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 8
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91
History of Republic County.
dug and walled, hedge rows broken, and a large amount of money expended on the track. The receipts, although large, were not sufficient to meet these expenses, and a balance of $106.92 was found against the society.
The officers elected for 1874 were R. P. West, presi- deet; O. A. Gardner, vice-president; I. O. Savage, secre- tary ; and V. Vantrump, treasurer. A fair was held Sep- tember 16th, 17th and 18th, but, this being what was called grasshopper year, the entries were few, the attendance meagre, and the receipts small.
In 1875 the following named persons were elected officers of the society : A. B. Wilder, president; A. J. Beers, vice-president; V. Vantrump, secretary ; and J. A. Mosher, treasurer. The fifth annual fair was held Sep- tember 28th, 29th and 30th. Receipts from all sources, $279.40; expenditures, $274.57 : leaving a balance in favor of the society of $4.83.
The officers for 1876 were I. O. Savage, president; J. Kindt, vice-president; A. B. Wilder, secretary ; and J. A. Mosher, treasurer. No fair was held this year.
At the annual meeting in 1877, the following persons were elected officers : J. Kindt, president; Milton Han- cock, vice-president; Adam Dixon, secretary; J. A. Mosher, treasurer. The sixth annual fair was held Sep- tember 20th, 21st and 22d, 1877. The weather was fine, the attendance large, and the receipts larger than in any former year.
The officers elected for 1878 were: Wm. Hughes, president : A. J. Beers, secretary ; I. O. Savage, treasurer. The seventh annual fair was held September 24th, 25th and 26th. The attendance was not large, but the receipts from all sources exceeded expenses by $79.25.
On the 29th day of October an application was made by the treasurer of the society to the chairman of the board of county commissioners, asking him to issue an or- der on the treasurer of the county for the sum of money to which the society was entitled from the county, under
92
History of Republic County. '
section eight of chapter 37, of the laws of 1872. This ap- plication was accompanied by a certificate, attested by the president and treasurer of the society, under oath, in strict conformity with the law above referred to. The chairman declined to grant the application, and did not treat the same with that consideration which the officers of the society thought its importance demanded; conse- quently, a writ of mandamus was applied for and obtained from the district court, citing the chairman to appear at the April term of said court; to show cause, if any he had, why he did not sign the order as asked for in the applica- tion.
Everything had worked harmoniously down to this time, the society having had no trouble in getting the as- sistance from the county to which it was entitled under the law above referred to. Lars C. Hansen, of Scandia, was at this time chairman of the board of commissioners and he objected, and objected vigorously to signing the or- der, saying he would never do, so long as his name be Han- sen. Strange as it may seem, all the attorneys in the county at the time took sides with Mr. Hansen and freely expressed the opinion that the society could not recover, this being the first and only case I call to mind when all of them were wrong at the same time. Of course, attorneys are expected to be wrong half of the time, but this case seems to have been an exception and not the rule. The case came on for hearing, able counsel appearing on both sides. A long and tedious trial ensued, and the jury, after being out twenty minutes, returned a verdict in favor of the society, as under the instructions from the court it could not well do otherwise, as Judge Wilson in his charge clearly inti- mated that if any other verdict was returned he would set it aside. After mature deliberation on the part of the so- ciety, it was thought best, under existing circumstances, the society being compelled to resort to the courts to ob- tain the rights to which it was entitled under the law, to sell the building on the fair ground, pay off all indebted-
93
History of Republic County.
ness, surrender the charter, and let the Republic County Agricultural Society be one of the things of the past, which was accordingly done, and it is a lamentable fact that the banner agricultural county of Northwestern Kan- sas has no agricultural society today.
We do not state the above facts with the design or de- sire of censuring any one, as all parties may have acted for what they considered to be the general welfare of the county. It has, however, been clearly demonstrated that it is much easier to find fault with, break up and destroy such an organization than to organize one, and put it in successful operation. On this point, we are satisfied there can be no dispute. The advisability of reorganizing the society was talked of from time to time through the medium of the county papers and a few feeble and unsuc- cessful attempts to do so were made, the nearest approach to it being in August, 1887, when a few meetings were held, a charter procured, constitution and by-laws adopted and officers elected. The officers chosen were: E. M. Crummer, president; J. A. Mosher, vice-president; I. O. Savage, secretary; Wm. McCullough, treasurer; and who still have the honor, if any there be, of holding these offices, as their successors have never been elected.
This was to be a joint stock company with a capital of $10,000 divided into 2,000 shares of $5 each, only a small portion of which was subscribed.
COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
As early as 1879 it had been demonstrated that fruit of almost every variety could be successfully grown in Re- public county. In pursuance of a call a public meeting was held at the court house in Belleville October 11th, 1879, having for its object the organization of a county hor- ticultural society. Of this meeting O. A. A. Gardner was chosen chairman, and W. P. Peake secretary.
A committee, consisting of N. T. VanNatta, Ezra Powell and J. A. Mosher was appointed to draft a consti-
94
History of Republic County.
tution and by-laws for such an organization, after which the meeting adjourned to the first Saturday in December.
Met pursuant to adjournment when the committee re- ported a constitution, which after receiving careful con- sideration, was adopted, and the following officers were elected to hold until the regular annual meeting as pro- vided in the constitution: O. A. A. Gardner, president ; J. A. Mosher, vice-president; W. P. Peake, secretary ; Ezra Powell, treasurer; and N. T. VanNatta, Adam Dixon and Dr. Henry Patrick, trustees.
J. A. Mosher was elected delegate to represent the so- ciety at the annual meeting of the State Horticultural So- ciety to be held at Holton on the 16th, 17th and 18th days of December, 1879.
The organization, the simplest part of all the work, was now complete, but to keep the society alive and in working order required great effort on the part of its friends and promoters, the most zealous of whom many times, almost yielded to discouragement, however, for some time quite a lively interest was taken and much use- ful information disseminated.
The third meeting was held at the court house March 3d, 1880, at which time Honorable N. T. VanNatta was, by a unanimous vote made a life member in consideration of five dollars, donated by him to the society. The following is a complete list of the members at this time: O. A. A. Gardner, president; J. A. Mosher, vice-president; W. P. Peake, treasurer: John Fulcomer,, Dr. H. Patrick, Adam Dixon, John E. Hallowell, E. M. Crummer, Edson G. Haven, N. T. VaNatta, Chauncey Perry and Selwyn M. McBride.
The next meeting was held May 4th, 1881, at which time it was decided to hold the annual meeting on the third Saturday of December of each year, and the semi- annual meeting in June, at such date and place as may be determined at the annual meeting. The second board of officers elected were: W. P. Peake, president; John Ful-
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History of Republic County.
comer, vice-president; O. A. A. Gardner, secretary; J. A. Mosher, treasurer. The society received its charter from the secretary of state July 14th, 1883.
It was not until 1886 that Republic county commenced to attract attention as one of the leading fruit producing counties of Kansas. Quite a number of orchards of first planting had by this time come into bearing, being from ten to twelve years old, and this being a fine fruit year the society decided to make an exhibit at Topeka in the fall of that year.
John Fulcomer and Henry Passmore were chosen a committee to represent the society and take charge of the exhibit. The fruit was selected with great care from the best orchards in different parts of the county and placed on exhibition in competition, not only with older counties of Kansas and Missouri, but with the world. The commit- tee returned with nine first premiums on best plates of apples, four second premiums on best plates, and third premium for best and largest display by counties, the premiums being $1 each for best plates, 50 cents each for second best plates, and $25 for third largest and best dis- play, aggregating $36, which more than defrayed the ex- penses of the exhibit. Feeling encouraged by this excel lent showing it was decided to try again when the proper time arrived. 1887 was also fruitful, two fairs being held in the state, one at Bismark Grove and the other at Topeka.
J. A. Mosher and Dr. H. Patrick were the committee to take charge of the exhibit at both places, being awarded the second premium for best and largest display of fruit at Bismark, the amount of the premium being $75. Were not successful at Topeka, the fruit having been handled considerably and reshipped did not present so fine an ap- pearance as in the first place. After paying all expenses of the exhibit at both places a balance of $9.10 was left in favor of the society.
As before stated attention had been directed to Re- public county by its excellent exhibit at Topeka in 1886, so
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History of Republic County.
much so that the State Horticultural Society decided to hold its seventeenth semi-annual meeting at Belleville on June 27th and 28th, 1887. An able, cordial and hearty welcom- ing address was made to the society by Rev. Geo. W. Wood, then pastor of the M. E. church, which was appre- ciateingly responded to by Judge L. A. Simmons, of Wel- lington, in behalf of the society. The semi-annual address of Geo. Y. Johnson, president of the state society, was an able effort, full of encouragement, and was well received. Leading horticulturists from different parts of the state were in attendance, including Fred. Wellhouse, the cham- pion apple grower of Kansas. Interesting and instructive papers were read by Judge Simmons, Hon. Martin Allen, of Hayes City, Dr. Charles Williamson, of Washington, and A. B. Warner, of White Rock, and instructive addresses by Fred. Wellhouse and others.
The next meeting of the society was held at the office of Cooper, Meek & Cooper December 22d, 1888, it being the regular annual meeting, when the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: W. M. Moore, presi- dent; J. M. Williams, vice-president; I. O. Savage, secre- tary; J. A. Mosher, treasurer. From this time the inter- est in the society began to wane and no meetings were held until June 28th, 1890, at which the attendance was small, and it became painfully evident that the days of the Horticultural Society were numbered. No meetings have been held since the above date.
CHAPTER X.
CROPS AND FARM ANIMALS.
Reliable statistics in regard to crops, farm animals, etc., were not gathered in Kansas until 1872, and these were not as complete as desired, owing to the absence of any efficient official source through which they could be
97
History of Republic County.
obtained, as the law providing for the collection of statis- tics by the township assessors was not passed until the session of 1873. The statistics here presented, therefore, embrace a period of thirty years, from 1872 to 1901 in- clusive.
HORSES.
HORSES.
HORSES.
HORSES.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
1872
1500
1873
2322
1888
12116
1889
12787
1874
3199
1875
3103
1890
11093
1891
13867
1876
3316
1877
3711
1892
13761
1893
14513
1878
4481
1879
5868
1894
13448
1895
14667
1880
6942
1881
747I
1896
13014
1897
13054
1882
7703
1883
8793
1898
12744
1899
13040
1884
9270
1885
9876
1900
12607
1901
13249
1886
10636
1887
11155
MULES
MILCH COWS
MULES.
MILCH COWS
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
1872
96
1877
3242
1888
1180
1893
6829
1873
227
1878
3310
1889
1185
1894
6716
1874
319
1879
3788
1890
948
1895
8630
1875
308
1880
4248
1891
992
1896
7576
1876
272
1881
4766
1892
931
1897
7752
1877
384
1882
5925
1893
1133
1898
8958
1878
408
1883
7194
1894
1145
1899
9681
1879
544
1884
8583
1895
1622
1900
10207
1880
575
1885
9737
1896
1498
1901
12327
1881
645
1886
11450
1897
1467
Prior to 1877 sta-
1882
651
1887
11527
1898
1488
tistics inregard to
1883
832
1888
12709
1899
1591
milch cows were
1884
979
1889
14355
1900
1413
included
in the
1886
1124
1891
10993
1887
1185
1892
10362
OTHER CATTLE.
This table gives the whole number of cattle in the county down to, and including 1876, after which milch cows are excluded.
Yrs.
No
Yrs
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs
No.
1872
4944
1873
4682
1888
24551
1889
24112
1874
6649
1875
6050
1890
22368
1891
22560
1876
6746
1877
4690
1892
23347
1893
14516
1878
5623
1879
6390
1894
11009
1895
13739
1880
7422
1881
9189
1896
9878
1897
13285
1882
10185
1883
13532
1898
17881
1899
23995
1884
19287
1885
17965
1886
20721
1887
23522
1900
27063
1901
25978
1885
1154
1890
10359
1901
1356
whole number of cattle.
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History of Republic County.
SWINE.
SWINE.
SWINE
SWINE.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No.
Yrs.
No
Yrs.
No.
1872
1232
1873
3336
1888
40939
1889
49306
1874
9897
1875
5038
1890
54939
1891
53769
1876
7097
1877
18011
1892
49311
1893
14013
1878
31286
1879
38142
1894
16610
1895
32842
1880
44169
1881
40290
1896
33295
1897
48069
1882
41915
1883
48469
1898
64673
1899
64457
1884
69383
1885
81009
1900
62819
1901
57585
1886
55389
1887
54186
The falling off in the numbers of live stock from 1874 to 1875 is accounted for by the grasshopper visitation of 1874, the corn crop that season being almost a total fail- ure, but very little being raised in the county. Large numbers of our people went back east to winter, taking their teams and milch cows with them, many not return- ing until late in the season of 1875, while others did not come back at all. In 1877 Republic ranked as the ninth county in the state in the number of swine, seventh in 1878, second in 1879, and first in 1880, leading Brown county, the next highest, by 2,827 head. In 1881 she ranked third, being surpassed by Brown with 41,279 and Miami with 41,040 head. In 1882 she ranked third again, being surpassed by Brown and Cowley.
In 1885, in proportion to area, Republic led, with the unprecedented number of 81,009, being so far in advance of all other counties of the same area as to make it idle to institute a comparison. Cholera among swine broke out this year and was quite general throughout the state, raging with great fury in many counties during the years 1885, 1886 and 1887, seriously crippling this important in- dustry. The losses in Republic county from this cause alone were in 1885, 9,122 head; 1886, 51,513 head; 1887, 21,966 head; aggregating 82,601 head, in three years re- ducing the number to 40,939 in 1888, since which time this dreaded disease has not generally been prevalent.
WHEAT .- (WINTER AND SPRING.)
Years.
Bushels.
Years.
Acreage. 3006
Bushels. 32355
1872
1887
1873
Acreage. 4858 12044
47252 88203
1888
1057
23846
99
History of Republic County.
Years.
Acreage.
Bushels.
Years.
Acreage.
Bushels.
1874
27757
289225
1889
2458
54389
1875
33092
476307
1890
8320
75118
1876
28925
361531
1891
13687
229855
1877
19174
282846
1892
18713
271036
1878
38936
681968
1893
22420
26838
1879
46573
413612
1894
13254
45393
1880
42275
404154
1895
7137
28548
1881
25574
204592
1896
4514
64084
1882
8427
132948
1897
7231
144310
1883
4612
93712
1898
10829
193914
1884
7586
141892
1898
21046
252204
1885
8204
116293
1900
8545
161398
1886
4975
55814
1901
23385
Republic county has not in any one year produced a million bushels of wheat, its nearest approach to it being in 1878 when 681,968 bushels were raised, hence it is not classed among the leading counties in the production of this important cereal, although during the 70s she ranked high in the production of spring wheat being located in what was known, from 1872 to 1881 as the spring wheat belt of Kansas, composed of seven counties lying in a compact body in the northwest, five of which, Marshall, Washington, Republic, Jewell and Smith, being in the northern tier,and the other two, Cloud and. Mitchell, ad join- ing. In 1887 these seven counties produced 3.345,340 bush- els, or nearly three-fifths the entire spring wheat product of the state. In the number of bushels raised, Republic county ranked in the state as follows :
1872 as 20. 1876 as 2d. 1879 as 1st.
1873 as 6th.
1877 as 3d. 1880 as 3d.
1874 as 3d.
1878 as 3d.
1881 as 2d.
1875 as 1st.
Thus it appears that, for a period of ten years, she held the first place three years, the second place three years, the third place three years, and the sixth place one year. But at present its cultivation is almost entirely abandoned, one reason for discontinuing its culture being that it was most successfully grown on new land, or ground that had not been ploughed more than two or three times at most. Another and the principal reason being that most of the farmers have found that corn growing
100
History of Republic County.
and stock raising and feeding are more profitable and have turned their attention in this direction, although some very fine wheat, both spring and winter, are still grown, S. T. Collins, a leading farmer of Freedom township, holding a testimonial from the directors of the world's fair at Chicago for a sample of superior excellence ex- hibited there in competition with the world, the medal be- ing for the best one-half bushel of hard winter wheat.
From 1874 to 1880, barley was quite successfully grown, the product being:
Year.
Acres.
Bushels.
Year.
Acres.
Bushels.
1874
907
18140
1878
67640
1875
2988
71719
1879
4939
98740
1876
7210
201040
1880
2219
37723
1877
155700
This crop has also been nearly discontinued.
CORN.
Year.
Acreage.
Product in Bushels.
Year.
Acreage.
Product in Bushels.
1872
20907
258240
1887
116382
1745730
1873
22726
568325
1888
132878
6378144
1874
21714
1889
140792
7039600
1875
23512
940480
1890
20432
245184
1876
26940
1077600
1891
131548
4735728
1877
47541
1806508
1892
129176
3875280
1878
36969
1478760
1893
164261
1806871
1879
51124
2044966
1894
147764
443292
1880
75969
2431008
1895
177218
1063308
1881
90317
1806340
1896
189737
6261321
1882
103263
4646835
1897
203662
7739156
1883
120990
4718610
1898
200125
2201375
1884
116761
5721289
1899
210131
65I4061
1885
125439
5017560
1900
186283
2794245
1886
138739
4162170
1901
172230
Alfalfa, 1901
10389 acres
CORN IS KING.
In 1876, for the first time, the corn crop of the county exceeded one million bushels. In 1880 we ranked as the seventh corn producing county in Kansas, and in 1882 as third, producing, as shown in the tables, 4,646,835 bush- els, only two counties in the state producing a greater number of bushels, viz., Marshall and Sumner; but it
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History of Republic County.
must be borne in mind that these counties embrace a much larger area than Republic. The following shows the area of the three counties named, and the number of bushels produced by each :
Republic, 720 square miles. .4,646,835 bushels Marshall, 900 square miles .4,899,900 bushels
Sumner, 1,188 square miles
4,671,520 bushels
From the above it will readily be seen that Republic, in proportion to area, led both the others so far that it is hardly worth while to make a comparison. Jewell county, adjoining Republic on the west with an area of 900 square miles, produced 4,081,950 bushels.
From a careful examination of the above table it will be seen that in the twenty nine year record, we have had one total failure of the corn crop, viz:, in 1874, known as the grasshopper year, this failure extending over the en- tire state, partial failures in 1881, 1890, 1894 and 1895. Butit must be borne in mind that the crop was a failure through- out the state generally in 1890 and 1894, the total product for 1890 being fifty one million bushels and in .'94 a little less than sixty-seven million bushels, so we could not have been much behind the rest of the state.
From 1875 to 1880 inclusive, were seasons of unex- ampled prosperity in all the departments of agriculture. A partial failure of the corn crop in 1881 owing to ex- treme wet and unfavorable weather in planting time, succeeded by long continued dry weather later in the sea- son, reducing the yield from 2,431,008 bushels in 1880 to 1,806,340 bushels in 1881, while the yield of small grain was very nearly up to the average. Again from 1882 to 1886 inclusive, we were blessed with abundant harvests, the greatest trouble of the farmer being to get sufficient lumber for granaries and cribs. The year 1884 was re- markably productive, the yield of corn being the largest in the history of the county up to this time, footing up 5,721,289 bushels, averaging forty-nine bushels per acre for every acre planted, and which would require for ship-
102
History of Republic County.
ment a train of cars eighty-five miles in length, placing Republic as third in rank among the corn producing counties of Kansas. In 1889 the yield was 7,039,600 or more than 400 bushels to each citizen of the county. Fol- lowing the failure of 1890 was the excellent showing of 4,735,728 bushels in 1891, a fairly good crop in 1892, an enormous yield in 1896, 6,261,321 bushels, while the crop of 1897 broke all former records with the unprecedented yield of 7,739,156 bushels, or more than one-twentieth of the entire product of the state. The crop of 1899 was the third largest ever grown in the county.
Republic has always ranked high as a corn producing county, being located nearly in the center of the great corn belt of Kansas, composed of the counties of Nemaha, Marshall, Washington, Republic, Jewell and Smith, all in the northern tier. In 1897 these six counties produced 40,189,976 bushels, or more than one-fourth the entire product of the state.
CHAPTER XI.
COUNTY INDEBTEDNESS.
As stated in a former chapter, the county was organ- ized in September, 1868, with a population barely suffi- cient for that purpose; and, the county lying wholly with- in the homestead area, consequently having very little real estate subject to taxation, and nearly every settler sheltering himself behind the $200 exemption clause in the constitution, it is not strange that the county found itself unable to pay current expenses. The total taxable property of the county in 1869 was but little more than $100,000, and under the law only one per cent could be levied for general revenue, raising only $1,000 for current expenses, providing the tax had all been collected, which,
103
History of Repubtic County.
in those days, did not often happen. Then the lands known as the State or Steele lands, being the principal portion of the real estate in the county subject to taxation, paid no taxes for that year owing to some irregularity in advertising them for sale, consequently the tax collected for current county expenses was considerably less than $1,000. In 1870, the taxable property had increased to $202,339, on which the county tax was, in round numbers, $2,000. In the spring of 1871, a committee to investigate the financial affairs of the county was appointed, consist- ing of C. Perry, A. D. Wilson and T. J. Baird, who re- ported an indebtedness of $5,500, and the same constantly increasing, which from the nature of the case, was un- avoidable; and the fact that the county had been organ- ized at too early a date became apparent to every one. County scrip depreciated to sixty cents on the dollar, and books, stationery and other supplies needed by the county, had to be paid for with depreciated paper.
And so matters continued until April, 1873, when $15,000 in county bonds were issued by the county com- missioners, to liquidate outstanding indebtedness, in pur- suance of an act of the Legislature approved February 20, 1873. This measure afforded temporary relief only, as the amount was barely sufficient to liquidate outstanding indebtedness, leaving nothing for current expenses for the year.
The tax levy of 1873 was insufficient to meet expenses and the indebtedness steadily increased until 1876, when the maximum of $42,800 was reached. During this year $27,800 in county bonds were issued in pursuance of an act of the Legislature, approved February 28, 1876, to pay off outstanding scrip, and provide for the current expen- ses for the year. These were ten per cent. bonds, run- ning fifteen years, the last of which were issued by the commissioners December 26, 1876. From that time the debt was steadily reduced, leaving a balance outstanding June 15, 1883, of $19,000, which was refunded in six per
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