USA > Kansas > Crawford County > A Twentieth century history and biographical record of Crawford County, Kansas > Part 3
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The town of CRAWFORDSVILLE was laid out in 1866, on the banks of Lightning creek. Here was the first county seat, declared so by Governor Crawford. The town had a store, postoffice, blacksmith shop, a school- house, and four or five cabins, in which the families of the town lived.
In the summer of 1868 GIRARD was laid out, at or near the center of the county. The incorporators were Dr. Conch. Dr. Charles H. Strong, Dr. B. F. Hepler, S. D. McIntosh, Levi Hatch, Col. J. Alexander and E. J. Boring. Dr. Charles H. Strong christened the town, giving it the name of his home town in the state of Pennsylvania. Here within the limits of the public square Dr. Strong shot and killed a deer. He was looking for the geographical center of the county when a large buck sprang up from the tall grass and started to leap away, but the doctor had
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
his trusty rifle and with a single shot brought down his game. Girard is laid out with a public square, surrounded with stores and other business honses.
At an election held November 5. 1867, Girard was declared to be the county seat, but the election was informal, as it lacked a petition from the people calling for an election for that purpose, and the commis- sioners ordered the records of the county returned to Crawfordsville. This order was made to comply with an order of the district court, in mandamus proceedings instituted by Dr. D. W. Crouse.
At a meeting of the commissioners held November 7. 1868. a petition was presented, signed by 577 citizens, asking that an election for the loca- tion of the county seat be held. The petition was granted, and an election called for December 15 following : at which the vote decided that Girard should be the permanent county seat. From that time the town grew rapidly, business houses around the public square and residences farther out sprang up, as if by magic. Early in 1868 a postoffice was established with Dr. C. H. Strong as postmaster. Alive to the necessity of furnishing the means of an education to the children of Girard, a vote was taken on the question of issuing a thousand dollars in bonds to build a school- house. The election occurred August 7. 1869, and was unanimous in favor of issuing the bonds. A house was soon built, and in the summer of 1870 Miss Maggie T. Hill taught the first school, for which she re- ceived forty dollars per month. Since then Girard has become an educa- tional center, always foremost in everything that tends to elevate her people. It is needless to say that the educational influence has spread all over the county.
If the educational interests of Girard have been carefully looked after, so also have the moral and social. The Methodist church was the first to begin the work of preaching the gospel. Rev. Robert Stocker
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preached the first sermon, in a frame building on the north side of the square, and in 1873 Rev. McWhirt bought the schoolhouse which had been built in 1870, and it was dedicated as a house of worship. Soon after the advent of Methodism the Presbyterian church got a foothold, and erected a fine brick and stone building, at a cost of thirty-six hun- dred dollars. Rev. McClure was its first pastor. Then came the Chris- tian, the Episcopal, and other churches, until Girard may well be called a city of schools and churches.
First Murder.
About the 25th of April, 1866, occurred the first murder and lynch- ing, near Monmouth. The facts are well given by J. F. Price, editor of the Cherokee Sentinel, and we let him tell the story in his own language. He says: "It must have been about the 25th of April, 1866. Myself and wife, and her father, Lars Larson, arrived in the vicinity of Mon- mouth on the 14th of April, 1866, and settled down for a few days, in a cabin belonging to A. M. Watson, now living in Pittsburg. The cabin was on Lightning creek. The day after we settled in the cabin we started out to hunt up a claim of our own. We found nothing to suit us until we came to a place, now occupied by Thomas Hayes, three miles west of where Cherokee now is.
"Here we stuck our stakes, and went down to Uncle Jake Miller's place, and registered as a settler, which entitled men to membership in a league, that meant riding on a rail any man who jumped the registered rights of a settler. After a rainy spell of a week we moved out to our claim. Not a stick had been cut toward building a cabin, but we camped on the prairie, at the edge of the woods, and began building a house of round poles, after the plan of a pen. This we sloped on one side, and covered with split boards, and made a rude door. The next day we went for the remainder of our goods, and more boards, leaving the wife. then a young woman, to keep house.
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"On our return at noon we were told that a man had been there with an order for every member of the league to come to Monmouth at once. as a murder had been committed. Thinking the order meant expulsion, or court martial, not exactly understanding the nature of the institution we had joined, we left the team with wife, after showing her how to load and shoot a revolver and after having her practice shooting, and left her alone to keep the house, three miles from neighbors, and started to Monmouth. When we arrived at Monmouth, which consisted of a log store house, we found that a man by the name of Lem Shannon had been shot by robbers, and there was great excitement. Hundreds of set- tlers were there, but cool heads kept them quiet.
"The circumstances of the murder were as follows: Ralph Warner, a settler across the creek south of Monmouth, was the owner of a large herd of cattle. Fort Scott was then the postoffice. although forty miles away, and also the place where the stockmen met. On one of his trips to Fort Scott, Mr. Warner met the Tippie boys, who lived in Linn county. They were considered hard characters, and were accused of robbing their uncle of several thousand dollars, a few weeks before. They wanted to buy Warner's cattle, and a trade was made, which amounted to several thousand dollars. Mr. Warner's friends warned him that he was in danger of being robbed of his money either at home or on the road from Fort Scott.
"The plan of the Tippie boys was to buy the cattle and rob Mr. Warner of the money the same night. Two of the Tippie boys came down and stayed several days, and one evening just before dark paid for the cattle and started in the night with them for Fort Scott. Mr. Warner gather in the neighbor men as fast as he could, and prepared for the at- tack, thinking it would be that night. Just at dark two men were seen coming toward the cabin, but the men lying under the wagons outside,
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
supposing them to be neighbors, paid no attention to them. The first thing to attract attention was the firing of guns in the house. The two other brothers had walked in on the waiting crowd and begun their work of death. Warner's brother-in-law Lem Shannon, had his pistol apart cleaning it, and he at once closed with the foremost robber, and was shot while in his arms. A man by the name of William Lamb did the best he could and shot off the thumb of one of the robbers. The women held on to Mr. Lamb so as to prevent him doing effective work. Mr. Warner ran to the woods with the money and the robbers after him, but he escaped. Then there was hurrying to and fro, and a posse was sent after the men with the cattle to arrest them as accomplices. By this time black clouds rolled over the heavens, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and there was a deluge of rain, but on went the posse and overtook the men and cattle near the present site of Farlington. They took the men prisoners and drove the cattle back to Monmouth. Then there was a call for the league. No trace of the real murderers could be found, but it was evident that the men with the cattle would have to suffer as accomplices.
"It was decided that they should have a fair trial. There was 110 law or officers, in fact the county was not organized. Jacob Miller was elected judge, and others appointed to prosecute and defend, and so the trial began. Men were sworn and witnesses examined with as much form as if in a properly constituted court. Men paced the room with Winchesters. while outside a cordon of armed men stood guard. They expected that a band of robbers would try to liberate their fellows. We stayed until after dark, hoping to see the end, but, remembering our young wife out on the prairie among the Indians and wolves, we shouldered a 25- pound sack of flour and took a dog-trot for the cabin four miles away.
"The outcome of the trial was that after hearing the evidence the jury decided that these men were accomplices, and the crowd was then
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asked to form a line and when the command should be given for those to step forward three paces who favored hanging, nearly every man made three steps and the procession started for the timber, where the Monmouth cemetery is now located, and the two men were hanged till dead, and were buried under the tree where they were executed. The cat- tle were afterward turned over to the uncle, who claimed that the purchase money was stolen from him by the men who were hanged."
Sunday Schools.
The first Sunday school held in the county was in the log store house of Lafe Manlove, at Monmouth, and was organized in 1866, Rev. Isaac Thorp being elected superintendent. Many people traveled for miles to attend this school.
Cherokee.
The town of Cherokee was laid out in 1870 and first named Litchfield. Among the first who settled in Cherokee were Captain Jameson, who built the first hotel, the Grand Central. J. W. Fletcher built a small frame store building, and Grandpa Price built one also. Dr. Cushenberry (now of Girard) was the first druggist. George W. Brown and G. W. B. Hoff- man also erected a store building known as the "Blue Front."
It was in the immediate neighborhood of Cherokee, that Hon. Eugene F. Ware, late commissioner of pensions, and the Kansas poet laureate, had his first experience as a frontiersman. He had taken a claim here, and with a long whip and several yoke of oxen broke prairie. Here he farmed, batched, and cracked jokes, and was as entertaining a talker then as now. Later he taught school, studied law, and by his energy, vim and push has gone to the head of the procession, but he belongs to Crawford county, and especially to Cherokee, even though he resides in the city of Washington and rides in the president's carriage.
Like all western towns, Cherokee in her early days had her rough
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side. Among the first of her business enterprises was a saloon, kept by Thomas McGrath, his place of business being a lumber shed. Here were enacted some of the wild west scenes common to such places.
The town of Cherokee was surveyed and laid out by Colonel Percy Daniels, since lieutenant governor of Kansas, and who resides on his farm near the site of Crawfordsville. Among the first settlers of Cherokee were George W. Brown, G. W. B. Hoffman, J. Manlove, Joseph and George Lucas, A. N. Chadsey, Captain Jameson, J. W. Fletcher, Dr. Bailey and J. F. Price, the present editor of the Cherokee Sentinel. Some of these reside at Cherokee yet, honored citizens, who have faithfully en- acted their part, in building a thriving commercial and educational town. Others have moved away, while some have joined the great majority, and are peacefully resting from their labors. The county high school. a prosperous educational institution, is located here.
The first school in the town was taught by Sarah Jameson, after- ward the wife of Hon. E. A. Perry, a prominent attorney at Cherokee. The first child born in the town was Willie Manlove, who lived but a short time, and his funeral was the occasion of the first sermon preached in the town, and his burial was the first in the now beautiful cemetery, the location of which was made by Captain Jameson and J. F. Price. The first churches organized in Cherokee were the Methodist Episcopal and the Presbyterian, the former by Rev. B. Coombs and the latter by Rev. Haw- kins, now connected with the Mid-Continent, a religious paper published in St. Louis. The Christian church was organized on the 24th day of March, 1874, with twenty-one members. Other churches came later. The first mayor was J. M. Dennis. Three railroads furnish transporta- tion to the people of Cherokee and vicinity. They belong to the Frisco System and the Missouri Pacific.
CRAWFORD COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, CHEROKEE, KANSAS ERECTED 1902-3 COST $25,000
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Monmouth.
The town of Monmouth, so called after Monmouth, Illinois, was Pud out by Lafayette Manlove, and was the third town laid out in the county. It is located six miles west of Cherokee. L. Manlove built the first building, a log store room. Ralph Warner built a residence, as also did Dr. Moore, who later represented Crawford county in the state senate. In 1869 A. M. Chadsey built a store room, and put in a stock of general merchandise. A postoffice was established in 1866, with L. Manlove post- master. The building of a narrow-gauge railroad in the year 1879 from Cherokee to Parsons in Labette county, which passed through Monmouth, gave an impetus to the growth of the town, and good schools, churches, secret societies, and business enterprises sprang up and added materially to the conveniences of the people ; which, added to the fact that the whole south end of the county is underlaid with an abundance of excellent coal. and that most excellent farming lands surround all the towns in that part of the county, has made the vicinity of Cherokee, Monmouth and Mc- Cune a very desirable location.
McCunc.
Four miles west of Monmouth is the city of McCune. The town was laid out in 1879, by Isaac McCune, and is located on the Frisco railroad. The first building erected was a dwelling, by J. Z. Sherfick, and was afterward used as a hotel. I. V. McCune built a store building, which was occupied by J. D. Rogers with a stock of general merchandise. At the time McCune was laid out a postoffice was kept by W. Welch, and was named "Time." This was about half a mile north of the townsite, and was moved into town, and J. F. McCune appointed postmaster. The name was soon changed to McCune. Miss Mary Ball taught the first school, followed by Daniel Hollinger, who has for several years been growing oranges in Florida. McCune has had a substantial growth,
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and is now one of the best towns in the county. Churches, schools, news- papers, banks, in short, all classes of business are well represented, and the town is a busy, thriving, prosperous place.
Walnut.
Walnut is located near the northwestern corner of the county, and has two railroads, the M., K. & T. passing through the town from north- east to southwest : and the Santa Fe from southeast to northwest. The town is surrounded with excellent farming lands, and affords good facil- ities for trade. It was laid out in 1871. Among the early inhabitants of the town were Fabius Robins. J. Miller, Ira Boyle, H. Burns, H. Shackleton and J. A. Goff. The town was first named Glenwood, but afterward changed to Walnut. It is represented by all classes of busi- ness, and is prosperous ; and the people are industrious and thriving. Good schools, churches, newspapers, banks and other institutions help to make Walnut a desirable place in which to live.
Farlington.
The town of Farlington is located seven miles north of Girard on the line of the Frisco railroad, and was laid out at the building of the road in 1869. But it has not progressed as rapidly as some other towns of the county. It is a good trading point, has good schools, churches, and a postoffice and other business places. The Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad (now Frisco) planted a grove of several hundred acres of catalpa trees on the hill west of the town, which has grown into a mag- nificent forest. probably the most notable of the kind in the United States. From it are annually cut large quantities of excellent timber for railroad ties, fence posts, etc. Here also is a large artificial lake, formed by the grade of the railroad across a rocky ravine. The lake covers about one hundred acres, and supplies water for railroad purposes and stock water, and abounds with excellent fish.
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Hepler.
The town of Hepler is located in the township of Sherman, in the northern part of the county, about nine miles northeast of Walnut, on the M., K. & T. Railroad, and is a trading point for the people of the north- west part of Crawford county and the southwest part of Bourbon county. The first settler of Hepler was John Viets. In 1871 a town company was formed with B. F. Hepler as president, after whom the town was named. Jolin Viets erected the first store building, in 1871 ; and filled it with a stock of general merchandise, and by 1874 his business had so increased that another large room adjoining was built. and here could be found nearly every kind of merchandise. A postoffice was established in 1871, with J. N. Strawn as postmaster. The first marriage in the town was that of Dr. A. M. Griffin to Miss Grace Hitchcock. The first birth was that of Frank Strawn.
Among the first blessings that come to a Kansas town is a school- house and a free school, and Hepler was no exception to the rule, for in 1873 a comfortable school building was erected, and Mr. William G. Little was employed to teach the first school. Hepler soon grew to an extensive shipping point for cattle and grain, as well as the minor prod- ucts of the farm. The soil about the town for miles in every direction, being of good quality, has made this an excellent place for handling pro- duce. Here butter, eggs, and poultry have found a ready market, and have been shipped to other points. Intellectually and morally Hepler is a good town in which to live.
Opolis.
The town of Opolis is located in the southeast corner of Crawford county, on the line of the Frisco railroad. It was first started by J. L. Davis, in 1868, and was called Stateline, as the eastern line of the town was the dividing line between Missouri and Kansas. Shortly after, E. B.
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Hoyt and J. H. Gould located in Stateline, and opened a store and lumber yard. They handled grain, hay and stock in connection with their mer- chandise business. In course of time the name was changed to Opolis. J. H. Ozburn was its first postmaster. Several churches are well repre- sented and various secret societies have here a home. Nearly every class of business is carried on, and affords facilities for trade with the farming community in the surrounding country.
Pittsburg.
In the winter of 1875 John B. Sargent and E. R. Moffett, both of Joplin, Missouri, conceived the plan of building a railroad from Joplin to Girard, Kansas. These gentlemen were engaged in lead and zinc mining at Joplin, and were making money rapidly, and were looking for an outlet for the product of their mines and smelters. In the spring of 1876 the work was begun, and by the fall of that year the grading reached the vicinity of Pittsburg, at which time the town was laid out, as directed by Colonel E. H. Brown, who had charge of the construction of the railroad. One hundred and sixty acres were platted, and Broad- way and Fourth streets were graded, each one-half a mile. Forty acres from each of four sections constituted the townsite, a section corner being the center of the town. The land belonged to the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad, but was occupied and claimed as follows: The east one-half of southeast quarter of section nineteen, and the west one-half of southwest quarter of section twenty, were claimed and occupied by George Dosser. On the latter tract he had a farm house and other im- provements. The northwest quarter of section twenty-nine was claimed and occupied by Jacob Pugh, while the east half of northeast quar- ter of section thirty was unoccupied, but was claimed by Thomas Secley. All these tracts of land are in township thirty south, range twenty-five, east of the principal meridian. These with other lands were purchased by
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Messrs. Moffett and Sargent, who also made satisfactory terms with the claimants on the land.
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The first house built on the original townsite stood on the northwest corner of section twenty-nine, where now stands the two-story brick block owned by John R. Lindburg and occupied by W. E. Pierce as a drug store. The building was a box house fourteen by sixteen feet, and eight feet high, and was built by Martin Brown, and occupied by himself and wife as a farm dwelling. It was built in the summer of 1868. Mr. Brown lived here about one year, when he sold his claim to a Mr. Esam, who afterward sold to Jacob Pugh. The second house built was a sub- stantial frame dwelling, built by George Dosser, and stood near the pres- ent site of the Waskey commission house, and was occupied by him as a farm dwelling.
The first building erected after the town was laid out stood on the corner of Fourth and Broadway. It was put up for George E. Richey, and was occupied by him as a drug store, Charles M. Gossin being his clerk. The building and lot was afterward bought by John R. Lindburg, who moved the building away and built a substantial brick, and the corner has been occupied as a drug store ever since. The first general store was built by W. G. Seabury in the winter of 1876-7, and occupied with a small stock of goods in the spring of 1877. with Neal E. Wood as clerk. The first dry goods brought into the town for sale belonged to W. G. Seabury. He had a store in Girard, and when the new building was ready to be occupied and after the store closed at night he and his clerk. N. E. Wood, loaded a few bolts of calico and other dry goods and notions into a spring wagon and drove to Pittsburg, and when morning came the store was opened for business. The first sale was made to Miss Hor- tense Ferguson. Mr. Wood, the clerk, was standing in the door, looking east, when he saw a lady on horseback approaching with a basket on her 3
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
arm. The contents proved to be eggs, and were exchanged for a few yards of calico. Thus began the mercantile business of Pittsburg, which has grown to immense proportions, millions of dollars here being ex- changed annually.
The postoffice was established in the fall of 1876 with George H. Richey as postmaster. He was succeeded in March, 1877, by A. J. Geor- gia, who continued to hold the office until April, 1884, when he resigned and A. E. Nau was appointed, who held the office four years. The post- masters since Mr. Nau's term expired have each held the office four years. They served in the following order : O. S. Covsad, Charles Patmore. W. H. Yarcho and W. J. Watson, the present incumbent. The name given to the postoffice was New Pittsburg. there being a Pittsburg postoffice in Mitchell county. The town being one name and the postoffice another caused much confusion and trouble with mails. In 1880 C. Wood Davis, president of the Pittsburg Coal Company. interested himself to secure a change of name. He succeeded in having the name of the Pittsburg postoffice in Mitchell county changed to Tipton, after which the postoffice department dropped the "New" and the name became Pittsburg.
In the summer of 1877 a frame schoolhouse of two rooms was erected at a cost of twelve hundred dollars, this being the maximum of bonds that under the law could be legally voted. The house was built by San- ders. of Girard. Kansas. The first school was taught by A. J. Georgia during the winter of 1877 and summer of 1878. The terms were for seven months.
The first marriage in the town was that of William Weaver to Mat- tie Boyne, and was performed by John W. Jennings, justice of the peace, and their daughter Josephine was the first child born in the town.
Among those who came with the advent of the railroad and who aided in making the town lively were C. S. Clanton, Thomas McNealus.
H
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, PITTSBURG, KANSAS
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Newt Stewart and Neal Adams. Mr. Clanton started a barber shop. but as he was not an expert in the business, he soon sold out and entered the grocery business with a small capital, but by sticking to the business built up a large trade and then sold out and retired. McNealus had a habit of filling up on the worst class of whisky, when he became a terror to the town. On one occasion he attempted to drive Mr. Clanton from his grocery, but found a pick handle was harder than his head and concluded to leave town and make his stay permanent. He is now an honored and peaceable citizen of Missouri : has been engaged in mining in the lead and zinc fields about Joplin, and has made quite a fortune. But in his prosperity he has not forgotten the early days of Pittsburg.
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