USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > History of Shawnee County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 14
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The library now contains 20,000 volumes, with a circulation of 80,000 books a year. Mrs. Evelyn S. Lewis is librarian. The board of directors is composed of John R. Mulvane, J. L. Shellabarger, J. P. Davis, C. F. Men- ninger, Eugene F. Ware, Charles S. Gleed, N. F. Handy, Harold T. Chase, M. A. Low, T. F. Garver, E. B. Merriam, Charles J. Devlin and Edward Wilder. The law under which the library was located provides that the Governor of the State, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of the House and the mayor of the city shall be ex officio directors.
PROVIDENT ASSOCIATION.
The Topeka Provident Association, the leading charitable organization of the city, recently came into possession of a permanent home through the generosity of Norris L. Gage, of Ashtabula, Ohio, who purchased and deeded to the association a two-story brick block at the northwest corner of Fourth and Jackson streets. Mr. Gage's contribution was $6,000 and an additional $1,000 has been spent in improvements. The building contains an ample
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
number of rooms to accommodate the many different departments of the association. The Provident organization has charge of the systematic charitable work of Topeka. The departments include general relief, medical aid, employment, the boys' club, the girls' sewing club, mothers' club, nursery and kindergarten. Officers of the institution are: J. E. Nissley, president ; Thomas Page, vice-president ; Rev. O. S. Morrow, secretary; William Mac- ferran, treasurer; Dr. C. B. Van Horn, general secretary and physician in charge.
ORPHANS' HOME.
The Topeka Orphans' Home, an organization chartered in 1889, owns a substantial building at the northeast corner of Third and Fillmore streets. Beneficiaries of the home are orphans and friendless and destitute children. It has cared for 1,500 children, an average of 100 a year, since its organiza- tion. It is supported by the city and county, and receives a small annual appropriation from the State. The value of the property is $7,000. Mrs. J. F. Daniels is president ; Mrs. M. J. Hunter and Mrs. C. E. Hawley, vice- presidents; Mrs. L. S. Wolverton, recording secretary; Mrs. M. E. Stewart, corresponding secretary; Mrs. William H. Davis, treasurer; and Dr. C. Hammond, house physician.
HOME FOR AGED WOMEN.
Ingleside, a home for aged women, is located at the corner of Huntoon and Tyler streets. It was established in 1886, and a building erected through the efforts of the public-spirited women of Topeka. In the year 1902 an addi- tional building was constructed, the expense of which was borne by Jonathan Thomas. The buildings are of great architectural beauty, and the interior appointments of the most cheerful and convenient character. Many of the venerable women who make Ingleside their home are contributors to its support, and others are cared for from the revenues of the association, to which the citizens of Topeka are liberal subscribers. The officers of the asso- ciation are : Mrs. Jonathan Thomas, president ; Mrs. Joab Mulvane, Ist vice- president ; Mrs. M. A. Low, 2nd vice-president; Mrs. M. C. Hammatt, secretary ; Mrs. George F. Penfield, treasurer; Mrs. Margaret Dowding, matron.
HOSPITALS.
There are six hospitals in the city, having a total capacity of 500. The largest is the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Hospital, Sixth avenue and Jefferson street, occupying 10 acres of ground. The building cost
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$125,000, and is in charge of Dr. J. P. Kaster, chief surgeon. It was built for the special care of employees of the railroad company, and accommodates 100 patients.
Christ's Hospital occupies a tract of 14 acres of ground in the western part of the city, and was founded by the late Bishop Thomas H. Vail, of the Kansas Diocese of the Protetstant Episcopal Church, in 1882, although the charter provides that the hospital shall be in no sense sectarian. Buildings were erected in 1883 and 1884, at a cost of $25,000, of which Bishop Vail contributed $7,000, and Mrs. Ellen S. Bowman Vail, $5,000. Bishop and Mrs. Vail obtained the additional $13,000 from friends living in Topeka and elsewhere. Through their instrumentality, and the help of the church, an endowment fund of $25,000 was also provided. Through donations from other sources the hospital was subsequently enlarged, and now accommodates 100 patients. Bishop Frank R. Millspaugh is the president of the hospital; Rev. James P. de Beavers Kaye, vice-president, and J. G. Slonecker, Jona- than Thomas, Charles S. Gleed and August Zahner, directors.
In the year 1895 Mrs. Jane C. Stormont made a contribution for the founding of The Jane C. Stormont Hospital and a fine brick building was con- structed at No. 332 Greenwood avenue, Potwin Place. It is managed by a board of trustees and a staff of physicians : Jonathan Thomas, president ; Dr. Lewis Y. Grubbs, vice-president ; Frank G. Willard, secretary; Dr. Clarence A. McGuire, treasurer ; Charles J. Devlin, additional trustee. Officers of staff: Dr. Lewis Y. Grubbs, president; Dr. George W. Hogeboom, vice- president; Dr. L. M. Powell, secretary; Dr. L. H. Munn, treasurer ; Catherine Strayer, superintendent. In 1889 Mrs. Guilford G. Gage built an addition to the hospital, known as the Gage Annex, at a cost of $15,000. There are accommodations for 50 patients, and 2,000 have been cared for within the past 10 years. In connection with the hospital a training school for nurses is conducted. The whole property is valued at $40,000.
Other hospitals in the city are the Detention Hospital (an annex to the city prison), built by Rev. Charles M. Sheldon in 1901 ; Keith's Hospital, a private institution, at No. 603 Clay street ; and Bedwell Asylum, a private hospital for insane patients, on East Sixth avenue.
HALLS AND OPERA HOUSES.
Museum Hall, in the old Ritchie Block, on the southeast corner of Kansas and Sixth avenues, was the scene of the first public dramatic per- formance in Topeka, in 1858, and hence may be taken as the beginning of the city's places of amusement. Museum Hall was afterwards known as Wilmarth's Hall. Prior to the above date, King Smith's Hall, at No. 104
9
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
Sixth avenue east, was used for lyceums, conventions and religious meetings, but it never aspired to the dignity of a playhouse. The first regular theater, with curtain and stage, was known as Union Hall, occupying the second floor of the Shorb, Tinker & Baker Block, built in 1869, at Nos. 619 and 621 Kansas avenue. A stairway ran almost directly into the main part of the auditorium, the opening being railed off from the seats. the stage was 25 feet wide and 20 feet deep, with wings, flats and sky borders of a crude pat- tern. Prof. Henry Worrall painted the drop curtain-a Topeka street scene in lurid colors, with a border filled with advertising cards. Across the top of the curtain a Union Pacific train was shown at full speed. In one corner was a portrait of Chief Burnett, of the Pottawatomies, and in the opposite corner the picture of "Kaw Charley," ringing a bell. "Kaw Charlie" was a half-breed Indian, a well-known character of that day. Some of the early performances on the stage of Union Hall were given by Charles W. Couldock and daughter, Duprez & Benedict's minstrels, the Louise Sylvester company, and the "As You Like It" Club of Topeka.
In 1870 Lorenzo Costa built the first opera house, known as Costa's Opera House, at Nos. 612 and 614 Kansas avenue. It was opened January 12, 1871. In 1880 the property was purchased by Lester M. Crawford who reconstructed the interior, and opened it September 3rd of that year, as Crawford's Opera House. It has remained under his management since that time, being a part of the Crawford circuit of theatrical enterprises, which embraces many of the principal theaters in the West, and includes two of the leading theaters in St. Louis. Crawford's Opera House was destroyed by fire December 2, 1880, and rebuilt in 1881.
A corporation was organized in 1881 for the construction of the Grand Opera House, the most pretentious amusement enterprise ever undertaken in Topeka. The Grand was built on lots Nos. 193, 195 and 197, Jackson street, at a cost of $40,000, and opened in September, 1882. with the Emma Abbott opera company as the attraction. It was operated under various managers for a period of 12 years, with a limited financial success, and finally passed into the hands of the Crawford syndicate, and has been closed for the past five years. When in actual running order it was a model playhouse, with a stage 60 by 60 feet, a splendid equipment and a seating capacity of 1,500.
HOTELS OF TOPEKA.
When Horace Greeley visited Kansas in 1859, he wrote a series of letters to the New York Tribune, giving his impressions of the country and its characteristics. On the subject of hotels his impressions were jotted down in this manner : "May 23rd-Leavenworth-Room-bells and baths make
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their last appearance; May 24th-Topeka-Breakfast and washi-bowls (other than tin) last visible-barber ditto; May 26th-Manhattan-Potatoes and eggs last recognized among the blessings that brighten as they take their flight ; May 27th-Junction City-Last visitation of a boot-black, with dis- solving views of a broad bed-room-Chairs bid us good-bye; May 28th- Pipe Creek-Benches for seats at meals have disappeared, giving place to bags and boxes-We write our letters in the express wagon that has borne us by day, and must supply us lodgings for the night."
If the shade of the great journalist could come West at this time, it would be rejoiced to find modern hotels and all the comforts of civilization- telephones instead of room-bells, marble lavatories instead of tin wash-bowls, and every known variety of breakfast food to supplement the matutinal potatoes and eggs.
Topeka's hotels began with the Pioneer House, built of poles and rough lumber, in June, 1855, by Mitchell & Zimmerman, on the southeast corner of Kansas avenue and Third street. It was conducted by Enoch Chase, and for a short time by Guilford Dudley. In 1856 Walter C. Oakley built the Topeka House, at the northeast corner of Kansas and Fifth avenues-a two-story, frame building with a flat roof, which was subsequently enlarged to three stories, with a shingle roof. It stood until 1870, when it was destroyed by fire. The building constructed in September, 1855, on the southeast corner of Kansas and Fifth avenues, where the first newspaper in Topeka had its home, was also used in part as a hotel, under the name of the Garvey House. Enoch Chase built the Chase House, in the autumn of 1856, on the south side of Sixth avenue, near the corner of Kansas avenue, afterwards known as the Capitol House.
Other early enterprises were the Curtis House, North Topeka; the Quincy House, on the east side of Quincy street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues ; the Ashbaugh House, at No. 205 West Sixth avenue; the Farmers' Hotel, at the southeast corner of Kansas and Fifth avenues; the Carney House, on the southwest corner of Fifth avenue and Jackson street; and the Parks House, opposite the Union Pacific Depot, in North Topeka.
MR. GORDON'S ENTERPRISES.
The Gordon House, on the northeast corner of Kansas avenue and Fifth street, built and conducted by J. C. Gordon, was one of the most popular of the early Topeka hostelries, and held its position as the leading hotel for many years. It was rebuilt in 1877, and sold in 1881 to Dr. J. J. Burtis, of Davenport, Iowa. Dr. Burtis sold it to H. P. Throop, who remodeled it throughout at an expense of $80,000, and changed its name to the Throop
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
Hotel, by which it is now known. It is one of the finest buildings on Kansas avenue, and its cost seriously impaired the fortune Mr. Throop had accumu- lated. The property was sold in 1901 to J. J. O'Rourke, and is now under the management of the Hamilton Hotel Company, composed of C. B. Hamil- ton, James L. Brooks and Harry H. Hamilton.
After disposing of the Gordon House, J. C. Gordon built a new hotel on the southeast corner of Kansas avenue and Ninth street, called the Cope- land Hotel. It is a four-story building, with a spacious annex, and has been in successful operation since 1883, the date of its construction. The Copeland is located near the State Capitol and has long been a sort of headquarters for politicians, especially those of the Republican faith, and this fact led a news- paper correspondent, Ferd L. Vandegrift, to give it the popular designation of "Copeland County," by which it is familiarly known. Many of the State officers, who are temporarily located in Topeka, make their home at the Copeland. James Chappelle is the present proprietor of the hotel.
When the Populists came into power in Kansas, their Topeka gathering place was at the Dutton House, a small hotel at No. 407 Kansas avenue, now managed by A. T Pigg. The name was recently changed to the Savoy, and the building is being added to on the north by the reconstruction of the old County Court House. The Savoy no longer claims any special political clientele, but appeals to the general public and has a liberal patronage.
The Fifth Avenue Hotel was constructed in 1870, and was at that time the most modern hotel, as well as the handsomest from an architectural stand- point, in the city. J. B. Fluno and the firm of Hankla Brothers were among the early managers, and T. J. Hankla is the present manager. The most noted event connected with the history of the Fifth Avenue Hotel was the entertainment on January 22, 1872, of the Grand Duke of Russia and his party who were just returning from a buffalo hunt in Western Kansas. The party included Grand Duke Alexis, Vice Admiral Poissiett, Lieutenant Tuder and Lieutenant Stortdegraff, of the imperial navy; Chancellor of State W. T. Machin, Consul General Brodisco, Count Olsenfieff and Secretary Shuveloff. The American wing of the party was made up of Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan, Gen. George A. Custer and Colonels G. A. Forsythe, M. V. Sheridan and N. B. Sweetzer. The Kansas Legislature gave a reception and banquet at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in honor of the visitors.
NOTED RESORT. 1
The most famous hotel in Topeka was known as the Tefft House, situated on the northwest corner of Kansas avenue and Seventh street. It was a modest building at first, occupying a single lot on the corner, which
RESIDENCE OF ARMIN FASSLER
HOTEL THROOP
NATIONAL HOTEL
COPELAND HOTEL
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
was bought in 1859 by Dr. Erasmus Tefft for the sum of $300. It was an isolated location, far above the center of business, but is now the most cen- tral business corner in Topeka. Dr. Tefft erected the original building in 1860,-a stone structure, 17 by 25 feet, and two stories in height. In 1865 he added the lot on the north at an expense of $700, and made the hotel into a three-story building, 50 by 60 feet in dimensions. Two years later an addi- tion was constructed in the rear of the original buildings, 95 by 35 feet in dimensions, four stories in height, with a mansard roof. In 1868 the front part was also increased to four stories. The building was leased in 1866 to James Harris and John Beasley. Harris sold his interest to J. A. Burr, and the firm become Burr & Beasley. It was leased in 1867 to Henry D. Mc- Meekin, an old and popular citizen of Kansas, under whose management it was again enlarged, and became the political and legislative headquarters of the State-a position it retained up to the time of the opening of the Cope- land Hotel.
Some of the most celebrated senatorial elections in Kansas were planned and practically consummated in the so-called "dark and fitful recesses of the Tefft House." In the period between 1867 and 1880 it entertained all of the public men of Kansas and was the scene of many brilliant social functions. McMeekin retired from the management in 1871, but returned in 1875, with Samuel Hindman as his partner, the business in the meantime having been conducted by E. A. Smith and Williams & Babcock. J. W. Hartzell became associated with McMeekin in 1876, and in 1878 the build- ing was bought from Dr. Tefft by Dr. J. J. Burtis for $24,000. Three years later Burtis sold to Allen Sells for $25,000. After undergoing extensive repairs, it was leased to Hankla Brothers and opened as the Windsor Hotel. In later years the managers were C. M. Hill & Company, Passmore & Wig- gin, Odell & Forward and W. W. Smith. The entire property was bought in 1889 by the First National Bank of Topeka, and the building reconstructed into its present form, the bank occupying the corner room on the main floor, and the rest of the building being devoted to hotel purposes, under the name of the National Hotel. The National was opened in 1890 by Hankla Brothers, and a few years later passed into the hands of Manager Charles L. Wood, who is now at the helm.
THE TOPEKA CEMETERY.
The beautiful sloping ground directly west from the city was set apart in 1859 by Dr. Franklin L. Crane for the purposes of a cemetery, and the general arrangement of the grounds remains as he planned it 45 years ago. The first burial in the new cemetery was of Mrs. Marcia Gordon, who died
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
about December 20, 1859. Since that time it has afforded a resting-place for nearly 11,000 deceased persons. Soon after coming to Topeka, Dr. Crane settled upon this tract of land, and built a small house on the west side of the tract. In Topeka's infancy there was considerable difficulty ex- perienced in obtaining a proper place for the interment of the dead, and interments were first made at the southeast corner of Kansas and 10th avenues. By an arrangement with the Topeka Town Association, Dr. Crane set apart his original claim to meet this contingency, and took up other land near the city for his personal homestead. The interments made at Kansas and roth avenues were removed to the new cemetery in 1860. Officers of the Topeka Cemetery Association are: A. B. Quinton, president ; George W. Crane, secretary, and D. O. Crane, superintendent and treasurer.
The other cemeteries near Topeka are the following : Catholic Cemetery, on Ioth avenue road, three miles west; Foster Cemetery, on Burlingame road, three miles southwest ; Jewish Cemetery, on East 10th avenue, adjoin- ing Topeka Cemetery; Ritchie Cemetery, directly south from the city ; Mount Hope Cemetery, on Sixth avenue, four miles west; and Rochester Cemetery, two miles Northwest from North Topeka.
CHAPTER XVII.
Topeka's Educational Facilities-Public Schools, Colleges and Other Insti- tutions-High School and Manual Training Departments-The City's Churches and Their History-Early Pastors and Those of the Present Time-Religious Societies, Fraternal Orders and Club Organizations.
If any one thing more than another can be said to have made Topeka famous, it is her magnificent school system, which is hardly surpassed by that of any city in the United States. The founders of Topeka were educated men, some of them coming here directly from college, and after organizing the Topeka Town Association, and reducing the territory to lots, almost their first thought was to provide educational facilities in keeping with the plans they had formed for establishing a large and important city. Early in the month of February, 1856, the association took up a collection for building a school house, and levied an assessment upon its shares for the same purpose, a suitable site having been donated near the corner of Harri- son street and Sixth avenue, where the Harrison School now stands. Before the school house could be erected, private schools were opened in convenient locations, so that the school system was practically inaugurated in 1856, before the new city was three months old. In 1857 the New England Emi- grant Aid Company erected the first school building. The first direct tax for school purposes was levied in 1862, providing for the running expenses of the schools and for a building fund. The old Harrison street school was the first school building erected at public expense. The first of the school buildings erected in North Topeka was at No. 128 Kansas avenue north, the cost being $1,350. Beginning with the year 1868, the city made liberal appropriations for educational purposes and for additional buildings, the amount for that year being $10,000. In 1869 the sum of $40,000 was appro- priated, and buildings commenced at Nos. 50, 52 and 54 Monroe street, and at the southeast corner of Monroe and Fifth-the latter being known as the Lincoln School. The Lincoln School, when completed, cost $55,000. An- other school building was erected in 1871 on the southeast corner of Quincy and Gordon streets, North Topeka, at a cost of $28,000. The building occupied by Washburn College, at the northeast corner of 10th avenue and
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
Jackson street, was also purchased by the city, for $15,000, and a small building for school use erected on the corner of Quincy and 13th streets. From 1861 to 1871 the sum of $155,000 was spent for buildings and equip- ment, providing facilities for 2,000 pupils and 28 teachers. During the ensuing 10 years several new buildings were constructed and most of the old ones enlarged, the value of the public school property at the close of 1880 being over $200,000, and the school population, 4,728.
GROWTH OF SCHOOLS.
The school idea which possessed the founders of the city has retained its hold upon their successors, and at the close of the year 1904 Topeka had 23 first-class public school buildings, valued at $700,000, a school population of 10,665, an enrollment of 6,437, and employed 211 teachers. The annual cost of conducting the city schools is $150,000. A model High School building was constructed in 1893 on the northwest corner of Harrison street and Eighth avenue, at a cost of $85,000, and in 1904 a Manual Training School was completed on the southwest corner of the same streets, at a cost of $100,000. These institutions are the culmination of the hopes and efforts of Topeka's progressive and far-seeing Board of Education, which is composed of the following members: First Ward,-C. C. Nicholson and E. E. Miller ; Second Ward,-F. E. Mallory and W. H. Wilson; Third Ward,-J. W. Gleed and Edward Wilder; Fourth Ward,-Jonathan D. Norton and T. F. Garver; Fifth Ward,-C. F. Hardy and D. L. Hoatson ; Sixth Ward,-E. E. Roudebush and L. C. Bailey. F. E. Mallory is presi- dent of the board, and T. F. Garver vice-president, and J. E. Stewart, clerk.
L. D. Whittemore is the present superintendent of the city schools. His predecessors in the office have been: W. H. Butterfield, 1867-69; J. A. Banfield, 1869-71; A. W. Haines, 1871-72; W. H. Butterfield, 1872-81 ; D. C. Tillotson, 1881-86; John M. Bloss, 1886-92; William M. Davidson, 1892-1904; L. D. Whittemore, 1904 -. The Board of Education has had the following clerks: L. C. Wilmarth, 1867-69; J. A. Banfield, 1869-71 ; E. B. Fowler, 1871-72; R. H. C. Searle, 1872-75; T. H. Church, 1875-76; Hiram W. Farnsworth, 1876-99; J. E. Stewart, 1899-1905.
The following table shows the designation of the several schools, names of principals and enrollment of pupils :
SCHOOL.
PRINCIPAL.
ENROLLMENT.
High School
H. L. Miller
897
Grant
E. A. Simmerwell. 455
Quincy
E. F. Stanley
482
Lincoln
W. H. Wright 478
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
SCHOOL.
PRINCIPAL.
ENROLLMENT.
Branner
H. W. Jones
452
Lafayette
E. H. Roudebush
350
Garfield
Carrie Goddard 340
Van Buren
Elizabeth Guy 61
Jackson
Fenella H. Dana
61
Polk
Elizabeth Tharp
412
Euclid
Madge E. Moore
290
Lowman Hill
Lola A. Graham
190
Clay
O. P. M. McClintock
350
Potwin
Eliza Nagle
220
Sumner
. G. H. Mays
352
Harrison
Eli G. Foster
324
Lane
S. G. Watkins 131
Madison
R. H. Wade
123
Washington
J. L. Harrison
1.45
Monroe
Fred Roundtree
139
Douglas
Mary E. Langston
51
Buchanan
.C. F. Clinkscale
134
Manual Training
H. L. Miller
Total
6,437
WASHBURN COLLEGE ..
In 1858 John Ritchie donated 160 acres of land directly southwest from the city as the site for a college, which was proposed to be established by the Congregational churches of Kansas. The college was located in Topeka in 1858, changed to Lawrence in 1859, and relocated at Topeka in 1860, under the name of Topeka Institute. When the incorporation was effected in 1865, at the close of the war, the name of Lincoln College was substituted. The first building was erected in that year on the northeast corner of 10th avenue and Jackson street, at a cost of $8,000, and in the month of January, 1866, the institution was opened with Rev. Samuel D. Bowker as principal, and Professors E. D. Hobart and George H. Collier as assistants. The first president was Rev. H. Q. Butterfield, who was suc- ceeded in 1871 by Rev. Peter MacVicar. The catalogue issued in 1867 gave the number of students as 92, and contained the following names of trustees : Lewis Bodwell, S. D. Storrs, J. D. Liggett, Ira H. Smith, Richard Cordley, Harrison Hannahs, John Ritchie, Harvey D. Rice, William E. Bowker, J. W. Fox and Hiram W. Farnsworth.
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