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Pages of H istory
Pages of History
After the Civil War ended, the soldiers returned home, and the settlement of Cedar County resumed.
In 1860 the county population was 246; by 1870 it had increased to 1032; by 1880 it stood at 2898. The ten-fold increase in two decades was fueled by the Homestead Act of 1862. Instead of paying $1.25 an acre in gold, a homesteader could get 160 acres for $14 in fi ling fees plus an additional $4 when final proof was made. Although five to seven years of residence were required, veterans could claim up to four years’ credit for military service.
Statehood also encouraged new settlement. In 1860, just before the Civil War broke out, Nebraska voters turned down statehood. Another attempt was made in 1866. Although Cedar County voters rejected the proposition by a vote of 39 to 12, it was approved statewide. On March 1, 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.
In 1909, the ranks of the old soldiers were really starting to thin. Laurel lost one of its few Civil War veterans when J.M. Mills passed away in April. Mills, who had marched to the sea with General Sherman, came to Laurel in 1894 to run the Commercial Hotel and to be with his son, Frank, the founder of the Laurel Advocate. When people talk about the money the federal government spends, it seems veterans always come up. Now is not the time for the payment of a bonus to veterans, said a 1932 article reprinted from the Milwaukee Journal. “A nation that spends more than it takes in for the relief of those actually in need cannot undertake a burden of two billion more to be given to those not in need.”
The practice of awarding bonus payments to veterans began in 1776. The payments were supposed to represent the difference between what a soldier earned and what he could have earned had he not enlisted. Before the Civil War, soldiers were given land warrants which either could be redeemed for land or sold.
Disabled veterans of the Civil War and after received pensions. Veterans who were not disabled received little or nothing. After its creation in 1919, the American Legion led a drive for a bonus for all veterans. In 1924 Congress enacted the World War Adjusted Compensation Act. Under this Act each veteran was to receive one dollar for each day of service in the U.S. and $1.25 for each day overseas service up to a maximum of $625.
These bonuses were paid in the form of certificates that could not be redeemed until 1945. With many veterans unemployed because of the depression, organizations such as the American Legion and VFW lobbied for the early redemption of the certificates.
This was done two years later when Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Act of 1936.
It is interesting to note as of May 2014, one woman was still receiving a pension for her father’s service in the Civil War.
Born in 1930 when her father, a Union Army veteran, was 86 years old, Irene Triplett receives approximately $76 a month from the VA.
Sixteen widows and children of Spanish-American War veterans are receiving benefits as are 4038 widows and children of deceased World War I vets.
Public schools were suffering from the effects of the Depression. Teacher salaries were being cut and programs eliminated. “Are we going to let our schools be starved to death to pay for paved roads and landscape improvements?” asked the Ponca Journal. “The reduction in support has hit the schools harder than any other division of government. Paved roads can wait but schooling must be offered at the school age of the child,” said the Journal.
Reuben Silver, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louie Silver of Laurel, took first place in the Cedar County spelling contest held in Hartington.
Miss Gertrude Dinsmore, a former resident of Laurel, was hired as Cedar County’s community health nurse.
Her services were primarily for families on relief rolls and others unable to pay for regular medical services.
