Brownville home to governors, businessmen and at least one major rascal

The Brownville agency office was managed initially by John Carson, who also was president of the Lushbaugh & Carson Bank there.

The next year, gold was discovered in Colorado, with the Brownville steamboat landing becoming a trailhead for outfitting gold seekers, which greatly increasing the express company's business.

The increase brought competition in the form of  Merchant's Union Express Co., which was managed by Jacob K. Bear (sometimes Baer). When  Merchant's Express later closed, Carson stepped down from his position at U.S. Express, which then was assumed by Bear.

The next we hear from Bear is on June 13, 1867, when "J.K. Bear and 165 other citizens of Nemaha County" signed a petition concerning the bill removing the capital from Omaha.

Early in 1869, the Brownville newspaper carried a story saying that Bear "was found at a late hour of the night sweltering in his own blood and groaning in pain. After he had so far recovered as to tell the story, he told that he had been sandbagged, shot and robbed of several hundred dollars."

The money was from the freight office, but why he had it in his possession late in the evening and not in the bank was unclear. The freight company did buy a new safe for the office and offered a reward, but the supposed robber was not captured or even a suspect sought.

Many folks in Brownville were skeptical of Bear's account and at least felt the entire story was "rather fishy." Still, Bear kept his position.

On Friday Oct. 28, 1869, it was first reported that the express office had been robbed of $12,000 (or as much as $15,000) the previous day. Interestingly, Bear had paid off a $200 loan and all of his local debts that same day.

On Saturday morning Bear was gone, but he left a complete letter of explanation with the Brownville Democrat. In the note he stated that he had taken "about $12,000" and further instructed that the letter be shown to W.H. Quick, his supervisor, when he arrived from Des Moines. He told the paper that he was certain the express company would issue a large reward for his capture, but at least he left town owing no one anything.

He also predicted, quite accurately it turned out, that his odds of escaping were 99 to 1 against him. His only regret was that he was sorry for his wife, who immediately reacted by filing for divorce.

Division Superintendent Quick immediately had a poster printed offering a $2,000 reward -- $1,000 for Bear's capture and return to Brownville and $1,000 for the return of the money or a proportional amount for any recovery. Bear was described as 25 years old, 5-foot-9½, weighing about 140 pounds, with smooth skin of a dark complexion, black moustache and a scar on his neck "caused by a pistol ball."

On Sept. 14, Bear was indeed caught and indicted by a grand jury. He said he had chosen to flee over suicide and that as he jumped into a skiff to cross the river, the cash box with the rest of the money fell into the river. He also explained the self-inflicted wound to his neck was made by pulling a loose bunch of skin and shooting himself through it.

Bear was found guilty and sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary, far too lenient by local opinion.Interestingly and unexplainably, the governor subsequently reduced the sentence to three months.

On release, his wife remarried Bear saying "she would rather be ‘squz by a bear than not squz at all.'" Brownville citizens later claimed to have seen Bear around town, and a number of men even dug up the ground around his home looking for a cache of buried loot.

On Feb. 26, 1874, the Troy, Kan., Kansas Chief reported that J.K. Bear, alias A.J. Curtis of Waverly, Iowa, had absconded "with a pile of express money." Bear was said to be known to have a passion for gambling.

At his subsequent capture, the Waverly Independent reported that while he was working for the Illinois Central Railroad, Bear announced that he was "leaving for a few days" and again had left a confession letter admitting he had taken $1,100, that "gambling did the work," and that he would return and replace the money.

At that point Bear again disappeared somewhere far enough that no further account was forthcoming.