NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
OLLibrary  

POLL BOOK OF THE PRECINCT OF MIAMI, NEBRASKA
TERRITORY.

     At an Election held at Miami, in the Osage River Agency, on Tuesday, the 11th day of October 1853 for the purpose of Electing

---

ahead of the times, and were compelled to take a step back till the actual wants of the country should call for their reappearance.
     "Old Fort Kearney was an evacuated military post, the name and the troops having been transferred to a new post about two hundred miles up the Platte River. A substantial block- house, one old log dwelling, and the remains of a set of rude, temporary barracks, were all that was there to be seen of the old fort. Squatters had taken possession of the lands, and the two rivals, Nebraska City and Kearney City, had been laid off, the one above and the other below the mouth of South Table Creek. The site of the old fort, now of Nebraska City, is bold and fine. I found a single frame shanty erected, in which were a few goods, and a single settler in the old fort cabin in the person of Major Downs. The Major had served through the Mexican war, accompanied by his heroic wife; afterward was a sergeant among the troops at the garrison, and, on its evacuation, had been left in charge of the government property. Being on the ground and in actual possession at the passage of the organizing act, he laid his 'claim' upon the land on which the fort stood, and became the original proprietor of Nebraska City. I found him to be a frank, generous hearted soldier, possessing some noble traits of character, with some unfortunate remains of army habits. He took me to his house, treated me kindly and generously, exhibited quite an interest in my mission, took down his city plat, and, in my presence, marked off certain lots, since risen to a value equal to five times the outlay and expenses of my whole trip, which he then and there donated to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Major D. has since served one term in the Nebraska Legislature, and has been appointed Major-General of the Militia of the Territory. Others became interested with him in the proprietorship of the city, and in the result he reaped but little pecuniary benefit from his early occupancy. But in my reminiscences of Nebraska pioneers I shall never forget Major Downs and his amiable lady. Their house has always been open for personal accommodation or for public religious service, and his large heart has always stood out in generous actions. They have both for sometime been seeking for a higher life. I hope to meet them above."*
     Early in the following winter Mr. Good again visited Old Fort Kearney and he leaves us this record of the event (see page 319):
     "After a laborious week's travel, I succeeded, on Saturday afternoon, in reaching the ferry opposite Old Fort Kearney, alias Nebraska City. But the steam ferry-boat was gone, and slender substitutes were left. The ice was running in large quantities, and the prospect gloomy of reaching my intended point for the Sabbath, though now in sight. Ordinary ferrying was suspended. Finding, however, a bold, skillful man - whose kind services I have repeatedly since had in time of need - about to cross, we tied ourselves on to his fortunes, entered the skiff, and made our way through the vast field of floating ice to the opposite shore.
     "Again in Nebraska City, I called on my friend Major Downs, who, meantime, had erected a large frame hotel. His house was crowded to its utmost capacity, and the weather severe. He offered to take me in, but the prospect was forbidding. I inquired for the preacher, whom I understood to be on the ground, and was pointed to a cabin on the opposite side of Table Creek, at quite a distance, where he was

---

     * Major D. has since served honorably in his country's cause as Lieutenant-Colonel of Nebraska Volunteers.--1863.

a Delegate to represent Nebraska Territory in the next Congress of the United States the following is the result

VOTERS NAMES.	Thomas Johnson.	Abelard Guthrie.
James Chenault	1
David Lykins	2
Joseph Jebo	3
William A. Heiskell	4
Luther Paschal	5
John Paschal	6
Thomas I. Hedges	7
Baptiste Peoria1	8
Andrew Kaskaskia	9
----- Mitchell	10
Peter Cloud	1
Chin. gwa. ke. ah	2
Kah. a. sha	3

---

supposed to be boarding. Dark was about setting in, when, leaving my young companion to the chances of the hotel, and taking my course, I set out on foot for the place. The creek intervened, with a thicket of timber and brushwood, and the cabin was lost from my view. It grew darker and darker as I crossed the creek and ascended the opposite hill, till I found myself entangled in the brushwood, and bewildered in my course. For a time I wandered and called, but met no response. The lights in the city were yet to be seen. Wishing to take an observation while I could, I drew out my pocket-compass, lighted a match, and took the course; then started again, traveling as I could, and calling aloud. At length, through an opening cabin-door, I espied a light, and heard a female voice in response. Seldom has a gentle voice fallen more gratefully upon my ear. I made way to the place, and was invited in. The preacher was not there, the husband was absent, and the lady was alone with her little children. I told her who and what I was. Late and dark as it was, I accepted her kind invitation for the night, was well entertained, and formed an acquaintance with a worthy Christian lady. The husband returned soon, and I made the brushwood cabin my home during my stay.
     "On the day following, being the Sabbath, Major D. tendered a room of his hotel for public service, and I occupied it for preaching. The day was cold; men kept within doors; some rudely running up and down stairs; a group of shivering Indians stood and looked curiously on; but there was a goodly number of attentive and solemn hearers, and I trust the seed was not sown in vain. The Major would have me dine with him, but, to secure the object, had to take me in privately and seat me before the rush of hungry men in waiting was let in, for frontier's-men are proverbial for appetite, and not always very deferential to the appetites or the positions of others.
     This was all of the first quarterly meeting for Old Fort Kearney mission."
     ¹ Baptiste Peoria was the leading man of the Peoria tribe. I have been unable to obtain material for even a brief sketch of his life.

VOTERS NAMES.	Thomas Johnson.	Abelard Guthrie.
Pe. si. ah.	4
Joe Peoria	5
Battiste Basure	6
Chal. U. lie	7
Ken. ge tah no sah	8
Jack Boys	9
Go. to. kah. poo. ah	20
Se pah. ka. ah	1
Pah. kon. ge. ah	2
Kish. e. wan. e. sah	3
Tall. wah. kwah. ke. naw. gah	4
Pe. tah. nah. ke. kah. poo. ah	5
0. zar. ah. ke. yow. gah	6
Mah. kon. sah	7
Kah. ke. lan. gwau. gah	8
Wah. pah. koo. se. ah	9
Chah. pen. doo. ce. ah	30
Bazie Boye	1
Lewis Dequine	2
Capt. Big Legs	3
Sam Delaware	4
Little Doctor	5
Kil. son. sah	6
Wan. sah. pe. ah	7
Wah. pan. e. kah. poo. ah	8
Nap. shin. gah	9
Nah. wan. ge. ah	40
Kil. son. sah	1
Ke. no. zan. yah	2
Go. to. kahs. poo. ah	3
Wap. shin. gah	4
Lewis Peckham	5
Elie Geboe	6
Old Beaver	7
Yellow Beaver	8
----- Wilson	9
Kish e kon. sah	50
	501	00

---

    ¹ There is a certain uniformity and a noticeable sameness in the vote of this precinct that must have struck Mr. Guthrie as being remarkable, at least.

Endorsed on back:

Messrs. Munday, Miller & Grover

Delaware

Miami Polls.        N. T.

---

CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION.

     Whereas at the late general Convention of delegates which assembled in Wyandott City, Nebraska Territory, on the 26th day of July, 1853, among the Acts of the said Convention, was the adoption of the two following Resolutions, viz: "6 Resolved. That the citizens of
"Nebraska Territory will meet in their respective precincts on the
"second Tuesday in October next, and elect one delegate to the 33rd
"Congress.
   "7. Resolved. That this Convention do appoint a provisional Gov-
"ernor, a provisional Secretary of the Territory and a Council of three
"persons, and that all election returns shall be made to the Secretary
"of the Territory and be by him opened and counted in the presence
"of the Governor and Council on the second Tuesday in November
"next, and that a certificate shall be issued by them to the person having
"the highest number of votes"--And Whereas in pursuance of the above Resolutions, elections were held, returns were made to the Secretary and by his deputy "opened and counted in the presence of the Governor and Council," and it appearing that Thomas Johnston having received the highest number of votes is, by virtue of authority in me vested, declared duly elected delegate to represent Nebraska Territory in the 33rd Congress of the United States.¹

Given under my [hand] at Wyandott City this the 8th day of November A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty three and of the Independence of the United States the seventy seventh year ---

WM WALKER
Provisional Governor

JOEL. W. GARRETT
     Deputy provisional Secretary of the Territory---

---

     ¹ Thomas Johnson must have carried the original certificate of election to Washington with him. But the original from which this is copied is in my possession, and while it may have been intended for the first draft of the certificate it is well executed and is in Governor Walker's handwriting. It is most probable that the certificate was issued in duplicate, one copy being retained by the Provisional Goverment [sic]; the other given to Mr. Johnson.

APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS COMMISSIONER
OF DEEDS.

RICHMOND VA Feby 25th 1854.

DEAR SIR:
     I will be much obliged to you, if you will confer upon me the appointment of Commissioner of Deeds, &c for the territory of Nebraska. Below are the signatures of members of Congress to whom I beg leave to refer you as to my character and qualifications¹

To His Excellency
          The Governor of Nebraska.

     P. S. I am authorized to refer also to Senators Thomas J. Rusk and Samuel Houston of Texas.

Respy,
	A. U. MAYO

---

LETTER FROM O. H. BROWNE TO GOVERNOR
WALKER

MILLERSVILLE                         
ANNE ARUNDEL CO.,      
MARYLAND          
Oct. 17th 1853

His Excellency

William Walker

Prov.Governor &c..

SIR.

                      I have taken the liberty of enclosing the Maryland State Capitol Gazette, a leading Democratic paper, containing a notice of Nebraska, which I hope will meet your approbation.

If I can be of service to you personally, or to the Territory, let me know in what manner, and your wishes shall be imperative with me
     Allow me to subscribe myself personally and politically. and sincerely¹

Your Friend

O. H. BROWNE

     [The following letter, it is believed, is a letter to O. H. Browne, Esq., the writer of the foregoing letter. It is evidently not an answer to the foregoing, but one of a correspondence of which it was the commencement. This correspondence resulted in Mr. Browne's coming to Kansas to live, as suggested in the following letter. He settled in Osage County and engaged in farming, and was elected to the Legislature in 1865; he was then 45 years old; his Postoffice was Ridgeway. He died in Rice County, July 22, 1874, aged 59 years.]

MY DEAR SIR ---

     Your favor of the ----- reached me while confined to my bed with a violent attack of Pneumonia, from which I am now slowly recovering. I am not sure that "gin horse prudence" would, as the Scottish poet would say if consulted, sanction this attempt at clerical labor, while so enfeebled in body and depressed with mental embecility and weakness: -certain I am, my worthy physician would interpose his earnest remonstrance against any such premature labors.
     But it is my desire, if I can do nothing more, to tender to you my warm thanks for your favor and the slip enclosed containing your letter addressed to the p-----. Accuse me not, my dear air, with fulsome flattery when I say that I listened to its reading with admiration and delight, and mentally exclaimed, This is just what is so much needed at the present juncture - facts and figures that are incontrovertible.

I must be brief. I wish here to state a fact that you may not be aware of, that slavery has existed in what is now called "Kansas Territory," and still exists, both among Indians and whites regardless of the exploded Mo Com. Some of the slaves are held by the former by, virtue of their own laws and usages, and some by regular bills of sale from citizens of Mo. How will this description of Indian "property" be protected if the change in D's bill, so clamorously called for, be made? Will that clause in the First section which provides" That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in the said Territory" protect them in their right to this kind of property ? To my mind this is not so clear.
     Be pleased to accept of the thanks of the Officers of the Prov gov't for your able defence of them.
     For your information, which you may use hereafter should occasion &rise, I will state that there is not one of these men intermarried with the Indians. Of the members of the Territorial Council [torn away here] R. C. M. [R. C. Miller] a native, I believe of the Ancient Dominion is a licensed trader among the Pot[tawatomie] Indians. M^r I. M. [Isaac Mundy] a native of Ky is the Gov't B S [blacksmith] among the Dr [Delaware] Indians. M. R. Walker a Quadroon Wy----- and G. I. Clark Secy is a native of Canada, and your humble servt another Quadroon and a native of Michigan. My colleagues, as you say, justly "are all the right kind of men, and eminently worthy of the distinguished positions assigned them by their fellow citizens" ----
     In your application for an appointment in the judiciary by all means choose one in this Territory. It is in every respect superior to N----- in climate soil and indeed all the elements promotive of general thrift and prosperity. The other will, in climate prove, I am sure, too Labradorian for you. It is a sterile, cold and uninviting region when compared to this. Lying between the parellels of 40 & 49'. This Territory will be the Cynosure of the enterprising emigrant and will fill up more rapidly than the other.

[No signature.]

GOVERNOR WALKER'S NOTES ON THE EARLY HIS-
TORY OF NEBRASKA.

NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.¹

     [In] The year 1852, public attention, especially in the West, was drawn to the occupation of those large tracts of land held by the United States for the use of such Indians as may still emigrate from the States East of the Mississippi, at that time vacant. And considering also the fact that, except the Six Nations of N. Y. there were no more Indian tribes to be removed to these parts; and considering also that these large bodies of surplus land must, if the Govt policy be adhered to, remain unoccupied in all time to come. Independently of this, another grave question presented itself furnishing matter for serious and sober reflection. A guarrantee was made to all the Emigrating tribes that in the Country assigned them West, no territorial government shall ever be formed over them, nor become subject to any State authority.
     These questions were discussed at public meetings, in private circles and in the public Journals with considerable earnestness. These discussions attracted the attention of the Interior Department and drew forth official intimations that the government could not allow any portion of that territory to be occupied or settled by white people; and that the president was authorized to employ, if necessary, the military force of the U. S. in removing from the Indian Country all persons found therein contrary to law.
     But unfortunately for the government, it turned out that it was the Indians, not the indigenous, but the Emigrant Indians themselves especially the Wyandotts that warmly favored the occupation by white people of the vacant lands and ultimate organization of the territory. They foresaw that the pressure Westward and from the Pacific slope Eastward of emigration would ere long force the government to abandon its restrictive policy. The Wyandotts and such whites as were within their [tribe] took the initiatory step, by holding an election for a Delegate to Congress in the fall of 1852, and elected Mr A. G.² a gentleman every way qualified to represent this [Territory in Congress].

---

     ¹ This MS. is unsigned, but it is in Governor Walker's handwriting. I obtained it with the resolutions or "Constitution" of the Provisional Government.
     ² Abelard Guthrie.

     The Missouri delegation in Congress were, with the exception of Col. Benton and Hon W. P. Hall, opposed to the measure, and nothing was accomplished, but an increased interest excited and public attention aroused to the importance of this novel measure inaugurated by two parties, in which the Indians and the ever restless and erratic whites coalesced and opposed the very policy intended for the protection of the former.
     In the summer of 1853, a Territorial Convention was held pursuant to previous notice to be held at Wyandott. The Convention met on the 26th of July when the following proceedings took place: (See "Industrial Luminary" herewith sent)¹
     A proclamation was issued in pursuance of the 10th Resolution ordering an election for a Delegate to the 33rd Congress on the 2nd Tuesday in Oct. and designating the precincts at which the polls should be opened.
     A few days after the adjournment of this Convention another rather informally was called at Kickapoo, at which Mr Thomas Johnson was nominated as Candidate for Delegate.¹ The latter then yielded to the wishes of his friends and became a Candidate in opposition to the regular nominee. The election was held accordingly. Upon canvassing the returns it was found that a third candidate was voted for in the Bellevue precinct, in the person of Hadley D. Johnston Esq who recd 358 votes.²
     From information derived from that precinct it appeared that Mr Johnston was an actual resident of Iowa, and at that time a member of the Legislature of that State; and an additional circumstance tending to vitiate the election in this precinct, was that a large majority of the voters were actual residents of that State. The officers were compelled to reject these returns.³ Upon canvassing the returns it was found that Thomas Johnson of Shawnee had received a majority of all the votes cast and was declared duly elected. Many politicians and Editors of public Journals whose standard of political morals was of the straitest kind viewed these proceedings with decided aversion and regarded them as revolutionary &c mobocratic law

---

     ¹ These "Notes" were evidently intended for publication in some newspaper, most probably the Ohio State Journal. This is the rough draft of what the communcation [sic] was when rewritten.
     ² This is the same number of votes given in Mr. Johnson's certificate of election. See Mr. Johnson's statement in another part of this work.
      ³ See Mr. Johnson's statement in another part of this work.

defying, unprecedented, illegal; forgetting the several provisional govts of California, Oregon, New Mexico &c.¹
     It is here worthy of remark that in each of the emigrant tribes of Indians elections were held and they voluntarily and freely participated in them; showing clearly. that they anticipated and were prepared for the change in their political condition which they saw would soon be wrought out. As was the case with Mr G who was elected Delegate the year previous, Congress being averse to a departure from "the line of sav[f]e precedent", by admitting delegates from unorganized territories, refused to admit Mr Johnson to a seat in that body. The provisional government of Nebraska continued in existence till after the organization by Congress of the two Territories and the arrival of A. H. Reeder the first Governor of Kansas. Of all the remarkable events that transpired subsequently, "are they not written in the book of Chronicles" of Kansas Territory?

---

NEBRASKA TERRITORY.

     [The document of which the following is a copy is in the handwriting of Governor Walker. The paper is not complete, it being only a portion of the first draft of an article for some periodical. It has no date.]

---

NEBRASKA TERRITORY.

     The first movement looking to an organization of this Territory was made in 1845. Senator Douglas then Chairman on Territories reported a Bill for that purpose; but the measure not meeting with much favor with the Senate, was laid aside and but little more said about the measure till the summer of 1852, when a few daring and resolute spirits in the Wyandott nation determined upon making a demonstration in favor of its organization, by concerting measures for holding an election for a delegate to Congress. But a serious question at hand had to be solved: Who would go, if elected, and run the risk of having to pay his own expenses to, at and from Washington, as it was extremly [sic] doubtful whether the delegate so elected would be

---

     ¹ Especially the papers of the South, and many of the Democratic papers of the North.

© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 for the NEGenWeb Project by Pam Rietsch, Ted & Carole Miller