USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 14
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"I will close with a brief mention of many of those who figured in the history of El Dorado twenty-five years ago. Charles Selig, who was the head clerk and manager for Dr. White, is here today, one of the wealthiest citizens and one of the best all around informed men in this state. Geo. Tolle, then clerk with Charles Foulks, is still with us, a lead- ing merchant and a most respected man. Dr. J. A. Mckenzie, John Car- penter, Dr. J. P. Gordon, his son Miller and J. W. Small are still in the flesh and still call El Dorado their home, but time is telling on the old guard and their number, like the old army pensioners, will grow less with the passing of a few more years till the last one will be left to tell his tale of the early days to an audience unappreciative, out of touch in heart and mind : and who will call the teller of the blue moulded narra- tives a bothersome bore who is interested only in the musty past."
FROM THE WALNUT VALLEY TIMES OF MARCH, 1881.
In March, 1881, El Dorado had reached the dignity of 2152 people ; the county had a population of 17,096. From 1870 to 1875 there had been constant bickering and quarreling in the county over the location of the county seat. If no fight was on by reason of Augusta's efforts to wrest the county seat from El Dorado, then Douglass and Augusta combined in efforts to divide the county. These plans and plottings were flus- trated by more or less honestly conducted elections in each of which a greater or less number of illegal and bonus votes were cast, not by one but by both sides to the contests. The A. T. & S. F. Railway had ex-
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
tended a branch line from Florence to El Dorado in 1877 and El Dorado's trade was large from the southern part of the county until the Frisco Railway was constructed in 1879 and Beaumont, Leon and Andover, smart little towns, cut off a portion of the trade. There was much de- pression felt in El Dorado, it was feared that Augusta would again seek to take the county seat which increasing votes would enable her to do. But El Dorado had been hedging. In 1870, largely if not entirely through private subscriptions the east third of what was then the court house was erected. This building steadied the minds of the people in the central portion and northern half. Augusta made her last battle and lost it. Then in '75 the county commissioners "repaired" the court house and in doing so managed to 'a little more than double its size. Then "Honest John" Fullinwider effectively headed off further trouble in that direction. He was elected to the state legislature and passed an act providing that when county buildings whose cost was $10,000 or more were erected at the county seat, county seat elections should not be called oftener than once in five years and then only when petitioned by two-fifths of the qualified electors. Then the dissensions which had annoyed and disturbed the people for ten years forever disappeared. Things began to brighten for El Dorado because the Missouri Pacific railway was being extended from Ottawa southwest to Yates Center and the Fort Scott, Wichita & Western (now the Missouri Pacific) was organized and was building westward from Fort Scott, reaching El Do- rado in the winter of 1882-83, bringing in a period of growth and develop- ment to the town and ending in the "boom" of 1887.
March 4, 1881, T. B. Murdock, then editor and proprietor of the Times in a "Goodbye" to the people of Butler county, announced the sale of the paper to Alvah Shelden. He called attention to his eleven years of newspaper work, beginning as an inexperienced writer and edi- tor, of his endeavor to give the county a "respectable" newspaper and one that would represent the intelligence, the growth and prosperity of its people ; and how well he had succeed he left his friends to say. He regretted the severance of social and political ties. He commended Mr. Shelden as an "honest, competent, and trustworthy man."
The new editor in his greeting said: "From my youth it has been my desire to be editor and proprietor of a newspaper. There is nothing particularly inviting about the profession except its variety, there is the spice of life about it but it entails hard and constant work to make it suc- cessful."
In 1881, according to the "Times," practicing attorneys in El Dorado were A. L. Redden, Robert A. Cameron, C. B. Doughters, C. A. Leland, A. W. Dennison, A. L. L. Hamilton, Lafayette Knowles. F. L. Jones and S. E. Black; physicians, M. E. Pratt. E. Cowles, J. A. Mc- Kenzie, C. H. Davis and C. M. Hughey ; blacksmiths, Johnston & (William L.) Pattison; dentist. D. M. Doty; pork packing. John H. Betts ; hotels, El Dorado House, Central, Lutz & Jackman, proprietors ;
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the Whitehouse, Dr. Allen White, proprietor (now home of Vincent Brown) ; National Hotel, oppositte (north of) the court house, L. B. Snow, proprietor (now the White House), Mrs. Carrie A. Camp, pro- prietor) ; boot and shoemaker, Isaac DeCou and John Karouse, James Hughes; secret societies. Patmos Lodge, No. 97, A. F. & A. M .; El Dorado Lodge, No. 74, I. O. O. F., L. C. Pickerel. N. G., Joe E. Mc- Kenzie, secretary; Friendship Lodge, Rebeka Degree, W. H. Dulevy, N. G., R. H. Julian, secretary ; Knights of Honor. E. W. Hulse, dictator, G. M. Weeks. Reporter ; Royal Arch Masons, J. S. Dutton, H. P., C. N. James. Secretary ; markets, John R. Stewartson ; livery, Nate Roberson, Hecox & Fackler. I. N. and George Phillips (on the site of Ellett's opera house) ; architect, Charles A: Blanck ; lands, loans and abstracts, D. L. Knowles, S. L. DeTalent & Company, (Thomas E.) Woods & (S. E.) Black; coal, J. F. Bartles; auctioneer, A. M. Warren; furniture, Abraham Muselman & Son, J. T. Oldham & Company ; millinery, Mrs. J. W. Davis; land and loan agents at Leon, J. M. Kilts and J. King; stationery, (Alvah) Shelden & (Marion) Shelden, Dr. A. Barrett; El Dorado mills, Burdett & Weeks, proprietors ; money lender. George W. Scott ; nursery stock. William Litson, of Benton ; dressmaking and sew- ing. Mrs. Coney ; land and loan agents, William J. Cameron and J. M. Lambert ; dry goods, clothing, ladies' cloaks, John H. Ewing & Com- pany, H. H. Gardner & G. W. Tolle (who dissolved partnership at this time-Gardner to enter the Exchange bank as cashier). Meyer & Bros. (J. C. and Fred), including groceries : hardware, W. W. Pattison, Maris & Ream. (Ed. C.) Ellett and (C. L.) Turner; sewing machines, J. B. Marcum ; Exchange bank, Neil Wilkie, president, Dr. Allen White, vice- president, Samuel L. Shotwell, cashier ; Western Lumber Company, M. M. VanDenberg, manager; billiard parlor and saloon, James Thomas ; druggist. (C. H.) Selig & (G. D.) Gossard (dissolved partnership about that time) ; Dr. Addison Bassett.
The officials of Butler county in 1881 were as follows: E. S. Tor- rence, judge ; C. P. Strong, county clerk ; Milton Bradley, treasurer ; W. H. Douglass, sheriff : E. D. Stratford, probate judge; E. E. Harvey, register of deeds ; Lafe Knowles, county attorney; C. N. James. clerk of the district court; J. W. Shively, county superintendent ; H. C. Gabbart. county surveyor ; J. M. Williamson, coroner; H. N. Pearse, Chelsea ; S. F. Packard, Rosalia, and M. Guinty, of Fairmount, county commis- sioners.
Of course, not all of the business of El Dorado was represented in the "Times." but the larger portion was.
EL DORADO IN 1916.
El Dorado, the principal city and capitol of the "State of Butler," the largest county in Kansas, has a population of about 4,000. It is the geographical center of one of the wealthiest farming and stock-raising
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counties in the West. It is beautifully located on the west bank of the Walnut river and sits like a queen on her throne, overlooking the pictur- esque and fertile Walnut valley, one of the richest portions of country east of the Rockies, and teeming with rural life and wealth, the result of nearly a half century of the toil, frugality and economy of the people who in all these years have called this "Garden of the West" home.
From a humble beginning, it has grown to be one of the most im- portant points in Kansas from a social and business standpoint. Few cities of its size can show cleaner pages in municipal history, or a more solid. substantial balance in the ledger of the business world. Figures will not lie, nor will the balance sheet of the accountant mislead or deceive. The statements made in these pages are quotations from the records and are founded upon fact. Investigation by the doubter or the honest inquirer will reveal that no city of its size outside the manu- facturing districts can show a greater volume of business, in receipts and shipments, trade in mercantile lines, bank deposits, receipts from the sale of cattle, horses, mules, hogs, poultry, eggs, dairy products and alfalfa and prairie hay, than passes through the legitimate chan- nels in this market.
. Two systems of railroads, the Santa Fe and Missouri-Pacific, with the McPherson branch, make it a point easily accessible from all direc- tions, and these lines make close connections with trains on other lines from the principal cities north and southeast and west. Two good depots, one a new and strictly modern building. furnish ample accommodation to waiting travelers and have the capacity to care for and handle all of the enormous freight traffic that makes this city its destination.
County roads run in all directions through the country tributary to El Dorado, which ordinarily are kept in fine condition and make travel- ing on the public highways a pleasure. These roads are under the direct supervision of the county commissioners and a fund is provided ample for keeping them in good condition.
The schools of El Dorado are not only the pride of the city and country, but they, because of the high standard of their management and the success attained, have gained a reputation that is state-wide and attracted many outside of the confines of Butler county. The high and grade schools are surpassed by none and have few equals. Besides these very essential features El Dorado has nine churches, a high school, a grade school, two ward schools, and two to be erected at once. in time for next term; a $10,000 Carnegie library, a new $100,000 court house ; a movement is on foot to erect a $30,000 jail ; more than two miles of new street paving, and the contract is let for forty-three blocks more, which is in process of construction.
The city is illuminated with a beautiful white way, and a system of Tungsten street lamps, which are located on all the principal streets. These lights are furnished by current from the service of the Kansas
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Gas and Electric Company, which supplies light, heat and power to the business and homes of El Dorado. A system of natural gas is furnished by the Wichita Natural Gas Company for heating and lights. One of the most complete and efficient system of water works to be found in the West is owned by El Dorado and under municipal control. There are four banks, four big department stores, two general stores, two shoe stores, two big furniture stores, two undertakers, two large hardware and implement stocks, four large garages, five drug stores, two book stores and news stands, four jewelry stores, three dry cleaning and tailoring establishments, four hotels and seven restaurants and rooming houses, one ice plant, one carriage factory, one steam laundry, two meat markets, five bakeries, five grocery stores, six lumber yards, five black- smith and wagon shops, two second-hand stores, four repair and shoe shops, two daily papers, two weekly papers, three printing establish- ments, one municipal building, six barber shops, two clothing stores, five supply houses for the oil field, one hospital, eight physicians and prac- titioners, one photographer, two millinery stores, one opera house, two moving picture theaters, one dairy barn, four livery and feed stables, one alfalfa mill, two fine parks, one branch of the Bell telephone system, two electric shops, three dentists, fifteen attorneys, two abstract offices, twelve real estate and insurance offices, one tinshop, one candy factory. one coal yard and hack line, two delivery systems, one transfer line, one poultry house, one marble and granite works, two elevators and warehouses, two plumbing establishments, sixty producing oil wells in the newly discovered field, and more being brought in daily; four oil companies located with permanent offices in El Dorado, and contractors and builders commensurate with the live, growing town, and one which has the brightest prospects in the universe.
El Dorado is most favorably located, has the most beautiful scenery, and more of it; more stately trees, whose branches meet across the street, and more of them, than any town in the West. It is a city of homes, many of them palatial. Its educational and church privileges and its high social standard make it an ideal community in which to live. It is a clean city, inhabited by a live, energetic class who never knew failure because of a disposition to do things and possessed of a feeling of pride in themselves and neighbors.
This story would not be complete without mention of El Dorado's Commercial Club, which is not only thoroughly organized, but has just completed the furnishing of elegant quarters, where the business inter- ests of the community center and where the stranger looking for busi- ness and investment will find a cordial welcome and render every as- sistance it is possible to give. The members are a lively bunch, and their watchword is "El Dorado."
CHAPTER X.
TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND TOWNS. (Continued.)
FAIRMOUNT TOWNSHIP -- FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP-GLENCOE TOWNSHIP- HICKORY TOWNSHIP-LINCOLN TOWNSHIP-LITTLE WALNUT TOWN- SHIP-LEON-LOGAN TOWNSHIP.
FAIRMOUNT TOWNSHIP. By M. Guinty.
Fairmount township was organized January 6, 1873. The first election was held in April following. The first township officers elected were: M. Guinty, trustee; A. J. Nation, treasurer; I. J. Davis, clerk; J. Cutler and F. S. Wallace, justices of the peace; D. M. Daffron and G. A. Watson, constables.
In 1870, H. D. Olinger and family, J. C. Olinger, George M. Daffron and James W. Ferguson came from LeClare county, Minnesota, and located in what is now Fairmount township. John W. Williams came in May, 1871, and Asa White in the fall of 1870, but later moved to Story county, Iowa. Mace Nickeson, John Fullerton and Samuel Fullerton moved from Illinois in the fall of 1870. Albert Worline, Marion Worline, Jerome Worline. Monroe Worline, John Burns and Alexander Kennedy came from Pleasant Hill, Cass county, Missouri, in May, 1871. Evan Jones and Dick Jones came in May 1871 also. J. K. Nellans came from Rochester, Fulton county, Indiana, March 22, 1876. In 1878 he bought and settled on the northwest quarter of section 3, which he made his home until February 27, 1916, when he met death by being run down by a Rock Island passenger train at Elbing. Kan. Peter Dyck, Abraham Regier, J. W. Regier and Bernhardt Regier came from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1885. These people were the nucleus of the Mennonite Ger- man settlement which has extended at this time to almost one-third of the present township. They are among our best citizens and have some of the finest farms and best improvements there are in the county. They are good citizens, thrifty, honest and hard-working men and women and attend to their own business strictly, apparently enjoying life to its full- est extent.
In May, 1871, the following families came from Woodbine, Harrison county, Iowa : I. J. Davis, John A. Baskins, A. Davenport, M. Guinty,
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William Robinson and Henry Robinson. Singleton Shepherd came from Missouri in 1870 and resided here until 1890, when he left and moved to Chautauqua county, Kansas. Mathew Stipe came from Indiana in October, 1873, and is still residing in the township. A. J. Nation came in March, 1871, and died on the home place in March, 1905. J. J. Lyon and James Clark came from Missouri in 1871. J. B. Spangler came from Pleasant Hill, Mo., and settled on the south half of the northeast quarter of section 14. He is one of the few that still owns and resides on the land which he homesteaded. Alexander Hewitt came from Keokuk, Iowa, with his family in May, 1871, and still owns and resides on his original homestead. Milton Embry came from Missouri in 1872. A. G. Moore, J. P. Moore, Aaron Branson and A. Brubaker and families came from Iowa in 1871. Hiram Brown located in the township in 1871. In addition to those above named, quite a number of others settled in the township in early days and have since moved away and their where- abouts are unknown.
Fairmount township did not have as many homestead settlers as some of the other townships in the county for the reason that the odd numbered sections in the township were the property of the Sante Fe Railroad Company, having been donated to it by the government to as- sist it in constructing the railroad, and these sections were not subject to homestead entry, and hence there was not as many homesteaders in our township as in other townships. The township has seven miles of railroad, being a branch of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company. The town of Elbing is an enterprising little place, consist- ing of a bank, of which Herman Jackson is president, and D. C. Crosby is cashier ; two general stores, a hardware and implement store, lumber yard, together with a postoffice, blacksmith shop and other lines of business and all seem prosperous. More live stock is shipped from this point than any other point within 100 miles of it on the Rock Island railroad. For a number of years, the citizens of this town were com- pelled to go to Peabody in Marion county to get their mail, that being the nearest postoffice.
FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP.
January 6, 1873.
Fairview township is described as follows: Township 25, range 4, east. The first officers were elected April 5, 1873, as follows : For jus- tice, J. M. Randall received 31 votes and Lewis Maxwell received 31 votes. They cast lots and Maxwell won. For clerk, H. H. Hulburt, 31 votes (elected), and G. S. Nye, 31 votes ; for treasurer, J. A. Godfrey, 31 votes (elected), and H. G. Whitcomb, 31 votes; justices of the peace, Milton Braley and Isaac Varner were elected; constables, E. A. Mc- Anally and Benjamin Atkison were elected.
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PIONEERS OF FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP.
By H. H. Hulburt, in 1895.
It is pleasant to look over the past and to note the events of long ago. In my boyhood days I used to take great delight listening to my father, and an uncle whose name I bear, talking over their early history, incidents of their boyhood days, and of scenes and neighbors of their old home in old Connecticut. There is a fellow feeling the old settlers of any community have for each other, and to recount the scenes and events of which each one is a part and personally interested is pleas- ant and helps to bind the ties of friendship and the bonds that make us neighbors and friends.
The first settlement made in my township, Fairview, was by a Swede named John Hink, in 1857, near the mouth of Rock creek. The same year, but a little later in the season, a man by the name of Burge At- wood settled in the northwest corner of the township. Atwood went to the war and died in the service of his country. In 1866 John Fulk bought the place of his widow. Fulk lived on the place ten or twelve years and moved to Elk County. Wesley Hager settled in the southwest part of the township in 1858. He did not own the place and left it, and a man by the name of McKee sold it to Martin Green, who in turn sold it to J. R. Appleman. In 1858 Peter Johnson settled in the northwest part of the township. He went to California. Isaac Gillian, Daniel Mosier, Anthony Davis, Ben Atkinson and Kirk and Perkins lived on section 19 at different times between 1860 and 1870. The first really permanent settlement on this section was made by Lewis Maxwell in the spring of 1872. Christian Jacobs settled in the northwest part of the township in 1866. His time of residence dates back farther than anyone now re- siding in the township. S. S. McFarlane settled in 1868 and is the sec- ond oldest resident. J. P. Blankenship settled on the townsite in 1867. He left years ago and when last heard from was in Arizona. Twenty- four years ago, during the summer and fall of 1870, the following persons made permanent settlement in the township: J. A. Godfrey, Hezekiah Hayman and son Robert, W. H. Fountain, Levi Thompson, E. B. Cook, J. F. Wheaton, F. M. McNally, A. J. Boyles, E. O., G. S. and J. T. Nue, Martin Pierce, A. S. Cory, G. D. McDonald, H. B. Hulburt, L. V. Olin, Silas Welch, Joseph Sharp and Frank Tipton, and of these twenty-nine are still residents of the township. Hezekiah Hayman and wife are both dead and are buried in the West El Dorado cemetery. His youngest son, H. C. Hayman, now lives on the old place ; Robert Hayman lives in Middleport, Ohio; Levi Thompson lives in Michigan; J. T. Wheaton, when last heard from, lived near Charlotte, Mich. G. S. Nye left here twenty years ago, married and lives at Galesburg, Mich. His oldest daughter came to Kansas last summer and is teaching the school in the Coppins district in Plum Grove. G. D. McDonald, when last heard from,
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was in Chicago; Martin Pierce died some fifteen years ago and is buried in the West El Dorado cemetery ; his widow still lives on the old farm. Joeph Sharp lives in El Dorado and is an extensive fruit grower ; Frank Tipton died in Colorado and was brought back and buried in the Tow- anda cemetery.
During the spring, summer and fall of 1871, the following persons settled in the township : I. D. Varner, George Byers, Thomas Andrews, William Paul, Levi Varner, H. H. Hulburt, J. A. Haymaker, Bert Olin, William Snyder, J. F. White, D. D. Winkler, William Painter, A. L. Wheaton, Richard Childers, Richard Taylor, J. M. Randall, H. G. Whit- comb, F. Flagg, Jacob DeCou, Mrs. S. J. Foskett, George Foulk, F. Meyers, Martin Reynolds, J. R. Appleman, William Grey, John Edmis- ton, E. G. Richards, John Hayes, John Stunkard, D. W. Weidman, Mil- ton Braley, Charles Torrey, D. M. Baker, J. S. Dick, Mr. Potter and Charles Girod. Of these thirty-six only nine are still here in the town- ship. . Three, Milton Braley, William Paul, William Grey, are dead. Four are living in El Dorado, Richard Childers, Jacob DeCou, Martin Reynolds and D. W. Weidman. Thomas Andrews and L. M. Varner are in Oklahoma, Bert Olin is in Ohio, J. F. White is in Iowa, H. G. Whitcomb is in New Mexico, J. A. Haymaker is in Colorado and D. M. Baker is in Iowa. The whereabouts of the rest are unknown.
As this is not designed as a complete history, but to recall the early scenes of the county, I will not follow the settlement farther than the year 1871.
The first township election was held in April, 1873, nearly twenty- two years ago. I. D. Varner was elected one of the justices at that election. He is still a resident of the township and was elected to the same office last November. E. B. Cook and H. B. Hulburt killed a deer near where the Springdale school house now stands, during the winter of 1870 and 1871.
There are a few persons who deserve mention as early comers who are not usually spoken of in that connection. They were boys and girls when they came with their parents, but have grown to be men and women and the heads of families. Miss Rosette Childers is Mrs. E. B. Cook and has six daughters to help wash the dishes and make things lively. H. T. Foskett is married and has two pretty little girls and lives within a few rods of where he held the plow while his mother drove the ox team to break the first sod. Henry Hayman lives on the place his father homesteaded a quarter century ago; his wife was Miss Maud Heath, of Towanda. Then there are the Baker boys, Warren, Jake and Milton. Warren went to Iowa and got a wife and Jacob mar- ried Miss Minnie Varner, whose parents were among the first settlers here. Milt has rented a farm with a house on it and married Miss Dona Cameron. I. D. Varner has so many girls scattered around here and there that he can hardly keep track of them. Susie, however, is still a resident of the township, the wife of A. N. Torrey, and is prosperous
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and happy. Emery Varner was a small kid when he came here. Ile is married now and lives near his old home. Most of the young people who came here at an early day and have married have, like their fathers, gone west or to Oklahoma.
In these early times it used to be a pleasant pastime in the fall of the year for two, three or more neighbors to drive to the Medicine Lodge country and hunt buffalo and lay in a supply of meat for the winter. "Jerked" buffalo is good, but the bison of the prairie, like the noble Red Man. is a thing of the past.
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