USA > Kansas > Cloud County > Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas: biographies of representative citizens. Illustrated with portraits of prominent people, cuts of homes, stock, etc > Part 9
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On April 30, 1866, the log house formerly owned by Herman & Davis as a store building was raised. Frank Rupe says the first drunkenness in Clyde occurred on this occasion. This house was erected by Cowel & Davis, the first merchants of the settlement. There are several persons now living in Clyde who assisted in the raising of this house, viz: W. H. Page, J. B. Rupe. F. B. Rupe and U. J. Smith, all of whom doubtless remember the good old-fashioned dinner that greeted them at "Uncle" Heller's.
Although erected before the formation of the town company, this build- ing might be considered the beginning of Clyde and the first house built in the county crowned by a shingle roof. and first to be decorated on the inside by what was then considered a splendid lot of goods by Cowel & Davis, and within its walls W. S. Herman and Hugh Kirkpatrick commenced their
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
career as clerks. This building was also distinguished as being the birth place of the Republican Valley Empire, published by H. Buckingham. The first number was issued on Tuesday, May 31, 1870. Great interest was manifested by the citizens of Clyde when the first number of this paper was being printed. The emigrants who were coming in by hundreds, as they passed the office with their household effects on a prairie schooner mani- fested great surprise at seeing a press in full blast so far in the wilderness. This historical building was burned to the ground on September 22. 1882.
An article contributed by Mrs. Alice L. Bates to a volume on the schools of Kansas is as follows:
In the month of May, 1866, a party of five might have been seen wend- ing their way from the "Elm Creek settlement," where Clyde is now situated, to the present town of Washington, Kansas, then only one log hut. The member of the party in whom we are interested was Miss Rosella Honey. who was seeking Mr. Horfine, superintendent of Washington county, and also of Shirley county (now Cloud). for the purpose of taking a teachers examination.
There were no roads, only the paths of the buffalo or the dim trail made by an occasional wagon. At last darkness overtook them and they lost their way. There was not a glimmer of a friendly light to beckon them on their way, yet on they went. At last the barking of a dog told them they were not alone in that region. A rude cabin was found, the inmates aroused and information received that they were several miles out of their way; also that the superintendent had gone to Junction City to mill.
The journey had been made in vain and must be repeated. Imagine the disappointment of the party, especially Miss Honey, who was anxious, as teachers usually are, to take examinations. The second attempt was more successful. The examination consisted of a few oral questions in arithmetic. grammar and geography. More than this, she read a paragraph in the news- paper and wrote her name. Compare this with two days' continuous writ- ing after four weeks' hard work in the institute, and most teachers will con- clude it was something to have lived in the "good oldl times."
The next month Miss Honey began the first school in what is now Cloud county. It was known as the Elm Creek school, taught in a log house, the typical early school house of the county. There were neither doors nor windows; only "logs left out." The door was kindly provided by nature. the seats were logs split in halves with pegs, which served as legs driven in the convex side. Desks and blackboards there were none. Among the distinguished visitors during the term was a tribe of Otoe Indians.
There was an enrollment of eighteen pupils and for teaching these "young ideas how to shoot." Miss Honey received eight dollars per month. The term was three months in length and the last day was celebrated by the marriage of the teacher to W. M. Wilcox.
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
FIRST SCHOOL IN CONCORDI.A.
To Milo Stevens, who has been a resident of Clyde for many years, belongs the distinction of having taught the first school in the embryo city of Concordia. He received a salary of twenty dollars per month.
CLAIM JUMPING.
Claim jumping was indulged in to some extent in the early settlement. An unprincipled fellow would often select a claim and either contest the right himself, or call to it the attention of an eastern emigrant, who could rely upon the claim jumper swearing to all that was necessary. proceed to consult a lawyer, and get out papers for the contest.
This character of individual became so common that in several localities he was visited by a committee provided with "hemp" and other paraphernalia necessary in the event that he did not make an exit. He usually complied with the law laid down upon this occasion.
THE DUGOUT.
The dwelling of the homestead settler on the frontier known as "dug- outs," were temporary structures, the memory of which is fast fading into oblivion. Hastily constructed by the pioneers for the immediate shelter and comfort they afforded their families until time and circumstances would permit of more substantial residences being erected.
These temporary homes are almost entirely a thing of the past. few remaining as a reminder of those primitive days. Occasionally one is left standing for the sake of "Auld Lang Syne," as it were, and few are still inhabited; but these latter were built in more modern architecture, with windows, floors and are comfortable habitations. In driving over the coun- try the author has found the tumbled down remains of several of these in- teresting boroughs, for many of them were little less than a hole in the ground. Now and again a rock wall or front is still standing ( against some hillside) that did duty as a settler's domicile and could these walls talk they would tell many a tale of life on the frontier. commingling of loneliness. sorrow, pain, hardships and suffering, often times made lighter. perhaps, by happy visions of a future home. A description of these relics are not given for the past or present, but that the coming and future generations may know the design and style of residence that prevailed among the home- stead pioneer. The site was generally selected on a hillside or base of a ridge. Walls were usually made by digging out the earth, and were walled with rock when obtainable, or a layer of logs or poles. The excavation was ordinarily about twelve by fifteen feet, with a large fork set in the ground at each angle, and poles were laid across with a ridge pole in the center sufficiently strong to hold the heavy weight of earth and sod-the covering of the roof.
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
On the top of these rude structures there was often growing in har- mony together a mass of prairie grass, weeds and sunflowers. The front of the dugout is usually built of stone, or logs, with space for a door, per haps .one window, rarely two, sometimes none. In some instances a hole would be left for the purpose of admitting air and light. The floor was almost invariably of terra firma leveled smooth and cleanly swept.
Many of these crude huts sheltered families who had seen better days -even some who had been reared in the lap of luxury and have since figured most conspicuously and prominently in the history of Cloud county. Most of these pioneers were an intellectual. industrious people who came west to secure homes and to better their condition. They had all seen better days. There were no drones among them; for that class of people would not dare face the hardships a new country must impose. The settlers' wives were brave and true women and many of the dugouts were models of cleanliness and neatness and comfortable to the extent of their provisions for making them 50.
A Sunday school teacher in Glasco asked one of his brightest pupils "What kind of a house did Adam and Eve live in?" The young hopeful studied a moment, and thinking of the Kansas primitive mode of dwelling, replied. "In a dugout, I guess."
A PIONEER WEDDING.
The following pioneer wedding ceremony performed by the late Rever- end R. P. West, as given by Colonel F. J. Jenkins in The Northern Tier, is well worth reproducing :
"I was invited by a settler to visit one of those 'dugouts' and witness the marriage of his daughter. 'Be sure and come,' said the hospitable farmer and his wife, as they departed from town, with a goodly portion of pro- visions to be transformed into a wedding dinner. It was a mild October day, and committing the care of the office to the register and clerks, I shook the dust of Concordia from my feet, and rode into the country to attend the wedding at the 'dugout' of my friend.
"Ilis primitive mansion was situated at the base of a ridge, surrounded with a beautiful grove of his own planting. As I rode up the lane, on one side of the corn-field, the frosted blades rustled in the winds, and the weed- less ground was checkered with gold-colored sweet pumpkins. On the oppo- site side was a corral, in which several well-fed milch cows stood lazily, or leisurely walked toward the watering trough at the sound of the creaking of the well wheel, denoting that it was the time for moistening their capacious stomachs with nature's beverage. As I approached the dwelling my friend was issuing his commands to the playful children while caring for teams that had arrived, while his wife and a couple of neighbor ladies were dexter- ously plucking the feathers from the body of a large turkey and other fowls. and the prospective bride, blushing, and happy, was receiving her lady
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friends. Beneath the branches of the grove was a sward of blue grass, sown and cultivated by the settler. After caring for the teams, he showed me his farm, his fields and his improvements, closing his conversation by avowing his determination to build a more substantial residence in the near future.
"The hilarity of the guests upon arrival, evidenced that they were thor- ough partakers of the genuine enjoyment of witnessing a wedding on the frontier. The whole scene was one of happiness and pleasure.
"A number of the neighbors and friends of the parties had arrived. con- spicuous among whom was the officiating clergyman, the Reverend Romulus Pintus Westlake, with the conventional plug hat shading his manly brow. his bland countenance wreathed in happy smiles.
"I will not attempt to assume the role and claim the privilege of the professional 'Jenkins,' who frequents places of fashionable resort to describe stunning toilets and print personal gossip: but let this suffice for a descrip tion of the toilets of the homestead wedding party, that the neat calico dresses and sun-shade hats of the ladies, and the cheap but durable raiment of the gentlemen, were in harmony with the times, and with the plain, domestic spirit that prevailed in the homestead region. The hour having arrived for the ceremony, the 'dugout' being found inadequate to accommodate the assembly, an adjourument to the grove was carried unanimously. The Reverend Romulus appeared to be in his natural element. supremely happy. prefacing the ceremony with a flow of eloquence, and an elaborate allusion to the happy union about to be consummated beneath the canopy of heaven. according to the institutions and laws of God and man. After he had pro- nounced the parties man and wife. he proceeded, in an impressive manner, to give them some gratuitous advice as to their marital obligations. throw . ing in some camp meeting phrases concerning their duty to lead Christian lives, such as, 'Train up your children while young, in the way they should go, and when they become old they will not depart from it,' and kindred benevolent injunctions. Good advice, I thought, but rather premature.
"During the delivery of this exhortation. Romulus became so impressed with his subject, that with the surrounding scene and his anxiety for the happiness of the entire assembly, he appeared to be entranced, as though sud- denly inspired by the thought that he was in the midst of a wedding revival. similar in excitement to a camp-meeting outpouring. His musical and earnest voice rang out clear on the antimn breeze to the most remote portion of the assembly, and these were some of his expressions :
"'Are there not more of the young people in this crowd who desire to be made as happy as this couple, by uniting in the holy bonds of wedlock? If so, now is the accepted time. Let them come forth to the altar of conjugal bliss and embrace the present opportunity to be made happy."
"That appeal seemed to produce an electrical effect, as a couple of swains stepped forth from their seats. each leading by the hand a blushing
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damsel, with whom they had previously commenced a preliminary court- ship.
"At this juncture in the proceedings. Esquire O- - , a venerable home- stead settler, arose and objected. when a controversy occurred between him and Romulus, the 'squire saying :
"'1 have been jestice of the peace two terms, and the statut of Kansas (loes not 'low any one to marry without fust gittin' a license, and as I am a jestice of the peace, and by virtoo of my office as a peace officer, it is my bounden duty to object to these young people being married without fust gittin' a license.
"Romulus replied : " "Squire. I can mirry them, and they can afterwards procure the license. for human events are uncertain, and when a woman is once in the notion of marrying, if she is disappointed, she may not again consent to marry the man to whom she is first engaged, and should that be the misfortune of either of these young men, they may drift away on the sea of despair and commit the unpardonable sin of suicide. Remember, 'squire, that you and I were once young.
"The 'squire replied. earnestly : 'I say the p'int o' the business is, the license shall be issued before the marriage can be permitted, and it is my bounden duty as a jestice of the peace to see that the law is not violated."
"" "Squire. I can marry them and the license can be issued and dated back. I have known marriage licenses to be dated back under less favorable circumstances than those surrounding these young people."
"The 'squire still persisted in his objections, and the matter was finally submitted to me. I promptly decided that the justice was right, when Romulus yieldled, and advised the young men to hold the fort' until they could procure the license, and he would then marry them free of charge.
"In due time the tables were spread in the grove, and dinner announced. Such a dinner! It seemed that culinary skill had been taxed to the utmost to prepare the bountiful repast spread before the assembly-roast turkey, pyramids of cake, columns of pumpkin pies, suberb coffee, goblets of sweet milk, neatly indented rolls of choice butter, etc., etc. But why describe it? To appreciate such a dinner, one must be seated at the table and assist in dispatching it. 1 could verify my description of it by the affidavit of the Reverend Romulus, whose fondness for good dinners was signally displayed on that occasion. I became alarmed lest he might injure his health. as large portions of the turkey rapidly succumbed to his voracious appetite. My astonishment increased, however, when he attacked a column of pumpkin pies, and created sad havoc among the jelly dishes and other (lesert.
"Dinner over, the fiddler took a position on a bench under the shade of the trees, and the young people quickly formed for the customary dance. A number of the middle-aged men and women joined in the quadrille, and seemed to have renewed their youth as they tripped lightly to the inspiring music
"The Reverend Romulus became silent and thoughtful, and uttering
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
some partially incoherent remarks about the waywardness of mankind, called for his horse. I insisted on his remaining until the quadrille was ended. when we could say farewell to our host and the bride and bridegroom, and as an extra inducement, intimated that at the close of the ceremony he had omitted to salute the happy couple. I also urged that after taking leave of our friends I wouldl accompany him, as our rotte homeward was in the same direction for several miles.
"Meantime the dance progressed. The whole scene was one of enjoy- ment. The music, borne by the breeze to every part of the grove, and inter- rupted only by the clarion voice of the promoter, created a marked sensa- tion of pleasure. A group of elderly ladies gossiped as they watched the agile movements of the young men, and graceful, modest promenading of the young ladies. A stalwart settler, leaning against a tree. declared to a neighbor that, 'no new got-up cotillion could compare with the "old Vir- ginia reel." when he and the old woman were young.'
"The healthful, blushing faces of the ladies, and sun-tanned features of the gentlemen, when dancing, were radiant. indices of genuine pleasure and happiness.
"Romulus assumed an air of sadness, and addressing me, said, The linman heart is as prone to evil as the sparks to fly upward." As we rode down the lane his wit and humor revived. and when we separated beyond a grove, his musical voice rang out clear on the evening air as he sang. "When I can read my title clear.' etc.
"I could but reflect that, though eccentric, he possessed a noble heart. and the cause of Christianity was in trustworthy keeping within the bound- aries of his circuit on the frontier."
CHURCH ORGANIZATION OF THE FRONTIER.
Church work in the new settlement was somewhat sterile, a want that was sadly felt. Mr. Rupe says in his "Early Recollections." "We find even Hagaman, who considers himself the leading infidel in the country, judg- ing from what he says in his own paper, deploring the fact that Mrs. Mentz in her burial had neither singing nor prayer." Even after religious services had been instigated its progress was slow. It was over three years before public worship was held and very near seven years before a church was established in the county, dating from the first settlement. It is doubtful if a parallel case can be found.
The late Reverend R. P. West enjoyed not only the distinction of estab- lishing the first place of worship in the county. but delivered the first sermon. organized the first church and Sabbath school, and on down to a later date he preached the first sermon in Concordia. His work at one time embraced all of Cloud, Republic. Clay and a large part of Washington county, all of which are living witnesses of his early labors.
Toward the close of 1863. R. P. West settled in the Republican valley
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY. KANSAS.
and immediately began his ministerial efforts, hokling religions meeting's wherever the most convenient. Clifton. Washington county, was among the first meeting places, that being a sort of mid-way station between the set- tlements on Petes and Elm creeks. He organized a church there, but though so well centralized he found it necessary to solicit the members of various denominations to unite with the Methodist Episcopal church in order to effect an organization, under the promise that as soon as other churches were established they could claim the privilege of withdrawing and unite with the church of their choice.
Reverend West being a Methodist, and probably a majority of the set- tlers were of that persuasion, they were united under that head. About the same time. he began holding services at the home of "Uncle" Heller, which was in reach of most of the people. So it will be seen 1803 was the year religious services were observed in the county but no church organized until in the spring time of 1866.
During 1864, a young lady from Ohio, attended one of these meetings and was somewhat anxious to have the frontier minister pointed out to her. There was a well dressed man present who bore a rather sanctimon- ons look, and she asked a friend if that were not he, but received an answer in the negative. Presently a man entered clothed in a pair of overalls. an old black coat with a rip in one of the back side seams and anything but a dignified appearance. The young lady was surprised to receive a hunch from her friend, which intimated "that is the preacher."
.A Sabbath school was not organized until some time in 1864, at Clif- ton, and the following year in the Elk Creek settlement. The Baptist church was organized on January 10, 1867. under the ministration of the Reverend H. S. Cloud. The Reverend Cloud is deserving of more than passing men- tion. He lived on Fancy creek. Riley county. Although not a pretentious preacher. he was a man of education possessed of a rich and cultivated mund. He was devoted and self-sacrificing in his work. Ardnous in his labors on the frontier and well deserving. though he was scarcely remuner- ated for his toil. He afterward moved to lowa.
The Presbyterians had no organization until some time in May. 1870. The action taken at that time was of irregular order and it is doubtful whether that body dates its organization to this period. in which event the church in Concordia obtains precedence. This attempted organization was the work of the Reverend Mr. Chapin, then a resident of Irving.
The following is clipped from Colonel E. J. Jenkins' admirable little volume. The Northern Tier. The author was a warm personal friend of Reverend West and characterizes him in a humorous, but fitting way, as the Reverend Romulus Pintus Westlake.
"It was announced that he would preach in the land office building on a certain Sunday. Ile appeared at the appointed time and the settlers for miles around came to hear him. Upon inquiry it was ascertained that there was not a Bible in the village, and the preacher had failed to bring one,
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and likewise had forgotten his text, but intimated his ability to find it if he had a Bible. After reflecting a moment, he remembered detached por- tions of the passages, but had forgotten the exact language, or the order in which they appeared in Holy Writ. After the usual preliminary cere- monies, he proceeded as follows :
TIIE SERMON.
"My friends and fellow-travelers in this wild frontier region-the land of our adoption-my Christian duty impels me to appear before you and present to you that brightest jewel among the gifts bestowed upon mankind (the gospel), as taught by those who have gone before me-"the latchets of whose shoes I am unworthy to unloose." The regard I have for the truth compels me to admit that I have forgotten the chapter and verse, as well as the exact language of my text : but as near as I remember, it is about as follows: "Disturb not the old landmarks, though you be hewers of wood and drawers of water:" from which I deduce and supply the following as the foundation of my remarks on this occasion: "Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may." The text truly demonstrates that those who uttered it had an eye to business, temporal as well as spiritual. Whether Solomon was right in forbidding the removal of the old landmarks, or Joshua in imposing the duty of hewers of wood and drawers of water upon the conquered Canaanites, is a question too pro- found for a common preacher on the frontier, and I accept all Bible teach- ing as true, as I find it, without adding to or subtracting from it one jot or tittle.
" .But being without a Bible. I am compelled to use a figure of speech on which to base my sermon; hence my subject, "Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may, but disturb not the old landmarks in doing so." Judging all the homestead settlers by myself, they are all more or less "hewers of wood and drawers of water." in a physical and moral point of view, differing from the hewers and drawers of old time in this: that the homestead settlers are free and independent in a free country, while the old-time hewers and drawers were bondmen, or slaves. That part of the text that commands, "Disturb not the old landmarks," might be applied to the monuments and cornerstones erected by the surveyors when this country was surveyed, but I apply it to the moral and religious landmarks established by the church in its early days.
"'A departure from the old landmarks thus established, leads to new and doubtful theories and doctrines, and little by little the first principles and original doctrines are lost sight of, and infidelity, spiritualism and kindred dogmas usurp the place of the grand apostolic doctrines in the mind, and the original truths are discarded by those who seek the seductive paths of science and embrace the "liberal" tenets of infidelity. Therefore disturb not the old .doctrinal landmarks of faith, lest you meander too far 6
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
from the true line-the original witness-trees of monumental corners of the true survey.
" .The hewers of wood and drawers of water produce more happiness in the world than the nobles and aristocrats who bask in the sunshine of idleness, and subsist on the products of the honest toil of the laborers. The blood of a king whose commands rack a nation from center to circunfer- enece, and whose sword awes a continent into submission, is no better than that of the serf whom the king holds in bondage or in servile allegiance. Ile who was rocked in a sugar-trough for a cradle, and reared in the moss- grown log cabin, may be a better, happier and wiser man than the aristo- crat, whose infant cries were smothered with gorgeous drapery in a mag- nificent cradle, and reared amid the frescoed balls of a palace.
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