The Dawson Herald from Dawson, Nebraska • 45

THE DAWSON HER AWSON NEBRASKA HISTORICAL EDITION Little Stories of the Early Days Round Dawson the story the mule was out on the their horses and started in pursuit-dry ground and ever afterwards it When they got to Nemaha the orlv required a lighted match lo road forked leaving two ways one make him pull any kind of load that over the hills and the other a bot-was hitched beund him tom road to Brownville and the boys separated agreeing that the FIRST BARN IN COMMUNITY one arriving there first if they could What for years was known as pass Mr Rothenberger would file the Iliff barn still standing and in this quarter for usp on the Tom McGuire farm was The boys pushed their horses to the first barn built in the commun- the utmost hoping that the buggy ity It was erected in 1871 and was horse of Mr Rothenberger would with a big Fourth Play out before getting to Brown-of July dance to which all the coun- ville But when they arrived there tryside yva invited A wonderful they saw Mr Rothenberger proudly time was had by all in spite of the walking up and down the street fact that the ended in a big Thoroughly discomfited Mr Drapei flght thought he would not even bother to go to the land office so sure was First Grave in Star Cemetery he that Mr Rothenberger desired The first grave tn Star cemeterv the particular quarter he had hU was for Jasper Newton Draper son eyes but finally be went with Mr of Ira Draper who died in I860' Meanes 0 do hs filling and was shortly after his return from the more than overjoyed when he dis-war His brother Louis Draper had covered that Mr Rothenberger had died previous to that and was bur- not even een near the land office led in Iliff east of Daw- and never had any intention of filing on this quarter Be sure that he son blit later moved to Star cemetery f- EARLY POSTMASTERS In an issue of the Broad Axe published at Falls City May 14 1864 SAME GOODS AS NEW YORK the name of A Page appears atu In the early days a trip to the postmaster at Miles Ranch Mr east was an event and on one oc-Page was the father of casion when Mr and Mrs Lankford Page Mrs Mollie Porter Mrs Redwood who then lived on the Lee and Mrs Eva Whitney farm now occupied by the Amos John Gird was postmaster at Mendenhall family went to New Middleburg at that time York on business Mrs Redwood decided to buy the goods for a fine dress for her daughter Ella She DO YOU REMEMBER? When an ordinance was passed by the Village Board of Dawson to prohibit any person from Verdon entering the Village Dawson? In 1899 there was an epidemic of smallpox in Verdon and the Village Board of Dawson prohibited anyone from that town coming here for any purpose For a time armed guards were posted to ensure the order being carried out effectively BOTH WERE SURPRISED Fifty years ago this month Wm (Big Bill) Fenton had an experience that he says he has never forgotten although it was not at all serious in its consequences The Fenton family at that time was living on the farm now occupied by the Wuster family (where Bill was bom) and young Bill had been sent by his mother to the barn loft to see if any of the hens had stolen away a nest Bill at that time was pretty small and when he accidentally stepped between two of the narrow boards beneath the straw in the loft he tumbled down in a hurry landing squarely on the back of an old gray mare in the stall below Bill says he know which was the most scared he or the old mare but he has never forgotten the incident FIRST AUTO IN DAWSON Marshall Libbee owned the first automobile in Dawson an Interstate with high wheels It gave good service for many years Ayers owned one of the first in the community a one-cylinder Olds that they bought from Duryea After that time Mr Duryea sold the Ayers family every car they have owned Why Is Ever since we came to Dawson ten years ago we have heard frequent mention of the stream north of town known as Whiskey Run and we have enquired from all and sundry how it obtained the name Eph Spaulding who has been here quite a few years tells us that one of the old timers told him years ago that the name originated when a party of surveyors was making one of the early surveys of the land As they were traveling over the country a good deal and out in all weather (as well as in danger of snake bite) they carried along a small keg of whiskey purely as medicine One evening when they had completed their work and had made camp beside the stream (all evidently had bad colds or had been snake-bit) they spilled the remainder of the whiskey from the keg and one-of the party more sober that! the rest exclaimed at the Whiskey And the leader of the party put that down as the name of the stream the next morning This was said to have been about 1870 Believe it or not CLAIM JUMPING Probably only a few of the old timers ever knew that John Roth-enberger jr in 1885 located the quarter which was sold a month or so ago by heirs of Daniel Riley to Guy Whitney Mr Rothenberger located the quarter in the fall and following the usual custom blazed the corners to indicate that the land was staked and then left it till the spring to file and build But along came another fellow who Idled a claim in the land office and then proceeded to build a cabin This was the procedure known as claim jumping and was the cause of many right in the early days John was not disposed to give up I is rights although the other fellow hsd the law on his side having filed the claim' but he was persuaded by friends that there was lust as good land a couple of miles up the Nemaha and finally decided to locate up there instead of fighting with the claim jumper He then tiled on what is known as the Rothenberger land as good as any in the county- Cured a Balky Mule Along in the eighties a man named Daniel Riley and known then as or was moving from the present Joseph O'Grady place south of the north fork of the Nemaha to the farm now owned by Riley which was then owned by John Dennison In order to get around the which was in the road along there (the same one that seeped out last year and caused considerable trouble) they hauled his goods and farm equipment around by the Daniel Rile place and out past where Jerry ijfean now lives One of the haulers was Ted Sullivan who was driving a pair of mules that had the reputation of being balky although under some conditions they would do a good job of pulling a load After his load was off Ted decided that with the empty wagon could make it alright by the shorter route thus saving considerable time and about four miles of traveling David Kean recalls that as a young man he walked from his home over to the Riley place that evening about dark to see how the moving had progressed and if he could be of any help Stopping at the house Mrs Riley told him that Ted mules had mired down and he tlwent out to help get them out Mr Riley Dennis Fenton and Sullivan were there at the spring hole and had gotten one mule out and stripped the harness irom the other which lay on itssfde in the soft mud but refused to move or try to get out As a matter of fact the mules had never been in danger of sinking as they had laid over on their sides as soon as they felt the mud give way under their feet and the wagon had not been in the soft ground at all But there the mule was and neither (rats nor whip would induce him to oner to "help himself It was now dark and Ted Sullivan was holdings a small homemade candle for light As they stood there watching the mule Ted was seized with an' inspiration and stepping over beside the mule he reached down with the candle and stuck it inside the o'd ear Tn far less tim than it takes to tell Reproduction of Log House One of the most interesting dis- a beautiful wine colored silk velvet plays at the county fair at Hum- jn one 0f New York stores payt boldt this year was an exaefr repro- ing one dollar a yard for lt On ar-duction of the home built of logs rjVjng home she brought a sample of bom in goods to the Duryea store at modeled was Nims City to show the women folks miniature in size with a fife place what was the newest in the effete chimney at one end with its win- easj something familiar about the dows and doors fastened with wood- goods excited Mrs interest en locks On the door of the tiny and going into the store she lifted cabin hung a small axe The cabin down a bolt of exactly the same raa-was built by Mr Draper at his home teria1 with the same mill number on selected the material for the dress the selvage and it was being sold in Nims City at exactly the same '--A Wild Race for Nothing In the spring of 1865 after the Draper family had been here several months the boys were casting about for quarters to homestead on and William selected the quarter on which Dawson is now located us by a homesteader here in the The country all around was bare middle west prairie but this quarter had a little He had been breaking prairie and patch of timber along the creek and was nooning by the cabin when a had a hunch that someone herd of buffalo came into range else would try and beat him to the passed his place Taking his gun and filing The roads however were so following he ran along swiftly slip-bad that it was almost impossible ping and dodging and getting closer for him to get to the land office at at times But the herd was traveling Brownville but finally he set a date too rapidly When he finally gave up on which to go roads or no roads he ran fast and hurried back home His cousin John Meanes who lhad yoked his oxen and did a good half selected the quarter now owned by nkjwing that afternoon before Israel Heim was going with him to sundown' crater Tie got to wonder-file 0 that quarter and early in ing at the distance he had followed the morning of the day they were the buffalo and investigation djk the boys stirring around ear- ed he had been' seven miles from ly saw John Rothenberger their home neighbor start off with horse and So important was the need of buggy long before they were ready meat and so slow were the oxen that Thoroughly convinced that Mr the settlers had to make the best Rothenberger had his quarter in possible use of every minute of tfteir mind William and John mounted time price as in New York Mrs Redwood had to admit that the joke was on her An interesting experience was told.