History of Hall County's Early Precincts & Townships

First Division. --- Prior to 1872 the county was not divided into townships, but into three precincts. Election officials, road workers, and various public servants were selected from these respective precints. As a fairly accurate indication of the personnel of the residents of this division, the following two lists are incorporated to show who were the registered voters in April, 1871, of the first and second precincts. This, no doubt, was not a complete list of voters in eother precint for the precinct registrar sat on later dates to recieve further registration.

Township Government. --- Township Offices are not usually very keenly sought, nor sometimes considered such high honors. But, nevertheless, it is unquestionably the few men in any given township who will year after year discharge the duties of township clerk, treasurer, assessor, justice of the peace, or road overseer who constitute the foundation stone of an individual structure for that township. The American township is a unit small enough to cement the neighborhood within its borders into a community with distinctive individuality.

After 1872 the county began to be divided into various precincts, and the different communities began to take on individual form along the lines that the township eventually emerged. In the fall of 1872 the call for the general election embraced four precincts. A vote on township organization was held November 6, 1877, and the following townships were named:

Alda
Douglas
Grant
Lake
Lee (present Cameron)
Martinsville (present Martin)
Mayfield
Prairie Creek
Sheridan (present Center)
South Loup
South Platte (south line of present Doniphan)
Union
Washington (with the city of Grand Island)
Wood River
Zurich (present Harrison)

Before the county board, appointed under this arrangement, could qualify, the supreme court handed down an act declaring the legislative act under which the said organization was created, was unconstitutional. In the meantime the board had appointed for each township a set of officers. This list might be mainly valuable to show who were the leading and active spirits in local governmental affairs of the county at that time:

Local Government Officials

Alda:: Supervisor, William Powell
Clerk, Henry Lamb
Treasurer, Squire S. Lamb
Assessor, Z.H. Denman, Sr.
Justices of the Peace, Andrew Hofmeister
and George Moody
Constables, Peter Pehrs and Dan Baker

Douglas:: Supervisor, Henry C. Denman
Clerk, S. Smith
Treasurer, W.J. Berger
Assessor, Martin Ennis
Road overseer, D. Whittecar
Justices of the Peace, Walter Smith and Moorefield
Constables, Joseph Hilton and C. Lowery

Grant:: Supervisor, J.M. Powers
Clerk, George Humphrey
Treasurer, Irving Cole
Assessor, W. Olthoff
Road overseer, John R. Britt
Justices of the Peace, Lucas Henry and John Walker
Constables, J.L. Brookover and John Creason

Lake:: Supervisor, E.C. Walker
Clerk, A.D. Tilley
Assessor, Frederick Suehlsen
Treasurer, Frederick Locscher
Road overseer, Peter Mohr
Justices of the Peace, Emerson Rogers and H.E. Kent
Constables, Chas. Peterson and Dunning Giccu

Lee:: Supervisor, S.E. Benton
Clerk, J.B. Stephens
Assessor, E.O. Palmer
Treasurer, Lester Houghton
Road overseer, S.K. Guy
Jusices of the Peace, J.P. Goodrich and H.C. Streator
Constables, W. Stuart and S.H. Rader

Martinsville:: Supervisor, Seth W. Wilson
Clerk, Wm H. Austin
Treaurer, Walter Miller
Assessor, O.F. Foote
Road overseer, Austin Wilson
Justices of the Peace, R. Wescott and D.J.J. Hornbeck
Constables, Jas. H. Sweeting and John Creason

Mayfield:: Supervisor, William Partridge
Clerk, W.C. Calvert
Assessor, R.C. Perkins
Treasurer, J.C. Bishop
Road overseer, C.C. Alford
Justices of the Peace, J.H. Hulitt and Geo. P. Dean
Constables, Eugene J. Mix and Wm. E. Preston

Prairie Creek:: No records

Sheridan:: Supervisor, Ira M. Ware
Clerk, Wm. A. Gillett
Treasurer, George Cornelius
Assessor, Edgar Varney
Justices of the Peace, John Leckenby and Jacob Shoemaker
Constables, James Walsh and Martin Powers

South Loup:: Supervisor, J.E. Locke
Clerk, J.T. Mahaffie Treasurer, Edmond Locke
Assessor, Geo. Bellany
Justices of the Peace, T.P. Rundlett and Calvin Goodrich
Constables, Edward S. Rundlett and James Paul

South Platte:: Supervisor, J.W. Smith
Clerk, Geo. H. LaMonte
Treasurer, Wm. Reese
Assessor, S.L. Loucks
Road overseer, Jacob Mushrush
Justices of the Peace, L.S. Orcutt and S.S. Shultz
Constables, Thomas Caldwell and Geo. W. Burger

Union:: Supervisor, Patrick Nevills
Clerk, Patrick Moore
Treasurer, Issah Lewton
Road overseer, Edward O'Brien
Justices of the Peace, E.F. Jonte and George H. Peck
Constables, J. Ross and J. Dunn

Washington:: Supervisor, Wm. Larrabee
Clerk, D.M. Amsberry
Treasurer, Fred Roby
Assessor, Henry Geise
Road overseer, Christian Menck
City of Grand Island:: Supervisors, 1st Ward, H.P. Makely;
2nd Ward, C.E. Jerome;
3rd Ward, James Cleary;
4th Ward, C.E. Lykke.

Wood River:: Supervisor, N.T. Britton
Clerk, Chas. E. Towne
Assessor, Stephen Jones
Treasurer, David Barrick
Road overseer, James Tracy
Justices of the Peace, John G. schaupp and J.B. Firman
Constables, Wm. G. Eldridge and H. Jones

Zurich:: Supervisor, W.H. Harrison
Clerk, Jas. A. Veeder
Assessor, Henry W. High
Treasurer, J.H. Leonard
Road overseer, John L. Johnson
Justices of the Peace, Louis Richard
and Lafayette Martindale
Constables, Jesse Boring and O.H. Taylor

Early Voter's Registry of Hall County, Nebraska

The following links are to the 1871 Voter's Registry which has two districts available to view the names of these area.

District No. 1 District No. 2 District No. 3

There's also an earlier voter's registry from the 1860 election year to which an lawsuit was filed by one of the candidate, and in that law suit was a certified list from the county clerk and commissioner.

Voter's Registry of hall County

Cited Source:

A. F. Buechler and R. J. Barr, editors. "The Townships of Hall County," History of Hall County Nebraska (Lincoln, NE: Western Publishing and Engraving Company, 1920): 145-166. Provided by the Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society, Grand Island, Nebraska.

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