USA > Kansas > Reno County > History of Reno County, Kansas; its people, industries and institutions, Vol I > Part 10
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The first township election in Reno township was held shortly after the first county election. Peter Shafer was the first trustee elected. Mr. Shafer lived up on Cow creek, in what is now Grant township. D. B. Miller was the first township treasurer. He lived then north of town, but his addition to Hutchinson. under the name of Miller & Smith's, is now covered with houses and the city limits extend a mile north of Miller's old place. S. N. Parker was the first township clerk. J. Rhoades and D. D. Olmstead were the first justices of the peace, in both township and county, and John McMurry and J. Brown were the first constables. The date of their elec- tion was April 16. 1872. The first lawsuit in the county was held before "Squire" Olmstead, as he was called. It was filed on the 23rd day of April, 1872. The case was an action in replevin to recover the possession of a gray pony of the value of thirty-five dollars. Lewis Josephine was the plaintiff against Jacob Eisenbarger. The result of the suit is not recorded. Eisenbarger has the further distinction of starting the first graveyard in the county. He accidentally killed a man called "Mountain Jack," as spoken of in another chapter.
Among these first township officers, S. N. Parker and Peter Shafer were the ones that became the best known in later years. Mr. Parker lived
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in town and was highly regarded. Peter Shafer was a whole-souled, com- panionable man. He made his home in Grant township through all his life. There were three very large cottonwood trees on his place, the first trees the old settlers remember in the valley. His sons and one daughter still live in Reno county. While the land he settled on has passed into other hands. it is generally known as "the Pete Shafer place."
Olmstead lived in the county for many years. He was a farmer and was generally elected justice of the peace for his township. He was a man of good judgment and a good many cases were tried before him in the town- ship court.
VALLEY TOWNSHIP.
The first township to be cut off of Reno was Valley township. Martin Hoagland "and 56 others" presented a petition to the county commissioners. The election was to have been held on December 7. 1872, but the county com- missioners' record has an entry "because of a disastrous prairie fire in the county, the election was not held on the date set, but will be held on January 8. 1873." The first township officers selected were: Trustee. Martin Hoag- land: township clerk, H. Lyman; justice of the peace, J. H. Lawson, and constables, William Ballinger and J. A. Reid. Of these officers, Martin Hoag- land and his wife are both still living in Hutchinson. They reared a large fam- ily of boys and girls. Two of the boys, Arthur and Walter, are in the clothing business in Hutchinson. Mr. Hoagland has been a very active man in Hutch- inson and Reno county. He is one of the few of the original members of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic left, and has perhaps helped in times of distress in more homes than any other of the old settlers in this county. J. H. Lawson died several years ago. He was interested in politics and was a member of the Legislature from the eastern district one term. William Bal- linger was a stalwart character, who lived in Valley township many years and later moved to Hutchinson and engaged in the machinery business. He died out on the Pacific coast, where he lived the latter days of his life.
OTHER TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATIONS.
There were four other townships organized shortly after Valley town- ship was cut off of the original territory. These were: Little River, Haven, Castleton and Center townships. Petitions for the organization of these town- ships were all presented to the board of county commissioners on the same clay, May 14, 1872.
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LITTLE RIVER TOWNSHIP.
The petition for the laying out of Little River township was presented by S. N. Riggs "and sixty others." The township got its name from the stream that runs through it-the Little Arkansas. The election resulted in the selection of the first officers as follows: Trustee, H. P. Thomas ; clerk. H. W. Mckinney; treasurer. J. P. Cassiday : Henry Hartford and J. F. Black, con- stables. Of these, two afterwards were elected to county offices. J. P. Cassi- day was county superintendent in 1875 and 1876. He left Reno county years ago. Henry Hartford is still living in Hutchinson, having retired from farming. Mr. Hartford was sheriff of Reno county from 1872 to 1877. He is an old soldier and an active member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Hutchinson. Mr. Hartford through all of his years has been an exceedingly active man. He was generally a delegate for his town- ship, Medora, when the old political system of conventions was in vogue. He has been one of the staunchest men in the development of the county. He kept in touch with the progressive men of the county and is one of the "boomers" worthy of the highest praise, a man who believed in the county and followed his beliefs with his actions.
HAVEN TOWNSHIP.
Haven township was organized on a petition presented by "J. U. Schoon- over and 57 others." The first election in that township resulted as follows: Trustee, C. W. Peckham ; clerk. David Hess; treasurer, D. McArthur: jus- tice of the peace, Richard Astle. I. N. Gray and Henry Chalcomb were chos- en constables. Mr. Schoonover. Mr. Peckham, Mr. Astle and Mr. Gray were among the most conspicuous of the early figures in township and in county affairs. Mr. Schoonover was one of the farmers of Haven town- ship and spent his last days in that township. He was a public-spirited man and took an active interest in all public matters. C. W. Beckham, the first township trustee, has been identified with the business and political inter- ests of the county from the time of his settlement in Reno county until the present time. He was a leader among the farmers in the Grange move- ment. He is still actively engaged and enjoys a competence of worldly goods as well as the highest regard of neighbors and friends. Mr. Astle was a successful farmer and spent his last days in Haven townhsip. He was identified with the schools of his city-Haven -- and took a wide interest all
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his life in public matters. I. N. Gray was elected representative in the Leg- islature and was a man who had the highest interest and enjoyed the con- fidence of his neighbors.
CLAY TOWNSHIP.
The petition for cutting the territory of Clay township from the orig- inal Reno township was presented by "J. R. Lindsey and 55 others," as the records of the county commissioners show. The township's first election resulted in the selection of S. N. Praker as trustee ; Thomas Butcher, clerk : Frank Maguire, treasurer, and J. P. Lindsey as justice of the peace, with M. O. Sullivan and John Talbott as constables. Of these men only two are now living, Frank Maguire and Mr. O'Sullivan. Both remained on their farms until the infirmities of age required that they cease their activities. Mr. Maguire was a man of keen intellect, possessed of one of the best men- ories of any man in the county, one on which he relied for correct restate- ment of facts years after their happening. Mr. O'Sullivan's home is still in Reno county, but he spends the greater part of his time with his son, who is a Catholic priest in another county. John Lindsey moved to Hutchinson and was engaged in the real estate business for many years, dying years ago.
CASTLETON TOWNSHIP.
Castleton township was another of the townships whose petitions were presented to the commissioners on May 14, 1872, "A. B. Smith and 62 others" signing it. The township was named in honor of the home of the lady whom C. C. Hutchinson expected to wed, he being a wid- ower at the time he came to Reno county. That place was Castleton, Ver- mont. Both the township and the town were named for that place. The first officers of this township were: Trustee, John H. Medbury; clerk, T. A. Fuller; treasurer, John Walker; justice of the peace, A. B. Smith. with John P. Walker and John H. Shore as constables. None of these men ever became prominent in Reno county.
CENTER TOWNSHIP.
Center township was organized on October 2, 1873, "W. L. Teeter and 52 others" signing the petition. The first officers chosen were: Trus- tee, William Teeter ; clerk, W. H. Faris; treasurer, R. S. King. William
(8)
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Cecil was elected justice of the peace and H. H. Crampton, constable. This name was chosen because the township is in the geographical center of the county.
NAMED IN PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S HONOR.
Lincoln township was named after President Lincoln. The date of its first election was fixed for October 2, 1873, but the failure to receive the election ballots caused the election to be held on November 1I, 1873. The petition for its organization was presented by "M. L. Reading and fifty others." The first officers elected were: Trustee, W. R. Marshall ; clerk, J. L. Smith; treasurer, A. D. Deffenbaugh; justices of the peace, C. C. Chapin and E. G. Handey; constables, J. A. Grayson and. E. H. Cooper. This list of names included the names of three men who afterward became county officers and two of the men on this township board are still living in Hutchinson, J. L. Smith and C. C. Chapin. The trustee, W. R. Mar- shall, was county clerk of Reno county from 1883 to 1887. J. L. Smith, or as he is generally known, "Fay" Smith, has held more offices in Reno county than any other man in the county. He has been county commis- sioner, sheriff, register of deeds and clerk of the district court and has the reputation of being the best "vote getter" that ever lived in Reno county. He is a genial man, is well acquainted and moves along the line of the least resistance. E. S. Handy was clerk of the district court for three terms. He moved to Hutchinson from Lincoln township after his election and lived in that city until the time of his death. He was a successful business man and was highly regarded by people who knew him. J. A. Grayson, the first constable, soon moved to Hutchinson and engaged in the coal business. He was interested in western Kansas land and was one of the men who founded Hartland, in Kearney county. C. C. Chapin still lives in Hutchinson and is a stout and vigorous man.
NICKERSON ( GRANT) TOWNSHIP.
"Nickerson" township was cut off from Reno township on April 28. 1872. It was named for H. R. Nickerson, superintendent of the Santa Fe railroad at that time, but its name was changed to Grant township by a petition on May 20, 1873. Its offices were at that time officers of Reno township except R. L. Foster and have been referred to under the organi- zation of Reno township. It was necessary, because the officers chosen in
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the organization of Nickerson township were not residents of Reno town- ship, to elect other officers for Reno township. S. D. Hunt was appointed to serve as trustee for the township until the general election in Novem- ber, 1873.
SALT CREEK TOWNSHIP.
In the early part of 1874, the balance of the county was districted off into townships, and the petition for the organization of Langdon, Medford, Salt Creek and Troy townships were presented at one time-March 24, 1874. Salt Creek's petition was headed by F. W. Calais and had fifty other signers. The first officers elected for that township were: Trustee. J. J. Carey : clerk, C. H. Phillips; treasurer, J. F. Nelson ; justice of the peace, T. B. Hand, and D. H. Holliday, constable. None of these men ever held any county office. D. H. Holliday lived in Hutchinson the latter days of his life, running a grocery store on South Main street.
TROY TOWNSHIP.
Troy township's petition bore Zeno Tharp's name as the first one to ask for a new township. Mr. Tharp was the leader in his township in his day, a man shrewd and energetic. In the election of the township's first officers, M. J. Trembly was chosen for trustee; Israel Slack, clerk: James Shanley, treasurer; Sam Slack and Zeno Tharp, justices of the peace ; James Ray, constable. Of these, Tharp was the best known. Both Israel and Sam Slack were also men of high character and important factors in their township history.
LANGDON TOWNSHIP.
Langdon was the last of the four townships to be cut out of the orig- inal territory of Reno township. Its first officers were: Trustee. J. S. Ulmer : clerk, G. W. Brown; treasurer, J. Elliott ; justice of the peace. W. H. Collins; constable, Isaac Jordan.
These twelve townships cut from the original township of Reno made the thirteen townships that first constituted the sub-division of Reno county. All of the present townships of the county, other than these thirteen original townships, into which all of the land of Reno county was originally cut, have been taken from the territory of those thirteen original townships. From time to time, for the convenience of the citizens, other townships
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have been created by the dividing up of these original townships. The principal reason for organizing other townships has been to have a more convenient place for voting, a place closer than would be possible with the larger township; second, the task of working the roads could not be handled as satisfactorily as in a smaller and more compact body, and third, at assess- ing time, it became impossible for one man to cover the large territory as it became more thickly settled. These reasons were the ones urged when peitions were presented for decreasing the size of the townships of the early day.
The origin of all of the names of these original townships can not now be determined. Some of them have already been given. Troy township was named by Zeno Tharp and in all of his writings to the newspapers of that day, he constantly referred to "Beautiful Troy." It was named by Mr. Tharp after ancient Troy, in Troas, the scene of Homer's "Iliad."
Salt Creek township got its name from a stream that runs through the territory of the township and the stream's name originated from the brack- ish. salty taste of the water. On some of the earlier maps its name was put down as "Clear creek." but on all recent maps it has had the name of Salt creek. Neither the origin of the names of Langdon or Medford townships can now be ascertained. The other townships of the county-nineteen in nummber-will be treated of in a subsequent chapter.
MEDFORD TOWNSHIP.
The petition for the organization of Medford township was presented to the board of county commissioners on March 24, 1874. It was signed by N. Dixon and fifty-four others. The new township as described on the petition states that its boundary lines should be as follows: "Beginning at the south- east corner of township 23, range 8 west, running west to the west boundary line of Reno county, thence north to the northwest corner of Reno county, thence east to the southern banks of the Arkansas river, following the river in a southeasterly direction till it should strike the east line of range 8, thence south to the place of beginning. The first officers chosen at the election held on .April 12, 1874, were: Trustee, C. Littlefield: treasurer, U. S. Helm : clerk, W. J. Eliot. The origin of the name Medford is not known, nor why this township was given this name. Other early officers of Medford township were: Trustee. W. R. Hoffman; clerk, F. S. McDermet ; treasurer, C. B. Brooks: justice of the peace. J. O. Wheeler ; constable, John .A. Given.
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MIAMI TOWNSHIP.
Of the organization of Miami township nothing is to be found in the county records except the date of the election of the first officers. The peti- tion for its organization was filed on April 4, 1875. The first officers elected were: Trustee, Noah Ballew; clerk. H. Geczling : treasurer, J. A. Campton; justice of the peace, J. F. Graham ; constable, G. J. Lamont.
GROVE TOWNSHIP.
Grove township was the next to be organized. It was cut out of Lang- don township. It consists of township 25, range 10, and township 26, ranges 9 and 10. The petition for the organization of this township was filed on October 3, 1876. The first election in the township resulted in the election of W. J. Van Eman, trustee; A. H. Myers, clerk ; F. H. Hickman, treasurer : R. O. Van Eman and O. L. Ely, constables, and Noah Ballew, justice of the peace.
NORTH HAYES TOWNSHIP.
North Hayes township was made by cutting Hayes township in two and the northern part of the township given the name of North Hayes. The petition for its organization was filed by "T. V. Starr and fifty others." It consists of sections I and 36 in township 22, range 10. The first election was held on April 7, 1874, and resulted in the selection of W. R. Hoffman, trus- tee : S. W. McDermed, clerk ; C. B. Brooks, treasurer, J. O. Wheeler, justice of the peace, and H. Dixon, constable.
YODER TOWNSHIP.
Yoder township was the last township organized. It was cut out of Lincoln township. The agitation for the organization of this new township was kept up for many years. One board of county commissioners refused to create the new township, but A. M. Switzer and others kept up the agita- tion until it was finally granted by the county commissioners. Its description is as follows: Commencing at the southwest corner of section 31, township 24, range 5 west, thence north to a point where the Arkansas river cuts the west line of section 30, township 23, range 5 west, said part being the most northern part of Lincoln township, thence in a southeasterly direction along
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the south bank of the Arkansas river to a place where said river touches the east line of Haven township, thence south to place of beginning. The petition asking for the creation of . this township was filed on June 9, 1911, and was finally granted on March 4, 1915.
The Reno county commissioners organized townships outside of Reno county by virtue of a law passed in 1873, by which unorganized counties were attached to organized counties, with a further provision that the townships of the unorganized counties might petition the county commissioners of organized counties to organize their township. Under this law Harper town- ship, which at that time consisted of all of what is now Harper county, was organized. This petition was signed by C. W. Johns "and fifty others." It is probable that but a very small part of these petitioners ever were in Harper county, but that Harper county was organized by Reno county men; for a close scrutiny of the names of these petitioners shows that most of them were carpenters and others working on the iron bridge that was being built across the Arkansas river, as shown by receipts on file with the clerk of Reno county. The date of this petition for the organization of Harper township was Sep- tember 1, 1873.
In like manner Kingman township, Kingman county, was organized by the county commissioners. A petition was presented to the county commis- sioners of Reno county on May 24, 1873, signed by J. K. Fical "and thirty- five others." It was named "Kingman township" and embraced the entire county of Kingman. The election was held on the Ist day of June, 1873. The vote was canvassed by the Reno county commissioners on June 15, 1873. and the result of the election was published.
LATER ORGANIZED TOWNSHIPS.
In a former chapter relating to the organization of the original town- ships, the ones that were first created out of the one township into which Reno county was placed, at the organization of the county, something has been said (where known) of the origin of the names of these townships. and the names of the first officers of those townships were given. Since that time there have been nineteen other townships created by the taking of territory from the older townships. These subdivisions were made largely as a matter of convenience for the people. In the beginning the commissioners laid down a rule governing of the making of new townships. That rule was that no township should be created with less than thirty square miles of territory.
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They considered this size as a minimum, as it would be possible to locate the voting precincts so that it would not be far for any voter in the township to go for election purposes, and for the further reason that such a sized town- ship would be all that could be conveniently and expeditiously assessed by one man, within the time prescribed by the statutes. They adopted another rule. that the township should have at least fifty electors, and, using as a basis five persons to a family, they insisted that the proposed township should have at least three hundred and fifty bona fide residents before the petition for a sep- aration from other organized townships would be considered; when petitions for such organizations should thereafter be made. the petitioners should show affirmatively that the three conditions laid down had been met.
GROVE TOWNSHIP.
The first township to be formed under this rule was Grove township. It was taken from the territory formerly in Langdon township. The petition was presented to the county commissioners on October 3, 1876. The terri- tory to be cut off from Langdon was township 25, range To west, and town- ship 26, ranges 9 and 10 west. The first election was held at the regular election time, November 7, 1876. The next townships to be organized were Sumner and Loda. The petitions for the creation of these two townships were presented on the same day, July 3, 1877. Sumner township was named for Charles Sumner. The territory of the new township was located in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. It was described in the petition as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner of section 36, town 25, range 4 : thence running west nine miles to the northwest corner of section 34, town 25, range 5: thence south on the section line to the south line of the county : thence east to the southeast corner of said county of Reno to the place of beginning." The first election resulted in the selection of the following offi- cers: Trustee, J. N. Phillips : clerk, S. Morris ; treasurer, N. E. Vandeman : justices of the peace. R. Alexander and J. Adams : constable. F. Nichols and George Brown.
LODA TOWNSHIP.
Loda was the township organized at the same time Sumner township was created. It was taken from Langdon township by cutting off township 26, range 8, from Langdon. The first election was held at the time of the general election and resulted in the selection of the following officers: Trus-
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tee, W. H. Warner; clerk, J. C. Layman : treasurer. W. A. Watkins: justice of the peace, William Potter ; constable, J. M. Jones.
HAYES TOWNSHIP.
Hayes township was the next one created. It was cut off from what was originally Medford township. The date of the petition for the creation of this new township was October 6, 1877. The boundary lines set out in the petition describes the territory of the new township to be. "All that part of Medford township lying west of a line running from the northeast corner of section 3, township 22, range 9, west to the southeast corner of section 34. township 23, range 9, to be set off and called Hayes township." The election for the first officers of the new township was held at the residence of Harry Hill, Mr. Hill having been named trustee of the township until the election was held. This election resulted as follows: Trustee. S. R. Boyd ; clerk. W. W. Osborn : treasurer, H. A. Hill: justices of the peace, Jonathan Duer and S. J. Caldwell; constables, Mitchell Hunt and John Pool.
BELL TOWNSHIP.
Bell township was the next one cut off from the original thirteen town- ships into which Reno county was first organized. This township was named for Mrs. Bell Van Emmon, one of the pioneer women of that township. The petition for its organization was presented to the county commissioners on October 7, 1878. The territory for the new township was taken from Grove township by cutting off all of township 26, range 9. The election for officers was held at the time of the regular election and resulted in the selection of the following as officers of the township for the first year: Trustee, B. Deweese : clerk. J. R. Brown ; treasurer, J. Barnett : justice of the peace. W. Heaton : constable, C. E. Doty.
ALBION TOWNSHIP.
The petition for the creation of Albion township was presented to the commissioners, the day after the Bell township petition was granted. October 8, 1878. This township was formed by cutting off the south half of Castle- ton township. The election for the first township officers was held at the time of the regular annual election. The first officers chosen for the new town- ship were: Trustec. W. H. Marks: clerk. G. W. Frank: treasurer, James Fay : justice of the peace, V. O. Burns; constable. J. H. Shore.
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NAMED FOR ROSCOE CONKLING.
Roscoe township was the next to be created. The petition for the crea- tion of the same was presented to the county commissioners on August 23, 1879. The township was named for Roscoe Conkling, then a United States Senator from New York and one of the leading Republicans of the country. The territory for this new township was taken from Troy township, town- ship 26, range 4 west. The election of the first township officers was held on August 23, 1879, but there is no record of the officers chosen at this election.
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