USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 21
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1864, When Taxes Were Low .- In 1864 and prior to that time the county treasurer took his books for collection of taxes, and visited the different polling places of the county to collect taxes due. That year the State tax was five mills, county tax fifteen mills, common school tax three mills, county road tax two mills, county sinking fund four mills. Interest on county bonds four mills. J. W. Sponable was county treas- urer at the time and in his notice to the tax payers said : "I hope all will be ready to pay at the time and places designated and save themselves much time and expense. Taxes are high this year but we have had a prosperous year and should meet it cheerfully."
A Price Raid Reminiscence .- Ed Moll, proprietor of the Olathe House, came to Kansas in 1860 and with his father located on a farm five miles west of town. He remembers well the battle of Westport, when General Price was defeated. His father and two brothers were with the home guards at Olathe, and he, also, had two brothers in the regular army. Mr. Moll at the time was a boy of twelve at home tak- ing care of the stock. When he heard the cannons booming he took the fastest horse on the farm, got an old musket and started for Olathe. He met a number going the opposite way, driving as hurriedly as pos- sible, who advised him to go back with them as Price's men were com- ing and he would be killed. He kept on, however, and just before he got to Olathe he met another party who tried to persuade him to return. When they found he would not they advised him, at least, not to carry a gun, for if Price's men met him they would kill him sure, but if he had no gun, being only a boy, they might not molest him. Mr. Moll took the advice in regard to the gun, and threw it away and came to Olathe, where he found the home guards located a block north of the square. The commissary department was located in the building now occupied by E. D. Warner. Mr. Moll found his father and brother stationed in the old home of Jonathan Millikan, now owned by Ada and Minnie Sykes. Olathe was expecting an attack at any time and excite- ment was at the highest pitch, but Price retreated south and Olathe was not molested.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC-POST NO. 68.
The Grand Army of the Republic is represented at Olathe by Frank- lin Post No. 68, the roster of which is here presented: Adair, Austin ; Armstrong, O. F .; Austin, N. F .; Abbot, George W .; Alger, W .; Beauchamp, William ; Beller, S. E .; Briggs, J. W .; Bruner, J. B .; Black, George; Brockway, W. S .; Boswell, Charles; Clarke, E. M .; Clampitt, D. W .; Carpenter, A. G .; Cooper, S. V .; Crooks, J. W .; Corp, J. S .;
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
Chaney, A. J .; DeWitt, William; Edgington, A. N .; Edgington, Sam; Ellswell, E. B .; Furry, W. D .; Fenn, Isaac; Fulton, A. C .; Hackett, H. N .; Honnold, S. H .; Huff, George; Hunt, A. L .; Henry, R. J .; Hougland, D. P .; Hogue, T. L .; Hedrick, D. M .; Hunzinger, J. R .; Jack, D. L .; Irvin, G. W .; Kennedy, J .; Lyman, W. A .; Lott, A. H .; Little, J. T .; Mize, Johnson ; Merritt, Frank ; McKay, D. F .; McIntyre, F. L. ; McMillan, R. B .; McCleary, E. J .; Martin, Rev. L .; Nuser, H. H .; Nehrhood, E. F .; Noland, Thomas; Nichols, J. T .; Netherton, J. C .; Ogg, F. R .; Pellett, William; Pickering, I. O .; Pratt, W. A .; Page, David; Phelps, Cicero; Pelham, W. B .; Parks, Horace; Pickerel, B. F .; Ruttinger, Frank; Reitz, Nicholas; Ripley, Ed .; Rogers, Solon ; Ross, Whitfield ; Ralston, S. F .; Ramsdell, H. L .; Rulison, W. A .; Reeves, F. M .; Speer, William; Spencer, Reuben; Stypes, Charles; Stevenson, R. E .; Timanus, G. H .; Wood, S. T .; Walker, Ross ; Warner, E. D .; Wool- ard, I. J. ; Wolfley, Louis; Ward, McDuff; Wallace, J. O .; Wheeler, W. S .; Zimmerman, W. H.
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CHAPTER XIV.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Organization-Growth and Development of the Schools.
The first school in Johnson county was the Shawnee Mission school, and the few white children that were there attended the Indian school, with the exception of those who received private instruction.
The first Territorial legislature, which met in July, 1855, passed the first body of laws for the Government of Kansas. In chapter 144 of these statutes is found an act, section I of which reads: "That there shall be established a common school or schools, in each of the counties of this territory, which shall be open and free for every class of white citizens between the ages of five and twenty-one years, provided that persons over the age of twenty-one years may be admitted into such schools on such terms as the trustees of such schools may direct."
Owing to the political situation little was done in the administration of school laws nor any other laws enacted by this legislature or those of 1857. The first Free State legislature, which convened in 1858, passed additional laws for the organization, supervision and maintenance of common schools. It created an office of Territorial superintendent of common schools, and declared, "that all school districts established under this act shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, and no sectarian teacher shall be allowed therein."
The first schools for white children as provided by the territorial laws were established in Johnson county in 1857, and the great development of the school system of this county is shown by the following state- ment, furnished by Miss May Cain, county superintendent of public instruction : Number of districts organized (not including cities of first and second class), 97; number of district clerks reporting, 96; average daily attendance per teacher of schools of two or more grades, 10; high school, 13; total, 23 ; average salary paid male teacher per month of two or more teachers : grades $69; high school, $91 ; average salary of male teachers in one teacher school, $64.75 ; average salary of female teacher in one teacher school, $48.25; average salary for female teacher per month in schools of two or more teacher's grades, $55; high school, $75; average cost per pupil per month on enrollment in one teacher school, $3.50; average cost per pupil per month on enrollment in schools of two or more grades, $2.50; high school, $3.60; average cost per pupil per month on average daily attendance in schools of two or more teach- er's grades, $3.40; high school, $4.75; average length of school year in
21I
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
weeks in one teacher school, 30.62; average length of school year in weeks of two or more teachers, 33.86; number of school buildings, one teacher school, 82; number of school buildings, two teacher school, 16; (two districts in the county have colored schools) making two build- ings in the district. Number of school rooms in one teacher school, 82; number of school rooms in two teacher school, 55; total, 137; num- ber of schools built in year ending June 30, 1914, I ; cost of same, $4,500 ; number of pupils in one teacher school passing the common school examination this year: males, 34; females, 43; total 77; number of pupils in schools of two or more teachers passing the graded school examination this year : males, 19; females, 12; total 31 ; number of cer- tificates granted-first grade, II; second grade, 22; third grade, 20; temporary, 6; total, 59; average age of persons receiving certificates, 25; number of teachers receiving certificates having no previous expe- rience, 22; number of high school teachers employed who are graduates of a college or university, 7; of a normal, 3; number of teachers not graduated, but having completed one or more years of a college course, I ; Number of grade teachers who are graduates of a college or university, 6; of a normal school, 3: of a high school or academy, 20; of a normal course, 4; number of teachers of one teacher school who are graduates of a college or university, 6; of a normal school, 3; of a high school, 20; not graduates, but having completed at a high school or academy three years, 6; two years, 7 ; one year, 10; number of teachers employed who hold State certificates : one teacher school, 2; grades, I ; high school, 7; number of teachers employed who hold high school normal training cer- tificates, 25 ; first grade, 54; second grade, 30; third grade, 13; number of teachers employed who had no previous experience as teachers: one teacher school, 10; grades, 4; high school, I; total 15; number of colored teachers employed in one teacher schools, females, 2; average length of time spent by county superintendent in actual school inspection, two hours.
One hundred and twenty-six teachers took reading circle during the year. Sixty-two of the one teacher districts have school district libraries with 4,342 volumes. Twelve of the two teacher schools have libraries in which there are 2,542 volumes. The school census for 1914 showed 5,229 pupils of school age. Total taxable value of school districts of Johnson county, 1914, $16,562,577.00.
CHAPTER XV.
RAILROADS.
Promoting Early Railroads and Voting Bonds-Pioneer Railroad Builders.
Railroads .- Johnson county people, from the start, were boosters for railroads. An election was held November 7, 1865, and $100,000 bonds were voted to aid the Kansas City & Neosho Valley railroad. This road became, August 10, 1868, "The Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Golf" and later the "Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Gulf," and is now "The St. Louis & San Francisco railroad," a line from the mouth of the Kaw river to Galveston, Tex. Work was begun at the Kansas City end in 1866. The line was open to Olathe in December, 1868, and completed to Ft. Scott in 1869. It enters the county near the northeast corner, runs in a general southwest direction, leaving the county near the cen- ter of its southern boundary. On the sixth day of April, 1869, another elec- tion was held on the question of issuing $100,000 in bonds in aid of each of two railroads, the St. Louis, Lawrence & Denver, and the Kansas City & Santa Fe. There had been two elections on this proposition prior to this, and the bonds were defeated, but at this election they car- ried by a vote of 1,301 for and 627 against, over two to one in favor of the bond issue. The St. Louis, Lawrence & Denver was built from Lawrence to Pleasant Hill in 1871. The branch of this road running from Olathe to Pleasant Hill is now known as the Clinton Branch, and belongs to the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad. The part from Cedar Junction to Olathe is no longer operated, the ties and rails having been removed by its purchasers, the Frisco road. This part of the road never paid. It was known, locally, as the "Calamity railroad." The road bed follows the winding stream of Cedar creek to Cedar Junction. The sta- tion of Red Bud, a half-way point between Olathe and Cedar Junction, at one time shipped considerable grain from the surrounding country. Dave Hubbell and Charles Pettigrew did the buying and shipping from this point. This road was named the "Calamity railroad" by the farm- ers along the line, and after it had been abandoned they helped them- selves to the ties and rails, and when the railroad was sold later, the buyers had a hard time finding their property. The grade of this road was so great that a car started from Olathe would run to Cedar Junc- tion without the aid of an engine, but it was necessary to have a brake- man to check the car in rounding the curves. Sometime when Johnson county desires to build a beautiful driveway through the most pictur- esque part of the country they will find this old road bed awaiting them with the grading already done.
A STRANG GAS-ELECTRIC CAR WITH TRAILERS-WAS OPERATED FOR A TIME ON THE STRANG LINE AND WAS THE FIRST CAR OF THE KIND IN THE WORLD
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
The Kansas City & Santa Fe road was built as far as Ottawa in 1870, and is now a part of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe system.
In the year 1873 the county refused to pay interest on the first issue of the bonds, on the ground of alleged illegality of their issue. A law- suit resulted which terminated in a compromise. Immediately after agreeing on terms, a sinking fund was established and at present $5,000 per year is being paid, and $10,000 per annum will be paid, beginning in 1918. The present railroad bond indebtedness is $140,000.
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company was char- tered December 12, 1895, and was the successor of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, whose property was sold under fore- closure December 10, 1895, and possession taken January 1, 1896.
On February II, 1859, the Atchison & Topeka Railroad Company was granted a charter, and on March 3, 1863, the name was changed to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company.
The building of the line was started from Topeka, beginning in October, 1868, and was completed to the Colorado border by 1873. The line between Atchison & Topeka was not begun until 1871, and was finished in May, 1872.
The road from Topeka to Lawrence was built in 1874 by the Kansas Midland Railroad Company, successors to the Lawrence & Topeka Rail- road Company, which had commenced work on the prospective line in 1871. The line from Kansas City to De Soto was likewise built by the Kansas Midland in the summer of 1874. The connecting line road between Lawrence and De Soto was the St. Louis, Lawrence & Den- ver, which company had filed articles of incorporation July 22, 1867, with the purpose of building a road from Pleasant Hill, Mo., to Law- rence, and thence west to Denver. This road from Lawrence to Pleas- ant Hill was purchased, and that portion between Lawrence and De Soto consolidated with the Kansas Midland, under the name of the Kansas City, Topeka & Western railroad, and leased by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, October 1, 1875, thus giving a direct line from Topeka to Kansas City.
The Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad Company was granted a charter on February 12, 1858, under the name of the Leaven- worth, Lawrence & Ft. Gibson Railroad Company. On February 24. 1866, the name was changed to Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston. In 1867 the line was built from Lawrence to Ottawa, and in 1870 the road was extended from Ottawa south to Thayer, and in 1871 to Coffey- ville. In 1870 a line was constructed from Ottawa to Olathe by the Kansas City & Santa Fe railroad, which company, upon the completion of this line, made a lease in perpetuity to the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston. From Olathe to Kansas City, to Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston used into Kansas City the track of the Missouri river, Ft. Scott & Gulf (now Frisco). On August 9, 1878, the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston was sold under foreclosure and the name changed
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
to Lawrence & Galveston. On March 29, 1879, the Lawrence & Gal- veston, the Kansas City & Santa Fe and the Southern Kansas railroad companies were consolidated, and assumed the name of the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad Company. This line was pur- chased in 1880 by the Kansas City, Topeka & Western Railroad Com- pany. In 1881 the Santa Fe completed a line between Olathe and Cho- teau, a station near Holliday, to connect with the main line out of Kan- sas City. The line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Com- pany from Kansas City to Chicago was completed April 29, 1888, by the Chicago, Santa Fe & California Railroad Company.
The Missouri & Kansas interurban railway was built in the years 1905-06 and has 18.8 miles of road in Johnson county. This road is without a bridge and the high waters have never interfered in any way with its operation. Overland Park is situated on this line, and here a fast growing town is located. It has numerous stations along the line at convenient points for farmers and its traffic in milk and other farm products shows a steady increase.
The Missouri Pacific railroad, Central Kansas division, enters Ken- neth on the State line and runs southwesterly through Oxford and Aubry townships into Miami county. . The thriving little town of Stil- well is located on this line. This was formerly the Kansas City South- western railroad and was built in 1886 and 1887.
The Kansas City & Topeka electric railway has a line running from Kansas City through Merriam and Shawnee to within one-half mile of Zarah. It has 9.55 miles of track in Johnson county.
PIONEER RAILROAD BUILDERS.
W. W. Fagan, of Olathe, was a prominent factor in early-day rail- roading in Johnson county.
From the time that I could read print the writer remembers the name "W. W. Fagan." In the early days when papers were not so plentiful as now, everything in the papers was read, and the superintendent of a railroad was as big a sight as that of a governor or congressman. When the writer called on Mr. Fagan at his home in Olathe he was at work in the yard, and on being informed that I wished to talk of early rail- roading in Kansas he invited me to the porch, and between the puffs of his favorite pipe, we were back to the early days of the Santa Fe and the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf roads so closely interwoven with Johnson's county's early history. "The first money that the Kansas Midland railroad earned, now the Santa Fe, between Kansas City and Topeka," said Mr. Fagan, "was on Monday, April 27, 1874. It was made by hauling passengers from Tecumseh, four miles east of Topeka, to Topeka to the New York and New Orleans circus. This road was building from Topeka, east to Kansas City, at the time." The bill advertising this excursion was printed by the Topeka "Record," Frank
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
P. Baker's papers and the form was set up by Will Walters, foreman now of the Hudson Kimberly Printing Company, of Kansas City. Mr. Wat- ers also set up the forms for the time table No. I and 3 following : Here is a copy of the bill notifying the public of the excursion.
The Kansas Midland Railroad will run extra trains from end of track near Tecumseh to Topeka for the benefit of those wishing to attend the great New York and New Orleans Circus, Monday, April 27, 1874. Trains leave Tecumseh at 10 a. m. and return at 5 p. m. Trains leave Tecumseh at 6 p. m. and return after close of night per- formance. Fare forty cents good for the round trip. Tickets good Mon- day, April 27, 1874. T. J. Anderson, general ticket agent. W. W. Fagan, general superintendent.
Time table No three follows. At the time this table was issued Mr. Fagan was conductor on the Santa Fe road and he superseded T. J. Peter as superintendent a short time after this time table was issued. The time table No. one of the Kansas Midland railroad between Topeka and Kansas City follows No. three.
Time table No. three of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, shown below, is in the possession of W. W. Fagan.
ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILROAD
To Take Effect Thursday, September 23, 1869.
TIME TABLE No. 3.
Bound Westward
Bound Eastward
Passenger Mixed
Passenger Mixed
No. 3 No. I.
No. 2
No. 4.
Lv. 1:05 Lv: 7:00
North Topeka Ar. II :38 Lv. 6:20 p. m. a. 111. a. 111. p. m.
Lv. 1:20 Lv. 7:15
Topeka
Challenders
Ar. 11:08 Ar. 5:47
Lv. 1:45 Lv. 7:48
Cottonwood Grove
Ar. 10:58 Ar. 5:30
Lv. 2:00 Lv. 8:03
Wakarusa
Ar. 10:43 Ar. 5:05
Lv. 2:20 Lv. 8:25
Carbondale
Ar. 10:25 Ar. 4:20
Lv. 2:35 Lv. 8:43
Gables
Ar. IO:10 Lv. 4:00
Ar. 2:50 Ar. 9:00
Burlingame
Lv. 9:55 a. m.
Ar. II :24 Ar. 6:00 Lv. 1:35 Lv. 7:35
Employes will be governed by rules and signals on time card No. two. T. J. Peters, superintendent.
Trains run daily except Sunday.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
KANSAS MIDLAND RAILROAD.
Time Table No. I.
To take effect Saturday, June 13, 1874.
No. 3
No. I
No. 2
No. 4
Mixed B
K. C. Ac. A
Stations
St. L. Ex.
Mixed
A
B
A. M. P. M.
P. M.
P. M.
Ar. 9:50 Ar. 4:25
Topeka
Lv. 1:05
Lv. 5:40
Ar. 9:20 Ar. 4:00
Spencerville
Lv. 1:28
Lv. 6:10
Ar. 9:13 Ar. 3:50
Chandlers Mill
Lv. 1:37
Lv. 6:20
Ar. 9:05
Ar. 3:43
Glendale
Lv. 1:44
Lv. 6:28
Ar. 8:50
Ar. 3:33
LeCompton
Lv. 1:53
Lv. 6:40
Ar. 8:37 Ar. 3:17
Lake View
Lv. 2:07
Lv. 6:55
Lv. 8:15 Lv. 3:00
Lawrence
Ar. 2:25
Ar. 7:15
p. m.
p. m.
p. m .
Standard Time in Telegraph Office at S. F. R. R.
A. Daily. B. Daily Except Sunday.
The Santa Fe railroad began to build its road at Topeka, Kan., June 5, 1869. It shipped its material over the Kansas Pacific to Topeka, this. road having already reached there. Mr. Fagan was conductor on the Santa Fe, from Topeka to Redding Station, near Emporia, when he was also superintendent. T. J. Peter was superintendent of the con- struction gang. Mr. Fagan left the Santa Fe road in 1874, and took charge of the Kansas Midland from Topeka to Kansas City, Mo. The road was built to Lawrence in June '74. Wyandotte county had voted $250,000 bonds for this road and the time was about to expire for hav- ing trains into Kansas City, in order to get these bonds, so the Santa ran trains over the Pleasant Hill and Lawrence road to Olathe, then up the Frisco and in this way got the bonds, "And bonds were very essential to railroad building in the early days," said Mr. Fagan, "for that was the only way we had of getting any money, for we hadn't any ourselves," and Mr. Fagan laughed.
There was a good deal of truth in the statement, too, yet the bonds were not alone sufficient to build the road, but these and the mort- gages on the rolling stock and road bed, built the early roads in the State. "It cost only about $8,000 a mile, in those days, to build a road," said Mr. Fagan. The early roads used a forty-five to fifty-pound rail, while now the roads use ninety-pound rails. The ties, too, were cheaper, and the right of way was often given through the farms. There was a little trick, too, in getting the right of way. One of these was to make a survey between a man's house and barn. This, of course, would raise a protest and the farmer would often say: "I would rather give you the right of way through the field yonder, than to be paid for it and have it through here." And in this way, the right of way often-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
times cost nothing. The capacity of the freight cars in the early days was from 18,000 to 20,000 pounds. Now the freight cars average 80,000 to 100,000 pounds capacity, and the roadbed must be constructed accordingly. Two hundred and eighty-eight miles of the Central Branch road were built at a cost of about $11,000 per mile, including depots. In the early days of the Central Branch, when Mr. Fagan had his office at Atchison, Kan., an engineer, by he name of Joe Ellison, ran a freight train, with cars of 20,000 pounds capacity, stock cars behind the engine. Fifteen to seventeen of these cars made a load at the time for an engine and Joe's report showed he had seventeen cars in his train. Mr. Fagan was a crank in having trains on time, and a rule was in effect on the road that if a train was fifteen minutes late, or over, a report must be made, giving the reason. The train left Effingham fifty minutes late. and was still later on its arrival at Atchison. Mr. Fagan wanted to know the reason at once, when Joe arrived, and asked, "What's the matter with No. 17?" "Nothing," Joe answered, "You reported only seven- teen cars at Effingham," said Mr. Fagan. "Hold on, hold on," said Joe, "we had fifteen cars and two elevators." The elevators were some new 40,000-pound capacity cars, loaded with shelled corn. At a later date, when Joe was running a passenger train, an accident occurred, between Waterville and Goff, Kan., on account of a broken rail. Two cars went off the track, leaving the engine and mail cars standing. As no one was injured, Joe loaded the passengers into the mail car and proceeded, without even notifying headquarters. When he arrived at Atchison, the superintendent, noting the absence of the two cars, asked: "Joe, what's the matter this morning?" "Struck a knot out there near Goff, and left two cars out there," Joe nonchalantly replied. "The Central Branch ought to have been one of the best-paying roads in the West," said Mr. Fagan. Mr. Fagan had kept weighbill No. 2 as a keepsake for a car of lumber from Atchison, Kan., to Waterville. The rate was $100.00 for the car or $1.00 per mile. When Jay Gould came west, he showed it to him, and Mr. Gould wanted it, saying he would photograph it and return it to him. Mr. Fagan let him have it, but that was the last he ever saw of it. "Harstick and Ray, two old steamboat men, built the Pleasant Hill & Lawrence railroad," said Mr. Fagan. It had no business from the start and the Santa Fe & Frisco bought the line. Mr. Fagan said, when they took the rails up, several years after the road had been abandoned, about 1903, there were trees. 21/2 to 3 inchies in diameter, growing in the road bed. This road was called the Calamity Road, by the farmers. The rails were useless and sold for junk. Mr. Fagan was some railroad operator. In 1875 he went to the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad, staying 'till 1880. Then with the Central Branch until 1887, then in March, 1887, to the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf, now the Frisco. Colonel Coates and others, of Kansas City, built this road to Olathe and ran out of money after they had built this far. A few months later they raised more funds and
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