About the first of the next year, G.
E. Birge and L. D. Fowler built an abstract and loan office, in which business
they are still engaged and have the
only set of abstract books in the county; the firm also carried on a banking
business. In August, 1881, a new firm
was formed and incorporated, succeeding that of Birge & Fowler, known
as the Clay Center Abstract and Loan
Company, and has a capital stock paid up of $15,000. The company is
composed of G. H. Cowles, President;
L. D. Fowler, Vice President, and G. E. Birge, Manager.
In January, 1881, W. D. Young built a
carpenter shop, which was occupied June 1 by Mrs. E. C. Tout and in
which she kept a general store, continuing
in the business until December, and was succeeded by D. Leitch, who
keeps a general store in the same room,
in which also Mrs. A. L. Strong keeps a stock of millinery goods.
The location of the county seat at this
time was somewhat precarious. From the election held February 20, 1879,
its relocation was declared by the Commissioners
to be at Clay Center, being so determined from the vote cast.
This declaration gave rise to the town
of Clay Center, and incited to its upbuilding. In accordance with an order
from the Commissioners, most all the
county officers went to that place. But, as was afterward determined, the
movement was too hasty. Much dissatisfaction
existed as to the determination of the result of the election and the
vote was recanvassed, and, in obedience
to a mandamus of the Supreme Court, the vote of precincts, which had
been thrown out on the ground of fraud,
were ordered to be counted, and it was found out that Clay Center was
not the county seat. The officials were
then obliged to pack up their records and matters and betake themselves
back to Sutton. On November 7, the election
was held, and, by the legal vote of the people of the county, the
seat of government was fixed at Clay
Center.
One the first of the new year, the offices
were again transferred to the Center. A jail-house was immediately
afterward built, costing $2,200, and
is a single story frame, the main part being 24x38 feet, to which adjoins
on
the rear a wing, 20x40 feet, in which
are the cells, which are frame, lined with steel cages.
Following this, in the immediate order
of time, was the erection of a hotel by C. L. Holbrook, which he ran as
a
public house until August of the same
year, when it was rented to P. T. Walton and used for the same purpose
up
to February, 1881, at which time it
was sold to J. B. and S. S. Tuttle, the present owners and proprietors.
The next building was a law office which
was built in March, 1880, by S. A. Searle, and, following this, was the
erection of a storeroom, by S. A. Allen,
in which for a short time he kept a stock of drugs; the business,
however, ceased and the house was sold
and is now used for a residence, and, in March, C. N. Green built a
house for a saloon; H. L. Corey and
J. H. Davis built a livery barn and residence, and also a residence by
C. J.
Martin was built during that month.
In November, 1880, E. P. Burnett put up a residence, as also Mrs. D. C.
Marsh, the latter being used for a short
time for a boarding-house, while the court house was in process of
erection.
The contract for the erection of the
court house was given to W. D. Young, in February, 1880, and, in the
following May, work was commenced upon
the building, which was completed by the 1st of November,
according to the terms of contract.
It is a large two-story brick structure, 47x64 feet in dimensions, and
is capped
with a large and substantial dome.
The upper story embraces the court-room,
which extends in length to the entire width of the building, and is forty
feet wide, adjoining which are the jury,
judge's and witness rooms, while in the first story are located the county
offices, which are constructed with
fire-proof vaults, and the Treasurer's office, supplied with a burglar-proof
safe. The proposed cost of the building
was $11,000, while the actual cost, when completed, was $22,000,
including furniture, fixtures, "etc.,
etc., etc.," as appears on the statement submitted by the contractor.
G. S. & J. C. Ward, before the town
started, had opened a blacksmith shop just outside of where it was laid
off,
and, in January, 1880, they moved their
shop into the town, where they continued the trade of blacksmithing and
repairing. A church edifice was erected
in December, 1880, by the Christians, who had hitherto been holding
services in a country schoolhouse, south
of where the town now stands, and is a 24x46 frame house, costing
about $1,200. A schoolhouse was built
in July, 1881, in which was taught the first school in the town by Mrs.
Charles Wagner.
A second church was established in February,
1882, by the Congregationalists, with thirty members, and Rev. G.
A. Taylor, pastor. Services are held
in the court-room, but active steps are being taken for the building of
a
regular church house at an early date.
An attempt at journalism was made at
this point, in February, 1881, by W. A. Connell, who started the Clay
Center Citizen. The paper survived six
months, when the editor "vamosed," and the sheet collapsed. The
concern was held under mortgage to its
full value, and the editor went away, leaving it a "boon" to his creditors.
It
was sold to satisfy the mortgage, and
was bought by a stock company, composed of some of the citizens of the
town, who published it for a short time,
when the company dissolved and sold the material to the proprietor of
the Fairfield Herald. The town has no
railroad communication, but is reached by stage and mail lines from Edgar,
Fairfield, Harvard and Sutton. The splendid
location of the place and its being the county seat, augurs favorably
that, in case a railroad is run through
the town, as is talked of, as being probable, it is only a question of
short time
until Clay Center shall become the chief
town and commercial emporium of the county.