USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. II > Part 15
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It is hard to say what Wichita would do without her weather man. Should the government decide to take him away the washer-woman never would know when to hang the clothes on the line; young folks never could be sure of a clear day for a picnic ; hunters would have difficulty in picking the right sort of mornings for ducks to be flying; and father could never be sure whether to carry his overcoat, his rain-stick or his fan to the office in the morning.
But seriously, the Wichita weather office is one of the most valuable assets of Sedgwick county. Few people realize the scope and importance of the work carried on by Richard H. Sulli- van. All through the spring and summer the farmers and truck gardeners turn to the weather man for advance information on the next day's temperature and its dryness or wetness. If it
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
is a cold spring the gardeners want to know if it is likely to frost ; if it is dry, they want to know when it is likely to rain; if wet, they are sure to be anxious as to when it will be dry enough for them to cultivate their fields.
In the winter everyone is interested more or less in the weather. The average householder watches the weather forecast as closely as Mr. Sullivan watches the barometer. Everyone is eager for advance "dope" on blizzards. It gives them oppor- tunity to fill the coal bin, lay a supply of kindling in the dry and make things generally shipshape about the place.
In the winter season the produce men are keenly alive to weather conditions. They never make important or large ship- ments of perishable goods without first learning the forecast for the weather that probably will maintain until the shipments are delivered. In addition to his regular reports Mr. Sullivan gives hundreds of special forecasts to the produce men during the winter.
During the budding season last spring Mr. Sullivan rendered invaluable service to the orchardists of this vicinity. He pre- dicted every killing frost that arrived and thus enabled the orchard men to save thousands of dollars' worth of fruit by raising temperatures in their orchards with smudge fires.
There are some who still look upon the United States Weather Bureau as a joke. These are few, however, and becoming fewer. The fact that 90 per cent of the predictions made by the bureau come true is sufficient argument to prove the usefulness and indispensability of weather forecasts .- "Beacon."
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CHAPTER XLVIII.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.
By
O. H. BENTLEY.
The Ninnescah Valley.
"There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet; O! the last ray of feeling and hope shall depart Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart."
Sedgwick county is indeed fortunate in its valley land, fertile and productive, responding readily to the hand of the tiller and the toil of the intelligent husbandman. The Arkansas flows southeasterly through the county. The great river starts in the Rockies and brings down the cool waters of the mountains. It blesses the country through which it runs. In the western part of Sedgwick county the north fork of the Ninnescah enters the northwest corner of Grand River township and flows in a south- erly direction through Morton township, where it meets the waters of the south fork of the Ninnescah river, thence pursuing its way southeasterly just south of Clearwater, leaving the county at the corner of Ninnescah township, in its meandering forming a large expanse of rich valley land as good as there is in the entire state of Kansas. The waters of the Ninnescah are espe- ' cially pure and clear. In an early day it was famed among stock- men as a specially fine stock stream. It runs over a white sandy bottom and with cultivation and improvement its rich bottom lands will equal in fertility those of the Cowskin and Little Arkansas rivers.
At this time some of the very best farms in this portion of Kansas are located in the valleys of the Ninnescahs, and in these later years the waters of the Ninnescahs have been carefully
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
stocked with fish, and black bass, crappie, channel and mudcat are abundant in these streams.
THE BIG FOUR.
There are four big townships in Sedgwick county, made up largely of German farmers. They are Attica, Garden Plain, Sher- man and Union. They are located in square and compact form and are twelve miles each way. The parish Catholic church at St. Mark is centrally located to serve all of this territory. The railway stations of these townships are Goddard and Garden, on the Santa Fe line, and Andale and Colwich, on the Missouri Pacific Railway. The territory embraced is principally employed in wheat and corn farming, though diversified farming and the raising of alfalfa is most successfully carried on. The old-time German farmers of the Big Four have grown rich and prosperous. Their sons have grown to manhood and by the aid of their parents have oftentimes gone out into new fields to locate and improve new farms, and each instance they have carried to the new homes the thrift and energy of their ancestors. The German farmers of the Big Four are among the most energetic, reliable and thrifty farmers of Sedgwick county, and for that matter their superiors cannot be found in the entire state of Kansas.
THE TOWNSHIP OF AFTON.
Afton township, in Sedgwick county, is the only township in the county not touched by a railroad. Some of the townships are bisected with the iron rails, others are touched on the corners, but Afton has no railroad, nor has it a postoffice within its bor- ders. Its postoffices are Goddard and Garden Plain, in the town- ships on the north. The township is finely watered by Clear creek and its branches, and along this stream are raised many fine fields of alfalfa. A number of Wichita people, notably C. W. Southward, Coler L. Sim and C. L. Davidson, have arranged a pleasant fishing preserve on Clear creek and have set trees and built summer homes on the banks of an artificial lake, where they dam the waters of Clear creek. To this resort they often go with their families and their intimate friends. To this resort is a most pleasant ride by automobile. Chas. A. Windsor, S. L. Nolan, W. B. Throckmorton, J. R. E. Payne, Taylor and Crawford, W. H.
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McCluer, A. Leichart and John Keifner are familiar names in this locality. Some of them are dead, but the good farms they tilled and the improvements they made survive them, blessing the landscape and charming those who come after them.
ANDALE.
In an early day in the history of Sedgwick county two impor- tant families occupied lands in the neighborhood of the Fifth Parallel school house in Sherman township. These families were the Andersons and the Dales, and when the Wichita & Colorado Railway was built from Wichita to Hutchinson these families were recognized in the name of An-Dale, which is a compound of the two names. Andale is located upon the northeast of sec- tion 15, in Sherman township. This township is largely settled by German farmers, who have by constant attention to business and by thrift and careful farming grown prosperous and fore- handed. Upon the opening of the new country to the south the Andersons and Dales went southward. Their good farms have passed into the hands of strangers, but the good lands are there and no history of Sherman township can be written without the mention of the Andersons and the Dales, who were among the early pre-emptors of that section. Andale is a prosperous trading point and a grain center. It has a most prosperous Catholic church and a good, strong parish. It is in the midst of a wheat farming district and there is no better farming community in the state of Kansas. M. Lill, A. M. Richenberger, Ellis Shaner and M. B. Hein are familiar names in this township.
ANNESS.
Anness is in the southwest corner of Sedgwick county. Some years since, when the Santa Fe built the Mulvane extension, then called the Leroy & Western, and pursuing its policy of building around Wichita, instead of into it, or out of it, this company ran a line from Augusta to Mulvane and from Mulvane west to Engle- wood, in Clark county, Kansas. This line of railway from Mul- vane west cut the south tier of townships in Sedgwick county. Out in Erie township a man named W. H. Wilson, a nervy land man living in Arcade, N. Y., had purchased through the old land firm of Jocelyn & Thomas 5,000 acres of land and was rapidly putting it in cultivation. The new line cut his land in Erie
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
township, all of which caused him much disgust. As the writer of this article had encouraged Mr. Wilson to purchase this land in the first instance, he came into the writer's office to do a good bit of rag chewing and was bewailing the fact that the line of railway cut his land. After giving the matter some thought, and, in the language of Sam Kernan, "mature reflection," the writer suggested that Mr. Wilson go with him that night to Topeka and make the Santa Fe people a townsite proposition. This was done, the trip was made and the usual deal was per- fected with the Arkansas Valley Town Company, which is the land company of the Santa Fe Railway. This deal was made upon the usual terms, to wit, that the railroad company at once acquired the big end and the control of the town. Then came the inquiry as to what the name of the new town should be. As Mr. Wilson had furnished the land and had given the railway people 51 per cent of it to establish a depot on the same, by Mr. Edward Wilder, then the treasurer of the railway company, he was accorded the privilege of naming the town. He said that he would like to name the town after his wife. He was asked by Mr. Wilder what was the name of his wife. He replied, Ann S. Wilson. Call the town Anness, said Mr. Wilder, to which suggestion all parties present at once agreed, and so the town was named and will be so called to the end of the chapter. Anness is located in the wheat belt of Kansas. It is surrounded by fertile farms and its citizenship is of the best. U. E. Baird, A. Small, H. D. Compton, William Gawthrop, Russ Baird, B. F. Forrest and M. L. Coates are prominent farmers in the vicinity of Anness.
BAYNEVILLE
The early settlers of Sedgwick county, and the early buffalo hunters purusing the noble game on the divide between the Cowskin and the Ninnescah away to the southwest of Wichita, saw a level plain with an imperceptible slope to the southward where flows the Ninnescah river. Originally this divide was regarded as poor and undesirable land; the settlers were sparse and few, and a large area was used for pasturage for large herds of cattle which were grazed there.
Franklin Fay was one of the early settlers in this region, and so was W. H. Baughman, the late Judge Wall who early had a good nose for land and was a natural land man by reason
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TOWNS AND VILLAGES
of his early training in Cumberland county, Illinois, became an investor in the lands near Bayneville. This town came into existence upon the building of the Missouri Pacific railway from Wichita to Conway Springs and southward to Kiowa and the station of Baynesville was laid out and a town established upon the southeast quarter of section 5 in Ohio township.
Judge Wall at one time owned some land directly west and north of the depot at Baynesville. The town was named for Judge Bayne, of Anthony, who procured a large portion of the right of way for the railroad company. Cultivation has changed the entire face of the landscape and good crops are now the rule around Baynesville, which was once the favorite feeding ground of the American bison.
THE TOWN OF BENTLEY.
Bentley is a town and trading point in Eagle township in the northwest portion of Sedgwick county. In 1887, the Kansas Midland Railway was built from Wichita to Ellsworth, a distance of 107 miles, and the building of this line bisected Eagle town- ship and established a depot and town on section 11, Eagle township. The town was named in honor of O. H. Bentley, of Wichita. The local railway company was composed of Wichita men; the directors were ex-Governor W. E. Stanley, J. Oak Davidson, Robert E. Lawrence, Charles R. Miller, Orsemus H. Bentley and H. G. Lee. When organized this railway company was officered by C. R. Miller, president; J. Oak Davidson, treasurer, and O. H. Bentley, secretary. It was constructed by the Kansas Construction and Improvement Company, an aggregation of Hart- ford and eastern capital. The line is now operated as a part of the Frisco system under a 99-year lease. The building of this line called the town of Bentley into existence and it is located in what is known as a very fertile portion of Sedgwick county. Its surrounding farms are finely adapted to the raising of corn, hogs and cattle, and the farmers of Eagle township are a pros- perous and contented people. Not only do the farmers of that region raise hogs, cattle and corn, but many of them own auto- mobiles and they are often seen upon the streets of Wichita. From Bentley to Wichita is eighteen miles by rail and by wagon road a little over twenty miles. A short hour's run by automobile from Bentley to Wichita via Valley Center, carries the tourist
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
over a fine road, past some beautiful, well kept farms, with just enough grit and sand in the road to make the tires take hold and keep the machine from skidding.
CHENEY.
A Good Town in a Good Locality, With Fine Homes and Good Farms.
Cheney is perhaps the largest town in the county outside of Wichita. Its population is approximately 750 and everyone of them is a booster. The thriving little city is located on the Santa Fe, Wichita & Western branch, twenty-seven miles west of Wichita, and is the last town on that road in that part of the county. The progressiveness of the county is demonstrated in the fact that a short time ago the Milling Company organized and formulated plans for an electric light plant that has become a success in every way. The plant has been in existence for about seven weeks and since its beginning nine arc lights have been placed on the streets in different parts of the city, besides the company has over 600 smaller lights scattered throughout the city in residences and stores. The plant is equipped with a 100- horse power Monarch Corliss engine and a 50-kilowat dynamo. The lighting of Cheney is operated on the same scale as it is in other small towns throughout the United States, that of a moonlight schedule. The city council will probably have several more arc lights of 500 candlepower placed around on other streets in the near future. The location of Cheney is ideal and the land lying around it for several miles is all owned by pros- perous farmers who raise everything that can be raised in the temperate zone. Wheat is the principal product however, and this year's crop was far better than for the past three seasons. A great quantity of fruit is also raised in the vicinity of Cheney and although the late frosts of last spring hurt the fruit crop, yet it did not so affect it that it was utterly ruined. Many fine apple orchards are seen throughout that section of the county. A great deal of corn is also raised and will yield a far better per cent in bushels per acre this year than last despite that fact that rains were scarce during the hot months. Cheney has stores of every description, all of them substantial buildings.
Cheney has two banks, four general stores, two large hard-
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TOWNS AND VILLAGES
ware stores, two livery barns, one drug store, two hotels, two blacksmith shops, one weekly paper, one grocery store, two ele- vators, four churches and one large school with an enrollment of nearly 275, two restaurants, one grain and feed store, several doctors and one dentist, one large mill and electric power plant, three real estate agents who do a large business, one exclusive furniture store, two photographers, two lumber yards, one gents' furnishing store, one shoe store, two barber shops, one harness shop, one coal yard, one undertaker and several miles of cement sidewalks. The combined deposits of both banks are placed at a little over $250,000 and the wealth of the officers, directors and stockholders will greatly exceed $1,500,000. Both banks show a decided increase in deposits on their last statements over the ones previous. The most influential business men and farm- ers in that vicinity are the stockholders. They are men who have spent the greater part of their lives in Sedgwick county and have been instrumental in making this county what it is today -the greatest county in the state. And it is without one exception.
Cheney's greatest need is more people. Although there are not over three vacant houses in the city today, yet the business men of the city would be glad to see new houses going up. An- other thing that the city needs and which would be of great advantage to it, is more store rooms. While some, and in fact most of the business concerns are located in substantial build- ings, there are a few that are not. It would be necessary for them to move into some hastily erected building during the erection of a new business block, were they to have one built. Several new residences have been built in the city during the past year-and all of them were rented or sold before the foundation was laid, so therefore it is absolutely essential that new build- ings be built soon. The freight receipts have more than doubled during the past six months, which is a good indication of a city's growth. There has been at least a 20 per cent increase in the postal receipts too during the last quarter. Another illustration that Cheney is growing and forging to the front. It is expected by the older residents and some of the newer ones that the popu- lation will be 1,500 within the next year.
One thing that the business men and residents of the city would like to see is an interurban road from Wichita to their city. The Santa Fe only operates one passenger train a day over their
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
road, leaving Wichita in the evening and returning the follow- ing morning. It is necessary for the people of that section of the county to remain in Wichita thirty-one hours if they go there with the intention of visiting any of the theaters. The train reaches Wichita at 10:30 in the morning and leaves for Cheney and other points along the line at 5:20 in the evening, which is rather an inconvenience. An interurban road would operate cars at least once every three hours over the road and while the fare would not be any less than it is at present, it would be a great help to shoppers and theater goers of the towns along its line. It has been hinted by people who know that if an inter- urban is projected the business men and farmers of Cheney and vicinity would help further it to the entire satisfaction of the promoters. Their one cry continually is better train service and more of it. If the Santa Fe would operate two trains each way every day it would satisfy them to some extent, for there is plenty of travel along the lines, in fact, too much for the present serv- ice, for about three days out of every week the train from Pratt for Wichita is packed by the time it reaches Cheney and people coming to Wichita would be compelled to stand up all the way during their trip. Something should and must be done shortly to satisfy them, for not only the residents of Cheney but of all the towns along the line have the same complaint. Cheney is one of the best towns in central west Kansas and is the best town in Sedgwick, outside of Wichita, of course, which is saying a great deal for Cheney. Tom Grace, Nate Hern, D. M. Main, Joe Goode, Ode Northcutt and Wm. O'Brien are familiar names in Morton township, where Cheney is located upon section No. 8 of that township.
"Round about it orchards sweep, Apple and peach tree fruited deep."
AN EARLY INCIDENT OF CHENEY.
The old-timers of Sedgwick county and especially those in the western portion of the county will recall John Coffey, one of the early justices of the peace in Morton township. M. L. Gar- ver never tires of relating the early incidents connected with the courts of Judge Coffey. Judge Coffey then lived in the western part of Sedgwick county at the confluence of the two Ninne-
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scahs rivers; in the early days of Cheney he was the justice who presided in that town and before him was settled many of the disputes and contentions of that region. He was a man of won- derful common sense, and sterling integrity. He used to say after the lawyers had argued the case and presented the law, "Boys let us apply a little common sense and some prairie law to this case." The first lawsuit ever tried in the town of Cheney was tried before Judge Coffey. Harry Strahm, of Kingman, and O. H. Bentley, of Wichita, were the opposing counsel; upon Bentley complaining of the ruling of the justice, he was very gravely informed by the court that the last ruling was for him and added the court, "I will rule for Harry this time," and this was final. He divided his rulings and the lawyers could not get him to swerve from this rule. At one period of the trial Judge Coffey became impatient and said, "Hurry up boys, you know that every time I take up my pen it means costs." This case was tried in a lumber office and the jury retired to deliberate upon their verdict to a convenient lumber pile, but since that time there has been many changes in Cheney. Lafe Jones was there then, so was Ed. Gobin. Many of the old-timers still remain. Those who stayed have reaped their reward in this world's goods, and it has been measured to them again in the fulness of the seasons and the ample return of the husbandman, but Judge Coffey has gone to his reward. The old time Coffey farm at the confluence of the two rivers, where the bright waters meet and mingle, those waters as pure as the distillations of the dew, has passed to strangers, but it will be many years before the eccentricity and sturdy honesty of Judge Coffey will be forgotten.
CLEARWATER.
Clearwater, seventeen miles southeast of Wichita, with a popu- lation of 600 inhabitants is one of the principal towns in the county. It has all the advantages of the larger towns, inasmuch as it has natural gas and electric lights, two banks, four general stores and a host of smaller places. It has three churches and a fine school building with an enrollment of ever 300. Clear- water is the best town in the southern and southwestern part of the county. The town is located on two railroads. The Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific passing through Clearwater do a large freight and passenger business. The Santa Fe enters the
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
town from the east, going to Clearwater from Wichita via Mul- vane, while the Missouri Pacific goes there direct. The latter is the most direct route and carries the most passengers. The country around Clearwater is well adapted for the raising of corn, oats, wheat, barley, and fruits of all kinds. A great deal of garden stuff is also raised. All the farmers living in the vicinity of the city are prosperous and nearly all own their own farms. The city has two large elevators well filled with grain, which finds a ready market in Wichita and other cities east of it.
The bank deposits in the two banks will exceed $150,000. They are both state banks and have been in existence for many years. Never once during the career of either bank have the deposits ever decreased-that is, on statement days. They always show a marked increase, which is the best indication that Clear- water is prosperous and growing. There are two very large hard- ware stores, in fact larger than any other town in the county can boast of-Kirk, Mathews and Company and the Smith-Mc- Laughlin stores. The latter, however, is the largest, carries the most stock and has been in existence for several years. It is located on North Main street. Among the general stores those of Ross and Company and the Racket are the largest, while in the harness line, the store of A. H. Wood is a credit to any city twice or three times the size of Clearwater. The city also has a large and up-to-date livery barn which does a tremendous business at all times of the year.
The postal receipts of the city have made a twenty per cent increase during the past quarter. The rural routes are in exist- ence and have an average of eighty families each. They cover a distance of over thirty miles and the mail is always heavy. There are two lumber yards in Clearwater, the Farmers and the Hill-Engstrom Company. Both carry large stocks and do a lucrative business. The city has one large and well stocked drug store, besides the above mentioned business houses, two hotels, one millinery store, two restaurants, one weekly newspaper with a large circulation, one real estate firm, one opera house and lodge hall and a score of smaller places.
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