USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 1
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104
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Gc 978.101 AL5d 1142784
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01064 8043
1
Very Reapply Au, Scox
HISTORY
OF
ALLEN AND WOODSON COUNTIES
KANSAS
ILLUSTRATED
EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OF WELL KNOWN PEOPLE OF THESE, COUNTIES, WITH BIOGRAPHIES OF OUR REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS, CUTS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND A MAP OF EACH COUNTY.
EDITED AND COMPILED BY L. WALLACE DUNCAN CHAS. F. SCOTT
IOLA, KANSAS: IOLA REGISTER, PRINTERS AND BINDERS
1901
1142784
Preface
There is no romance more thrilling and fascinating than the story of the early settlement of Kansas, and her later history holds a charm and interest that is not possessed by that of any other State in the Union. Organ- ized as a Territory when the contest for the extension of slavery was at white heat, it became at once the battle ground of the contending forces, the South determined that it should be held as slave territory, the North equally determined that it should be dedicated to freedom. The struggle drew the gaze of the Nation upon Kansas, and the interest then awakened has continued, through peace and war, to this day. Something is always "going on" in Kansas, and whatever it may be, the people in all the other States want to know about it.
Allen and Woodson were among the first counties to be organized in the new Territory, and some of the earliest white settlements in Kansas were made within their borders. Many of their pioneers were identified in an honorable way with the contest for freedom, and they have witnessed many stirring events. It is for the purpose of making a permanent record of these events, to engrave where they will not be lost or forgotten the names of those whose courage and sacrifices laid the foundation for the prosperity and peace we now enjoy, as well as to note the steps by which the present high material development of the two counties has been reached, that the present volume has been compiled and published.
The highest ambition of the publishers has been to make this History accurate and reliable, and they have spared 110 pains to verify every substan- tial fact recorded. To do this they have gone, whenever that was possible to the original sources, to documents when such were available, to early newspaper files, and to men and women who have been here from the or- ganization of the counties and who can say: "All of this I saw and part of it I was." And in conducting this research the publishers have been often reminded that their work was not begun too soon, for of the large number of those who
"Crossed the prairies as of old
Our fathers crossed the sea",
and whose courage and endurance laid broad and deep the foundations of the commonwealth, but few now remain, and when they shall have gone "to join the great majority" it will no longer be possible to gather at first
00 11 - 10012010
hands the facts that constitute the most interesting, if not the most import- ant, part of the history of the two counties. In collecting and putting in form for permanent preservation the recollections of those who were original observers and actors through the long period that now stretches between the organization of the counties and the present day, the publishers feel that they have done a real service for future generations.
"Biography is history teaching by example," and no history of any American community would be complete that did not contain the life record of many of the men and women who constitute its citizenship. A large por- tion of this volume is therefore devoted to sketches of those who have in one way or another been identified with the political, social, religious. business or professional life of the community. The limits of the volume have made it impossible to include all who are worthy of a place in it; but so far as it was possible to secure the facts no one has been omitted whose record is an essential part of the history of the two counties.
The publishers wish to make special acknowledgment of their indebt- edness to those who have contributed the chapters which appear over their names, and which add greatly to the interest and value of the book. They are very grateful also for the generous encouragement which their inder- taking has received and for the advance subscriptions which have made its publication possible.
In a recent article Hon. E. F. Ware says: "Next to having heroes is having historians. A hero who does not get into history is practically wasted. Heroism without history is like a banquet without a guest. The great charm of Kansas is the fact that it has had both heroes and historians. A good printed history is like a bank. In it the valuables and the jewels of the State are kept. Into this bank goes the surplus greatness of the people and of the state."
If the present work shall in any degree merit this accurate and witty definition of a "good printed history," the publishers will feel that their hopes have been justified.
HISTORY
OF
ALLEN COUNTY
KANSAS
Location and Matural features
Allen county is located in the southeastern part of the State, in the scc- ond tier of counties from the east line and in the third tier from the south line, rog miles south of Kansas City. It is twenty-cre miles north and south and twenty-four miles east and west, containing 5c4 square miles, or about 322,560 acres. It is divided into twelve townships, as follows: Geneva, Carlyle, Deer Creek, Osage, Marmaton, Elm, Iola, Elsmore, Salem Cottage Grove, Humboldt and Logan.
The Neosho, the third largest river in the State, enters it at the north- west corner and follows a generally southeasterly course, affording a large and steady supply of water and furnishing abundant water power at Iola and Humboldt, where dams have been constructed, the greater part of the year. The river has numerous tributaries, the largest being Indian creek, Martin creek, Deer creek, Elm creek, Coal creek and Owl creek. The Neosho and all its tributaries were heavily wooded when the country was first settled, and large bodies of native timber still remain on all of them. The Marmaton river rises east of the center of the county and flows south- east through Marmaton and Elsmore townships. The Little Osage river rises north of the center of the county and flows southeast. Each of these rivers has small tributaries. Good well water is obtained nearly everywhere in the county at a depth of from twenty to thirty feet, and at numerous points deep wells, drilled to a depth of about two hundred feet, have supplied never failing water.
The river and creek bottoms are wide and level, comprising about che- tenth the area of the county. The uplands are gently iclling prairie. There is comparatively little surface rock, although in nearly every township some
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HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
good quarries have been opened, the stone being usually blue and white limestone and red sandstone.
When the county was first settled considerable surface coal was found in Osage and Cottage Grove townships, and it was thought that a consider- able portion of the county might be under laid with coal at a greater depth. Subsequent prospecting, however, has not developed any veins of sufficient thickness to warrant working.
natural Resources
AGRICULTURAL: Like most of the counties of Kansas, Allen is mostly an agricultural county. The bottom lands, comprising as already stated one-tenth of the entire area of the county, are apparently inexhaustible in their fertility and produce enormous crops year after year. The uplands are not so rich, of course, but they yet possess a deep alluvial soil, rich in decomposed limestone, and with proper cultivation producing extremely well. Up to the time of this writing but little manufactured fertilizer has been used, because not found necessary. Some of the more progressive farmers, however, are now experimenting with the various fertilizers that are on the markets, and the results have proven so satisfactory that the cus- tom will no doubt soon become general. Wheat is grown successfully along the river bottoms, and some of the uplands have produced good results when fertilizer was used. But corn is the principal crop of the county, the average annual product being in the neighborhood of two million, bushels. Kaffir corn is gaining in favor with the farmers, as it never fails to produce a good crop. A great deal of sorghum and millet is raised as a forage crop, while flax, oats and broom corn are grown successfully. Nearly all the varieties of fruits common to this latitude do well here, apples especially being abundant in quantity and excellent in quality. Of the tame grasses, clover and timothy do the best and are now very generally grown.
STOCK RAISING: Nearly all the farmers are also stock raisers or feeders and nearly all the grain and forage grown in the county is fed with- in its borders. Attention is given mostly to hogs and cattle, although there are some sheep in the county, and a great many car loads of horses and mules are turned off annually. The cheapness with which grain and forage can be grown, the abundance of good water, the mildness of the climate and the proximity to great markets make the live stock industry one of the most profitable in which our people engage.
TIMBER: When the country was first settled the heavy growth of forest along the rivers and creeks constituted a very important resource and brought many thousands of dollars to the fortunate owners. Saw mills were the first factories of any kind to be established, and practically all the houses built prior to the advent of the railroad in 1872 were constructed wholly or in large part of native lumber. The forests have been very largely cut down, but enough of the original growth yet remains to enable three or four small saw mills to do a flourishing business.
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WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
MINERAL: By far the most important mineral resource of the county, so far as now known, is the Natural Gas, the discovery and development of which is made the subject of another chapter. Next in value to the gas are the shales, suitable for the manufacture of brick and tiling, and the stone designated in the geology of the State as "the Iola Limestone". The shales are deposited very generously over the county, but are utilized at present only at Iola and Humboldt, at each of which places, by the use of natural gas as fuel, they are manufactured into a fine quality of building and paving brick. The stone also underlies a large portion of the county, but is used only at Iola where, in combination with the shale, it is used in the manufacture, on a very large scale, of Portland Cement. It has also been used quite extensively for sidewalks and curbing. Considerable oil has been developed in the vicinity of Humboldt and at some other points in the county, but not in sufficient quantities as yet to admit of its being placed upon the market. The presence of so large a gas field as Allen county possesses lends reason to the hope that at some time a correspondingly large pool of oil will be found.
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HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
The Territorial Period*
Allen county no doubt has a history, if we could only find it, dating far beyond the brief period of its occupation by the present population. Away in the dim recesses of prehistoric times there is good reason to believe the country we now cill Kansas, and perhaps this very valley, was inhab- ited by a numerous people, different from and far more advanced in civiliz- ation than any of the aborigines found here upon the advent of the Euro- peans. The numero; and massive ruins of long forgotten cities in Arizona, in the cinons of the Colorado, and the traces of vast systems of irrigation yet discernible in portions of our own State, prove that this portion of the continent had a history in connection with the human race long before it became the hunting grounds of the Indian or the home of the Caucassian; but who they were, whence they came, how long they remained, whither they went, and what were the agencies of war, pestilence or famine which so completely blotted them out, are questions for the archaeologist and anti- quary, and not for the practical historian of to-day.
The first written account we have of the territory included within this State dates from about the middle of the sixteenth century, when a Spanish expedition, under the leadership of Coronado, coming from Mexico by way of the Gulf of California, penetrated as far as the north central part of Kan- sas. The expedition came in search of gold and silver and fabulously rich cities, but it found neither gold nor silver nor cities, and so the disorganized, discouraged and demoralized remuant of it returned to Mexico as best it conld, having left no permanent mark upon the State.
Another Spaniard, DeSoto, after discovering the Mississippi, crossed it in his search for the fountain of perpetual youth and penetrated almost to the borders of Kansas, but failing to find the fabled fountain returned and was buried in the stream he had discovered, and the only reminder of him in Kansas is his name, given to a small station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad near Lawrence.
French explorers were more successful than the Spanish had been. Coming down from the north and east, they ascended the Missouri to the mouth of the Kansas river which they entered and followed some distance. They have left the most glowing accounts of the beauty and fertility of the country and especially of the incredible numbers of buffalo, deer, bear and other wild animals with which it abounded.
In 1682 the French took possession of the mouth of the Mississippi in the name of the King of France and named the country on its banks Louis-
* NOTE-The Publishers wish to acknowledge their indebtedness for many of the facts recited in this chapter to two addresses on "The History of Allen County," one delivered at Iola, July 4, 1876, by Dr. John W. Scott, and the other delivered the same day at Humboldt, by Major Watson Stewart.
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WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
ìana, in honor of Louis XIV. The name was applied to a vast but some- what indefinite extent of territory west of the Mississippi river including what is now divided into eighteen States and Territories of our Union, Kansas being one of them. It remained nominally in the possession of France until November, 1762, when it was ceded to Spain, being retroceded to France, October 1, 1800, by the secret treaty of St. Idilfonso.
In 1803, through the crowning act of the administration of Thomas Jefferson, the entire Territory of Louisiana was purchased from France and ceded to the United States. In 1804 Congress divided the new purchase into two distinct territories divided by the 33d parallel of north latitude. The southern portion was called the Territory of New Orleans, and the northern the District of Louisiana, this District being placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor of the Territory of Indiana. In 1805 a Terri- torial government was granted to the District of Louisiana, under the name of the Territory of Louisiana, and in 1812 the Territorial Government was recognized and the name changed to that of Missouri Territory. In 1820 the State of Missouri was admitted into the Union with its present boun- daries and there remained of the old Louisiana Purchase the Territory of Nebraska.
It was not until 1854 that the name Kansas appeared upon the map. In that year the Territory of Nebraska was divided and what had been the southern portion of it was organized into the Territory of Kansas, with A. H. Reeder as Governor. The first legislature of the new Territory was elected March 30, 1855,-the election being marked by such gross and palpable fraud on the part of the "Border Ruffians" that the legislature then chosen has come down in history as "the bogus legislature". It was in the acts of this legislature, known as "the bogus statutes", that Allen county first appears as a recognized municipality, having a "local habita- tion and a name", the section being in the following words:
"The county of Allen shall be bounded as follows: Beginning at the southeast corner of Anderson county, thence south thirty miles, thence west twenty-four miles, thence north thirty miles, thence east twenty-four miles to place of beginning "
The first white settlements in the county were made in the spring and summer of 1855, shortly before the county was named and its limits defined as above set forth. There is some dispute as to who made the first perma- nent settlement, but the weight of the testimony seems to award that honorable distinction to Mr. D. H. Parsons, who with a companion, B. W. Cowden, arrived on the Neosho river near the mouth of Elm creek in the month of March, 1855. They found about four hundred lodges of Osage Indians encamped in the timber and still claiming some sort of ownership in the country. But owing to the fact that the father of Mr. Parsons had been a trader among the Osages, the newcomers were received in the most friendly manner and made welcome in the lodges of the camp until their cabins were built.
A little later the good will of the Indians again stood Parsons in good stead. Returning to his claim after a short absence later in the summer,
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HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
he found his cabin in possession of a party of Missourians who, drifting down that way and finding it unoccupied had proceeded at once to take possession and make themselves at home. There was no law, no right but might, and the Missourians were the stronger. Finding that argument was of no avail, Mr. Parsons appealed to his friend, Little Bear, chief of the Osages. The result of this appeal was that a party of warriors presented themselves suddenly before the astonished interlopers, and with angry gestures and loud threatening talk gave them to understand that they must get out. The Missourians were now the suppliauts, and begging Parsons to restrain the fury of the savages until they could get out of their reach they departed immediately, rapidly and permanently. The claim over which this dispute arose was just across the river southwest of Iola, known to all the later settlers as the Nimrod Hankins place.
During the summer of 1855 a number of settlers arrived in the county, the following being as nearly a complete roll as can now be obtained: Major James Parsons, with his sons, Jesse and James, H. H. Hayward, Dr. Burgess, Isem Brown, A. W. J. Brown, J. S. Barbee, Thos. Day, Giles Sater, Thos. Norris, Jessie E. Morris, Anderson Wray, George Hall, Dr. Stockton, A. C. Smith, Augustus Todd, Michael Kiser, Hiram Smith, Richard J. Fuqua, W C. Keith, Henry Bennett, Elias Copelin, James Barber, Barnett Owen, James Johnson, Charles Passmore, James Gillraith, David Dotson, E. H. Young, a Mr. Duncan and a Mr. Martin, for whom Martin creek was named. Of these sturdy and honored pioneers not one now remains in the county, and probably fewer than half a score are yet living.
The Legislature of 1855 adopted a system of county organization the officers of which were a Probate Judge, with power and jurisdiction almost equal to that of our present district court; two County Commissioners, con- stituting with the Probate Judge, the tribunal for transacting county busi- ness; and a sheriff. These four officers were to be appointed by the Legislature and to hold their offices until the general election in 1857, and they in turn to appoint the County Clerk and Treasurer. The officers appointed for Allen county were Charles Passmore, Probate Judge, Barnett Owen and B. W. Cowden, Commissioners, and Wm. J. Godfrey, Sheriff.
In the spring of 1855 a party of proslavery men from Fort Scott formed a town company, and coming to Allen county laid out a town on the high ground south of the month of Elm creek and on the east bank of the Neosho river, about one and one-half miles southwest of where Iola now stands. The town was named Cofachique, in honor of an Indian chief, and James Barbee was elected the first president of the company .. The Company was incorporated by the bogus legislature under the name of the Cofachique Town Association, with Daniel Woodson, Charles Passmore, James S. Barbee, William Barber, Samuel A. Williams and Joseph C. Anderson as the incorporators. The Association was authorized by the act creating it to hold any quantity of land not exceeding 900 acres, "where the city of Cofachique is now located," and was made the permanent county seat of Allen county. The first store in the town and in the county was started by
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WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS.
James Galbreath. H. D. Parsons and a Mr. Lynn soon started auother and a third was opened by John & Owens. The first post-office in the county was established at Cofachique in the spring of 1855 with Aaron Case as post-master, but it was not until July 1, 1857, that a regular mail route was opened, the mail prior to that time having been brought in from Fort Scott by a carrier employed by the citizens.
For nearly two years Cofachique was the only town in the county and was a place ot much importance. The first term of court in the county was held there in 1865 by Judge Cato, a United States District Judge, with J. S. Barbee, clerk and James Johnson sheriff. There is no record of pro- ceedings at this term and it is possible that but little was done. In October 1858 Judge Williams held another terin, with J. B. Lamkin clerk, and J. E. Morris sheriff. A grand jury was in attendance composed of the follow- ing: L. E. Rhoades, Thos. H. Bashaw, Thos. Dean, J. B. Young, Jacob Buzzard, Moses Neal, Mike Kiser, Robert Culbertson, Simon Camerer, A. G. Carpenter, J. C. Redfield, Wm. Pace, Chas. Burton, Dene Reese and Rufus Wood. A number of civil cases were tried, and the grand jury inade presentment against Leonard Fuqua for assault with intent to kill one Josiah C. Redfield; also for assault on P. P. Phillips; and against Leonard Fuqua, Homer C. Leonard, A. C. Smith, Avery C. Spencer, Ed. Cushion and William Fuqua for assault and battery on George Esse. These troubles grew out of claim disputes, a fruitful cause of strife in all new countries.
With the record of this term of court the history of Cofachique prac- tically closes. In 1858 a Free State legislature, looking upon Cofachique as a pro-slavery nest, removed the county seat to Humboldt, a new town that had been laid out the year before, some seven miles south of Cofachi- que. In 1859 Iola, another new town, was started a little distance to the north. The result was the death of Cofachique. The site of the town had not been wisely chosen, being difficult of access from any of the beaten roads and having no available water supply. The natural disadvantages together with the disrepute into which it fell on account of its pro-slavery proclivities, are responsible for its ultimate failure. In 1859 and '60 all the buildings that had been erected there were removed to Iola, and there is now not a stick nor a stone to remind even the most careful observer that a town once existed there. The land on which it was built is now the property of the Portland Cement Company.
During the summer and fall of 1856 immigration continued, though not in very large numbers. Prominent among the settlers of that year were Nimrod Hankins, William M. Brown, Carlyle Faulkner, Carroll Prewett, Henry Doren, G. A. Gideon, William Mayberry, Thomas Bashaw, M. W. Post and Joseph Ludley. The two last named came in February 1856, being engaged in the survey of the standard parallels. They finished this survey with the fifth parallel through Allen county, and concluded to locate in or near Allen county. Sometime during the following summer Ludley brought a small saw mill from Westport, Mo., set it up in the timber near Cofachique and began operations at once. The mill was run
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HISTORY OF ALLEN AND
by horse power, and was the first mill or other machinery to be put in operation in Allen county. After running it for some time Ludley sold it to Drury S. Tye.
This year, 1856, witnessed the first marriage that took place in the county, that of James Johnson to Marinda Barber, August 14. The cere- mony was performed by A. W. J. Brown, the probate judge of the county. The first death in the county also took place this year, that of James Barbee which occurred at Cofachique.
Although the county officers were appointed by the legislature as has already been noted, in 1855, it appears that they did not meet until May 7, 1856. In the meantime the probate judge by appointment, Charles Pass- more, had died, and on the day above named Barnett Owen and B. W. Cowden, county commissioners, met in Cofachique at the house of J. S. Barbee, and organized by the appointment of Barbee as clerk. On June 2, 1856, the Board again met and completed the organization of the county by the appointment of A. W. J. Brown, probate judge, James Johnson sheriff, C B. Houston surveyor, H. D. Parsons coroner, H. H. Hay ward treasurer and J. S. Barbee permanent clerk. They also divided the county into three precincts. The first embraced all north of a line drawn east and west through the mouth of Deer creek, and was called Deer creek precinct or township; R. Fuqua and Hiram Cable were appointed justices of the peace and William Sater constable. The second division included all between Deer creek township and the 5th standard parallel, and was called Cofachique; John Dunwoody and William Avery justices and Ozias Owen constable. The third division comprised the remainder of the county and was called Coal creek township; Thos. H. Bashaw and Elias Copelin jus- tices, and James Brady constable.
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