USA > Kansas > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Kansas > Part 22
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
built on to La Cygne, and the next year to Ft. Scott. "We had to work and plan," said Mr. Fagan, "to get funds. First we would get the county to vote bonds, then we would get the townships through which the road passed, and then go after the cities for what they would stand and we got the bonds in nearly every case. Ties used to cost about forty cents each, and now are worth about sixty-two cents. Speaking of how the timber has grown in value since the '70's, Mr. Fagan said he could show me four places along the Frisco where at four different times saw-mills had been operated each time, using all timber, then the cypress, then the pine, and later the black gum. This, for a while, was considered worthless, but now is in great demand for furniture. Mr. Fagan, at one time, bought 52,000 acres of timber that cost about fifty-five cents per thousand. Then they cut off the log at the first knot, now they use it to the top. The timber that cost fifty- five cents would be worth at the present time, $5.00 per thousand.
Michael McCarty, a pioneer railroad man, of Johnson county, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 26, 1844. He married Adoresta Thompson, in 1873. He has two children living, Elizabeth and Charles Randall. One infant died at the age of four months. Mr. McCarty came here in 1868, worked for Hannibal railroad, from Liberty to Har- lem, was superintendent of construction train. Laid track from here to Baxter Springs, Mo., on the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf road, and had 100 to 150 men under him. He laid track to Olathe, in 1868, and got to Baxter Springs on June 21, 1871. He came here with Oscar H. Chanute, from Ohio. Chanute, Kan. took its name from Mr. Cha- nute. Mr. McCarty laid from three-fourths to one mile of rails per day, of ten to twelve hours. He laid the track from Pleasanton to Colony for the Missouri Pacific, and from Hillsboro, Ill., to St. Louis, Mo., on the Clover Leaf. When laying the track for the former road, at Mound City, the hands struck, without notice, just at a critical time, as it was necessary to get the road into Mound City by a certain date in order to get the bonds. Robert Kincaid was on the board of commissioners at the time, and the board extended the time thirty days, giving the road time to complete the laying of the rails. A bridge was constructed across the river at this place, just at the beginning of a rainy spell, and Mr. McCarty saved the bridge from washing out, by placing ten car- loads of railroad iron on the structure. Mr. McCarty was at the dedica- tion of the Hannibal bridge in Kansas City, July 4, 1869. This bridge has stood the test ever since, and now, forty-six years after its comple- tion, a new one is to be constructed. Mr. McCarty laid track for the following roads: Covington to Louisville, Ky .; west part of Eads bridge at St. Louis, Mo .; Hannibal & St. Joe; Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf; Olathe, Holliday & Santa Fe; Lawrence, Topeka & Santa Fe; Pleasanton & Colony ; Hillsdale, Ill. to East St. Louis; Kan- sas City to Paola for Missouri Pacific. He also put in the Y at the Frisco, and laid the side track at Edgerton.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE GRANGE.
The Organization and Progress of the Grange in Johnson County-The Grange Insurance Company.
The National Grange, or Patrons of Husbandry, was organized in Washington, D. C., December 4, 1867. Its father was O. H. Kelly, a clerk in the department of agriculture at Washington, D. C. While on a trip in the South, gathering statistics on rural conditions, he con- ceived the idea of a secret society for farmers, for the protection and advancement of their interests, with the result that the above organiza- tion was made.
Gardner Grange, No. 68, organized in 1873, was the first Grange organized in Johnson county. During this year, and the first few months of 1874, thirty-six Granges were organized, with a membership of 1,200. The Johnson County Co-Operation Association was organized in July, 1876, with a capital stock of $900, with H. C. Livermore, man- ager. In 1882 the capital stock was increased to $40,000 and later, 1883, to $100,000, and in 1914, when the Edgerton store was sold it was reduced to $85,000, where it remains at present.
On Saturday evening, November 7, 1903, the main building at Olathe burned down, and the entire stock of goods was destroyed. The next day the directors met and decided to go ahead, and a new building was completed on the old site, in 1904. It is a two-story structure, 125 feet front and 143 feet deep. In the spring of 1884, by action of the association, a printing department was established, which published the Kansas "Patron," a weekly paper under the supervision of George Black, the secretary of the State Grange. This paper continued until the burning of the store in 1903, when it was discontinued. Mr. Black was for twenty-five years the secretary of the State Grange, and much of its value as a progressive organization for the betterment of rural communities was due to his ability and efficiency. For a num- ber of years the Grange had branch stores at Edgerton, Gardner, Prairie Center and Stanley, but these proving unprofitable have been disposed of, the one at Edgerton to members of the Grange, and the others to private parties. Mr. Livermore served as manager for thirty- two years, and was succeeded by W. W. Frye, who for many years had been manager of the Stanley branch store. He stayed with them five years and was succeeded by Garrett, and Mr. Garrett by Ed. Blair of Spring Hill, who was followed by C. V. Frey, the present manager. The store at the present time carries a stock of $50,000 and its annual sales are $150,000.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
THE GRANGE INSURANCE COMPANY.
The Patrons Fire and Tornado Association, of Kansas, was organized under a special enactment of the legislature of Kansas, Laws of 1889, chapter 162.
Its purpose is to carry the insurance of Kansas farmers, who are members of the Grange, on their property against fire and lightning, tornado and wind-storm.
The charter limits the association to members of the order of the Patrons of Husbandry, and in territory to the State of Kansas.
The association is not conducted for profit, but endeavors to give insurance at cost, and is strictly mutual, all the members contributing their proportionate share toward paying the losses and expense of man- agement.
The association is solvent, that is, it can stop business any day and pay back every policy holder the unearned premium on his policy, some- thing that it never could have done prior to the assessment of 1913.
The reserve fund is invested as follows:
In bonds which net the association five per cent. $35,800.00
On certificate of deposit at four per cent. 17,918.54
Interest collected on reserve funds 1,545.17
This association, on December, 31, 1914, had a total insurance in force of $19,780,841.00
December 31, 1913 18,184,198.00
$1,596,643.00
Total insurance expiring in 1913 deducted from 1914. 141,400.00
Net gain during the year 1914. $1,738.043.00
Balance in treasury December 31, 1913. $55,904.39
Received in premiums $ 35,571.78
Received in interest
1,545.17
$37,116.95
Total .$93,021.34
This company was organized in 1889 in the Olathe Grange Hall, and the writer, then living at Cadmus, was present. Several meetings had been called, but enough policies could not be gotten together to total $50,000 risk, the amount required to make the start. A motion was made that each one of the seventeen members present stand for an assessment of $1,000, in case it should be needed, as this, with $33,000 in applica- tions, would equalize the assessment on the policies applied for. The motion was carried and the policies issued. If I remember right, we had $400,000.00 of risks before we had a loss, and this was a slight one. I. D. Hibner, the secretary, was an enthusiast and kept the mails warm
J
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
to the agents of the Grange in different parts of the State, urging them to hustle for business, and they did. After the first assessment there was no question as to the stability of the new insurance company, for the members responded quickly and without friction. The association now has a neat and commodious fireproof building, in which it conducts its business and keeps its records. This company is now under the supervision of John Thorn, secretary, a most reliable and efficient man, with his able assistant, W. S. Whitford. W. C. Brown, of Monticello township, is its president and a thoroughly capable and wideawake man.
CHAPTER XVII.
WHAT THE FIRST WOMAN SAW HERE.
What The First Woman Saw Here-An Interview with Jonathan Milli- kan-Henry Wedd-Some Early Day Events in Johnson County and Kansas-A Pioneer's Recollections-A Story of Early Days-Fifty Years After-Reminiscences-A Retrospective View-Yeager Raid Incidents.
(By Mrs. Emily 'L. Millikan.)
On May 27, 1858, fifty years ago last May, in company with my brother, Dr. J. B. Whittier, I arrived in Olathe, the first woman resi- dent of our now beautiful city. We came from Manchester, N. H., by rail to Jefferson City, Mo., the then terminus of the railroad, and came by steamboat from that point to Kansas City. At St. Louis we had stopped at the Planters' House, where the accommodations were very poor. The rats were by far the most numerous guests, although there were not so many as found in Kansas City. There was but one hotel in the latter place, which, with one small store, and a few small dwelling houses near the river, constituted what is now the thriving metropolis at the mouth of the Kaw.
There was a stage route from Kansas City to Santa Fe which ran once a month, but as we did not happen to be lucky enough to meet it, we had to remain in Kansas City all night. The second day we got a conveyance in the shape of a covered wagon for Olathe. This I con- sidered quite romantic, as I had never seen one of the kind before.
After leaving Shawnee Mission, we passed only a few shanties on our way to Olathe as we followed the old Santa Fe Trail, arriving at Indian Creek about dark. There we found a kind of an Indian hotel, with meager accommodations, but preferred to sleep in the wagon, while my brother and the man that drove the team slept under it. That was my first experience in camping out. 1
Some time during the night there was a long train of Mexicans passed near by where we were camped for the night. This disturbed my slum- bers considerably, as they made such a tremendous noise by the bellow- ing of cattle and the cracking of whips. You could hear them in the stillness of the night for miles away. Their wagons were as near like a boat on wheels as anything I can think of. Each wagon was drawn by six yoke of oxen, and sometimes with more, and a Mexican, mounted, riding as driver, shouting and cracking his whip. There were often as many as forty or fifty wagons in the train, and it was not uncommon
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
to see a large number of oxen or mules following, to be used, a sup- ply, in case one of the animals of the team died.
Well, we got through the night all right. In the morning we started quite early for Olathe, and as we came up the hill, in front of where we now live, in full view of the little town the early morning sun shone on the prairie covered with beautiful flowers, and I thought it looked "beautiful, O-la-the." We soon arrived in Olathe, our destina- tion. The words of the poet, Whittier, came to my mind :
"We crossed the prairies, as of old The Pilgrim crossed the sea, To make the West, as they the East, The homestead of the free."
Fifty years have added to the convenience of living in Olathe, but have not added to the beauty of the spot. We found Mr. Connor, my brother's partner, ready to welcome us. They had come here in April and made arrangements to open a hotel, and then my brother had returned to Manchester, for me.
There were only fifteen young men here then, and no women. The first woman I saw after I came were two big squaws who unexpectedly stuck their heads through a broken pane of glass in the room where I was, and greatly startled me. I invited them in and chatted with them a while, although I couldn't understand a word they said. It was three weeks after arriving in Olathe before I saw a white woman. Mr. Con- nor went down near Edgerton and got a girl to work for us. She, who is now Mrs. Martin Ott, and a friend of hers stopped with us for a while at the hotel. After that my brother went to Kansas City and got a woman to work in the hotel, by the name of Mary Whalen, after- wards known as Mary Tappy or Mary Kirby. It has been said that she was the second woman here, but that is a mistake. She had a lit- tle girl by the name of Mary Ann Whalen, about six months old, I think, when she came here.
The first white child born in Olathe, that I have any knowledge of, was a daughter of James Hamilton. She was born in the first dwelling house built in Olathe. This house was built by Jonathan Millikan and now stands on Poplar street on the north side between Cherry Street and Kansas Avenue. There was, however, a colored child, a slave, born previous to that on the north side of the square.
When I came here there was a small building on the north side of Santa Fe Avenue, near where the Hotel Olathe now stands, and a small store building on Kansas Avenue near the present site of the Avenue House. The latter was built by Dr. Barton and Charles A. Osgood, in which a grocery store was then kept by Herman Scott and Jacob Thuma. The hotel where I lived was the next building erected, con-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
sisting of a kitchen and two bed rooms, in one side and another build- ing close by, so that one could step into the other, consisting of a din- ing room and office; in the second story of the latter building there was only one room. This store stood near the northwest corner of Kansas and Santa Fe Avenues. There I lived until cold weather. Then my brother got me a place to board, with a family by the name of William Tuttle. He was one of the oldest settlers, and lived on a claim north of town, in a log house. I boarded there until after Henderson H. Boggs built the Avenue House, as it is called now, on the west side of Kansas Avenue. He kept it a while and sold it to Mr. Hobard and Mr. Thuma, who soon sold it to my brother. We lived there until three weeks before I was married to Mr. Millikan, which was on the twenty- fifth day of November, 1858.
The first minister who preached in Olathe was an Episcopalian, by the name of Drummond. The next was a Southern Methodist, by the name of Rice, Charles Bowles, and then came I. C. Beach. Dr. Barton was the first physician. John M. Giffen printed the first newspaper, which was called the Olathe "Herald". John P. Campbell and Charles Mayo were the first lawyers. Colonel Burris and others came in 1858. C. E. Waldon established the first bank, in a small room where the north Odd Fellows' building is now located. Martin Ott was Olathe's first baker, and S. F. Hill handled the first stock of dry goods and gro- ceries and was our first postmaster.
In the fall of 1858 J. B. Whittier sold out his interests in the hotel to Ben Dare, who, in turn, sold out to S. F. Hill and left town. Mr. Arnett taught the first school. The first death that I remember of was that of a gentleman from Ohio, by the name of Bishop. He died at the hotel and was buried in the old burying ground. It has been said that Mr. Jenkins' death was the first, but I believe that he died the following year in Spring Hill and was buried by the Masons. Mr. Millikan and I attended the funeral.
I was here when Quantrill plundered the town and heard the fatal shots that killed the Judy boys .. I was also here when he made the raid on Lawrence, and when the news came that he was coming to Olathe the second time on his return from Lawrence the men ran in all directions. We were happily disappointed, as Quantrill passed farther south. Mr. Millikan, John P. Campbell, William Bronaugh and Jiles Milhoan had gone to Topeka on business and I thought they had about sufficient time to get back to Lawrence, but, fortunately, by stopping about ten miles the other side of Lawrence to get breakfast, they missed that terrible raid. They saw the ruin and havoc and dead and dying strewn all around town, a fearful sight, with women and children weep- ing on every side.
I have seen Olathe grow from its infancy to be one of the most thriv- ing and beautiful towns in the State of Kansas, have been familiar with
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
the various changes that have taken place in the citizenship and have known personally of its pleasures and its sadness. And I feel as only those can feel who have been here during the fifty years covered by my experiences here, so completely identified with its history in progress and success.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN MILLIKAN.
The history of Johnson county could not be written without Jonathan Millikan's name coming in here and there on its pages, for Jonathan Millikan at the ripe old age of eighty-eight is still active and taking an interest in Olathe and Johnson county.
"It is pretty hard for me to get up and move around very lively first," said he, "but I soon get straightened up, and go pretty well yet." Mr. Millikan still wears the smile that has won his place in the hearts of the people in Olathe. and he loves to talk of Olathe as it was when he first came here in 1857. Mr. Millikan was born in Monroe county, Indi- ana, January 2, 1827, and three years later moved with his parents to Parke county. In 1851 he made a trip to New Orleans on a flat boat, went twice to Iowa, taught school in Indiana, and in 1853 made two more trips to Iowa, then to Nebraska, and in 1857 came to Olathe, Kan. He purchased two quarters of land east of town, one for $450, the other for $400. Mr. Millikan made these purchases in 1860 or 1861. He fenced both tracts with four rail "stake-and-rider" fence, hauling 2,000 of the rails from the Kaw river, twelve miles north. Mr. Millikan married an Olathe girl, Miss Emily L. Whittier, a second consin of the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Four children were born to them. Minnie E., Mardie B., Ella L. and Orian. Mrs. Millikan was the first white woman to locate in Olathe, and at the time of her marriage was assisting her brother, J. B. Whittier, who was operating a hotel in two small buildings near the southwest corner of the square. He called his hotel the Union House.
Mr. Millikan remembers clearly Quantrill's raids of Olathe and Law- rence. He says, "Jiles Milhoan's (J. H. Milhoan) being so counfounded lazy" is all that saved Mr. Bronaugh, Milhoan, Lawler Campbell and himself from being killed at Lawrence. This party of four had been to Topeka attending a trial in court and got through at II o'clock at night. Mr. Millikan had taken them up there in his wagon, and being anxious to get home he had the horses hitched ready to start back, intending to get to Lawrence for breakfast. Mr. Milhoan objected and said, "Lets lie down and take a nap first or we will all die for want of sleep." So they decided to do this. They slept in the wagon with their clothes on until 3 or 4 o'clock before they started, and got to Big Springs, where they stopped for breakfast.
"Just after leaving Big Springs," said Mr. Milligan, "I saw a man coming horseback, waving his arms and acting as if he was either drunk
(15)
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
or crazy. I didn't stop my team till he had passed us five or six steps. I thought we had better find out what was the matter with him, as I suspected something was wrong. When he spoke he said, 'For God's sake don't go further east as Quantrill is in town, burning and killing everybody.' We halted then, and the man came up to the wagon and Campbell, 'Secesh' you know, made the remark, 'I am a law-abiding man.' I 'asked the man how many 'Rebs' there were with Quantrill, and he said: 'Four thousand!' The man was almost scared to death. When we came on to Wakefield, five miles the other side of Lawrence, he told us that the 'Rebs' had left Lawrence then. We saw from the smoke rising in different places that they had gone toward Baldwin as they occasionally burned a house. When we saw they were going south we went on to Lawrence on a fast trot. When we reached there, it looked like nearly every one was killed-only a few living persons in sight. They had picked up nearly all the dead except those in the burned buildings. They had the churches cleared out and put the dead in there. I passed by a church that had two rows of dead in it. I saw fifteen or twenty buildings burned down. The bodies in these buildings were still so hot they were not disturbed. It was the most sorrowful looking sight I ever saw. A lady by the name of Gardner, I think she is living in Law- rence yet, a milliner at the time, said that they set fire to her house three different times, but she put it out. The last time the scoundrel started the fire he said to her: "Damn you, I'll kill you if you put that fire out !" But she was game, and put the fire out and was not molested. There was not a frame house standing between her place and Eldridge Hotel. We stayed about an hour, would have stayed longer, but were so anxious to get home, as we feared Quantrill might come to Olathe, as they had to come through Johnson county to get to Lawrence.
Mr. Millikan has a Quantrill flag that he picked up at the southeast corner of the square in Olathe, where the old Santa Fe marker now stands, the morning after Quantrill's raid. The flag was picked up in the presence of Baty Mahaffie and Mr. Crockett. Mr. Millikan kept the flag hid in a straw stack for two years and then his wife kept it in the house for a long time. The flag now is in a glass case and has the following card attached to it: "This flag was picked up by Jonathan Millikan on the morning of September 7, 1862, after Quantrill's raid." A figure in white representing a plant or tree perhaps, but looking much like a hand with the fingers off at the second joints, is in a blue square four by five inches, in one corner of the flag. Across the figure is em- broidered the word, "Quaint." A red bar two and one-half inches by twelve runs the full length of the flag. Then a white bar, two and one- half by eight, and another red bar the same size completes the flag, which is seven and one-half by twelve inches in size. It has thin tape binding around it.
"My wife and I were sleeping in this house," said Mr. Millikan, "which stood on my other quarter of land, one-half mile east, when
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS
Quantrill came that night, and we knew nothing of the raid until 9 o'clock the next morning. I was starting out to hunt my horses, on the prairie, and met Baty Mahaffie, and with him and another man went to town. The town was badly riddled. Most of the windows had been broken, and many of the doors smashed in. One of our neighbors, Mr. Shriver, came into town with the report that he had found John J. Judy and his brother, James B. (who had enlisted in the Twelfth Kan- sas), dead on the prairie east of town on my claim. My wife and I had heard some shots during the night, but did not think anything of it as there was lots of shooting going on those days. We went out there at once and found the two brothers about one hundred yards east of the two cedar trees that stand near the Strang line railway." Mr. Millikan is a lover of antiques. He has a pewter dish which was used for pota- toes or a meat platter in 1790, and was one of the expensive dishes in those days.
The following engraving tells its history :
"This dish was used by Bey Millikan of North Carolina in 1780. Was made the property of Jonathan Millikan, Sr., of Indiana, in 1844, is now the property of Jonathan Millikan, Jr., of Kansas, 1907."
Mr. Millikan also has a card printed at Quindaro, K. T., announcing the opening of the Olathe House in 1857. The hotel stood on the west side of the square. The card reads :
"Olathe House, Olathe, Johnson Co., K. T.
"The above house is now open for the accommodation of the travel- ing public where every attention will be paid those favoring us with a call. Whittier and Conner.
"Proprietors."
Mr. Whittier was a brother-in-law of Mr. Millikan and is still living in Nebraska.
HENRY WEDD.
Henry Wedd, Sr., of Lenexa, Kan., is one of the interesting old-timers of Johnson county and saw much of the border warfare in the early days. Mr. Wedd is ninety-four years old, September, 1915, and he is still active in business affairs, and goes about alone on his visits and wherever his business may take him. He still stands erect and his neighbors call him that "Wedd boy." He came to Kansas in the spring of 1858, to Westport Landing, and his wife and five children came later in the fall. During the war Mr. Wedd had a lively time with the bush- whackers, and three different times escaped when they came for him. The first time, in 1863, thirty men rode up to his house, led there by a man who had worked for him. He heard the sabers rattle as the horses galloped over the prairie and got out of the house in time to see them first. They rode up to the house and called out: "Open the door and strike a light." Mrs. Wedd lit a lamp and opened the door for them
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