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John Francis Cordeal, McCook's voice of the pioneers
John Cordeal was a very active citizen in McCook and in the state of Nebraska in the first third of the last century, yet it is what he wrote about the early history of McCook and Red Willow County for which he is best remembered. John Cordeal was an important figure in McCook's early history. He was born in Illinois to Sylvester and Martha Cordeal, in 1873.
In 1886, the family moved to McCook, where Sylvester established a real estate office. In 1886, McCook was still a raw frontier town. There were only a few board sidewalks in town, none north of C Street -- no paved streets, and horse-drawn buggies and wagons were often mired down in the mud.
There was a city park, in the location of the present Norris Park, on north Main Street. But there were no trees in the park -- in fact there were no trees anywhere in town. The focal point of the park was a large, ugly wooden water tank in the southwest corner of the block.
The Cordeal home was a cottage on East 2nd Street, which at the time was on the edge of town, both north and east. Sylvester Cordeal and his wife were cultured people, interested in literary pursuits. They were said to have had one of the largest and most complete libraries in this part of the state. Mrs. Cordeal was an outstanding educator in Southwest Nebraska and devoted her life to furthering the literary activities in the community.
John Cordeal graduated from the McCook schools, and then attended college at the College of the City of New York, after which he received his law degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. Upon returning to McCook he entered into the practice of law with Webster S. Morlan, who was one of the more noted of the frontier attorneys. At times, in later years, Mr. Cordeal had as law partners Thomas Colfer, District Judge Charles E. Eldred, George W. Norris, J.R. McCarl (later the Comptroller General of the United States) and Carson Russell.
Cordeal was an ardent Republican, and a leader in his party in this part of the state. He was elected to the State Senate from the 29th District; at the time when Nebraska had a two-house legislative system, and served three terms, in 1911, 1913 and 1919. In the Senate he wrote the Nebraska "Blue Sky" law, which protected investors from shyster investment brokers.
He was the leader of the group of legislators who proposed to build the new state capitol building in a way that would depart from the traditional plan of state capitols, which copied our nation's capitol building. He was influential in the choice of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue as the architect or the new capitol building. The new building, built between 1922 and 1932, is our present unique, towering state capitol, which has been viewed and applauded by artists and architects around the world.
During World War I, John Cordeal served on the local draft board and on the National Food Conservation Commission. Later, he was a director of the Farmers National Grain Corp., a Director of the National Equity Union, and in 1937, a delegate from this area to the Wheat Conservation Conference in Washington.
At home, Mr. Cordeal was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Elk's Lodge and the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, local and state Bar Associations, and the Episcopal Church. When Frank Morrison was asked if he remembered John Cordeal, he replied, "Sure, I knew Johnny Cordeal. He was a rather pudgy man, not very tall, but ramrod straight, both in stature and in character."
He considered him an excellent lawyer, a student, and a thoroughly ethical man One time, while they were living in Stockville, Frank Morrison's wife, Maxine, suffered an attack of appendicitis. It was determined that an operation was needed, so the Morrisons made a speedy trip to McCook. Unfortunately, Mrs. Morrison's doctor, Dr. Willis, was out of town. Though Morrison had opposed Cordeal in several legal casesl as well as opposing him politically, his admiration of the man was such that when Mrs. Morrison's doctor was out of town when she needed an emergency appendectomy, it was John Cordeal that Frank sought out for advise on choosing another doctor to perform the operation. As a result of their visit, and Mr. Cordeal's recommendation, Dr. Reed (Corky's father) was chosen to perform the operation, assisted by Dr. Leininger. The operation was a complete success, and the Cordeal/Morrison friendship was further strengthened.
Dr. John Batty remembers that John Cordeal was a lifelong bachelor who was very conservative, fiscally. In the '30s, when money was extremely scarce, Cordeal was known as a man who would lend money, but with strict rules on repayment -- for instance, "Here's $90. You owe me $100, due 3 months from today!" There was no monkey business, and his stature as a lawyer gave great weight to his terms.
Mr. Cordeal had a great love for the land and for agriculture. He lived, alone, on his farm southwest of McCook in the Driftwood District. This began as a small farm, but grew over the years, to more than 5,000 acres. It was here that Cordeal carried out experiments in crops and livestock.
The other hobby that John Cordeal carried on was that of local history. He knew much of the history of McCook first- hand. He had a phenomenal memory and wrote about the early days in a clear, entertaining style.
For the last years of his life, he wrote a popular column in the McCook Daily Gazette about the early history of our town and county. This column has been widely quoted in the years since. Indeed, Marion McClelland relied on excerpts from this column to a large extent in writing her masters thesis, "An Early History of McCook, NE"
In 1938, John Cordeal suffered a fatal heart attack. His funeral, at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, was one of the largest and most elaborate services ever seen in McCook. The McCook Bar Association, the Knights Templars, the Eastern Star, the Rotary Club, and the McCook Chamber of Commerce each attended in a body. He was buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery, with the Masonic Lodge in charge of the graveside rites. With his passing we lost our best authority on early McCook history.
Sources: Trails West, by Bob Ray and Lois Rutledge, Gazette Centennial Edition. 1882-1982, Marion McClelland's "An Early History of McCook, NE"