HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG1561.AM: Squire Lamb, 1815-1890
Papers: 1859-1885
Albaville, Wood River, and Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska: Overland stage station operator
Size: 0.25 cu.ft.; 1 box
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
A native of Otsego County, New York, Squire Lamb came to Nebraska Territory in 1858. Among the first to settle in what is now the Wood River area of Hall County, Lamb manned the overland stage station eight miles west of Grand Island on the Omaha-Ft. Kearney Trail. Squire Lamb and his wife, Caroline, and two children farmed in the area during the Civil War and the years immediately following. Lamb died in Hall County on March 19, 1890.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of three series of manuscript material: 1) Correspondence, 1860-1885; 2) Correspondence, 1859-1885; and 3) Miscellaneous. The correspondence relates to the conditions of settlement in Hall County, Nebraska Territory during the 1860s-1880s and provides a description of what life was like during those years. Series 1 and Series 2 contain letters by the same writers, but the letters were donated to the Society at different times and by different donors. Written primarily by Squire Lamb to his brother, Hiram, in Otsego, New York, the letters provide information on the number of emigrants observed on their way to California, Oregon, and Utah; hostilities of the Sioux and Cheyenne against the Pawnee; Indian attacks on whites in the Platte Valley; crop production; weather conditions, including the April 1873 blizzard; the Civil War’s effect on prices of crops and commodities; horse and cattle thieves; emigration to Nebraska after the war; the progress of the Union Pacific railroad; and his political beliefs. The letters are in photocopy form only. Typescripts of most letters are included; for a few letters, only transcripts are available.
Series 3 contains miscellaneous information about the Lamb Family and Squire Lamb in Nebraska.
Note: See the photo component of the collection [RG1561.PH] for images.
INVENTORY
Series 1 – Correspondence, 1860-1885
Box 1
Folder
- 1860-1863
- 1864-1866
- 1867-1870
- 1871-1873, Apr.
- 1873, May – 1874; 1882; 1885
Series 2 – Correspondence, 1859-1885
Box 1
Folder
- 1859-1885
Series 3 – Miscellaneous
Box 1
Folder
- Miscellaneous
Subject headings:
Albaville (Neb.) — History
Blizzards — Nebraska
Cheyenne Indians — Hostilities
Emigration and immigration
Grand Island (Neb.) — History
Hall County (Neb.) — History
Indians of North America — Hostilities
Lamb Family
Lamb, Frank B.
Lamb, Hiram
Lamb, Squire, 1815-1890
Overland journeys
Pawnee Indians — Hostilities
Railroads — Nebraska
Sioux Indians — Hostilities
Wood River (Neb.) — History
AIP/ksa 01-1994
Revised KFK 10-01-2001
Revised TMM 05-14-2007
Acc. 1992.0367; 2001.0705
