USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 15
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RAILROAD FACILITIES.
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When the Mineral branch of the M. K. & T. Ry. was built in 1895, it was located between two and three miles south of the town, so that it really furnishes no accommodations.
GOVERNMENT.
In 1873 the Legislature passed an act auth- orizing the town to incorporate as a city of the third class, and in pursuance of its pro- vision an order was made by the district judge, on July 3, 1877, for the incorporation of the city of Montana, and an election ordered for July 14th. At the first election Col. J. J. Woods was elected mayor, E. D. Keirsey 00- lice judge, and the following persons mem- bers of the council: A. B. Chaplain, G. T. Peak, J. P. Bradfield, Samuel Ballentine, and J. M. Mahr. A pretense of a city government was maintained until 1884. In April, 1883, Martin Wilcox was elected mayor, and was the last person on whom that honor was con- ferred. It became generally understood that the act authorizing the incorporation was un-
constitutional, and the form of going through an election of officers who had no legal author- ity to act was abandoned.
BARTLETT.
The plat of the town of Bartlett, located on the southwest quarter of section 27, town- ship 34, range 20, acknowledged by Robert A. Bartlett, was filed in the office of the register of deeds, June 5, 1886. The first lot was sold to Jerome Calahan, who erected thereon the first building which was put up on the town- site. It was a two-story frame, in the first story of which he put a general stock of mer- chandise, which was the first store in town; the upper story was a hall, in which were held religious and other meetings. B. F. Cox built. the first dwelling in the town, and started the first blacksmith shop; the second dwelling was erected by H. L. Whiting. In 1891 William Jarrett put in a cider-mill, and in con- nection with buhrs for grinding meal and feed. The Methodist is the only church building now in town, the Presbyterian church building hạv- ing been destroyed by fire. Bartlett has grown- into a nice trading point and is likely to have· considerable more growth.
FIRES.
There have been two or three fires that have been quite damaging. In August, 1893, Reece Bros.' store and postoffice; in June, 1896, J. H. Peaver's store; in March, 1899, the Lonaker and Utley buildings, and in Au- gust, 1900, two elevators and the Presbyterian. church were burned.
ELM CITY
Was laid out by Jesse A. Edmundson, on the northwest quarter of section 27, township 34,.
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range 19, in Elm Grove township, soon after the completion of the railroad through that section, the town plat being acknowledged July 21. 1886. The first building on the town-site was erected by J. F. Shields and J. A. Ed- mundson, soon after the town was platted, and was occupied by Wilson & Vanbibber with a stock of general merchandise. Brown & Waugh and Smith & Edmundson soon fol- lowed with stocks of notions and groceries; Henry Robinett and N. L. Addis opened black- smith shops; D. Wilson sold furniture. In 1892 the Christian church erected a neat frame building. Quite a large amount of grain has been shipped from this point, and a good busi- ness is done by dealers in most of the lines of merchandise. In 1900 the railroad discontin- ued its agency at this point. The people, who voted bonds to aid in building the road with the belief that they were to have a permanent station, feel indignant over the loss of the agency.
EDNA.
On June 20, 1876, Mr. Booth and Alex. Patterson opened a general store in a claim shanty 11 by 14 feet, belonging to Jeptha Lackey, on the northeast one-fourth of section 30, in Elm Grove township. This was the first start of the town of Edna. That same fall this firm brought from the town of Chanute the material of a frame building which they had torn down, and with it they put up at Edna, on the same quarter, the first store build- ing in the place. This building still stands. They continued to conduct the business until 1879, when they sold to Frank Clark. Other stores were opened from time to time. In 1883 Dunlap & Co. started a hardware store, but there were no very important enterprises start- 8
ed or any large amount of building done until the construction of the railroad through there in 1886, with the exception of the flour-mill, which was erected in 1883 by H. S. Wimmer and William Gear. This mill was put in ope- ration in the spring of 1884, and has ever been one of the most substantial features of Edna's prosperity. The town was not regularly laid off until the location of the railroad, in the summer of 1886. A plat of the town embrac- ing a portion of sections 29 and 30, township 34, range 19. was filed August 21, 1886.
FIRES.
There have been two quite extensive fires in Edna: one on February 13, 1889, on the west side of Delaware street, burning out the business houses of G. W. Reasor. W. P. Dol- lar and Josiah Arnold; the other in December, 1891, on the east side of Delaware street, con- suming the business houses of Frank Martin, Frank Holton, L. Powell, Alexander Dunlap and C. M. Rinker.
STONE AND BRICK BUILDINGS.
There are two stone buildings in Edna, the first being the two-story bank building erected by C. T. Ewing in 1887, and the second. a one- story structure adjoining it, erected by G. W. Reasor in 1891. There have also been erected three fine brick store buildings, one in 1894, and two in 1899, two of them being two stories in height, and the other one-story.
ELEVATOR AND MILL.
As previously stated, a flouring mill was located here about the time the town was start- ed. In 1899 a large elevator was erected.
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GOVERNMENT.
On the application of its citizens an order was made by the board of county commission- ers on July 3, 1892, incorporating the town as a city of the third class, and on July 20 its first election was held, at which the following officers were elected : Mayor, J. H. Hoole; po- lice judge, J. H. Reasor; councilmen G. W. Reasor, T. G. Harris, H. H. Clark, A. C. Veach and J. C. Arnold. The first meeting of the mayor and council was held July 25, 1892, at which J. E. Blunk was appointed and con- firmed as city clerk.
On August 9 four ordinances were passed. The first levied an occupation tax on all the various kinds of business conducted there; the second provided for the maintenance of the peace; the third prohibited stock from running at large; and the fourth provided for licensing dogs.
Since its organization Edna has had the fol- lowing mayors and city clerks : Mayors-1892, J. H. Hoole; 1893,-96, F. E. Hamilton ; 1897, J. E. Blunk; 1898-99. J. H. Hughes; 1900, Dr. J. H. Woodul. Clerks-1892, J. E. Blunk; 1893-94, A. C. Veach; 1895, W. E. Staige; 1896, E. H. Hughes ; 1897, H. H. Clark; 1898, E. C. Fair; 1899, H. H. Clark; 1900, W. E. Staige.
BANKS.
On Janaury 25, 1887, C. T. Ewing, who was in the banking business at Thayer and Cherryvale, opened the International Bank at Edna, with J. M. Berry, cashier. C. H. Za- briski succeeded Mr. Berry as cashier on No- vember 1, 1888, and continued in charge of the bank until it failed, in May 1892. A state bank under the management of J. H. Lount was opened in September, 1897; in the follow-
ing June it went into voluntary liquidation. The State Bank of Edna was opened July 21, 1899, with $5,000 capital stock, and is doing a prosperous business.
VALEDA.
The site for this town is on a part of sec- tion 33, township 34, range 18, and was owned by the Excelsior Town and Mining Company. The plat was filed July 7, 1886. The first building in the town was put up by Stone & Willie, who placed therein a stock of merchan- dise. About the same time C. M. Keeler erect- ed a store building and put in a stock of goods, and Dr. Kenworthy started the first drug store. During the fall of 1866 all of the town of Deerton was moved to the Valeda town-site.
LABETTE.
This town is located near the center of sec- tion 26, in Liberty township. It was started with the avowed purpose of making it the county seat, and leading citizens from the southern part of the county, as well as those in the near vicinity, took interest in the enter- prise. Among the charter members were Dempsey Elliott, J. S. Waters, James H. Crich- ton, W. A. Hodges, John W. Horner, W. J. Conner, and many more of like character and responsibility. The town company was incor- porated May 3, 1870. The charter specified that the town was to be located near Neola. It was not until September that the town plat was acknowledged by W. J. Conner, president of the town company; however, the building of the town commenced immediately upon the organization of the town company. The first families to be located upon the town-site were Robert Cooper, Wilf. Cooper, Dr. W. J. Con-
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ner and Jacob Weider. Wilf. Cooper entered a part of the town-site, and had resided thereon since 1868. Probably the first business house upon the town-site was that of Jacob Weider, moved there from Montana the latter part of May, in which he at once opened a bakery and saloon. Another saloon was opened some time after this by a Mr. Woolsey ; neither had license to run, and yet both were conducted for months without being interfered with. Before the close of June, 1870, a meat market was conducted by Lewis & Smith; a lumber yard by Mr. Wil- kins; a boarding-house by Mr. Brady; a shoe shop by Mr. Moon, and a grocery store by Bates & Co. At this time it was said that there were 52 houses on the town-site. During the next few months the town built rapidly, and by the close of the year was represented by nearly every line of business.
Failing to secure the county seat, the suc- cess of the town began to be questioned, and of those interested therein some commenced to take their departure. For a number of years past it has remained what it became after the boom had subsided-a village with a fair busi- ness for two or three stores, and a shipping point for the grain raised in the vicinity. About 1875 a mill was erected by Bowen & Williams, of Chetopa. Some two years thereafter A. W. Diggs bought it, but soon sold it to other parties. The machinery was then removed, and for many years the mill was in disuse. In the spring of 1899 it was again refitted and put into operation by George Leggate. On November 2, 1899, the mill was entirely de- stroyed by fire.
The M. K. & T. Ry. Co. built a spur road branching off at Labette, and going to Min- eral, in Cherokee county; this was commenced in the fall of 1894 and completed in the spring of 1895.
On February 15, 1897, a fire destroyed quite a portion of the business houses in the town. On June 7, 1890, a tornado destroyed the Baptist church and one or two other build- ings.
Soon after the town was started cemetery grounds were selected north of town. Mrs. Sarah Cooper was the first person whose body was interred therein.
ALTAMONT.
I. N. Hamilton, Henry G. Hamman, J. J. Miles and others were members of the town company which was chartered February 4, 1875, for the purpose of laying out a town on the south half of section 2 and the north half of section II, township 33, range 19. This company does not seem to have ac- complished its purpose, and on September 5, 1879, a new charter was filed, by I. N. Ham- ilton, S. O. Noble and others, for the purpose of locating a town on the northeast quarter of section II, township 33, range 19. This land the company purchased from William Miller. The town plat was acknowledged by J. B. Jones, president, and S. O. Noble, secre- tary, and was filed January 21, 1880. I. N. Hamilton was first president, but was soon succeeded by J. B. Jones as president and Scott O. Noble as secretary. The first house erected on the town-site was the residence of Scott O. Noble; this was built in October, 1879. In De- cember of the same year J. B. Jones put up the next building, in which, about the first of Jan- uary, 1880, James Hershberger opened the first store in town.
MILLS.
In 1875. before there seemed any prospect of building a town near there, E. C. Gordon
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
and A. B. Hammer erected a frame building on the northwest quarter of section 2, belong- ing to I. N. Hamilton. The machinery for a grist-mill was put in the next season, and a custom flouring-mill was conducted quite suc- cessfully for several years. In 1878 J. W. Giles erected a small mill on the southwest quar- ter of section 2. This was not operated very long. Mr. Giles afterwards moved the building onto the town-site, and out of it constructed a hotel. A mill was built in 1881 by Martin A Renner and Daniel Reid. The town company donated the land, constructed the pond, and gave them $75 in money, in order to secure the mill. Some years ago, W. J. Lough bought this mill and greatly improved and enlarged its capacity, making it one of the popular mills of the county. On June 3, 1900, it was totally destroyed by fire. After its destruction, John Rust erected, and in the latter part of 1900 completed. a large and well equipped elevator, in which he also grinds feed.
HOTELS.
The first hotel was built in the spring of 1880 by Samuel Sharp. Afterward J. W. Giles moved his mill building on the town site, and out of it constructed quite a good hotel build- ing. A good frame building was subsequently erected near the depot, and has materially added to their hotel accommodations.
GOVERNMENT.
September 29, 1884, the town was incor- porated, and on October 14, 1884, the first elec- tion was held, which resulted in electing H. C. Blanchard, mayor; L. W. Crain, police judge; and the following councilmen : R. B. Gregg, W. M. McCoid, D. Reid, C. S. Newlon, A. J.
Garst. W. F. Hamman was elected city clerk. Mr. Blanchard was elected mayor by two ma- jority over J. B. Jones. Mayors : 1884, H. C. Blanchard; 1885, C. S. Newlon; 1886, W. P. Wilson; 1887, A. W. Mackie; 1888-89 J. B. Jones ; 1890, R. B. Gay ; 1891, A. W. Mackie; 1892-93, C. S. Newlon; 1894-95, W. J. Lough; 1896, S. L. Martin ; 1897, Harry Mills; 1898, Thomas H. Lough; 1899, Charles E. Harrington; 1900, C. E. Hildreth. Clerks : 1884. W. F. Hamman; 1885, A. A. Farmer; 1886, B. F. Godfrey; 1887-88, C. M. Pool; 1889, J. B. Libbey; 1890, W. S. Houghton ; 1891, Harry Mills; 1892, H. E. Hamman, Henry Tropp and W. F. Hamman; 1893, C. M. Doughman; 1894-96, W. W. Starnes; 1897, L. P. Hamilton; 1898, A. R. Martin; 1899, J. H. Taylor; 1900, J. E. Switzer.
BRICK BUILDINGS.
In 1886 P. Lane erected a substantial two- story brick business house. Prior to this all the buildings had been frame. In 1893 two or three one-story brick store buildings were put up. Besides these brick structures there are the brick school buildings.
COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL.
In 1893 the county high school was es- tablished in Altamont, and has been a help in giving the people a feeling of confidence and pride in their town.
BANK.
February 1, 1886, J. H. Macon and S. A. Duval opened a bank, which was run some time, but finally the management was such that it was found to be unprofitable, and it was closed.
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CHURCHES.
The Presbyterians put up a church build- ing in the spring of 1881; the Methodists in 1882; the Baptists finished their house in June, 1884; and in 1892 the Christians pur- chased the old frame school-house and moved it onto their lots for a church.
MOUND VALLEY.
J. P. Allen, W. A. Lewis, Charles Beggs, N. L. Hibbard, Chas. Lierly, C. H. Lewis and others became incorporated July 13, 1868, with the authority to locate a town on section 2, township 33, range 18. The first building on the town-site was put up in the summer of 1869, by the town company in connection with Alexander Honrath and Henry Rohr, the upper story of which was to be used as the town company's office and the public hall, and the lower story by Honrath & Rohr for a gen- eral store. Among those who followed Messrs. Honrath & Rohr were L. F. Nicholas, who put in a stock of drugs; J. B. Kremer, who had a grocery and hardware store; and E. H. Stevens, the postoffice.
No title to the land on which the town was located was obtained from the Government until the passage of the act of 1876. In February, 1877, the occupants petitioned the probate judge to enter the town-site as he was authorized to do under the law. This he did, and in July, 1878, a certificate of entry was is- sued to him for the benefit of the occupants of the said town-site.
PROFESSIONAL MEN.
Several parties who had been or claimed to be lawyers have had their office in this town.
WV. M. Rogers was the first of this class to lo- cate here. Without attempting to mention a number of those who subsequently attempted to practice in justice court, some of whom were and some of whom were not admitted to the bar, I may mention W. F. Schoch, who for several years was located at this point, and did a good business. A little later, Alvah Shick, who had been raised in the town, was admitted to the bar, and did collecting and a local law business until his death. The first doctor to locate in this vicinity was Charles H. Lewis, who settled here in 1869. He had a claim on which he lived; he had quite a good practice. E. Tanner came in February, 1870, and N. M. Miller later in that year. Doctors Pattie, Woods, Towel, Wenner, Tustison, Stansbury, McEwen, Sanders, Allen, Lemon, Lake, Strother and Morgan have offered their serv- ices to the public, and several of them have done a good business and made a good reputa- tion.
BANKS.
On October 7, 1883, C. M. Condon and W. H. Gandy opened a bank, which they continued to run until September, 1889, when they dis- solved, since which time the bank has been con- ducted by Mr. Condon.
GAS.
In 1883 an effort was made to sink an arte- sian well for the purpose of supplying the town with water, and with the hope of finding coal. After drilling to a depth of over 750 feet. the parties became doubtful of obtaining the object sought; it was, however, discovered that the well contained a large amount of gas, and in 1884 tubing was put in with the view of util- izing the gas. For practical purposes, this
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
never amounted to anything. But, later, other efforts have been made to prospect further and, if possible, to find gas in paying quantities. In 1900, work in this direction was commenced, and at this writing it is believed by many that a sufficient flow has been obtained to justify piping the town, preparatory to its use.
SANITARIUM.
The gas well above referred to was found to afford water highly impregnated with min- erals which it was believed would be good for medicinal purposes. Authority was obtained from the Legislature to use the proceeds of the sale of the township railroad stock in the erec- tion of a large house, which was done, and it has become quite a resort for invalids. It is lighted and heated by natural gas from the well already spoken of.
MILL.
In 1881 W. C. O'Brien and W. W. Harper erected a mill on the bank of the Labette, which proved to be a very good institution for the place, but not always a profitable investment to the owners. The mill was entirely con- sumed by fire on November 23, 1892. Since then a new mill has been built on the site of the old one.
STONE AND BRICK BUILDINGS.
There is one stone and one brick building in town. The first was built by Joseph Riff, in 1883; the latter, a very fine structure, was built by F. P. Dicus & Co., in 1890.
FIRES.
The first fire in town was on October 6, 1872, when the town company building with the stock of Honrath & Rohr was entirely con- sumed. This was probably as heavy a loss
to the town as the great fire which occurred in 1889, when a whole block of buildings was con- sumed with the greater part of the stocks in it. The grist-mill was burned on November 23, 1892.
GOVERNMENT.
On August 2, 1871, on petition of Alexan- der Honrath and others, an order of the pro- bate court was made for the incorporation of the town, and the following persons were ap- pointed trustees : Alexander Honrath, Wm. M. Rogers, John B. Campbell, E. Tanner, and Alexander McBride.
On January 9, 1884, an order of the judge of the district court was made incorporating the town as a city of the third class. The first election was held January 24th. Mayors : E. Tanner, W. W. Harper, E. Tanner, Will- iam Clark, Josephus Moore, W. W. McEwen, F. E. West, F. P. Dicus (2 years), F. M. Gandy, E. Tanner (2 years), Alvah Shick, and George Lutz (2 years). Clerks: W. N. McCoid, J. M. Smith, N. M. Miller, S. D. Richardson, Isaac Hill, Rufus Thrall, W. N. McCoid, T. J. Cozad, F. M. Gandy, E. A. Steele, A. L. Bushnell, Dott Norfleet (2 years), Ivy Norfleet, and W. H. Humphrey.
CHETOPA.
Of the early settlement of this part of the county I have spoken in other parts of this work. The first white settler within the pres- ent corporate limits of Chetopa of whom I have any account was John McMurtry, who lived at a point on the Neosho River at or near where the west end of the Neosho bridge is now located. When the settlement was de- stroyed in 1863, his house was torn down. I have not been able to learn at what date he
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
settled here, but Dr. Lisle found him there when he came, and he continued to reside there up to the breaking up of the settlement in 1863. Dr. Lisle made his settlement upon a piece of ground, ever since claimed by him as his home, on April 18, 1857. That summer he erected his house and shops on what is now a part of block 24. In August he went back to Ohio and brought his family with him, arriving in Chetopa in November. From that time to the present his absence from Chetopa has been but temporary.
Willoughby Doudna came to see Dr. Lisle in the fall of 1857 and stayed with him some time. The next year he went back to Ohio and married. In the fall he and his wife came to Chetopa, but in the spring of 1859 they located near Baxter Springs, and did not come back to Chetopa until after the war.
The early settlement at and around Che- topa was broken up November 19, 1863, by a force of United States troops numbering prob- ably some two or three hundred, under the command of Captain Willits, Adjutant Ahle and Lieutenant Josylen. All of the buildings in the vicinity were burned or otherwise de- stroyed and all the settlers were driven away. This was done, as the officers claimed, by com- mand of their superior officers to prevent the property falling into the hands of the rebels. Dr. Lisle and family went to Council Grove. They remained until September. 1865, when he came down and looked over the ground, and in November of that year brought his family back to Chetopa.
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
The permanent settlement of Chetopa really commences with the year 1866. In the spring of that year Ephraim Doudna and Dr. George
Lisle built the first house upon the town-site. It was a "shake" house, and stood on the west side of what is now Third street, and north of Maple street, near the alley. In this home Ephraim Doudna opened the first store in town. He had a small stock of goods consisting of dry goods, groceries and provisions. Soon after this a man by the name of Hoffman built a cabin and blacksmith shop south of where Maple street now is, and between Second and Third streets. These were the only buildings in town at the close of 1866 of which I have been able to learn, although it is probable there were two or three more log houses built that year. Perry Barnes moved into town on elec- tion day, in November of that year, and was al- lowed to vote; it was considered that every- body who was here with the intention of set- tling had a right to express his preference at the first election. D. U. Watson and Wm. Shay were two of the judges of this election, and S. R. Southwick was one of the clerks.
In February of 1867 Willoughby Doudna, who had a sawmill on the east side of the Neo- sho River, just above the mouth of Canville Creek, in Neosho county, moved it to Chetopa and located it on the west side of the Neosho near the foot of Maple street as afterwards lo- cated. He began sawing on February 20th. and had a buhr for grinding corn in operation the fore part of May. The only other mills at this time in the county were in Neosho and Montana townships. W. H. Reed operated this mill, sawed the first tree made into boards in Chetopa, and during the spring built the first frame house that was erected in town. It stood at the northwest corner of block 60. From this time on frame houses made of native lumber began to be built where before either the log or "shake" shanties had been made to answer. In the early summer of this year a rough survey
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
for the town-site was made by S. R. Southwick, and Maple and Third streets were located. In June, Perry Barnes built a house on the south- east corner of Third and Maple streets, de- signed for a hotel and store. In this, about the first of July, he opened a stock of groceries and a hotel; this was the first hotel in town, and the second store. About the same time a small cabin was erected on the southwest corner of First and Maple streets and called "Bache- lors' Hall," or the "Cabinet Shop." That sum- mer Z. A. Woodard bought out Mr. Doudna, and in the building occupied by him put in a general stock of goods. In this store, from the first, was kept the postoffice. Thus the first building erected upon the town-site contained not only the first store, but also the first post- office. William Craft and family came in Oc- tober of that year, and at once commenced the erection of a hotel on the northwest corner of Third and Maple streets. It was a frame building, 24 by 26 feet, two stories high. It was completed and opened for guests that fall, under the name of the Chetopa House, and was the first building erected exclusively for a hotel. In the 'Bachelors' Hall" or "Cabinet Shop" above referred to, in September this year, was opened the first Sunday school in town, with G. H. Hard as superintendent. Occasionally preaching services were also had. On October 23, this year, Emma Reed was born to Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Reed. This was the first birth in town.
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