The first white man known to have lived in Logan County was Thomas Kirby, a hunter and trapper. His house was a one room part-dugout covered with cedar rails and dirt, located about a mile north of Logan. The first frame house in the county was built in 1877 by Charles Ewing, a rancher. It was located just east of the present town of Gandy. John Simons built the first frame house in the town of Gandy. Will Graham, a son-in-law of Jess Gandy, was the first banker. The first district court in Logan County was held at Gandy, June 24, 1886. Francis G. Hamer was judge; H.M. Sinclair, district attorney; Jesse B. Doan, Sheriff; S.R. Chappell, bailiff. The Logan County Pioneer was the First newspaper. John Kelly, the editor, issued the first edition in 1886, working in a sod house. The Pioneer has changed editors many times through the years but has never missed an issue. The first telephone line into Logan County was built from North Platte by E.R. Smith in 1907. The first marriage license was issued by County Judge W.F. Kellogg on Dec. 16, 1885 to Jacob T. Smee and Errestine Qinn, being solemnized by Judge Kellogg the same day. The first birth as far as can be ascertained was the child of James Harris in 1881 and its death about 18 months later, the first death. First Child born in Gandy was Mable Morrison, daughter of Judge and Mrs. J.E. Morrison. First child born in Stapleton was a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bradley. County Judge Franklin R. Hogeboom, who died June 30, 1936, was the first homesteader in the county. He came to Nebraska in 1878 by way of Qgallalala to Logan County in 1881. Many persons and many events have played important parts in the development of Logan County, but not all of them could be described in this short history. The pioneers had the courage and fortitude necessary to enter the wilderness and there make their homes; the men and women who followed had the ingenuity and perseverance to take up the load and successfully build the Logan County of today. From articles supplied by Mrs. Wayne Salisbury and Mrs. Wm. Dudley.
