USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 14
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STOCK.
On April 12, 1871, upon a petition of its citizens, the commissioners ordered that stock be prohibited from running at large in the night-time for the term of three years.
OMITTED.
This township had the misfortune not to be named in the apportionment of 1871, and it was not until 1873 that it was made a part of any legislative district.
CEMETERY.
In the fall of 1869 James M. Woodfill died, and was the first person to be buried in the cemetery then started on section 12, in the south part of the township. His wife Sarah soon followed him, and was the second to be interred in this cemetery.
HACKBERRY TOWNSHIP.
A few parties settled in this township in the fall of 1865. James Moss, Robert Hast- ings and Mr. Cawthorn located on section I, Mr. Henderson on section 12, and Mr. Chand- ler near by. A few more parties came in the following year, and among them Mr. Red- field, who settled on the northwest quarter of section 1, Luman Reed on the northeast, quar- ter of section 25, and Robert Gill on section 22. Many settlers came in 1867, commencing early in the spring and continuing to arrive during the summer. In June Gilbert A. and J. T. Cooper located on the south half of sec- tion 14, and about the same time Alexander Bishop settled on the northwest quarter and Jerry Strickler on the northeast quarter of the same section ; William Newcomb settled on section II, and Henry G. Pore on section 12. In July George W. Franklin and L. C. How- ard located on section 2; William Sullivan, Robert Johnson, Abner DeCou, Benjamin Hiatt, James Sloan, Walter Pratt and Caleb Phillips came sometime during the year. It is possible that some of the parties named came in 1866 instead of 1867. Elder Cooper set- tled on section 8 early in 1868, and was the first Baptist minister in that vicinity. In Oc- tober William Hannigan bought the northwest quarter of section 9 from Cal. Watkins, who
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had taken it sometime previous thereto. About the same time Martin Jackson, Aaron Young and Mordecai Ramsey came in. In February, 1869, D. C. Constant settled on the southeast quarter of section 18; on March 9th G. W. Jenkins on the northeast quarter of section 33; and in July J. L. Jones on the northwest quar- ter of section 5, township 35.
ORGANIZATION.
In the first division of the county, Hack- berry township included township 34, range 20, and the east half of range 19. By the new division, on November 21, 1867, it was ordered that "Hackberry township, No. 5, shall include town 34. R. 19 and 20." On April 14. 1869, township 35, lying in these ranges, was attached as a part of the township. The first election in the township was held at the time of the election of the first county officers, April 22, 1867, but there is no record of the result. At the election held April 7, 1868, the follow- ing officers were elected: G. W. Franklin, trustee; William Johnson, clerk; H. G. Pore, treasurer ; L. C. Howard and D. M. Bender, justices of the peace: D. Day and William Hiatt, constables ; and William E. Pratt, road overseer.
CARE OF STOCK.
October 4, 1869, the residents having pe- titioned therefor, the board ordered that stock be not allowed to run at large in the night- time for the period of five years.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
The first settlement of this township has been spoken of in another part of this work. It may be said to have been the first part of
the county settled by the whites, but the set- tlement was entirely broken up in 1863. The settlement as it now exists commenced in the fall of 1865. Among those who came that sea- son were Thomas King, who settled on the northeast quarter of section 18, William Busby on the northwest quarter of section 17, Will- iam Puitt on the southeast quarter of section 7, Zephaniah Woolsey on the southeast quar- ter of section 27 ; a man by the name of Baker and his three sons, Berry, John and William, and two sons-in-law, Dotson and Maxwell, along Labette Creek on sections 22, 23 and 26; G. W. Yandel and his sons-in-law, David Lewellin and Chas. A. Rankin, came in No- vember, 1865, and took claims, but did not bring their families until the following spring. These parties and also Mr. Yandal's son, Co- lumbus, settled on sections 6, 7 and 8. About the same time George W. Kingsbury settled on section 6.
During 1866 many parties came into the township, some coming early in the spring and others later in the season. In the spring the Rice brothers, Benjamin, John and James, John Green, Orville Thompson, John W. Wiley, Gilbert Martin, Samuel Braught, Allen Barnes, Mancil Garret, Lorenzo Braught, James Smith, and perhaps others, settled in the northeastern part of the township north of Labette. In May S. R. Southwick settled on the northeast quarter of section 29, William Shay on the southeast quarter of section 20, John Kinney and sons on the northwest quar- ter of section 28, George Lane on the south- west quarter of section 28, Abraham Ewers on the southwest quarter of section 31. In June Samuel Gregory settled on the southeast quarter of section 26, and in August Mr. Yun- ker on the southwest quarter of section 29, and Mr. Bedicker on the northeast quarter of
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section 32. On August 12th Franklin Asbell bought the northeast quarter of section 18 from Thomas King and became a permanent settler thereon. On October Ioth David U. Watson settled on the southwest quarter of section 21, and John N. Watson on the south- east quarter of section 29; about the same time Marshall J. Lee settled north of Labette Creek, Milton Helm on the northeast quarter of section 29, and Riley Hawkins on the south- west quarter of section 20; Stephen Bright bought the southwest quarter of section 7 from Woolsey; John and Cass Steel settled on sec- tion 8, Salina Grant on the northwest quarter of section 30.
On January 1, 1867, Moses Powers lo- cated on the northwest quarter of section 21 ; in April Isaac Butterworth bought the north- west quarter of section 30 from Salina Grant, and made his home thereon.
BUSINESS.
The first store in the township, aside from those located in Chetopa, was kept by Orville Thompson, a little north of Labette Creek, on the east road leading from Oswego to Chetopa ; it was started in the spring of 1866. Soon after this the town of Labette was started, on the Neosho.
DRAINAGE.
For many years a large part of the land south of the Labette was covered with water so great a portion of the year that it was practically of little use. In 1882 a ditch was dug, draining this swamp into the Neosho, thereby making a large tract of land capable of cultivation.
CEMETERY.
In April, 1874, John F. Hill deeded three acres of land in section 9, on which the Pleas- ant Valley Cemetery was laid out; George Gennoa was the first person buried therein. This cemetery has been nicely improved and quite extensively used.
ORGANIZATION.
The commissioners appointed for the or- ganization of the county in laying it off into precincts constituted township 34, range 21, a township, which they named Chetopa. The first official reference we have to this township is on July 2, 1867, when it was "Ordered, that the township called Chetopa, the south- ern township of Labette county, be changed according to the request of the petitioners, to be called Richland township hereafter." On November 21, 1867, in dividing the county into townships, the commissioners ordered that "Richland township, No. 4 shall include town 34, R. 21." While we have no record show- in the names of the persons who were elected officers at the election held April 22, 1867, we soon thereafter find J. N. Watson acting as justice of the peace. He resigned on October 23, and on November 19 the commissioners appointed G. H. English, and two days later they also appointed William H. Reed justice of the peace. On April 7, 1868, the following officers were elected: Robert Steel, trustee; R. B. Wallan, clerk; Daniel Quinby, treasurer ; George Kincade and B. B. Baker, justices of the peace; J. W. Wiley and A. P. Kinkade, constables ; Allison Hasty, road overseer. On April 14, 1869, an order of the commissioners was made attaching township 35, range 21, to Richland township.
TOWNS AND CITIES
PROPOSED TOWNS. - "IT
LABETTE.
No less than three towns christened La- bette have been started in this county. The first of the three was located in the fall of 1866, by Gilbert Martin, on the banks of the Neosho, in section 14, Richland township. In 1867 Mr. Martin put in a sawmill, to which was attached a set of corn buhrs. The mill got quite a trade at this point. A store build- ing was erected by L. D. Bovee, for Mr. Smith, who put in a stock of groceries. This build- ing was afterward sold to School District No. 3, and was moved from its location on the town-site to the public road, where it now stands, and is still in use as a school-house. Another building was erected, for R. G. Tiles- ton, who put in quite a large amount of gro- ceries. In January, 1868, Martin, Tileston and Bovee put up quite a quantity of ice fully eight inches thick. With the cold weather of the spring and winter of 1867 and 1868 the hopes of this town vanished, and during the spring all of its business was moved away.
The second town of this name was located on parts of sections 20 and 21, in Richland township, just south of Labette Creek. In May, 1868, a number of parties, among whom were G. A. Cooper, R. G. Tileston, L. D. Bovee, Allen Barnes, Gilbert Martin and Isaac Butterworth, formed themselves into a com-
MIGHT HAVE BEEN."
pany for the purpose of laying out this town, and on June 18 their charter was filed in the office of the Secretary of State. Mr. Tiles- ton put up quite a large two-story building, and removed his stock of groceries from the former town of Labette, lying to the northeast of this, and added thereto so that he had quite a respectable store. Moses Powers had a blacksmith shop, and quite a number of parties built small dwelling-houses; so that during the summer of 1868 there were probably 12 to 20 buildings of all descriptions on the town-site. The town was also known by the name of Soresco as well as by the name of Labette. Its proprietors supposed that they were in the line where the M. K. & T. Ry. would neces- sarily be located. With the close of 1868 the prospects of an important town being built up at this point disappeared. Mr. Tileston be- came interested in Chetopa, to which point he moved his stock of groceries, leaving his store building, however, as a watch-tower in the desert to mark the spot which had been the scene of so many bright anticipations.
DAYTON.
1
The town of Labette having been started in the southeastern part of Liberty township it was thought by some that a more desirable location for a town would be farther up La-
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bette Creek, and in May, 1870, J. F. Newlon, E. K. Currant, Peterson Cherry, W. H. Por- ter and a number of others became incor- porated, the charter being filed June 20, 1870, anda town-site was selected upon the west bank of the Labette, below the mouth of Bachelor Creek, on sections 9 and 16, township 32, range 20. But few houses were ever erected on the town-site. William H. and John I. Sipple put up a fair store building and opened up a store. E. K. Currant put up a building and opened a branch of his main store, which was at Montana. There were two or three other business houses. In November following the town was moved to Parsons.
JACKSONVILLE.
This town was located in four counties, but principally in Neosho county. It em- braced, however, a part of section 3, township 31, range 21, in Labette county. On Decem- ber 23, 1867, a paper purporting to be a char- ter for the incorporation of the town was filed in the office of the Secretary of State, but there was no pretense of complying with the law. On January 23, 1868, a new charter was filed. Among the incorporators were Will- iam Logan, G. D. Dement, David Evans and Samuel Correll. After the first two or three years there was little left to indicate what this town once was.
CHERRYVILLE.
On January 30, 1869, the charter for the town of Cherryville, incorporating James H. Beggs, James McMains, John Oliphant and others, was filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The town was to be located on the south half of section 12, township 32, range
17. The proprietors seem to have soon be- come satisfied that they were not going to be able to build up a town at this point, and con- cluded to abandon it.
VERBENA.
A town with this name was proposed to be located on section 13, township 32, range 17, in Osage township. R. D. Hartsorn, John WV. Claspill, W. O. Hartsorn, Lionel A. Whit- ney and Samuel C. Hockett were charter members of the town company. The charter was filed with the Secretary of State June 16, I869.
KINGSBURY.
The above name was chosen for a town that was to have been located on the northeast quarter of section 30, in Osage township, if the line of the L. L. & G. R. R. had run through that quarter as it was expected to. Mr. Kingsbury, one of the surveying party, assured the owners of claims in that vicinity that the road would surely be located on that line. Perhaps it would have been had not the general course of the road been changed so as to pass through Montgomery instead of Labette county. On the strength of these as- surances a town company was organized, of which W. H. Carpenter was president and L. F. Dick, secretary. When the line of the rail- road was located west of them the project of building this town was abandoned.
TIMBER HILL.
A company consisting of Alexander W. King, Mahlon A. King, J. H. Beatty and others was incorporated April 12, 1869, for the purpose of laying off the town of Timber
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
Hill. It was located on the south half of the northeast quarter and the north half of the southeast quarter of section 34, township 31, range 18. About the middle of September, 1869, George W. Blake and William Blake opened a store at this place; they continued to sell goods till the spring of 1871, when they closed and moved on their farms.
BIG HILL.
Joseph McCormick, David Stanfield, John A. Helpingstine, Thomas Harrison and Jesse Bishop became incorporated February 22, 1870, for the purpose of laying off the town of Big Hill, on parts of sections 23 and 24, town- ship 32, range 17.
NEOLA ,
Was intended to cover 320 acres in section 35, township 32, and section 2, township 33, both in range 20. Gilbert Martin, John N. Wat- son, David C. Lowe, Julius S. Waters, Chas. A. Kelso, Benjamin A. Rice and others became incorporated for the purpose of laying off the town. The charter for the same was filed in the office of the Secretary of State December 24, 1867. By the most liberal construction of its language it can hardly be said to contain any of the statutory requirements for a char- ter, but it is probable that this is not the rea- son why the town never succeeded in acquir- ing any more growth than one store and a blacksmithshop.
ELSTON.
On September 8, 1869, there was filed in the office of Secretary of State a charter in- corporating John Elston, John T. Weaver and
others into the Elston Town Company, for the purpose of laying off a town on section 6, township 33, range 20. During that summer this town had quite a growth. The parties composing this company were men of some means, who came from Johnson county and wanted to build a town nearer the center of the county than any other town had then been located with the avowed purpose of making it the county-seat. They erected quite a large hotel and a number of store buildings, and for a time had considerable trade, and the town seemed to be on the road to prosperity, but its growth was of short duration, and in a few years not a single building remained to mark the site of this once ambitious place.
KINGSTON.
Kingston was located on sections 31 and 32, in township 34, and sections 5 and 6, in township 35, range 19. It was started in the summer of 1877 by the erection of a flour mill by Eastwood & Reamer. Soon after Mr. Jones started a blacksmith shop; Thomas Bruner put in a drug store; Aaron Humes a broom factory; Anderson & Weaver a gen- eral merchandise store; C. W. Campbell was postmaster, as well as physician; S. E. Ball was the only lawyer. In 1879 the engine was sold out of the mill, and thereafter was not put in again. The place continued more or less prosperous until the construction of the rail- road through the southern portion of the coun- ty, in 1886, when it was abandoned and united with Edna.
DEERTON.
Named from the abundance of deer that were found in that vicinity by the early set- tlers. It was located by the Willie brothers
1
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on the north half of section 20, township 34, range 18, on the line between Howard and Canada townships. The first store in Deerton was opened in 1880, by Aaron Humes, who was soon after appointed postmaster. Charles M. Keeler next followed with another store
of general merchandise. Blacksmith shops, a wood-worker and a broom factory were among the industries of this town. On the comple- tion of the railroad through Howard township, in the fall of 1886, the town was all moved to Valeda.
CITIES, TOWNS AND STATIONS AS AT PRESENT EXISTING.
ANGOLA.
C. H. Kimball, Lee Clark and others filed a charter in the office of the Secretary of State November 29, 1886, authorizing them to lay off a town-site and dispose of lots on the north- east quarter of section 8, township 34, range 18. The plat was filed February 12, 1887, acknowledged by Lee Clark, president of the town company. There has never been much growth-only two or three business houses of any kind, and the stock-yards.
PENFIELD
Is a station on the P. & P. Ry., located on the northeast quarter of section 27, township 33, range 18. This location was formerly called Barton.
WILSONTON ,
Is located on the line of the Parsons & Pacific Ry., on sections 16 and 17, in Labette town- ship. It was surveyed in August, 1887. The first store was started in the spring of 1888, by Samuel Jameston. Mrs. Ella B. Wilson is proprietor of the town, and has devoted
much energy to its development and upbuild- ing. It has received its principal amount of advertising by the distribution of the Wilson- ton Journal, which is published here.
IDENBORO
Is a station on the Parsons & Pacific Railroad south of Parsons.
MORTIMER
Was laid out by Emanuel Mortimer, on the north half of the northeast quarter of section 25, township 31, range 17. The plat was filed January 7, 1883.
DENNIS.
The first house in Dennis was the railroad depot, erected in the fall of 1880. In the spring of 1881 William Current put up a store- building, in which he placed a stock of gro- ceries; this was the first store in town. John Webb and John Milligan put in another store in the spring of 1882, their stock consisting of general merchandise. A second stock of
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
general merchandise was put in by W. H. Thorne, in the fall of 1883. Mr. Thorne also put in a corn elevator and shipped grain, and put up the first substantial residence house in town. Subsequently John Mason put in a harness shop, L. Pedan a lumber yard, Wm. Cline a drug store, J. L. Wilson a hardware store, and Nelson Dunn a livery stable. The first hotel was put up by Mr. Acre, in the summer of 1885. It was not till December 21, 1883, that the plat of the town was filed in the office of the register of deeds, locating the town on sections 14 and 15, on the line of the Gulf Railroad, in Osage township. Lee Wilson was born to L. J. Wilson and wife December 24, 1884,-the first child born in town. Two newspapers have been started in Dennis, but neither was able to maintain an existence, and they were moved away. One of the substantial business plants of this town is its flouring mill.
LANEVILLE
Is a station on the Fort Scott & Gulf Rail- road, located on the southeast quarter of section 20, in Neosho township. It was started just after the building of the railroad, and has one store.
MATTHEWSON.
The plat of this town located it on section 15, township 31, range 21, and was filed in the office of the register of deeds April 30, 1879. The first house in Matthewson was built in the spring of 1879, by William Downs; in this he had his residence, the store and post- office. The next store building was put up by G. W. Watson and C. Hamilton, who put in a fair stock of goods and did a good business until McCune was started, when they moved
to that town, leaving but one store house in Matthewson.
STOVER
Is a station on the "Frisco," located on section 15, in Fairview township. The only business that has been conducted here has been one store, owned by J. N. Santee; a blacksmith shop, by G. W. Brock; and a part of the time H. M. Debolt has run a sawmill, with which he has connected a set of corn buhrs, and has also been engaged in the grain business.
BIG HILL
Is a station on the "Frisco" Railroad, in Mound Valley township.
STEVENS.
On February 23, 1874, the charter of Ste- vens was filed in the office of the Secretary of State, incorporating Alfred Large, Jonas Clark, L. M. Bedell and others with authority to lo- cate a town on sections 33 and 34, township 34, range 21. The plat was acknowledged by R. W. Officer, president of the town com- pany, and was filed in March, 1874. A few years ago this place was incorporated as a part of the city of Chetopa.
CECIL
Is located on the northwest quarter of section 5, township 35, range 20. In 1869 Mr. Head put in a small stock of general merchandise, which he continued to sell until the fall of 1870, when it was closed. Allen McNeal has had a blacksmith shop since 1871. George Burge opened a store in 1881, which he has continued to conduct up to the present time.
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
From 1885 to 1887 C. W. Fowler had a store in connection with the postoffice. The Metho- dists have a church and. cemetery at this point.
MONTANA CITY.
Soon after coming to the county Frank Simons brought a small stock of groceries, which he commenced selling in his cabin. Early in the spring of 1866 he put up a hewed-log house on what was thereafter to be the Mon- tana town-site, but which had not yet been laid off, and in March opened therein a store. This was the first building on the town-site, and this was the first store in the township. Soon thereafter Yates & Fagan built a frame store building on the town-site and put therein a stock of groceries. This is said to have been the first frame building in the county. Soon after this they built a frame residence. The next spring Frank Simons built a frame store building, into which he moved his stock of groceries.
TOWN COMPANY.
The Montana Town Company had been agreed upon some time previously, but was not incorporated until May 28, 1868. Among those who were members of the company were Levi Seabridge, J. S. Anderson, Henry Minor, S. S. Watson, J. S. Waters and D. M. Wat- son. S. S. Watson was president and J. S. Waters secretary of the town company. The town was located on section 8, township 32, range 21.
FERRY.
Abner Furgeson was granted a ferry li- cense on July 11, 1867, and at once he, in connection with Jonah Wilcox, commenced the operation of a ferry across the Neosho near where it is spanned by the iron bridge.
HOTEL.
In 1868 Henry M. Miner erected a two- story building and opened therein the first hotel in town.
PHYSICIANS.
D. D. McGrath was the first physician of standing to locate here. He was soon followed by Dr. Frye, and they in turn by Dr. J. M. Mahr, all of whom were good citizens as well as good physicians, and did their part toward building up the place. Doctors Hall, Gapen, Taylor and Keys are among the other physi- cians who came to the place.
MILL.
In 1870 W. E. Livesay and J. O. Charles erected, and in the spring of 1871 put in opera- tion, the grist mill which for over a score of years was an important industry of the town. On May 9, 1893, this mill burned to the ground, and the plant has never been re- newed.
MASONIC LODGE.
Evergreen Lodge, A. F. & A. M., number- ing 86, was organized about the close of 1870, with II charter members. A. W. Swift was the first W. M. After an existence of several years the lodge surrer.dered its charter.
IMPROVEMENTS.
In 1868 the town commenced a rapid growth, which was continued during the next two years, and at one time it contained 13 gen- eral stores, three hotels, three saloons, two livery stables, two wagon shops, besides a great number of other shops and stores of
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
various kinds, and a population of not less than 500 people. Failing to get the M. K. & T. Ry., which was built in 1870, and also other projected lines which were intended to pass through her boundaries failing to be built, it was evident that for a time at least she had reached the height of her prosperity; and when the town of Labette sprang up on the line of the railroad but a few miles from her, many of her firms removed their business there, and some of them took with them their business houses. Of the business houses remaining in the town, the larger part were swept away! by a fire which occurred on February 28, 1895.
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