December 2021 • Nebraskaland 21
coming to Nebraska in 1868 with his
brother, Woodford. J.B. bought land
near Beatrice, built the first hotel in
the town and moved his family to
Nebraska in 1869. He was elected
to the state legislature in 1872, and
again in 1874, and worked for the
Federal Land Office in Lincoln before
settling in 1880 in Fairbury. Woodford
homesteaded a quarter section of
ground farther west, and in 1869 he
had half of that land platted, as did a
neighbor, to help found the town of
Fairbury, named for the town in which
he had resided in Illinois.
Nelson McDowell began working
as a clerk in the Secretary of State's
office at the age of 17 while his father
was serving in the legislature. He
reportedly spent 17 years working in
The circular ceiling of the fi rst room
in the tomb, measuring 10 feet wide,
includes a horizontal lip, or drum, that
leads to a dome in which foot-wide
rectangular recesses form an X. At the
peak is another 2-foot wide, spherical
opening that extends upwards
another 2 feet, bringing the entire
height of the entry room to 13½ feet.
