USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 13
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4 AY
GYPSUM MANUFACTORY, BLUE RAPIDS.
RIVER BRIDGE AT BLUE RAPIDS.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
LIBRARY CHARTER OBTAINED.
C. J. Brown and C. E. Tibbetts procured a charter, and many books were contributed by Eastern friends. So through the years these faithful women have kept their library open to the public.
In June, 1899, their hearts were gladdened by the news that through the solicitation of Mr. Jno. McPherson, Andrew Carnegie had donated five hundred dollars to the association for the purchase of books. Later, Mr. Carnegie presented his portrait to them, which is framed and hangs upon the library wall.
Some of the valued members are now at rest in the cemetery on the hillside, some are in distant lands, some are still faithful members of the board of managers, to whom the younger generation look with gratitude. Their records have been faithfully kept, the library has been maintained as an honored institution. These ladies made a good fight and they have their reward in the gratitude and admiration of their townspeople.
The present officers are: President, Mrs. L. S. D. Smith; vice-presi- dent. Mrs. C. E. Tibbetts : recording secretary, Mrs. R. S. Fillmore, corre- sponding secretary, Mrs. C. K. Stephens : treasurer, Mrs. J. N. Wanamaker ; librarian, Mrs. E. Heathman, and a board of managers of fifteen, includ- ing the above-named officers.
BUSINESS INTERESTS, 1880.
At the close of the year 1880, the following represented the business of Blue Rapids : J. L. Freeman, banker ; Buell Manufacturing Company, woolen mill : J. S. Wright & Company, flour mill; J. W. Bliss & Company, paper mill: J. V. Coon & Son. plaster mill: J. B. Waynant, foundation for mill : Price Brothers, foundry and machine shop; Loben & Sweetland, general merchandise; C. W. Farrington, general merchandise; J. L. & C. A. Free- land, general merchandise: Buell & Company, mill store; Hill & Morton, hardware; R. S. Craft, druggist: G. B Stocks, lumber and grain; M. C. Holman, furniture: William Coulter, druggist; J. C. McArthur & Com- pany, harness; I. D. Yarrick, meat market; Festus Cooley, dry goods ; Mrs. A. M. Cole, milliner and dressmaker; Mesdames McAllister & Chandler, milliners; H. W. Chapman, bakery; George Beester, restaurant ; Willian Elkins, tailor: Spencer & Doten, livery: Sharp Brothers, livery; John S. Fisher, boots and shoes; Eli H. Wilson, boots and shoes: James Shaff, art
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gallery; H. D. Calkins, ice company and nursery; J. S. Dawes, market gardener ; McPherson & Reed, LaBelle house; Fairchild's south side hotel; W. 1. 11. Freeman, lawyer : H W. Chapman, lawyer ; E. W. Waynant, law- yer: J. V. & E. J. Coon, lawyers; R. S. Craft & J. G. Crawford, physicians ; L. G. Canfield, dentist ; T. F. Hall, insurance ; J. L. Freeland & John McPher- son, loan and insurance : . A. J. Loomis, postmaster ; S. H. Holbrook, railroad station agent ; George I .. Nichols, jeweller; J. W. Murrell. billiard hall; T. J. Hall, justice of the peace ; H. W. Chapman, justice of the peace ; James .Aller- dice, D. Minium, G. Fitzgerald, C. J. Stanley, M. T. Spees. . \. Seager, Adolph Johnson, carpenters and buildiers; Anderson Brothers, N. F. Axelson, stone masons : S. M. Swan. George Peckard, painters: William Burr, blacksmith ; Charles Minium, trucking: Thomas Bothwell. S. W. Richey, plasterers: M. Patterson, J. G. Reynolds, loan agents; T. J. Hall, barber; S. S. Fitzgerakl, Howard Edinborough, wagonmakers; M. Nickelson, city milk depot ; E. S. l'earsoll, cooper shop.
INCORPORATED.
On February 8, 1872, Blue Rapids was incorporated as a city of the third class. The first city officials were: Mayor, C. E. Olmstead; police judge, A. E. Sweetland ; councilmen, J. E. Ball, A. W. Stevens, John McPher- son, H. Armstrong, D. Minium : assessor. J. B. Waynant : justice of the peace, .A. Armstrong.
Hiram Woodard brought from Elyria, Ohio, the first thoroughbred whitefaced cattle to stock his farm northeast of Blue Rapids. Among suc- cessful breeders in Blue Rapids were Isaac D. Varick. A. Borck, Charles Dren- nan, W. B. Hunt, Judge W. H. Goodwin, Miss Lou Goodwin, Clayton Rod- key, John L. Rodkey, F. W. Preston & Son, Walter Morgan, E. R. Morgan and J. M. Winter.
Blue Rapids had in operation the first telephone in Marshall county. Professor Stewart gave an entertainment in March, 1878, in Fitzgerall's hall. Wire was stretched from Fitzgerald's hall to the office of G. B. Stocks, on Main street. Music, singing and talking were distinctly heard by the audience in the hall.
The Blue Rapids Town Company. on account of the large outlay for public improvements, which was immediately followed by business depres- sion, hecame involved in debt and in the winter of 1879-80 sold the whole of its property to Randall Stetson, of Elyria, Ohio, who was then repre- sented by J. V. Coon, and then followed the process of adjusting the com- pany's debts.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
GRASSHOPPERS IL.WOC.
Blue Rapids and the colony enterprise, like every other town in Kansas. was crippled by the disasters of grasshoppers and drought. Because of the dry, hot summer and failures of crops, business was retarded and enterprise delayed. Resources were running low and the people were becoming dis- heartened. But soon their courage returned and as time passed, new build- ings were erected and some business changes took place.
A. E. Benedict built a residence : John Lawson and Westein built homes on Union street : a Methodist church was built on Genesee street : C. E. Bige- low put in a stock of fancy groceries; A. E. Benedict, J. Sawdye & Com- pany opened a hardware store: William Burr succeeded Burr & McConnell ; J. H. Fowler and Mr. St. John opened meat markets: Misses Holman opened a dressmaking shop: J. A. Williams and Mr. Witt were the village blacksmiths.
In June, 1874, the Blue Valley hotel was destroyed by fire.
SOME FIRST EVENTS.
R. A. Wells was the first doctor in Bhie Rapids.
Miss Lottie Holt and Rev. J. Williams were the first couple married, the ceremony being performed in Vermillion by Rev. E. H. Chapin. The first death was that of Mary, the wife of H. S. Halburt, during the summer of 1870. The first birth was that of a child to Mr. Van Dusen, a member of the town company.
The first school in the vicinity of Blue Rapids, taught by Lucy A. Palmer, began in November, 1861, with twenty-five pupils. It was kept in a private dwelling, one-half mile west of the present town site.
Misses Knowlton and Stewart opened the first millinery store in Blue Rapids. December 18, 1871.
The population of the city at the close of 1871 was four hundred and eighty. Twenty-seven business firms were established.
On May 13, 1872, J. A. Loban and A. E. Sweetland entered into a part- nership as dealers in general merchandise under the firm name of Loban & Sweetland. Their business relations extended over fifteen years, until Mr. Loban's death. Mr. Sweetland continued the business another fifteen years.
Judge W. H. Goodwin, of Nashville, Tennessee, erected a building in 1871, the front room of which he used for a law office. The second story was
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
finished as a hall and for some time the Congregational church held services in it.
In 1871 G. Fitzgerald, J. A. Loban and Noble and Perkins erected a building with a seventy-five foot front by sixty feet deep, two stories, for a general store.
T. H. Morris was engaged in the lumber and general merchandise business.
T. G. Morris and I. E. Ball were music and furniture dealers.
The Arlington House was opened in the winter of 1882 by W. Coulter, Jr., who was its manager. The building, a two-story brick, was erected in 1873 by W. Coulter. Sr., at a cost of seven thousand dollars. In 1881 it was fitted up and used as a hotel under the name of the Fairchild House, managed by C. R. Fairchild, former proprietor of the Tremont House, Marys- ville.
BLUE RAPIDS POSTOFFICE.
A postoffice was established a short distance from what is now Blue Rapids, in 1859. with William Thompson as the first postmaster. Mr. Thompson remained in office three years and was succeeded in 1862 by D. Palmer. In 1865 Emma Lee received the appointment. She held the office six months, when she resigned in favor of S. Craft, who after a short period turned the office over to John Weber.
During Weber's term the office was discontinued in 1869. When the Genesee colony came out and located a townsite and commenced improve- ments, the postoffice was re-established in the spring of 1870, with H. S. Parmalee as postmaster.
Mr. Parmalee was succeeded in 1875 by C. E. Tibbetts, then editor of the Blue Rapids Times. In December, 1876. A. J. Loomis was appointed and remained until 1883. In July, 1872, the office was made a money- order office and W. H. Goodwin sent money order No. I.
The following have served as postmaster since 1883: Judge William Thompson, Thomas Marcy, C. Coulter, John McPherson. H. C. Lathrop, and Clarence Coulter, the present incumbent.
WHEN BLUE RAPIDS WAS IN MAKING.
John McPherson, former historian of Blue Rapids, writing in 1890, said : "During the twenty years of the colony settlement a large sum of money has been expended in the way of pioneer manufacturing, resulting largely in dis-
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aster and failure. In these years Blue Rapids has had in successful operation two flour mills, one woolen mill, one paper mill, two plaster mills, foundry and machine shop and the Cook Anchor & Cable Company. all located and operated by water power on the Blue river. All of these and, later, Swanson's Flying Swede Factory and the cereal mill, either failed, sold out, or were washed out by floods and the river cutting a new channel in May. 1903. below the old dam, which is still intact. The power has in a measure been restored by a fill across the new channel. The walls of the Olmstead Brothers mill is the only building now standing, and in it is located the electric lighting plant operated by water power. The Anderson flour mill on the west side, was dismantled and rebuilt by P. Anderson & Company, at the Central Branch railroad tracks, and the plaster mills are established at the gypsum quarries. In fact every interest at one time in a flourishing condition at the river has disappeared. Only the Olmstead mill wall, the bridge and the original dam remain."
JASON YURANN.
Among the men who came to Blue Rapids to make it a city, Jason Yurann was one who believed it the most promising site in the state for a city with great industrial possibilities. His dreams did not come true, and many of his schemes failed. He has become as fully known to the people of the state and county as "Colonel Sellers" is known to lovers of Mark Twain.
Yurann has always in season and out of season, through evil or good report, been a loyal worker for Blue Rapids. A man of excellent education, and wide knowledge of affairs, he perhaps, in his prime, knew more prominent men of affairs than any man in the county. He is a member of the bar, and while many of his plans have failed and he has suffered the disappointment of his fondest hopes, yet it can truthfully be said of him that he has always ardently believed in Blue Rapids and her future and has spent a fortune in trying to build up the town. He is now old, feeble and limited in this world's goods, but the history of Blue Rapids would not be complete with- out recognition of what he has done in her interests.
The plans of the founders of Blue Rapids, to make it the leading city in this part of the state, have not as yet been realized, but its industries have developed beyond that of any other town in the county. There are four gypsum mills in active operation and its water power furnishes electric power for several towns, among them being Marysville. It has splendid
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
churches. chautauqua, school and citizenship, and is one of the prettiest resi- dence towns in northern Kansas.
The census enumerator for 1916 reports the population as one thousand six hundred and seventy-three.
FAIRMONT CEMETERY.
On the 26th day of June. 1879. the Blue Rapids Cemetery Association was organized with the following officers: President, Festus Cooley; vice- president. W. . \. Barrett: secretary. M. C. Holman: treasurer. Dr. C. A. Freeland. The capital stock was secured by the sale of one thousand shares at ten dollars each.
Block No. 4. of ten acres. in the northeast part of the city, was purchased and a charter was obtained from the state on August 13. 1879. Thus was secured to the city of Blue Rapids a most beautiful spot for use as a ceme- tery. Sloping gradually in every direction, it commands a charming view of the valley of the Blue river. for a distance of several miles, with Irving in the distance. The whole plat is surrounded with a hedge, which is kept trimmed. and selected elm and maple trees shade the avenues. Two iron gates-one for vehicles and one for pedestrians-afford entrance to the silent city,
"Where the beautiful grasses, low and sweet. Grow in the middle of every street."
Common report accords this cemetery the reputation of being one of the most beautiful and well-kept cemeteries in Marshall county. Nearly thirty soldiers of the Civil War. members of Robert Hale Post No. 328. including their devoted commander, Capt. Martin Morton, who died on January 7. 1916, are buried here.
NAME CHANGED.
In the year 1907 the name of the cemetery was changed to Fairmont, by the expressed wish of Capt. John McPherson.
The board of directors, December 20, 1916, consisted of A. E. Sweetland. Dr. R. S. Fillmore, John McPherson, Livy B. Tibbetts and .A. A. Marvin. The officers of the association, chosen from the board of directors, are: . 1. E. Sweetland, president and manager; John McPherson, vice-president: Dr. R. S. Fillmore, treasurer : Livy B. Tibbetts, secretary, and George Flower, super- intendent.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Two names stand out prominently in connection with the organization : John McPherson and Festus Cooley. Mr. McPherson, as prime mover, and earnestly and actively engaged in every step of its early history; Festus Cooley, its first president, to whose generous support in no little degree is the present splendid condition due. Mr. Cooley was the first of that first board of direc- tors to be laid to rest in the spot he so earnestly helped to 'make beautiful, September 2, 1891, his wife having preceded him on January 25, 1890.
James D. Field followed him on January 2, 1903. Dr. C. A. Freeland died and was buried at Kansas City, Kansas, some thirty years ago. W. A. Barrett removed to his former home in Ohio, many years since. M. C. Holman has been living in Topeka, Kansas, for over thirty years.
Of the original paid-up subscribers to stock, five are living here; five living elsewhere: twenty-three are buried here; ten are buried elsewhere.
The board of directors and officers of the association receive no com- pensation.
BUSINESS INTERESTS, 1917.
Flack & Barraclough, general merchandise.
C. W. Granger, general merchandise.
Moore Brothers, groceries and meats. Allerdice & Quinn, groceries and meats. Mrs. A. Barraclough, variety store.
Frank Marvin, variety store.
Brown & Company, hardware.
Union Hardware Company, John Skalla, proprietor.
Coulter Drug Company.
Reder Drug Company.
L. G. Trombla, jeweler and optometrist.
A. A. Marvin, jeweler and optometrist.
Miss Irene Stuart, millinery.
Miss May Faulkner, millinery.
James Ryan, furniture and undertaking.
Commercial Hotel, James Searcy, proprietor. Albion Hotel, Walter E. Hill, proprietor.
Moser Brothers, gents furnishings .. J. E. Rodkey, garage.
G. Van Valkenberg, garage and auto dealer. Mrs. H. Scott, restaurant.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
Midway Cafe.
.\ J. Brice, pool hall.
Mrs. Hamilton, restaurant.
S. J. Olds, blacksmith.
C. W. Tempero, livery barn.
Train Lumber Company.
Burgner-Bowman Lumber Company.
C. D. Smith, lawyer.
W. W. Reed, physician.
C. MeFarland, physician.
R. S. Fillmore, physician.
S. W. Gilson, dentist.
J. B. Scott, barber.
W. H. Pheiffer, barber.
O. Hellman, picture show house.
Marshall Power and Light Company.
Blue Rapids Telephone Company.
JOIIN M'PHERSON.
A history of Blue Rapids and of Marshall county would be incomplete without mention of a man who has served his country as a gallant soldier, his state as a trusted official, and his county as a patriotic and loyal citizen, for half a century.
Capt. John McPherson left home a private and served four years as a U'nion soldier. He was promoted captain for gallant and meritorious ser- vice on the field of battle. He was in many a hard-fought battle of the great war and marched with Sherman to the sea.
Age has come upon him, but has not diminished his love for his adopted country (he was born in Scotland), nor his faith in her glorious future. His cheerful smile and cordial hand-clasp make him always a welcome guest at any gathering, public or private; while his ripened judgment and noble- ness of heart and mind endear him to a host of friends.
Captain McPherson has two children, J. E. McPherson, of Kansas City, and Mrs. Claude Guthrie, of Marysville. He spends his summers with his children and his winters in California. Mrs. McPherson died several years ago.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
JOHN V. COON.
John V. Coon was born in Phelps, New York, March 30, 1822. He was of German descent and was a loyal friend to people of his lineage. He was educated at Hobarts College, New York. In 1842 he was married to Charlotte M. Miller. Their marriage was a very happy one. His aged widow still survives him. Judge and Mrs. Coon were the parents of one son, Emir J. Coon, who died many years ago.
In 1844 J. V. Coon and his young bride moved to Elyria, Ohio, where in his chosen profession, the law, he gained prominence and wealth. The panic of 1873 swept much of the wealth away and he again turned his foot- steps westward, locating in Blue Rapids. He discovered the presence of gypsum among the ledges, near there, and he and his son, Emir, built the first mill west of the Mississippi river for the manufacture of plaster of Paris from gypsum. To John V. Coon and Emir J. Coon, Marshall county owes the origin of the largest single manufacturing industry within its borders today. Those two men exemplified the highest types of manhood. They were able. cultured. broadminded and generous, ever looking forward to the growth and development of the county and the state, along educational, political and religious lines. On November 6, 1894, Judge Coon was elected county attorney of Marshal! county. On January 4, 1895, he was buried. The sympathies of a very large circle of friends were extended to the sur- viving members of his family. Mrs. John V. Coon, his widow, aged ninety- six years, and the widow of her son, Emir J. Coon, reside with Hon. James G. Strong, county attorney, and his wife, Fanny, who is a daughter of Emir J. Coon.
J. B. BROWN.
J. B. Brown was one of the three commissioners sent to Kansas to select the location for the colony. He was one of the strong, forceful men of the colony and his counsel was sought during many troublous times. He was always hopeful and optimistic during the darkest hours. He believed ardently in the future of Blue Rapids and was an honored and respected citizen of the town and of Marshall county. He died on March 11, 1885, and his death was felt as a personal loss to all those who knew him. His good name stands as a monument to his kindred and friends.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
TIIE OLDEST SETTLER.
C. J. Brown is the oldest settler now residing in Blue Rapids. Mr. Brown was a member of the original town company and an active supporter of its enterprises. In April, 1872, he assumed charge of the real-estate busi- ness of Olmstead, Freeland & Company. In 1874 he was elected to the state Legislature, and in 1876, to the state Senate. He was later elected clerk of the supreme court, which position he filled for many years. He was married on September 10, 1881, to Mrs. Julia Greer, of Topeka.
Mr. Brown has been one of the foremost citizens of Marshall county, since he became a resident and has been prominently identified with every forward movement along political, social and religious lines. His long service with the supreme court gave him a wide circle of friends over the state and his advice on public matters is sought by the most prominent people of the state. He is genial and courteous, resolute and courageous in all matters and is universally respected.
WALTER P. BROWN.
The story of Marshall county boys who have made good, would make a very long and interesting chapter, and that chapter would certainly include the name of Hon. Walter P. Brown. of Blue. Rapids. Born in Genesee county, New York, in 1862, he was nine years old when he came to Marshall county with his parents in 1871. He was educated in public schools of Blue Rapids and had business training in the wholesale hardware store of Blish. Mize & Silliman, in Atchison.
In 1889, after eight years of work for the Atchison firm, in almost every department of that great establishment. Walter Brown started the Brown Brothers hardware firm in Blue Rapids and, now at the close of twenty- seven years, he is still at the head of the business project, which he has suc- cessfully conducted from the start.
In 1908, Mr. Brown was elected to the state Senate and served the four- year term with great credit to his district and to himself. In his own com- munity and in the county, he is a recognized leader for the things that are worth while.
CHAPTER VIII.
CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
1
AXTELL.
Axtell is situated in the eastern part of Marshall county, in Murray township, one mile from the Nemaha county line. It is located on the St. Joseph & Grand Island and Wyandotte & Northwestern railroads. It is eighty-nine miles west of St. Joseph, Missouri, and twenty-four miles east of Marysville.
The townsite of Axtell was surveyed in January. 1872, by the St. Joseph Town Company. The first building was erected by "Shoe-string" WV. H. Dickinson, early in 1872, and used by him as a store for one year, when he was succeeded by R. F. White.
During the same year the railroad company built a depot and side track : the Axtell postoffice was established and R. F. White was appointed post- master. On August 2, 1880, this was made a money-order office and Thomas Hynes sent the first money order.
The first birth was that of a son to W. H. Dickinson, early in 1872. and the first death in town was George W. Earl, Axtell's first blacksmith, who died in 1874 and was buried at Seneca, Kansas.
No marriage is recorded prior to 1879.
The Wyandotte & Northwestern railroad was built into Axtell in 1889. In 1847 the county was visited by drought and grasshoppers and new towns did not prosper. In 1879 there were but four families in Axtell.
During the fall of 1879 and winter of 1880 a colony of twenty fami- lies came from Deep River, Iowa. Among these colonies were Reuben, Joseph, Harry, John and Lewis Wasser, J. H. Seaman, J. and A. E. Axtell, J. Johnson and others. The addition of these people gave Axtell a forward impetus and it is now one of the thriving business towns of the county.
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THE FIRST SCHOOL.
School district No. 56 was organized in 1872. The school was kept in a house owned by A. Watkins and the first school taught by John Watkins. The school was then located one mile east of the present town.
In 1872-73 a frame school house, twenty by thirty feet, was built in the town at a cost of seven hundred and fifty dollars. Miss Jennie Newlands taught this school for three terms. In 1880 the Catholic church bought the school house, for church purposes, and a new school house was built at a cost of two thousand dollars. A. M. Billingsley was the first teacher. In 1912 the old building was enlarged by the addition of two rooms, and in 1914 a two-story brick addition was made to the school. It is now one of the Barnes high schools of the county, with a course of study which includes manual training, domestic science and normal training. Lecture courses have been given since 1908. C. I. Smith, the superintendent of the city schools, manages the lecture course.
In 1910 Stephen Stout presented the city of Axtell with a beautiful park, which is used for all public out-door entertainments. The park has a fine baseball diamond and a good home team.
The chautauqua courses are held in the park annually, and Axtell has one of the best chautauqua programs in the county.
In 1908 the Axtell granite and marble works were established by William Werner, who learned his trade as a marble cutter in Germany.
One of the potent factors in the growth of Axtell was the establish- ment of Gaylord's department store. This is an up-to-date general merchan- disc store, employing ten clerks and handling an immense stock of goods.
.Axtell has a well-organized and fully-equipped fire department, with E. S. Alexander as fire chief.
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