USA > Kansas > Smith County > History of Smith County, Kansas to 1960 > Part 8
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1 Smith County Pioneer, April 4, 1878; duplicate of Smith County Pioneer, Oct. 30, 1872 reprinted in Smith County Pioneer, Sept. 8, 1932; address given by A. L. Headley on the "History of Pioneer Newspapers" at The Old Settlers' Assoc. annual meeting, 1959; Levi Morrill was half brother of &. N. Morrill, Governor of Kansas, 1895-1897. See page 47.
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Pioneer and Nelson published the Daily Pioneer from November 1, 1887 to some time in 1888. In the meantime, the Smith County Record, founded February 3, 1882 by E. M. Burr at Smith Center, was on March 7, 1884, purchased and named the Smith County Bulletin by J. Q. Royce, then consolidated in 1890 with the Pioneer under the name of Pioneer-Bulletin, Beacom and Nelson, editors and publishers. In 1893 the paper was renamed the Smith County Pioneer with W. H. Nalson as editor and publisher.
Around 1890 the Farmers Alliance was organized and it soon formed the nucleus of the Peoples Party or Populists. A group of Smith County Populists banded together to publish a newspaper to promote their ideas. N. L. Lockwood, who had a little printing plant with a hand press on North Main, in Smith Center, put out the first issue of the Smith County Journal on August 16, 1890. Ben T. Baker, veteran publisher (see Representative Smith Countians, p. 183), was made manager the next year. Later Scott Pice and Baker bought out the other interests and were owners of the Journal for several years. Baker managed and published the paper while Rice continued as an attorney and served in the legislature. A few years later Baker and Hice built a two-story structure, the first floor for the printing plant and the upstairs for law of- fices. When Baker died in 1917, Clyde Wolfe, an employee, ran the paper for a year or so, then Tell Peterson and Jim Murphy of Russell owned the Journal for a short time. Mrs. Ben Baker had to reclaim it both times and finally took over publication herself until 1920 when the Journal was sold to Jones and Busenbark. In 1923 they sold it to the Pioneer and the Smith County
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Journal ended its career. 2
Smith Center had several other papers at different times. They were the Democratic Messenger, later called the Smith County Messenger, September 6, 1900 to 1910; the Independent, December 22, 1879 to 1880; the Kansas Free Press, October 3, 1879 to 1881; the Light of Liberty for Smith Center and Lebanon, September 1891 to 1895. That these were published mainly to es- pouse some political cause can be inferred from the namas.
In the meantime, other newspapers in other communities in the county were being established, often in competition to sach other over some point of policy or politics. Usually, they disbanded or consolidated when the issue was settled. However, each of these papers, though often short- lived, had a tremendously important place in preserving for posterity the week by week history of the people of this county. These reports may hava saemed unimportant to the contemporaries, but at a time when means of communi- cation ware meagre, local news was not recorded in the city dailies.
The Gaylord Herald was established September 4, 1879 by J. W. Mcbride. It was sold to Webb McNall in 1880 and soon after to L. C. Hleadley, who with his family moved to Gaylord in 1679. He continued publication until he moved
2 The Populists who organized the Journal is uncertain. Mrs. Scott Rice remembers her husband was one and tha ilistory of Kansas Newspapers, published by the Kansas Historical Society, gives M. L. Lockwood and J. A. Wright as pub- lishers, which is not surprising as they wers in newspaper business over the country for years. Mrs. Baker remembers the hand press used wae bought from Lockwood ao ha may have published for the Populist group after the sale. Due to discrepancies in accounts in the History of Kansas Newspapers and accounta written by residents, Mrs. Baker, A. L. Headley (newepaper man in Smith County for over sixty years), Walter Boyd (with over sixty-six years continuous ex- perience) and others were consulted. All the above information on the Smith Center papers and on the following papers has been compiled from Kansas State Historical Society, History of Kansas Newspapers, A. L. Headley, address, "History of Pioneer Newspapers," and letters from the veteran newspaper editors cited, unless otherwise epecified.
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to Ponca City, Oklahoma. After twenty-two years of publication it wae sold to the Pioneer in 1901 and A. L. Headley, sditor of the Pioneer moved the old press and files to Smith Center. Also acquired by the Pioneer in 1901 was the Bellaire News, founded in 1900 by Till Vinsonhaler. A. L. Headley founded the Gaylord Sentinel, July 24, 1902. George P. Leary was publishing it in 1916 with fourteen years of news service to its credit. It was discontinued Feb- ruary, 1925. The Harlan Advance was started in the spring of 1882, prin- cipally to advance the interests of Gould College, but it outgrew the inten- tions of ite founder and became a four-sheet paper under the management of W. D. Lane. Harlan had several other ettempts et printing papers such ee the Harlan Advocate, established June 1885 and discontinued in 1887; the Harlan Chief was printed from November 29, 1883 to 1885; and the Harlan Enterprise saw light for one year, November 24, 1887 to 1888.
The small northern township town of Cora had a paper during the same period, the Cora Union, printed February 11, 1886 to 1887. Reamsville, also in the northern part of the county had two papers, the Diepatch, February 14, 1884 to 1885, and the People's Friend, October 20, 1887 to 1888. Cedarville had other papers after the Pioneer was moved out; namely, the Cedarville Telephone, May 17 to December 27, 1883; the Cedarville Review, January 31, 1884 to 1885; the Cedarville Globe which had the town's longest continuous publication, from July 11, 1886 to 1890; and the Cedarville Enterprise from April 13, 1911 to 1912. In 1887 there were seven papere being published in the county: Smith County Bulletin, Kansas Pioneer, and Bazoo at Smith Center, Gaylord Herald, Harlan Advocate, Cedarville Globe, and Cora Union.
Lebanon, Athol and Kensington all had papers beginning around 1900 because their towns were not started until after the railroad came through the county in 1887. The Athol Record me established November 12, 1908 by W. A. Williamson,
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and Ed Bronough was editor in 1915. It put out a "Souvenir Edition" in 1909 with a valuable and informative history of the churches, school, businesses and people for the first twenty years in Athol. The Record, owned by H. P. Beason, moved to Smith Center in 1933. In 1946 Beuson and W. E. Lee purchased the Pioneer and consolidated the Review and the Pioneer into one paper, the Smith County Pioneer.
Lebanon'e papers are really descendante of the Salem papers, because they were moved to Lebanon when much of Salem migrated there after the railroad missed Salem. The Salem Argus was begun March 1, 1881, by George Reed. It had a preas run by horsepower, very modern for the day. George Mcleice, & long-time newspaper editor and politician in Smith County, took it over and edited it until it closed, but the name was later taken for the Lebanon paper. McNeice edited a paper in Gaylord before going to Lebanon to run the Argus. M. L. Lockwood wae another editor who began in Salem September 2, 1885 with the Friend and published it until 1887. The Lebanon Criterion was the first newspaper in New Lebanon, one source giving the founder as Byron Thompson, another as Joe Wright. It was founded in 1837, the same year that Lebanon began. In 1889 Joe Wright and M. L. Lockwood merged and began publication of the Lebanon Journal. In 1903 the Lebanon Criterion and Journal merged and the name was changed to the Lebanon Times with George Tew, editor, and L. M. Linton, publisher. Webb McNall of Gaylord began the Lebanon Argue with George MicNeice ae publisher in 1898. The Lebanon Journal was sold to A. L. Headley who changed the name to the Criterion again. In 1905, Joe Wright and his cons Harve and Will consolidated the three papers as the Lebanon Times. It began to be published semi-weekly, January 1918, then returned to a weekly, August 1921, under Melvin Hibbs, publisher and owner. In 1923 it was sold to Frank A. Hart. In 1960 the editors were Clyde L. and Mildred I. Goodman.
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The Kensington Mirror was founded May 10, 1888 by W. H. Nelson and J. N. Beacom, with O. L. (Tink) Reed, as first editor. Jas. W. Boyd was the first employee in the office and he and Allen Sanford soon bought the business. During this partnership thirteen-year-old Walter Boyd started working there in 1894. In 1908 he purchased the business and has since con- tinuously owned and operated it (1960) with a record of sixty-six years of service in a Kensington business firm and is the oldest continuous newspaper editor in Smith County. 3
The Smith County Pioneer published a "Sixtieth Anniversary" issus September 8, 1932 with interesting historical material for the entire county in the paper. It reprinted a duplicate of the first Pioneer as nearly as modern type would reprint it. It was headed:
The Pioneer Cedarville, Kansas. October 30, 1872 Mark J. Kelley, Ed.
This issue stated that the Pioneer had made its appearance 6,120 times, and 1 a copy of each issus laid end to end would form an unbroken belt around the world, or that the bound volumes stacked would make a pile twenty feet high. In 1960 there were three remaining newspapers in the county, the Kensington Mirror, the Smith County Pioneer, and the Lebanon Timee, but with improved means of communication and transportation they cover the entire county quite adequately and continue reporting the newe "as they see it without fear or favor.
3 Walter Boyd, personal latter to the author.
4 It is to this "grase-roots" source that the historian of today grate- fully refers for facts of yesteryear. The Kansas State Historical Society has preserved and bound a copy of every issue of every paper published in Kansas since 1875 as nearly as possible. Next to the Library of Congress it has the largest newspaper collection in the country and is an invaluable source for the Kansas student or layman who cares to consult it.
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Post Offices and Ghost Towns
According to the official poetal records there have been fifty-two post offices in Smith County. Six were established before organization of the county, namely, Gaylord, Cedarville, Dresden, Germantown, Porter's Ranch, and Core, all established in 1871. The greatest number at any one time wae thirty-one in 1883. The last one established was Thornburg and it operated for two yeare. Several officee were in operation for only a few months es can be seen from the eccompanying table.'
A most precious thing to the settlers on the far-flung frontier, isolated ae they were from contacts with others, was a letter from "back East" or "back home". Sometimes letters were passed around and read until they were literally in shreds. The United States postal service was the basis of this communication, but on the frontier the delivery of mail de- pended on a great deal of volunteer and neighborly cooperation. The United States Government was willing to authorize a poet office almost anywhere, if the postmaster or deputy would carry the mail for three months without cost from some point to which service had already been established. There- after the poet office must exist on its own revenues. If that was not suf- ficient, the settlers must make up the difference or they lost the post office. The pay for a postmeter in Smith County was apparently $12.00 a yeer. Most of the early postmasters were also country storekeepers, and thie was a con- venient arrangement. The store wes the natural gathering place for the set- tlere, and the possibility of mail made a good drawing card for the store. Some of the early post offices were serviced with riders making regular trips
5 Information from eccompanying table from U. S. Post Office Department, Washington, D. C.
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from one to three times a week, but there is no record of pay or who paid them. Others depended on weekly freight wagons; fortunate indeed was the station on a stage route which received mail on regular schedule. These places were feeder stations for the more isolated places that received their mail when someone "went to tonn" or "went to the store." Anyone at a post office picked up the mail for all the neighbors on the way home or in his immediate ares, often riding or walking out of his way to deliver a letter; his pay -- the joy that the receipt of such a rare gift brought.
The introduction of the rural free delivery in the early nineteen hundreds led to the discontinuance of the small country post offices and introduction of the automobile led to means of faster travel and tho demand for more and better roads. Today many of these little villages are truly "ghost towns" and no physical traces exist in the mid-twentieth century. Only nine of the post offices in Smith County are in existence in 1960.
Gaylord was the first one established, June 2, 1871, with W. D. (Bill) Street the postmaster. Bill was a picturesque frontiersman. Legend has it that he was a professional buffalo hunter, that he rode up the river on a cow pony bringing a muzzle-loading buffalo rifle, liked the looks of the country, so made a dugout on the banks of the Beaver where it joined the Solomon. His venture into business was made when he erected a shanty from native cottonwood and sold a meagre stock of provisions to the settlers of the Solomon Valley. Firearms and firewater -- mostly the latter - provided his main eales. Finally mail was carried weekly by stagecoach between Canker City and Kirwin. Strest, by this time tired of hie job, spent most of his time hunting buffalo. The mail was dumped on the shanty floor and patrons sorted out their own, until one day a postal inspector dropped in. Bill lost
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his job! There were too many settlers for good hunting by then so he went west to Decatur County where he must have become more civilized because he once represented the county in the state legislature. 6
George R. Parker came to Gaylord from Cawker City, built the first real store and succeeded Street as postmaster. When the railroad reached Gaylord, September 1879, S. D. Cumminge hauled mail on hia stage line from Smith Center to Gaylord.
Cedarville, the next permanent post office was established one month after Gaylord, July 3, 1871, with John Johnston who ran the store as poat- master. The same stage to Kirwin would go to "Cedar" so they had mail weekly. Johnston put the mail in a box and let each one sort out his own until the inspector came along; then he had to swear in all the patrons as deputies ao they could continue to sort out whatever mail they could deliver. 7 The name was officially changed to "Cedar" May 19, 1906.
The Smith Centre post office was established January 8, 1873 with Wates M. George the first postmaster. Mr. and Mrs. George had moved into the first building in Smith Centre. This building, constructed of rough cottonwood boards from the sawmill near Salem, was used for a hotel as well as post office. However, Wates George reported in early postal records that the first mail in Smith Centre was brought in a gunny sack from Salem, May 1872." The word had been given out about the day the mail would arrive and settlers had gathered, eagerly hoping for mail from home.
6 Mirs. Margaret Nelson, Home on the Range, p. 45; Mrs. Dick Gedney, article in Smith County Review, Sept. 3, 1936.
7 A. L. Headley, manuscript, op. cit.
County
8 Smith County Pioneer, March 17, 1898; T. L. Reese, articlea in Smith Review, Fall, 1936.
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Smith Centre had a unique distinction of being a town with a post office in the middle of its main thoroughfare for awhile. During a building rush in 1888-1889 the lot on which the little frame building housing the post office was located was sold to the Opera House Company. L. T. Reese, who had been postmaster since 1885 and was handling seven atar routes out of the Smith Center distributing office, asked for permission to move the office. His instructions were to move it out into the street and await further orders. Lack of agreement between the merchante of North and South Main street over a new location caused much delay. In the meantime the building was inter- fering with traffic as well as being in the way of the bricklayers on the Opera House. The postmaster had the post office mounted on wheels and moved it to the center of the intersection of Main and Kansas Avenue, had it jacked up on blocks four feet above the ground and there it stood by the town well for more than a year. Finally, the order came to locate the post office "on South Main street, outside the railroad limit, which is eighty rode from the baggage room door." It was established on the west side of Main, block 21, and remained there until 1952 when it was moved three doors north."
The location of Athol post office was established next. It was first named Corvallis, February 19, 1875, with Andrew J. Allen as pootmaeter. The name was changed to "Athol" February 9, 1888, when that town began to grow due to the arrival of the Rock Island railroad, December 1887. Mrs. laura Cameron was honored in November, 1936 on the completion of thirty years of service as mail carrier on a rural route out of Athol. She was one of the five regular women rural carriers in Kansas and one of fifteen in the United
9 Mrs. Hattie Baker, op. cit.
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States. Mrs. Cameron wae fifteen when she made the first trip over the route, May 18, 1906, using a team and buggy." 10
Lebanon post office was established February 16, 1876, with Benjamin B. Ray ae postmaster, but it was located in what is now called "Old Lebanon", four miles southeast of the present location. When the railroad came through in 1879, it missed the towns of Salem and Lebanon, so a new location was laid out adjoining the railroad and "New Lebanon" established. Businees establish- mente and reeidences, including the post office, were moved from both Lebanon and Salem to the new location.
Harlan post office was established just 15 days after Smith Centre under the name of Thompson, on January 23, 1872, with Samuel C. Thompson the first postmaster. The name was changed to Harlan, September 11, 1877. There is the story that the post office at Harlan was really the outgrowth of two othere. It is said the first one to serve the cettlere in the area wae in the home of Sylvanue Hammond, and was called Dresden. Dates from the official records for Dresden are: established December 1, 1871, discontinued September 18, 1877. Then the Keelere, father Truman and sone James and Castle, came and erected a flour mill, store and blacksmith shop on the Solomon River. The post office was opened here, March 20, 1877 with Truman Keeler ae postmaster under the name Eagle Rapide. Meanwhile a new town was being laid out two miles farther northwest, end eventually the big Keeler etore was moved there, and the poet office went too. Thie was Harlan, so named September 11, 1877. Eagle Rapids was discontinued December 22, 1877.11
10 Progress in Kansas, Official Publication of the Kanese Chamber of Commerce, November, 1936.
11 From a personal letter of Oscar Crouse, Harlan Township, to the author.
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Kensington was organized and the post office established January 7, 1888, when the Rock Island railroad built west of Smith Centre. Lewis M. Uhl was the first postmaster.
Bellaire was similarly established as a railroad station and the post office opened March 6, 1888, with Thomas M. Decker the first postmaster.
Claudell, the ninth and last post office established that is still in existence in Smith County, began November 18, 1898 with Orrin S. Harris aa postmaster.
Very little information is available about the ghost town post offices of yesteryear, except they served their purpose - and a very important one it was to the early settlers. The few incidents found give a picture no doubt characteristic of them all. Dave Nelson, one of the first settlere on Beaver Creek in 1871, gave the following account of postal matters:
Our settlement was a long way from town in ox-team and lumber wagon days, and getting mail to and from the post office was a big problem. The Gaylord post office was established, but mail was still a long way from us in the north part of the county. Gus Barnes applied for commission as postmaster of the Ballard post office which was to be situated on the quarter joining him on the south, and received his commesion March 28, 1872. There several had laid out a townsite which they called Ballard in honor of the surveyor who had located all of us on our claims, but there was never a building put on the town site. Gus would walk to Gay- lord for the mail and we would call at his house for it or if Gus would get a chance he would send it to us by anyone going our way. If it should happen that he would be away from home, he would take the mail over to a neighbor's, the Ellis family. Gus didn't profit much from his post office job ($12.00 a year) and on October 26, 1874, he resigned.12
The next post office in the area was at Bowdenville where John Bowden had homesteaded in section 10 (now Pleasant Township) on Middle Beaver Creek
12 Manuscript of Reminiscences of Early Days in Martin Township by Dave Nelson to his daughter-in-law, Margaret Nelson and loaned by her to the author.
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and had a saw mill, grist mill, and sorghum mill at a beaver dam which he used for waterpower. The mill area was a popular gathering place. The post office was commissioned January 10, 1876, but for some reason Bowden resigned October 24, 1878. This office was moved to a log store that John Barracks and his son had built on his claim about three miles farther north (section 34, Martin Township) where it was named Beaver. Barracks closed out his stock of goods in 1880 but kept the post office until November 10, 1882.
Earlier Dave Raams had opened a store in a small sod building in what was jokingly called "Sod Town" because nearly all of the buildings were of eod. The post office was moved there November 10, 1882 and the name changed to Reama- ville. This office closed January 31, 1941.
Dispatch post office was established October 29, 1891 in the general store of Peter Dolphan on Oak Creek. Bert Dolphan was star route carrier between Dispatch and Cawker City, bringing the mail three times a week. The White Oak area received their mail from Salem which was serviced by the tri-weekly stage until the railroad reached Burr Oak, then the mail was brought to Salem daily.
The Twelve Mile settlement (Garfield Township) was eighteen miles from Cawker City, the nearest post office. The postmaster at "Cawker" labeled a box "Twelve Mile" and put all the mail for settlers from the county line north in the box. When anyone came to town he took all the accumulated mail and dis- tributed it as best he could. Like the dugouts and soddies, these haphazard methods sufficed for the time, but in the winter of 1873-74 a meeting was called at which a petition was signed for a local post office with Joseph Gledhill, postmaster. It was established June 24, 1874. The patrons of the office had to arrange to get the mail to the office themselves, bearing the expense of so
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doing. Each one paid a small amount and a carrier was hired to go to Bethany (now Portis) once a week for the mail. It was on a stage route from Concordia to Kirwin. Millard Thomas made the trip each Saturday on foot, but soon re- signed because his salary of twenty centa a week did not pay for shoes. T. J. Tompkins carried the mail for a year until Twelve Mile was put on a star route from Smith Center to "Canker" along with Crystal Plains (James Clough, post- master), Rotterdam (John Walters, postmaster), Orange (Leonard Baertsch, post- master), and Oasis (Ad Kennedy, postmaster).
The firet contractor on the star route was Billy Jenkins, editor of Kansae Pioneer. His first trip over the route was hie honeymoon with hie bride in a canary yellow lawn dress and he in the conventional black wedding clothes. The trip was made to Cawker City on Friday and back on Saturday, but sometimes subscribers worked out their subscriptions to the paper by driv- ing two or three times. As the railroad came up the valley, the route for Twelve Mile deliveries was changed from Downs to Smith Centre. After repeated resignations by Joseph Gledhill due to illness in the family, the poet office at Twelve Mile wae discontinued February 28, 1894.">
Transportation in Smith County
Transportation pertinent to the development of Smith County may be di- vided into three phases: stage lines, railroads, etate highways. Smith County was not settled when the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Company stage Line ran through the county in 1859. The first stage lines in the county after set- tlement carried mail and passengers from railroad terminale to the new frontier
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