Jefferson County History

Jefferson County History

EARLY JEFFERSON COUNTY HISTORY:

JEFFERSON County was first set apart by the Territorial Legislature January 26, 1856, under the name of Jones County. Thayer, the adjoining county on the west, was designated as Jefferson at the same time. In 1864 Jefferson County organized by holding its first election at Big Sandy. February 18, 1867, an "act to enlarge Jefferson County" passed the Legislature, which untied Jones County to Jefferson. This gave the county 706,560 acres, which was deemed too large by the Legislature of 1870-1, and in 1871 an act passed providing for the division of Jefferson, which was effected in the fall by the election of two sets of officers, the Sixth Principal Meridian being the dividing line. The former Jones by the separation became Jefferson and the former Jefferson assumed the name of Thayer.

From 1857 to 1864 Jefferson was attached to Gage County for judicial purposes, during which time there was several important criminal cases of this county tried in Gage. The Otoe Indian Reservation cut off twenty-four square mile from the southeast corner of the county, but was about the first land of that Reservation sold to actual settlers. You can read about this early history in Andreas' "History of the State of Nebraska" (1882).

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