USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, from the first settlement to the close of 1892 > 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
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HISTORY
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LABETTE COUNTY.
KANSAS,
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE CLOSE OF 1892.
BY NELSON CASE.
TOPEKA, KANSAS : CRANE & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 1893.
26021 ١٥٧
F687 、L20g IHE MIBEVE
DEDICATION.
10 the Pioneers of the Sixties, whose heroic self-sacrifice conquered the difficulties and iprivations which beset them, and thereby made possible the comforts enjoyed by their successors in the Nineties, this imperfect record of their achievements is respectfully dedicated by the Author.
PREFACE.
ON May 15, 1891, the following report was made to the Labette County Historical Society, by a committee that had theretofore been appointed :
"To the Labette County Historical Society : We, your committee ap- pointed to consider and report upon the advisability of preparing and publishing a history of our county, having had the same under consider- ation, report and recommend as follows :
"1st. We believe the time has come when, for the general good, the history of Labette county should be collected and put in shape for use and preservation.
"2d. That to secure such preparation, one person should be selected and appointed as historian, and everyone should be requested to con- tribute such facts and information as are within his or her knowledge which will help to make the history accurate and complete.
"3dl. We recommend that Hon. Nelson Case be appointed county his- toriau, and invited to undertake the work of writing a history of this county at as early a day as practicable, to be submitted to the county society for its approval.
"4th. For the successful carrying out of the proposed undertaking. everyone is invited to give such assistance as is within his or her power. " All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. B. COOK, ANGELL MATTHEWSON, MILO HILDRETH, Committee."
This report was unanimously adopted by the Society.
In compliance with the request therein contained, I soon entered upon the task of gathering information, with the hope of having the work completed within a year. During most of the following winter, in which I had expected to do the main part of the work, family afflictions pre- vented my accomplishing anything to speak of. During the past spring and summer I devoted as much time to the work as my business would
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PREFACE.
allow, and by the first of October the work was practically completed. Since then I have done what I could to gather data that were hard to secure, to complete several of the subjects treated of.
To those who know me, and who are at all familiar with my business, I hardly need to say that my labor on this volume has been principally performed at such times as most people take either for sleep or rest. It goes to the printer as first written or dictated, and therefore, almost of necessity, will in many respects present an unfinished appearance. For the sake of a more accurate statement of facts, as well as for the pur- pose of presenting a work with more literary merits, I should have been glad, could I have taken the time, to have rewritten the entire volume : but as I have not the time to devote to that purpose, I send it forth in its original garb.
Herodotus, in the opening sentence of his immortal history, says that the object of its production was "to preserve from oblivion the memory of former incidents." I have tried to have a no less worthy object in writing the following pages.
It is perhaps but fair to mention some of the sources from which the facts herein recorded have been derived. I cannot say of this book what Virgil, as translated by Dryden, makes ÆEneas say in reference to the transactions which he was recording, that it is simply an account of
"All that I saw, and part of which I was,"
for very many of the most important events herein recorded took place before I ever set foot on Kansas soil. It was on May 15, 1869, that, having traveled afoot and alone from Osage Mission, I first saw the blooming prairies of Labette county, and about 2 o'clock in the afternoon for the first time walked into the comparatively new but beautiful town of Oswego. Since then I have been somewhat familiar with the current events of our history as they have transpired within our borders; and yet, knowing as I do the treachery of human memory, I would not dare to write a history depending alone on my recollection even of the events of which I have been personally cognizant. I have sought for facts wherever I could find them, but have recorded scarcely anything with-
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PREFACE.
out having procured the information from more than one source. I have tried to verify the facts given in every way within my power. I have visited all parts of the county, have talked with as many of the old settlers as I could, and have obtained their recollections of the events so far as they were able to give them ; I have gone through the files of our county newspapers, and have procured much information from them; I have examined many of the official records and reproduced a part of them in these pages ; I have consulted church and school records when- ever I have had an opportunity; I have had access to several diaries kept by old settlers for a series of years. Out of all the material I have obtained in these and other ways, I have tried to eliminate the legendary and the fictitious, and to present only that which has actually occurred. It would have been comparatively easy to write a romance, but I have chosen the harder task of recording only history.
To intimate that I have come anywhere near satisfying myself, would not be in accordance with truth. To anyone who is disposed to severely criticise the work I may say if he will come to me I think I can point out to him more defects than he is likely to suggest without my aid. To those who think I have omitted to mention the most important events that have occurred in our history, I may be permitted to reply that if they had taken half the pains to communicate the facts within their knowledge that I have taken to try to secure them, many more events might have been given. I assure the reader that I do not send this forth with any idea that it is either perfect or complete. There will be plenty for some one else to do when he wants to engage in a similar undertaking. Be- sides the personal interviews and inquiries of which I have spoken, I have written more than five hundred personal letters, very few of which have been answered ; have sent out several times as many circular letters asking for facts, and have done all I could to obtain the information from which I could present a truthful record of every important feature of our county history .. In the attempt which I have thus made I can scarcely hope to have accomplished more than to lay the foundation of facts on which, in due time, some one with greater ability than I possess, and with more time at his disposal than I am able to command, shall con-
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PREFACE.
struct a history that shall fully and fairly present the settlement and development of one of the most enlightened and prosperous counties within the bounds of one of the finest and most progressive States in the American Union.
NELSON CASE.
OSWEGO, KANSAS, December 31, 1892.
CONTENTS.
EARLY HISTORY, . 13
Origin of our Laws and the Sources of Titles to our Homes- Discoveries - Charters - Treaties - Territorial Government - The Osages-Survey of Reservation-Schools-Chiefs-Towns - Battle -The Two Bands - Character- Burying-Grounds - Treaties with the Osages-John Mathews-Early Expeditions- Early Settlements-Surveys-Labette -Boundary.
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND GROWTH, . . . 33 Organization of the County- Land Titles- Hardships -First Administration - County Seat and County - Seat Contests - County Buildings - Furnishing County Offices - Self - Organ- ized Courts-The District Court - Home for the Poor-List of Superintendents of Poor-Farm - Bridges-U. S. Census- As- sessment for 1867-Tax Sales-County Expenses-Colored People-Athletics-Official Delinquencies-Reception of Presi- dent Hayes.
INDUSTRIAL - COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS, 60 First Wheat Crops-Castor Beans-The Cotton Industry - Grasshoppers -Fish and Game-Bounty - Dehorning Stock - Tables showing Acreage, Product and Value of Field Crops- Farmers' Organizations, (Grange, Alliance, &c.)-Fair Associa- tions-Agricultural and Horticultural Societies-Labette County Historical Society-Other Local Organizations.
CRIMINAL MATTERS,
Assassinations, &c., &c .- The Bender Slaughter - Pen-Vigi- lance Committee -Citizens' Protective Association.
MISHAPS, . 91
Drownings - Conflagrations - Boiler Explosions - Deaths by Fire, &c., &c.
METEOROLOGICAL, 04
The Weather, embracing the period from 1865 to 1892.
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10
CONTENTS.
STORMS, . 100
MUNICIPAL TOWNSIHPS, . . 102
A Condensed History of all the Townships in the County, from the Date of the Organization of each Township up to the Pres- ent Time.
TOWNS AND CITIES, . 130
Proposed Towns, (containing some account of the various towns which at one time had an actual or "paper " existence, but are now dead )- The Cities, Towns and Stations in Labette County as existing at present.
EDUCATIONAL, . 181
Public Schools-The First Schools in the County - Detailed History of each School District-Grading Country Schools- Teachers' Institutes-County Teachers' Association - Private Schools - County High School -Hobson Normal Institute- Os- wego College- Osage College for Young Ladies- Literary Cir- cles.
RAILROADS, 220
Roads Attempted to be Secured - Roads Constructed - Railroad Strikes.
POLITICAL, . 230
Brief Account of all the Conventions of the Various Political Parties, beginning with those of 1866-Candidates for Judicial Honors - Elections -Commissioner Districts - Legislative Ap- portionment - List of Officers-List and Terms of Chairmen of Board of County Commissioners -List of Official Papers.
THE STRUGGLE FOR TEMPERANCE, 258
The First Licensed Saloon-The Crusade Spirit-Reform Club- Breweries-Murphy Meetings-Dispensing with Petition-Tem- perance Organizations-The Prohibition Canvass - First Anni- versary of Prohibition-Organizations for Enforcing the Law- Druggists' Reports- "Original Package" Houses.
POSTOFFICES AND POSTMASTERS, . 273 A Complete List of the Postoffices and Postmasters of Labette County, from 1865 to the Present.
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CONTENTS.
THE PRESS, . 277
Brief Account of each Newspaper or Periodical which has been Published in the County.
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, . 293 History of every Religious Organization, (embracing Churches, Sabbath Schools, Bible Societies, Y. M. C. A., &c., &c.) which has existed in the County.
THE SETTLERS' CONTEST FOR THEIR HOMES, . 356
Preliminary Steps in the Contest-Settlers' Meetings-Basis for their Claims-Action of Congress and of the Land Depart- ment-Attitude of the Local Press-Settlers' Protective Associ- ation -Its Constitution - Legal Measures -Further Legisla- ·tion -Final Victory.
HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
EARLY HISTORY.
THIE English claim to this continent, like that of all the European governments which made claim thereto, was based on discovery. In 1496 King Henry VII granted a commission to John Cabot to discover countries then unknown to Christian people, and to take possession of them in the name of the King of England. Under this commission Cabot and his son Sebastian the following year discovered the continent of North America, and setting up the English standard took possession of the same in the name of the King of England some fourteen months prior to the discovery of the main land of America by Columbus. In 1498, John Cabot having in the meantime died, Sebastian made another voyage and explored the coast as far south as Virginia. From these discoveries England dates her claim to this continent.
In 1606 James I granted a charter to Sir Thomas Gates and others, an- thorizing them to colonize the New World. Under this charter two con- panies were formed. One, called the London Company, was to send out the "First Colony of Virginia," who were to settle between the 34th and 38th degrees of north latitude, and whose possessions were to extend in- land without bound ; under this grant the first permanent English settle- ment in America was made, at Jamestown, in 1607. The other company under this charter, called the Western Company, was to send out the "Second Colony of Virginia," who were to settle between the 41st and 45th degrees of north latitude. This county is embraced within the first of these grants.
On May 23, 1609, the London Company was granted a new charter by King James, under letters patent running to Robert, Earl of Salisbury, and others, constituting them a body corporate under the style of "The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of Lon- don for the First Colony of Virginia." By this patent the company was granted "All the lands, countries and territories situate, lying and being in that part of North America called Virginia, from the point of land
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
called Cape or Point Comfort all along the seacoast to the northward two hundred miles ; and from said Cape or Point Comfort all along the sea- coast to the southward two hundred miles, and all that space and circuit of land lying from the seacoast of the precinct aforesaid up into the land throughout from the sea, west and northwest; and also all the islands lying within one hundred miles along the coast of both seas of the precinct aforesaid, with all the soil, grounds, rights, privileges and appurtenances to these territories belonging, and in the letters patent particularly enumerated."
In March, 1612, a third charter was granted this London company, but without changing the boundaries of its grant from what they were under its prior charter.
By the terms of the first charter of which I have spoken, the superior council of the company were appointed by the king; and under the king's advice and direction this company was to ordain and remove the resident council. The king retained the supreme legislative authority in himself. Emigrants were promised that they and their children should continue Englishmen. The state religion of England was established here, and capital punishment was prescribed for several offenses. Lands were to descend according to the laws of England.
By the second charter the powers reserved to the king in the first were given to the company. The council were to be elected by the share- holders, and they might endow emigrants with the rights of Englishmen. Colonists were given a few acres of ground, and the right of private property was firmly established. By the third charter, power was trans- ferred from the council to the company, through which the colonists might be granted all the rights belonging to the people of England. Under this charter the first American representative legislature assem- bled at Jamestown on July 30, 1619. In 1624, in an action of quo warranto, this corporation was dissolved by judgment of the court of King's Bench, and its rights reverted to the crown of England.
By the treaty of Paris, signed on February 10, 1763, entered into between Great Britain, Spain and France, the latter released to the former all claim to the territory east of the Mississippi except New Or- leans, while all the territory west of that river was ceded to France. From this time we ceased to be a dependency of the English and became attached to the French crown.
In 1762, by the secret treaty of Fontainbleau, France ceded upper Louisiana, embracing the territory we now occupy, to Spain, though the latter did not take possession of the same till 1770.
On October 1, 1800, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, Spain retroceded
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EARLY HISTORY.
Louisiana to France. Those who lived here from 1770 to 1800 were therefore under Spanish rule, and all changes of title during that time must have been. by Spanish laws.
On April 30, 1803, the treaty of Paris was concluded, by the provisions of which the French Republic sold the entire province of Louisiana to the United States, since which time we have been a part of her territory and subject to her laws.
LAWS PRIOR TO THE ORGANIZATION OF KANSAS TERRITORY.
On October 31, 1803, the law was approved authorizing the President to take possession of the French (Louisiana) purchase, and to provide for its government until a government should be provided by Congress.
On March 26, 1804, the President approved the act dividing the French purchase into two districts, viz. : the Territory of Orleans, to embrace all the purchase lying south of the 33d degree of latitude, for which a terri- torial government was provided ; and all the purchase lying north of that line was designated the District of Louisiana, the government of which was placed under the governor and judges of the Indiana Territory, and these officers were authorized to exercise legislative as well as executive and judicial functions over the district.
In pursuance of the authority conferred by this act of Congress, the governor and judges of the Indiana Territory ordained and promulgated a body of laws, most of which went into operation October 1, 1804. Va- rious crimes were defined and punishments therefor provided ; courts were established ; slavery was recognized throughout the territory, and minute regulations were prescribed for the conduct and government of negroes ; provision was made for recording legal instruments, for licens- ing attorneys, for practice in court, and for marriage.
By act of Congress of March 3, 1805, the District of Louisiana was changed to the Territory of Louisiana, and a territorial government pro- vided, consisting of a governor and three judges, who were also to exer- cise legislative functions.
By act of Congress approved June 4, 1812, and which went into opera- tion on the first Monday of December, 1812, the name of the Territory was changed from Louisiana to Missouri, and a legislative assembly was added to the executive and judicial departments of government.
By a law of the General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri, ap- proved January 19, 1816, the common law of England, so far as not in- consistent with the laws of the United States, was declared to be in force, but the doctrine of survivorship in case of joint tenancy, it was ex- pressly declared, should never be in force.
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
On March 6, 1820, the famous compromise measure of Henry Clay be- came a law by the approval of the President, whereby that portion of the Territory of Missouri embraced within the bounds of the present State of Missouri was authorized to form a constituiton and be admitted into the Union as a State, and from all the remainder of said Territory, lying north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, slavery and involuntary servitude were forever exeluded. In pursuance of this authority a constitution was adopted and Missouri was fully admitted into the Union by proclamation of the President, dated August 10, 1821.
In 1850 the slavery agitation was reopened in Congress, and several acts passed as another compromise, among them the establishment of territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah, with provisions in each for their admission "into the Union, with or without slavery, as their constitutions may prescribe at the time of their admission"; and an act making more stringent provisions for the apprehension and return of fugitive slaves.
By "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontiers," approved June 30, 1834, Con- gress declared all the territory west of Missouri and Arkansas "Indian Country," and attached, among others, the Osage country to the Terri- tory of Arkansas, and declared the laws of the United States providing for the punishment of crimes committed in territory under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States to be in force in such Indian Country. 'This arrangement continued to the formation of the territorial govern- inent.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
By "An aet to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," ap- proved May 30, 1854, Congress organized the territory now forming the State of Kansas into a Territory, and provided for it a government con- sisting of executive, legislative and judicial departments. By sec. 27, writs of error were to be allowed from the Supreme Court of the Terri- tory to the Supreme Court of the United States "in all cases involving title to slaves," without regard to the amount in controversy ; and pro- vision was made for enforcing the Fugitive Slave aet of 1850.
In July, 1855, the first Territorial Legislature met, and enacted what were popularly known as the Bogus Laws. These were almost a tran- seript of the laws of Missouri. Some recognition seems to have been given them by some subsequent amendments, and repeal of certain parts, but as a whole, so far as I know, they were never formally repealed ; and yet no one, when the people got control of matters out of the hands of the border-ruffians, ever paid any attention to their provisions when they
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EARLY HISTORY.
conflicted with his convictions of right. Probably the most objectionable feature was the one relating to slavery.
By chapter 151 of this enactment, slavery was recognized as an exist- ing institution, and severe penalties were enforced for any interference therewith. By this law it was made a felony to deny the right of prop- erty in slaves, or to print or circulate any book, pamphlet or paper denying such right.
The only other provision particularly affecting the people of this county was the creation of the county of Dorn, embracing what is now Neosho and Labette counties.
On January 29, 1861, Kansas was admitted into the Union under the Wyandotte Constitution. Under this constitution and the laws made by authority thereof most of us have lived since our residence in this county.
THE OSAGES.
Whether or not the Osages were the autochthones of this county I leave for the antiquarians to determine, but for the purposes of this work I shall not go back of their settlement here to inquire who, if anyone, preceded them to this country. The Government's intercourse with this tribe seems to have commenced in 1808, when on November 10, 1803, a treaty was concluded at Fort Clark, on the Missouri river, by the terms of which the United States received the tribe into its fellowship and under its protection, and the Osages ceded to the United States all their terri- tory lying east of a line running south from Fort Clark to the Arkansas river. The next important treaty with this tribe was made June 2, 1825, at St. Louis. By the provisions of this treaty the Osages relinquished to the Government all their land lying south of the Kansas river and north and west of the Red river, east of a line drawn south from the sources of the Kansas through Rock Saline, excepting a strip fifty miles wide ex- tending from a line twenty-five miles west of the Missouri State line to the west line of the ceded territory. The southern part of Allen, to- gether with Neosho and Labette counties, formed the territory on the east line of this reservation, which extended west nearly across the State.
Soon after the conclusion of this treaty the Osages moved to Kansas, and began settling along the Neosho and Verdigris rivers; these settle- ments commenced as early as 1827. Prior to this their home had been farther east, and this had formed their hunting-ground. Here they were when our people commenced settling this county, in 1865.
SURVEY OF RESERVATION.
The northeast corner of this reservation was established by Major Angus Langham, in 1827, and the east and south lines as far west as -2
18
HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
the Arkansas river were surveyed and established by him that year. It was not until 1836 that the north line was definitely surveyed and estab- lished, by John C. McCoy.
SCHOOLS.
About 1826 the Presbyterians established a school on the left bank of the Marais des Cygnes, near the present site of Pappinsville, Bates county, Missouri, called Harmony Mission. A year later they established another school, at Saline, in the Cherokee Nation. These schools did not prosper, and after they were broken up the Presbyterians erected a large house on the east bank of Four-Mile creek, in Neosho county. just above its junction with the Neosho. Father John Schoenmaker started the Catholic Mission in the spring of 1847.
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