by The Cousins Four

This act describes the convergence of land and two people: Margaret Schantz Moschel and Daniel Freeman. Land effects people; and people effect the land. We shall personalize this by chronicling the land known as Nebraska Territory and the lives of these two people encapsulated briefly. As in any description of land and people, the land always endures, but often it is transformed forever by what people do when they are on the land. We are not historians, but have tried to understand what happened in these times and how it affected the two people portrayed.

Prehistoric to 1803 in Nebraska Area

Human life in what was to become Nebraska occurred at least 1000 years ago and perhaps as long as 10,000 years ago. The evidence is early picture writings, particularly in the Missouri river region. Recorded history is a much shorter story. The first white recorded history is that of the Spaniards, led by Francisco Vasquez Coronado, in July 1541. Their descriptions of the plains, grasses, animals, and Native Americans give no doubt they were in the Nebraska region.

Pawnee Indian

The Native Americans most associated with the Nebraska region were the tribe know as the Pawnees. They lived both a nomadic life of hunting, particularly buffalo, and a sedentary life of farming. Though many tribes were nomadic, the Pawnees were mostly village dwellers and corn raisers. Corn as they viewed it, was their mother. The cornfields were small, usually no more than an acre, and their religion included rituals of sacrificing a maiden to get a bountiful crop of corn. The twice yearly buffalo hunts provided not only food but the entire animal (hide, bone, sinew, hair, hooves, horns) was used in some way in their daily life.

After Coronado in 1541 came two centuries of first Spanish and then French explorers and fur trappers. One Frenchman described the land as "most beautiful in the world, with abundant grasses and wild animals." The rivalry for the Nebraska region between France and Spain lasted for 100 years. The Spanish flag flew over Nebraska until 1800 and then it was claimed by France until 1803 when it was sold to the U.S. as a part of the Louisiana Purchase.

1803 - 1849 in Nebraska Area, Illinois, and Webenheim

For the next 50 years white people traveled through Nebraska, but essentially no one stayed. One of the first U.S. Army Engineers to explore the area between the Missouri River and the Rockies, Stephen Long, said in 1820, "In regard to this extensive section of country, I do not hesitate in giving the opinion, that it is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course uninhabitable by a people depending on agriculture for their subsistence." The trails through the Nebraska region in the next 50 years attest to this belief. Lewis and Clark traveled through Nebraska in 1804 on the Missouri River on the way to the Pacific Northwest; fur traders traveled through; the first wagon caravan travels went through on the Platte River in 1830 going west; the Oregon Trail migration traveled through Nebraska starting in 1843 and going on to 1868; the Mormons traveled through Nebraska on their westward migration in 1846; and gold miners traveled through Nebraska to get to the California Gold Rush in 1849. White people traveled through Nebraska, but they did not stay. The Indian Act of 1834 was passed and it indicated the lands between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains were for Native American use as hunting grounds forever.

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At the same time white people were traveling through Nebraska on the journey west, a man was born in Ohio who would begin a thundering herd that would forever change Nebraska and the Plains area. Daniel Freeman was born in Ohio in 1826. In 1835, when Daniel was 9 years old, his family moved to Illinois and Daniel was raised in Knox County, adjacent to Peoria County, in the Northwestern part of the state. Daniel, no doubt, learned farming skills in his young life, but returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated from a medical institute in 1846. When he returned to practice medicine in Ottawa, Illinois, Daniel was an inquisitive man who monitored the political and social issues of the times. In 1849, he was 23 and probably ready to conquer the world. In 1852 he would marry his first wife, Elizabeth.

Margaret Schantz Moschel was born in Einod, Germany, in 1812, at almost the same time Daniel was going back and forth between Ohio and Illinois. They were contemporaries. When white people were traveling through Nebraska to get to western lands, Margaret was building a life, first in Einod with her parents, and later with Christian Moschel, marrying him in 1839 in Webenheim, Germany. By 1849 Margaret had bore five children and was also raising two step children. Who would ever think this woman would have an impact on Nebraska. We can be almost certain she did not think so at the time.

1850 - 1860 in Nebraska Territory, Illinois, and Webenheim

The decade from 1850-1860 was important for the people in Nebraska and eventually for both Daniel Freeman and Margaret Schantz Moschel. In 1852 the Free Soil party, which had been formed in 1848 in Buffalo, New York, included in their party platform free homesteads for people. The party was founded on the premise of opposition to slavery in the western territories and free land. The party slogan was, "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." The Free Soilers were strong enough in the 1848 election to split the Democratic party. They were absorbed into the Republican party in 1854, thus making their cry for free soil also the cry of the Republican party.

Nebraska Territory

In 1854 Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act creating the Nebraska Territory which comprised 351,558 square miles. How did the U.S. politically go from The Indian Act of 1834, which was to reserve the land for Indians forever, to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854? That is the story of politics. In 1844 a bill was introduced to create the territory called Nebraska (from an Native American word for the Platte River--Nebrathka--meaning shallow water). A 10-year delay caused by the Mexican War finally brought the bill up front and center in Congress in the biggest political battle of the time. The issue was whether slave labor would be allowed in the new territory. The South wanted to have slave labor there, just as the North wanted to have cattle there. It was a bitter fight in Congress, but the Kansas-Nebraska bill was signed on May 30, 1854.

The North had prevailed and Nebraska was now an official territory in which slavery was not legal. Another outcome of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the promise to the Native Americans of their hunting lands was invalidated. During this decade many Native Americans ceded over their lands to the U.S. The last battles over same would be a decade later. Thus, once again white Americans of European descent moved the Native Americans away from the lands they had lived on quite comfortably for centuries. The march through Nebraska Territory continued--Oregon Trail wagon trains continued trekking westward and the Pony Express went through the Nebraska Territory in 1860-61 with mail to westward areas. At this point, few whites were settling there. They were still passing through.

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The tide is beginning to turn and the voices for and against slavery and free land are becoming stronger. One person watching this with great interest was the young Daniel Freeman, the medical practitioner in Illinois. It is said he was intently interested in the homestead bill from the first time it was introduced in Congress in 1854. Many people in the West and the poor were in favor of the bill. Daniel hoped for passage of the bill, but the 1854 bill did not pass. Another homestead bill was introduced in 1860 which allowed a homesteader to pay 25 cents for land. This bill did not pass. Freeman was waiting for a Free Land Homestead Bill. He told others he wanted to be the first to apply for a homestead. Fate had a way of intervening to make this a difficult wish.

Margaret Schantz Moschel, the German mother in Webenheim, in all probability had never heard of the possibility of free land in the United States at this time. Later it was common for advertisements to be placed in foreign newspapers telling of "free land" in the West, but in decade between 1850-1860, Margaret had enough to deal with in the birth of three more children, death of a husband, and making decisions to leave for the U.S.

1860 - 1862 Nebraska Territory, Civil War sites, Webenheim to Illinois

Abraham Lincoln

The two issues raised in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, slavery and free land, carried on in national politics. The issues split the Democratic party in 1860 and allowed Abraham Lincoln to become President in 1860. What followed is probably the most pivotal points of U.S. history: secession by the South, Civil War, abolition of slavery, and free homestead land to settle the West. The changes were monumental.

According to the Nebraska Department of Education, Daniel Freeman enlisted in the Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry and served in the secret service in the Civil War. (Other sources say his service is undocumented.) But assume he was with the 17th Illinois Infantry Regiment. They organized May 1861 and remained a regiment until June 1864 when they consolidated with the 8th regiment, serving with that regiment until war's end.

The 17th Volunteer Infantry Regiment fought in several battles, major among them being the Battle of Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, and Siege of Vicksburg. In all probability Daniel Freeman would have been a part of all these battles, in either his capacity in the secret service or his knowledge of medical practices if he was in the service.

Trying to understand Daniel Freeman's life just before he signed as the first homesteader is understanding the life of a foot solider in the Civil War. On can read of the battles his regiment engaged in between 1861-1865. It is not a pretty picture. The 2-day battle of Shiloh (in Tennessee) on April 6-7 1862 had 24,000 casualties on both sides. It was the first of many battles to have in excess of 20,000 casualties and it was a sign the war would go on much longer than expected. One summary of the battle indicated that "no ground was gained, no strategic town was taken, no supply depot was sacked, but the Union victory did force the evacuation of Confederate troops from much of Tennessee and split the rebel forces along the lines formed by the Mississippi River."

The next major encounter was the Siege of Corinth (Mississippi) which occurred from April 29- May 30, 1862. The siege had seven different defense lines and "both sides chose to let dysentery and disease thin their ranks. Both sides were severely weakened due to an impure water supply in the area."

The Homestead Act Stamp

At the very same time the Siege of Corinth was taking place, the Free Homestead Act was finally passed on May 20, 1862, and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The bill only passed after the South seceded from the Union. The law was to take effect on January 1, 1863. More about this later.

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Can you imagine what Daniel Freeman faced at this point in his life? What was his physical and mental condition? We know he was in the midst of a major battle, but when did he learn about the passage of his much sought after homestead bill? In addition to the battle and the passage of the bill, his first wife, Elizabeth Wilder, had died just the year before or other sources say she left Freeman only to divorce him later. Either way, his home life was not stable.

At the same time the Free Homestead Act passed and Daniel Freeman was in the midst of the Siege of Corinth, Margaret Schantz Moschel and the most of her family were on six-week crossing to the U.S. to join relatives in the Peoria, Illinois, area. Look what they were coming to. This is not a good time to join ranks with peoples in the U.S.

For the rest of 1862 the 17th Volunteer Infantry Regiment were engaged in other skirmishes, but by year's end they were going to Vicksburg (Mississippi), which was the remaining Confederate holdout on the Mississippi River. The operations in Vicksburg would last from December 1862 to July 4, 1863, with the primary siege being from May 18-July 4, 1863. The total casualties at the end of the siege were 35,825, and malaria was rampant in the region.

December 1862 - January 1863

It is reported (by the University of Kansas) that Daniel Freeman got a brief furlough in December 1862 from his Civil War obligations to go to Nebraska. He did and choose his homestead site just outside of Beatrice, Nebraska Territory. The law stipulated a petitioner was to go to the nearest Land Office to apply for their land. Freeman went to Brownsville, Nebraska Territory, which was 40 miles from his intended claim on December 31, 1862. He found the small Missouri River town was filled with potential settlers who wanted to stake claims on the first day possible by law. As the story goes, Freeman told all he had to get back to his war post but wanted to be the first homesteader. He convinced them to open up the claims office a few minutes after midnight on January 1, 1863, (satisfying the requirements of the law) for him alone and he completed his application as No. 1 in the Brownsville office. If it is not true, it still makes one heck of a good story. His homestead patent # 1 was for 160 acres on Cub Creek near Beatrice, Nebraska Territory.

Then in all probability he went back and became a part of the lengthy, deadly Siege of Vicksburg before returning to his property after the Civil War ended in 1865.

The Homestead Act

Early Homesteaders

The Homestead Act essentially took 270 million acres of land owned by the U.S. and gave it to private citizens. The requirements to sign up for a homestead were be 21 years of age or older and head of household. Applicants were required to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm it for 5 years before they were able to "prove up." The total filing fee was $18. At "proving up" time the homesteader got two neighbors or friends to vouch for the truth of his/her statements prior to receiving a patent for the land signed by the current President. Only about 52% of original homestead entries carried through to "proving up" and final patent in the early years. The work was too hard; the land too unyielding for many. The pictures of sod homes on the plains with overworked people by their side is the image that often comes to mind of this "free land." It was a hard, arduous life, and even more so the further West one was and less water available.

Daniel Freeman after 1865

Daniel proposed to his second wife, Agnes Suiter from LeClaire, Iowa, after the Civil War. Agnes had been engaged to Daniel's brother, James, but he died during the War. Daniel and Agnes then came to the 160 acres near Beatrice, Nebraska Territory, and raised 8 children there. Over the years the family farm changed and the original log cabin with a sod roof gave way to a more substantial home and a number of outbuildings. To keep the roving animals out of his fields, he built Osage Orange hedgerows which still exist on the property. The Freemans raised corn, wheat, and oats and orchards of apple and peach trees.

Daniel Freeman was also famous for one other thing. His children went to a nearby school where the teacher, Edith Beecher, used the Bible as a textbook and reference. He requested her to stop this practice. She said the school board had given her permission to do so; and Freeman, not satisfied, took the case to the School Board who backed the teacher. Eventually, with Freeman's persistence, the case went to the Nebraska Supreme Court and on October 9, 1902, the court decided in Freeman's favor saying this was a breach of separation of church and state. This case came many years before similar action in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Daniel Freeman, later years

Daniel Freeman died on December 30, 1908, and his wife, Agnes continued to live on the homestead until her death in 1931.

The Homestead Act remained in effect until 1976. Over the 124-year tenure of the act over 2 million people filed for 160-acre parcels of public land. Of those, 40% were successful in earning the title to the property. Each of these 2 million people and their families, successful or not in getting title to the land, had a story about their homesteading experience.

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Did Margaret Schantz Moschel and her children know Daniel and Agnes Freeman and their children? We do not know. What we do know is Margaret owned land in her own name in Chenoa, Illinois, in the 1870's. In 1876 she and several of her adult children moved to Beatrice, Nebraska. Daniel Freeman lived 3.5 miles North of Beatrice, and Margaret Schantz Moschel's 1886 obituary notice stated she died at the home of her son, Louis Moschel, three miles north of the city. The Freemans were in Blakely Township and the Moschels lived in Midland Township. They lived within a mile of each other for at least a decade and it was almost certain they knew each other.

In all likelihood the experience that the Freeman's had in starting their homestead is not unlike the experience the Moschels had nine years later as they moved to Beatrice to become farmers in the area. The Moschels and Kleins were also merchants in the growing town of Beatrice which in 1862 had a population approaching 100 people.

Questions

In trying to understand the history of Nebraska Territory in juxtaposition with these two people, many questions come to mind.

* Was the land better off being changed from prairie land to being "settled" by white Europeans?

* Would the Native Americans have continued to live on the lands without changing them substantially if given the chance?

* Were the immigrants who came to the Nebraska Territory better off by coming to this new land? That question, it seems, can only be answered by contrasting it with what they left and their conditions there.

The next act discusses the Moschel family who remained in the father country of Bavaria, Germany.