St. Joseph & Council Bluffs road1. This road had a small frame depot in the southern part of the town about four miles from the river. Passengers to and from Omaha had to ride in buses or hacks as the only conveyance. In looking across the river from Omaha, we could see a white and black streak, at the foot of the bluffs over four miles away, which was the town of Council Bluffs. Soon afterwards the other roads built their tracks right to the bank of the river for better convenience of passengers who came and went over on the ferry boat. Omaha did not extend more than a mile west from the top of the hill, nor more than half a mile across from north to south. Farnam was the principal business street, with some two story buildings, Douglas street was the next, with a few business houses. None were very large and none were over two stories high. There were some shanties and large sheds used for business purposes. The rush and greed was so rapid that they had no time to put up proper buildings. For instance, where the fine post office is now located, there was a large shed and shanty used for a meat shop and for sale of hides, tallow, lime, cement, etc. North of Cass street was a rolling prairie extending out to the cemetery, three miles away on the military road. It had been used for corn fields before, close up to town. There were only a few small houses, shanties and sheds scattered around. About four-miles a little northeast was located Fort Omaha or Omaha Barracks2, where some soldiers were 1 The Chicago & Northwestern railroad was opened to Council Bluffs in April, 1867. The railroad from St. Joseph to Council Bluffs was not opened until August, 1868.--ED. 2 Omaha Barracks was established December 5, 1868; the name of the Post was changed to Fort Omaha in 1878; and troops were finally withdrawn from it September 16, 1896.--ED. |
stationed. A broad road extended from the town to the barracks, along which there were one or two small houses, but the balance of the country was a large prairie. South of Howard street and St. Mary's Avenue there were a few small houses, but the balance of the country was in timber groves and hazelnut bushes. Along St. Mary's avenue, about three miles southwest, was located the Douglas county poor farm. On this avenue, about half way up the hill, was located the large Sisters' convent, and just south of it was the first school for the deaf. Omaha had no parks, no public libraries, no street railroads nor telephone lines at the time. It was easy to walk from any part of the town. Afterwards the Cozzens House3 was built, and that and the International were the leading hotels of the town, as there were no others except some small boarding houses. Down in the flats the river sometimes did great havoc by overflowing the bank, which made things lively in the shops. The freshets did great damage to railroad property and other things down there. The workmen had to be off several days at a time until the river subsided sufficiently to work. When I first came to Omaha, in 1869, I passed along on solid ground on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs road, but now part of the track lies at the bottom of Lake Manawa, over in Iowa. The road now has to go around on the east side of the lake. The wording of President Lincoln's proclamation 3 "Cozzens Hotel"; named after the first landlord, a resident of West Point, N. Y. He paid an annual rental of $10,000. (George Francis Train, My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands, page 296.)-- ED. |
locating the Union Pacific railway was misunderstood as to the actual terminus of the road, whether it was in Omaha or over in Council Bluffs. There was a great deal of discussion about it, and finally it had to be brought out in the courts. General Dodge led the fight for his town, and so Council Bluffs won, but the Union station was built about half way between both towns. The Union Pacific bridge had to be built to enable their trains to cross over the river. The citizens of Omaha had a hard time calling themselves Omahas or Omahites, but some one nicknamed them Omahogs." In the spring of 1866, while I was a teacher in the Indiana school for the deaf, I corresponded with the last territorial governor of Nebraska, the late Alvin Saunders, in regard to a school for deaf children in Nebraska, before any effort whatever was made to establish such a school. He gave me a favorable answer, saying he would submit the matter to the legislature that met in 1867. But nothing was done apparently for it. In the fall and winter of 1868, I was employed as a clerk in a large abstracter's office in St. Louis, Missouri. Near the end of this year Mr. W. Bently, an insurance agent from Omaha, Nebraska, attended the insurance agents, meeting, or convention, in St. Louis. I called on him and got him interested in the matter I had in view. After this consultation he invited me to call on him while in Omaha. In February, 1869, I went to Omaha without knowing what had transpired in the territorial or state governments, or what had been done for the establishment of such a school. From St. Joseph, Missouri, I went on the only railroad that ran up to Council Bluffs. I crossed ,the Missouri river in a large sleigh drawn by four horses |
over the ice. On my arrival in Omaha, I found that the territory of Nebraska had been admitted into the Union as a state, that all the officers had been changed, and that the capital had been located at the villge (sic) of Lincoln. I saw the old territorial capitol on Capitol Hill, where the Omaha high school now stands. I saw the old capitol torn down and the high school built. I made my headquarters at a large boarding house on the corner of Howard and Tenth streets. I called on Mr. Bently, in his office, upstairs, at the corner of Farnam and Thirteenth streets, over the old post office. He gave me advice how to go to Lincoln and accompanied me down to the small Union Pacific depot on the flats near the river. I went out to Elkhorn station, where, with others, I took an oldfashioned stagecoach for Lincoln. We crossed the Platte River at the village of Ashland, partly on ice and partly on a flat ferry boat. We arrived in Lincoln after 7 o'clock and stopped at the best hotel, which stood where the State Journal building is now located. In a few days I secured employment as one of the assistant enrolling clerks in the legislature, through the influence of Mr. A. B. Fuller 4 of Ashland, who had been in the territorial legislature. My writings are on record in the first state archives. I also worked in the interest of the school among the members of the third state legislature. I found a bill in the statutes already passed by the territorial legislature establishing such a school at Omaha under a corporate body, but without any financial aid. I went to work to secure this aid and succeeded, and so the Nebraska school for the deaf was established. David But- 4 Abel B. Fuller, of Cass county, who was a member of the House of Representatives of the twelfth and last legislative assembly (territorial) and of the House of Representatives of the second state legislature.--ED. |
ler was the first state governor. He was a large man, with ruffled features, but had a kind heart. He spoke for me and the education of the unfortunate children. It was partly through his influence that I secured financial aid for the school. I showed letters of introduction and recommendation from the late Oliver P. Morton, the great war governor of Indiana (a personal friend), Hon. W. H. Talbot, president of the board of trustees of the Indiana school for the deaf, and others, all of which were satisfactory. After the legislature adjourned, I returned to Omaha by way of Nebraska City. I called on Mr. Bently and reported my success, but I was in a dilemma as to who would call the corporate body together. In a few days the state auditor, John Gillespie, came to Omaha, and we met in Bently's office. After a short conversation, he took upon himself the responsibility of calling the board to meet in Bently's office about the fifteenth of March, 1869, and they met according to call. The corporate board were General John S. Bowen, of Blair; Eliphus H. Rogers, Fremont; Dr. Aurelius Bowen, Nebraska City; Dr. Gilbert C. Monell, Omaha City; Dr. Abel L. Child, Plattsmouth; Dr. John McPherson, Brownville; Pro- 5 By an act approved February 7, 1867, the last territorial legistive assembly incorporated these men, excepting French, as "a body politic and corporate, with perpetual existence, by the name of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb . . " An act of the state legislature, approved February 15, 1869, appropriated $600 for "board and clothing for deaf and dumb for 1869 and 1870," and $6,000 toward the general support of the institution for the biennium. (Laws . . . Passed at the Fifth Session of the Legislative Assembly of the state, of Nebraska, page 142.) But an act of the territorial assembly, passed February 12, 1866, had provided liberally for the maintenance of deaf mutes and blind children at the asylums or schools of Iowa or any other state established for the education of these classes. (Revised |
fessor W. M. French, ex officio, Omaha City.5 They organized by electing John S. Bowen president, Joseph H. Millard treasurer, Rev. Henry W. Kuhns secretary. I was elected the first principal of the school. By a provision of the statute, the principal was ex officio a member of the board of directors. After the board adjourned the executive committee (consisting Statutes of the Territory of Nebraska, page 374.) Neither the act of 1867 nor the adoption of the constitution appears to have nullified this act. William A. Pollock, not Taylor, was speaker of the first House of Representatives, and William McLennan of the House in the legislature of 1869, which made the first appropriation for the support of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. Governor Saunders made no recommendation on this subject to the territorial assembly; but Governor Butler's proclamation calling the second state legislature to meet In the third session, May 16, 1867, specified "The education and care of deaf mutes" among the subjects for proposed legislation, and in his message to that session he recommended "that a sufficient appropriation be made for the foundation and support of a school for these children, provision being made for the gratuitous instruction of such as are of indigent parentage." An appropriation of $600 was made at this session for "supporting deaf and dumb, 1867 and 1868." The legislature of 1871 appropriated $15,000 for the construction of a building for the Institute, $12,000 for maintenance of the institution for the biennium, and $3,200 for furniture and other equipment (Laws ... of the State of Nebraska.... 187.1, pp. 94, 143.) The legislature of 1875 repealed the original corporate act and passed an act "for the government of the Institute for the deaf and dumb"; and by authority of that act the legislature, in joint convention, elected a board of six trustees. Soon afterward the constitution of 1875 placed the control of the institution in the board of public lands and buildings, thus doing away with the board of directors. The officers constituting that board were first chosen at the general election of 1876 and assumed office in January, 1977. An act of the legislature of 1897 authorized the governor to appoint three trustees "for the government and management of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb at Omaha, and the Institute for the Blind at Nebraska City." By an amendment of the constitution, adopted in 1912, which established a "Board of Commissioners of State Institutions," the "Institute for the Deaf" came under its exclusive Management. The juggling with the name of this institution Illustrates the penchant of law-makers for inaccuracy. The act of 1875 providing for |
of Dr. Monell and Mr. Kuhns) and myself met at Mr. Kuhn's house and made arrangements to rent and furnish a suitable building, situated on St. Mary's avenue, on ground belonging to Mr. M. W. E. Purchase. The school opened on the first day of April, 1869. The first pupil admitted in the school was Miss Kate Callahan, of Omaha. Among other pupils admitted were the two deaf children of Thomas J. Collins, of Falls City. the government of the institution called it by its correct corporate name. A merely incidental act of the same legislature referred to the institution as the "Nebraska state institute for the deaf and dumb..." The legislature of 1897 passed "an act defining the purpose and providing for the government and maintenance of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb," thus again formally recognizing the correct original name; and the appropriations for the institution up to 1909, inclusive, were made in its proper name; yet an act of the legislature of 1909 provides "That in order to be better known and more fully recognized as strictly an educational institution, the name of the State school now known as the Nebraska Institute for the Deaf and Dumb be changed to the Nebraska School for the Deaf." The constitutional amendment which established a Board of Commissioners of State Institutions, submitted by the legislature of 1911, and adopted at the general election of 1912, designates the institution as "Institute for the Deaf"; and, apparently overlooking the name designated in the constitution, but perhaps regarding it as an incidental designation, an act of the legislature of 1915 reënacted the provision of 1909 here quoted and incorporated a change of the name of the Institute for the Blind to "Nebraska School for the Blind." The amendment of the constitution. adverted to calls it by the original name, "Institute for the Blind." In his message to the legislature of 1877, Governor Garber gave a brief historical sketch of the institution in which it appears that "the new building authorized by the legislature is now approaching completion, at a cost, including heating, and other necessary fixtures, of $14,495." The history of Omaha by Savage and Bell (p. 201) says that the first building for the Institute "was completed and ready for occupancy January 1, 1872." This history recites that "The first efforts for the establishment of this institution were those of Rev. H. W. Kuhns, then a member of the Omaha school board, to whom the parents of Kate Callahan, a little deaf mute of this city, made application to have her educated at the expense of the state . . . The subject as taken up by other citizens and the newspapers, and the act of the legislature authorizing its establishment was approved February 7, 1867 . . ." Mr. French, the first principal of the school, was himself a deaf mute.--ED. |
Edward Rosewater, editor of the Omaha Bee, was a member of the House of Representatives of the legislature of 1871. One of our local committee was too modest and so thought that we had better ask for five thousand dollars for a school building. I told him I would ask for six thousand dollars for the support fund. None of the board was consulted about this matter and none went down to Lincoln to see about it, so I was alone. I went down, with Mr. Rosewater and others, to see the legislature organize. In February, I took a few pupils from the school to Lincoln for an exhibition in the chapel of the state university to show the legislature what the school was doing and that it was worthy of support. Governor Butler was present and spoke earnestly for our cause and the education of such children, and applauded the work just witnessed and asked the legislature to be most liberal in this work. A few days afterwards I applied for six thousand dollars for the annual support fund, and five thousand dollars for a new building. While I was in the lobby, Mr. Rosewater came to me personally and asked me why not apply for fifteen thousand dollars for a building instead of a shabby five thousand. I told him it would be better and to go ahead, if he could get it through, as it would be a credit to the state; which he did without much apparent trouble, along with the six thousand dollars annual support fund--in all twenty-seven thousand dollars for two years. The board met in April, 1871, and I made a report to them of my work with the legislature. They were surprised and pleased at the liberality of the legislature. The building appropriation was on condition that the board secured not less than ten acres of land donated free of charge to the state within three miles of the city of Omaha. Far out northwest along the military road, |
such a tract was offered by James Bonner in a large wheat field. The board accepted the Bonner tract, and erected the first buildings on it. Several years afterwards the corporate board was abolished and annulled and a board of directors was elected as follows: Nathan K. Griggs, Beatrice; Charles W. Hamilton, Omaha; Thomas J. Collins, Falls City; James E. Boyd, Omaha; C. E. Redfield, Omaha; Thompson Bissell, Ashland. The board elected Mr. Boyd secretary and Mr. Hamilton treasurer. This directorate management continued until the new constitution of Nebraska was in force when the institute came under the care of the Board of Public Lands and Buildings as per section 19, article V of the constitution. The personnel of the government under this board was Silas Garber, governor; F. M. Davis, commissioner public lands and buildings; Bruno Tzschuck, secretary of state; Joseph C. McBride, treasurer; George H. Roberts, attorney-general. The only railroad in Nebraska at the time was the Union Pacific, running west from Omaha with a small depot and shops down on the flats near the Missouri River. I saw several roads built to the Missouri River bank on the Iowa side opposite Omaha. At night their illuminated cars looked bright and beautiful. Passengers were ferried across from the Union Pacific depot to the other side to take trains for the east, and passengers were ferried from these trains to the Union Pacific to take cars out west. These were the Chicago & Northwestern, the Burlington, the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, and the Rock Island trains. Their tracks were located north of the present Union station. |
I saw the first pier put down in the Missouri River for the great Union Pacific bridge. I saw the first Omaha & Southwestern road built down to the Platte River, thence down to Crete, now gobbled up by the Burlington company. It ran down the river around the cliffs for a long distance, past the cabin of the Indian chief Fontennelle, far up on the hillside among the trees, before reaching Bellevue. It is said that he used to swim the river with his horse over to the trading camp at Council Bluffs to get whisky and other things. I saw the Omaha & Northern road built to Blair and Tekamah, now gobbled up by the Chicago & Northwestern company. The International Hotel [Herndon House] was a huge affair. Leading politicians and leading men stopped there. Big hacks drawn by four horses kept running from this hotel to all parts of the city and down to the river, day and night, carrying passengers. George Francis Train was often a conspicuous guest there. He owned some land on the south side of the city. The Creightons, Dillons, Ames, Allison, General Dodge and many others met there. If the silent walls of the hotel could talk, they would tell of public men, their plans, their schemes, etc., concocted in the rooms, and the big dining room could tell of notables who took meals there. This famous hotel is now transformed into Union Pacific offices. Forbes and Bonner used to keep a large shed for a meat market, trade and sale in hides, tallow, salt, cement, etc. at the corner where the grand post office now stands in Omaha. I saw the Burlington & Missouri River railroad in Nebraska built a few miles west from Plattsmouth. The road was cut through brush and thickets on the Iowa |
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