USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 4
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tinued very high all the time for several years, Flour was frequently $15 a hundred, corn $3 a bushel, meal $6 a hundred, bacon 25 cents a pound, and other things in the line of living in proportion. Teams which were used for hauling provisions were poorly fed and con- sequently generally poor, and in going to Mis- souri f r a load of provisions but a small load could be hauled. Frequently the streams were up so that for days they could not be crossed, which would necessitate the consumption of a large part of what had been procured before they reached their homes. Sometimes boats loaded with vegetables would be shipped down the Neosho from points up the stream where they were raised. In the fall of 1866 there was much sickness among the settlers, so much that there were scarcely enough well ones to wait on the sick. All of these things and many more contributed to make the lot of the early settler a hard one. In 1867 a sufficient amount of crops was raised to make quite a help in providing the new country with the necessaries of life but it was not until 1868 that anything like a sufficient amount was raised to supply the demands, and even then very much had to be shipped in.
FIRST ADMINISTRATION.
In September, 1866, A. W. Richardson died, and in December following, his son John Richardson was appointed administrator of his estate by the Probate Court of Neosho county. In February, 1867, he held a public sale of the effects of the estate. Francis Wall was auc- tioneer. The property was sold on time, and brought a good price, and every dollar of the purchase price was collected by the administra- tor. This was the first estate administered upon within the present limits of the county.
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
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MARRIAGES.
In this, as in very many other matters, there are several who claim the honor of being first; but the first marriage of which I have any information is that of J. E. Bryan and Penina Lisle, the ceremony of which was per- formed at Chetopa, September 4, 1860, by Rev. Mr. Rader. Of course there is no record of this, there being at the time no civil organiza- tion in the county, and no license procured. There were several parties married at quite an early date after the commencment of the set- tlement of the county, in 1865. It is pos- sible that some marriage ceremony may have been performed prior to that of which I shall now speak; but I am quite sure that this is the first marriage in the county of which there is any official record. The marriage record in the Probate Court of Neosho county has. the following :
"State of Kansas, County of Neosho. "CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE.
"This is to certify that Mr. Wmn. Wilcox and Miss Sarah Jane Marlow were married by me on the 5th day of August, 1866. "GEORGE BENNETT, J. P.
"Recorded October 2, 1866.
"J. L. FLETCHER, Clerk."
COUNTY-SEAT, AND COUNTY-SEAT CONTESTS.
The subject of county-seat in this county commences with the following proclamation by the Governor :
"STATE OF KANSAS, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, "TOPEKA, March 10, 1867.
"Whereas, in due form of law it has been
made to appear that the county of Labette, State of Kansas, contains the required number of inhabitants to entitle the people of said coun- ty to a county organization :
"Now, therefore, I, Samuel J. Crawford, Governor of Kansas, by virtue of authority in me vested by law, and having commissioned special county officers, do hereby locate the county seat of Labette county, State of Kan- sas, at the town of Oswego in said county.
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my hand, and caused to be affixed the official seal of State.
" Done at Topeka, this Ioth day of March, A. D., 1867.
"[Seal.]
S. J. CRAWFORD."
At the first county election, held on April 22, 1867, in addition to the choice of county officers the electors voted upon the location of the county-seat, with the following result : Oswego received 156 votes, Montana 140 votes, and Neola 84 votes. On October 4, 1867, the commissioners "Ordered that an election on the permanent location of the coun- ty-seat of Labette county, Kansas, be held on the 5th day of November, A. D. 1867." The canvass of this vote shows that Oswego re- ceived 158 votes, Neola 144 votes. and Mon- tana 95 votes. On November 21, 1867, on a petition, containing 251 names, for a county- seat election, it was ordered that such election be held on the 30th day of December, 1867. The vote was canvassed January 2, 1868, with the following result: Oswego, 204 votes; Ne- ola, 122 votes; Montana, 109 votes; and the Geographical Center, 6 votes. The poll-books for Hackberry township and Iuka precinct in Neosho township were thrown out at this elec- tion, for incompleteness of return. Another election was held, on January 7, 1868, which was canvassed on January 10, 1868, and the
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result declared to be as follows: Oswego, 211 votes; Neola, 122 votes; whereupon it was de- clared that "Oswego having received a ma- jority of all the votes cast at said election for county-seat, it is hereby declared to be the county-seat of Labette, in the State of Kansas."
The next county-seat move seems to have been on April 12, 1869, when J. S. Waters presented a petition for a county-seat election, the consideration of which was had on the 13th and again on the 14th of the same month, on which last day it was rejected.
On January 5, 1871, D. G. Brown pre- sented a petition, purporting to be signed by 1,494 citizens, asking for an election on the permanent location of the county-seat of La- bette county. David Kelso appeared before the board and asked that it defer action on the petition for ten days or two weeks, to give time for an examination of said petition and to make a showing that it was not such a one as was required by law in order that an election may be ordered. The board gave two hours for making such a showing; whereupon several affidavits were filed, but after all ob- jections the board made its order that an elec- tion be held on February 15, 1871, for per- manent location of the county-seat.
On February 18, 1871, the vote was can- vassed, and the result declared to be as follows : Whole number of votes cast, 3.715; of which Chetopa received 877, Oswego 1,01I, Labette 1,588, Geographical Center 237, Center I, Montana I. The poll-books from Parsons pre- cinct were not received, for the reason that no such voting precinct had then been established. The votes thus rejected were 51 for Oswego, 3 for Labette, and 2 for Geographical Center.
It was then ordered that a second election be held, on February 28th, to determine as between Oswego and Labette which should be
the county seat. In the meantime the friends of Chetopa commenced suit against the commis- sioners and obtained an injunction restraining them from canvassing the returns cast at the election on February 28th. On March 4th the commissioners met and heard extended argu- ments in favor of and against their proceed- ing with a canvass of the votes. As a record of a deliberative body, the report of the action of the board at this time, as found in its jour- nal, is somewhat amusing. They finally deter- mined "that they had no right under the in- junction to canvass the vote, and that they would not canvass or proclaim any result, but would repair to the county clerk's office and there examine the packages purporting to con- tain returns, and filed in said office, and ascer- tain if said packages so filed contained poll- books in fact of the election held on February 28th, 1871, for the location of the county- seat."
About the time the commissioners had completed the inspection of the packages and ascertained the result of the votes, the deputy sheriff came into the room with an order for their arrest on contempt of court. On hear- ing had before the district judge they were discharged as not having intended any con- tempt by the unofficial canvass, and ascertaining the result of the vote cast on the 28th of Feb- ruary. Although not officially announced, the result of that vote as shown by the returns, and as given out and published at the time, was found to be as follows: Total vote 2,509, Labette I 308, Oswego 1,201.
At the election held February 15th, the vote of Liberty township, which included the town of Labette, was 952, all but three of which were cast for Labette, while at the election held but thirteen days later the vote of this town- ship had dwindled down to 372. At the first
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
election the vote of Oswego township and city was 672, and at the second election it was 687. At the first election Iuka precinct cast 305 votes, all for Labette; while at the second election she was content with a poll of 58 votes, all of which were for Labette.
During this 1871 contest over the county- seat, parties attempted to make capital for themselves, or for some other cause, on the strength of their promise as to what would be done for or against certain localities in the county-seat vote. D. C. Hutchinson and W. M. Rogers, claiming to represent the settlers' association, went to Chetopa and got $500 donated to the settlers' organization, with the promise, as was generally understood, that the settlers would in turn give Chetopa their support for the county-seat ; and soon there- after the North township council tendered a vote of thanks to Chetopa for her generous contribution. It is not improbable that like attempts were made to secure funds from other points on similar promises.
During this canvass also other attempts were made to influence the voting, which, if intended in good faith, were perhaps less ob- jectionable. To induce the location of the county-seat at Labette, the town company of- fered to pay the expenses of the election, and set aside a block of ground to be donated to the county on which to erect county buildings. In January, 1868, a somewhat similar propo- sition had been made by Oswego, she propos- ing to pay expenses of election and to furnish a court-house building free for two years if she were chosen county-seat. A public meet- ing was held at Mound Valley, at which it was voted to offer to pay $5,000 into the county treasury provided the county-seat were located at that point and remained there for five years, and in addition to donate a block of ground
400 feet square and the use of a town hall until the county could do better; and further offered to donate grounds for an agricultural fair.
It would be hard to give even a faint idea of the bitterness of feeling engendered, and of the amount of corruption practiced at this time. Persons who were considered good and honest citizens seemed to have no scruples in encour- aging and assisting illegal and fraudulent vot- ing, in tampering with ballot-boxes, and fix- ing up returns to suit the emergency, so as to give the place for which they were working a majority.
On July 9, 1874, a petition containing 2,193 names was presented to the board of county commissioners, asking that an order be made for an election for the purpose of voting on the relocation of the county-seat. A large number of business men and attorneys from Parsons appeared and argued in favor of grant- ing the petition, and a like representation from Oswego appeared and argued against the peti- tion. The matter was under consideration a large part of the time from the 9th to the 17th of July, during which time nearly every phase of the law relative to county-seat elections was discussed, and many important questions were passed upon by the board. Among these may be mentioned : Who are competent petitioners ; from what rolls the number of electors in the county are to be determined; the right of a party who has signed a petition to withdraw his name therefrom: the right to add names after the petition has been presented. The board finally determined that the number of electors in the county as shown by the tax- rolls was 3,564. From the 2,193 names on the petition, 174 were stricken off for various reasons; some because appearing there twice, some because put there by other parties with-
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ont authority, some because they were not le- gal electors, and some because they requested their names to be stricken therefrom. After these names were stricken from the petition, there were left thereon 2,019. There not be- ing three-fifths of the total number of electors, the board on July 17th unanimously voted not to order an election.
On January 14, 1880, the commissioners invited Chetopa, Oswego and Parsons cities and Mount Pleasant and Mcund Valley town- ships to submit propositions as to what they would do toward furnishing a building, of a kind designated in the order, for court-house and offices, and in case of removal of county- seat, a jail, and the payment of the costs of removal; such propositions to be submitted to the electors of the county at a special election to be called for that purpose.
On January 15, 1880, A. M. Fellows pre- sented to the board a petition said to contain about 2.700 names, asking an election to be called for relocating the county-seat. Consid- eration of this was had on the following day, and being found insufficient, was denied, and leave given to withdraw the same. On Janu- ary 27, 1880, Angell Matthewson presented a petition for an election to relocate the county- seat, and attorneys for petitioners objected to anyone being heard to argue against granting the petition, on the ground that it was an c.r parte matter in which no one but the petitioners were known to the board. The objection was overruled, and the board decided to hear par- ties for and against the petition. After consid- eration of the petition from day to day up to February 7, 1880, the board on that day found that the petition contained 2.495 names, only 1,168 of which were the names of legal elec- tors, and that as the number of names on the
assessment-rolls was 3,374, it would require a petition containing the names of 2,024 elec- tors to entitle them to an order for a county- seat election. It was thereupon ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be denied.
This controversy over the application for an election in 1880 was somewhat mixed up with the matter of building a new court-house. In both matters the representatives of Parsons attempted to institute legal proceedings in the name of the State. An injunction was applied for to restrain the building of the court-house, and a mandamus was asked to compel the com- missioners to count parties as petitioners for an election although their names did not ap- pear on the assessment-rolls. Application was made to the Attorney General to allow the suits to be conducted in the name of the State. The request was granted on condition of cer- tain preliminary steps being first taken. This course was not taken, and the cases in the name of the State were dismissed. A manda- mus proceeding by W. G. Adkins, one of the petitioners, was instituted to compel the board to count him, and others similarly situated, as legal petitioners, but the Supreme Court held that he was not authorized to maintain the suit.
The last public effort that was made to obtain a county-seat election was in 1889. During a large part of that summer petitions were in circulation in nearly every neighbor- hood in the county, asking that an election be called. One of the peculiar features of this effort was the form of petition which was adopted. It was really a contract whereby each party who signed it agreed with every other one who signed it, not to ask to have his name stricken off. This petition, however, has never yet been presented to the board.
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
COUNTY BUILDINGS.
During the first two years the county offi- cers held their offices in such temporary quar- ters as could be secured, and the court was first held in the second story of the Buntain building, then standing on the southwest cor- ner of block 25, and now standing on the northwest corner of block II; and thereafter it was held in the second story of the Fleming building, on lot 17 in block 31, now occupied by O. E. Woods as a lumber-yard office.
In the summer and fall of 1868 the citi- zenis of Oswego by private contribution erect- ed a one-story frame building 24 by 36 feet, 12 feet high, on lot 20 in block 39, in which to hold church, school and public lectures. This building was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1868, and in it was taught the public school that winter. The Oswego Town Company, having repaid the money to those who had con- tributed for the erection of this building, took it off their hands, and on February 15, 1869, in consideration of $I to them paid by the county commissioners, conveyed said lots with said building thereon to the county commis- sioners for the benefit of Labette county, and on the same day the town company entered into a contract with the county commissioners for the erection of a stone building 12 feet square and 12 feet high, and to cost not less than $1,000, and to donate the same to the county for a jail; the county commissioners agreeing to accept and use the same for that purpose. Thereupon the town company employed J. H. Sawin to erect such a building, and it was built on the west end of lot I, block 18, and was ready for occupancy in July of that year. The building above described, donated to the county by the town company, was at first used only for a court-house, the county offices still
remaining scattered over town in temporary quarters rented for that purpose. The first term of court held in this building was in Oc- tober, 1869.
On January 8 1870, the commissioners, having taken the opinion of the county attor- ney, and being advised by him that they were fully authorized so to do, decided to put up an addition to the court-house, to be used for offices by the county officers. They thereupon entered into a contract with Rev. Joseph A. Cox for the erection of such an addition, to be about 24 by 30 feet, for the sum of $900; and they appointed Elisha Hammer agent of the county to superintend the erection of such an addition, and upon its completion to accept it and deliver to the contractor the county or- ders in payment for the same. On the com- pletion of this addition, it was divided into four offices, in which most of the county officers were able to find quarters. Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of the district court and sheriff removed their offices to the main room used for a court-house.
The building referred to, erected for a county jail, for the number of prisoners who frequently had to be placed therein, was found to be unfit for the purpose, and occasionally, before the new jail was built, prisoners had to be taken to some neighboring county, usu- ally Bourbon, for safe-keeping. No other building was provided by the county until 1879. In April, 1879, the commissioners con- tracted with Samuel Fellows for the erection of a large stone building in the rear of the court-house, for which they agreed to pay him $698.56. The building was completed in May, and in it the commissioners placed three iron cells, for which they paid $750 and freight. While this building was quite an improvement on the first, it was still insufficient both in size
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and construction for a county jail. Over and over again did the judge of the district court and the grand jury, as well as the public press, declare this building to be a totally unfit place in which to confine prisoners. Four and some- times six prisoners would be confined in one of these small cells. Dampness and lack of ventilation and, almost of necessity, with such a number as it contained, a large degree of filthiness, characterized this building, and made its maintenance a blot on our good name. However, it was not until 1890 that better accommodations were provided. In 1890 the city of Oswego proposed to the county to erect on the court-house premises a substantial two- story brick building, the use of which the coun- ty was to have free so long as she desired to occupy it as a county jail, and during the summer such building was erected. In 1891 the old cells and three additional new iron ones. for which the county paid $1,800, were placed in this building.
On July 10, 1880, the commissioners con- veyed the first stone building used as a jail to the city of Oswego for use as a calaboose.
On December 4, 1879, H. C. Hall and C. O. Perkins offered to rent from the county the court-house site for ninety-nine years, and to erect thereon a brick or stone building of suffi- cient size and accommodation for county pur- poses, which they would lease to the county for a term of years at a reasonable rent. Whereupon the board accepted their proposit on, and agreed if they would erect the building described, which was substantially the one subsequently constructed, they would rent it for ten years, and pay therefor as rental $900 for the first year and $600 per annum thereafter. On Jan- vary 14, 1880, the board rescinded its action taken on December 4, 1879, and revoked the contract ; but on January 17th, on the execut-
ing of a bond by certain citizens, which was approved by the board, conditioned that they would pay the rent on the proposed building to be erected by Messrs. Hall and Perkins, the board ratified and confirmed its order made on December 4, 1879; whereupon the proposed building was erected, and on May 23, 1880, being fully completed, was dedicated with ap- propriate ceremonies. In 1883 the county com- missioners caused brick vaults to be construct- ed for the offices of the register of deeds and the clerk of the district court.
The shade trees which add so much to the appearance of the property were set out in 1881.
FURNISHING COUNTY OFFICES.
The record of the proceedings of the com- missioners at their first meeting, on June 5, 1867, contains this order :
"It is further ordered, that the county offi- cers shall hold their offices at home until a place is provided by said board of commis- sioners."
However, temporary offices were soon thereafter provided in Oswego for most of the officers. On January 14, 1868, I find among the proceedings of the board the following order :
"County clerk is hereby ordered to give no- tice to the various county officers of this county when and where county offices have been pro- vided, when the same shall have been so pro- vided."
On November 12, 1870, is the following order :
"County offices having been provided with furniture, ordered, that county officers keep office in court-house from November 20, 1870."
The first order which I find referring to
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY
the furniture for county offices is on January 14, 1868, when the commissioners adopted the following :
"Whereas, the county offices of this county are destitute of furniture : and whereas, such furniture is absolutely necessary for the tran- saction of business in said offices, therefore, it is hereby ordered that the county clerk be and is hereby authorized to procure for said offices the following articles of furniture: Twelve office chairs, two tables 3 by 6 feet, one coal stove of large size, one book case; said furni- ture to be purchased or procured on the most advantageous terms to the county, and paid for out of the county treasury with any money not otherwise appropriated."
On July 7, 1868, the commissioners allowed bill to Hanford & Pierson in the sum of $19 for one half-dozen office chairs. This seems to have been the first bill of furniture bought by the county. On the same day the commission- ers made the following order :
"It appearing to the board that it is neces- sary, in order to preserve the books, records and papers belonging to the county, that they should be placed in a safe, and there being no safe in the possession of the county authori- ties, therefore, be it ordered by the board, that the county clerk enter into contract with R. WV. Wright or some other person for the use of a safe for one year upon the following terms: The county will pay five per centum on the cost of the safe, and the county to have the use of one-half of the safe, with the privi- lege of going to the safe at pleasure. The safe to stand in R. W. Wright's business house, if rented of him; if rented of any other per- son it is to be placed in county rooms or some building convenient thereto."
On January 8, 1869, it is "Ordered by the board, that the county clerk and treasurer be
and are hereby authorized to purchase a safe from G. R. Tileston, of Chetopa, if in their opinion it will answer the purpose of the coun- ty, at a price not to exceed $245:" and on April 12th following the bill of R. G. Tileston in the sum of $245 for a safe was allowed, and the further bill of H. C. Bridgman in the sum of $16 for services in going to Chetopa and purchasing the safe was also allowed. On July 29, 1870, the commissioners made a contract with Beard & Bro., of St. Louis, for two safes, one with burglar-proof box for county treasurer and one large fire-proof safe for county clerk, for which they agreed to pay $1,000.
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