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History of Nebraska: Historical Sketch    [Link]
by A. E. Sheldon, Director of Field Work, Nebraska State Historical Society.
The Lemon Publishing Company, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1904.
 

Washington County is composed of uplands and valleys, the soil of the bottoms varying from four to twenty feet in depth, and very fertile. Land here is very high. There are many groves and orchards and natural timber grows along the water courses. The valleys of the Missouri and Elkhorn rivers and of Bell Creek vary from one to seven miles in width, and there is running water in every township. Farming, dairying, stock raising, fruit culture and market gardening occupy the attention of the people. The tame hay crop comprises timothy, clover, Hungarian and alfalfa, and the cereals are the principal crops. There are

1,572 farms, and $159,820 was expended for. labor during a recent year. Washington was organized as a county in 1855 and its population is 13,086. Blair, the county seat, has 2,970 people. The manufacturing industry consists of four flour mills and six brickyards. The first white men to visit the county were probably Captains Lewis and Clarke with their party. They put themselves on a friendly footing with the Missouri and Otoe Indians, who then claimed this region, by means of a council, held at Fort Calhoun, in the southern part of the county. In the summer of 1859 the Indians robbed a lone settler named Uriah Thomas of $136 in money, besides other valuables, and left him locked in his cabin. The settlers were so enraged at this that they instituted a hunt for the criminals, which resulted in the Pawnee War. The settlers got the better of the savages in these skirmishes and there was no great bloodshed. There are 4,641 children of school age in the county, and sixty-three schools, seven of which are graded.

E. Z. RUSSELL was born in Rockport, Nebraska, December 15, 1866, from which place he removed with his parents to Omaha in 1877. He received his education in the public schools and was then employed by the Standard Oil Company as bookkeeper, from which position he resigned to engage in farming in 1888. He is a breeder of swine and is Secretary of the Improved Live Stock Breeders' Association. Mr. Russell is a member of the

Republican party and is serving as County Treasurer of Washington County.

GEORGE FABER was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 13, 1860. His father, George L. Faber, was a brick mason. He moved to Auburn, Nebraska, in 1887 and to Blair in 1891. He received his education in New Orleans and has been engaged in the marketing of meat. He married Miss Elizabeth Bohs in 1895. Mr. Faber is a Democrat and has served two terms as County Treasurer, being now the County Clerk of Washington County.

THEO. HALLER was born in East Troy, Wisconsin, August 10, 1842. He came to Blair, Nebraska, in 1874 and has been engaged in the general merchandise business for thirty years. Jacob Haller, his father, was a tanner. Mr. Haller was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin and in Quincy College, Quincy. Illinois. He has been Mayor of Blair, sixteen years Secretary of the Board of Education and County Commissioner. He was appointed Clerk of the District Court to fill an unexpired term and has been elected to the office once since. In 1874 he married Miss Grace Morgan. They have two daughters and two sons living, having lost two daughters.

CLAUS MENCKE, an old settler of Washington County, having taken a homestead there, was born April 7, 1850, in Germany. He came to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1869, where he engaged in farming. His father, Henry Mencke, was a tanner. He attended the public and private schools of Germany. Mr. Mencke is a Democrat, has been Deputy Sheriff of Washington County, and is now serving his sixth term as Sheriff of the county. He was married in 1874 to Miss Tina Rathman. They have seven children, five boys and two girls.

G. C. MARSHALL, a Democrat, now serving his second term as Judge of Washington County, and also served two terms as County Superintendent, was the son of John Marshall, a farmer and stock dealer. He was born in Ohio, September 15; 1858, and came to Washington County in 1896. He married Miss Sadie M. Williams, February 5, 1891, and they have two daughters. Mr. Marshall, a lawyer, was educated in Northern Ohio University at Ada, Ohio, graduating from the scientific course in 1892 and from the law course in 1895.

A. L. COOK was born January 5, 1875. in Clayton County, Iowa; and came to Washington County, Nebraska, with his parents in the same year, where he has since resided. His father, E. M. Cook, was a farmer and one of the early settlers of Washington County, al though he did not take a homestead. Mr. Cook attended the Fremont Normal College and graduated from the law school of the State University in 1895. Mr. Cook is a Republican and was elected for the second time as County Superintendent of Washington County.

E. B. CARRIGAN was born in De Soto, Washington County, Nebraska, November 5, 1867. His father, John Carrigan, a lawyer, came to Nebraska in 1867, and located in Washington County, remaining there until his death in 1880. Mr. Carrigan was educated in the Blair high school, and at Shenandoah, Iowa, in the Western Normal College. He has served three terms as Deputy Sheriff, as City Attorney, and five years as County Attorney, which office he is now occupying. He was married to Miss Frances Lawson and they have three children, one son and two daughters.

W. H. HILL, who has been surveyor of Washington County since 1882, was born in Osceola, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1846. E. R. Hill, his father, was a farmer. Mr. Hill moved to Newman County, Indiana, in 1863 .and came to Nebraska in 1868. His schooling was received in Osceola, Pennslyvania (sic) and the Commercial College of Oberlin, Ohio. He is a Republican and has been city engineer. Washington and Dole are towns laid out by him while serving as County Surveyor. In the spring of 1874 he married Miss Lizzie Wentworth and they have five children.