USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, from the first settlement to the close of 1892 > Part 10
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1887 .- January and February pleasant; little snow and no very cold weather. March cold and quite a snow at the close of the month. July dry and hot. Good rains during August. November 10th first freeze ; latter part of the month cold. December moderate and little snow.
1888 .- A few cold days during January, but most of the month pleas-
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WEATHER.
ant. February somewhat colder. Little spring weather until the middle of March ; March 28th ground covered with snow. July very hot; corn damaged. November 10th the first snow. December a little snow ; weather generally moderate.
1889 .- January quite wet ; little cold. Latter part of February six inches of snow and several cold days. March and fore part of April damp and cold. July hot. December a very pleasant month.
1890 .- January 7th sleet and snow-storm; latter part of the month and first part of February very pleasant. Considerable cold weather dur- ing latter part of February and fore part of March. April dry. May 16th a hard frost. June and July extremely hot and dry. Good rains in August ; August 17th a severe hail and electrical storm. September was cold. October 27th the first freeze. November wet and cold. Decem- ber 7th eight inches of ice and snow ; latter part of December mild.
1891 .- Fore part of January cold ; most of the month mild. Febru- ary wet and very cold. March 7th snow storm. Spring backward. June, river banks full. Fall dry and hot. Wheat could not be gotten in until latter part of October and fore part of November. November 12th quite a hard freeze ; latter part of November and December pleasant and mild.
1892 .- Severe snow during January; little weather that was very cold. Middle of March quite cold, and considerable snow. Spring back- ward ; oats not sown until April. Heavy rains in May ; streams up. Latter part of June wet weather interfered with harvesting. August and September dry. Wheat generally sown about the last of October. November, good rains; month pleasant. December generally damp, cloudy and chilly, but no very cold weather till Christmas evening, when it turned cold and so continued for several days; several slight snows during the month, but not enough at any time to make sleighing. Year closed with very little snow on ground, and ground slightly frozen.
L. of C.
STORMS.
1871 .- July 10th, hard wind followed by rain, at Parsons. August 27th, hard wind-storm at Chetopa; several houses blown down (among them Lockwood's house, four miles west); tornado from northwest to southeast over Elm Grove and other townships; over 20 houses badly damaged and several completely destroyed; Mrs. Scott and child, in Howard township, killed; one man had arm broken; Alfred Swope's house all blown to pieces ; Mat. Sharp's house, with 16 in it, blown over.
1873 .- Night of April 5th hail-storm broke out all window lights in west side of buildings in Oswego. May 22d storm at Jacksonville blew down several buildings and killed seven persons.
1877 .- June 6th wind-storm at Chetopa blew down chimneys, tore off roofs, etc. June 18th, one of the hardest rains ever known, accompanied by wind and hail. August 18th, cyclone, water-spout, and bail-storm, from southwest to northeast, between Chetopa and Oswego.
1878 .- March 1st, cyclone between Labette and Parsons; J. M. Wil- son's large barn picked up, carried some distance, and demolished ; E. Wells's barn, in North township, blown to pieces ; picked his house up and put it down some two rods away ; demolished R. Kimball's barn ; took his house from foundation and turned it around ; blew down stone building for E. H. Taylor. June 6th, tornado over Labette City, which demolished the school-house and did some other damage.
1879 .-- May 30th, severe wind-and-rain storm at Chetopa ; signs blown down, etc. June 14th another hard wind-storm, from west to east, over southern portion of county, partly removed Kingston Presbyterian church from foundation, and blew in one or two buildings in Chetopa. July - wind blew down east span of Chetopa bridge, then in process of erection.
1880 .- April 2d, severe hail-storm in Walton, and also in northern part of county generally. May 8th, small cyclone west of Chetopa dam- aged W. E. Liggett's kitchen and orchard. December 11th, severe rain- and-wind storm at Chetopa; partly removed Catholic church from its foundation ; also other buildings.
1881 .- September 29th, a small tornado in Oswego scattered some of Sharp's lumber, blew down Tuttle's porch, etc.
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STORMS.
1883 .- May 13th, a cyclone from the Territory came in west of Cecil, blew Cecil M. E. church to pieces, throwing the capstones to the win- dows through the air, but leaving Bible and hymn-book untouched on the box used for a pulpit ; blew M. U. Ramsburg's house to atoms, partly tore down other buildings, and uprooted trees. The storm occurred about 6 p. M., just after church was out. At the same time both houses at Fishkill were reported to have been torn down.
1884 .- July 2d, tornado blew Cecil church to atoms ; destroyed houses, barns, grain ; heavy hail.
1885 .- September 11th, hail-storm at Parsons and vicinity.
MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS.
While we were still a part of Neosho county we were recognized by its authorities as being of sufficient importance to be provided with at least apparent municipal privileges. The first official record which I have found, directly tending to give us these privileges, was made March 6, 1865, by the Commissioners of Neosho county, at which time, in di- viding the county into municipal townships, they formed Mission town- ship, and made it embrace all south of Canville township as far south as the county line, and established Osage Mission as the voting-place of the township. By this order of the Commissioners the southern part of Neosho county, and all of what is now Labette county, was embraced in one township, with Osage Mission as the headquarters thereof. The next official action affecting our municipal affairs was made by the Commis- sioners of Neosho county on July 2, 1866, the record of which is as fol- lows :
"On motion, it was resolved that the south line of Mission township shall be designated as follows : By a line running due east and west across three miles due south of Osage Catholic Mission.
"On motion, it was resolved that there be a township organized to be called Lincoln township, and to be bounded as by a line running due east and west from a point two miles north of the mouth of Hickory creek across the county, on the north by Mission township, on the east by the county line, and on the west by the county line. Place of voting, Trot- ter's ford, on the Neosho river, at Patterson's store.
"On motion, it was resolved that there be a new township organized south of Lincoln township, to be called Grant township, bounded as fol- lows : On the north by Lincoln township, on the east by county line, and on the south by line running due east and west from Reaves's mill-site on the Neosho river, on the west by county line. Place of voting, Montana.
"On motion, it was resolved that there be a new township organized south of Grant township, to be called Labette township ; said township to be bounded as follows; On the north by the south line of Grant town- ship, on the east by county line, on the south by county line, on the west by county line. Place of voting, J. S. Steel's house."
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MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS.
This provision made a strip something over a mile in width of what is now Labette county a part of Lincoln township, and the remainder of Labette county was divided into Grant and Labette townships.
Before the organization of Labette county the Governor appointed two justices of the peace : one, George Bennett, residing at Montana ; and the other, C. H. Talbot, residing at Oswego. From the record in the office of the Secretary of State, it would seem that two orders were made for the appointment of Mr. Bennett-one on May 15, and the other on June 8, 1866. I do not know what was the cause of this. On July 3, 1866, the Commissioners of Neosho county approved Mr. Bennett's bond as justice of the peace, which made him the first legally qualified civil officer residing in what is now Labette county. Mr. Talbot was appointed September 24, 1866, and probably qualified soon thereafter, although I have not the date of his qualification.
Upon the appointment of the Commissioners for the organization of the county, before calling an election, they divided the county into nine precincts : four in range 21, the south one of which they named Chetopa : three in the central part of the county, designated North, Labette and Hackberry; and two in the western part, which they designated Timber Hill ( or possibly Big Hill, as Mr. Dickerman, then County Clerk, says ), and Pumpkin Creek. However, this name is not given at all in any record we now have, but in the first reference to this part of the county in the Commissioners' proceedings, it is called Canada. Of the division thus made there was no change until November 21, 1867, excepting to more definitely organize Timber Hill and Canada townships. The only change subsequently made was to divide some of these townships and create new municipalities.
NEOSHO TOWNSHIP.
The settlement of this township commenced in the summer of 1865. I have found no one who knows the date of the first settlement, nor even who the first settler was. Much of the information from which this ac- count is made is derived from James W. Galyen, who settled on the south half of section 8, township 31, range 21, December 25, 1865. When he came there were already along the river several families, all of whom had come that fall and winter; so that it may be safely said that the settle- ment of the township did not commence prior to September of that year. It is probable that the first settlers in the township were a company who came from Texas, composed of a Jones family and a Cox family, each con- taining quite a number of individuals, and some others. They seemed to have been on their way north, without any very definite point of destina-
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
tion in view, and were camping along the river in this township, allow- ing their stock to feed, when they heard of the proposed treaty with the Osages and concluded to locate there. Among those who were located when Mr. Galyen came were : Jesse Frye, on section 9; a man by the name of John Buck, on the east side of the river; Newton Lowery, on section 5 ; and Mr. Spriggs, on section 16. Mr. Spriggs had a pole shanty on his claim at this time, but never brought his family here, and sold his claim to Asa Rogers. Craig Coffield and Clark Coffield located on section 28, in November ; Holland and Baldwin were located on section 4. At the close of 1865 it is probable that there were not to exceed a dozen fam- ilies in the township, and some of these were only there for the purpose of holding the claims until they could get something out of them and then leave. In 1866 many more settlers came in, and much was done toward improving the claims taken. Messrs. Brown and Sampson R. Robinson brought a saw-mill from Bourbon county and located it on section 4, in the fall of 1866, and soon had it in operation. This was the first mill in operation in the county, and from it Mr. Gaylen got the first lumber that was made, which he used to make a floor for his cabin. All the cabins up to this time had nothing but dirt floors. Of the settlers who came about this time I may mention William Logan, who came early in 1866. He ran a blacksmith-shop at Jacksonville; was the first trustee of the township, having been elected at the election in April, 1867, and was elected County Commissioner in the fall of 1867, and figured quite largely in the local affairs in that part of the county. Nathan Ames came in latter part of 1866, and settled on sections 16 and 17, and at once became one of the leading spirits in the new settlement. Messrs. Pringle and Marguad settled on section 21 the same fall.
CELEBRATIONS.
On July 4, 1866, the first celebration in that part of the county was held, in Kenney's grove on the northwest quarter of section 23. All the settlers in that part of the county gathered here to see each other and participate in the celebration. Dr. Thurman, who lived on section 22, read the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1867, another cele- bration was held, this time in Logan's grove, at which J. F. Bellamy, who had shortly before that time 'moved into the vicinity, gave the ad- dress.
RELIGIOUS EXERCISES.
A Mr. Owens was located on the northeast quarter of section 5, in 1866. His wife was an enthusiastic worker, and that summer opened in their own house and conducted the first Sunday-school in the township,
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MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS.
which was continued until the winter. We have no account of any preaching in the township until 1867, when Joseph Rogers, who was a Methodist local preacher living on section 16, west of the river, com- menced holding services at private houses at different points in the town- ship. After the school-house in district 16 was completed, Rev. Jackson Statton commenced preaching there, and continued for some time to hold services.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Abigail Ames, wife of Samuel Ames, in their own house on the northwest quarter of section 14, in the spring of 1868. That fall E. H. Taylor commenced teaching school in a house on section 5, and finished in the log school-house which the citizens turned out and constructed that fall. In this school-house, as soon as it was finished, a literary society was organized, of which Mr. Taylor was president, and at the meetings nearly all the people in that part of the county were present.
INDIANS.
West of the Neosho river on both sides of the county line, partly in section 5 in this county, partly in Neosho county, was situated one of White Hair's towns. This was abandoned about the time the white set- tlers commenced coming in here. About one hundred graves could be counted on this site, in some of which the frame of the occupant was still sitting and well preserved. The burying was done by piling stones over the lower extremities, leaving the body in a sitting posture, and then pil- ing up stones around it. When the settlers came here they found the remains of an old building on section 4, the posts still standing, giving evidence that at some prior time the Catholics from the Mission had probably had a station. The mile-posts between the Cherokee Neutral Lands and the Osage Reservation were still standing as they had been placed there by the surveyors when the lines had been run.
INCIDENTS.
T. D. G. Marquad and Mary Buck were married, it is said, in April, 1866; if this is correct, it must have been the first marriage in the county after the war.
In May, 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton had born to them twins, named John and Mary.
ORGANIZATION.
There has been no change in the boundary of the east tier of townships from the time of their organization. They were all laid off by the Com- missioners appointed for the organization of the county, prior to the first
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
election. There is no record of their organization prior to November 21, 1867, when the whole county was laid off into townships, at which time it was declared, "Neosho township No. 1 shall include town 31, R. 21." Two voting precincts have been maintained in the township almost from its organization-one on the east and the other on the west side of the Neosho. There is no record showing who were elected officers in April, 1867, but on October 23, 1867, the resignation of John W. Ankron as justice of the peace is accepted, and the record subsequently shows J. B. Graham to be one of the justices of the peace. On January 14, 1868, "It is hereby ordered, that the office of township trustee in Neosho township be declared vacant, as the present holder of said office has been elected to a county office." This evidently refers to William Logan, who had been elected and qualified as one of the County Commissioners, and it is safe to say he was the trustee elected in April, 1867. On the day on which the office was declared vacant as above, Anthony Amend was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy. For some reason which I do not know, no election was held in this township in April, 1868, and the following offi- cers were appointed by the Commissioners : Anthony Amend, trustee ; N. H. Hopkins, clerk; S. K. Robinson, treasurer; J. B. Thurman and William Fish, justices of the peace ; John Summers and Noah Frye, con- stables ; John Radfield, road overseer.
BRIDGES.
The officers of this township were the first to take steps toward bridg- ing the streams. The action of the trustee created a good deal of dis- satisfaction. It was claimed that a "job was put up" by which a large amount of money was to be paid by the township and received by some one for inferior bridges. A tax of 124 mills was levied in 1868 for build- ing bridges.
NORTH TOWNSHIP.
In the spring of 1866 a firm of millers at Iola sent some teams loaded with flour and meal down the Neosho, to sell to the settlers along the river. Two teams came into what is now Labette county, and on their return made such a favorable report of the county that several in that vicinity, and some connected with the mill, came down. Among these were Messrs. Carr, McBride, Wells, Ballentine, and Smith; the latter settled at the junction of the Big and Little Labette, and put up a small shanty. Mr. Ballentine paid Mr. Smith $60 for this claim, which took in most of the timber at this point. Just previous to this Zack Fultz had laid a foundation on a claim adjoining this on the east, and when the survey was made, the improvements of the two claims were found to be
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MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS.
on the same quarter. Mr. Fultz paid Mr. Ballentine $200 for his im- provements, and got the claim. Mr. Ballentine then bought Mr. Hart's claim, on section 36, where he settled and made his home. Mr. Hart then moved over to the Labette, in Liberty township, just below the mouth of Bachelor creek. Fred Latham settled on section 27, and his father-in-law, Mr. Keys, upon a claim just west of the creek. About the same time William Tolen settled in the northern part of the township, and gave the name to a little stream, "Tolen Branch." In July, 1867, the following settlements were made : Albert Porter and W. H. Porter, on section 20; Wm. Fultz, on section 17; Abraham Cary, on section 18; John Kendall, on section 19.
SAW MILL.
In the fall of 1868 Moses Steel and his brother Len Steel brought a saw mill and put it in the forks of the Little and Big Labette, and had it in operation early in 1869.
In June, 1869, Abraham Cary brought from Lawrence the first reaper and mower that was had in this part of the county.
ORGANIZATION.
Originally North township included its present territory and also the east half of what is Walton township, and on November 21, 1867, in re-forming the townships, the Commissioners ordered that "North town- ship No. 7 shall include town 31, R. 19, 20," and it continued with these bounds until Walton township was detached. There seems to have been no election held in this township in April, 1867, at the time when the first county and township officers were elected. On October 4th an order was made by the Commissioners for an election to be held for township officers in this township at the November election following. At this time the following officers were elected : Samuel Ballentine, trustee; William Scott and David B. Stevens, justices of the peace ; James M. Clayton and D. W. Reed, constables; and John Steward, road super- visor. These were the first township officers. There is no record of either clerk or treasurer being elected at this time. On April 7, 1868, the following officers were elected : Samuel Ballentine, trustee; J. D. Keys, clerk; F. W. Latham, treasurer ; William Porter and A. Medkiff, justices of the peace ; William Fultz and Oscar Knowles, constables ; and Z. Fultz, road overseer. In April, 1869, H. Singelton was elected trustee, and Samuel Ballentine treasurer. By some arrangement made at the time, which does not appear of record, Mr. Ballentine, instead of taking the office of treasurer, was continued as trustee for another year.
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
WALTON TOWNSHIP.
The first settler in Walton township was Jefferson Davis, who came in June, 1866, and located on the southeast quarter of section 22. In Au- gust of that year the Weekly family, consisting of Luther, Perry, John, and Mary, located on section 17, and David Edwards on the northeast quarter of section 23. In the spring of 1867 Merrit Mason came, and bought the northeast quarter of section 17 from Mr. Weekly, and thereon made his home. In the fall of 1866 John Collins settled on the southeast quarter of section 36. Perhaps during these years there may have been a few other settlers along the Little Labette, but if so I have not learned the names of such. In 1869 the township received a large number of settlers. On May 1st Nelson Parker settled on the southwest quarter of section 27, and about the middle of May J. A. Jones settled on the north- east quarter of section 26; not far from the same time Alexander Ables and William Ables on the east half of section 29, George T. Walton on section 16, J. M. Gregory on section 26. W. A. Disch, E. P. Emery, S. R. Hill, John Parker, C. C. Kinnison and R. P. Clark were all there before the opening of 1870 ; and on February 5, 1870, S. B. Shafer settled on the southwest quarter of section 21.
CATHOLIC SETTLEMENT.
During the summer of 1869 quite a large number of Catholics settled in the northern part of the township, and have ever since been among the most thrifty and progressive settlers of that vicinity.
ORGANIZATION.
Walton township was a part of North township as originally consti- tuted. An order of the Commissioners was made on April 6, 1870, on the petition of G. T. Walton, M. S. Mason, T. O'Conner, and some fifty other electors, for the organization of township 31, range 19, into a mu- nicipal township to be called Walton, and the following officers were appointed : Merrit S. Mason, trustee; A. C. Perkins, clerk ; Timothy O'Conner, treasurer; Jason Luncinford, constable. On account of ill- health Mr. Mason was granted permission to appoint a deputy to assist in performing the duties of trustee.
OSAGE TOWNSHIP.
The settlement of what is now Osage township dates from the fall of 1866. The first person to locate within the present bounds of this town- ship was Thomas May and family, who settled upon the northwest quar- ter of section 5, township 32, range 18, in September, 1866, where he
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MUNICIPAL TOWNSIIIPS.
died the following year. There being no lumber in that locality, the neighbors sawed up a wagon-bed and made a coffin in which to bury him. The next settler was Milton A. Buckles, who came December 3, 1866, and settled on the northwest quarter of section 33. Isaac Vance located with his family on the southeast quarter of section 29, township 31, range 18, on which he died, in 1870. Harvey Beggs settled on the southeast quarter of section 7, township 32, range 18, and after living on it several years moved away in 1871. Solomon Adams and family resided on the northwest quarter of section 6, township 32, range 18, till 1870, when he moved away. On the southeast quarter of this same section Harvey Waymire made his home, and put up the first saw-mill in the township in May, 1869. In the fall of 1869 the engine with which the saw-mill was run exploded, and killed Mr. Waymire and Mr. Worley.
In 1867 many settlers came in, of whom I will mention a few. Felix Oliphant, John Oliphant, Frank Laberdy, John Frost, Thomas J. Vance, George Vance, W. H. Carpenter, J. H. Dienst, Jacob D. Dick, Henry Griffith and Alexander W. King are among those who that year helped to develop the county. Of those who came in 1868, F. M. Webb, W. H. Webb, J. H. Beatty, J. A. Newman, W. M. Rogers and Leroy F. Dick may be mentioned as active promoters of the general spirit of enterprise.
William A. Starr, William Dick, J. L. Jaynes, John Carson, C. J. Darling, P. B. Darling, J. S. Masters, J. B. Swart, Jacob Warner, John Robinson, W. H. Thorne, G. W. Blake and W. W. Blake settled in 1869 and 1870, and each added a fair share to the prosperity and development of the township. Did I know all the settlers and were I acquainted with all the facts, others might probably be mentioned who are as worthy as any whom I have named ; but these are named as a fair sample of those who first settled and developed this northwest corner of the county.
FIRST SCHOOL.
Mrs. Elizabeth A. King, who with her husband, A. W. King, had set- tled on the southwest quarter of section 28, township 31, range 18, in June, 1867, taught the first school in the township, in the summer of 1868, as I am told by Mr. King, in their cabin on his claim. It was a free school for the few children then in the neighborhood.
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