USA > Kansas > Republic County > A history of Republic County, Kansas, embracing a full and complete account of all the leading events in its history, from its first settlement down to June 1, '01 > Part 18
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SWEDISH EVANGELICAL MISSION CHURCH.
The Swedish Evangelical church in Courtland township dates back about fourteen years, a christian family by the name of Anderson being identified with its early his- tory, by gathering the Swedish people together and urg-
History of Republic County.
ing upon them the importance of Evangelical work. Axel R. Anderson, a son in the above named family being es- pecially active and zealous in establishing the church and who later became the pastor of a church of the same name in Kansas City, Missouri, afterwards pastor of a church at Seattle, Washington, and for the last two years evan- gelist at Cape Nome, Alaska. The meetings of this church were held at first in school houses and family homes until about five years ago a building was secured in Scandia, rebuilt and consecrated to religious worship, Rev. August F. Carlson being in charge of the church for about six months when he moved to Enterprise, Kansas. Rev. J. H. Hanson succeeded him, being in charge over a year. Then for some time the church was without a pastor, but was frequently visited by S. Armyvst as trav- eling evangelist, until June 1900, when the Rev. Joseph Esterborg was chosen pastor and is now in charge. After due deliberation it was decided to establish the head of the church near Courtland and to erect a suitable house of worship which was accordingly done, the building be- ing completed in the spring of 1901 at a cost of $2,200, and is one of the neatest and finest looking country churches in the county. To the credit of the American people in the neighborhood it must in justice be said that they contributed liberally to the building fund, about two- thirds of the cost of the building being subscribed by them. Rev. Esterborg gave freely of his time and labor to this enterprise and without whose valuable assistance it is not probable that the work would have been brought to a successful termination. The church was dedicated June 16th, 1901, over seven hundred people being in at- tendance.
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The Central Christian Church of Belleville was or- ganized in January, 1889, in the small hall in the opera house block, by R. L. Downing, an evangelist from West-
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moreland, Kansas, who was an active and earnest worker in the church.
At first it was distinctively a missionary movement. There were sixteen charter members, namely: A. O. Baldwin and wife, D. B. Perry and wife, C. A. Clark and wife, James McKenzie, Frank and Susie Perry, Mrs. M. J. Watkins, Mrs. E. A. Everts, Mrs. Nellie Rose, Miss Cora Davis and three others whose names do not appear in the record. The first pastor was J. H. Speer, who came from South Haven, Kansas, on the recommendation of the State Missionary board. The first elders were A. O. Baldwin and Charles A. Clark: the first deacons were D. B. Perry and J. W. Mckenzie. A meeting was held at the home of A. O. Baldwin in October, 1889, when the first steps toward the erection of a house of worship were taken. Charles A. Clark was chosen president and John Nesmith, secretary. The following members were elected trustees: Charles A. Clark, John Nesmith, J. L. Daniels, J. L. Spillman and A. H. Perry. It was then resolved to build a house of worship 24x40 feet and the following members were appointed a building committee: John Nesmith, C. A. Clark and J. L. Spillman. who were di- rected to proceed accordingly. The building was erected in the fall of 1889 on lot 3 of block 41, city of Belleville. This lot was purchased by Joseph B. McCune, of Brad- ford, Pennsylvania, for $250 and donated by him to the church as a building site.
Mr. McCune during his life was a steadfast friend of this church, often assisting it in a financial way: donating at one time $100 in payment of a bill for lumber. John Nesmith, chairman of the building committee, received the thanks of the church for the prompt and creditable manner in which his duties were performed. The house, which was begun in October, 1889, was completed and opened for services in January, 1890, The cost of the building, exclusive of the lot, was $1,400. The pastors of the church have been: J. H. Speer, 1890: J. W. Bryant,
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1892: J. R. French, 1893: John L. Stine, 1895: C. Earley, 1896: W. I. Thomas, 1897: W. E. Pitcher, 1898; C. Hen- derson, 1900, all earnest and faithful in their religious work. Especially we mention J. R. French, whose pastor- ate marked an epoch in the history of this church, more than one hundred members being added while he was in charge. He died at the home of F. N. Munger December 10, 1894, deeply regretted by all classes of the communi- ty. The membership of this church February 1, 1901, was 216.
CHERRY CREEK CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The Cherry Creek Christian church, located on the northeast corner of section 23, town 2, range 1, was or- ganized by Elder J. C. Griffith, of Belleville, February 15th, 1873. The church site contains 14 acres of land. The house of worship, was built in 1890 at a cost of $1000. The following are the names of the charter members:
David Edwards,
Nelson Mapes,
William Flint,
Sarah Spencer,
Cary Mapes,
Webster Mapes,
A. W. Stone,
Sarah Mapes,
John E. Edwards, Susan Flint,
America Edwards, Mary J. Griswold,
Nathan Mapes, Lucy Oliver,
Lovina Mapes, Sarah Stone.
J. C. Griffith and R. R. Van Winkle have been pas- tors of this church, but at present it has no pastor, but a Bible school is held every Lord's day at 10 a. m. The present membership is 31.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF COURTLAND.
The Christian Church of Courtland was organized in the year 1889 by Elder Pickett, then state evangelist, with a membership of fifteen. Elder Garner the same year held a protracted meeting and made eighteen additions, after which the society gradually grew until it now has a membership of sixty. The present church building was erected about 1893 and is a neat, commodious structure
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located in the cast part of town. Elder Bryant followed as pastor in 1893 and Elder E. J. Babcock in 1895. Elder W. P. Jewett came in 1896 and remained until the present time. He has but recently moved to Hill City and his place will be filled in the near future.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
In the spring of 1872 the first Friends' meeting was held by appointment, with fourteen members, at Wm. A. Brown's home on Mill Creek, near Cuba, Republic county, Kansas. Mill Creek preparative meeting and meeting for worship on first and fourth days was set up by Tonga- noxie monthly meeting at the home of Isaac Mardock with Abner George clerk for the day of the preparative. The meetings were held from house to house until the sum- mer of 1877 a log house was built in which they held their meetings until the fall of 1883 the present building was put up, a frame 30x40. John W. Stribbling, of Iowa, holding the first meeting's in it.
The charter members were Isaac and Nancy Mardock, Nathan and Jemima Bales, Wm. A. and Mary W. Brown, Richard and Joanna Brown, Elkanah and Sallie Mardock and John F. Mardock from Iowa and Indiana yearly meet - ings. At the time of the setting up the preparative meet- ing there were twenty-one members. Through the stead- fastness of these fathers and mothers and the faithful- ness of Elkanah and John F. Mardock, who were chosen vessels of God to watch over and feed the flock, the mem- bership increased till November, 1876, union monthly meet- ing was set up by Spring Dale quarterly meeting, which was held alternate at Mill Creek, Riddle Creek and Peach Creek, the latter now called Dale.
Under the ministry of the above named Friends and others of God's servants which came among them, their borders were enlarged and their stakes strengthened, until February, 1879, God saw it proper to remove by death Elkanah Mardock. His last meetings were held at
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Mill Creek and many can now say that he was the instru- ment in God's hands in bringing them to Christ. Just be- fore the close of the meeting he said"that the veil was get- ting very thin between him and God. Oh, if I only knew you would be faithful I would not hate to leave you." After the meetings closed he went home, told his wife that that was as far as he could see, and thought God was going to call him to distant lands or was going to call him home, he thought the latter. He withdrew all of his appointments, "He being dead, yet speaketh." (Hebrew 11-4.)
Among our home workers who carried on the work were Townsend Mardock, Steven Hankers and Leah Bales. Wm. P. Haworth, James Kerr and Wm. Harris each labored for a season with them. Lealds Mardock and James Henley too have been efficient ministers. In 1882 they had a membership of 172. In 1886 the number had increased to 351. Owing to the setting up of other meet- ings in Washington county their numbers were reduced in 1887 to 292, in 1892 again they reached 310, by 1897 their numbers were reduced by removals, death and releasements and a few disowned to 250. At this time the enrollment is the same as in 1882, 172.
BOHEMIAN CHURCH, CUBA.
The Bohemian church at Cuba was organized in 1876 but meetings had been held at school houses in the neigh- borhood of Tabor prior to that time. The church was di- vided in 1888, one part remaining at Cuba under the Pres- bytery and the other establishing itself at Munden as an independent Bohemia Reform church, having a pastor of its own and owning its house of worship.
The church at Cuba has a fine church building, erected in 1890 and dedicated in October 1891 by Rev. V. Pisek of New York. Frank Rundus was the first pastor at Cuba after the church was built, the cost of which was about $1500. The present membership numbers 50. Preaching
GRADUATING CLASS OF 1901.
Zelora Maggie Gurnea.
Charles J. Arbuthnot.
Kathryn Maud Stanfield. William Hall Billingsly.
Wesley George Saip.
Luman Frederick Collins. Nelson J. Ward.
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every Thursday night and every Sunday morning by J. A. Kohout, pastor, under whose able and efficient manage- ment much good is being acomplished.
CHURCH OF CHRIST, WAYNE.
The Church of Christ at Wayne was organized by J. H. Speer, September 20th, 1891. Elders James McFar- land and J. C. Morford; Deacons, Solomon McVey and B. F. Bashford: Treasurer, Z. Reeder; clerk, Ida A. White. First pastor, I. T. LeBaron. A store building was soon afterwards purchased and fitted up for a church, where social meetings have been regularly held ever since and preaching most of the time. Present membership 35.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SCHOOLS.
The first school house in Republic county was built in 1867, and the first school was taught in the fall of that year by Margaret Tate, a married lady, and oldest daughter of J. G. Tuthill. This was a log house built by Peter Moe, a Swedish pioneer settler, for a dwelling, afterwards pur- chased of him by the early settlers and finished up for a school house, was located on the N} of the SE} of section 18, town 3, range 2, now known as Jefferson township. This building was 18x20 feet, 12 feet high at the eaves, roofed with split oak shingles, known in some timbered countries as "shakes," contained but one room, one door and two windows, was ceiled overhead and had a good board floor, and was, without doubt, the finest and most preten- tious building of any kind in Republic county at that time.
In it the first political convention and a few of the first meetings of the board of county commissioners were held, the site of this building having been designated by Gover.
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nor Crawford as the temporary county seat. The district where this school was taught was twelve miles long and six miles wide and embraced all the territory occupied by the first settlers in this part of the county. On the divis- ion of this district, for some reason which has never been explained, that part having the first school house and where the first school was taught was named No. 2, and is still so known, and district No. 1 was formed from territory lying next on the south.
There has been some little controversy about where the first school was taught, but from the best information obtainable I am satisfied that the above is correct, in fact there is scarcely a reasonable presumption that it can be otherwise.
The following is a list of the names of the pupils who attended the first school, some of whom are still residents of this county :
George Harris,
Sanford Robbins,
Andrew Frint,
Inez Jackson,
Fred Frint,
Mary Robbins,
Mary M. Frint,
Nettie Myers,
Elizabeth Frint,
Nate Myers,
Della VanNatta,
George Myers,
Hattie Stout,
Eva Reily.
There may have been others but these are all the names I have been able to obtain. Mrs. Tate, the teacher, believed with Solomon in a liberal application of the rod. This statement will be verified by George Harris of Cuba, to whom, by permission I refer in case the reader has any doubt.
In this first school house above described, Hon. N. T. VanNatta taught two terms of school; viz, in 1873 and 1874. In the meantime a stone school house had been built on the hill in the same district in which he taught three terms. He was succeeded as teacher by his daughter, Maggie, now the wife of Senator Ward, who taught four terms, and she after a lapse of several years was succeeded by her son, Guy, who taught one term, thus the representatives
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of three generations have been teachers in the same dis- trict and in the same school house. How long this succes- sion is to continue remains to be seen.
A school house was built in what is now school district No. 4 in the fall and winter of 1867-68, and a school taught by Miss Viola McBride in the summer of 1868. This school district embraced at that time a territory of nine by fifteen miles and a school population of 18. Among the other schools taught about the same time was one taught in what is now district No. 1, by a Miss Adkins in a part of Captain I. M. Schooley's residence on the NW} section 7, Grant township, the particulars of which I have been unable to obtain.
I am indebted to Mr. J. D. Leigh of Hardy, Nebraska, for the following sketch of the first school taught in Big Bend township. This was in the winter of 1871-72. "The building used for a school house was on John Pecht's claim being the farm recently sold by Judge Hurst and being about three and one-half miles northwest of where Republic now is. 'Twas a 'little log cabin' 10x12 or possi- bly 12x14, built of small cotton-wood logs chinked up and daubed with earth and straw, the straw answering the same purpose hair does in plaster. The building was cov- ered with split poles, brush and straw and also earth. It had a board floor made of rough cotton-wood lumber, and in the south side of the building there was a hole 12x18 inches to admit light and air and watch for Indians by the parties who occupied the building previous to this time.
"After Mr. Pecht bought the claim that had this build- ing upon, he built for himself and family quite a preten- tious house out of hewn logs with a shingle roof, moved into it leaving this smaller building vacant which was se- cured for school purposes. The loop hole was closed up and windows were put into each end by putting in the sash lengthwise, and a board shelf 12 or 14 inches wide was fastened against the wall at each end for the desk, two heavy cotton-wood slabs were secured from the saw mill
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History of Republic County.
at White Rock, out of which seats were made by boring holes and inserting wooden pins for legs. When a pupil wished to use the desk or shelf he had to turn around and sit with his back to the teacher; and there may have been ten pupils enrolled that term. The first thought that would naturally come to us would be that these boys and girls must have been very backward, this being the first term of school ever taught in the township, but they were from the east and had been out of school less than a year. One of them, Harry Lowe, was from the graded school of Lena, Illinois, and in mental arithmetic was a 'cracker.' It was all that I could possibly do to follow him through the long mental problems that he solved most readily, and Will Hill of McHutcheon's family had attended some Cath- olic school in Canada, where he studied French, and was naturally as bright as a star. One day I was hearing him read, it was about Washington's home, he came to the word, 'Potomac,' and stopped. I looked at the word, be- came confused, finally jumped onto it and called it 'Po-to- mack,' with the accent on the last syllable, and that boy looked up and laughed in the face of as kind a teacher as ever failed to get a certificate, and I saw the confidence in the superior intellectual ability of his teacher fade away from his bright countenance, and I knew something had to be done, and that quick too. so I said: Young man, all proper names are either herbiverous or corniverous and may be effervescent or suffruetescent and are subject to bifercation, and the accent is always on the ante-peanut syllable, if it was not somewhere else, and it was hard to tell always whether they were roasted or raw, and that in this case I believed 'Po-to mack' was a little raw. And I had him squelched and held his confidence and respect for the balance of the term of three months, for which I re- ceived $25 per month. I say it without boasting or fear of contradiction that it was the best school that had been taught in the township up to that time, and there was not a pen or pencil tablet within fifty miles of us."
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History of Republic County.
Other pioneer schools are referred to in the chapter on Townships, all of which clearly indicates that the early settlers of Republic county were not only interested in securing homes for themselves and families, but used all the means at their command to secure educational advan- tages for their children. And, kind reader, do not for one moment imagine that because these primitive conditions existed that there were no good teachers or bright pupils in those days, for there were as thoroughly well qualified teachers in Republic county in the early 70s as there has been at any time since; some of them holding state, and several holding first grade certificates, among whom I mention: N. T. VanNatta, David C. Gamble, R. H. Galloway, E. W. Wagener, J. C. Price, H. O. Studley, Miss Clara Jones, Lou Arbutnot, Cordelia Bradley, Clara Tur- ner and Mrs. Eliza G. Latham.
I am indebted to Mr. E. E. Baird, our gentlemanly county superintendent, for the following highly interest- ing sketch of the present conditions of the schools of the county: "Republic county has one hundred and twenty- six organized school districts, one hundred and twenty-one of which lie entirely within its boundaries, and five of which are joint districts-Joint No. 1, Republic and Jewell counties; Joint No. 1, Republic and Cloud counties; Joint No. 1, Republic, Cloud and Washington counties; Joint No. 2, Republic, Cloud and Washington counties; and Joint No. 1, Republic and Washington counties. One hundred and forty-eight teachers are required to teach these schools. The school population at this time is 6,541, with an enrollment for last year of 5,478 pupils. The districts having the largest school population are No. 14, with 712; No. 6, with 268; and No. 111, with 214. These districts in- clude the cities of Belleville, Scandia and Cuba respectively.
"To maintain our schools requires an expenditure of nearly $60,000 annually. Of this amount $40,250 is paid for teachers' wages. The average salary per month paid to male teachers being $40.37 and to female teachers $34.77.
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The school districts are now comparatively free from debt, the bonded indebtedness at present being only $15,350.
"For the better preparation of teachers the county nor- mal institute is held at Belleville four weeks each year, as has been the custom since the law was enacted providing for institutes. The largest institute ever held was in the year 1899, when 226 bona fide members were in attendance. This was the largest institute held in the state that year.
"The Republic County Educational Association is a permanent organization of the teachers of the county for the mutual benefit of the teachers and for the promotion of education. Seven sessions are held annually at the var- ious cities in the county. Each teacher in the county is considered a member and it is his duty to attend, and to take a part in as many of the meetings as possible.
"At no time have the schools been in better condition than at present, and at no time has the teaching force been so well prepared for the work of the profession. Even district schools are graded and a definite course of study is followed. A system of graduation from the common schools at the completion of the eighth grade work has been in vogue since 1892. The number of graduates for the different years is as follows: 1892, 15; 1893, 21; 1894, 117; 1895, 113; 1896, 113; 1897, 40; 1898, 69; 1899, 59; 1900, 74; 1901, 88; total 709. Each year commencement exercises are held at convenient places in the county. Each gradu- ate delivers an essay or an oration of his own preparation. Representatives of each class take part in a central com- mencement held at Belleville at the time of the normal in- stitute.
"The teachers' Reading circle has been an impetus toward the reading of professional books by a majority of our teachers, and this has been one means of raising the standard of the profession."
--
Residence of J. C. Humphrey, Belleville City.
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CHAPTER XIX.
NEWSPAPERS.
The Belleville Telescope, the pioneer newspaper of Republic county, was established by James C. Humphrey; in September, 1870, when there were only two buildings on the townsite. The paper was issued regularly for six- teen months, when its publication was discontinued, the last issue being January 19th, 1872. The reason for so do- ing, as briefly stated by Mr. Humphrey in his valedictory, was "to make room for a larger paper, as he had not the capital to enlarge to such a size as the county demands." After a lapse of eighteen months he resumed its publica- tion, the first issue being July 3d, 1873, greatly enlarged and improved and fully up to the demands of the town and county at that time, Mr. O. A. A. Gardner assuming editorial management of the agricultural department of the paper, Mr. Humphrey being the editor-in-chief, pro- prietor and publisher until October 23d, 1884, when the late Mr. E. B.Towle took the place of Mr. Humphrey as edi- tor, remaining in charge of the editorial columns until Sep- tember 29th, 1887, when the paper was sold to E. E. Brain. erd, who took possession October 6th, 1887, having sole con- trol until March 22, 1888, when a partnership was formed with J. W. Shackelford, which continued until November 1st of that year, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Brainerd again assuming entire control until September 1st, 1889, when Humphrey and Shackelford purchased the paper, Mr. Shackelford becoming editor, continuing as such until November 14th, 1890, when Mr. Shackelford re- tired, leaving Mr. Humphrey again the sole owner of the paper, remaining so until July, 1900, when he formed a partnership with his daughter, Adela, which continued until July 1st, 1901, when they sold the paper to Mr. A. J. Bayse, who is now conducting the paper. The Telescope
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History of Republic County.
has always been republican in politics, has labored earn- estly and persistently for the advancement of the material interests of Belleville, Republic county, and northern Kan- sas.
SCANDIA JOURNAL.
The paper now published as the Scandia Journal was first published in Belleville under the name Belleville Re- public. The first issue was printed February 7, 1872. For eighteen months it was the only paper in the county, hav ing taken the place of the Telescope, suspended in Janu- ary, 1872. A. B. Wilder was the founder of the paper and was associated with it off and on until 1888. At different times other men were associated with him or bought it from him, but none of them made a success of the busi- ness. During the time Mr. Wilder had the paper it was Independent Republican in politics. Since that time it has been radically republican. Mr. Wilder's first partner was a Mr. Kirby. From May, 1872, to February 5th, 1873, it was under the editorial control of Hugh M. Sawyer, a scholarly man, afterward a prominent school man in Iowa. May 6th, 1874, it was sold to Frank Kirk and the office re- moved to Jewell Center, re-established under the same name at Belleville August, 1875. The last issue of the Belleville Republic was August 9th, 1876. The next issue came out as the Scandia Republic, Mr. Wilder having moved the plant to Scandia during the week. On January 1st, 1878, the paper was sold to L H. Tibbitts, a Scandia lawyer, who changed the name to the Republic County Journal. Mr. Tibbitts did not become a shining light in the newspaper field and on August 21st of the same year the plant was returned to Mr. Wilder. He now associated with him A. P. Wilber, who remained on the paper until November 15, 1879. At this time it was sold to S. W. Moore, who edited it until June 4, 1881. On this date it was sold to Charles F. Woodward. £ Mr. Woodward con- tinued in control of the paper until after the tragic death
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