The Dawson Herald from Dawson, Nebraska • 33

THE DAWSON HERALD DAWSON NEBRASKA HISTORICAL EDITION Dr Waggener Tells of Early Days and People in Town of Dawson 'By Dr A Waggener) lived the first six months of our stock of general merchandise Then They being of genuine pioneer stock A bit of the early history of Daw- staT in Dawson Prom this house we Chittenden moved his building moved at various from Vir-son as I remember it at the time I moved to the Eli Cox place north of from south of the railroad to the ginia to Tennessee then later to located there in the spring of 1879 the Catholic church In 1881 I built corner where the Reiger building Kentucky Indiana and finally to may be of interest to the younger and moved into the first house in (now owned by Steininger) Iowa generation who read your paper the new addition known as Haga- now stands establishing a lumber in 1887 Mr Draper was married At that time there were only el- addition to Dawson The Odd yard on the lots south This build- to Isabelle Talboy and to this union even families had homes in the cor- Fellow's had erected a two-story ing was used for office purposes six children were born all of whom porate limits of the village namely: building on the lot south of the pre- Judd Stratton built a large bam are living Mrs Draper passed away John Hanna Mrs Chris Warner sent bank building and occupied the on the lot where the Carlson garage April 20 1923 Fifty-seven years ago Isaac Mead Webb upper story for lodge purposes The now stands Here they dealt in buy- Mr Draper moved his family and Barlow Richard Duncan Daniel lower room was' used for church ing and selling imported stallions household effects from Iowa to Ne- Tigner Ryan Mike Riley-and school and community meetings in Morris erected two build- braska In 1881 he purchased a farm Grandpa Hanna Bell the de- general ings on the lots south of northeast of town where he made his home until 1904 when he mov ed to the farm east of town now occupied by John Parriott This farm was his home until he retired and moved into his present home in Dawson Mr Draper has been a great traveler when a young man he traveled from the mid-west to the Pacific coast a number of tmes later two trips to the Atlantic sea-board a hunting trip to Arkansas frequent journeys to nearby states and in the past twelve years he has made four trips to the Pacific coast and many shorter journeys His health is fairly good his hearing excellent and he has his second eyesight Mr children are Mrs I A Heim and Mrs John Parriott of Dawson Mrs Orra Swisegood of Verdon Mrs Tida Swanson and Dr Walter Draper of Sioux City la and Dr John Draper of St Louis MAIN STREET OF DAWSON (Ridge Street) ABOUT THE YEAR 1884 The exact date of this picture could not be fixed but it was identified by Dr Waggener as being taken about the time of which he writes probably in 1884 or 1885 It was taken before the fire pot agent lived overhead in the de- In 1879 the Catholic congregation drug store and lived in one while pot Chittenden conducted a erected the first church building in A Smutz occupied the other as general store just south of the rail- the town and while it was yetun- a blacksmith shop These constitut-road tracks and lived over his store finished seats had been provided ed the business houses in the new building He conducted a general and it was being used for church up-town part of the village while mercantile store and at the same purposes when on the evening of here and there several residences time ran the elevator owned by May 27 1879 when it was filled were constructed Among the first to Hosford Chittenden with worshipers a storm struck it build was Chittenden that At that time there was no Ver- and leveled it to the ground Fortu- house is now occupied by the Wil-don no Stella and no Auburn Con- nately no one was seriously injured liam $iley family sequently it was necessary for the But this catastrophe did not subdue In 1882 the first Evangelical chur-farmers north and east of Dawson the spirit nor daunt the courage of ch was built and later was destroy -to market their grain and livestock these early pioneers and plans were ed by Qre The first school building in Dawson and it was no unusual soon made for the erection of an- was erected in 1882 It too was desight to see as many as fifty teams other building which shortly after stroyed by fire and wagons loaded with grain or its completion was burned down These lines are aimed to cover the hogs to be in town in a single day Later a fourth structure stands on period from 1879 to 1885 and are Dick Duncan was the section fore- the same lots a model in architec- written entirely from memory There man for the then A railroad ture and a monument to its foun- may be a few discrepancies but in John Hanna kept the hotel Mead fe ders Father John Lee who was the main they are correct A PIONEER COON HUNT The winter of 1880 being a very cold snowy one kept the Coon tribe closed up in their tree dens But along in February there came a warm night and next morning Draper known as quite a coon hunter remarked were out running last night so going out to find He was back by two and said he had found where Mr Coon had left a big elm tree wandered around a mile or two and then come back to the same tree So we got Washington Honnen Andrew Ely Andrew Thomson and George Hjnks all great axe men and felled the giant tree We also had four dogs along When the tree crashed down the Riley were operating a general store then stationed at Falls City was the and buying corn and hogs in con- first priest to regularly serve this nection with their merchandising congregation and came once a monbusiness There was no bank in town th to hold services at that time so they arranged to In the early eighties all of the val-have a certain day for the farmers uable lots in the original town site to deliver their stock and in order had been taken and in order to make to have the cash to pay for it it was room for the town to expand necessary for them to have the Hagadorn laid out a new addition money expressed in from Falls City adjoining the original plat on the on that day Some days it required rforth leaving a plot of ground pc tiviiccu young as much as $500000 to meet the de- the center to be used a public mand Hogs were then selling for park but it was soon di $250 cattle at $300 and corn at that this was not feasible This was 10c a bushel sold to Ed Hanna who divided it in- EARLY DAY During the last Mrs Margaret ed one afternoon from her cupboard plained that she times from her long that quently proffered with the Connecticut discovered The new stage upon which KINDNESSES illness of the late Heim a neighbor call- top branches burst all to pieces and with a delicacy out ran that coon And believe it The caller ex- or not five of his brothers all dull had heard- many grown came out with him! And a bride of boy were we busy! Just imagin 1 Mrs Heim had fre- Six men six coons and four dogs food to the inex- all in a tangle! No guns just axes girl just arrived clubs and dogs! GfT through the Colony timber we rushed down onto the country was a desolate smooth river ice And Noise! Say a bride must first you never saw just such a mess! enact her role of wife and help- Finally we collected at the tree the mate Women like Mrs Heim saw to base and each and every man had it that the desolation did not con- a coon All of which goes to show quer the spirit that in the old days we got what we went Draper 0 sam6 time Mrs: for the extension of Main street and furnished The lots on either side of Main general public street were sold to business houses work The first building to be erected on smith and at the Tigner kept boarders the for the Webb did carpenter Barlow was the wagon-maker and these was known as the Brick general repair man and lived over Block and consisted of three rooms WILLIAM I DRAPER The subject of this sketch was From the Newsboy of July 2 1897 A representative of th Nebraska his shop Ryan operated a The one on the south was occupied bom in Warren county Iowa Janu- Telephone Co was in town Wednes- drug store and had living rooms by Hardware Ed Han- ary 2 1850 being one of the first day to perfect arrangements for overhead Hanlon was the lo- na had a restaurant in the second two white children to be born in this placing the local office which will be cal doctor and Libbee Waggener had drugs county He was the only son of John at Fentons drug store We are At that time there was only one in the third A few months later Al- and Rebecca (Stanton) Draper informed that by the 15th of this vacant house in town and that a len Bros got possession of the room his forbears coming to America month connection will be completed two-room and it was in that we occupied by Hanna and put in a from England in colonial times to this plaee'.