USA > Kansas > Butler County > History of Butler County Kansas > Part 9
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
whom were William Woodruff and wife, James Leander, Horace Cole, Stephen White, Israel, Tom and Dave Scott and their mother, Mrs. De- Racken and her sons, Bob, John and Ruben ; William Rice, and, last, but not least, Prince Gorum Davis Morton, who, having a wooden limb, was vulgarly dubbed pegleg. There came to our camp, too, with a long swinging stride, a long rifle on his shoulder, a large pack on his back, carrying his boots, while his feet were unshod, his hat rimless and cloth- ing in tatters, a man who had been on an extended tramp. His hair was light, his eyes blue and bright and contrasted strikingly with his sun- tanned skin. His name was I. N. Barton, college professor and civil engineer from Maine. He had come to Kansas for health and had found it, having explored every stream south of Neosho and as far west as Cow creek, west of Wichita. His description of the Walnut and Whitewater valleys and prediction that in and near them was the garden spot of Kansas won us, and we unanimously decided to go with him and see them. We crossed the Cottonwood where now is Soden's mill and pro- ceeded across the trackless prairie southwest, up the south fork of the Cottonwood, over the divide to Sycamore Springs and down the Walnut to the hill where J. K. Nelson's house stands, northeast of Chelsea. We halted and took in the beautiful expanse, over the valley to the south, to Cole creek on one hand and DeRacken on the other. Surprised and pleased, we went into camp on what is now the Phineas Osborn farm, a half mile east of Chelsea.
We quickly took our claims. We went to building log cabins- homes-with a will. The three Cole brothers settled on the stream- on section 16, now the Shelden farm-that bears their name. The De- Rackens took claims on the stream to which they gave their name, now incorrectly spelled Durachen. We found Doctor Lewellyn settled on the land which is his home today, and Charles Jefferson, father of Henry, the first white boy born in Butler county-thirty-six years ago, or 1859-was his neighbor on the north. Henry Martin, afterward so promi- nent in Butler county affairs, was farther down the stream. All the land about us was unsurveyed and none could tell where to run lines that would encompass all he desired, but it was in October, 1857, when I took my claim (because of the abundant timber on it) at the junction of DeRacken with the main stream, now the C. H. Dawson farm.
"Pegleg" Morton was from Boston, which was to him the hub of the solar and other systems. He was a good singer and enlivened our camp with songs whenever not engaged in relating his adventures, the like of which never were on land or sea. He had sung to the elite of earth, even the crowned heads of Europe as far back as Mary Queen of Scots. We kept tab on him and figured up by his romancing that he was not under 400 years old. He claimed to be only 35. Morton named Chelsea. He wanted to call it Boston or New Boston, because he was from Boston. We compromised on Chelsea, which is a town near Boston, and Chelsea it is even to this day. The first plat was made by a company on what is
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
now the Buchanan and Nelson farms, in 1858, and another, I believe, in 1867, where the school house now is. The Cole brothers and White were from Wisconsin ; Woodruff and Rice, Iowa; Scotts, Illinois ; Lamb- din, Indiana ; Donaldson and myself, last, anyhow, from Jefferson coun- ty, Kansas. The Lord only knows where the DeRackens did come from.
In fifty-eight the fifth parallel was the line between Butler and Hunter county on the south. West of range 4 was Otoe ; south of Otoe, Irving, while the east line of Butler crossed Fall river near Eureka.
Among the several families that came in the fall of fifty-eight was Daniel Shipley, a burly Missourian, who rarely wore a hat or shoes. His shirt flared open at the bosom and his arms were bare. He was always ready for a fight. Ewing Moxley was another, a thorough frontiersman, born in the wilds, an unerring marksman, fearless, honest and simple and tender as a child. I never read Fenimore Cooper's "Leather Stocking Tales" without thinking of Moxley. He had been a government scout and guide on the plains and while carrying dispatches was drowned in the Kaw river near Lawrence in attempting to swim his horse across it.
Henderson Thomas first settled on what is now the Henry Diller farm in Sycamore. F. B. McAllister started a blacksmith shop on the Cogeshall farm north of Nelson. Settlers came in rapidly and took claims on all the creeks, the more heavily timbered ones first. William Thoroughman was the first settler on Satchell creek. He subsequently sold his land for $300 to Thomas W. Satchell, who gave his name to the stream. This was afterward the Shaffer brothers' farm and is now owned by Charles L. King. It has on it a magnificent spring which furnished water even in 1860, the year of the terrible drouth.
Our most accessible postoffice was Lawrence. A tri-weekly hack was running from Lawrence to Emporia, and Chelsea and Emporia people rented box 400 at Lawrence, to which their mail was addressed. Whoever went to Emporia brought down the mail for Chelsea, receiving it from Messrs. Fick & Eskride, merchants. Ox teams were used for all purposes, whether freighting or going to church or a dance.
L. M. Pratt, his wife and sons, John and Dick, came in the winter of fifty-seven-fifty-eight; also Matthew Cowley, James Trask and Dr. S. P. Barrett. Settlements were made on West Branch, upper Whitewater, and on Fall river by a Norwegian colony, whose names even to this day prove that they stayed. Such as Ole Ladd and H. G. Branson were leaders. In troublous times we found them loyal and true.
Our amusements were hunting buffalo, deer and turkeys, which abounded. I have seen the prairies between the Whitewater and the Arkansas black with apparently one herd of buffalo. Turkeys came to our corn cribs. Lambdin shot one in his crib one Christmas morning. Dances were frequent. James Gordy and John Pratt, both still living, the one at Oklahoma City, the other at Cottonwood Falls, were the fiddlers-Gordy played half a tune and Pratt the other half, passing the fiddle back and forth. We stayed all night. One time we started to a
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
dance with an ox team and picked up so many girls that the boys had to walk.
My first acquaintance with Bige Bemis was when I found him roasting chickens in camp. His was probably the first restaurant in the valley ; we got all the chicken we wanted and a drink out of his whiskey jug for fifty cents.
In the spring of fifty-nine C. S. Lambdin, cousin of J. C. Lambdin, built a saw and grist mill at Chelsea, the settlers hauling the machinery from Leroy. We now established independent municipal organization and we voted on one of the numerous state constitutions submitted to us. The first election was in a grove near Joseph McDaniel's house, on Buchanan's farm .. We used an old coffee mill for a ballot box, furnished by Mrs. Woodruff to help us out of the dilemma. The drawer would be pulled, the ballot deposited, the drawer closed and the will of an Ameri- can Kansas elector was expressed.
Archibald Ellis came to us this summer, a sterling man in every re- lation, a true man, excellent citizen, fine neighbor and honest officer. He and his most estimable wife were from Ireland. They were inde- fatigable workers and generous and kindly beyond expression to their neighbors and friends. They are remembered by hundreds in Butler county for their strength of character, their integrity, thrift and energy. Their children are among the prominent people of the county, and are wealthy, not alone by what they inherited, but by what they themselves have won. George (now deceased) and John have splendid farms which they till with profit. John was county commissioner and served two terms. Mrs. N. B. Cogeshall, who resides near Chelsea, is their only daughter.
Illustrating the light hold the moral code had on some, let me say that many horses had mysteriously disappeared and were traced very close to DeRacken's, and Bob was suspected. A vigilance committee called on him but he was discreetly absent. His younger brother was caught and ordered to tell where Bob was. He refused, a rope was brought and he was hung by the neck repeatedly, but he was steadfast and said they might take his life, but they couldn't make him tell, and they didn't. The DeRackens, however, "made themselves scarce."
J. C. Lambdin was elected to the upper house of the territorial council of fifty-nine, the member of the lower house coming from Chase county. Lambdin was also a member of the constitutional convention in 1860, and under that constitution the State was admitted, January 29, 1861.
The year 1860 surpassed beyond expression any I ever saw in Kansas. It was a year of unprecedented drouth-May, June and July passed without a drop of rain. Every green thing withered; even the leaves on the trees turned yellow and then brown. The streams dried up. Fish innumerable died. and as the deep water holes dried away they were pitched into a wagon and hauled to hogs. Great seams cracked
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
in the earth. It was really dangerous to ride a pony at speed across the prairie. To add to our woes along in August came myriads of grass- hoppers that literally hid the sun. Many settlers, under these distressing circumstances, coupled with the doubt what democracy meant to do re- garding their homesteads, left the State never to return. This awful year gave Kansas a name that was a detriment to her for years after.
A settler named Gordon died, and his widow, trying to save the claim and house, went to Lawrence, where she had friends who would furnish her money. Her claim was "jumped" by a man and his two sons, who shall be nameless here. They had taken possession, but George T. Donaldson notified the settlers of the facts and in a short time a hundred men were at the widow's cabin fighting mad. It was dusk and the jumpers were within. Donaldson hailed them. They refused to open the door and Donaldson promptly kicked it into the middle of the cabin. The inmates were ordered to strike a light, which they did. They said they were going to hold the claim. The settlers expressed a different view and directed that they load their "plunder" into their wagon and get off immediately. They pleaded that their horses were on the prairie and could not be found. It was no use, the settlers made them load up, the old man was required to take the end of the tongue and each boy a single tree and the procession moved. When they reached a big drift near Lewellyn's they were halted. The drift was fired and preparations made to hold an impromptu court. The culprits were ready to promise anything and were turned loose. That broke up claim jumping.
The first law suit was before Jutice Scott. Rev. Isaac Winberg, of Cole creek, had a yoke of oxen that broke into a neighbor's field. The neighbor brought suit for damages. A. J. Miller was attorney for the plaintiff and "Pegleg" Morton for the defendant. The case was heard and the jury retired to deliberate in the shade of a tree. Dan Shipley was foreman and, when a verdict was quickly reached, marched the jury back, single file. Barefooted, bareheaded, shirt wide open, sleeves rolled up and his stiff hair standing on end, he loomed before the court. "Have you agreed on a verdict?" said Justice Scott. "Yes, by G-d. we have," said Shipley. "Hand it to the court," said Scott. "Well, judge, by G-d, it ain't writ," said the foreman. "We. the jury in the d -- d case decide that this here court hain't got no jurisdiction ; we'll be d -- d if old Pratt shall run this county !" Miller protested and Shipley told him to "shut his d-d mouth or there'd be a - get a -- good licking --- quick." The case ended.
Rev. J. S. Saxby was a Congregational minister who took to the frontier like a duck to water. He created quite a sensation by his bril- liant sermons, until some too critical persons who read the New York "Independent" claimed to have discovered a remarkable similarity be- tween his discourses and those of Henry Ward Beecher. Saxby was a good feeder. Any old settler can tell of his marvelous gastronomic feats. Getting ready for a buffalo hunt, Saxby was preparing to grease his
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
wagon, having only a small piece of tallow for the purpose. He laid it down for a moment, a dog bolted it, whereupon he calmly shot the dog, removed the lubricant by means of a butcher knife and was soon ready to roll out.
Some buffalo hunters coming in off the plains in 1859 became fright- ened at what they thought to be hostile Indians. They alarmed the settlers on Whitewater and the lower Walnut. There was a great stam- pede to Chelsea. One of the hunters, Jerry Woodruff, mounted a pony at Towanda springs and, with a butcher knife for a spur; made the trip to Chelsea in quick time, feeling for his scalp at every jump and warning everybody he saw. The settlers barricaded the C. S. Lamblin (log) house that stood on the then townsite not far from where J. K. Nelson's house now is. Some of the settlers declared that as they came they saw houses burning on the Whitewater. Wagons were formed into corrals with the stock inside. Water was provided in the house and every preparation made to stand off the noble Red Man. Pickets were posted by Capt. George T. Donaldson, who commanded, among them "Pegleg" Morton. Along toward morning, when Indians usually make attacks, he heard the whizz of arrows coming from the river. In a panic he fired his gun and broke for the house yelling "Indians! Indians! The Indians have come !! " Consternation reigned. Children cried ; mothers prayed ; men swore and prepared to sell their lives dearly. The redskins didn't advance at once and cool men said we'll reconnoiter. They advanced with Morton to his picket post when whizz! whizz! went the arrows. "That's them," said Morton, "they're shooting at us!" But the sounds were nothing more nor less than goshawks gathering their food as they flew. Morton never heard the last of his scare. The Indians didn't come, and those of the settlers who quit running at Chelsea (some didn't, continuing on to "the States") returned to their claims. The alarm was due to the passing of Indians from the southwest to fight with the Kaws near Council Grove. The false character of the scare was not discovered until P. B. Plumb, at the head of a small company from Emporia, came down to help repel the Indians. Emporia was a little selfish perhaps. She wanted the people of the Walnut as a buffer between herself and the Indians. Neither storm nor flood could restrain Plumb and his men in after years from coming to our relief at the least hint of trouble.
George T. Donaldson was Chelsea's first postmaster. Many early pioneers recall him. He was a natural leader, keen, quiet, soft spoken, with a dash and daring when there was a call for action that made him the admiration of the settlers. He had good judgment and was never "rattled" by emergencies. He had accumulated some 800 acres of land, was in the very prime and vigor of manhood, when in hauling logs, on November 4, 1869, one of them rolled off the wagon, crushing him upon a wheel as it went.
The awful drouth of 1860 was most disheartening and hundreds of settlers left their claims. Agents went to the States and solicited aid.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
S. C. Pomeroy, afterward United States Senator, was relief agent at Atchison and all supplies were shipped to him. The human hogs came to the front, as usual on such occasions, but generally relief was fairly distributed. Grain, flour and beans were shipped in heavy grain bags which were afterward utilized for clothing, on which the lettering would show. Sometimes it would be "S. C. Pomeroy" on one leg, "Kansas Relief" on the other and "Atchison" somewhere else. A pair of pants worn by - -- Bixler took the cake. He was both broad and tall and on the broadest part of his pants in black letters was "Kansas Relief, S. C. Pomeroy, Atchison, Kansas."
I went to my old home in Edgar county, Illinois, in the fall of 1860 and did what I could soliciting aid for "Bleeding Kansas." a name given in derision by proslavery people. When I returned in the spring of sixty-one I did not come alone. I had induced a brave-hearted girl to cast her lot with mine. To my wife is due in great measure the credit of our staying through the dangers and privations which followed. The "Border War" in Kansas and the issues leading thereto had become na- tional and the Civil War came on. The Indians were restless and threat- ening. Many settlers abandoned their homes. A majority of the able- bodied men enlisted in the Union cause. A more patriotic and heroic people never lived than the Kansans of sixty-one and sixty-five. Enlist- ments from our section were discouraged. Col P. B. Plumb declared that one of us was worth more to the country here than ten of us in the army because of the rebel and Indian raids which we could repel. We kept up a military organization in readiness most of the time for quick action.
Butler county's first organization was in 1859, when J. R. Lamb- din (Joshua?) was chosen county clerk ; C. S. Lambdin, county treasurer ; J. C. Lambdin, probate judge ; Dr. Lewellyn, sheriff, and George T. Don- aldson, Dr. P. G. Barrett and Jacob Landis, county commissioners. This organization failed, most of the officers moving away.
In sixty-two more grief came to us. Nevin A. Vaught and Ole Bran- son gave their young lives to their country and were buried in unknown graves near Springfield, Mo. Soon after followed Moses, Thomas and Burge Atwood. I cannot recall all, but I know that few who enlisted returned.
In those days buffalo and wolf hunting was a source of revenue. Wolf pelts were worth $1.25 to $2 each and buffalo skins brought from $3 to $6. These furs had to be taken in the winter, and danger from storms and Indians made hunting no pleasant work.
In sixty-three Rev. I. C. Morse, of Emporia, Congregationalist, preached to us occasionally. Elder Rice, who was presiding elder of the Emporia M. E. Church, preached each quarter at Donaldson's (log) house that stood but a short distance south and west of where the stone dwelling is on the Holderman farm. Father Stanbury, an itinerant Methodist and an unique character, also came occasionally.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Society as now defined was unknown vet, and the people were bound by social ties that do not now exist. One neighbor could not do too much for another. None thought of locking doors or granaries. Strangers were welcomed with genuine hospitality and entertainment for man and beast was free.
Miss Sarah C. Satchell taught the first school in Butler county, in the summer of 1860. Miss Maggie Vaught (Mrs. H. O. Chittenden) taught the next two years. Oliver C. Link taught a term. In sixty-two I enlisted in the Union army, expecting to help fight General Price in Missouri, but instead was sent to the plains to watch forts and Indians. I shall never forget one beautiful Sunday morning in April, sixty-five, when I saw a horseman flying down the road toward the present Chelsea, waving a newspaper over his head. It was Henry Donald, and he was shouting, "Richmond is took! Richmond is took !" We could readily forgive his bad grammar for his news was very good, and we rejoiced.
John Houser came in sixty-nine and seventy and set up his black- smith shop on a lot in front of (west of ) the store there now. His shop had neither foundation, sides nor roof-the whole business was out of doors. He had few tools, but he made good use of them. He was suc- cessful and now owns a good farm and is one of the esteemed citizens of the community where he has resided for years. (He now lives in El Dorado.) Mr. and Mrs. Joel Benson (both deceased) and their sons, William and Fred (deceased) came in the latter part of seventy and lo- cated on what was then known as the McQuarter land. They lived there until 1900, when Joel and William Benson moved to El Dorado, where William was engaged in banking business. Fred Benson left the farm three years later to become register of deeds of this county. In seventy- seven, J. S. McWhorter, Henry Bell and J. K. Skinner put in a saw mill and shingle machine at Chelsea. A Mr. Watson opened a store. Dr. Sparks stuck out his professional shingle. J. B. Shough, now of Pros- pect, built a hotel, which still stands as the Chelsea store. J. B. Parsons, J. C. Rayburn, J. M. Rayburn, Dr. Zimmerman and some others built dwellings and business houses. The next year, sixty-nine, O. E. Sadler and J. C. Becker built the first good dwelling in Chelsea and put a stock of goods in it.
A big frame school house was erected, the first in the county, and the first bell ever in the county was hung in the belfry and is there yet. Mrs. J. E. Buchanan, Mrs. George Ellis and Miss Alma Henderson (now Mrs. Neil Wilkie, of Douglass) were the teachers in those early days.
In looking back nearly thirty-eight years I recall many sad and sor- rowful scenes and many ludicrous events. The remembrance of friends who, like myself, were then young, now old and gray ; the recollection of many who have gone to the "undiscovered country" is a solemn retro- spect. Among the true-hearted friends of that time who have passed away are Mrs. Garrett, Archibald Ellis and his wife. George T. Donald- son and wife (my sister), J. C. Lambdin and his son Joshua, Henderson
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Thomas and wife, P. P. Johnson and wife, drowned on West Branch in the flood of sixty-nine; Mrs. Lizzie Goodall. T. W. Satchell, J. M. Ray- burn, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Taylor, and Matthew Cowley and the other boys in blue who gave their lives a sacrifice for the country. Peace be to their ashes.
CLAY TOWNSHIP. By. C. M. Price.
On April 7, 1879, a petition signed by Joseph Blancett and fifty-four others, was presented to the board of county commissioners asking that a township be created out of the territory comprising Congressional township 29, range 6, east, to be called Clay. The petition was granted and an election was ordered held at the Morehead school house on the third day of June, 1879. The following township officers were elected: B. M. Winters, trustee; M. O. Dillon, treasurer; Joe Blancett, clerk ; S. J. Ensley and John T. Bailey, justices of the peace ; John McQuain and J. McGaffey, constables.
Among the earliest settlers in the township were George Messick, S. J. Ensley, John Valkman, M. O. Dillon, W. 11. Ellet, John McQuain, K. Bell and Fred Fenkennel, all now deceased. Others have moved away. The only ones now residing in the township on their original claims are N. F. Frakes and the writer, C. M. Price.
All the land in this township is located in what is known as the "twenty-mile strip" and was subject to settlement under the pre-emption laws of the United States, the settlers paying $1.25 per acre. All kinds of crops, including natural and tame grasses, are grown. The town- ship is well watered and adapted to live stock. Many cattle, horses and mules are handled for the markets.
CLIFFORD TOWNSHIP.
By Col. Bill Avery.
I first landed in Kansas in March, 1860, and settled in Breckenridge, now Lyon county, where I stayed until December of that year, when I re- turned to Hillsdale county, Michigan, my place of birth ; in August, 1862, I enlisted in Company D, Eighteenth Michigan infantry. I re- turned from the army in July, 1865, and in October of that year, I re- turned to Kansas and settled on the old Santa Fe trail twenty miles east of Council Grove at 142 creek. When I lost all I had, with stock dying of Texas fever, in April, 1868, I came to Butler county and settled in what is now Clifford township. It was then Towanda township, from northwest corner of Butler county to four miles south of Towanda, and twelve miles wide.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
When I landed in what is now Clifford township, I unloaded my goods in the brush on what was afterward named Avery creek, in com- pany with my wife and one son, U. S. Avery, 31/2 years of age. There were in the territory the following settlers : T. L. Ferrier, his father and family ; Walter Gilman, H. H. Wilcox and a man by the name of Carns. In June of this year, we had the Indian scare, when everybody left their homes and all returned but Carns. In the fall of 1868, I. V. and William Davis came and located about three miles northwest of our claim. Wil- liam Davis is still living there. Of all the settlers who were there when I came none are now living.
In the spring election of 1869, I was elected trustee of Towanda township and I assessed the following persons, commencing on the north- west corner of Towanda township: H. H. Wilcox, Walter Gilman, T. L. Ferrier, - Carns. H. Comstock. John Wentworth, Joseph Adams, Jake Green, Amos Adams, John Adams, Anthony Davis, a Mr. Kelly, on west branch of Whitewater; Mr. Green, Dan Cupp and Sam Fulton, and I stayed all night with two Ralston boys and Lew Hart four miles south of Towanda. The Goodales were on their claims, having just arrived, and were not subject to taxation that year. I presume I have forgotten some names. These are all I can remember now.
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