Dorchester Times: Looking Back: Dorchester's Firsts

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Looking Back: Dorchester's Firsts

Most area historians concur that "Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska," written in the late 1800s, is an authority on Saline County's earliest days. No other collection of information is as thorough.

With the assistance of the online edition of "Andreas' History," the Times has compiled a collection of Dorchester's firsts, including the first couple married in town, the first birth, the first death, and the first official sermon.

Here's a look back at some the firsts of our community, whose roots begin in the year 1870, when the plot of ground we now know as Dorchester was selected by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad after a survey was conducted.

- First Residents: Before buying the site that would become Dorchester from the federal government, the railroad sent four men to claim an entire section of land, with each claiming 160 acres. Two of the four men who settled at that time were James Seely and Edward McIntyre -- Dorchester's first residents. Both made a permanent location here. The other two remained just long enough to secure the land and transfer it to the railroad.

- First Birth: The first birth occurred in early 1872 -- that of John, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Hawkins. The next birth -- that of Ed McIntyre Parker, son of Hon. and Mrs. T. B. Parker -- occurred October 10, 1872.

- First Death: The first death occurred in the spring of 1873, and was that of Burke, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Windrem.

- First Sermon: Sometime in late 1870 or early 1871, the first formal sermon in Dorchester was preached by Rev. Frederick Alley, a Congregational minister.

- First Official School: The first schoolhouse was built in 1872.

- First Church: The Christian church was built in the summer of 1878.

- First Bank: The Bank of Dorchester was established in October 1881.

- First Newspaper: The Dorchester Star was established August 21, 1881.

- First Village Board: Dorchester was officially incorporated as a village in June 1881, with N. B. Alley, Thomas Jarrett, John Oberlies, S. G. Panter, and W. H. Pallett listed as Trustees; C. F. Thomas, Clerk; J. H. Clark, Treasurer; and M. O. Alley, Marshal.

- First Census Count: In 1879, Dorchester had 673 residents. Just one year later, it had 954.

19 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 3, 2008 at 8:23 AM
Thanks for the information regarding "Andreas History." I did not realize that it was considered the first and foremost authority on Saline County's earliest days. Do any of the amateur historians out there have an opinion on J.W.Kaura's book, "Saline County Nebraska History"?
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AnonymousFebruary 3, 2008 at 4:49 PM
What about the town's first drunk?.............
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AnonymousFebruary 3, 2008 at 7:33 PM
I don't know who the first town drunk was, but Cynical Richard you must be the current town drunk.You have to be drunk because a sober person wouldn't make some of your comments.
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AnonymousFebruary 3, 2008 at 9:32 PM
I think I know who the town's first pain in the *** was! It must have been an ancester of Cynical Richard!
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AnonymousFebruary 3, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Ricard, if you dont have anything nice to comment, just dont write in, this article is great, it doesnt need some smart a** comment like that, you need some help, or u have to much time on your hands.
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AnonymousFebruary 4, 2008 at 1:25 AM
I don't know who the first town drunk was,but cynical richard you are the current one with your comments.
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GhostFebruary 4, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Comeon guys, I'm no cynical richard fan but give him some credit on this one. That's funny.
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AnonymousFebruary 4, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Cynical Richard is really the first child born in Dorchester. That makes him a ... well, you know. I can't say it or my comment won't get printed.
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AnonymousNovember 30, 2009 at 2:46 PM
"late 1873, when John Warren and Miss Lizzie Roe were united in wedlock."

At least unwedded expecting couples back then did the right thing and put child before their own selfish wants. Those days are gone.
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DavidNovember 30, 2009 at 5:11 PM
Don't forget: first blog, Dorchester Times.
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AnonymousNovember 30, 2009 at 7:11 PM
why does everybody hate on dick???
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A Cynical Richard FanNovember 30, 2009 at 9:48 PM
I for one, enjoy Cynical Richard's comments. Don't you like humor? Come on people, lighten up, life is way too short!
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AnonymousDecember 1, 2009 at 5:04 PM
ahh cynical richard, you crack me up!
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AnonymousDecember 2, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Because he is a negative person, I pitty anyone that is married to him. He must not have much of a life, you can tell by what he rights, he is not a happy person,thats why he writes such a negative writer.
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AnonymousDecember 3, 2009 at 1:36 PM
I like Cynical Richard's comments. They are funny, don't take him so seriously.
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AnonymousDecember 3, 2009 at 9:42 PM
way to go Dick got them stirred up again keep em commin
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AnonymousSeptember 17, 2014 at 4:48 PM
go richard , let's go to joe's!
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AnonymousApril 23, 2023 at 6:10 PM
I wish my Gramps Bosak was alive so I could get online (he'd never understand it) and show him this banter... he'd love it as much as he loved Dorchester!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."