USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 30
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THE STRUGGLE FOR TEMPERANCE
The license system was not put in operation in this county without a vigorous opposition on the part of the temperance people. So far as I can ascertain, the first attempt to obtain license to sell liquor in this county was in the summer or fall of 1867, when J. Q. Cowell, who was running a small drug store in Os- wego, got a sufficiently signed petition to authorize the issuance of a license; but before it was presented to the board, H. C. Bridgman, who was conducting a general store next to his, in some way got possession of the petition and destroyed it. This seems to have been the last attempt made by Cowell to get a license, but probably not the last attempt to sell liquor. The sales, however, if made, were without any authority of law.
Some time after this transaction John R. Clover got a petition containing sufficient sig- natures to authorize a license to be issued to him, but Mrs. Augusta Herbaugh managed to get possession of it, and it suffered a fate sim- ilar to Mr. Cowell's.
THE FIRST LICENSED SALOON
In the county was kept at the northwest corner of block 39, in Oswego, by Jones & Stewart, who on January 11, 1868. presented to the board of county commissioners a petition said to contain the names of a majority of the res- idents of Oswego township, asking that a li- cense to sell liquor be granted to them. The
board granted this petition, and directed the clerk to issue license for one year, upon the payment by said Jones & Stewart of the sum of $50. This firm soon sold out to H. E. Porter and A. J. DeCou, the latter of whom in a few weeks sold his interest to his partner, and thereafter Mr. Porter ran the business alone. This saloon had been running less than seven months, when, on the night of August 6th, J. C. Wheeler and Charles Van Alstine, with several more persons, spent the evening there in drinking and carousing until after midnight. Van Alstine and Wheeler got into a dispute over the question of indebtedness of the latter to the former, and after leaving the saloon, under the influence of liquor, remained by the side of the building disputing for some time, until all the other parties had gone away, and H. E. Porter, the bar-keeper, had closed the door. The next morning Wheeler was found by the saloon unconscious, his head bruised by blows from a club, from which he soon thereafter died. Van Alstine was ar- rested, and at the next term of court was con- victed of murder in the second degree and sen- tenced to the penitentiary for ten years. I am informed that his family was left to be provid- ed for by the public, as was also the family of Wheeler. Subsequently the commissioners paid the expense of sending Wheeler's children back to their friends in Ohio. The cost to the county of convicting and sending Van
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Alstine to the penitentiary, and caring for the destitute families of the murderer and his vic- tim, is said to have been over $2,000. Com- paring this sum paid out of the public treasury, for a matter which may fairly be said to be traceable directly to the saloon as its cause, with the paltry sum of $50 paid into the county treasury for the saloon license, the transaction would not look like a very profitable one for the public to engage in.
The next party authorized by the board to make drunkards according to law was William B. Gregory, who on May 16, 1868, presented to the board a petition signed by 182 citizens of Richland township, asking that he be grant- ed a dramshop license for said township. Whereupon the board ordered that, upon the payment of $100 into the county treasury, li- cense be granted him for one year from that date. The last action of the board preceding their granting Gregory license to keep a sa- loon was their appointment of him to the office of constable of said township.
The practical workings of this licensed sa- loon do not seem to have been altogether satis- factory to the people of Chetopa. On Febru- ary 9, 1869, a large temperance meeting was held at Spaulding's hall, at which stirring tem- perance speeches were made by a number of citizens, and also by Rev. C. R. Rice, who had remained over a day or two after his quarterly meeting. Strong resolutions were passed de- nouncing those who were disgracing the town with their drunkenness, and calling upon the officers to see that the law was enforced. Tem- perance meetings were frequently held subse- quently to this, and a temperance organiza- tion was effected. About the same time at- tempts were made by other parties to obtain license, but with less success.
On July 21, 1868, a petition dated July 6,
1868, was presented to the board, asking them "to grant Charles Sipes a license to keep a grocery and first-class billiard saloon" in Os- wego; whereupon, "the board having consid- ered said petition, and being satisfied that said petition is not made by a majority of the resi- dents in said township as the law requires, and that the masses of the citizens are opposed to the granting of dramshop license in said town- ship, as evidenced by the remonstrance pre- sented to this board, therefore said petition is not granted." On the same day the record shows that W. S. Newlon presented to the board the following petition :
"To the County Board of Labette County, Kansas: The undersigned, residents of Os- wego township, over the age of 21 years, re- spectfully ask you not to grant license to estab- lish a dramshop at Oswego at your next meet- ing."
And then follows their action thereon :
"And the board having duly considered the same, do and it is hereby ordered that the board will not bind or circumscribe its powers, but will endeavor to act at all times and upon all subjects according to law and justice. Where- fore, said petition is not granted."
There seems to have been no other saloon license granted until January 7, 1869, when John R. Clover and H. H. Stanley were grant- ed a license on a petition said to contain the names of a majority of the citizens of Oswego township. The record shows that Commis- sioner Molesworth voted to fix the amount charged for the license at $500, but that Com- missioners Logan and Butterworth agreed to charge but $100 therefor. A year thereafter these parties had their license renewed by the commissioners, at the same price.
After 1870, Oswego and Chetopa being organized under city government, the man-
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ner of regulating the sale of liquor in these places passed from the board of county commis- sioners to that of the city council. The juris- diction of the commissioners was confined to the rest of the county.
The first record which I have found of a li- cense being applied for outside of Richland and Oswego townships was that of Thomas Phillips to keep a saloon in Montana; this was at the meeting of the board in January, 1872. A re- monstrance was also presented, and the license was refused. However, at their meeting in July of the same year the board granted a license to William T. Trapp, for a fee of $150. This was not the first saloon, however, that was kept in Montana. Several parties at different times were engaged in the saloon business who conducted it in defiance of law.
At the January. 1874, meeting of the board, two saloons were authorized to be licensed in Montana, at a fee of $100 each-one to be kept by Edward Wilcox, and the other by Will- iam T. Trapp and Andrew Dixon.
On February 2, 1875, J. S. Waters pre- sented the petition of himself and 168 others, asking that license be granted to Andrew Dix- on, and on the same day the petition was grant- ed. the fee to be charged therefor to be $300; but soon thereafter Mr. Waters appeared be- fore the commissioners and recommended that the fee be but $100. On consideration, the board finally fixed the fee at $200. In 1876 Dixon's license was again renewed, the fee charged this time being but $100. It was not long after its renewal until Mrs. Waters ap- peared before the board and showed that some of the names on the petition for license were not legal petitioners, and she succeeded in get- ting the board to make an order revoking the license. At the next meeting, however, Mr. Dixon appeared with his attorney before the
board, and by making them believe that they . had no authority to revoke a license once grant- ed, induced them to rescind their former action and leave his license in force.
It was not long after the town of Labette was started until saloons were opened and run without the sanction of law, and yet without receiving any great amount of molestation from the law officers.
During 1872 and 1873 there was little or- ganized effort at any place in the county to . prevent the obtaining of license, or for the pur- pose of seeing that the law against illegal sales was practically enforced. Some temperance meetings were held, and some protests were made by the temperance people, but nothing very effective was done.
THE CRUSADE SPIRIT.
The spring and summer of 1874 was one of the most exciting times upon the temperance question that had ever been known in the . county. The spirit of the "crusaders," which in many places in the East had led the women to make raids on the saloons and pour liquor into the gutter, manifested itself in this county in a milder but scarcely less determined form. No saloons were raided, but in Oswego the women held prayer meetings in the churches, and visited the saloons and requested the pro -. prietors to give up their business. Of course these requests were not complied with. But the ladies' organization was kept up, the en- tire city was thoroughly canvassed, immense petitions were secured praying the council to issue no license at all, and demanding that the law, requiring a petition of a majority of the residents of the ward to be presented before a license should be issued, should be enforced. At that time the law of the State required a
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
petition of a majority of the residents of the township or ward. male and female, to be pre- sented requesting such action before any dram- shop license could be granted, but provided that the mayor and council of cities of the first and second class might, by ordinance, dis- pense with such petition. At the request of the ladies the mayor called a special meeting of the council, which was held on May 4, 1874, at which time a large delegation of ladies ap- peared before the council and presented their pe- titions, and had several arguments made in fav- or of carrying out the spirit expressed therein. Prior to this no ordinance had been passed dis- pensing with the necessity of a petition, but the council had entirely disregarded the law requir- ing a petition, and had uniformly granted li- cense on the simple petition of the applicant himself. It now being apparent that such action would not be tolerated, at the close of the argu- ment in favor of granting the ladies' petition, a motion was made instructing the committee to prepare and present an ordinance to dispense with the necessity of a petition by a majority of the residents of the ward, as they were authorized to do by statute. The vote on the passage of this motion resulted in a tie of the council, and the mayor gave the casting vote in opposition thereto, thus establishing the rule that licensed saloons could not exist in any ward until a majority of the adult residents, thereof, male and female, should petition there- for. For this action the mayor received a vote of thanks from the ladies' association.
Less than a week later another meeting of the council was called, at which an ordinance dispensing with the necessity for a petition con- taining the names of a majority of the resi- dents of the ward before a license could be granted was introduced, and on motion to adopt the same the vote of the council, as at
the previous meeting, stood a tie. and the mayor gave the casting vote in favor of its passage, and thereby inaugurated the policy in the form of law, which since the incorporation of the city had been practiced in defiance of law, of allowing the mayor and council to grant license without an express wish of the people therefor. This action on the part of the mayor and council created great excitement. A public meeting was immediately called, and strong resolutions of disapprobation of this action were unanimously passed. Temperance meet- ings continued to be held and public sentiment aroused.
At the time Oswego was having this earn- est action, rousing temperance meetings were held weekly at Parsons. and were addressed by leading and influential citizens, as well as by the clergy. A little later, similar steps were taken at Chetopa. Public meetings were held and speeches made disapproving the licensing of saloons, and petitions were circulated and largely signed asking the council to grant no license until petitioned for by a majority of the residents of the ward as required by law. These petitions, however, were unavailing, and at the close of the month a large number of saloons were licensed over the earnest protest of the temperance people.
The temperance people were now intent on preventing the issuance of license in the cities unless the same were petitioned for by a ma- jority of the residents of the ward; and at the county temperance convention held on Octo- ber 6, 1874, on motion of Nelson Case it was unanimously-
"Resolved, That we are in favor of the im- mediate repeal of the proviso of section I of the dramshop act, and request our entire dele- gation in the Legislature to use their utmost exertions to secure such result."
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Early in 1874 a party decided it would be a profitable thing to open a saloon in Mound Valley, and set about obtaining a petition ask- ing the commissioners to grant him a license for that purpose. As soon as this was known a public meeting was called and held at the school-house, on February 2d, and rousing tem- perance speeches were made, and a determina- tion' expressed that no saloon should be opened in that place. A remonstrance was circulated, and a large majority of the people signed the same. During the winter of 1873-74 the tem- perance sentiment in Chetopa was sustained by the maintenance of the weekly temperance literary society, in which a temperance paper was read, temperance debates were had, and all phases of the question were discussed. Nearly all of the temperance workers in the place took part in this society.
REFORM CLUB.
On July 8, 1877, quite a number of the men of Oswego who were in the habit of in- dulging somewhat freely in intoxicating liquors organized themselves into a reform club, with William Wells as president and L. C. Howard as secretary. The purpose of the club was to assist its members either in abstaining alto- gether from the use of liquor, or to abstain therefrom excepting under certain conditions.
BREWERIES.
As early as 1870 Max Muehlschuster start- ed a brewery on the Neosho river at Chetopa, and soon opened in connection therewith a beer garden on the east side of the river. These were conducted by him until his death, in July, 1871.
In 1870 a building for a brewery was erect-
ed in the north edge of Oswego by John Seiber and Edward Eckle, but on account of financial embarrassment on the part of the proprietors it was never put in operation.
Early in 1873 John Apperger commenced the construction of a brewery just on the brow of the hill in the east part of Oswego, south of the section-line road running to Columbus. which was dedicated by a free-beer frolic on Sunday, April 21, 1873. Apperger ran the brewery for some four years, but finally, in November, 1877, it was closed by the collector of internal revenue for illicit transactions, and soon thereafter Apperger moved away.
MURPHY MEETINGS.
Murphy meetings in the county commenced in Oswego, where, about the Ist of October, 1877, a series of meetings was begun in the Methodist church, under the general direction of the pastor, which were kept up nightly for quite a length of time. and at which nearly all of the citizens who at any time spoke in public, as well as persons from abroad, made speeches. Miss Amanda Way was present on one or two occasions. The meetings resulted in securing the signatures of over 500 of the citizens to the Murphy pledge. At its close steps were taken for opening a library and reading-room.
Soon after the opening of the meetings in Oswego a series of meetings was held at Che- topa, conducted by Mrs. S. A. Williams, which resulted in securing something like 600 signa- tures to the Murphy pledge.
About the same time similar meetings were conducted at Parsons by Miss Amanda Way, at which about 800 parties took the Murphy pledge. Steps were taken at the close of these meetings looking to the opening of a free read- ing-room.
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
During that winter Murphy meetings were held in a large number of the school-houses throughout the county, especially in the south- ern part. T. J. Calvin took a leading part in getting them started, and provided for their being frequently conducted. From these tem- perance meetings organizations were secured in the Baylor school-house, with W. G. Baylor as president, and in the Lockard school-house, with A. B. Hammer as president. At Mon- tana during the same period, Murphy meetings were scarcely less successful than at either of the other points in the county. The whole neighborhood was thoroughly aroused, and a very large proportion of the people took the pledge.
DISPENSING WITH PETITION.
On May 28, 1877. the city council of Par- sons by unanimous vote passed an ordinance requiring the presentation of a petition of a majority of the residents of a ward in order to obtain a license. The mayor, however, ve- toed this ordinance, and the council declined to pass it over his veto. The strong argument against the passage of the ordinance seemed to be that thereby some of the nine saloons then running in the city would not be able to procure the necessary petition, and the city would thereby be deprived of the $200 fee charged therefor. A public meeting was had, at which a vote of thanks was tendered the three coun- cilmen who voted for the passage of the or- dinance notwithstanding the mayor's veto.
Following up the Murphy movement in Os- wego, petitions were presented to the council requesting the repeal of the ordinance dispens- ing with the necessity of petition, in compliance with which the council did, on November 2, 1877, repeal the ordinance on that subject, and thereby made it practically certain that licensed
saloons must cease with the last of the year, for with the sentiment as it then existed, there was no probability of anyone obtaining a suffi- cient petition to entitle the council to grant license, were they so disposed. On the Ist of January, 1878, Oswego for the first time since the granting of the first license ten years be- fore, was without a licensed saloon; nor did she have one running during the next three months. In February, 1878, C. B. Woodford presented a petition sufficiently signed to authorize the council to issue a license, pro- vided they had chosen to issue it, for the pur- pose of selling "spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors in this city for medical, culinary, sacramental and mechanical purposes." Signa- tures to this petition were obtained on the theory that it was not for the purpose of se- curing license to open a saloon, but only for the sale of liquor for the purposes therein named. However, the council refused to grant the petition, and passed a preamble and a reso- lution that no license would be issued until after the people had had an opportunity to express themselves at the polls whether they de- sired license to be restored. At the city elec- tion the only question was whether or not a mayor and council should be elected in favor of granting license, and the people decided in favor of license by a majority of more than 100. Of course with such a verdict in favor of a change of policy from that which had been pursued for the three months past, the council was not long in granting licenses to those who had been anxiously waiting for an opportunity to open saloons, and from this time on until the State prohibitory law went into effect Os- wego was able to furnish those who wished to buy, all the liquor they needed, not only for "culinary and medicinal," but also for intoxi- cating purposes.
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On January 1, 1878, in compliance with request of a petition very largely signed by the citizens of Chetopa, the mayor and council of that city unanimously passed an ordinance repealing the ordinance then in force dispens- ing with petition, thereby making it incumbent on the applicant for license to get a majority of the ward, male and female, to petition there- for before he could obtain license to sell liquor. It was supposed that this would be sufficient to do away with saloons in that town. How- ever, just one week thereafter a petition of the residents of the First Ward was presented to the council, containing the requisite number of signatures, and a saloon was duly licensed. From that time the temperance war was car- ried on in earnest. Public meetings were fre- quently held, and every step possible taken to consolidate the sentiment in favor of no-license. This was the direct issue at the city election in April, 1878, and by a small majority the temperance people succeeded in electing offi- cers opposed to the issuance of any license. At the expiration of the licenses then in ex- istence, on June 30, legalized saloons ceased in Chetopa, and were not again introduced. In the spring of 1879 little interest was taken in the election, and the result was that one license councilman was elected, which made the council stand a tie. Soon thereafter, pe- titions were circulated to secure signatures ask- ing that license again be granted. A vacancy soon occurred in the city council; a special election resulted in the election of a temperance man, which again gave a clear majority of the council opposed to license, and thereby, as was supposed, determined the matter of saloons for another year. But later in the season fur- ther efforts were made by the liquor men to ob- tain license, and by direction of the council the mayor called a special election, to be held
on September 23, 1879, of all persons of law- ful age, both male and female, to determine by ballot whether or not the council should grant dramshop license. The vote was taken, resulting in 66 men and 113 women voting against the license, and not one vote in favor thereof. Prior to the election in April, 1880, a vigorous effort was made to arouse the teni- perance sentiment both in the town and sur- rounding country. Petitions were sent out to secure the signatures of farmers who preferred to trade in a temperance town, and of course a vast majority of them signed it. The election, however, resulted in the choice of one coun- cilman opposed to license and one in favor, thereby making the council a tie upon that ques- tion.
TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS.
I. O. G. T.
OSWEGO .- The first lodge of this order es- tablished in the county was organized at Os- wego on November 14, 1869. Several tem- perance workers, feeling the necessity for some- thing being done to save young men from drunkenness, applied to the officers of the grand lodge for a charter. J. J. Browne was appointed deputy to institute the lodge; Nelson Case was elected W. C. T., and A. B. Close, W. S. After some years this lodge became somewhat disorganized. On May 10. 1876, a district Good Templars' meeting was held at the Congregational church in Oswego, at which steps were taken to reorganize a lodge at this place. A number of persons signified their willingness to go into such an organiza- tion, and a lodge was soon thereafter instituted, which, with more or less regularity, main- tained its existence until June, 1882. when, prohibition having been adopted, its members
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deemed it unwise longer to continue its opera- tion, and it was suspended. The money in the treasury, amounting to $30, was donated to the library association.
CHETOPA .- The second lodge formed in the county was organized at Chetopa, where. by the aid of the members from the Oswego lodge, one was instituted on January 24, 1870, with G. L. Courtney as W. C. T., and S. T. Beck, W. S. With some interruptions a lodge was maintained at Chetopa as late as 1877. Lodges were had at one time at Montana, the Lock- ard school-house, the Breese school-house, and probably at other points in the county. None of these were of verv long duration.
MOUND VALLEY .- On October 10, 1877, under the leadership of Mrs. Williams, a grand lodge deputy, a lodge was instituted at Mound Valley. and was maintained for some eight years, when it became disorganized. Robert R. Coleman was its first W. C. T., and he and his family were active workers during the his- tory of the lodge. November 2, 1885, a re- organization was had, and the lodge from this time was maintained regularly till May 9, 1887. when it was again discontinued. Very much of the temperance sentiment of Mound Valley may be ascribed to the principles instilled into the minds of the young, and to the correct tem- perance education given in this lodge.
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