OAKLAND’S BEGINNING
First Settler Was Aaron Arlington

The first recorded settlers in the vicinity of Oakland were Aaron Arlington, a bookseller from Philadelphia, his wife Harriet A., and their children, four daughters and a son. In 1857 this family settled on the west half of section 36. Mr. Arlington never filed claim on the land so it is presumed they only planned to make their home there until such time they might decide upon a good location for a homestead. Five or six years later he moved to the eastern part of the county and purchased a farm south of Decatur where he died in 1873.

Town’s Namesake Arrives

About the time of the departure of the Arlington’s in 1863, John Oak came to Oakland and, taking advantage of the adobe left vacant by the Arlington’s, settled here. He purchased a part of the town site from the state, (this land having been granted by the government to the state of Nebraska in 1871.)
From Mr. Oak the property passed into the possession of James Askwig, from whom the west half of the town site was purchased. From this Mr. Oak, the town of Oakland also received its name.

In the year of 1866 Erick Erickson, Benj. F. Fleck, John H. Hanson, Victor Colson and John P. Anderson came with their families to settle on the surrounding land. Mr. and Mrs. Colson, J. H. Hanson, a brother of Mrs. Colson and John P. Anderson left Moline, Illinois in a wagon which contained all their worldly possessions. They first purchased a timber claim in Monona County, Iowa, which contained patches of corn, wheat and sugar cane. From the cane they pressed one hundred and fifty gallons of molasses which was later sold at a dollar a gallon.

Nebraska was a vast prairie with only a hut here and there. In June of the same year Mr. Colson drove to Omaha with Andrew Young, Erick Erickson, and Andrew Johnson and filed claim on a homestead. These men moved into their homesteads, the families of Mr. and Mrs. Colson and Anderson occupying one dug-out which had been constructed by the men the previous summer.

This was their first Nebraska home and with less than seventy-five cents in their combined pockets they faced the future. They lived on potatoes, which they had raised in Iowa, and prairie chicken, which was plentiful. The next spring Mr. Colson built a sod house on his homestead and the family moved their home-made tools and beds constructed from logs. The next year Mr. Colson broke twenty acres of prairie sod and with the help of Mrs. Colson planted ten acres of “sod corn”. During his spare time he broke sod for his neighbors for five dollars an acre. The grasshoppers came that year and the total crop harvested was forty bushels of corn.

The Indians were troublesome at that time, stealing, begging and insisting upon being given lodging for the night. Mrs. Colson spent many a sleepless night for Mr. Colson was absent frequently on long trips for supplies.

Most of the land which now occupies Oakland was purchased from the state by George P. Thomas.
John P. Anderson drew up a petition which was signed by the other settlers requesting the County Commissioners give the name Oakland to the precinct, which was granted, and the name Oakland first entered the records of Burt County.

Post Office Established

In the summer of 1866 a post office was established and Mr. Oak was appointed Postmaster and Mr. Anderson assistant Postmaster.
In 1867 Andrew Palmquist, Samuel Fried, and Robert Hanson located here. The following year J. S. Lemmon, Oscar Samson, Charles and Andrew
Beckman, Peter John, George Osborn, Adolph Palmquist, A. G. Lindquist and Swan M. Lindquist.

Mr. Samson did the freighting for the community using ox team hauling freight from Omaha and later from Fremont. There were no bridges over the creeks and streams and an important part of a freighter’s equipment was a block and tackle used to pull the freight wagon across troublesome streams.

The first mechanic to locate here was S. M. Lundstrom, who erected the first blacksmith shop in the winter of 1868. Two years later he built his residence just west of his shop. He also homesteaded the east half of the present town site.

Realizing the possibilities of the Logan Creek for power, the Scandinavian Mill Association was formed. The Association was incorporated for $10,000, but there is no record that any extended work was done at that time towards the erection of a mill or the construction of a dam.

In 1869 Mr. Oak resigned as Postmaster and Samuel Fried was appointed as his successor and served until 1877.
                                                                                                           

This information was copied out of the 1863 - 1963 Centennial Book that I found in the basement of the old building I bought.