Precinct "M" (Township 9 North, Range 1 East)
Seward County, Nebraska
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Precinct "M" INDEX
History of "M" 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 124-125:
[Surnames: BUZZARD, CLARK, FOUSE, HUNKINS, INGALLS, LEONARD, MICHAEL, MIGATT, MILLSPAW, NICHOLS, SANDERS, SMITH, THOMPSON, TISDALE]
"M" PRECINCT
Is the south-western geographical township of the county. Daniel Millspaw settled in 1862, just west of Beaver Crossing, on what is now J. W. Thompson's land, and opened a ranch. In 1863 John Leonard made settlement a short distance further west. In 1865 a Mr. Buzzard settled north-east of town, and Mr. G. Clark and Columbus Clark settled just to the south-east of Ross Nichols' farm, and about the same time Isaiah and Phillip Michael located on the Migatt farm, east of town. Ross Nichols came in 1869, and located on the present town site, and had a small portion of his land surveyed into a town site in 1871, its first name being Nicholsville. Smith and Ingalls opened a store, and Mr. Smith built the flouring mill the [p. 124] same season. Thomas Tisdale had a little store at John E. Fouse's ranch, and was postmaster, and the store and post-office were moved to the town in the fall of 1871. They had a weekly, or weakly, mail carried on horseback.Beaver Crossing was a rather dull and sleepy cross-roads trading point, where a few families have resided—two little stores, a blacksmith shop, a small hotel, and a doctor's office, with the grist-mill, and so it remained until the spring of 1887, when the building of the F. E. & M. V. R. R. was assured, then it awoke to a new life, and now all is vigor and activity. Beaver Crossing now supports a newspaper, The Bugle, a bank, presided over by T. E. Sanders, eight or more mercantile houses, and some pretty good ones, two large elevators, two lumber yards, two smith shops, a hotel, and two livery barns, and is growing in earnest, bidding fair to become one of the important towns of the county. A church and school-house adorn the place.
"M" precinct is abundantly supplied with water-courses, and the drainage is most thorough. The West Blue and its tributaries, Johnson creek, Indian creek, and the Beaver, furnish ample water and drainage. There is quite an amount of natural timber along these streams. The south-western portion of the precinct is a broad plain, and contains very many beautiful farms. The northern portion is somewhat broken. The population is 750, and there are 91 farms, according to the last census, but the population has increased greatly within the last year. There are six school-houses, each good frame buildings. The precinct, so long isolated and kept back by circumstances, will now take a forward step, and become from this time one of our most important possessions. The precinct has seven miles of railroad. The new town of Hunkins, named for Benj. Hunkins, is situate near the extreme south-west corner of the county in the midst of a splendid farming country, and will be an important shipping point.
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