Box Butte county had its first inception in the minds of its
citizens during the summer months of 1886. The one thousand and eighty square
miles now comprising Box Butte county was at that time the southern half of
Dawes county. The reason of this was the great distance from Chadron, the
county seat. The average distance was sixty miles, which the people were
compelled to travel, in order to pay their taxes,
serve on juries, and attend to their legal matters. The population of this
territory had grown
to be about three thousand people, which was probably as
great a number as lived in the northern half of the county.
A convention was held during the summer of 1886, and
at that convention it was decided that steps be taken to secure a division of
Dawes county and that the new county erected in the south half, if division
succeeded, should be called Box Butte county.
Committees were appointed, petitions
were circulated and unanimously signed, asking the. County comissioners of
Dawes county to submit the question of county division to a vote of the people
at the general election to be held in November of that year,
The Commissioners
granted the request, and at the November
election a majority of the votes were cast in favor of division. The governor
of Nebraska, Honorable John M. Thayer, issued a proclamation
designating a. special election, at which election the people of the new county
were to choose a location for their county seat, and elect a complete set of
county officers.
Of the one thousand or more voters participating in
that election held. thirty-four years ago, but few are still residents of the
county. Among those recalled are E. I. Gregg, who with his good wife were very
industrious in circulating the petition asking for county division. Other
residents of Alliance who participated in that election are:
R. M. Hampton
P. M. Knight,
Robert
Garrett
John O’Keefe
Si Coker
Moses Wright
C. H. Underwood
Julius Atz
Jack
Mettlen
Henry Clayton
George Gadsby
and possibly a few others.
Prior to this special election, political conventions
were held when Democrats and Republicans each nominated a complete ticket of
candidates for the county offices. The country being rather thinly settled and
no rapid means of communication, people were unable to become personally or
intimately acquainted with the respective candidates, and apparently went to
the polls and vote for their party tickets. This resulted in the election of the
entire Republican ticket.
There were two candidates for the location of county
seat:
They were two cross-road villages of about
equal size, each having a couple of stores, blacksmith shop, bank, law and
locater’s offices, and Nonpareil had a newspaper and Hemingford had two.
Nonpareil received a majority of votes and was declared the county seat of the
new county.
The county officers were as follows:
County Clerk,
George W. Clark
Treasurer, Eli Gerber
Sheriff, Fred A S’honqujst
County Attorney,
James H. Danskin
Surveyor, Charles A. Barney
County Superintendent, N. S.
Simpson
Coroner, Doctor John Blood
County Commissioners, James Barry, Louis
C. DcCoudress, and a Delbert S. Reed.
When the result of’ the election became known,
Judge-elect Field drove to Chadron and there took the oath of office as County
Judge, returned to Nonpareil and administered the oath of
office to his associate officers.
He approved the bonds of, the county
commissioners, who immediately met in special session and commenced
to plan to launch the new county upon its career as a struggling commonwealth.
‘The first set of Officers elected proved to be careful, able and painstaking
officers. the county did not have a dollar in its treasury, not a dollar of
tax had been levied, and its credit had yet to be established.