Stapleton, the County Seat of Logan County, lies in parts of two sections of Land, and is located on three different homestead sites. Most of the town lying south of what is now Highway 92 was homesteaded by Nicholas P. Beckius who received his patent on this land in June, 1905. The balance of the land lying south of the highway was homesteaded in 1891 by William J. Kahoe who sold his holding to Mr. Beckius. Beckius later sold the land located within the town to the Loup' Valley Land Company for the total sum of $2000.00. The part of Stapleton lying north of Highway 92 was homesteaded by a big Swede, Paul Jensen, who later went back to his native country. Hp proved up on this land in 1892. After his return to Sweden, Jensen sold his homestead to Wallace Baskin, who in turn sold the land to the Loup Valley Land Company. The consideration for this transaction was $9200.00, but it included 240 acres, part of which is not now located in the City limits of Stapleton. The corporate limits of the town have been changed several times. Two new additions were dedicated to the town by Beckius. " Stapleton was incorporated on January 30,1913, and the city limits were defined by an ordinance passed by the first Board of Trustees. This first board of five men was appointed by the County Commissioners of Logan County to act until the first election could be held. They were Chairman, W.A. McCain, General store owner and the following members: E.F. Carr, doctor, W.H. Quade, Banker, H.E. Roush, editor and F.E. Peterson, banker. The first meeting place of the board was in the Farmers Bank. The Village Clerk was E.L. Sayre, Jr., whose business was realestate and insurance. Other appointments included L.S. Roten, Marshall, Dr. H.L. McLeay as Chairman of the Board of Health, and J.W. Scofield as Police Judge. The first election was held on April 1, 1913 in the Tri-County Telephone Company Building. Members of the election board were Otis L. Newkirk, Carl Ranking, Carl Button, A J. Neale and Nicholas Beckius. At this election, B.O. Callender edged out Roush by a margin of 4- votes. All other members of the original board were re-elected. Upon the resignation of Sayre as Village Clerk, Henry E. Dress, an attorney, took over the duties of clerk and he held that office until his death in 1952, a total of 39 years. At this first election, the question of "selling malt, spirituous and vinous liquors" was approved by a vote 0f 40 for and 24 against. Improvements came rapidly in the new town. Streets were graded and named and provisions were made for their maintenance. The first ordinance setting a mill levy upon the taxable property in the village of Stapleton was passed July 1, 1913 and provided for a 15 mill levy for streets, alleys, sidewalks and general purposes. In 1914 the mill levy was considerably lower, being a total of 7 mills. Clearing the alleys and streets prior to grading took considerable work, as gardens pastures and chicken yards had been maintained with disregard to the property lines. At one place in the records of the village, it shows that the Village Marshall was instructed to "notify all residents now occupying the streets or alleys of the village as a place of residence or other purposes, to vacate at once." Other early members of the town board included such familiar names as Carl Rankin, John Armour, Raleigh Reynolds, Charles Cobb, Ray Reynolds, J.W. Barbee and W.H. McLeay. All records indicate that Stapleton was a typical rough frontier town. Law enforcement was always a problem. During the Logan County Fair in 1914, it was necessary for the village to enforce the law, as the fair was held on the street. No less than six deputy marshals were appointed to handle the huge crowd that was expected to attend, and to maintain law and order, These six deputies were Charles Pargion, N.E. Perry, J.E. Fodge, W. Praether, Raleigh Reynolds and W.J. Holliday. L.S. Roten was the Marshall at that time. On April 26, 1915, a change was made and W.A. McCain, who had been the Chairman of the board was appointed Marshall. Dress, the Village Clerk, expressed his strong sense of humor in the minutes of this meeting. He recorded "Chair appointed W A. McCain Village Matshall. Ratified by the Board. Cowboy-Ex-Mayor-McCain, now the bull of the town." Juvenile delinquency must have been somewhat of a problem in the earlier days too, as an order concerning curfew was passed in June, 1913. This order in impart: "there are a number of small boys and girls, and young men and women who" have made a practice of loitering and being upon the streets of the village at all times of the night, and this practice is pernicious in its effects upon the morals and habits of our young people, and it is in the nature of a nuisance." This order provides for 9:00 o'clock p.m. curfew and all boys and girls under the age of 15 years if found on the streets after that hour will be treated as trespassers. This order, incidentally, has never been repealed and is still in effect. During the first year of the town's existence, a jail was built located on the west side of main street for a total cost $197.50. This building is still in use, having been moved to a farm and made into a workshop. If all meetings were conducted according to the rules and regulations set up by the first board, things were very orderly and sedate. Ordinance No. 2 is in part, as follows: 'When any member is about to speak in debate, or otherwise, present any matter to the trustees, he shall rise to his feet and address him self to the chair, and being recognized by the chair, shall confine himself to the one matter under consideration and avoid all personalities. No member shall speak more than once on the same question without leave of the trustees, unless he be the mover, in which case, he shall be permitted to speak in reply". Some other early ordinances contain the following quotes: "It shall be unlawful for any person to ride or drive any team of horses or vehicle within the Village of Stapleton faster than twelve miles per hour." and "It shall be unlawful for any person or persons within the limits of the Village of Stapleton to indulge or engage in any loud, boisterous hallooing or to make any loud or unusual noise, or to quarrel, curse, swear, or use obscene language." Through the efforts of many people not named herein, Stapleton went on through the years to be a modern town with a city park, running water, fire department, some paved streets and a modern sewer system. The names mentioned in this article are only a few of the stalwart pioneers who made our town what it is today. Much time was devoted to board meeting and the records show that these early citizens were always progressive and donated much of their time and efforts to civic improvement. However, through the years. bits of humor are scattered among the pages of the town books, so the pioneers must have had their share of the fun, too.
