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 6
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6. Scandinavia precinct called. Result, for New Scandinavia, 79.
7. The Republic precinct called. Result, for Belle- ville, 238; New Scandinavia, 4; Salt City, 1,
Total number of votes polled, 463, of which Belleville received 305; New Scandinavia, 86; Salt City, 72.
Thus it appears that the Scandinavians were solid for New Scandinavia, the Bellevilleians nearly the same for Belleville, while the denizens of the Marsh divided their strength between the three places.
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History of Republic County.
On motion of G. W. Johnson, the board ordered that Mr. Baker, Mr. Blankenship, G. Paulson, H. Wallen and Mr. Blunk, be sworn as to evidences of partiality and fraudulent voting. Ordered that an abstract of the evi- dence be filed in the clerk's office. Board then adjourned until 7 a. m. of the following day.
Board met pursuant to adjournment, and proceeded to discuss the final acceptance or rejection of the poll books from Republic precinct; and, after a tedious attempt at a decision, the board adjourned until one o'clock, at which time Mr. Frint made the following proposition: Throw out all the votes of Republic precinct except 100, and declare the decision on the remaining number of polled votes in the county, or throw out the entire vote of the coun- ty as incorrect and fraudulent, and immediately order a new election. After much argument and many attempts at reconciliation of the whole board on one of the points named, Mr. Frint and Mr. Rowe cast their votes for the first proposition-that is, to count 100 votes from Repub- lic precinct and reject the balance.
I suppose this was considered a compromise; yet it located the county seat at Belleville just as effectually as though the entire vote had been counted. I here give the concluding portion of the record in Mr. Hamill's own phraseology, spelling and punctuation:
"Mr. Rowe requested the minutes of the following causes of action in the case and decision of made Con- siders the poll book alarmingly fraudulent and evidences of partiality and misdemeanor in the action of the judges of election-but thinks his judgment is that certain voters who were legally entitled to the same should be represent- ed and therefore gives his consent to the admission of the 100 votes. Commissioner Johnson declared his desire to re- cord his name against the whole procedure as destruc- tive to the declaration of the popular vote of the people- and that the people could be defended only by an entire and sweeping rejection of the poll books of every precinct
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known to be illegal in any partor parcel of the action of the officers of that election especially where such a glare- ing inconsistency stood so open to every honest Man."
As before stated, the vote of the county in November, 1868, was 65 votes; in November, 1869, 123 votes; at the county seat election in August, 1870, 463 votes, with Albion and White Rock not counted. This shows a remarkable in- crease in the voting population, and it is barely possible that this increase may not have been entirely healthy, as we find the vote of the county at the November election, 1870, with Albion's 30 votes and White Rock's 40 counted, to be 322, or 141 less than were polled at the county seat election. Soon after the result of the county seat election was declared, J. S. Tutton, T. A. Eberhard, and T. C. Smith, judges of the election at Belleville, were politely in- vited to appear before Thomas J. Eckert, a justice of the peace at Salt Marsh, charged with conduct unbecoming officers and gentlemen and especially as judges of election. In fact it was charged that gross frauds had been com- mitted at the election, that the purity of the ballot box had been invaded, and these officers were charged with complicity in the same. It will be remembered that, at this time, the office of probate judge was vacant, Judge Meyers having resigned some time before; and, in view of the circumstances, it was thought best by the citizens of Belleville, and especially by the prisoners, we suppose, that this vacancy should be filled. Accordingly, A. B. Tutton, as special messenger, was dispatched to Topeka, bearing a petition to Gov. Harvey, asking the appointment of our esteemed fellow citizen, Dr. J. C.Griffith, to this posi- tion. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to state that this petition was not largely signed by the citizens of Salt Marsh, but the signatures were probably procured in other portions of the county.
Gov. Harvey acted on the petition at once, granting the same, and the special courier returned just in time to find the Eckert court in the act of committing the prisoners to
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jail. It must be borne in mind that jail accommodations were not as fine in those days as at the present time, and the prisoners were loath to be torn from the bosoms of their families, and incarcerated in a dungeon located in Washington county. Accordingly, the kindly offices of A. F. Heely, who now appeared on the stage, were invoked, a writ of habeas corpus issued by the probate court, and the prisoners brought to Belleville, before Judge Griffith, for trial. Now the scene is changed, no witnesses on the part of the prosecution appear, and when the prisoners are ar- raigned, the court, no doubt, in the language of one of old, is led to exclaim : "Where are those thine accusers?" But writs of attachment are issued to compel the attendance of the now unwilling witnesses, and, when all was ready, the case was called. A. J. Banta, of Washington county, coun- sel for the prosecution, addressed the court in substan- tially the following manner: "While at Salt Marsh and in 'Squire Eckert's court, I thought I had a case; but now the scene is changed, and, with this change of scene, grave doubts arise in my mind as to my ability to convict these prisoners, therefore, if the court please, we desire to very gently intimate to the court that it has our permission to dismiss this suit." There being no opposition to this sug- gestion, it was acted on, the pipe of peace was passed and smoked, and all parties acquiesced in the decision. Thus it appears that, after a season of considerable excitement, some sectional bitterness, and probably a little tall voting, the county seat was established at Belleville, where it has since immovably reposed, although the question of relocat- ing was again agitated in October and November, 1881, by the circulation of petitions asking the commissioners to call an election for that purpose. Quite a large number of names were secured and some little excitement created.
This agitation was kept up until May, 1882, when the matter was dropped and has not since been talked of.
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History of Republic County.
CHAPTER VI.
SOIL - CLIMATE - STREAMS - TIMBER - LIMESTONE- COAL - SALT- WATER POWER, RAIN-FALL-ETC., ETC.
The general surface of the county is undulating, a very small per cent being what would be termed bluffy, broken or hilly. The soil on the upland is a rich, black vegetable mould, very fertile and underlaid with a subsoil of porous clay, so that it is well adapted to either wet or dry seasons; the river bottom land is very rich, containing quite a large per cent of sand, together with the usual deposits of bot- toms. The creek bottom lands are less sandy and more nearly resemble the upland.
About ten per cent of the land is river and creek bot- toms and ninety per cent what is usually termed high prairie. The county is very well watered, there being living streams in nearly every township, the Republican river being the principal one. As a mill stream it is not considered so valuable as many smaller ones, owing to its broad channel, with a bottom of shifting sand. Some of the most desirable land in all Kansas is to be found in its valley. It traverses the entire western portion of the county, the average width of the bottom lands being two miles. White Rock, Beaver and Oak creeks are its princi- pal tributaries from the west, while Otter, Dry, School and other small creeks flow into it from the east; West, Reily, Salt, Coal, East, Upton and Elk creeks, flow south into the Republican river, draining the southeastern portion of the county. Mill and Cherry creeks flow east and Rose creek northeast, out of the county. These streams have numer- ous tributaries, all of which, with the main streams, are belted with timber from ten to eighty rods in width, con- sisting of oak, ash, black walnut, hackberry, red and white elm, box elder and cottonwood. Some writers have placed
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hickory in the list, but I do not believe there is a hickory tree in Republic county, at any rate I have never seen one.
About five per cent of the area of the county is natural forest. In some places the larger timber has been cut, and its place is being filled with young oak, ash and walnut trees, which grow with great rapidity. Great attention has been paid to artificial forestry, there being on the first of March, 1901, 2663 acres growing, consisting of walnut, ash, elm, maple and other varieties, all of which grow with wonderful rapidity, and in a few years we will have all the timber needed for fence posts and fuel. Nearly every farm has its artificial grove, which adds greatly to the beauty of the landscape.
These streams are distributed in such a manner as to give more or less timber to every township in the county. Well water is obtained at a depth of from ten to one hun- dred feet, according to locality, and fine, flowing springs are quite numerous. Notwithstanding all these facts, the country lying west of the 6th principal meridian, of which Republic county forms a part, had, up to the year 1870, borne a bad reputation as to its ability to support a civi- lized population; and prior to that time a few settlers, who had selected their homes along the streams west of that line, could scarcely say they had done so for the purpose of becoming permanent settlers, a large portion of the country being regarded as a desert, for all practical pur- poses ; and even as late as 1874 it was a debatable question whether the country would not have to be abandoned to the grasshoppers, coyotes, owls and rattlesnakes. But, thanks to the persistent efforts of an active and indus- trious population, a genial climate and fertile soil, all these questions are now forever set at rest.
Magnesian limestone of most excellent quality is found in large quantities in almost every township in the county. I know of no other country having such an abundant sup- ply of building rock and so large a proportion of tillable land. This rock is of a light gray color, quite soft, easily
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quarried and easily worked. It is almost entirely free from grit, can be easily sawed with any kind of a saw without injury to the instrument more than if used in wood. This rock is very valuable for building purposes, makes an excellent quality of lime, and good building sand is found in almost every neighborhood. Several of the most substantial buildings in the county are built of this rock, including the opera house block in Belleville, the school house in Scandia, the basement of the court house, and many farm residences in different parts of the county. The great abundance of this rock, the trifling expense of quarrying, the facility with which it is shaped for masonry, compensate in no small degree for the lack of lumber. And sandstone is found in abundance in the southeastern por- tion of the county, which possesses all the characteristics of a reliable building stone: but it is not as popular as the magnesia, as it is not as easily worked.
COAL, SALT, ETC.
The southern one-third of the county is underlaid with coal, said to be of the lignite variety, although the pro- priety of thus classifying it has been questioned. It is probably of more recent origin than the anthracite bitu- minous coal of the proper coal series. It is tough rather than brittle, and cannot be easily broken except in hori- zontal layers. The veins are from sixteen to thirty in- ches in thickness, and are found beneath a firm layer of sandstone, which forms a good roof in mining. These mines have been worked since 1870, and have furnished the principal fuel supply for a large scope of country; and this coal has been extensively used for making steam in grist mills, although it has been rejected by the railroads on account of the large proportion of ashes it leaves, thus clogging the grates in the locomotive. The coal is sold at the mines at an average of two dollars and fifty cents per ton. It does not kindle readily, but burns well when ig- nited, makes a hot fire, produces no soot, burns to pure ashes and leaves no clinkers. If exposed to the weather
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for any considerable length of time it has a tendency to slack like lime, which greatly impairs its value. Coal of a good quality was mined as early as February, 1872, on the SE } of section 7, the claim of P. L. Norlun in Grant town- ship. A considerable quantity of this coal was hauled to Belleville by John Forney and sold for six dollars per ton -three dollars for mining and three dollars for the haul- ing. These prices would indicate a scarcity of fuel. This mine was worked one season only, being abandoned by reason of water flooding the mine.
Within a short distance of these coal fields is situated one of the most extensive salt marshes in the country, commonly known as the "Tuthill Marsh," and is adjacent to the old town site of Seapo. This marsh embraces an area of about 4,000 acres, and wells of brine are obtained at a depth of six feet. Sixty five gallons of this brine pro- duce a bushel of salt of unequaled purity, a chemical analysis, by Professor Mudge, showing less than two and a half per cent of impurities. It contains no chloride of lime,-a very bad impurity, found in all the salt manufac- tured in New York, Michigan and West Virginia. Profes- sor Taylor, Massachusetts' State Assayer, also made an analysis of this salt and reported it to be of a most excel- lent quality. The salt water rises to near the surface, evaporates and leaves a crust of pure salt, which, at all times in dry weather, can be scraped up and taken away. One hundred bushels of this earthy salt, diluted and evap- orated, will produce seventy-five bushels of clean, white salt. Borings have been made here-one to the depth of sixty feet and another two hundred and sixty feet; the latter threw up a column of brine five feet in height and three inches in thickness. It is hard to tell why capital has not been invested here to utilize this mine of wealth. Another marsh of about the same extent is found in Beaver township, near the southwest corner of the county, but no analysis of the brine has ever been made that I am aware of.
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History of Republic County.
WATER POWER.
In this respect Republic county is not highly favored, although there is good water power on White Rock creek, in White Rock township, where a large flouring mill was built in 1878 by Geo. R. Thacker, wholly a water power mill, with Turbine wheel and three run of stone, two for wheat and one for corn. A forty horse-power engine was put in by Fred Cooper in 1881, so that the mill could be kept running during low water, which sometimes occurs during the months of August and September. Also on the Republican river about a mile above Scandia, utilized for several years by C. F. Ericson's large flouring mill; also on the river at Rocky Ford, near Republic City, which has never been utilized. There is also most excellent water power on Salt creek, on the SW } of section 6, in Grant township, which could be utilized at a very small expense for dam, and water sufficient to run a mill of con- siderable capacity the greater part of the year.
CLIMATE.
The climate of northern Kansas does not differ materi- ally from that of the western slope of the Alleghany moun- tains and of states farther east, lying along and immedi- ately below the fortieth parallel of north latitude. Like all of these states, it has its extremes of heat and cold, but in a somewhat modified form, being modified as it is by latitude, altitude and proximity to the Rocky Mountain range. It is not far enough south to be enervating, nor far enough north for the rigorous and benumbing influ- ences of a northern climate. In short, it is a happy com- promise between the two. It is true that the climate of a prairie country is more variable than that of a timbered country, and the sweeping winds of winter on the high prairies are sometimes quite searching, but the severity of the winter winds is more than compensated by the salubrity and the generally agreeable character of the breezes of summer. In the most sultry July and August
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weather our nights are cool, usually inviting pleasant re- pose. Besides, the climate is remarkably healthy, being far more free from bilious diseases than localities in the same latitude farther east, and consumption is seldom or never contracted in this country. Our summers are longer than the average summers of other states in the same lati- tude and our winters shorter.
RAINFALL.
This subject has nearly ceased to be one of anxious in - quiry by the emigrant seeking a home on what Olney's Geography taught him was a barren and sandy desert. The crop statistics, given elsewhere in this book, must set at rest all doubts as to the sufficiency of the rainfall here for all the needs of agriculture. Below we give the obser- vations of the rainfall at Belleville for the years 1872 and 1873, reported for the Smithsonian Institute by A. A. Carr, who was furnished with standard instruments by that institution for ascertaining the rainfall. temperature, etc. Mr. Carr was also a special reporter for the State Board of Agriculture from Belleville for the years named:
Belleville, Republic county. Latitude, 39 degrees 50 minutes. Longitude, 97 de grees 40 minutes. Altitude, 1,540 feet above sea level.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May.
June
July.
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Total
22.29
1872 1873
00 0.49
0.50
0 90 0.10
2.30 5.04
3.59 8.91
1 59 6.6)
6.62 0.92
2.03 1.90
3.30 3.05
1.47 0.84
.00 0.30
.00 1 10
28 76
Crops of all kinds for the two years named were abundant, although the rainfall was far below the average, as compared with the twenty-eight years succeeding the above report, which proves conclusively that crops do not so much depend on the amount of rain as on its distribu- tion, a small rainfall, evenly distributed during the grow- ing season, being far more desirable than a large amount unfavorably distributed.
The rainfall for 1874 was above the normal during the spring months, being 16 57-100 inches, including snow fall to the depth of twelve inches during the month of
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History of Republic County.
February, and no spring opened with brighter prospects since Republic county has been settled. The drouth set in June 15th and continued seventy-nine days, the temper- ature being high for the entire period, reaching 110 de- grees on July 25th, which with the grasshoppers made it one of the worst seasons ever experienced in Kansas, al- though the crops of small grain were exceptionally good that year. On the night of September 1st the heavens opened and rain fell in abundance from that time on, there being sixteen rainy days in the month of September, with a rainfall of almost eight inches for the month, badly dam- aging hay and grain in stacks, a loss which the farmers were illy prepared to stand. The rainfall for the entire year was considerably above the average but unevenly distributed.
The grasshopper visitation came on Sunday, July 26th, a few, however, having made their appearance in some localities the day previous. About eleven o'clock great clouds of them began to make their appearance from the northeast, and although the day was cloudless the sun was almost obscured by myriads of moving pests. No pen picture I can make can convey to the understanding of a person who did not see them; the immense and enor- mous amount of grasshoppers that visited Republic county that year. Imagine, if you please, a blinding snow storm where a foot of snow falls in a few hours and that for every snow flake, there were at least three grasshoppers, then you can begin to form some faint conception of their numbers. They were the most hungry crowd that ever visited Kansas. Every green thing that suited their tastes vanished in an incredible short time, onions, red peppers and tobacco, being especially relished by them, sorghum cane being about the only thing they spared. Many stories were told of their voracious appetites, but I do not vouch for the truth of all of them. One man in- formed me "that he had to hitch his team to the wagon and run it all day to keep them from eating the wagon
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tires." Another says "he saw fifteen or twenty of them pull up a corn stock and fly off with it, eating as they went along." Another, that "after they had stripped off all the leaves, they would pull up the stalks, sit back on their hindermost, and swallow them whole." Another, "that they were so thick in his field that there was not room for one-half of them on the stalks, consequently a general row arose, and they commenced pulling up the corn stalks and beating each other to death, by which means he saved some of his corn." And still another, "that they ate the handle and commenced to eat the tines of his pitchfork." And lastly, "that after devouring every green thing on the place, they formed in line on the ridge board of his house and very complacently picked their teeth with shingle nails they had drawn from the roof." The above stories are probably slightly exaggerated.
CHAPTER VII.
WIND STORMS, TORNADOES AND CYCLONES.
One of the severest storms ever known in this part of Kansas, although it could not properly be denominated a cyclone, swept over Republic county on the night of Sun- day, April 13th, 1873. After a heavy wind all day, and as night approached, big, black clouds could be seen in the western sky, and the vivid lightning and distant thunder warned our people of its near approach. The rain fell as if the flood gates of heaven had been opened, reminding one very forcibly of a little shower that occurred in ancient times. About ten o'clock it turned into hail, which lasted but a few minutes, when a blinding snow storm set in, continuing until Tuesday noon. The wind possessed such terrible force as to move the largest buildings from their foundations, and to dash the smaller buildings to pieces. The art gallery of F. M. Hopkins, in Belleville, was utterly
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History of Republic County.
demolished. The wind was so searching as to drive the snow through the cracks and crevices of the houses. Great loss was experienced among the farmers in the destruc- tion of their stock, occasioned by the severity of the storm.
One of the saddest events which has ever happened in this county, and which draped the whole community in mourning, occurred while the gale was at its height. Two families lost their most loved members, eight in num- ber. The house of Mr. Crane, one of our most estimable citizens, who was absent from home, was burned on Saturday, and his family-a wife and four children -took shelter in the residence of Mr. Bennett. On Monday night the hurricane took off the roof of the house, a stone one, and blew in the gable end, crushing the floor, causing it to fall into the cellar, where the family had taken shelter from the fury of the elements. Mrs. Bennett was severely injured. When morning dawned Mr. Bennett proceeded to the house of the nearest neigh- bor to obtain help. He was unable to procure it, and made his way to the next house, where he succeeded in getting assistance. Upon his return a most terrible sight greeted his eyes. There, in the chilling embrace of death, lay his wife and three children, together with Mrs. Crane and two of her children. A boy and girl of Mrs. Crane's were still alive, and Mr. Bennett carried them to the residence of the nearest neighbor, at which place the boy died for want of timely assistance. The little girl recovered. What the feelings of Mr. Bennett, as a husband, father and friend were, can but be imagined.
Mr. Crane's house was on the NW { of section 15, later known as the George Henek farm, now owned by Gus Kauffman, in Jefferson township, and Mr. Ben- nett's, where this sad catastrophe occurred, was on the NE { of section 11, in the same township.
Since the first settlement of the county it has been visited by only a few of what may, with propriety, be termed genuine tornadoes, none of which have proved
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History of Republic County.
very destructive to life, only one person having been killed and one or two slightly injured, but the property losses have been quite severe. The first occurred May 30, 1879, the day of the Irving disaster, in Marshall county, and the cyclone at Delphos, in Ottawa county. The storm struck Belleville from the northwest, carried away a few chim- neys, unroofed a few buildings, moved a few others from their foundations, including the "Duck elevator" * on the west side of the public square. At this place it was simply a high wind and showed none of the essential characteris- tics of a cyclone. From Belleville it moved nearly due east and it was not till it reached Tom Harkness' place that it commenced to cut its curious capers, taking his fanning mill, rending it into hundreds of pieces, and scattering them over a wide extent of territory. Portions of this mill were found one-half mile north, other pieces more than a mile south, and still other portions one and one-half miles east of where it was standing when the storm took possession of it.
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