Kearney in 1889

In 1889 – [from the Hub]

Young Ladies’ Art Society of Trinity church was having a prairie chicken supper. Public invited. Fund raiser for their new building.

Cornerstone laid in September. Rev. Crow was pastor and membership had increased from 90 to 180. (Those original 90 came by transfer from the other Methodist Church)

Rev. Crow went from here to the Methodist Church in Gibbon and Asbury Collins followed him as pastor of Trinity until his death the following year.

Saloonkeepers and others of the city served an injunction to not serve Mr. Mott intoxicating liquor. Saturday night someone bought him some and they both ended up being arrested and fined.

The new city hall was being built – replaced in a WPA project in about 1939 over objections of some Kearney citizens.

Two Kearneyites won the state tennis tournament – age or sex not given.

“Cupid’s Cruel Capers” Oct. 22, 1889 – [see article from Hub]
 

Buffalo County in 1890s

1894 – [from miscellaneous county papers in the Archives]
Application was made to the county for construction of a bridge over Timber Gulch. Judging by the signers of the petition, the location was north of Odessa but none of us working at the archives have heard of it. Maybe some current or former residents of that area could provide some information.

The Gay Nineties??? Not in Buffalo County – Kearney’s industrial boom went bust in 1892 leaving the city with half its population and in debt for the infrastructure improvements which had been installed. 1893-4 were drought years resulting in crop failures as evidenced by these two pieces of correspondence found in those miscellaneous county papers in the archives.

7 Feb1895 – Petition for Election to Vote Bonds for Seed and Feed purposes for the year 1895.
Petition to County Board for special election on the question of issuing $50,000 in bonds for purchase of grain for seed and for feed of farmers teams in the county during 1895. Needed because of failure of crops for the past two years.

27 Mar 1895 – letter from Buffalo County Clerk to our representative in the state legislature. [Remember, this was pre-Unicameral days]

“I have good reason to believe that this County is being discriminated against by…the state relief Commission in the distribution of supplies and further that unless the matter is looked after sharply the farmers of this county will not receive their share of the $200,000.00 appropriated by the legislature for seed and feed purposes.
In fact [the chair of the state relief commission] has written a long letter to our county relief commission here, stating that, owing to the fact that some person up in Miller has written a complaining letter to the ‘World Herald’, that this whole County will be allowed to suffer therefore, by the relief Commission at Lincoln shutting off further supplies. The letter certainly shows a very revengeful spirit…and I appeal to you as a representative of this County to bring what influence you can to bear upon the state relief Commission to the end that Buffalo County gets her prorata of the money appropriated by the state.
We shall send two members of our Commission here, down to Lincoln the latter part of this week to see about the matter. Thanking you in advance for what trouble you may be too. I am very Respectfully yours, W. S. Hormel, Co Clerk”