USA > Kansas > Lincoln County > Indian raids in Lincoln County, Kansas, 1864 and 1869; story of those killed, with a history of the monument erected to their memory in Lincoln court house square, May 30, 1909 > Part 2
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brought home, if it takes all they had themselves, and half of all she has got to do it.
(Signed) "ELIZABETH M. LYLE,
for her Mother, E. Moffitt."
"Salina, Saline Co., Kansas, September 23d, 1864.
"I certify that the within is a true copy of a letter re- ceived by me from Mrs. E. M. Lyle, (my sister), dated Septembet 12, 1864.
(Signed) "ROBT. N. MOFFITT."
"Recorded on page 41, on the 26th of September, A. D. 1864. (Signed) "A. A. MORRISON, P. J."
In compliance with the above request, Robert secured the bodies of his brothers, and made the following report of his progress to his mother:
Salina, (Kansas,) September 30, 1864.
Dear Mother :- I went last Tuesday and got Jack and Tommy's bodies. They were very much decayed-more than I expected, but I got them without much trouble. I had twenty soldiers and four citizens with me. We were gone three days. The Indians were back and had burned the house.
I got back yesterday. I have made a box that will hold both coffins and packed them in sawdust. I will take them to Leavenworth that way and get the cases there. I will start from here next Monday. It will take seven days to go to Leavenworth, so it will be Sunday night before I get there. If I get the cases, which I have no doubt of, I will leave either Monday or Tuesday, the 10th or 11th of October, and will be home the 11th or 12th of October. I will send a dispatch from St. Joseph or Quincy.
I have got some of Tom's hair, but there was no hair left on Jack's head.
I was very sick with diarrhoea while I was after the boys, but I am getting well again. We had to drink salt water, I think was the cause of it.
I remain your affectionate son,
Robert.
From this letter we learn that twenty soldiers were placed at Mr. Moffitt's service to go to Beaver Creek to get the bodies. They were accompanied by four civilians, as follows: Thos. Boyle, Fred Rhoads, Adam Caldwell and Woodfield Tripp. Three of those four helped to bury the Moffitts.
It seems that Mr. Moffitt got somewhat sick on the way
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from drinking salt water. I do not like to have the idea prevail that the water in the Saline valley is salty. It is only the water in the river that is salty, and at that time there was not more than one well between Salina and Beaver Creek, and that accounts for the salt water spoken of in the letter. The same letter speaks of finding some hair on Tom's head, but none on Jack's, so it might have been that the scalp of Jack Moffitt was the one found on the rocks after the massacre.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE MOFFITT ESTATE
I now return to the Moffitt brothers. The following pa- pers comprise all of the record regarding the property left by them, and were procured at the Saline county court house through the courtesy of Judge Supple, now Probate Judge of Saline county. I am under obligations to Miss Grace Dawson and to Miss Lillian Lowell, both of Sa- lina, for their kindness in copying the documents. They are all official, and the information is therefore reliable.
"12th of August, 1864, Salina, Saline Co., Kansas. "Application in regard to letters of administration of the estate of Thomas L. Moffitt and John Moffitt, his bro- ther, and John W. Houston, partners who were hunting and were killed by the Indians. Case of John W. Moffitt & Co. To all whom it may concern:
"State of Kansas
Saline County SS
"Know ye, that whereas John Moffitt & Co, are now dead, having been killed by the Indians and having left property which may be lost or destroyed if speedy care be not taken of the same; to the end that said property may be collected and taken care of according to law, we do hereby appoint Chas. Case administrator of all and singular, the goods of the foregoing firm or deceased part- ners, to settle and dispose of their effects according to law; and to collect and dispose of all things in reference to the firm, and to perform all other things which are or here- after may be required of him by law. In testimony where- of, I, A. A. Morrison, clerk of the Probate Court, in and for the county and state aforesaid, have hereunto signed my name and affixed my private seal, no public seal hav- ing been provided as yet.
[Seal.]
"A. A. MORRISON,
Clerk and Judge of Probate Court."
"Salina, Saline Co., Kansas, 17th August, 1864.
"Application for letters in regard to the estate of John
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Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, his brother, who were lately killed by the Indians up the Saline, on the Beaver creek, has been made, and Mr. Charles Case has agreed to attend to the business."
"ADMINISTRATOR'S OATH, 17TH AUGUST, 1864.
"You, Charles Case, do solemnly swear that you will make a true and perfect inventory of and appraisement of the estate of John and Thomas Moffitt, deceased, and pay all the debts as far as the assets will extend, and account for and pay over all assets which shall come to your knowledge or possession according to law.
"CHAS. CASE."
"The within is recorded on page 63, and a partial set- tlement on page 60.
"Recorded this 31st December, A. D. 1864. "A. A. MORRISON, Probate Judge."
"Salina, Saline Co., Kansas, August, 1864.
"A list of the goods of John and Thomas Moffitt, broth- ers, who were killed by the Indians out on Beaver creek, up the Saline stream. Charles Case, administrator, as charged with having received the effects of the Moffitts, deceased, which is reported as follows:
Cash
$1,004.00
Other goods according to the appraisement list:
1 Dragoon bridle bit, appraised at 50
1 three gallon keg 50
1 grindstone 1.25
1 shawl
10.00
3 coats, one vest and other clothing
15.00
1 hammer
50
1 box and a lot traps
1.00
11 bottles strychnine
3.30
6 boxes of G. D. caps
50
2 saddle trees and one pair of stirrups
5.00
1 plane and bit
1.00
1 harness leather
3.00
1 brace and bitts
2.00
1 hand saw
1.50
1 brush
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9 books appraised at
5.00
4 boxes of caps
1.00
1 trunk and a variety of clothing
27.00
1 pair of pants
7.00
1 grass mower
150.00
3 buffalo robes
1.00
1
1 map of western states 1
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2 pitch forks 2.50
4 two year old heifers, each $14 56.00
5 cows and three calves. 100.00
20 yearlings, $10 per head 200.00
1 cow and calf 25.00
"The whole amount of goods as made known to me,
"A. A. MORRISON, Probate Judge."
"P. M. Brown, on his note on page 37, was allowed $10 for crying the public sale of property of the Moffitts on 15th of September, A. D. 1864.
'A. A. Morrison, Probate Judge."
"October 4th, 1864, in open court, settlement of Moffitt's estate. $1082.55
Bills allowed to the amount of 125.51
$ 957.04
"Salina, September 26th, 1864.
"Received of A. A. Morrison, Probate Judge of Saline county, Kansas, the sum of twenty-five dollars out of the estate of John and Thomas Moffitt.
"ROBT. N. MOFFITT."
"Estate of John and Thomas Moffitt to Charles Case, Dr .: For appraisement of property and inspection of pa- pers of the said estate, by Erwin Farris and Robert Par- ker, one day each, at ($3) three dollar per day, $6.00. "CHAS. CASE,
"By J. B."
"The State of Illinois SS
Henry County
"I, Robert N. Moffitt, of said county and state, do here- by make out and state the above and foregoing list is a true copy of the appraisement list of the goods, moneys and effects of Thomas and John Moffitt, deceased. Re- ceived by Charles Case as administrator, and for which he is chargeable as furnished to me by A. A. Morrison, Probate Judge, Saline County, Kansas.
"ROBERT N. MOFFITT""
"Sworn to and subscribed before me this 19th day of December, A. D. 1865.
"J. H. HOWE, Notary Public."
"Charles Case, Esquire, Administrator of the Estate of John L. Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, deceased, Salina, Saline County, Kansas:
"Pay to Hon. Hugh Osborn the sum of nine hun- dred dollars $(900) assets in your hands realized by you on
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the settlement of the estate of John L. Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, and this shall be your receipt for the same.
"ROBT. N. MOFFITT,
"for himself, and as attorney in fact for the other heirs.
"Kewanee, Henry Co., III., Nov. 9, 1866.
Kewanee, Illinois, November 10, 1866. "Hon. Hugh Osborn,
"Dear Sir: Your favor received informing me of the settlement of the estate of my brothers.
"Herewith find order on Case for the money. I wish you to get the money and send it to me by express or draft as you think best, deducting for your trouble. I think there ought to have been at least $1,100, but send it along. Hoping to hear from you soon, I am
"Truly yours,
"ROBERT MOFFITT."
Kewanee, Henry Co., Ills., November, 12th, 1866. "Hon. Hugh Os' orn,
"Dear Sir: Yours without date was received on the 9th, requesting an order on ( 'ase for the balance in his hands, or rather in Mr. Jones'. On last Saturday I attended to the matter. Gen. J. M. Howe, a lawyer of Kewanee drew the order and also wrote a letter in my rame instructing you to forward the money in any way in which you could, and is practicable, which I >uppo e is all that is necessary, But as you may perhaps expect me out there, I deem it just to write this and let you know why I do not come at present. I am ju t beginning to husk my corn crop, and have no one to help me as yet. I cannot make arrange- ment- to go at present. If you receive the money please forward it if you can, if you can't, lose no time in writ- ing to me, and I will come out myself, but if I can avoid it, it will save me both trouble and expense. It would cost me about one hundred dollars to go there, "nd at pre- sent the loss of time would be no small matter. I intend to go there this winter anyhow, and have the matter set- tled, or put in the hands of someone that would. If you will do the busine s, paying yourself for all necessary trouble, and forward the balance to me, I will be much obliged to you, but do not fail to let me know if any- thing ;turns up to prevent a settlement at this time. I think I will wait at present until I hear from you, which I hope to do in a few weeks. Please write immediately, and if necessary I will come out there.
"Yours truly, (Signed) R. N. MOFFITT."
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State of Kansas - Saline County {ss
To D. R. Wagstaff, Sheriff of Saline County, Greeting:
You are hereby commanded to notify Charles H. Case, administrator of the estate of Thomas and John Moffitt, deceased, to appear before me, Charles S. Hussey, Probate Judge in and for Saline County, at my office in said County, during the April term of the Probate Court, of Saline County, Kansas, commencing on the first Monday in April, 1869, which term will continue during the said week to exhibit statement in regard to the said estate above referred to.
You will make due return of this writ as the law directs. Given under my hand and seal this 8th day of March A. D. 1869. (Signed) CHARLES S. HUSSEY, Probate Judge.
Received March 8th, A. D. 1869, at 4 o'clock p. m., and after diligent search have been unable to find the within named Charles H. Case in my county. March 18th, 1869.
Fees 50c. (Signed) D. R. WAGSTAFF, Sheriff.
It appears from these records that John W. Houston was a partner of the Moffitt brothers, yet that is the only mention of Houston. There appears to be nothing in the records to show that he had either heirs or a share in the estate. There is an account given of thirty-four head of cattle, which will fairly well tally with the number of cattle given in the letter that opens this book. This would seem to indicate that the Indians did not drive any cattle away and the inventory shows that nothing was taken from the house. Furthermore, the parties who did the work of burying the dead found the team killed and the wagon burned where the dead bodies were.
The records also show that Robert Moffitt got only twenty-five dollars when he came after the bodies of his brothers. This is all that the relatives ever got out of all that the boys left. The inventory of the estate is rather interesting at this time, for we read that "three buffalo hides were listed at one dollar." If we had three buffalo robes now we might buy a farm with them. Right below we read, "two hay forks two dollars and one-half." The difference then and now is that buffalo hides grew here, while hay forks had to be hauled from Leavenworth.
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The shawl spoken of in the inventory was not necessa- rily a woman's shawl, as men in the frontier camps used them very often for convenience sake, as they were nice to roll up in and go to sleep on the prairie when they were out on their hunting trips.
It further appears that Charles Case was appointed ad- ministrator of the estate, and from what the records show, and from information that I have from the Moffitt relatives, it would appear that said Mr. Case administered the whole business into his own pocket. Anyway the relatives did not get anything. The records also show that the Sheriff of Saline county was sent out on the 18th day of March, 1869, to bring in the said Charles Case for a settlement, but the papers were returned, as Case could not be found. He was said to be in Kentucky then, money and all. And it is reported that he afterwards ap- peared in Illinois and told the relatives of the Moffitt boys a very hard luck story, and no prosecution followed.
EARLY PROBATE RECORDS OF SALINE COUNTY.
The entire settlement of the Moffitts' estate seems to have been handled in a very careless manner, not only by the clerk who acted as probate judge, but also by the regular Judge after Saline county became organized. The administrator was permitted to get away with the entire proceeds of the estate, and the records show that more than five years had elapsed after the administrator was appointed before an effort was made to get him to settle according to law. It will be noticed that there was no bond given for faithful performance of duty. This copy of administration is a very good criterion to go on in re- gard to the early days. It is worthy of a very close study, and even then we may have some difficulty in understand- ing what is meant by some of the documents on file in the Salina records. But there is nothing omitted here that is recorded, as I have had every item copied in full. I have done this as a matter of history, as a curiosity to the pres- ent and future generations.
It is something very interesting to search the old rec- ords, as it throws light on how public business was done in those early days. In the first place I had trouble to
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find what I wanted in the Saline county court house, ow- ing to the fact that book "A" could not be found in the office of the Probate Judge. This book was what was wanted in order to get the necessary information. The clerk could not find it, and when Judge Supple came he could not find it. He then 'phoned to some parties in Sa- lina, and the said party 'phoned back that the book was there, in the court house, and that he would be over in a few minutes to find it. The judge then started for another hunt and found a very small book that did not look like a book of record. This book was marked "A," and every- thing in it is written with pen and ink, and it was neither ruled nor lettered.
The copy of the administration herein submitted shows that there was no Probate Judge in Saline county at that time. The county was organized but not fully officered. What is now Lincoln and Saline counties was at that time attached to Ottawa county for judicial purposes, and a clerk from Ottawa county was stationed at Salina and had charge of the probate work. The office at Salina had no seal, and the clerk had to use his own private seal. All of this goes to show that Salina in the pear 1864 was a very small frontier town. But there were men in it to push it ahead to a very high state of civilization.
The book "A" referred to is about twelve by fifteen inches and about an inch thick. The record of the Moffitt adminstration is recorded on page 60 and when the Judge discovered the records in the book, he took from the vault all of the papers pertaining to the Moffitt estate.
CHARACTER OF THE MOFFITTS,-THE BATTLEFIELD.
Before I leave the subject of the Moffitts, I desire to call attention to a few facts. The foregoing letters and documents seem to indicate that the Moffitt brothers were well fixed in life and came here with the bona fide inten- tion of working up the wilderness so that it would resem- ble a garden spot, and not a wild state. Second, the let- ter seemed to indicate that they were quite tender hearted, and not like the hard hearted and in some cases fugitives from justice who went to the front or a little beyond the line of civilization. The third thing that I would call atten-
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tion to, is the battlefield. On the northeast quarter of sec- tion nine, township twelve, range seven, in Elkhorn township, Lincoln county, Kansas, is the only known bat- tlefield in Lincoln county, where whites and Indians fought a real hard battle. The place is about three miles from Lincoln Center, and for this reason it ought to be purchased: Say five or ten acres, fenced in and made into a public park, and the rock ledge preserved as much as possible. It must be remembered that Houston and Tyler are still buried there. This would be a fitting finish to our pioneer monument and a great help to preserve our history for future generations. And further, Tom An- derson of Salina, one of the men who helped to bury the Moffitts, informs me that there were so many arrows left at the rock ledge that they could be gathered up by the armful, which seems to indicate that this was a very hard fought battle and therefore the spot ought to be taken care of for the future. There are a number of other his- toric spots in Lincoln county from that early period that ought not to be forgotten, notably the cave on the Op- plinger farm on Bullfoot creek, that is large enough to accommodate about twenty persons.
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CHAPTER II. INDIAN MASSACRES OF 1869. THE COMING OF SETTLERS TO DENMARK.
In the month of February, 1869, the following settlers came to what is now called Denmark, Lincoln county, Kansas, on Spillman creek: Lorentz Christiansen and wife, Peter Christiansen and wife and their three children, Helena, Christian and Hans. The Christiansens were brothers. Eskild Lauritzen and wife and one boy, Otto Petersen a single man, were the first settlers around the Denmark neighborhood. Fred Meigerhoff, and George Weichell and his wife came two months later. Lorentz Christiansen filed on the southeast quarter of section twenty-three, now owned and occupied by Martin Ras- mussen. His brother Peter Christiansen filed on the south- west quarter of section twenty-four, now owned and oc- cupied by H. P. Jensen. Eskild Lauritzen filed on the north-east quarter of section twenty-five now owned and occupied by Peter Larsen. Otto Petersen filed on the east- half of the south-east quarter of section twenty-five, (All of this land is in what is now Grant township), and the west half of the south-west quarter of section thirty, now owned and occupied by |Mrs. C. Andersen. George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff filed on the north half of section thirty-one in Marion township. I am unable to find out which quarter was filed on by Weichell and which by Meigerhoff but they filed on those two quarters just before they were killed.
As stated before, these settlers came here in February 1869, and started to build log houses, or partly "dugouts". The Christiansen brothers had their log house dug in a
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bank in a bend of Spillman creek. Their house was on the south side of the creek. A bend in the creek runs so much to the north there that the house was very near the center of the quarter section. This house was on Peter Christiansen's land and it is certainly the first dwelling erected in that neighborhood. Lorentz and his wife lived with them. Eskild Lauritzen had a log house on his land in the bend on the south side of Spillman, not far from where the present dwelling of Peter Larsen is now located. Otto Petersen lived with the Lauritzens. Weichell and wife and Meigerhoff, when they arrived, also lived with Lauritzen. This made a crowd of six adults in this one house. We might presume that this was a very small log house, and this was one of the hardships that the pioneer had to contend with,-no place to seek shelter until some rude and cramped affair could be erected. When new arrivals came to the settlement the latch string was always found hanging out and they were given as good as the settlers had for themselves.
THE FIRST ACCIDENT.
The first accident that might have ended fatally, hap- pened when they were cutting logs for the log house of Peter Christiansen. Lorentz had the misfortune to miss the log with his ax and cut a terrible gash in his foot. It bled profusely and there was danger of his bleeding to death and no doctor within thirty or more miles, and no house to place him in. It looked bad for the small band sur- rounding him. What to do was a puzzle, as none of them could speak fair English. Lorentz himself was the best in that respect, and he was out of commisssion, they there- fore decided to send out Christian Christiansen the oldest son of Peter Christiansen. He could speak good English, so he was dispatched down to the Saline river where a few Irish had settled. Arriving there he failed to get the de- sired help so he returned that evening. The next day he was dispatched down the river again for help, and kept going until he reached the house of John S. Strange not far from the present site of Lincoln Center. When Mr. Strange heard what had happened to one of his fellowmen he yoked up his ox team and drove up to Denmark and
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loading Mr. Christiansen in the wagon, proceded to take him home, and nursed him for six weeks or until he was well again. This incident may perhaps in a measure ac- count for the lack of a house on the Lorentz Christiansen land. When spring opened each one got busy to get a little breaking done so as to grow as least a little to help out.
The above has been written to introduce each of the characters in this drama, in order to better understand what did follow.
ADDITIONS TO THE SETTLEMENT
Along in March or the first part of April, Mr. and Mrs. George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff, a single man, came to Spillman creek. They had staid some two or three weeks on Bullfoot creek, making their home with Ferdi- nand Erhardt. These people have been very hard for me to trace. But enough is known about them to convey the idea that they were highly educated, and well fixed in a financial way. It is said that they had an instrument some- thing like a butter or cheese tester. They would run this instrument from three to five feet in the ground, and cut and pull out a plug of the subsoil for examination. They did not buy the cat in the sack, for they picked out two as good pieces of land as you will find anywhere.
At the beginning of my work the names of Meigerhoff and Weichell were not complete. No one seemed to know their initials, and I desired to have their names cor- rect on the pioneer monument, so I set about to find their full names, and reasoned that if they had taken land they would have been obliged to have had citizen's papers, and to file on the land they would have had to go to Junction City. I made a trip to this place and examined the re- cords from January 1st to June 1st, 1869 and I found there that on May 10th, 1869, George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff took out their first citizen papers and they also show that the two men were from Switzerland and not from Hanover, as some have it. The names are now cor- rect on the monument. It will be noticed that they were in Junction City on May 10th, and it is certain that they took land while there. When we consider the crowds that
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applied for land during those days, and the slow mode of traveling, it is safe to say that the two men barely had time to return from Junction City to be at home on the 30th day of May.
RAID OF MAY 30, 1869.
On the 30th, day of May, 1869, about two o'clock. p. m., a party of Indians consisting of about sixty, came down Spillman Creek committing all kinds of depredations and killed Eskild Lauritzen and his wife, and Stine and Otto Pe- tersen. The Lauritzen boy was saved. He was over at the Christiansen home, playing with Hans Christiansen. The place where the killing occurred was on the north side of the creek, and west of "Little Timber," on the south west quarter of section twenty-four, on the north line of the Peter Christiansen farm, near to the south line of the pre- sent Morgenson farm. Otto Petersen was killed some dis- tance from where the Lauritzens were killed, on the same side of all the creeks, but was not found till some days af- ter the massacre. It might be well to state here, that Lit- tle Timber and Trail creek empty into Spillman creek on this quarter section. Some of the writers, including Eli Ziegler, who makes the statement very positive, say that Otto Petersen was killed and buried on the south side of the creek. Reverend Thomas Strange was one of the parties that went up on the Spillman and found and buried the dead body of Petersen. He was rolled in a blanket and buried where he was found; and Rev. Strange is posi- tive that it was on the north side of the creek, and from other sources I have the same statement. So I accept that as being the true fact.
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