USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 104
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On July 18, 1906, right in the midst of the political campaign, a num- ber of Republicans met at Topeka, adopted a declaration of principles, effected a permanent organization, and raised a fund to circulate a petition to the legislature praying for the enactment of laws fixing the passenger rate on railroads at two cents a mile ; prohibiting the issuance of free passes by railroad companies ; compelling political parties to nominate candidates by a primary election instead of a con- vention; and providing for the assessment of railroad property on the same basis as other property. They soon became known as "Square
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Deal" Republicans. The movement spread to all parts of the state and thousands signed the petition. However, the legislature elected that year failed to pass all the laws asked for by the petitioners, which may have had some influence upon Gov. Hoch in issuing his proclamation of Jan. 7, 1908, calling the legislature to meet in special session on the 16th.
In his message at the commencement of the special session the gov- ernor first asked for a short session, then urged the passage of a primary law that would give the people an opportunity to express their choice for United States senator. Much of his message was devoted to the depositors' guaranty law. (See Banking.) He called attention to the fact that while the new tax law provided for the assessment of property at its actual value, it made no provision for a reduction in the levy. He recommended the amendment of the pure food law, the National Guard law, the passage of an act establishing railroad fares at two cents a mile, and one giving women the right to vote in 1908. With regard to a two-cent fare on railroads, he announced that such a rate had been obtained on all the railroads in the state since the adjournment of the last regular session of the legislature, through the work of the railroad commission. "Counsel for the corporations con- tend that the board of railroad commissioners had no legal right to change a statutory passenger rate, and this proposition will no doubt be seriously argued in the courts." It was to avoid this litigation that he suggested a law on the subject. (See Railroads.)
Most of the governor's recommendations were observed by the legis- lature. The banking laws, the pure food law, the twine plant law and the new tax law were amended along the lines suggested by the governor, and a comprehensive primary election law was passed. Under its provisions the first primary election was held on Aug. 3, 1908, all parties nominating their tickets on the same day. (See Primary Election Laws.)
The Republicans nominated Walter R. Stubbs, for governor; W. J. Fitzgerald, for lieutenant-governor: Charles E. Denton, for secretary of state; James M. Nation, for auditor; Mark Tulley, for treasurer ; Fred S. Jackson, for attorney-general; Edward T. Fairchild, for super- intendent of public instruction ; Charles W. Barnes, for superintendent of insurance ; Alfred W. Benson, Henry F. Mason and Clark A. Smith, for associate justices; George W. Kanavel, Frank J. Ryan and Charles A. Ryker, for railroad commissioners; Thomas A. McNeal, for state printer. Joseph L. Bristow received the indorsement of the people for United States senator.
The Democratic ticket was as follows: Governor, Jeremiah D. Bot- kin; lieutenant-governor, Harry McMillan; secretary of state, Willis D. Kemper; auditor, Louis D. Eppinger ; treasurer, Conway Marshall ; attorney-general, George W. Freerks; superintendent of public instruc- tion, Mrs. Ella G. Burton; superintendent of insurance, Milton F. Belisle; associate justices, A. E. Helm, Isaac O. Pickering and Joseph
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P. Rossiter ; railroad commissioners, Oscar O. Ayers, Frank C. Field and J. E. Howard ; state printer, J. S. Cobb, and Hugh P. Farrelly was indorsed for United States senator.
Under the operation of the primary law fusion between parties was impossible. The Populists therefore nominated a ticket of their own, to-wit: Governor, John W. Northrop; lieutenant-governor, John S. Beecher ; secretary of state, J. H. Stevenson ; auditor, Edgar C. Fowler ; treasurer, Thaddeus Knox; attorney-general, I. F. Bradley ; superin- tendent of public instruction, Samuel Talley ; superintendent of insur- ance, N. J. Waterbury ; railroad commissioners, C. A. Thompson and T. F. Farrell; state printer, William R. Eyster. No nominations were made for supreme court justices, and only two candidates were named for railroad commissioners.
The Prohibitionists nominated Alfred L. Hope for governor; A. L. Evers, for lieutenant-governor; George Avery, for secretary of state; E. A. Kennedy, for auditor; William Volkland, for treasurer; W. C. Wolfe, for attorney-general; Elizabeth K. J. Carpenter, for superin- tendent of public instruction ; W. E. M. Oursler, for superintendent of insurance; R. W. Shaw, M. C. Werner and R. A. Williams, for asso- ciate justices ; L. A. Benson, J. M. Laird and Henry Roelfs, for rail- road commissioners; A. G. Carruth, for state printer, and E. G. Shouse was indorsed for United States senator.
A Socialist ticket was also placed in the field. It was made up of the following candidates: For governor, George F. Hibner ; lieutenant- governor, M. G. Porter; secretary of state, Frank Curry ; auditor, F. S. Welsh; treasurer, L. D. Barrett; attorney-general, D. E. Crossley ; superintendent of public instruction, Grace D. Brewer ; superintendent of insurance, F. M. Lutschg; associate justices, W. J. McMillin, C. R. Mitchell and M. F. Wiltse; railroad commissioners, D. Beedy, D. C. Moore and Moses Whitcomb; state printer, E. N. Firestone. The Socialist candidate for United States senator was S. A. Smith.
At the election in November the Republican presidential electors carried the state by a plurality of over 36,000 votes. For governor, Stubbs received 196,692 votes ; Botkin, 162,385; Hibner, 11,721 ; Hope, 3,886; Northrop, 68. The entire Republican state ticket was elected by similar pluralities. Gov. Hoch's administration came to an end on the second Monday in Jan., 1909, when Gov. Stubbs was inaugurated.
Hodgeman, a village of Marena township, Hodgeman county, is located on the Pawnee river, near the northeast corner of the county, about 18 miles from Jetmore, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and is a trading center for the neighborhood. The popula- tion in 1910 was 52 .. Burdett is the nearest railroad station.
Hodgeman County .- The territory now included in Hodgeman county was first embraced in Hageman county (q. v.), which was erected by the act of Feb. 26, 1867. By the act of March 6, 1873, Hodgeman county was called into existence with the following bound- aries: "Commencing at a point where the 4th standard parallel inter-
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sects the east line of range 21 west; thence south along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 25 south; thence west along township line to where it intersects the east line of range 27 west ; thence north along range line to its intersection with the 4th standard parallel; thence east along the line of the 4th standard parallel to the place of beginning."
The county was named for Amos Hodgman, captain of Company H, Seventh Kansas cavalry, who was wounded at Wyatt, Miss., Oct. 10, 1863, and died on the 16th. The original act gave the name as "Hodgman," but a subsequent legislature placed the letter "e" at the end of the first syllable, and that form has remained. In 1883 the county was enlarged, but in 1887 the original boundaries as established in 1873 were restored.
The first settlement in the county was made at Duncan's ranch on the Pawnee river, in the northeast corner, in 1871. Soon afterward a party came from New York on a buffalo hunt and built a hunting house and stockade not for from Duncan's, but made no permanent settlement. Bowman. Adair and other cattle men established ranches along the Pawnee river and Buckner creek in 1873, and the following year T. W. Pelman located at the junction of Buckner and Saw Log creeks, being at that time the most western settler in the county. From that time until 1878 there was a steady influx of settlers, among whom were James Gilland, J. W. Harlan, S. J. Eakin, L. E. Carter. J. R. Wilson, S. A. Sheldon, Samuel Townsend, J. R. Baird and Clawson Parker. Early in 1879 a census was taken by S. A. Sheldon. It showed that the county had the number of inhabitants required by law for an independent county organization. The people selected John W. Hunter, Samuel Townsend and D. McCarty for county commissioners, E. M. Trimble for county clerk, and petitioned the governor to issue a proclamation declaring the county organized.
Accordingly, Gov. St. John issued a proclamation to that effect on March 29, 1879, but, with the exception of John W. Hunter, he did not appoint any of the officers recommended by the people. The com- missioners named by the governor were Jonathan R. Wilson, John W. Hunter and S. A. Sheldon, and the clerk was W. W. Wheeland. Hodge- man Center, 21/2 miles east of the present town of Jetmore, was desig- nated as the temporary seat of justice. The first meeting of the com- missioners was called for April 14, 1879, but one of the commissioners and the clerk were absent and nothing was done at that meeting.
In the meantime two newspapers had been started in the county. The Hodgeman Center Agitator began its career in March, and the first number of the Fordham Republican was issued on April 9, 1879, by Guy F. Carleton. The former lived until Jan., 1880, and the latter suspended in Oct., 1879. The governor's appointments evidently failed to give satisfaction. When the first meeting of the commissioners resulted in failure the Fordham Republican said: "We presume that Mr. Wheeland, the governor's county clerk, will be on hand at the
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next meeting, providing by that time he establishes a residence in the county. It looks as though the governor was straining a point some- what when he ignored the fact that we had competent material for county officers and went to Edwards county for a clerk."
On July 7, 1879, the commissioners appointed the other county officers, who served until the general election the following Novem- ber, when the following were elected: Samuel Townsend, representa- tive; George Curtis, sheriff; E. M. Prindle, county clerk; A. O. Dick- inson, clerk of the district court; James Whiteside, Jr., register of deeds ; W. A. Frush, treasurer; E. R. Fuller, county attorney ; G. A. Curtis, superintendent of schools; C. E. Boughton, Philip Best and Lewis Stroud, commissioners. At the same time the people voted on the ques- tion of a permanent location for the county seat. Buckner (now Jet- more) received 199 votes; Marena, 107; Hodgeman Center, 40, and Fordham, 5. The county offices were established at Buckner soon after the election.
Hodgeman county is bounded on the north by Ness county ; on the east by Pawnee and Edwards; on the south by Ford, and on the west by Gray and Finney. It has an area of 864 square miles and an eleva- tion of about 2,500 feet above the sea level. The general surface is undulating prairie. Along the streams are belts of timber, the prin- cipal varieties being ash, oak, cottonwood, box-elder and hackberry, the total area of natural timber being about 5,000 acres. The Pawnee river flows through the northern part; Buckner creek rises near the southwest corner and flows in a northeasterly direction through the county, and the southeastern part is watered by the Saw Log creek. These streams with their tributaries form an abundant natural water supply. The climate is healthful and invigorating, there being neither swamps nor marshes to breed malaria. The bottom lands average nearly a mile in width and constitute about one-tenth of the entire area. Limestone and a soft sandstone are found in the bluffs along the streams, native lime is plentiful, and there is some gypsum near the center of the county.
The county is divided into the following townships: Benton, Center, Hallet, Marena, North Roscoe, Saw Log, South Roscoe, Sterling and valley. It has only about 20 miles of railroad, the western part of the Larned & Jetmore division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe sys- tem. In 1910 the U. S. census reported a population of 2,930. The assessed valuation of property was a little over $6,500,000, and the value of agricultural products for the year was $1,158,560. Wheat, corn, sorghum, Kafir corn and hay are the leading crops.
Hoecken, Christian, an early Catholic missionary, came to what is now the State of Kansas as a missionary to the Kickapoo Indians some time prior to the year 1837. In the fall of that year he founded the Pottawatomie mission on Sugar creek, in what is now Miami county, near the eastern line of the state. He accompanied one of the first parties to the new mission and reservation on the Kansas river in 1847.
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Here he continued his labors until 1851, when he joined Father De Smet for missionary work among the Indian tribes farther up the Mis- souri river. While on board the steamboat St. Ange, bound for his new field, he was attacked by cholera and died on June 19, 1851. His body was encased in a cottonwood log, which had been hollowed out for the purpose, the seams being hermetically sealed with pitch, and buried on the bank of the river. On the return trip the rude coffin was exhumed and taken to St. Louis, where the body was interred according to the rites of the Jesuit fathers.
Hoge, a hamlet in the central part of Leavenworth county, is 15 miles southwest of Leavenworth on the Union Pacific R. R. It has rural free delivery from Tonganoxie. The population was 26 in 1910.
Hoisington, the second largest town of Barton county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. II miles north of Great Bend, the county seat, with which it is connected by a branch of the Missouri Pacific. There are 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Dispatch), mills and ele- vators, electric lights, good hotels, well stocked mercantile establish- ments, an automobile livery, which makes daily trips to Great Bend and other towns, 4 churches, a public library and good schools. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has an inter- national money order postoffice with two rural routes. Hoisington is a growing town, the population in 1910 being 1,975, as against 789 ten years before.
Holcomb is a little village of Finney county on the Arkansas river and is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 6 miles west of Garden City, the county seat. It has a postoffice and in 1910 reported a population of 75. It is a trading point for the neighborhood, and does some shipping.
Holidays .- Section 5444. of the General Statutes of 1909 reads as follows: "The following days of each year shall be made and the same are hereby declared to be legal holidays for the purposes of this act : (1) The Ist day of January, known as New Year's day; (2) the 22nd day of February, known as Washington's birthday; (3) the 30th day of May, known as Decoration or Memorial day; (4) the. 4th day of July, known as Independence day; (5) the first Monday in Septem- ber, known as Labor day; (6) the 25th day of December, known as Christmas day; (7) any day appointed and recommended by the gov- ernor of this state, or the president of the United States, as a day of fast or thanksgiving; (8) any other day which may hereafter be made a legal holiday shall, for the purposes of this act, be a holiday. If any of said days be the first day of the week, known as Sunday, the next succeeding secular or business day shall be a holiday."
This section was enacted as part of the "negotiable instruments act," which was approved by the governor on March 7, 1905, and took effect upon the 7th day of the following June. Prior to the passage of this act the State of Kansas recognized but three days in the year as legal holidays, viz .: May 30, which was made a legal holiday by the act
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of Feb. 19, 1865; the first Monday in September, which was declared a legal holiday by the act of May 20, 1891 ; and the 22nd of February, which was made a legal holiday by the act of Feb. 6, 1895.
Under the provisions of Section 5444, above quoted, that "any other day which may hereafter be made a legal holiday shall, for the pur- poses of this act, be a holiday," must be added the 12th day of February, known as Lincoln's birthday, which was declared to be a legal holiday in Kansas by the act of March 9, 1907, two years after the "negotiable instrument act" became a law. The legislature of 1911 made Oct. 12, "Columbus day," a legal holiday, that being the date on which Chris- topher Columbus first sighted land on the Western Hemisphere in 1492.
Holland, a little village of Dickinson county, is situated on Holland creek, about 14 miles southwest of Abilene, the county seat, and 3 miles north of Carlton, the nearest railroad station. It is a trading cen- ter for the neighborhood and in 1910 reported a population of 41.
Hollenberg, a village of Franklin township, Washington county, is located on the Little Blue river 12 miles northeast of Washington, the county seat, and is a station on the St. Joseph & Grand Island R. R. The town was laid out in the spring of 1872 by G. H. Hollenberg, who. built the first store. The postoffice was established the same year with R. T. Kerr as postmaster. In 1896 Hollenberg came into notice through the report that gold had been found in the immediate vicinity, but the report was without foundation. (See Gold.) The town has a bank, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, telegraph and express offices, grain elevators, a flour mill, graded public schools, churches of various denominations, a number of mercantile houses, and in 1910 reported a population of 250.
Holliday, a village in the extreme northern part of Johnson county, is located on the south bank of the Kansas river at the junction of two lines of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. II miles southwest of Kansas City and about 13 miles north of Olathe, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, general stores, and in 1910 had a population of 150.
Holliday, Cyrus K., capitalist and railroad builder, was born at Carlisle, Pa., April 3, 1826. He was educated for the legal profession at Alleghany College, Meadville, Pa., but being of a commercial turn of mind turned his attention in another direction. His first venture was the building of a short line of railroad in his native state, in which he accumulated some $20,000, which was the foundation of his success in later life. Deeming the West a better field for the exercise of his peculiar talents, he left Pennsylvania and in Oct., 1854, located at Lawrence, Kan. He took an active interest in the free-state .cause ; was one of the founders of Topeka and the first president of the town company that laid out that city ; and was for many years the largest landowner and heaviest taxpayer there. Mr. Holliday's greatest achievement was in projecting and building the first portion of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad. He was the first man to dream of a line of railway along the old Santa Fe trail to the Pacific coast.
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In 1864 he prepared a map showing the line of the proposed road and tried to interest capitalists in the scheme. Everywhere he was met by rebuffs and sneers, but nothing daunted him, and he lived to see the realization of his dreams. He secured a charter from the Kansas legislature, and through the purchase and sale of Pottawatomie Indian lands raised money enough to build the first 20 miles of the road- from Topeka to Carbondale-an event that was celebrated with appro- priate ceremonies. Mr. Holliday always took an active interest in pub- lic affairs. He was one of the founders of the Republican party in Kansas; was elected state senator in 1861; served as adjutant-general during the Civil war; was elected to the lower house of the legislature in 1866; was nominated for Congress in 1874, but was defeated; was president of the Excelsior Coke and Gas company and the Merchants' National bank of Topeka; served as president of the State Historical Society, and was a director of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail- road company from the time it was organized until his death on March 29, 1900.
Holling, a hamlet of Douglas county, is located in the southern por- tion 8 miles from Lawrence and 3 miles from Vinland, the nearest railroad town. It has rural free delivery of mail from Baldwin.
Hollis, a village of Cloud county, is situated in Lawrence township at the junction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Union Pacific railroads, 8 miles northeast of Concordia, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, a telegraph office, a good local trade, does some shipping, and in 1910 reported a population of 50.
Holman, a little hamlet of Bourbon county, is located near the north- west corner, about 18 miles from Fort Scott, the county seat. Bronson is the most convenient railroad station, from which mail is delivered by rural carrier.
Holmes' Raid .- Soon after Gov. Geary entered upon the duties of the office in the fall of 1856, the free-state citizens appealed to him for protection. He disbanded the territorial militia assembled near Lawrence, and early in October proclaimed a peace. Richard J. Hin- ton, writing from Lawrence under date of Nov. 6, 1856, says that some of the free-state settlers, "finding the governor did not give them justice, determined to administer it themselves." Almost immediately after the governor had proclaimed peace in the territory and left the house of one Capt. E. Brown, a strong pro-slavery partisan, J. H. Holmes, with 7 others, surrounded the house, took Brown prisoner and looted his dwelling. A detachment of dragoons chased Holmes and his men across the border into Missouri. Thus forced by circumstances into "the enemy's country," Holmes decided to turn the affair to his advan- tage. He penetrated some 15 miles into the state, plundering known pro-slavery men. In the course of his march he met a man who had taken part in the burning of Osawatomie and stripped him of every- thing except his clothing.
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Hinton says: "This is the first foray into Missouri, and having led the way it will not probably be the last. The bands are not generally beneficial to our cause, but men around Osawatomie who had suffered so much are filled with a determination never to rest till their foes or themselves are crushed out. It was bad for Homes (Holmes) to have plundered in Missouri at the present moment, but it is not to be won- dered at when we consider what provocation they have endured."
Raids were common occurrences during the territorial period, but the raid of Holmes into Missouri is of historic interest because, as Hinton says, it was the first incursion of free-state men into that state. Holmes died at Red Bank, N. J., Nov. 21, 1907.
Holton, the county seat of Jackson county, is located on a slight emi- nence to the northeast of the central part of the county. It is one of the substantial towns of northeastern Kansas having local manufacturing establishments and other institutions which insure a good income to the town. There is a large brick yard, soda and mineral water factories, cigar factory, planing mill, patent medicine factory, 4 banks, 3 grain elevators, telegraph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with six rural routes. The educational facilities of Holton are exceptionally good for a town of its size. Besides good graded and high schools there is a higher institution of learning known as Campbell College, which has 4 good buildings and 8 departments. The population of Holton in 1910 was 2,842.
Holton was founded in 1856 by a colony of free-state people from Milwaukee, Wis. The party left Milwaukee in May of that year with 6 wagons drawn by cattle. The expedition was financed by the Hon. E. D. Holton, for whom the town was afterward named. The members of the company included J. B. Coffin and family, Edmund G. Ross and family, J. B. Hutts and family, the Lathrop family, six unmarried men and eight other persons, making a total of 34 persons. At Janesville, Wis., they were joined by Andrew Smith's family of five, Mr. Lyme's family of five, and another Ross family consisting of five persons. When they reached Missouri they were robbed and warned to turn back. They altered their course and went to Nebraska City, the rendezvous of free- state men, where they met James H. Lane with 200 men who joined them taking the Lane road to Kansas. The train now included 82 wagons. The party received additions by Capt. Shombre of Indiana with 17 men, Doc Weed of Leavenworth with 20 men, Col. Harvey of Illinois with 60 men, and Capt: Stonewall with 75 men. The second day out they met S. C. Pomeroy with a small party. The next day they met John Brown with a few men who had come to inform Lane that a price had been set upon his head, and to urge him not to go to Topeka, which advice was not heeded and they continued on their way. When they came to Elk creek they cut timber and built a bridge upon which to cross, and located where the Holton central high school now stands. The town site was surveyed and a log cabin 20 feet square was built in such a manner that it could be used for defense and was called "Jim
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