History of Butler County Kansas, Part 15

Author: Mooney, Vol. P
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan. : Standard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 946

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We look back with many pleasant reminiscences, contemplate with pleasure and meditate upon the scenes and incidents of the past. Most of these recollections are pleasing, but there are some that cast a gloom and a sadness over us.

A tragedy occurred during the fall of 1872. On the afternoon of October 20, a prairie fire started in the west part of the township, and the "head" fire spread in a northeast direction. Al Wheaton, his wife and two children, a girl and boy, were on the prairie with an Ox team near Four-Mile creek. When they saw the fire approaching, Mrs. Wheaton became frightened and took her little boy and jumped from the wagon. There were no improvements near and at that time no hedge rows broken, nothing to stop a prairie fire when once started. There were but few roads in the township at that time except the old Cali- fornia trail, but that would have no effect in stopping such a prairie fire. A prairie fire in those days was a fearful thing. Mr. Wheaton saw the danger they were in and tried to save his wife and boy. The little girl was left in the wagon, the team ran away, and this was the means of saving the little girl's life. The roaring, panting, awful flames came rolling on. They were all badly burned, and in a few hours death relieved Mrs. Wheaton and the little boy of their sufferings. Mr. Wheaton was so badly burned that he barely escaped with his life and was helpless all winter. One of their nearest neighbors saw the sad af- fair and caught the team and took the family home. The tragic death of Ainsworth Baker, son of D. M. Baker, was another sad event in early history. He was herding cattle for James F. White and went out in the morning as usual and was never seen alive. He rode a mule and it was seen late in the afternoon without a rider. Search was made, but young Baker was not found until the next day and was so mangled as not to be recognizable. Three Indians were seen in the vicinity that day, but whether they had anything to do with the death is not known.

Edwin Corey is one of the boys who grew up here, married and is still a resident of the township.

The early pioneer did not have the easiest time by any means. There were difficulties to overcome and trials and privations to endure. In 1871 Emporia was the nearest railroad point and freighting was a busi- ness that gave employment to many, and to be caught out on the prairie with a load of freight in a blizzard placed a fellow in a trying situation ;

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and yet that was the way many of the well-to-do farmers of the present day paid for their sugar and coffee, their flour and bacon, while they were getting a start.

The grasshopper year of 1874 was peculiarly distressing and fraught with trials and difficulties that tried the pluck and energies and stick-to- itiveness of the average Kansan. Butler county was in an undeveloped . condition. Her resources were dormant and what at that time made her grateful for the kindness and help of friends and the charity of the world would at this time be thought to be trifling and insignificant. The summer of 1874 was a dry one; the amount of cultivated land was small, the experience in farming in Kansas was limited and the teams almost invariably small. Added to the drouth was the inevitable chinch bug, and when the first of August came there was little left to encourage the farmer and nothing left to appease the appetite of man or beast. On Saturday, August 7, a little before noon, grasshoppers came in count- less millions. They literally obscured the sun, and what little of corn and potatoes and "garden truck" there was was licked up immediately. Something had to be done to relieve the wants of the people and make it possible for the settlers to live through the winter. And let me say right here that a wrong impression prevails in the East to this day in regard to this time and trial. It is still thrown at our State that we had to depend on the charity of friends. The older States seem to think we are not a producing people, and this, too, right in the face of the fact that Butler county has sent train loads of corn and provisions to re- lieve the flooded districts of Ohio, and the destitute of other places. Dr. Allen White and others went East and solicited aid for the people here. Donations came in generously, for which the people were very grateful. A county committee, J. C. Riley, Sr., C. C. Currier, J. D. Connor and Dr. Allen White were appointed to receive and distribute the provisions and clothing donated. Augusta also had a committee and made appeals for help. Lewis Maxwell, of Fairview, went to his old home in McLean county, Illinois, and secured a carload of corn. When it came it was divided up into ten-bushel lots and given to the farmers. That ten bushels of corn to each was all that many a man had to feed his team while he put in his next crop.

Those days are of the past, and Butler county and Kansas are able to take care of themselves and are ready and willing to help others of new and stricken lands if need be.

Added by Rollo Hulburt, 1916.

S. S. McFarlane died several years ago and his widow lives in El Dorado. J. A. Godfrey moved to Arkansas eighteen or twenty years ago, where he died. E. B. Cook and wife live at Elcelsior Springs, Mo. F. M. McAnally died and his widow lives on the old place. A. J. Boyles lives on the old place, his wife having died in 1916. S. A. Cory and wife

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IHISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

live in Towanda. H. B. Hulburt and wife are one of the few couples that live on the old homestead. I. D. Varner lives with his son Emery in Southwest Fairview and is in very poor health. II. HI. Hulburt's widow lives on the old homestead. Richard Childers lives in El Dorado. J. M. Randall lives on the old home place with his daughter ; his wife died some years ago. Mrs. L. J. Foskett lives on her old homestead with her son, Herman. He has bought the place. John Edmiston and wife live in Towanda. Charley Torrey moved to Colorado years ago. . Charles Girod and wife live in the township. J. T. Nye died a few years ago. His son, Roy, lives on the old place. Mrs. Martin Pierce is deceased, and her youngest son Will lives on their old place. Chris Jacobs is dead and his youngest son Charley lives on the old homestead. Warren Baker, wife and family live in Fairview. Jacob Baker and fam- ily moved to Sumner county three years ago. Milton Baker and family moved to California years ago.

GLENCOE TOWNSHIP.

By L. D. Hadley.

What! Shall I write the history of a township? I, a beardless youth with matted hair? Wait! Hold on, old boy, look in the glass. Well, no wonder, when I stop to think, it was more than thirty years ago since I first cast my eyes on the beautiful prairie that constitutes Glencoe township. My first night was spent in the little village of Keighley. On inquiry I found that this town had been platted and deeded by Moses Turpen and Josephine, his wife, August 16, 1880, the same year the Frisco railroad was built, who, by the way, were at this time living in a dug-out or sod house just south of town. These were pious people of Mormon Faith-some of their descendants still live in Butler county. Perhaps the most striking character in the village was Uncle Stephen Thurman, who, for many years, kept hotel ; but time has moved him and his good wife on and out. Of the older people living near Keighley, we might mention Allen Brown and wife, both deceased now. A number of their descendants are now figuring in the game of life in and near the town ; also John Brown, Alex Husk. H. M. Taylor, the Paynes, G. W. Miller, John McRitchie, - Blankenbaker, Benjamin Fillmore and many others who served their time well, but now deceased. I believe the oldest settler of Glencoe township now living is Joel Parker, who still resides where he did thirty or more years ago. John Hoover, who drove his covered wagon into grass as high as the wagon itself and drove the stake on his claim, which was his home for many years after- ward, is living in Oklahoma. F. J. B. King, now of El Dorado, was close to the first settler in the township. W. B. Keith was an old soldier and prominent township politician, will be remembered by many. Keith church was due to his energy.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

Glencoe also has another town, Beaumont, located on the edge of the Flint Hills country. It was platted and deeded by Edwin Russell and Emma, his wife, March 28, 1881. Several additions have been platted, such as Cooper's, Hightower's, Summit and Rogers' additions. This thriving little vallage not only has the Frisco railroad, but a branch road built in 1885 leading off to the south and connecting Beaumount with many towns of importance. This town has a railroad turn-table and furnishes work for a number of men. The Beaumount State bank was organized in 19-, and F. T. Hopp is now cashier. This village is quite a healthy place in which to live and contains a number of happy people, and all lines of business are represented and in a prosperous condition.

Glencoe township was formerly a part of Little Walnut township. On May II, 1877, a petition was presented to the board of county com- missioners asking that that portion of Little Walnut described as all of township 27. range 7, and all of township 27, range 8 in Butler county be organized as Glencoe township. The petition was granted and the first officers elected were: John J. Brown, trustee; G. W. Miller, treas- urer; John McRitchie, clerk; Charles Taliaferro and W. B. Keith, jus- tices of the peace; F. J. B. King and Peter Johnson, constables.

HICKORY TOWNSHIP.

By J. O. Evertson.

Probably the first settler that lived in Hickory township was a man by the name of Myers, who, with his two wifes, lived in what is now the David Brittian farm, but, like the element to which he belonged, he was compelled to keep in advance of civilization and so moved on about the year 1870. A child of his was probably the first white child born in the township, also a boy of his was probably the first white child buried in the township.

Dr. J. A. McGinnis, a widower, together with his brother, A. F. Mc- Ginnis, and his two sons, S. A. and W. F., came from Lyons county in the year 1868 and settled on a claim in the forks of Hickory on the southwest quarter of 14-28-7, and a part of which is now owned by Samuel Ramp and the remainder by James Brewer. His brother, A. F. McGinnis, pre-empted the land now owned by Clarence Dillon, the southeast quarter of 15-28-7. Among the next arrivals were J. A. Arm- strong, who bought out Mr. Myers, and established a general store at Old Brownlow. Mr. Bartholomew and J. F. Comstock arrived about the year 1871 and settled on the south fork of Hickory. About this time J. M. Hampton and family came from Kentucky. Before they had settled on their claim and while yet living in their wagon, they had the misfortune to lose their only daughter, and, there being no graveyard, she was buried on what afterward became their home, now the farm

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owned by Frank Comstock. About this time Wesley Cornell settled on what is now a part of the Evertson farm. H. L. Lemon pre-empted what is now the Will Hurt farm. Settlers began to arrive thick and fast. Aaron Surber, John Wing, John Hearne, Will Drury, N. Blunt, A. D. Stone, for whom Stone Branch was named, some of whom settled, and others drifted on away. Jerry Campbell, who now resides at Mor- rison, Okla., and H. M. Shannon, now of Attica, Kan., were typical happy-go-lucky, carefree bachelors of the frontier. When Hickory township was settled, Emporia was the nearest railroad town, from where most of the provisions were freighted. The first store was operated by Dr. J. A. McGinnis at his residence, where he dispensed green coffee, salt pork, sorghum molasses and corn meal. Few luxuries found their way into these frontier stores. With him from his home in Coffey county, he brought the first seed corn, which he sold at $5 per bushel.

The first regular mail was carried from El Dorado by a son of Wesley Cornell. The trip was made weekly, most of the time upon a bare-backed pony, for which service he reecived the princely sum of $3 per trip. The first school for Hickory township was conducted by a Mrs. Whittlesy, the wife of Fie Whittlesy, on the Hayes farm, now owned by Marvel Kelly. The first church service, which consisted chiefly of exhorting and hymn singing, was conducted at the home of J. A. McGinnis. The audience consisted chiefly of the local bachelors and recruits from the neighboring settlement on Rock creek, near the present site of Latham. Among these visitors were Prosser brothers, Will, James and Alvah, and the VanMeters. The first Sunday school was organized in 1881 by Dr. J. B. Carlisle, who was then just a school teacher, teaching in what is known as the Lost school house. Here the school was organized. When his term of school was out, Mrs. Martin Reecher took up the Sunday school work and continued it intermittently until her death a few years ago. The first court of justice for Hickory township was conducted by a justice of the peace named Lamont, who resided over the line in Logan township. His court was very popular because it was an established rule that all cases in his court were de- cided in favor of the party bringing the suit.

June 16, 1871, the settlement was visited by a cyclone which, having destroyed the city of El Dorado, lifted and did little or no damage until it reached Hickory township, where it committed havoc in the timber. The Semishes, who had recently arrived from Holton and were vet camping, were all, six in number, in their covered wagon. This wagon was blown over and fortunately no one was hurt. Jerry Campbell and Billy Brown were camped in a shack on their claim on Honey creek ; the shack was blown away and the occupants were blown into the creek. The two-story frame house of Dr. J. A. McGinnis, which was at that time the only frame house in the township and probably the only two- story house in the county, was totally destroyed. In this connection might be mentioned the destructive fire which visited the township in

(II)

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

the fall of 1873. It originated somewhere near El Dorado and, driven by a northwest wind, swept rapidly across the country, driving the coyotes, deer and other wild inhabitants of the prairie scurrying before it, leaping streams as it came to them and leaving desolation in its wake, surging on toward the Indian Territory. Lumber which Michael Semist had hauled all the way from Humboldt, which he had to build his house, was burned while he looked on helplessly.

A history of the township's early development would not be com- plete without mentioning the vigilantes, which were organized by Dr. J. A. McGinnis and whose duty it was to dispense practical justice, un- hampered by the frills and red tape of court proceedings. To illustrate : A certain Jack Armstrong, of unsavory reputation, was known to im- port and harbor lawless characters for the purpose of jumping claims of legitimate settlers. The vigilantes waited upon him at night and de- livered their ultimatum to the effect that he leave the country within a stated time: a fight or rather a rackett ensned. Some shots were fired, some of which passed through the house of the host. It was never known whether the shots were fired by the visitors or by the host him- self, after the party was over, in an attempt to create incriminating evi- dence against the vigilantes to be used when they should be summoned before the federal grand jury, as they were the following winter at his instigation, claiming to recognize the members of the committee by their voices. However, nothing came of it.

The township was organized, as it now exists, February 24, 1875. The petition for organization was headed by J. L. Moore and signed by fifty-three others. It was granted and an election ordered, and it was held at the residence of J. A. McGinnis, April 6, 1875, at which election the following officers were elected: W. S. Dubois, trustee; J. F. Com- stock, treasurer; A. F. McGinnis, clerk; Thomas Campbell and W. H. Baxter, justices of the peace; R. Joiner and J. W. Hearne, constables; Z. T. Huston, road overseer whose duties were purely imaginary.

From this meager beginning, Hickory township has advanced to an enviable position among the family of townships in Butler county. It now boasts a population of 500, has under fence 23,820 acres, and in 1915 produced animals for slaughter valued at $26,725. It had 2,700 acres of kafir corn, 869 acres of alfalfa. 577 tons of hay, produced 3,830 pounds of butter, and marketed milk and cream amounting to $6,642; poultry valued at $4,495, and has in cultivation a total of 15,495 acres. Hickory has also produced its full total of country school teachers, preachers and missionaries, and the following county officers: W. S. Buskirk, county surveyor ; C. W. Buskirk, county surveyor ; H. I. French, county super- intendent ; J. O. Evertson, county treasurer.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP.

By George W. Stinson.

On the eleventh day of July, 1879, a petition was presented to the board of county commissioners, signed by P. J. Hawes and fifty-two others, asking that certain territory be taken from Chelsea and Syca- more townships and organized as a township, to be called Lincoln township. The petition was laid over until the next regular meeting of the board, and in October, 1879, the petition was granted and all election ordered held at the regular election in November at Woodward precinct, for the election of township officers, which resulted as fol- lows: George Hobbs, trustee; William Hoover, treasurer; A. H. Rose, clerk; C. Wing and John M. William, justices of the peace; Frank Free- man and James Rhodes, Jr., constables.

A great portion of the northern part of the township was known as "Speculator's Land," that is, land belonging to non-residents, having been located by land warrants or script of some kind at a price of from fifty cents per acre up to $1.25. The odd numbered sections had been granted the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company by the government to assist in constructing the railroad through the State.

The first settlement was in the southern portion by Charles Jeffer- son, in the late fifties, who came here with Dr. Lewellyn, followed by Nattie Thompson and John Hobbs in the early sixties. In the summer of 1869, a family by the name of Johnson located on what is now the Nuttle ranch, in the southwestern part of the township, and the whole family, consisting of father, mother and three children, were drowned during that year.

An Englishman, name now forgotten, settled on what is now a por- tion of the Dowse farm, north of DeGraff. Section 27 was owned by Dr. Allen White and was always known as the Doctor's. Peter Hawes, John and F. C. Riley, Jr., William Bost, the writer, George W. Stinson and a few others were among the early settlers of what is now Lincoln township. A man by the name of Dick owned the land in section 26, through which the F. E. & W. V. railroad now runs, and Dick's Station was at one time the first station north of El Dorado, the postoffice being kept there and was called Woodward, after the maiden name of Mrs. Dick. There was no settlement north of this until you crossed the county line. A public road ran north to Florence and the United States mail was carried through by that way to El Dorado, Winfield and Ar- kansas City. Later, Col. A. C. Ramsey located near where the town of DeGraff now stands, purchaing nearly all the then vacant land in the township. He laid out the town of DeGraff, moved Dick's Station to that place, was instrumental in having a depot erected and stock vards built to accommodate himself and the cattle men of northeast Butler, and it is a fact that at one time more cattle were unloaded at those

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

stock yards for grazing purposes than at any railroad station in the world.

But very few of the early settlers survive. Some have moved to other lands ; some have gone to that country from which they do not return. Some few and descendants of others are still living in the county.

Lincoln township is one of the banner townships of the county, adapted to both agriculture and stock raising, having some of the finest farms and ranches in the county, with a branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad traversing its entire length from north to south, a distance of about fifteen miles.

LITTLE WALNUT TOWNSHIP.

By Charles R. Noe.

The Indian Trust Lands: Terms of Settlement. The Osage In- dians owned a strip of land across the south side of the state of Kansas, fifty miles wide, which included the south half of Butler county until the year 1868, when a strip twenty miles wide, which included all of the reservation in this county, was ceded to the United States government. in trust. to be sold to actual settlers. The price and terms of settlement were not promulgated until the summer of 1869. viz., from forty to one one hundred and sixty acres, in legal subdivisions and compact form. i. e., square quarters or forties must adjoin or Z-shape or a forty wide and a mile long or less, to each qualified settler. The price was $1.25 per acre. The claimant must have at least ten acres of sod broken and living water, a well or spring (many wet weather springs at certain seasons served the purpose), and a house (a shanty, a dugout, a sod house, or even a hay house passed muster in those days.) An actual occupation of at least six months was required, but the great majority of the prairie claims were not "proved up" until 1880-1881. When de- siring to make his final proof. the claimant appeard at the. United States land office, located at Humboldt until the fall of 1870, removed to Augusta and thence to Wichita in 1872, where he received a declara- tory statement of his intention to make his final proof. This statement gave the date and the names of two witnesses, neighbors, who could testify to the facts of his having complied with requried conditions of settlement. This declaratory statement was published in a newspaper. as near the land as practicable, for five consecutive weeks, at the settler's expense.

Augusta township extended from the west line of Greenwood county thirty-four and a half miles to the east line of Sedgwick county until 1870, when Daniel Stine was trustee and assessor. In 1871, Little Walnut township was taken from this territory. It extended from the Greenwood county line to what is now the west line of Spring township.

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It also included what is now the north half of Bloomington township. C. R. Noe was elected the first and only trustee of the township thus con- stituted. The formation of Bloomington, Spring and Glencoe townships in 1872, reduced Little Walnut township to its present limits of six miles square. H. H. Marshall, who had moved from Indiana the year before. was elected trustee.

Early Settlements-Though these lands belonged to the Indians until 1878, there were squatters along the Little Walnut several years earlier. As far back as 1860, a settlement was established at a spring less than one mile northeast of where the Leon high school building now raises its stately form. The ambitious squatters christened their prospect-

HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, LEON, KANS.

ive city Crittenden. But the record drought of that year caused the foun- tain to recede. Excavating a depth of sixteen or eighteen feet and fail- ing to find the living fountain, they loaded their effects into their horse- mobiles and quietly stole away, without even leaving a record of their names. The first permanent settlements were made in 1868. So far as the writer, who came in April, 1869, can recall they were W. Packard. Charles Tabing, bachelors, east ; M. A. Palmer, south of the present site of Leon ; B. F. Rickey, southwest of Mr. Palmer ; Jacob Carey, west of

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

Mr. Rickey : W. T. Galliher, south of Mr. Carey; Addison Sawyer, west of Mr. Galliher; Joshua Tull west of Mr. Sawyer. These had their families with them. Mr. Sawyer was killed while out after his horses, about March 22, 1870. His remains were laid in the first grave in what is now the Leon cemetery. In the years 1870 to 1872, the uplands in this township were practically all settled, but it was a physical impossi- bility for the settlers to obtain fencing material to protect their little crops of sod corn, sorghum and truck from the Texas longhorns. Hence arose a great cry throughout the State for a herd law. This need was so pressing that the legislature passed a crude law in 1871, which was declared null and void by the courts a year later. The stock was again turned loose, to the great loss and discouragement of the "uplander." Thousands abandoned their claims. The stock men, as a rule, main- tained that the prairies were fit only for grazing. But the stream of im- migration was irresistible. Thouands of ex-soldiers and others inured to hardships were determined to make homes on these fertile plains. Hence the legislature of 1873 gave us the present stock law without any jokers in it. But, say, gentle reader, you who arrived within the last decade or two, you who gather your kafir by thousands of bushels and harvest your four crops of alfalfa each season, and perambulate and do your marketing in auto cars, it is well for you to know of some of the experiences and hardships of those who made present conditions possible. Here are mentioned a few of the drawbacks and discourage- ments which beset the pioneer. Whatever he had to buy, implements, groceries, clothing, etc., etc., were hauled on wagons two hundred miles from the Missouri river. The drought, without the drought-resisting products of today ; the cyclone, the chinch bug, the grasshopper and the rapid fluctuation of prices. The horse thief also plied his nefarious in- dustry with relentless persistency.

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History of Butler County Kansas, Part 15

Author: Mooney, Vol. P Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Lawrence, Kan. : Standard Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 946

Author: Mooney, Vol. P
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan. : Standard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 946