The Dawson Herald from Dawson, Nebraska • 14

THE DAWSON HERALD DAWSON NEBRASKA HISTORICAL EDITION big print signs on the fences This concludes the article written by Mr Page but it by no means gives the complete history of the Page family one of the first in the community Mr Page still owns the farm his father homesteaded and has the original deed Several years ago he moved into Dawson being at various times in the livery stable" real estate insurance and telephone businesses He has always taken a keen interest in every move for 'the advancement of the community and he and Mrs Page are enjoying their sunset days in peace and happiness in the community where they have spent practically all their lives Of the nine children in the Alfred Page family there survive Mrs Moi-lie Porter Mrs Eva Whitney Mrs Lfee of Dawson Mrs Minnie Staley of Fall River Kans Mrs Eliza Roberts of Camas Wash and Page 1935 in their automobiles and airplanes Eventful Years The sixties were eventful years and particularly so for Nebraska During the Civil War a great victory was won at a tremendous cost of human lives and property and yet this victory though costly proved the truth of the saying of the wise man that no nation can survive and prosper one-half free and one-half slave There was an age of progress in that great event Indians Were Numerous In the early days of our pioneering in Nebraska there were more Indians than white people Our home was located about half way between two Indian reservations directly on the trail from the Pawnee reservation in Pawnee county to the reservation in Richardson county It was a common occurrence to see them always trailing one behind the other They were harmless and friendly great traders always anxious to trade with a white Many farmers got their start in horses from the Indians They would get a few ponies and colts from them Plagues Were Numerous The Egyptians were not the only people who were visited with ten plagues The Nebraskans endured the same number and more as follows: chinch bugs grasshoppers locusts army worms depressions ague hot winds dust storms floods drouths and the herd law enacted by Congress in 1871 I admit I am quite hazy about that herd law and what it was all about I remember we had to build board fences around the cultivated parts of the farm to keep cattle out and later we built fences to keep them in Those board fences were used by anyone for advertising purposes and some of us learned our letters by studying the freight live stock and people at the same time Of all the ages of progress up to this time for the struggling pioneer of Nebraska that was the greatest But what me is the wiseacres and brain-trusters of today trying to minimize the horse and buggy age The pioneers who struggled sacrificed and endured the ox-cart age looked forward to and really enjoyed the horse and buggy age It was to them indeed an age of progress Primitive Conditions In Early Days The living conditions in that age were in keeping with the pioneer life The farmers raised almost all their food and clothing from the farm Sheep were raised and sheared once a year The farmers would take their wool to White Cloud Kansas where there was a large carding mill They could have their wool either woven into cloth or yarn or could exchange It for the same There were eleven in our family father mother eight sisters and the writer I was 14 years old before I had a factory made suit of clothes Imagine if you please the amount of labor required to make by hand the clothing for that number No sewing machine in the entire neighborhood It was necessary to make out a complete list of the number of yards of linsey-fleeced and jeans to clothe the family for one year Also the number of pounds of yam for stdckings and socks Mother did the knitting for the entire family Not much time left for social events but steady employment the year around and yet healthy and happv We all enjoyed life together The yam for knitting purposes was spun from wool rools We got them in exchange for wool at the carding mill They were 18 inches long and about three-quarters of an inch through They would attach them to the spindle of the old spinning wheel and start the wheel to rolling The spinner would walk back and forth across tlje floor and spin the yam The New Wagon I well remember the first new wagon we bought in the pioneer days Miles was coming home from St Louis by boat and he noticed two new Studebaker wagons on the boat and they were unloaded at Rulo He noticed they were billed for Albany Kansas and told father about it The old linch-pin wagon with the tar pot hanging from the rear axle and the old chain brake had served its usefulness and was ready for the pile Father saddled one of the ponies and put the harness on the other one and rode Over to the little town in Kansas to see these wagons The price was $10000 for the wagon and $500 for the spring seat He made)' the deal and brought the wagon h6me and drove into the yard got mother up In the spring seat with him and the nine little Pages stowed away in behind the seat He drove around a few miles with hs called on some of our neighbors and returned home Well the thrill we got out of that ride at that time in a new farm wagon all painted and with a spring seat would compare very favorably with the thrills of the young people of Reminiscences Thomas McGuire who has farmed on the hill two miles east of Dawson for many many years and who says he feels that he is rather out of place being neither a new-comer nor a pioneer (having only been here 52 years) sends us the following interesting material for this edition: Editor Dawson Herald: Your generous invitation to the old settlers for their part cjf the story would lead me to only answer PRESENT I have barely a passing grade I am the youngest the last to arrive after a thousand mile journey from a large city in the east to stop and linger in the Nemaha Valley 52 years When I left the city the streets were lighted with coal oil lamps The street lighter had a run of several blocks carrying his short step ladder and matches and would light up his street with marvelous speed But we rode to the depot in the old-time street' car drawn by a horse which had a bell hung on a strap around his body the bell to warn the people that the car was coming Yes the streets were always crowded with peQple in that quaint old Quaker town In those days the sidewalks were the same width as the streets We crossed the Mississippi river at St Louis over the then famous Eads bridge one mile long arrived at Dawson Mills on the train over the track of the A railroad the first railroad to enter Nebraska It was New Years Day 1883 cold light snow on the ground: the depot half of its present size a few hundred feet with a wagon road winding rorthwest by some willow trees The first building was the hotel kept by Uncle Billy Albright across from it a hardware kept by Brown The net building on the side of the street was Meade general store: in it was a nice lively young clerk Mike Miller who gave 'tpe the first sack of candy I ever had Yes I was out West now "where the handclasp is- stronger where the etc Next on the street was the Tigner house back of the house the village blacksmith of 50 Years Ago shop a drug store on the spot of Jack house Across the street west that same wooden building that stands there today About the oh there was none! Next up the street was the Odd Fellows Hall the largest building in town it had an upstairs It was in this same building that our famous William Jennings Bryan gave his first public political speech outside of his home tayvn in We were near the other end of town The school house was on top of the hill to the west but the street turned east past the Hoppes house northeast over the hill But like in all towns the dear people who are interesting and here well the men all wore long beards Civil War style and high boots It being cold the men all took an extra wrap of their scarfs about their necks as they started the drive home in the wagon (The buggy was not out yet) The women wrapped their shawls over their heads the children a half dozen of them sat in the bottom of the wagon on some prairie hay After a couple of miles walk over that winding road which is now lost we came to a farm house and turned in the gate Who was it spoke about getting home? Where did I hear that word before? Could I explain it it is all so different There stood the house painted white with bright green shutters on the windows as I remember it 50 years ago Was it the bright eun shining on that white snow reflecting on the house that made it appear so like a haven our end a place to rest for we were tired The journey had been long and we were hungry (weary they call it nowadays) We were on the step stones which led £rom the kitchen to the well stamping off the snow and stamping hard to see if there was any feeling left inside of those frozen boots when the kitchen door was suddenly opened and we heard a voice of welcome on in glad of your safe arrival sit down in this while busy hands took off our scarf and cap And how different It was by Tom McGuire inside the house the stinging cold was gone it seemed to have suddenly left the country the lonesome-riess of the journey the wondering how far how many miles what day will we get there was npw at an pnd We were in our home Ob yes now we see where the gleam the invisible light came from! Why from within Again the gentle voice up have some dinner you must be Yes but how did she know? Why the table was set and waiting us! It took ten study to find out how they knew we got off the train that day There was no phone and no one passed us But there were other puzzles! How could so many good things be found on one table? Was it the country? Hardly just that it was always here Again the gleam of the invisible light! It is the home! But who makes the home? Ah we all know so well Mother No other can see how to do or how to protect it uphold it and preserve it And thus the pioneer home was founded and preserved by the greatest of American builders the Pioneer Mother And so editor- you would like to have a story of the old times Again I ask excuse me please my untried pen could not attempt such a worthy page of history Gone are the scenes of my childhood forever Gone are the friends that we loved so well Tom McGuire 34 YEARS AGO (From the Newsboy Jan 17 1902) Misses Carrie and Maude Harbaugh entertained a company oUyoung ladies from town at luncheon Saturday last All enjoyed the trip to the country immensely Those present were Misses Mamie and Nelle Riley Mamie Ryan Lora McCool Margaret 0 Grady and Mabel Shier Barlow called a meeting of all the shoe cobblers of Dawson to organize a branch of the Cobblers Union There were a number of shoe cobblers in Dawson at that time.