossing, and that the County Commissioners refused to repair the bridge. This required our presence to get the Commissioners to repair the bridge; all of which, with bad roads and the interminable sloughs and mud-holes, made the getting of stone from Beatrice, (119) and the lumber from Iowa, slow, difficult, and expensive, and the summer rapidly passing away. The Commissioners were fully impressed that in case of failure to complete the capitol in time for the convening of the Legislature the coming January, the session would have to be held at Omaha, and the strong probabilities were that Lincoln would never see a session held there, which no doubt would have been true. The contractor was constantly being urged to employ all the mechanics that could be worked to advantage, and consequently he had stone-cutters and carpenters sent out from Chicago.

About the 1st of June, 1868, I received a letter at Omaha from the contractor, that he had thrown up the job, and all work had stopped, on account of a difficulty with the architect; that a number of his stone-cutters had left for Chicago; and to come down and make settlement with him. This was a terrible crisis, and visions of a most glorious failure of the whole enterprise loomed up most too prominent for a calm view of the situation; but something had to be done, and done quickly. Unfortunately neither of the other two Commissioners were at Omaha at the time, the Governor being at his home at Pawnee, and the Secretary at his home at De Soto. I seat a messenger from Omaha, by steam-boat, to Nebraska City, with an order to the "Elephant Stable" for a pony to carry a message to the Governor explaining the situation, and asking him to meet me at Lincoln the next day without fail. I took stage next morning for Council Bluffs, to take train for East Nebraska City, intending to take stage from that point to Lincoln, but owing to the stage sticking in the mud half-way between the two cities, I saw the train pull out, leaving several other passengers with myself behind. I returned to Omaha by the next stage, hired a livery team, and started for Lincoln via the rope ferry across the Platte river near Ashland, being delayed two hours in finding the ferryman. When I arrived at Lincoln, about 11 A. M. the next day, I found the citizens much disheartened, and fearful that the work on the building would not be renewed. I soon set their minds at rest on that point. Dunbar & Bailer, who owned the only livery stable in the city, and had the contract to deliver the stone, had drawn off all their teams, a number of the mechanics had left, and the prospect was blue enough. I waited all next day and the following day till noon for the arrival of the Governor. He did not put in an appearance. I called in (120) James Sweet, State Treasurer, who had just arrived from Nebraska City, to be present when I should summon the architect and contractor, and hear their differences, previously having refused to hear either one until the arrival of the Governor. I requested Mr. Morris, (architect,) to bring with him the plans and specifications and meet me at my room in the Cadman House at 1 P.M. He repaired to the shop on the capitol grounds, and was in the act of taking the plans, from the contractor's desk, when the contractor came in and kicked him out of the shop. Both being English, the backs of both were "high" when they reached my room. I first heard the architect, then the contractor. The lie passed frequently between them; but in getting at the facts I found the difference arose about the material to go into the interior walls of the building. The contractor claimed that it should be sandstone, as that material was at hand, and its use world enable him to proceed with the work. The architect claimed that the walls should be brick. I asked Mr. Sweet to turn to the specification, which said the walls should be brick, "if brick could be had otherwise stone." I said I would settle that point, and as there were no brick here, nor none being made, instructed the contractor to put up the walls with stone. The architect objected, and said I was only one of the Commissioners. I told him that was law, and the other two would confirm the decision. I explained to both that if they did not propose to each do his duty, and push the work to completion, we would remove both. I was satisfied that the architect wished the contractor to leave, so he could become contractor as well. Both shook hands, and each promised to do his best to complete the building in time for the coming session. I instructed Dunbar & Bailey to hire all the teams they could get in the country, and rush the stone from Beatrice, and on my return to Omaha employed twelve stonecutters and sent them by wagon post haste, for Lincoln, and work was resumed with considerable energy.

About two weeks afterward Mr. Ward, contractor, came into my office at Omaha with a Mr. Sweet, on his way to Chicago to buy doors, sash, glass, hardware, etc. He had an estimate for $2,600, of which $1,000 was to go to Mr. Sweet for money advanced to pay his men before leaving. It was then about four o'clock P. M. We had no money on hand, but I dare not tell him so, or else there would have been a "cyclone" at hand. I asked him where he was stopping (121) He said at the "Planters," and that they would leave the next morning on the 4 A. M. train. I told him I would see him that evening at the hotel. Where the twenty-six hundred dollars was to come from, I did not know. After "bluing" over the situation for a short time, I went to the office of W. J. Hahn, County Treasurer, and asked if he had on hand any "State sinking funds" to be turned over. His reply was that he had. I told trim I wanted $2,600, and as our next sale of lots took place the next week, I would turn that amount into the State Treasury at Lincoln and bring back the Treasurer's receipt. He gave me his check for $2,600 on the First National Bank of Omaha, and I started off to get it cashed before closing, but found I was too late. I explained the situation to Mr. Aug. Kountze. He said it was contrary to custom, but he opened the vault and paid me the money, which was carried to Mr. Ward, and delivered in a manner that conveyed the impression that the enterprise should not fail for want of funds. Thus this difficulty was bridged over, and the receipt of the Treasurer was forwarded Mr. Hahn the following week for the money deposited.

The next crisis to be met was more serious, and not so easily passed over. Our last sale of lots was to be in September, 1868. Hoping thereby to realize enough to complete and pay for the building, we had requested Sweet & Brock, bankers at Lincoln, to advance to the contractor money as he needed it, before the sale of lots took place, and also requested the contractor to put off paying for material until after the sale, hoping that we would not be pressed for funds. But in this we were disappointed. I received a letter from Nelson C. Brock that their bank had advanced $2,000 to the contractor, and calling for the return of the same at once; also by the same mail a letter from the contractor saying that he would discharge all the stonecutters and laborers the coming Saturday, and would require $2,000 to pay them off. Unfortunately the other two Commissioners were not at the capital, and this emergency had to be met. I started for Nebraska City, and called upon James Thorn, County Treasurer, and found he had on hand sinking finds sufficient to meet the emergencies, and willingly offered to turn it over and take the Treasurer's receipt for the same. Thus this last difficulty was bridged over.

In 1871 a constitutional convention met in Lincoln and commenced to investigate County Treasurers, supposing they were loaning State (122) funds. Mr. Thorn, with others, was called upon for a report of' the collections and deposits. This circumstance was brought to light and he was asked to explain. He referred the explanation to myself. I went before the committee, of which General Victor Vifquain was chairman, and stated the circumstance that a crisis had arrived in the completion of the capitol; that no funds were on hand, and the "sinking fund" was used for six weeks to help out the "building fund." If such had not been done the capitol building would never have been finished, and Lincoln would not have been here to-day. The committee reported that no censure attached to any one.

After the election of 1868 and the Governor's proclamation had been issued announcing the completion of the capitol, and that the session of the Legislature of January following would convene at Lincoln, Hon. C. R. Taylor, Senator-elect from Douglas county, asked me if it was true, as set forth in the Governor's message, that the capitol was completed, and if there were any hotel accommodations at Lincoln. Being answered in the affirmative, he said they would "go down and adjourn the Legislature to Omaha, where they could have accommodations." On the first day of January, 1869, I opened the Auditor's office in the new capitol. On the day before convening, the Omaha and other delegations arrived in Lincoln, in a blinding snow storm, by private conveyances. I met Taylor at the Atwood House at dinner. He said he had been looking out to see the new capitol, but had failed to see it. I told him it was on account of the snow storm, but we had a capitol ready. He remarked that I had informed him correctly about the hotel accommodations, and if on presentation the capitol building looked as well, he would have no fault to find. After dinner I piloted him, Tom Majors, and other members, across the prairie to the capitol building. When we entered, the plasterers were finishing up in the lower halls. Taylor reminded me of the Governor's message issued some time previous, saying "the capitol was finished." Majors and others at once expressed their pleasure and surprise at seeing such a building. Taylor, after looking into the Senate Chamber, asked to see the Representative Hall. When he had seen these halls, with their new carpets, new chairs, and bright furniture, he was much impressed with the success which the Commissioners had achieved, and then and there promised that the Douglas delegation would make no fight on the capitol.

(123) On organization of the Senate, C. B. Taylor was elected President. Next day he came into my office and drafted a bill appropriating $16,000 to grade and fence the capitol grounds and finish the dome of the capitol. A few days after he drafted a bill to continue the Commissioners for two years longer, to sell the unsold lots and blocks and build the State University, Agricultural College, and Insane Asylum. Both bills became laws.

After the meeting of the first Legislature confidence was established, and lots in Lincoln brought better prices at auction. There were no difficulties in the way to build the other institutions. When the next two years had passed the Commissioners reported the university and Asylum completed, paid for, and over 300 lots unsold.

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