Precinct "F" (Township 11 North, Range 2 East)
Seward County, Nebraska
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Precinct "F" INDEX
History of "F" in History of Seward County, Nebraska by W. W. Cox, 1888The following article is from W. W. Cox, History of Seward County, Nebraska, 1888, Chapter VI, pages 117-118:
[Surnames: ANDERSON, BUTLER, FIGARD, JOHNSON, JULL, LOWREY, MORRISEY, OSBORNE, ROBERTS, ROGERS, SCOTT, SHOCKEY, SKILLMAN, SLONECKER, STEVENSON, THURMAN, TYLER, WALLACH/WALLICK]
"F" PRECINCT.
Thomas Skillman made the first settlement on Sec. 13, in the spring of 1865. Joseph Roberts either pre-empted or homesteaded the land now owned by Rev. E. W. Johnson, in the fall of 1864, but failed to make settlement, and the place was homesteaded by Rev. Johnson in 1866. Mr. Roberts built or partly built a log cabin on his claim. George and Russell Rogers and their mother, Widow Rogers, each made settlement in the autumn of 1866. D. H. Figard, James Anderson, and Charles and Joseph Thurman each settled in the spring of 1867; also Abram Wallach [sic: Wallick]. During the spring of 1868, a large number came, among whom were George Slonecker, Sam Stevenson, Aaron and Allen Anderson, Mr. Shockey, and Mr. Osborne.The first school was taught in the summer of 1868, in the old log cabin on Rev. Johnson's place.
The first church organization was effected by Rev. Johnson, at the Slonecker school-house. It was the United Brethren church.
"F" precinct, according to the last census, has 882 inhabitants and 190 farms, being the banner precinct in that she has the largest number of farms of any precinct in the county. She has five school districts, each with a creditable building; has seven miles of railroad; has one excellent mill stream, but it is not utilized in the precinct at present. Some years ago a mill was built by Mr. Jull, but it burned down and as yet has not been replaced. It has probably the largest belt of excellent wild meadow of any one of our precincts.
Tamora, "F" precinct's railroad station and village, was surveyed into lots in 1879, and during the fall of that year, Mr. J. W. Scott built a small grain house, put in scales, and bought grain, and Wm. Butler opened a small store. P. G. Tyler's family was the first to settle in the new town. There was very little growth until the summer of 1882; however Morrisey Bros. built an elevator in 1881. T. W. Lowrey built his in 1882. The first school in the town was opened in the spring of 1884. The Presbyterian church was organized in 1880, and they bought a little building and used until the new church was built, in 1883. This church was dedicated Nov. 9, 1883.
[p. 118] The M. E. church was built in 1882. In 1886 the new two-story four-room school-house was built, at a cost of $2,100. A graded school is maintained, with two teachers, and is in a flourishing condition. There are now three elevators, a good depot, three general stores, one first-class hardware store, a fair-sized hotel, a good livery barn, two banks, a lumber yard, a drug store, and various shops, with a goodly number of cosy [sic] dwellings.
Tamora is a beautiful village with a good trade, and is a very desirable place in which to live. The people are universally intelligent and wide-awake. Have always been free from the contagion of saloons. They say that they never had any use for saloons, and they throw their surplus energy into beautifying their homes and maintaining their schools and churches. The village contains near three hundred inhabitants, and is surrounded by a beautiful and rich farming country. Anyone desiring a neat, quiet home, with excellent church and school facilities, where they are within a few minutes ride of the city, and where they are free from the influence of saloons, we cheerfully recommend Tamora as the place where they can find a genial home.
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