NEVADA. HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS          185

NEVADA PIONEERS

By SAMUEL A. NEVERS (1883)

            Samuel A. Nevers born in Boston Mass March 1st 1824. Came to the Pacific Coast in 1849 via Cape Horn in Ship Sweden. Came to Nevada in 1859 it was then Utah Territory and under the dominion of Brigham Young and settled in Eagle Valley on the very spot where we now are married here and raised a family of two children who are now living with me, one girl 23 years and a boy 14 years of age.

            There were but four persons settled in this part of the Valley at that time to wit Dr B. L. King Mark Stebbins Jacob H. Rose and John Mankin who were settled on land taken up by them under the laws of Utah Territory. A man was entitled to all the land he could control. None of the above named men were Mormons, in fact there were very few Mormons in the valley at that time as Brigham Young had called all the faithful ones home the year privious namely 1856, when I say home I mean Salt Lake as that was looked upon as their peculiar home. 

            Nearly all the Mormons in 1856 when leaving for Salt Lake sold their land to John Mankin for a nominal sum payment to be made in wheat which was sold for very low price, this sale carried a strip of land from Kings Cañon down to the Hot Springs, but Mankin subsequently claimed the whole lower portion of the valley.

186      NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS

            The State of society was on a low plane every man doing just about as he pleased regardless of the feelings comfort or needs of his neighbors. There was no law here till Judge Cradlebaugh came here as U S District Judge who to a great extent brought order out of chaos the seat of the Court was at Genoa.

            Carson City was laid out by A. V. Z. Curry better known as Col Abe Curry [who was the first superintendent of] in 1858, and built the first house which was a stone one and was occupied as a store by Major Ormsby so conspicious at a later date in the indian war in which he was killed.

            I built the third house ever built in what is now Carson Valley. The first school taught here was controlled by the Missis Clapp and Babcock who did much to form and shape the educational and moral atmosphere of this part of the state.

            The first church built here was the Presbyterian then the Methodist then the Episcopal and the last one was the Roman Catholic.

            I had the land surveyed where now is situated the Newman ranch owned by Mr. J. R. Hougham. The first public school house built here was under the control of Mr. George W. Chedis.