Squire Lamb, 1815-1890 [RG1561.AM]

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

1. 1. 1860-1863

1. 1. 1864-1866

1. 1. 1867-1870

1. 1. 1871-1873, Apr.

1. 1. 1873, May – 1874; 1882; 1885

Series 2 – Correspondence, 1859-1885

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. 1859-1885

Series 3 – Miscellaneous

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. Miscellaneous

Subject headings:

Albaville (Nebraska) — History

Blizzards — Nebraska

Cheyenne Indians — Hostilities

Emigration and immigration

Grand Island (Nebraska) — History

Hall County (Nebraska) — 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 (Nebraska) — History

AIP/ksa                   01-1994

Revised KFK          10-01-2001

Revised TMM         05-14-2007

Acc. 1992.0367; 2001.0705