USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > History of Shawnee County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 10
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CHAPTER XI.
Dividing the Town-Site-The First Survey-Transactions in December, 1854-Title Acquired by Means of an Indian Warrant-Claim Jump- ing, and Rival Town Organisations-How Topcka Was Named, and Its Significance-The Street and Avenue Plan-Early Buildings and Schools.
Although the agreement to erect a town on the section of land relinquished by Messrs. Dickey, Davis, and Enoch and Jacob B. Chase was entered into on the 5th of December, 1854, the plans were not consummated until the 14th day of that month. The agreement first entered into was in the following form:
"We, the undersigned, agree that we will proceed to select and stake out claims in the vicinity of the dwelling house erected by M. C. Dickey, J. B. Chase, Enoch Chase and George Davis, situated near the Kansas River, to be disposed of as follows, namely: One and a half miles square shall be surveyed for a town-site. Four claims are to be selected by M. C. Dickey, J. B. Chase, Enoch Chase and George Davis, respectively, and the remainder to be assigned by lot when fifteen or more persons are on the ground and ready for a drawing. The town shall be divided into fifty shares, and the lots apportioned among the stockholders by lot, from time to time, as the association may direct, reserving, however, one-sixth of the lots of the town, to be donated to such persons as will improve them as directed by the asso- ciation, and also one-sixth to be donated to the Emigrant Aid Company, of Massachusetts, as a consideration for the erection of a mill, a school house, receiving house, etc. Moreover, we agree, that the timber and wood on our claims may be used by any member of the association for his own improvement for one year, provided that no person shall take more than four thousand feet of timber, board measure, and six cords of wood, except from his own claim.
"Signed: C. K. Holliday, F. W. Giles, Daniel H. Horne, George Davis, Enoch Chase, J. B. Chase, M. C. Dickey, C. Robinson, L. G. Cleveland. Dated : Kansas Territory, December 5, 1854."
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OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
Further articles of association were adopted December 14th, and the following officers were elected December 18th: President, Cyrus K. Holli- day; vice-president, Enoch Chase; secretary, William C. Linaker; treasurer, Fry W. Giles; trustees,-Milton C. Dickey, Jacob B. Chase, Thomas G. Thornton, Loring G. Cleveland and Daniel H. Horne.
The original four settlers who had camped upon the town-site for preemp- tion purposes, and had surrendered the same to the town company, selected compensatory claims in the following order : Jacob B. Chase,-the northwest quarter of section 6, township 12, range 16; Milton C. Dickey,-the north- east quarter of section 1, township 12, range 15; Enoch Chase,-the north- west quarter of section 1, township 12, range 15; and George Davis,-the northeast quarter of section 2, township 12, range 15, according to the subse- quent government survey. A preliminary survey for lot purposes was made by Fry W. Giles, Cyrus K. Holliday, Daniel H. Horne and Enoch Chase. They had a cheap compass and two pieces of rope, about four rods each in length, which had been used to tie boxes and bales of supplies. Holliday and Giles held one of the ropes, and Enoch Chase and Horne the other, Giles also handling the compass. With these crude implements, and guided by the shining sun and a fire on the distant prairie, the pioneer surveying party put in an entire day running the lines of the embryo city, which they decided should be enlarged to twice its original dimensions. The two pairs of amateur engineers were often two miles distant from each other on the open prairie, and it is probable that their survey showed a still greater dis- crepancy in measurement, but it was the beginning of the first division of Topeka into business and residence lots.
SOME OF THE PIONEERS.
In addition to the 10 persons forming the original town company, 17 other men joined the colony on the 17th of December, and selected farm claims adjacent to the city of great expectations. It has not been possible to obtain an absolutely accurate list of the 17 accessions, but it is known that the following persons were on the ground at the date named, and that most of them participated in the second farm drawing: Abel F. Hartwell, James A. Hickey, Harvey G. Young, Sidney J. Case, Philip Briggs, H. F. Root, George F. Crowe, Thomas G. Thornton, Jonas E. Greenwood, Timothy McIntire, L. S. Long, J. F. Merriam. C. N. Gray, Freeman R. Foster, John Armstrong, Edwin S. Dexter and Robert L. Mitchell. Including the 10 original settlers, the 17 who arrived December 17th, and William C. Linaker,
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who preceded them, there were just 28 individuals on the town-site on the December date referred to, most of them being connected in some way with the town company. Of the entire number only two are known to be living at this time: John Armstrong and James A. Hickey-both residents of Topeka.
By action of the association on December IIth it was decided that the limits of the town should be diminished from the extravagant survey of Holliday, Giles, et al, and made to cover territory only one and one-half miles square. A regular survey was commenced about December 20th by A. D. Searle, of Lawrence, who used as a basis the incomplete plat which had already been prepared. The Chase cabin was the starting point, the first stake being placed near that structure, which was designated as the southwest corner of First and Kansas avenues. The lines of Kansas avenue were run from that point southward to Sixth avenue, and the lots properly designated, fronting 75 feet on Kansas avenue, by 150 feet deep; and from this plat an allotment was made on the 28th day of December to each of the 28 persons belonging to the Topeka association. As originally agreed upon, the property of the association was to have been divided into 50 equal parts by allotment, but on the 3rd of January, 1855, the number of shares was increased to 100, with the understanding that the first 28 members of the association should have, at each general division of lots that might be made, one additional or "award" lot.
Immediately after the allotment on the 28th of December, the surveys were extended over other parts of town as detailed by Mr. Giles in his sketch of Topeka. All of the tract lying between First and Sixth avenues, west- ward to Topeka avenue and eastward to Jefferson street (then known as Eastern avenue), was surveyed and platted into streets and avenues as at present existing, but the squares formed by the crossings of the streets were designated as blocks, and numbered from west to east, beginning with No. 5, at the intersection of First and Topeka avenues, and ending with No. 60, at the intersection of Sixth avenue and Jefferson street. Each block was divided into 12 lots, 75 by 150 feet, and numbered from the northeast corner south- ward, one to six, and from the southwest corner northward, seven to 12. This plan was abandoned at a subsequent period, after the completion of the entire survey, and the lot plan now in use was adopted. The land embraced in the original town-site consisted of 684 acres, being the whole of section 31 and the southeast fractional quarter of section 30, township II, range 16.
PURCHASE OF THE INDIAN TITLE.
For the purpose of acquiring title to the tract of land, the trustees resorted to the expedient of purchasing what was known as a "land float"-a govern-
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1
ment warrant authorizing a Pottawatomie Indian or his assigns to locate a piece of unoccupied land in any district he might prefer. This right was accorded to Isaiah Walker, and 34 other members of the Wyandotte Nation, by a treaty made in 1842, and modified in 1854, and under one of its pro- visions a patent from the government was thought to be immediately avail- able. The Topeka association purchased No. 20 of this series of floats from Isaiah Walker for the sum of $1,200. In order to provide funds with which to pay for the float, the association sold its surplus land above 640 acres to Franklin L. Crane, John Ritchie and Cyrus K. Holliday for $1.300. It was not until February 14, 1859, that the patent to Walker was issued, and Walker did not deed to the Topeka association until July 1, 1859. These delays caused confusion and uncertainty in disposing of lots. Rival claims were set up, and in one instance a rival town company, called "The Valley Town Company," chartered by the Territorial Legislature, undertook to assert its ownership of the town-site, a proceeding which the Topeka association resisted vigorously and successfully. There was the usual jumping of claims incident to the open- ing of a new town and country. One such attempt was made at the corner of Eighth and Topeka avenues, where a stranger unloaded material for a log house. A vigilance committee drove him away on the night of January 8, 1855. In the spring of 1855 a man named Michael Hummer, a preacher, set up a cabin on the homestead of A. A. Ward, having induced Ward to sign a paper giving him a color of right. It soon developed that Hummer's purpose was to start a rival town under the name of Fremont. He built a cabin on First avenue, just east of the present D. L. Lakin home. Ward insisted that he had been imposed upon, and upon receiving this explanation his friends pro- ceeded to Hummer's cabin and filed a protest. Hummer exhibited a document which he claimed was a deed from Ward, and one of the party snatched the paper from him and tore it into fragments. In the melee Hummer was knocked down by Robert Edwards. Upon his revival, he was placed in a wagon with his wife and other belongings and driven across the Shunga- nunga, southwest of Topeka, and told to go his way in peace. Most of the disputes over titles were settled by conveyances from Cyrus K. Holliday, as trustee of the Topeka association, and these titles were subsequently confirmed by the District Court of Shawnee County.
NAMING THE NEW TOWN.
The important question of bestowing a suitable name upon the city which was to be erected around the Chase cabin was not taken up until the evening of January 1, 1855. at a general meeting held in the cabin. It was discussed that night and the following night, the deliberations resulting in the choice
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KANSAS AVENUE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM SIXTH AVENUE
VAN BUREN STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM COURT HOUSE
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of Topeka. Cyrus K. Holliday wanted to call it Webster, after the great ora- tor and satesman, but was overruled. Papan's Ferry was proposed, but rejected as being too provincial, and Mid-Continent was too cumbersome. The suggestion of Topeka came from Rev. S. Y. Lum, who said it was a new word, not to be found in any dictionary, atlas or post office directory. All agreed that it was novel, euphonious and appropriate. Its Indian flavor could not be questioned, and its equal division of vowels and consonants gave it a tripping and cadent sound. Topeka was born on the spot. There was no formal ceremony of christening, no festal rites-Bacchus, Gambrinus and the goddess of hop tea had not yet penetrated beyond the confines of the Missouri River, and the joint-keeper and boot-legger were likewise unknown.
The significance of the name "Topeka" has engaged the thoughtful atten- tion of philologists, linguists and nomenclaturists in all parts of the country. Col. William A. Phillips, a Kansas correspondent of the New York Tribune in the '50's, claimed that the word was synonymous with "Topheika," found in the language of the Pottawatomie Indians, and meaning "mountain potato." A similarity to the Indian word "Tohopeka" was traced, until it was found that the latter signified "barricade or fortification"-being so used by the Choctaw- Muscogee Indians, and not applicable to the conditions in Kansas. Chief White Plume, of the Kaw tribe of Indians, claimed that his people applied the name "Topeka" to the principal stream of Kansas long before the govern- ment designated it as the Kansas River. The name was so applied to the stream by the aborigines on account of the vast quantity of wild potatoes which grew along its banks, the full significance of the word being "the river upon whose banks grew the wild potato plant." Prof. John B. Dunbar, erst- while professor of languages at Washburn College, maintains that the Kaw Indian name for the river was Kansa, meaning "swift," although the Iowa and Omaha tribes may have referred to the stream as Topeka River. Pro- fessor Dunbar, who went to the root of the subject, gave the following analysis of the derivation and meaning of the word "Topeka :"
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD.
"It is made up of three words, common, with a slight dialectic variation, with the languages of the Iowa, Omaha and Kansas or Kaw Indians. These words are, to, a word meaning potato (the wild kind) pe, an adjective (short- ened from pekac) meaning good, and okac, a word meaning to dig. In the process of composition the c of pe is dropped, or rather hardened to the conso- nant y, making from the three words to-pyo-kac, which means literally, ‘a good place to dig potatoes.' In the language of the Iowa and Omaha tribes the word was applied as a general term to the Kansas or Kaw River, or the
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
valley along its course. The historical origin of the application of the term was the fact that not infrequently in the spring, when the supply of food fell short, the various tribes of Indians resorted to this region, and for some weeks secured a scanty sustenance by digging and eating the wild artichoke that abounded in certain parts of the area named. The name of the city, therefore, very appropriately perpetuates the most important aboriginal asso- ciation connected with its immediate vicinity."
In harmony with these views, it may be added that in later years the entire Kansas River Valley became one of the greatest potato producing sec- tions in the whole country, thus indicating the judgment and natural acumen of the untutored savage. Even as early as the year 1860 it is related that Cyrus K. Holliday, who farmed a part of the site of Topeka, raised more potatoes in a single season than he could gather with men who would consent to dig them "on the halves." Potatoes are now shipped from Kansas Valley points by car-loads and train-loads to all parts of the country, and the indus- try is growing year by year.
PLAN AND NAMES OF STREETS.
In designating the streets of Topeka those running east and west were given numbers, and those running north and south were named for the Presi- dents of the United States, from Washington to Taylor. President Pierce was in office at the time of this action, but he was in such disfavor with the Abolitionists of Kansas that his name was ignored, and Fremont street sub- stituted-Fremont street finally gave way to Fillmore. A street was named for John Adams, but when John Quincy Adams was reached in chronological order the name Quincy street was substituted. The names of the Presidents were employed in regular order except that the principal business street, inter- vening between Quincy and Jackson, was called Kansas avenue, and the prin- cipal residence street, intervening between Harrison and Tyler, was called Topeka avenue. Western avenue also intervened between Taylor and Fill- more streets. Some of the wider thoroughfares running east and west were designated as avenues instead of streets, notably Sixth and Tenth avenues. Practically the same system of numbering and naming the streets was con- tinued in later years, with a few variations made necessary by peculiar bounda- ries. Henry Clay was honored with a street, immediately preceding Buchanan, and Lincoln follows Buchanan. Streets have been named for Grant, Cleveland and Garfield, but not in regular order. Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew John- son and Chester A. Arthur have not been recognized, and President Roosevelt is on the waiting list. The numbered streets run up to 28, although the
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original plat of the town stopped at 11th street. The total number of lots in the original plat was 4,228. In 1905 the lots exceed 30,000 in number.
NEW ARRIVALS.
During the winter of 1854-55 the colony of 28 Topekans was increased to 64, by the arrival of 36 persons-30 males and six females. Early in the spring of 1855 another party of 42 arrived, known as the Robinson party. New cabins and sod houses were built, and a few board shanties erected. One of the latter was a boarding house built by A. W. Moore. Sidney J. Case built a log residence, with a blacksmith shop in the rear. Another and longer cabin was constructed for hotel purposes, with berths one above another, and called the Pioneer House. Gradually the character of the buildings im- proved, as sawmills and brickyards were established. In April, 1855, J. T. Jones built and opened a grocery store. On the 13th of the same month the Farnsworth brothers commenced a stone building on the west side of Kansas avenue, between Fourth and Fifth streets, which afterwards became known as Constitution Hall. The stone for this building was taken from a ravine back of the present Throop Hotel. Topeka was made a post office in March, 1855, with Fry W. Giles as postmaster. The office was first established in a log house belonging to Sidney J. Case, on the east side of Quincy street, near Second, but was soon removed to a frame building on the southeast cor- ner of Kansas avenue and Fifth street. J. C. Gordon and Asaph Allen started a store at No. 103 Kansas avenue in the summer of 1855. J. C. Miller started the first brick house on the 18th of April of that year, near the corner of Kan- sas and Sixth avenues. A little later Robert L. Mitchell opened a cabinet shop at the northwest corner of Sixth and Harrison, afterwards the residence for many years of William Marshall, and now the property of the Topeka Club. In September, 1855, this was the meeting place of the first delegate convention looking to the formation of a constitution and State government. From that convention sprang the Topeka constitutional convention.
PIONEER SCHOOLS.
The first school was kept in a little house belonging to Dr. F. L. Crane, situated on Madison street, just north of the present Lincoln School. The teacher was Miss Sarah C. Harlan, niece of United States Senator Harlan, of Iowa. Others of the early teachers were Miss Carrie Whiting (afterwards Mrs. L. C. Wilmarth) and Miss Jennie Allen (afterwards Mrs. I. E. Perley). The first public school building was erected by the New England Emigrant Aid Company in the summer of 1857. It was built of brick, on the rear end of
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
lots 145, 147 and 149. Harrison street, fronting on Fifth street, the room being 24 by 18 feet in size. On these lots was afterwards built the present residences of Jacob Smith and W. A. L. Thompson, and a part of the brick from the old school house went into the construction of Mr. Smith's barn.
Topeka continued to improve in the winter of 1855-56, and there was a great change in the character of the buildings. The work of establishing roads, ferries and bridges was enthusiastically commenced and vigorously prosecuted. In the year 1856 the first three-story building, the Topeka House, was erected by Walter Oakley. The Chase House, another three-story build- ing, was erected in the same year. Buildings were also constructed by Jere- miah Murphy, I. E. Perley, M. K. Smith, E. C. K. Garvey, F. L. Crane and John Ritchie-the last named erecting what was known as the Ritchie Block. In 1857 and 1858 there was still greater activity in building and real estate transactions. There was a gratifying increase of immigration, money became plentiful, and property advanced to high figures. These conditions were main- tained throughout the years 1859 and 1860 except that the city's progress was impeded to some extent by the "border ruffian" troubles, Indian uprisings and a protracted season of drought, from all of which the State and city emerged triumphant.
CHAPTER XII.
County-Seat Location-Movements for the State Capitol-Locations at Fort Leavenworth, Shawnee Mission, Pawnee, Lecompton, Lawrence, Min- neola and Topeka-The Several Constitutional Conventions-Free-State and Pro-Slavery Contests-First State Legislature-History and De- scription of the Finished Capitol.
Topeka was made county-seat of Shawnee County by a vote of the people on October 4, 1858, her rivals in the election being Tecumseh, Auburn (Brownsville) and Burlingame. The electors of Tecumseh refrained from voting on the county-seat proposition, although they voted on other questions at the same election. When it became known that the majority expression was in favor of Topeka, the citizens of Tecumseh contested the results, claiming that the election was illegal; and the probate judge, Edward Hoagland, to whom the poll-books were returnable, refused to certify the vote until compelled to do so by a higher judicial authority. While the controversy was pending, a part of the county records were forcibly removed from Tecumseh to Topeka. On the 24th of January, 1859, the Legislature legalized this election, and de- clared Topeka to be the permanent county-seat.
THE CAPITAL CITY.
Under the constitution framed by the Wyandotte convention, July 29, 1859. Topeka was designated to be the capital of Kansas, and this action was ratified by a vote of the people, October 4, 1859. The events leading up to this action are so much a part of the general history of the State that it is not necessary to do more than epitomize them in this connection.
By act of Congress, May 30, 1854, the Territory of Kansas was thrown open to settlement, a Territorial government provided, and the seat of govern- ment located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth. Governor Andrew H. Reeder, the first of the Territorial Governors, established his headquarters there Octo- ber 4, 1854. The executive office was removed, November 24th, to the Shaw- nee Methodist Episcopal Indian Mission, near the Missouri State line, about two and one-half miles southwest from Westport, and seven miles from Kan-
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sas City. On June 27, 1855, the Governor transferred the seat of government to Pawnee, on the north side of the Kansas River, at the eastern line of the Fort Riley Military Reservation.
FIRST CAPITOL BUILDINGS.
A stone building was erected at Pawnee for capital purposes. The walls of the building are still sanding, and the spot has received its historical mark of preservation. The Legislature met in this building July 2, 1855, and changed the seat of government back to Shawnee Mission, the Governor re- turning there July 12th. On August 8th of the same year the Shawnee Mis- sion Legislature, by vote in joint session, located the capital at Lecompton. The United States government spent $50,000 in the construction of a capitol building at this point, and sessions of the Legislature were held at Lecompton in 1855, 1856 and 1857. The Legislature of 1857 adjourned to meet at Lawrence, where it assembled January 8, 1858, Lawrence thus becoming the temporary capital. An act was immediately passed removing the capital to Minneola, but it was vetoed by Governor Denver. Sessions of the Legislature were held alternately at Lecompton and Lawrence in 1858, 1859, 1860 and 1861.
FREE STATE MOVEMENTS.
The foregoing account relates in most part to the acts and attitude of the Pro-Slavery party in Kansas, which had control of the official machinery. Of far greater importance to Topeka was the action during the same years of the Free-State men, who were trying to wrest the control of the govern- ment from the other faction. The proceedings of the Free-State men, in their meetings and conventions, are very clearly and concisely set forth in an article prepared by the late Franklin G. Adams, who was for many years secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society. In his paper Secretary Adams says :
"The Free-State party in Kansas named Topeka as the capital of the State as early as in 1855. It became the capital under the Free-State constitu- tional movement. That was the movement through which the Free-State party in Kansas in 1855 framed a constitution, organized a State government, and applied to Congress for admission into the Union. This movement began by reason of the Shawnee Mission legislative usurpation and the oppressive legislation enacted. It was an effort of the body of the actual settlers of Kan- sas to free the territory from the thralldom of that usurpation. At a mass convention held in Lawrence August 14 and 15, 1855, among other proceed- ings, a resolution was passed declaring that the people of the Territory ought
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to select delegates to a convention to frame a constitution for the State of Kansas, with a view to an immediate admission into the American Union. This convention also indorsed a call which had been issued for holding a gen -. eral delegate convention of the Territory at Big Springs on the 5th of Septem- ber. Another convention, held at Lawrence on the 15th, appointed a delegate convention to be held at Topeka on the 19th of September, to take action to- wards the formation of a State constitution and government. The Big Springs convention, on the 5th of September, approved the constitutional-convention movement, and adopted a resolution to respond to the call made for the Topeka convention on the 19th of September.
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