History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens, Part 25

Author: Case, Nelson, 1845-1921, ed
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 846

USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 25

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land township gave $50,000, and Chetopa city $25,000 for the same purpose. The voting, issuance and delivery of these bonds was se- cured to the railroad company by a personal obligation entered into between the citizens of these two places to see the contract complied with. Little opposition was had in e ther place to the voting of the aid thus agreed upon. Of the litigation in respect to these bonds, and the compromise entered into for their payment which afterward took place, I need not here speak. With the aid thus promised and se- cured, the building of the road was rapidly pushed forward. After reaching the north line of the county, 20 miles of road were la'd in eleven days, and in one day four miles and 100 feet were put down. Having reached and passed through Oswego and Chetopa, on Mon- day, June 6th, the State line was reached, at which time appropriate ceremonies were had. The last spike on the Kansas line was driven by Col. R. S. Stevens, the general manager, and the first spike across the line in the In- dian Territory by Col. E. C. Boudinot, the famous Cherokee who had always favored the building of this road. In the evening of June 6, 1870, the first passenger train which ever en- tered Labette county passed over the road in charge of John C. Hall, conductor, and David Dunham, engineer. The Sedalia branch of this road was thereafter pushed forward to com- pletion as rapidly as could be done, and on February 3, 1871. the connecting rail was laid uniting it with the Junction City branch at Parsons; and on the 5th of that month the first through passenger train from Sedalia to Chetopa passed over the road in charge of L. S. Hamilton, conductor.

MACHINE SHOPS .- It was the general un- derstanding, when Parsons was designated as the point where the two branches would unite,

that shops would be located at that place. In October, 1871, George W. Chess, contractor, broke ground for the roundhouse and machine shops, under the supervision of George Thorn- ton, civil engineer. In December following, Proctor & Pardee, contractors, commenced the mason work, and by the close of 1872 the ma- chine shops were so far completed as to be ready to commence operation, and in May, 1873, the roundhouse was ready to receive en- gines. These shops have been added to from time to time, and have been made very com- plete in their construction and furnishing. A large force is kept constantly at work in the various departments, making and repairing the rolling stock of the road.

GENERAL OFFICES .- Theoretically, the general offices of the company were at Par- sons almost from the first building of the road, but, practically, it was not until 1892 that the offices were located at that point. During the time they were in Parsons, negotiations were going on and efforts were being made for an evasion of the law requiring the general of- fices to be kept within the State. Finally the parties most directly interested consented that, in consideration of the company's making cer- tain additional improvements in Parsons, they would not insist on the general offices remain- ing with them. When this arrangement was effected, the general offices were moved back to St. Louis in 1896.

NEW DEPOT AND OFFICE BUILDING .- The office room for the company offices located at Parsons had become entirely inadequate. To meet the needs, a new building was planned, and on April 1, 1895, work was commenced thereon. It was pushed to completion as rap- idly as possible. It is a very fine structure, furnishing accommodations for the office force and a commodious depot.

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SPUR ROAD .- In 1894 a spur was pro- jected on which work was commenced late in the fall of that year, starting from the main line at Labette and running in an easterly di- rection to Mineral in Cherokee county. This was completed in the spring of 1895. Its main use is for the transportation of coal from the Cherokee county mines to the company's shops in Parsons.

M. K & C. RY.

The Memphis, Kansas & Colorado Railway Company was organized for the purpose of se- curing a road from Cherokee, on the Fort Scott & Gulf road, to Parsons, with a view of its extension both ways. The company was formed early in 1877. Parsons first voted $10,- 000 to aid this enterprise, and subsequently, after a protracted discussion, some favoring the project and others opposing making any donation, it was voted to take stock to the amount of $30,000, the bonds to be delivered upon the completion of the road into Parsons. Neosho township voted $5,000 in bonds. In April, 1878, the track-laying commenced from Cherokee west, and on July 1, 1878, at 10 o'clock at night, the first train arrived in Par- sons. The officers of Parsons refused to de- liver the bonds, on the ground that the road was not completed by the time specified in the contract. Litigation ensued, which was car- ried to the supreme court, where it was finally determined that the city was not liable and the bonds were never delivered. In February, 1880, this road was sold to the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railway Company, and steps were at once taken to extend it from Parsons to Cherryvale. No municipal aid was voted along the line, but the people of Cherry- vale secured the right-of-way as an inducement to its construction. The road thus built from Cherokee to Cherryvale was narrow gauge;

some two or three years after its completion to Cherryvale it was made into a standard- gauge road.

P. & P. RY.

In December, 1885, the Parsons & Pacific Railway Company was chartered to build a road from Parsons to Coffeyville. C. H. Kim- ball and Lee Clark were the leading spirits in the movement, and with the aid of eastern cap- italists whom they enlisted in the enterprise the road was constructed, in 1886. On Sep- tember 20, 1886, the first train ran from Mound Valley to Parsons. The company re- ceived municipal aid-from Parsons, $40,- 000; from Mound Valley township, $20,000; Canada township, $20,000, and some from Montgomery county.

K. C. & P. RY.

During the building of the Parsons & Pa- cific road to Coffeyville, a company, in which the same parties were interested, was formed for the purpose of extending it from Parsons north to Kansas City. In aid of this construc- tion Parsons voted an additional $20,000, and the municipalities in the counties north, through which the road ran, extended liberal aid. The road was pushed quite rapidly along, and a connection formed with the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf, at Paola.

D. M. & A. R. R.

As early as 1884 an organization was formed of prominent men living along the pro- posed line of the Denver, Memphis & Atlantic Railroad for the purpose of doing the prelim- inary work, of securing the right-of-way, mu- nicipal aid, and putting the work in such shape that capitalists would be willing to take hold

COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL AT ALTAMONT. ERECTED 1895.

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of the enterprise and build the road. Most of the members of this company lived at and be- tween Larned and Chetopa. Col. J. B. Cook was the representative from this county in the company. Maj. Joseph Henson and Col. John Doniphan, of St. Joseph, Mo., who had some experience in railroad matters and were men of some capital, were also members of the company. Municipal aid was voted in nearly every township through which the road was to be run. A survey and plat was made, and ne- gotiations commenced with Jay Gould for the construction of the road. The time in which the road was to be built under the conditions of the aid first voted having expired before any work was done, a second election had to be held and the aid voted again. The first plan also was to build a narrow-gauge road. In changing to a broad gauge the technical re- quirements of the law were not observed, and legislation had to be secured to cure defects, so that it was not until May 22, 1886, that the work began at Chetopa extending the road west from that point. Quite an amount of work had been done, commencing at Larned and extending east, prior to that. Two days later than this the construction train was put on, and by the close of June it was completed as far west as Edna. On July 2, 1886, the first train arrived in Chetopa from Edna, and during the summer Coffeyville was reached. The following aid was extended to secure the construction of this road through this coun- ty : A subscription of several hundred dollars by the citizens of Chetopa, and municipal aid; from Hackberry township, $10,000; from Elm Grove township, $20,000; and from Howard township, $20,000.

NEVADA & MINDEN BRANCH.

During the fall and winter of 1885-86 ef- forts were made by different citizens of the 13

county to secure the extension of the road from Nevada, Mo., in a southwesterly direction, but it was finally determined to build it to Che- topa; that place securing for it the right-of- way for about 20 miles and giving it 30 acres of ground in the city for depot and yard pur- poses. During the spring the work on it was rapidly pushed forward, and on April 6, 1886, the first train over this branch arrived in Che- topa.

L. L. & G. R. R.

It was at first expected that this line of road would run through the western part of the county its entire width from north to south, but on the organization of Montgomery coun- ty it was proposed to change the route, and that county voting liberal aid, the proposed location was changed so that the road only crosses the northwestern corner of this county a short distance and then enters Montgomery.

ST. L. & S. F. R. R.

To secure, connection with St. Louis was among the first things that the citizens of Os- wego desired after the town was fairly started. The first effort in this direction of which I have any knowledge was the organization of a local company known as the Oswego, Car- thage, Mount Vernon & Springfield Railway Company, for which R. W. Wright and others secured a charter January 27, 1869. On De- cember 9, 1870, the Oswego Register pub- lished an account of the proposed extension of the Southern Pacific Railway from Springfield to Wichita. About that time delegates from Oswego attended meetings at Carthage and ' Columbus, at which the project was talked up. On May 21, 1870, on the petition of quite a number of citizens, the board of county com- missioners' made an order submitting to the

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voters of the county a proposition to issue county bonds in the sum of $150,000 to the Southern Kansas Railway Company on con- dition of its building a road through the coun- ty-seat, and west as near the center of the coun- ty as practicable. This left out important points in the county through which the road could not pass, and before the day fixed upon for voting the proposition was withdrawn. On December 20, 1870, a meeting was held at Oswego, at which it was determined to have an east-and-west road. On May 23, 1871, Os- wego voted $75,000 in bonds for the Atlantic & Pacific Railway. On this proposition there were but five votes against the bonds. On June 28, 1871, delegates from Montgomery, Labette and Cherokee counties met at Oswego, and decided to form a local company to aid in procuring the road from Springfield west. On August 13, 1871, a charter having been procured, the directors of the State Line, Os- wego & Independence Railway met at Oswe- go, and organized by electing H. G. Webb, of Labette county, president; Milton Douglas, of Cherokee county, vice-president, A. WV. Jay, of Cherokee county, secretary ; J. B. Emerson, of Montgomery county, treasurer; and J. J. Browne, of Labette county, attorney. In Sep- tember, 1872, a survey for the line of road from Minersville to Oswego was made. An- other local company, designated the Memphis, Carthage & Northwestern Railway Company, had been formed, and contracts for the con- struction of the road as far as Oswego were entered into. A large force of hands was put upon the road, and the grading was nearly completed. While the bonds which had been voted could not be legally issued until the road was completed to Oswego, still, to aid its con- struction, by general consent of the citizens a part of the bonds of Oswego township were sold and the proceeds applied towards paying

for the grading. Without going into details, it is sufficient to say that this local company failed, and for some time nothing further was done toward the extension of the road. On January 4, 1875, Joseph Seligman bought this Memphis, Carthage & Northwestern road, and in February a new company was formed. On March 22, 1875, the Pierce City & Kansas Railway Company was consolidated with the State Line, Oswego & Independence Railway Company, the consolidated companies taking the name of the Missouri & Western Railway Company. Joseph Seligman was president and Edward Livingston secretary and treasurer. Additional bonds were voted by Oswego city and township. To show the interest which Os- wego felt in securing this road, it may be mentioned that one evening at a public meet- ing held in the court-house personal aid to the amount of $32.745 was promised, all of which was afterwards paid, to secure this enterprise. On June 15. 1876, definite arrangements were made with Seligman for the construction of the road. Hobart & Condon were awarded the contract for preparing the road-bed from Min- ersville to Oswego. From this time the work progressed satisfactorily, and on Thursday, De- cember 14, 1876, just at dark, the construc- tion train reached the foot of Commercial street, in the city of Oswego. The end of the road remained at Oswego until 1879. when arrangements were made for pushing it west- ward, and during that season it was completed as far as Wichita. This construction was done in the name of a local company and with Ho- bart & Condon as chief contractors, but as soon as it was completed it came under the manage- ment of the "Frisco" company.

STRIKES.

There have been at least three strikes upon the M. K. & T. Ry., which have more or less

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affected the people of this county. In July. 1877, the workmen at other points on the road struck; the men engaged in the shops at Par- sons did not formally strike, but appointed a committee to confer with the strikers; work was suspended for some time, but matters were finally arranged between the company and its employees so that no strike was made in this county .- In March, 1885, the workmen in the shops at Parsons, as well as the train-men gen- erally, went out on a strike. For a number of days freight traffic was completely blocked, but passenger trains continued to be operated. The differences between the company and its hands were satisfactorily settled, and they all, or nearly all, were taken back into the com- pany's employ. The most serious of all strikes was in March, 1886. It extended all along the line of the road. On March 6th the machine shop whistle at Parsons sounded at 10 o'clock A. M., and the entire force of railroad employes ceased work and marched out. An effort was made by the governors of Kansas and Missouri to effect a settlement of the matters of differ- ence between the company and its hands, but were unsuccessful. New men were employed by the company, but were not allowed to work, the old employees being of sufficient force to

prevent their performing their duties. The strikers placed a guard around the company's property to prevent its being injured, but would not allow anyone to assist in moving trains. Adjutant General Campbell came down from Topeka and conferred with the strikers, but could not prevail upon them to come to any terms. Toward the last of March many of the strikers became more desperate and defiant than they had been at first. Not only was force used to prevent freight trains from running

and to "kill" the engines on all trains that at- tempted to pull out, but some went so far as to interfere with passenger travel. The track just north of Bachelor creek bridge was loos- ened, and the north-bound passenger train was ditched. Had the train been going south in- stead of north it would have been plunged into the creek and the result would necessarily have been fatal to many persons. Attempts were also made to burn some of the bridges. The citizens of Parsons organized for the purpose of assisting the company in running its trains, but the striking force was so strong that they were not able to accomplish their object. On the evening of April 2d seven car-loads of the State militia came into Parsons over the Ne- osho division, and about the same time several more car-loads over the Sedalia división, and soon thereafter several more car-loads over the Gulf road. The arrival of the soldiers was a complete surprise to the strikers, as they had not learned that the militia had been called out. The.soldiers at once took control of the entire railroad property and prevented anyone from entering the premises, placed those who had been employed by the company in charge, and at once trains commenced to move. The strike was over. The soldiers remained several days, until everything was quiet and the citizens' organization felt itself strong enough to pre- serve the peace. The leaders among the strik- ers were arrested on a criminal charge, and a number of them were tried and convicted. They were punished by fine and imprisonment in the county jail. The great body of those who participated in the strike permanently lost their places in the railroad employ, and many of them were practically financially ruined.

POLITICAL

I give the following letter as bearing upon the organization of political parties in the county :

"LAKE CITY, COL., April 5, 1892.

"FRIEND CASE: I am not much at writing history, and can only give you some of the points where I was interested and so remember them. You are right about the organization of the party at Trotter's ford and Jacksonville. It was there agreed to make no opposition to the organization of the southern part into an independent county. It was also agreed that they were, to nominate all the candidates for Neosho county from the northern part, and that we from the south part should abstain from voting for or against them, and should or- ganize on our own account, and trust to the Legislature to legalize our action. According to that agreement, a mass meeting of the Repub- licans was called soon after, and met in the open air outside of Carr & Bridgman's store, in the east part of what is now Oswego. Dr. J. F. Newlon was elected as its chairman, and the meeting then proceeded to nominate can- didates for representative and for county of- ficers. I was nominated for representative, Ben. Rice for sheriff, Sam. Collins, John Rice, and I think Noris Harrer, for county com- missioners ; A. T. Dickerman for county clerk, I think. You can verify these names from the records. After my admission to the Legis-

lature the programme was carried out. Al- though our action was irregular, I found all the members and State officers willing to ren- der any assistance in their power. A resolu- tion was at once introduced legalizing my elec- tion, and I was admitted to my seat. I then went to Governor Crawford with our petition for appointment of temporary county officers, and had those elected in the fall appointed. "The Democratic party in 1866 nominated WV. C. Watkins for representative.

"Very truly yours, C. H. BENT."

GREENBACK ORGANIZATIONS.

The introduction of greenbacks into the politics of this county (not as an element of bribery, but as an organized body of voters) dates from 1877, when the first ticket was put into the field by the Greenback party. But of course there was some work done before that time in the way of organizing clubs and dis- seminating the principles of the party. I am not able to say definitely when and where the first organization was effected. The first men- tion which I have found of this organization is a card published in the Advance of Septem- ber 16, 1875, signed by J. W. Caldwell, calling a meeting of those who were favorable to or- ganizing a greenback club, to be held at Drake's Hall, Chetopa, September 18, 1875. I have no information as to whether or not the or-

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ganization was effected, but probably it was not, or if so it did not live long. Sometime in 1877 a club was organized at the Slocum school-house, District No. 75, in Mound Val- ley township. On May 18, 1878, a club was organized at the Valley school-house, District No. 72, in Elm Grove township. During this spring a number of clubs were organized and a more perfect county organization was ef- fected in a convention held at Parsons in April. After 1883 there was little life manifested by this party under its organization as then ex- isting.

THE FARMERS' AND LABORERS' UNION

Was organized at Mound Valley in the latter part of 1885. It was conducted with open doors as a reform club till June 9. 1886, when a secret work was adopted and a secret organiza- tion perfected by the following charter mem- bers: George Campbell, Dr. E. Lemon, J. K. Russell, I. M. Evans, W. N. McCoid, William Clark, Joseph Riff, J. White, N. Clark, B. F. Miller, B. F. Ralls, and E. H. Barnhart. Un- der the leadership of Mr. Campbell a number of lodges were instituted in this and adjoining counties, and the organization was extended to other States. In 1886 Mr. Campbell es- tablished and during 1887 conducted a paper called United Labor, for the purpose of giv- ing publicity and strength to the new organi- zation. Whatever may have been the good effects of this effort on others I do not know, but it proved a very disastrous undertaking financially to Mr. Campbell. After spending several thousand dollars in the attempt to put it on a paying basis, the publication of this official organ ceased, after being conducted about a year. In 1889 this organization was merged

in that of the Farmers' Alliance and Indus- trial Union. In the meantime out of this and other labor organizations there had sprung up a new political party which took the name of the Union Labor party, which was organized at Cincinnati, February 22, 1887. John W. Breidenthal, being one of the delegates from Kansas, was made chairman of the State com- mittee. He at once took active steps toward organizing the party in this county. The first club in the county was organized at Edna, in March. This was soon followed by others. A mass convent on was called, to meet at Alta- mont, August 5, 1887. This meeting was largely attended. George E. Stone, of How- ard township, was made chairman. To pre- vent being imposed upon a pledge was required of all parties participating in its proceedings to support the Union Labor ticket: 137 signed this pledge. The party was then or- ganized, and Wm. Cock was made chairman of the central committee. To Mr. Breidenthal is, in a large measure, due the victory which the party achieved that fall, for he was in- strumental in bringing a number of their best speakers into the county, among whom were Gen. J. B. Weaver. H. A. Streeter, Jesse Harper, Moses Hull, and Capt. Geo. W. Bell. With the exception of commissioner, this party elected the entire county ticket that fall.

FARMERS' ALLIANCE.

This organization so far as it relates to this county dates from January, 1889. when Mount Zion Sub-Alliance was organized, in Osage township. This was followed by Pleasant Hill, in the same month, and on February 12th Globe Alliance was organized, in Mound Valley township. These organizations were formed by C. McIlvain. According to one report An-

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gola Alliance was organized before either of those above named. The County Alliance was formed at Altamont, on May 18, 1889. It has had the following officers: Presidents-G. J. Coleman, E. A. Richcreek, Daniel Pfaff, Ben Johnson. Secretaries-C. L. Albin, Walter Phillips, Harry Mills, George Campbell. Out of this, and the organizations which preceded it, in 1890 sprang the People's party.

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS.

REPUBLICAN COUNTY CONVENTIONS.

The Republican party in this county was organized in 1866. The following are the steps that were taken to secure such organiza- tion, and to hold the first convention.

The fore part of August, 1866, a number of Republicans were assembled at the store of Roe & Dennison, at the Erie postoffice, about a mile north of the present site of Erie. Po- litical matters were talked over, and it was de- cided to call a convention at Trotter's ford, to organize the Republican party. Afterwards, by request of those residing in the southern part of the county (in what is now Labette county ). the place of the meeting was changed from Trotter's ford to Jacksonville. Delegates having been selected from all parts of the coun- ty in such way as each locality chose, they met in convention in a grove some two or three hundred yards north and about the same dis- tance west of what is now the southeast cor- ner of Neosho county, on Saturday, Septem- ber 8, 1866. A Mr. Nugent (?) was chair- man, and J. A. Wells, secretary. At the re- quest of the delegates from the southern part of the county, the nomination for the county officers were all made from those residing in the north half, with the agreement on their part that at the next session of the Legislature the county should be divided. On motion of

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History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens, Part 25

Author: Case, Nelson, 1845-1921, ed Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 846

Author: Case, Nelson, 1845-1921, ed
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 846