The second session of the assembly convened in Omaha December 18, 1855.
The changes in the council were:
John Evans, Dodge county, vice M. H. Clark, deceased;
A. A. Bradford, Otoe county (newly created county), and
S. M. Kirkpatrick, Cass County, vice Luke Nuckolls.
The council officers were:
B. R. Folsom, president;
E. G. McNeely, chief clerk;
M. B. Case, assistant clerk;
C. W. Pierce, sergeant-at-arms.
The house roster was:
A. D. Kirk, Richardson county;
W. H. Hoover, Richardson and Nemaha jointly;
Charles McDonald, Richardson and Pawnee jointly.
The census gave Pawnee County a population of one hundred and forty-two, and this, it was claimed by some, entitled it to representation. After considerable debate, Thomas R. Hare was accorded a seat, but he resigned January 11 after it became apparent that his presence might in validate the acts of the body since the bill creating the territory stipulated that the house should be composed of only twenty-six members.
The remainder of the body was:
W. A. Finney, L. A. Chambers, Nemaha County;
James H. Decker, M. W. Riden, J. Sterling Morton, William B. Hail, J. C. Campbell, John Boulware, Otoe County;
A. M. Rose, Otoe and Cass jointly;
John F. Buck, William Laird, J. McF. Hagood, Cass County;
George L. Miller, William Larimer Jr., Levi Harsh, W. E. Moore, Alexander Davis, Leavitt L. Botten, Alonzo F. Salisbury, William Clancy, Douglas County;
P. C. Sullivan, Washington County; William B. Beck, Washington and Burt jointly
Thomas Gibson, Dodge County.
The organization of the house was perfected by the election of the following officers:
P. C. Sullivan, speaker;
H. C. Anderson, chief clerk;
I. L. Gibbs, assistant clerk;
A. S. Bishop, sergeant-at-arms;
E. B. Chinn, doorkeeper.
The auditor’s first report was submitted which gave a valuation of the property, real and personal, in the territory of $617,822, not including the newer counties.
A bill providing that counties in the then uninhabited regions should be organized with boundaries of twenty-four miles square without reference to the Platte or other streams, was successfully passed.
The so called first report of the superintendent of public instruction was made under date of January 5, 1857, by H. Anderson. The report covers two pages of the journal, and is but a statement of what should be done rather than what had been performed in pursuance of an act entitled “Common Schools,” approved January 26, 1856, which act is the origin of the public school system of the state.
January 5, 1857, the third annual session of the territorial legislature began.
The following members composed the council:
Douglas County, A. F. Salisbury, George L. Miller, S. E. Rogers, L. L. Bowen for the Northern district;
Southern district of Douglas, Washington, Burt and Cuming counties jointly, James A. Allen;
Otoe County, A. A. Bradford, Mills S. Reeves;
Cass County, S. M. Kirkpatrick;
Nemaha County, R. W. Furnas;
Washington County, William Clancy;
Richardson and Pawnee counties, Charles McDonald,
Dodge, Cass, Otoe jointly, Jacob Safford;
Dakota County, A. W. Puett.
The officers were:
L. L. Bowen, president;
0. F. Lake, chief clerk;
T. H Robertson, assistant clerk;
Samuel A. Lewis, sergeant-at-arms;
Patrick McDonough, doorkeeper,
The house was organized by the election of
I. L, Gibbs, speaker;
J. H. Brown, chief clerk;
S. M Curran, assistant clerk;
P. Lacomb, sergeant-at-arms;
J. Campbell, doorkeeper.
The members were:
Richardson and Pawnee counties, A. F. Cromwell, N. J. Sharp;
Nemaha County, W. A. Finney, I. C. Lawrence, S. A. Chambers;
Otoe County, H. P. Downs, I. D. White, H. C. Cowles, J. C. Ellis, L. L. Gibbs, W. B. Hail;
Cass County, W. M. Slaughter, H. C. Wolph, Broad Cole;
Cass, Lancaster and Clay counties jointly, J. A. Cardwell;
Douglas County (southern district), S. A. Strickland, Joseph Dyson, C. T. Holloway, John Finney;
Douglas County (northern district), W. E. Moore, H. Johnson, J. Steinberger, M. Murphy, R. Kimball, Jonas Seely, A. J. Hanscom, George Armstrong;
Dodge and Platte counties, Silas E. Seeley;
Washington County, J. A. Stewart, William Conner, E. P. Stout;
Burt County, G. M. Chilcott.
Source: Compendium of History Reminiscence & Biography of Western Nebraska, Alden Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.