Col. Joseph L. Sharp, "of Iowa," Hiram P. Bennet, also "of Iowa," Rev. William Hamilton, and Maj. George Hepner made appropriate speeches.

The same issue of the Palladium gives this information:

"The governor reached Belleview in an enfeebled condition, his complaint being a derangement of the bilious system. After his arrival his complaint continued to increase in malignancy, until it was thought advisable to call for medical aid. Accordingly a messenger was dispatched to Messrs. McMahon & Williams, of Bluff City, who immediately sent Dr. A. B. Malcolm, an accomplished physician, connected with them in his profession. The governor is now convalescent and it is hoped will soon recover from his prostration."

On the 18th of October the Palladium announces that "the governor was slowly recovering from his prostration until the 12th instant when from improper annoyance from visitors, and perhaps unnecessary exposure of himself while in his enfeebled condition, his fever returned with an aspect sufficiently threatening to make it necessary to send for his physician." The public is assured that where he practiced medicine, and, coming to Nebraska territory in 1854, settled on a claim near Bellevue. On April 20, 1855, he was charged with killing George W. Hollister. The shooting was the outcome of a quarrel between Hollister and a Dr. Butterfield over a land claim. Dr. Henry gave himself up and was taken to Omaha for trial, where, at the preliminary hearing before Chief Justice Ferguson, he was defended by Andrew J. Poppleton and Oliver P. Mason, and was bound over to await the action of the grand jury. This was the first notable appearance of Mr. Mason in Nebraska, and he addressed the court in condemnation of its order that "the prisoner be shackled, handcuffed, and chained to the floor." In scathing terms he charged the court with inhumanity and injustice, until friends expected an order imprisoning Mason for contempt, but instead Judge Ferguson modified his order so that the prisoner might be kept at the house of Sheriff P. G. Peterson under such restraint as that officer might think necessary. The grand jury failed to indict Dr. Henry, but Judge Ferguson insisted on holding him until his case could be brought before another grand jury. At this period Dr. George L. Miller, the only physician in Omaha, was called to attend government troops en route to Ft. Pierre, among whom the cholera had broken out. During his absence, Dr. Henry made professional visits under the escort of Sheriff Peterson. He made many friends, and the next grand jury failing to find an indictment against him, he was released. His plea was that the shooting was done in self-defense, and his subsequent career would seem to indicate that he was not a man to take human life without provocation. In 1855 he

"the governor is comfortably situated at the Otoe and Omaha mission." On the 25th of October the Palladium gives an account of the governor's funeral. After the singing of an appropriate hymn Secretary Cuming, "evidently under the deepest emotions of grief," made some appropriate remarks, and he was followed by Chief Justice Ferguson and Rev. William Hamilton, who conducted the services. On the 20th an escort started with the body "for burial at the family residence in South Carolina."

Thus were completed the preliminaries for lodging local civil government in a vast and unexplored region, upon a soil that had been untested by tillage, and in a climate untried as to healthfulness through permanent occupancy by civilized man. And now in the crucible of these conditions the courage and constructive capacity of the pioneers are to be put to test, and though never so severe it is not to find them wanting. Many, or most of them, had surrendered good homes and the associations and endearments of kindred and friends in other communities. The privations of frontier life were voluntarily sought only by men and women who had the courage,

became an active and enterprising citizen of Omaha, and in 1856 built the first portion of the Pioneer block, then called the Henry block. He was also proprietor of the first drug store in Omaha. In 1858 he settled on a ranch on Wood river, opened a store at Ft. Kearney and also one at Cottonwood Springs. He was one of the town site proprietors of Central City and later of Kearney City, and in 1860 was appointed clerk of Kearney county. He was widely known throughout the territory as a promoter of new towns. An interesting story is told of an instance that occurred while Dr. Henry was under arrest at Bellevue the day after the killing of Hollister. Dr. Benjamin P. Rankin called on him, at his request, in the Indian blacksmith shop where he was imprisoned. After the interview Rankin came out laughing. "In answer to an inquiry Rankin replied that he was laughing at the force of habit as displayed in Henry's case. He had found him studying a map of Iowa and he had asked Rankin if he didn't think such and such a spot was a good place to lay out a town." Dr. Henry was a pro-slavery democrat, but during the war of the Rebellion rendered valuable service to the Union. At the suggestion of Col. E. D. Webster of the state department, who, while editor of the Republican, had known Dr. Henry in Omaha, he was equipped as an army surgeon and sent as a spy through the southern lines. His work was exceedingly perilous, but from his acquaintances in the South, and because of his known antiabolition sentiments, he obtained passes through the Confederate lines and after a month returned north with valuable information to the government. As a reward for this service he was commissioned captain,

ness.

spirit, and ambition to give up agreeable environments in an old home for the purpose of founding a new one. From the days of the colonies in Virginia, New England, and New York, the best types of mankind, physically and mentally, and the strongest individuals of those types-those gifted with self-reliance and inspired by the spirit of selfdenial-have penetrated new countries and opened them to the institutions of civilization. The dependent, the habitually gregarious, never strike out from parents, kindred, and the comfortable circumstances of settled social life to challenge the hardships of the wilderOnly that civilization and those breeds of men capable of developing strong individuality and self-reliance can establish and maintain settlements remote from populational centers. Self-reliance, Self-reliance, self-control, and stability among savages are merely sporadic; consequently we find no traces of voluntary migrations for establishing permanent sovereignty and settlements by the Indians who preceded us upon these plains. The strong characteristic of the pioneer is his ambition and zealous, enthusiastic work for to-morrow, his willingness cheerfully to endure hardships in the present that others may enjoy consummate satisfactions in futuresatisfactions which he himself may never experience. There were genuine heroes among the openers and testers of the vast crust of soil which stretched from the river to the mountains. They worked tirelessly, with intelligence and directness, to demonstrate the value of its constant productivity. Already the great majority of that peaceful and heroic and later was assigned as chief quartermaster of the 7th army corps with General Steele in Arkansas. At the close of the war he was mustered out with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1870 he moved to California, where he formed a company, returned to Evanston, Wyoming, and opened the coal mines near that place. He has two sisters living, a Mrs. Young of Merced, California, and Ann H. Henry, who was married in 1858, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to James E. Boyd, well known as a prominent pioneer of Nebraska and once

band who first planted these prairies have folded their tired arms and lain down to everlasting rest. The story of their humble lives, their useful labors, their sacrifices, and their achievements has perished with their generation, and will not be told. As their cabins have been replaced by the mansions of followers, and the smoke of their chimneys has faded away into unknown skies, so have they gone from sight and remembrance. But their successes, achieved in that primitive and frugal Past, are the foundations of all the industrial and commercial superstructures which our Present proudly enjoys. As we walk the streets of a thronged metropolis we look in wonder and with admiration upon the splendid triumphs of modern architecture. Magnificent palaces of industry, reaching into the clouds and embellished with all the symmetry and grace which skill and taste can evolve, attract and entrance the eye. But we seldom give a moment's thought to the broad and strong foundations laid and hidden deep in the earth, which, with unquaking and stupendous strength, uplift and sustain all. The citizen of this prosperous commonwealth today beholds the superstructure of a state, but very infrequently are the founders and the foundations upon which it is erected ever brought to mind. Desire and ambition for achievements, instead of vital gratitude and reverential memory, occupy the mind and absorb the energy of the present generation. The pioneers in their graves are recalled only now and then by some contemporary who, perchance lingering beyond his time, tells stories of their courage and of their character.1 governor of the state. Another sister, Ona B., married Charles McDonald, North Platte, Nebraska, and died December 28, 1898. Dr. Henry died at the residence of Governor Boyd in Omaha, June 8, 1880, while en route from Oregon to Pennsylvania. Dr. Henry was twice married. Two daughters by his first wife reside in Los Angeles, and one in San Francisco, and two sons by his second wife live in the latter city.

These philosophical reflections should be credited to the late J. Sterling Morton.

the head of which, upon the left, you enter the council chamber and the committee rooms on the right. The building is a neat and substantial one, but altogether too small for the purpose intended.

"The speaker's desk is elevated two or three steps above the level of the floor, and likewise that of the president of the council. The desks are well proportioned and tastefully finished.

"The desks for the representatives and councilmen are designed to accommodate two members, each having a small drawer to himself, and a plain Windsor chair for a seat. The furniture, including the secretaries' and speaker's desks and chairs, is of the plainest character, and yet well suited to the purpose for which they were designed.

"The size of the legisative rooms are so small that but very few spectators can gain admittance at one time.

"We were struck with the singularity of taste displayed in the curtain furniture of the different rooms, which consisted of two folds of plain ca'ico, the one green and the other red, which we took to be symbolic of jealousy and war-which monsters, we fear, will make their appearance before right is enthroned and peace established."

and not a sign of a habitation was visible upon the site where now are constantly in progress and will be completed, within another month, a town numbering some 175 or 200 inhabitants."

The legislature was composed of a council of thirteen and a house of twenty-six members. It can not be said that a single member of this first legislature had a permanent footing in the territory, and many of them had

On the 13th day of October the Arrow tells us that, "But a few short months ago

This statement should be modified as to Kempton and Purple, who both gained some claim to residence.

Joseph L. Sharp, president of the council of the 1st territorial assembly, was a son of James and Polly Baldwin) Sharp, who resided upon a farm twenty miles west of Nashville, Tennessee. The Sharp family were descendan's of Lord Baltimore and were early settl rs of Baltimore, Maryland. One branch of the family settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and of these, John Sharp, grandfather of Joseph L. Sharp, subsequently settled upon a farm near Uniontown, Pennsylvania. James Sharp, the father of Joseph L. Sharp, died in 1817, in Florida, having been engage in trading in mules and horses from the close of the War of 1812.

not even "declared their intentions." But the men from Iowa were there in full force. Mr. J. L. Sharp, the president of the council, nominally from Richardson county, lived at Glenwood, Iowa, and never became a resident of Nebraska. Out

of the total membership of thirty-nine at least five, namely, Sharp, Nuckolls, Kempton,1 Latham, and Purple never were actual residents of the territory, and many of the rest were mere sojourners-driftwood, temporarily stranded on this farther shore of the westward stream of population, but destined soon to be caught by its constant onward flow and carried off to the boundless country beyond.

The members of the first territorial council were Benjamin R. Folsom of Burt county,

His property in Tennessee was somewhat encumbered, and Joseph L. Sharp, a younger brother, and a sister were left with their mother to make their own way through life. Little is known of the early life of Mr. Sharp, but he was born November 26, 1801, and February 26, 1826, was married to Matilda Singleton, of Virginia, a daughter of an officer in the Revolutionary war, who was born December 17, 1803. Soon after his marriage Mr. Sharp moved to Fulton county, Illinois, and settled at Bernadotte, a place laid out on land owned by him. In 1850, with his wife and old. est son, he moved to Cocnville, Iowa, now known as Glenwood. In connection with J. W. Coolidge, Joseph Rawls, and Oliver N. Tyson, he laid out the town

Lafayette Nuckolls of Cass county, Munson H. Clark of Dodge county, Taylor G. Goodwill, Alfred D. Jones, Origen D. Richardson, Samuel E. Rogers of Douglas county, Richard Brown of Forney county, Hiram P. Bennet, Henry Bradford,1 Charles H. Cowles of Pierce county, Joseph L. Sharp of Richardson county, James C. Mitchell of Washington county.

of Glenwood. His first public office there was that of prosecuting attorney, and he was for a time acting judge of Mills county. He was the first member to represent Mills county in the Iowa legislature, and it is said that his legislative district covered about thirty counties, or about one-third of the area of the state of Iowa. In 1852 he received a license to run a ferry between Bethlehem, Iowa, and Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Colonel Sharp went to Washington and submitted the plan of making two territories out of the proposed Nebraska territory, and upon the organization of the territory of Nebraska he was elected to represent Richardson county in the first territorial council, and was president of that body, though he was at the time a resident of Iowa. Subsequently he was appointed special Indian agent for several tribes west of the Missouri river. Mr. Sharp was an active and enterprising citizen and was always prominent in political affairs. Before he became a member of the Nebraska assembly, he had served two terms in the Illinois legislature, 1842 to 1846, and one term in the legislature of Iowa, 1853-54. He served in the Blackhawk Indian war, in 1832-33, and in the 4th Illinois volunteers in the war with Mexico; and was also in General Houston's command in the war for Texas independence. His first wife died at Glenwood, Iowa, February 22, 1863, and November 1, 1865, he was again married, to Dorothy J. Arthur, of Hillsboro, Arkansas. Mr. Sharp was the father of six children: Illisanna, who married Wheatley Micklewait, and now resides in Jonesborough, Arkansas; Emma Palmer, deceased; Melissa Jane married Thomas J. Palmer, Alliance, Nebraska; Neal J. Sharp, Hailey, Idaho; Joseph G. Sharp, deceased; Ewing Smith Sharp, deceased Joseph L. Sharp died at Memphis, Tennessee, in 1869, of yellow fever. According to Dr. George L. Miller, "The territorial council was the more dignified and orderly of the two bodies, for two reasons: it was composed of only thirteen members, and they were mostly of middle age. A third reason was, perhaps, that the president of the upper body [Joseph L. Sharp] was a gray-haired man of perhaps sixty years of age, who had served in the legislatures of other states, and he always preserved that dignity and decorum which is becoming in a presiding officer of a deliberative body. It is true that he was a model president, and his rulings on knotty points of parliamentary law and order were invariably sound and impartial. During the sessions of the coun

cil he seldom left the chair to engage in debate. It was only when he was personally assailed that he did this. He was a man of clear head, spoke well, and with earnestness and force. Colonel Sharp was accused of playing high and sometimes low, with a cunning that was peculiarly his own, for personal benefits, by men who knew him well. No charge against him was ever made on the floor of the council, beyond intimations. It was understood, however, that in the capital removal matter he left the legislature as empty-handed as when he entered it. He directed

The first territorial house of representatives was comprised as follows: Burt county, Hascall C. Purple,2 John B. Robertson; Cass county, William Kempton, John McNeal Latham, Joseph D. N. Thompson; Dodge county, Eli R. Doyle, J. W. Richardson; Douglas county, William N. Byers, William Clancy, Fleming Davidson, Thomas Davis, Alfred D. Goyer, Andrew J. Hanscom, Anlegislation with a clear understanding, and was effective in securing the passage of good bills which were of general interest. When it came to special legislation, he may not have been so vigilant. Colonel Sharp never appeared in Nebraska affairs after he had served his term of two years, but his son, Johnson [Neal J.], who had an actual residence in Cass county (the father claimed to represent Richardson in the council), gained a seat in the house at the second session. When he rose in that body and made a motion for the house to vote upon a pending matter, not viva voce, but vice versa, his disgusted father, who was visiting the house at the moment, nearly fell out of his chair from chagrin."

In personal appearance, Colonel Sharp was tall and strongly built, of commanding presence and stately demeanor. He suffered from smallpox in 1852, which caused the loss of one eye, and otherwise disfigured his face. He possessed a kindly disposition, and was noted for his loyalty to friends.

'Dr. Henry Bradford, member of the council of the 1st territorial assembly of Nebraska, was a son of Cornelius and Hannah (Gay) Bradford, and a lineal descendant of William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth Colony. He was born in Friendship, Maine, in 1813. He was a sailor in his boyhood and became captain of his ship when only twenty-two years of age. He studied medicine, was admitted to practice, and in 1853 moved to Iowa. He was a brother of Judge Allen A. Bradford, a sketch of whose life is given in this volume, and they came to Nebraska about the same time, arriving in Nebraska City early in the year 1855. In May, 1855, he was elected mayor of that city, receiving 36 votes against 24 for M. W. Brown. He was reelected in 1856, and as mayor he entered the town site and obtained the land officer's receipt for the entrance fee, March 31, 1857. He was the proprietor of the first drug store in Nebraska City under the firm name of Henry Bradford & Co. He was editor of the Nebraska City News from November 14, 1854, to April 12, 1855, when J. Sterling Morton succeeded him. Later he was a contributor to the Nebraska State Journal for several years. In 1855 he was elected a member of the first territorial council representing Pierce, now Otoe county. Dr. Bradford practiced medicine until 1870-in his later years in Omaha-when he retired on account of failing health. He died in Omaha in December, 1887.

Hascall C. Purple, member of the 1st territorial assembly of Nebraska, was a resident of Council Bluffs as early as 1850. He was born about 1827, in Massachusetts. Little is known of his early life, but it is supposed that he came to Council Bluffs, Iowa, from the state of Michigan. Upon the organization of the territory of Nebraska he crossed the river and, with a party of friends, helped to lay out the town of Tekamah, and was elected to represent Burt county in the lower house of the 1st territorial assembly. In