USA > Kansas > Smith County > History of Smith County, Kansas to 1960 > Part 11
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In White Rock Township occurred a tragic example of mob rule in the early days. A group of horses were stolen from Bob Wilson near Salem. In 1872, stealing a man's horse usually stranded him far from assistance and was con- sidered the worst crime of all. The man and a boy about sixteen were caught with the horses in Nebraska before they were sold, 'The culprits were brought back to Wilson's, given a trial and hung by the posse. They were buried one- half mile west on the C. C. Prevost farm. The "boy", identified as Guy Whit- more, died protesting his innocence. The man was identified by a woman in tha crowd at Wilson's as Jake Hines. The bodies were later exhumed by three doc- tors for study and the "boy" was found to have the fully mature bones of an
36 Red Cloud Chief, September 17, 1903, October 2, 1903; mmer Spurrier, unpublished manuscript on Logan Township, Kansas State Historical Library.
37 Red Cloud Chief, November 20, 1903; Smith County Pioneer, November 12, 1903; Elmer Spurrier, op. cit.
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adult so his appearance must have been deceiving but this did not excuse mob rule although conditions of the day may have." .38
Another person to gain notoriety after leaving Smith County was Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle, born in Logan Township. His uncle, Charley Arbuckle, home- eteaded there in 1887. Roscoe was the son of William who came to Smith County in 1876, and left in 1890 when the family moved to Idaho, then California. Arbuckle, weight 266 pounds, height five feet, eight inches, had won fame in comedy parts in the movies. On September 12, 1921, he was arraigned for the murder of Virginia Rappe, motion picture actress, after a party in his rooms. Three trials were held but he was finally acquitted of murder. Whatever the truth was, he apparently was one person who had won success and nas ruined by it - and he gave his birthplace ae Smith County on the police blotter.39
County Organizations and Celebrations
There undoubtedly have been many Smith County organizations through the years that have served their purpose for fun and fellowship, education, poli- tics, religious advancement or competition, but very few written accounts have been left to record the part they took in the development of a county that people are pleased to designate as "home".
The Smith County Agricultural Society was organized to promote the in- tereste of agriculture, horticulture, stock raising, mechanical and other interests related to agriculture. The constitution wae adopted August 28,
38 Found in many early day accounts of Salem, White Rock, and Old Lebanon. These accounte am surprisingly free of discrepancies in this particular case.
39 Topeka Daily Capital, September 15, 1921; Outlook, January 3, 1923; Literary Digest, Jan. 13, 1923. The Outlook called his proposed reappearance in movies ae "An Affront to Public Decency."
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1875. The committee in charge was W. J. Zimmerman, L. C. Uhl, G. M. Edson, end F. D. Morse. The purpose was to sponsor an agricultural show of farm products that later became popularly known es the "County Fair" and was a high-point event of each year.40
When the Civil War was over, Kansas received an unusually large number of veterans as settlers. The organization, tha Grand Army of the Republic, commonly called the G.A.R., was organized with chapters in Kensington, Gaylord, Lebanon, Cedarville, and Smith Center. The percentage of potential members in Smith County is not known, but in the peak year in Kansas in 1890, there were only 20,000 members of the estimated 100,000 veterans in the state. There were 106 members in Smith County in 1894 (see Appendix, Table 1).
A typical activity of the G.A.R. is given in the reminiscences of Frank Simmonds about the organization at Cedarville:
The G.A.R. Post was a dominant organization of which my grandfether W. H. Simmonds, and uncles, George and John, were ardent membere. Decor- ation Day was always solemnly observed. The entire community met at the town school house for Decoration Day services. The children were formed into companies and marched about a mile and a half to the cemetery where we placed flowers on all graves, especially all soldiers' graves. There would be held periodically G.A.R. campfire meetings and patriotic ad- dresses. Tales of the war would be retold around the campfires. It is little wonder that we youngsters came to look upon and regard all Civil War veterans with awe and reverence.41
40 Kansas State Board of Agriculture, Annual Report, Vol. 2, p. 239.
41 Frank Simmonds, op. cit., p. 15. A list of "Smith County Old Soldiers Registered at the Reunion" was published in Smith County Pioneer, Oct. 14, 1897. The author can remember as a girl taking part in "Decoration Day" services at Cedar with each child trying to eee who could learn the longest and most effec- tive reading to give. The high point was the year she was chosen to give the "Gettysburg Address." Putting flowers on the base of the statue of the "Old Soldier" was a solemn occasion, end grandfather's name alweys had to be found each year on the memorial tablet. The Memorial Hall in Topeka, in which is located the invaluable Kansae Historical Society Library end Museum, is a lasting memorial to all G.A.R. members in the state as it was built with money paid to Kanses from the Federal Government for damages sustained during the Civil War. It was dedicated May 26, 1914.
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The Smith County Old Settlers' Homecoming Association was organized in Smith County, March 5, 1912, with nineteen townships represented. R. L. Logan was elected president, H. L. Simmons, vice-president, Charles S. Uhl, secre- tary-treasurer. Persons settling in the county prior to January 1, 1880, were made eligible to membership. The organization voted to have no duos. There was a vice-president sppointed in each township. The first reunion and picnic was held September 25-26, 1912, in Smith Center. A souvenir booklet of thirty pages was printed with early history of the county, pictures of early settlers and streot scenes in the towns, and a roster of names of settlers prior to 1880 listed by townships. As far as could be ascertained, there has been a reunion held every year since for the past forty-seven years, some of them elaborate enough to be termed celebrations. At the meeting in 1933, there wers pioneors registered as in attendance who had come to the county from 1869 through the 80's.
The Smith County Pioneer, October 4, 1956, reported "one of the largest crowds in the history of the Old Settlers Association met for a dinner and program at the Community Hall." Art Relihan, whose parents came to the county in 1878, gave the main speech. Registrations for the day wore 318.
Through the years some of those joyful occasione that are termed celo- brations become more like institutione; others sre special or occasional so may be better termed celebrations.
In the latter class was "Hub Day" that took place in August, 1952, one mile north and one mile west of Lebanon. Ten years work was to be done in one day on a Smith County farm when 1,000 men were to completely rebuild and renovate 240 acres of "some of the worst land in Kansas." (It was considered by conservation experts as one of the worst examples of erosion in the county. ) At 12:01 a.m. fifty bulldozers, earthmovers, plows, ditchers, carpenters,
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electricians, and others went to work. A house was erected, a dairy barn and loafing shed built, a well dug, electricity installed, and eroded fields leveled and terraced. Mr. and Mrs. Enos Groves were the tenants. The Farmers Home Administration loaned Groves money for his part and landlords C. W. Diehl and Ray McCord spent several thousand dollare for their share. Helping with the planning were Paul Gilpin, Smith County Extension Agent; Wes Seyler, WIEW Farm Service Director; and Francis Willmuth, United States Soil Conservationist. This dramatic change for a run-down farm provided excellent publicity for a well balanced farming program. 42
When Ray Myers, who has lived all his life in the Lebanon community, was contacted on the resulte of "Ilub Day", he wrote:
That "Day" was one of the largest things I ever saw. If you were not there, it cannot be imagined. Estimated 20,000 people and I would say not under that. It wae next to impossible to go there and get out. Cars were running bumper to bumper. The den- sity of the guests crushed in the house floor. Much of the time the crowd was too dense for work - and some was done later.
Enos Grovee and rdfe, first were the operators, keeping a Grade "A" Dairy farm. After several years, Jake Amen and wife took over and seemingly are making good. They still run the dairy. Because of the large pond built that "Day" there is much fishing es it wes stocked as a state lake. The land is farmed on the basis of feed for the dairy cattle. "r. and Mrs. Amen also run the Arbuthnot Drug Store in Lebanon.43
In October 1887, the new town of Lebanon was laid out by the Rock Island Railroad in the middle of a corn field on the Gus Tomlinson farm. Despite the fact that the only water available near at hand was the town well with its pump and tin cup, ninety days later three blocks on either side of the main street were lined with one and two story business buildings, many of them moved from Old Lebanon and Salem. The firet celebration of the founding of
42 Topeka Daily Capital, July 26, 1952.
43 Personal letter from Ray Myers to the author, March 8, 1960.
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the town was held October, 1888 with a barbecue, home talent play, races, contests and general good times for all. This celebration has continued un- til it has become an institution in Smith County. In August 1937, Lebanon celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary. A free beef barbecue was served to 4,427, all of the store windows were filled with pioneer displays from varique neighborhoode, various entertainment wae provided but the thing most enjoyed was the greetings of old friends and the reminiscing that was the order of the day down the full length of Main Street. Nine people registered as attending all fifty anniversaries. They were Henry Flood, Arthur Smith, J. T. Felton, Mrs. Mary Good, M're. Lanah Adams, W. H. Hartman, J. A. Hartman, W. L. Hartman, and Hoyt Lul1. 44
Another celebration that has become an institution and is known etatewide is the Armistice Day (now Veterans' Day) Barbecue celebrated at Kensington continuously since November 11, 1918 except for a three-year span during World War II. Kensington was another town established by the railroad as a etation between Athal on the eset and Agra (in Phillips County) on the west. It wae settled in 1888 and incorporated in 1900. Kensington began a celebration on its first anniversary in August 1869. These celebrations were financed by donations from the business firms and the sale of space for concessions along Main Street, which was always roped off. During World War I this celebration was discontinued, but on the signing of the Armistice "the remnants of this traditional anniversary were pulled together" and a barbecue and celebration held. By 1919 many of the servicemen that had returned from the war had or- ganized an American Legion Post, Marran Post No. 166, named for the first man
44 Etta Beardslee, Lebanon's Golden Jubilee, 1887-1937; Lebanon Times, August 1937.
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killed in sction from Kensington. The Legion took up a collection and had a barbecus in 1919, mostly for the veterans and their families. However, it was so popular that the next year it became s community affair. The merchants and many others gave donations and the Legion sold numbers on a Ford Touring car. The proceeds from this sale were used to buy a sits for a building that is still used (1960) by the Legionnaires and their Auxillaries. By this time the combined celebrations of Armistice Day-Free Barbecue-Homecoming-Anniversary had outgrown what the veterans could handls with their increased burdens of trying to establish homes, businesses, and familios, and pay for the Veterans' Building. They prevailed on the Kensington Chamber of Commerce to take over the "Armistice Day Barbecue and Homecoming", as it was now called. Veterans' Day in Kensington is held regardless of the weather -- duststorms, blizzarde, mud, or snow doss not stop it. H. V. Dilsaver, Kensington businessman re- porte that:
This year, 1959, we had three large vats for cooking 1,500 pounds of choice beef, and fivs large kettles of beans, well-flavored and delicious, 12,000 buns which were generously filled with meat and served to an estimated crowd of 2,750 people. Ths Auxillary had baked seventy-five piss at the Legion Hall and sach member donated thres more. People are served in four lines with one especially for children; coffee is served with cream donated by the farmere and dairymen of the community. The serving is done by volunteers from the trade territory of Kensington.
Ths Vetsrans' part of the activitise consists of arrangements for and sponsoring of the parads. Fred Bierman and myself have been man- agers of the parade for the past thirty-five years. We givs prizes for the best school, church, 4-H Club floats as well as others. There sre many entries from surrounding towns, and the parade has grown to such an extent that we have to assemble on vacant lots nearly three-quarters of a mile from the Barbecue grounds in the City Park. The high school bands from all the surrounding towns participate. The parade is always led with a color squad of the American Legion, followed by squads from neighboring posts and a National Guard squad. For the past two years the National Guard has had the military honor of "Raising the Flag and Sounding Taps for our Departed Comrades." Our local Saddle Club puts
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on a herse show and there is a football game in the afternoon. At the half, the American Logion Auxillary gives amy the prizes, in- cluding a handmade quilt, on which they have sold numbere fer ten cents each. This keeps them well financed for the year.45
The stories of how these celebratiens have grown are as much a part ef the life and history ef the county es are the growth ef the schools, churches, homes, and businesses in the memories ef the residents.
The Usual and Unusual
A thriving type of pieneer business in Smith County communities were the livery barnee. They were nething unusual in pioneer days; and ae neces- sary ae service statiens in the twentieth century, but in later years they ere almost fergetten. Each town had one or more and the owner was always a prominent citizen. Here each traveler into town and many of the residente left their horsee for care and feed. Here alse equippage such as buggise, wagens or riding horses were for hire. The livery barns kept teams especially for the dectere ef the town. As more and more farmers hauled grain and pro- duce te town, the tie-barn was added where often twenty-five or more teams would be tied and fed et a time. Expert handlere were en duty at all times. An unusual attractien in Smith County waa an elevater to be seen in Lebanon after 1896. It was built by D. H. Hyde, a devout Free Methodist. On the roof end sidee he had printed in large letters Bible quetations and texts. The trains used to have to etop to permit the passengers who had pur- chaeed tickets fer the exprese purpose to ece the elevater. Pictures ef it
45 Written for this work by H. V. Dileaver, Kensington, Kansas, He was bern in a sod house aix miles nertheast ef Kensington in 1892, and has lived in the came house in Kensington fer the past thirty-five years. He missed the first twe Armistice Day celebratione because he never arrived home from eer- vice until December 1919.
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were printed in Eastern papere and Europe. Later the Rock Island railroad, upon whose property the elevator stood, compelled Hyde to paint out all of the religious exhortations. The elevator in 1960 wae owned and operated by the Lebanon Grain and Feed Company.
A typical practice in the twentieth century was so unusual in the late 1880'e that it stirred up a storm of protest. W. W. Pennington, a big hog and cattle feeder near Lebanon, drove cattle in from the Panhandle to feed. They were light of bone, rangy, and had massive horne, which caused them to take up so much room at the feed bunka that he conceived the idea of sawing off the big home. This stirred up such a storm of protest that some of the people threatened to notify the humane society and have him prosecuted. It was never done, however, and Pennington lived to see dehorning become a cus- tom.46
According to records, there was apparently a epan of twenty-nine years between the first homestead filed in the county and the last one, or thirty years if one counts from reports of the first claim to the last homestead filed. Recorde in the National Archives, Washington, D. C., gives the home- stead entry of Josiah Crick in what is now Webster Township, on Oak Creek, dated October 29, 1870, es the first one filed. Emery Greaver of Banner Town- ship claimed to be the last man ever to file a homestead in Smith County. He took out papers on a quarter section in Banner Township in 1899, and built a sod house 12 by 40 feet. He proved up the land in 1904.47
An unusual service me one that took place September 26, 1881. This was the Garfield Memorial Service held in Smith Center the same day that Garfield
46 Ray Myers, unpublished manuscript and letter.
47 County Clerk'e recorde, Smith County, Kansas.
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was buried at Cleveland. There was a procession formed at the courthouse headed by the cornet bands and Maeons and Odd Fellows Lodges. Music was presented by the Mieses Aldrich and speeches given by ssven of the outstand- ing citizens of the county.' 48
Smith County ie mainly agricultural, but it has had some industries, both usual and unusual through the years. From the time of first settlement grist mills, sammilla, and sorghum presses were established to answer the needs of the settlers. These have been followed by the elevators and mills in nearly every town in the county to care for the grain, supply feed and seed, and to mill flour. The elevators gradually have provided more epace for grain storage, but moet of the feed and flour is now shipped in from terminal cities.
There was once a flourishing woolen mill located on the Solomon River about two miles southeast of Gaylord. It was the only one of ite kind aver built in this part of the country. For a few years it proepered, making blankets and woolen goods, thus providing a market for the wool from the sheep sheurings from larga flocks of sheep then grazing on the bluffa of the Solomon Valley. It was operated by Phillips and O'Hara about 1886, but one of the original buildere of the mill wae an Englishman by the name of Abraham Jeffe. After a few years, homesteaders took the pastures, the sheep flocks were moved farther west, and the mill degenerated into a feed mill and finally disappeared. For many years discarded epindlas could be picked up along the river. 49
48 Mrs. Hattis Baker Collection, op. cit.
49 A. L. Headley, "Water Powar Hills on the Solomon liver, " manuscript written for the Smith County Historical Society. Only known living relative in the county is a granddaughter, Mrs. Cora Loofburrow, residing in Smith Center (1960). Mra. Clara Cook, now of Los Angeles, California and who is 96 years old, vividly remembera her girlhood days epent in the vicinity of the mill.
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In the twentieth century several new industrise, which while not large, contribute to the economic development of the county. The chalk mining in- duetry has promise of expansion for the future eince it ie the only place in the United States that chalk is mined commercially (see Chapter I). An un- usual occupation and eport developed in this area ie greyhound raieing and racing. During the early 1930's a number of Smith County men spent many Sun- dey afternoone and holidays coursing the wild Jackrabbits prevalent in this area. As thie sport developed in other areas of the country, particularly Florida, the breeding, raising, and training of greyhounde became a money- making businese. Lafe Cole of Cedar constructed the first coursing park and was one of the pioneer breeders of the present day greyhound. Other men con- nected with the business and sport include Dr. Lee Alders, Clem Johnson, Roy Mahin, Melvin Eller, "Prof." Anderson and Herman Grauerholz." Kensington ie the eite of two industries, the Ray Hainke Manufacturing Company for the Ken- eington Power Lawn Mower. Ray Hainke invented the rotary lawn mower in 1939, and for a short time during World Wer II he was the only lawn mower mamifac- turer in the United States. His highcet employment was approximately forty- five men and the distribution wae all over the United States. Ray Hainko died in 1952, but in 1960 there was still a small production of the mower. 51 Bill Hainke, brother of Ray, established the Hainke Foundry also at Kensington, which made various machine parte. It is now closed.
50 Manuscript written for the Smith County Historical Society by "Prof." Anderson, Gaylord School Superintendent for years and one of the largest win- ners in this area. One year his winnings exceeded $35,000.
51 Personal letter to the author from Robert Hainke, Kensington, Kansse, con of Ray Ininke, March 17, 1960.
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Although the county was dotted with sod houses and schoolhouses, there was apparently only one sod house ever used ae a dwelling on the tomnaite of Smith Centre. This "eoddy" stood for about thirty yeare on the site later occupied by Bonecutter Chevrolet Garage. Col. L. P. Sherman built the eod house in either 1872 or 1873 as a storage place for thousands of hedge plants that he sold over the county to homesteaders to plant along roade for tres culture payments (see Chapter IV). In later years he quit that business and established the Sherman House, famous as a hotel in western Kansas for decades. The sod house then was occupied as a residence for many years. No one knows exactly when it was torn down. 52
Gaylord was a town of distinctions. It never hesitated to take the lead, and after the railroad came, the town was the trade center ae far west ae fifty to seventy-five milse and always meant to help its customere to relax after weeks or months of isolation. Thie led to an election in 1895 that started out a joke and backfired when an entire body of city officiale elected for this progressive pioneer village of about 800 people were women. The women had com- plained that the men officials had neglected the proper care of the streets, that they allowed noisy and offensive conduct so a "decent" woman could hardly walk down the street, and most of all, that out-of-the-way places were allowed to diepense certain liquide of greater potency than water, thie being ten yeare after the passage of the Kansas dry law which prohibited the sale of anything of an intoxicating naturs except by prescription. The man challenged the women to put up a slate of candidates which could do better. They did - an entire ballot of women, except the city treasurer, an office held by A. M. Lewellen
52 Mrs. Hattie Baker Collection, op. cit. Trube Reese was Mre. Baker's informant.
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from the time the city was incorporated. The men were hilarioue, but women could vote in municipal elections and the all-woman ticket was elected. They were Mrs. W. H. Haskell, mayor; Mre. Joe Johnson, Mire. Frank Mitchell, Hre. H. S. White, Mrs. Wm. Wright, and Mre. Adam Abercrombie, city council; Mrs. J. H. Foote, palice judge; and Miss Florence Headley appointed city clerk. They permitted Dave Hart to continue as city marshal if he followed the or- ders of the mayor. The reform of the city fell far chort of expectations; the liquid refreshments moved outside of the city limits. But the women did get the business men to keep the eidewalks clear of trash and enow and tobacco chewers had to spit in the gutters. The incident of the election of women city officiale created considerable notoriety end there were pictures end stories printed in the metropolitan newspapers, some of which, like a Texae newepaper, were not very complimentary. But Gaylord apparently did not mind a good joke and the women served out their terms.53
Gaylord again "made" the city papers in 1950 as "the town that did not give up". In brief, the article stated that a town of 1,000 had shrunken to 250 but refused to say die. The difference between it and a town of compara- tive cize wae the ages of the active residents, many of whom were septuagenar- ians and octogenarians. Mre. Alice Campbell, 84, did her own work. Her land- lord, insurance salesman and oil lease dabbler, Frank Blackburn, wae 81. Pearl Swank, 78, clerked in the general etore; Bob McClain, 80, was the tom
53 "City of Gaylord, 1886-1936," ten page pamphlet at the Kanaae State Historical Society Library; A. L. Headley, "Ladies Ruled City of Gaylord," erticle written for Smith County Historical Society; thie was not the first instance of a "lady" city government in Kansse, however. Fourteen women held county officee in Kanene in 1886; the first woman mayor was Mrs. Dora Salter in Argonia, Sumner Co .; five women elected to city council at Syracuse, 1887. Kansas wae the first state to grant municipal suffrage to women, 1887. (Annale of. Kansas, Vol. 7).
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