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 28
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Brewster, one of the thriving towns of Thomas county, is located near the western boundary in Hale township, and is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 18 miles west of Colby, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Hustler), a hotel,. a good retail trade, telegraph and express offices, a money order post- office with two rural routes, and is the principal shipping point between: Colby and Goodland. The population in 1910 was 200.
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Bridgeport, a village of Saline county, is located in Smoky View township, on the Missouri Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads and on the Smoky Hill river, 15 miles south of Salina, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 120.
Briggs, a rural hamlet of Geary county, is located about 15 miles almost due east of Junction City, the county seat, and about the same distance south of Manhattan, whence the inhabitants receive mail by rural free delivery. The population was 30 in 1910.
Bristow, a rural hamlet in the central part of Osborne county, is about 10 miles southwest of Osborne, the county seat and most con- venient railroad station.
Bristow, Joseph Little, journalist and United States senator, was born in Wolfe county, Ky., July 22, 1861, a son of William and Sa- vannah (Little) Bristow. He came to Kansas with his father in 1873; married Margaret Hendrix of Flemingsburg, Ky., in 1879; and in 1886 graduated at Baker University, Baldwin, Kan. From the time he at- tained to his majority Mr. Bristow took an active interest in political affairs, and the year he graduated was elected clerk of Douglas county, which office he held for four years. Upon retiring from the clerk's office in 1890 he bought the Salina Daily Republican and edited the paper for five years. In 1894 and again in 1898 he was elected secretary of the Republican state committee. His work in the campaign of 1894 commended him to Gov. Morrill, who, when inaugurated in Jan., 1895, appointed Mr. Bristow his private secretary. The same year he sold the Salina Republican and bought the Ottawa Herald, which paper he owned for ten years, during which time he directed its policy and wrote many of the editorials himself. In March, 1897, he was appointed fourth assistant postmaster-general by President Mckinley, and in 1900, under direction of Mr. McKinley, investigated the Cuban postal frauds. Three years later, under President Roosevelt, he conducted a searching in- vestigation of the postoffice department. In 1903 he purchased the Sa- lina Daily Republican-Journal, which he still owns, and in 1905 he was appointed by President Roosevelt a special commissioner of the Panama railroad. In Aug., 1908, he was nominated by the Republicans of Kansas at the primary election for United States senator, and the fol- lowing January he was elected by the legislature for the term ending on March 3, 1915.
Broderick, Case, jurist and member of Congress, was born near Jonesboro, Grant county, Ind., Sept. 23, 1839. His father, Samuel Broderick, was an Irish-American, and his mother, Mary Snyder, was of German descent. His early education was that provided by the public schools in the sparsely settled districts of Indiana. When Case was but a few years of age his family moved to the western part of Indiana, where he was reared until his nineteenth year. In 1858 he immigrated to the Territory of Kansas and settled in Douglas town- ship, Jackson county, where he became owner of a small farm. In the
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winter of 1861 Mr. Broderick and a partner contracted to supply Fort Laramie with corn. They outfitted an ox train, as there were no rail- roads west of the Missouri river at that time, and made the trip to Laramie and return in three months. In the fall of 1862, Mr. Broderick enlisted at Fort Scott, Kan., as a private in the Second Kansas battery, and was honorably discharged at Fort Leavenworth in Ang., 1865. He then returned to his former home, where he engaged in farming, and devoted his spare time to the study of law. In 1866 he was elected jus- tice of the peace of Douglas township and served in that capacity until elected probate judge of Jackson county in 1868. He removed to Holton and served as probate judge for four succeeding terms. In 1870 he was admitted to the bar and elected county attorney in 1876 and 1878. In 1880 he was elected to the state senate to represent Jackson and Potta- watomie counties, and in March, 1884, President Arthur appointed him associate justice of the supreme court of Idaho Territory for a term of four years. He removed to Boise, Ida., entered upon the discharge of his duties, and served several months over his term, when he requested the President to relieve him. In Sept., 1888, he returned to Holton and resumed his law practice in partnership with E. E. Rafter and R. G. Robinson. In 1890, the Republican convention nominated Mr. Brod- erick for Congress. He was elected, and continued to be nominated and reelected until he had served eight years. During this time he was a member of the judiciary committee of the house. At the expiration of his fourth term he reopened a law office in Holton.
Broderick County, one of the counties of Kansas territory, was created Feb. 7, 1859, and named in honor of David Broderick, United States senator from California. It included territory now within the State of Colorado, and was bounded as follows: "Commencing at the point where the 104th meridian of longitude crosses the thirty-eighth parallel of latitude, and running from thence due west to a point 20 miles west of the 105th meridian of longitude; thence due north to a point 20 miles south of the thirty-ninth parallel of latitude; thence due east to the 104th meridian of longitude; thence due south to the place of beginning." Simon G. Gephart, W. Walter and Charles Nichols were appointed commissioners with authority to locate the seat of justice near the center of the county.
Bronson, an incorporated city in the western part of Bourbon coun- ty, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. about half-way between Fort Scott and Iola. It has 2 banks, an international money order post- office with four rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a semi-weekly newspaper (the Bronson Pilot), a large re- tail trade, good public schools, etc., and in 1910 reported a population of 595. The city was settled in 1885 by G. H. Requa, J. W. Timmons and a few others, and was named for Ira D. Bronson of Fort Scott. Requa and Martin opened the first store in Sept., 1881, and the same month the postoffice was established with Mr. Requa as postmaster. The growth of Bronson has been slow but substantial, and it is the principal shipping and supply point for a rich agricultural district.
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Brooks, a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. near the south line of Wilson county, is located in Newark township 15 miles southeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It receives its mail from Cherry- vale in Montgomery county. The population in 1910 was 21.
Brooks, Noah, author and journalist, was born at Castine, Me., Oct. 30, 1830. After attending the public schools and local academy he went to Boston, Mass., to study landscape painting, but in 1855 he formed a partnership with John G. Brooks and engaged in merchandising at Dixon, Il1. In May, 1857, he came to Kansas and located on the Repub- lican river about 10 miles above Fort Riley. A little later he went to California and began the publication of a newspaper at Marysville. This venture was not a success and he next became the Washington correspondent of the Sacramento Union. While in Washington he formed the acquaintance of President Lincoln, who appointed him pri- vate secretary, but before he entered upon his duties the President was assassinated. Mr. Brooks then returned to the Pacific coast, where he engaged in various lines of work for several years, after which he went to New York, and from 1871 to 1876 was a member of the editorial staff of the New York Tribune. For about twelve years he was the editor of the Newark (N. J.) Advertiser, but retired from newspaper work and spent the remainder of his active life in writing books. One of these books-"The Boy Settlers"-deals with Kansas as he knew the territory some forty years before. Mr. Brooks died in 1903.
Brookville, one of the incorporated towns of Saline county, is a sta- tion on the Union Pacific R. R. 16 miles southwest of Salina, the county seat. It has a bank, a newspaper, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 280. The town was founded in 1870 by the Union Pacific R. R. The first settler was John Crittenden, and the first building, outside of those put up by the railroad, was erected by M. P. Wyman. Brookville became a city of the third class in 1873. William Brownhill was the first mayor. The first store in the place was opened by George Snyder. The first newspaper was the Brookville Transcript, established in Nov., 1879, by Albin & Tupper.
Broom-Corn (Sorghum vulgare) is described as a "plant of the order of grasses, with a jointed stem, growing to a height of 8 or 10 feet, extensively cultivated in North America, where the branched panicles or heads are made into brooms, clothes brushes, etc., the seed being fed to poultry and the blades to cattle."
Kansas is one of the greatest broom-corn growing states of the Union. It has been raised for years, and seldom fails to yield a hand- some return to the cultivator. It grows in every county of the state, though the largest crops are raised in the western portion. In 1900 broom-corn was grown in every county except eleven. The acreage for that year was 47,776; the yield was 18,674,385 pounds, and the value of the crop was $655,344.60. Ten years later (1910) broom-corn was grown in only 77 of the 105 counties. Those counties which produced
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no broom-corn in that year were Atchison, Barton, Brown, Chase, Douglas, Ellis, Franklin, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jefferson, Jewell,. Johnson, Kiowa, Lincoln, Marshall, Mitchell, Morris, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Smith, Trego, Wabaunsee, Washington and Wyandotte. Although fewer counties engaged in the production, the area planted in broom-corn in 1910 had increased to 111,308 acres, the yield to 39,561,123 pounds, and the value of the total crop to $1,604,- 603.43. The five leading counties in 1910 were Kearny, with 18,754 acres, 5,626,200 pounds, the value of which was $225,048; Stevens, 15,045 acres, 4,964,850 pounds, value, $198,594; Hamilton, 10,878 acres, 3,263,400 pounds, value, $130,536; Seward, 8,289 acres, 3,000,618 pounds, value, $110,023; Morton, 6,109 acres, 2,443,000 pounds, value, $97,744.
It will be observed that these five counties are all situated in the ex- treme southwestern part of the state, a region once regarded as the "Great American Desert," yet in one year the value of the broom-corn crop alone amounted to more than three-quarters of a million dollars. Grant, Finney, Stanton, Meade and Haskell, in the same section of the state, also produced large crops of broom-corn, and Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Wallace and Cheyenne farther north were likewise heavy producers. Clay, Dickinson, Kingman and Saline counties each reported but one acre.
Broughton, a thriving little town of Clay county, is situated in Clay Center township, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads, 5 miles southeast of Clay Center. It has a money order postoffice with two rural delivery routes, telegraph, telephone and express service, a hotel, some good general stores, good public schools, a population of 160, and is the busiest little town between Clay Center and Manhattan.
Brown County, one of the northern tier, was created by the first ter- ritorial legislature with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the northwest corner of Doniphan county; thence west 24 miles; thence south 30 miles; thence east to the west line of Atchison county; thence north to the northwest corner of Atchison county; thence east with said north line of Atchison county to the southwest corner of Doniphan county ; thence north with said west line of Doniphan county to the place of beginning."
In all the places where the name appears in the act of 1855 it is spelled "Browne." It was named for Albert G. Brown, United States senate from Mississippi, who spelled his name without the final "e." Dr. J. H. Stringfellow, a member of the Kansas legislature of 1855. stated that the county was named after O. H. Browne, a member of the house from the Third representative district, but the final "e" was dropped in the spelling of the name, by subsequent legislatures.
On Sept. 17, 1855, the commissioners of Doniphan county passed the following resolutions: "That the county of Brown be and is hereby organized as a municipal township to be known as Brown county town- ship," and ordered that the election for a delegate to Congress be held
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at the house of W. C. Foster, on the south fork of the Nemaha. The commissioners also appointed William C. Foster and John C. Bragg justices of the peace and William Purket constable. The following summer an order was issued to survey the boundaries between Don- iphan and Brown counties, which was done, but in 1858 the legislature transferred some of the territory of Brown to Jackson county, which left it in its present shape; an exact square 24 miles each way. In September Brown county was divided into two townships, Walnut and Mission.
Brown county is bounded on the north by the State of Nebraska; on the east by Doniphan county ; on the south by Atchison and Jack- son, and on the west by Nemaha county. It has an area of 576 square miles and is divided into the following townships: Hamlin, Hiawatha, Irving, Mission, Morrill, Powhattan, Robinson, Walnut and Wash- ington. It is well waterered by Cedar creek in the southwest, Wolf creek in the east, and numerous other creeks, the most important of which are Pony, Walnut, Roys, and Craig.
The surface of the county is gently undulating. The creek bottoms average about half a mile in width and all the streams are fringed with belts of timber, the principal varieties being oak, walnut, honey-locust. hackberry, sycamore, elm, box-elder and basswood. Limestone is abundant and sandstone of a good quality is found, both of which are quarried for local use. Two mineral springs in the western part of the county are claimed to have medicinal properties. Brown is one of the leading agricultural counties, corn, winter wheat and oats being the largest crops. It is also a good horticultural region, and there are over 200,000 fruit trees of bearing age.
According to Morrill's History of Brown County, one of the over- land routes, the "California Trail," (q. v.) "wound along the divides passing Drummond's Branch, crossed the western part of the present site of Hiawatha, followed the divide between the head waters of Wolf and Walnut, and left the county near the present site of Sabetha."
Some of the first settlers in Brown county were Missourians who marked claims and then returned home to spend the winter, while others from a greater distance made permanent settlements. As early as April 10, 1854, William Gentry and H. C. Gregg settled in Powhattan township. On May 11, 1854, Thurston Chase and James Gibbons lo- cated on Wolf creek. They were followed by William and James Metts, who settled in what is now Hamlin township. On Aug. 3 E. R. Corneilison entered a claim on Walnut creek and the following March brought his family to the new homestead. His brother William also came at that time. W. C. Foster came to Brown county in the fall from Nemaha. John Belk, his sons, William and King, and Thomas Brigham settled near Padonia and Jacob Englehart settled on a farm not far from the present town of Hiawatha.
Early in the spring of 1855, the settlers on Walnut creek formed a protective association, elected officers and made rigid laws for the pur-
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pose of enforcing the right of actual settlers and prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians. The first trial under these laws took place at the house of Jesse Padon, on the bank of the Walnut. Complaint was made against Robert Boyd and Elisha Osborn for sell- ing liquors to the Indians and sixteen settlers gathered, determined to enforce the law, the only settler absent from the gathering being ill. Although the accused were not present, the trial proceeded, they were declared guilty and the verdict rendered was that their stock of liquors should be destroyed and that they should each pay a fine of $20. Padon was appointed to execute the order of this court and was accompanied by all the settlers to see the decree enforced. Boyd and Osborn kept their liquors at the edge of Pilot Grove, some 3 miles from Padonia. When Padon informed them of the decision of the court they declared themselves willing to give up the liquor and pay the fine, but upon promise to sell no more to the Indians, they were allowed to remain in the county and retain the liquor, though they paid the fine.
The first white child born in the county was Isaac Short, who was born in Aug., 1855. The first marriage was that of Hiram Wheeler and Elizabeth E. Root on July 30, 1857. The first school was taught in 1856 in a log cabin erected the year before on John Kerey's farm and John Shields was the first teacher. The cabin was also used as a church as the first religious services in the county were held there soon after it was built. A Methodist minister named Allspaugh held services in a grove near John Belk's farm house in 1855. Early in 1857, the Methodists organized a church at the house of William Belk, and a Baptist minister held services at the residence of E. H. Niles.
A branch of the underground railroad was established through Brown county for fugitive negroes, and many of them were passed over this line by John Brown and other anti-slavery men.
Early in the spring of 1857, quite a colony came from Maine, among them George Ross, J. G. Leavitt, I. P. Winslow, Noah Hanson, W. G. Sargent and Sumner Shaw. The Iowa Indian trust lands lying in Brown county were advertised for sale to the highest bidders on June 4, 1857. They sold rapidly, but eventually most of the lands fell into the hands of speculators, some of the settlers leaving as soon as they perfected title to their claims, without making any permanent improve- ments.
The first 4th of July celebration was held by a public gathering on the farm of John Powe on Mulberry creek in 1857. Sometime during the summer of that year Philip Weiss contracted to make a weekly trip to Iowa Point to bring the mail. This was probably the first mail route in the county and was purely a private enterprise. He used a team of horses and a lumber wagon for his trips, and carried passengers, express and freight as well as mail. An act of 1855 provided for a mail route from St. Joseph via Highland to Marysville, Kan., but it was not started until 1858. On Aug. 8, 1857, the first postoffice was established at Clay- tonville, with George E. Clayton as postmaster.
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On Feb. 14, 1857, the state legislature detached Brown from Doni- phan county and located the temporary county seat at Claytonville. The act also provided for the election of three commissioners to locate a permanent county seat. The new board of commissioners organized on March 16, 1857, and among other business divided the county into four municipal townships, Iowa, Claytonville, Walnut Creek and Lachnane. On March 31 the commissioners held a second meeting and appropriated $500 to build a court-house on the north square in Clay- tonville-a frame building 20 by 30 feet-to be ready for occupation by June I, and William Oldham was appointed to build it.
At the election on Oct. 5, the free-state men carried the county by a vote of 136 to 72, E. N. Morrill being elected to the legislature by the counties of Brown and Nemaha. On Nov. 16 the free-state board of county commissioners organized when Ira H. Smith was chosen county surveyor ; David Peebles, clerk; and John S. Tyler, assessor. At the election I. P. Winslow, Isaac Chase and I. B. Hoover were chosen com; missioners to locate the permanent county seat. They met on Dec. 14 at Swain's store and the first ballot resulted, Padonia I, Hiawatha I. and Carson I. The following day the board visited the town sites of Carson, Hamlin, Padonia and Hiawatha. Padonia offered to donate a square of ground and a $3,000 court-house; Hiawatha offered to erect a building 20 by 30 feet for a court-house and donate every alternate lot of the town site, and Carson offered one-half of the lots in the town site and $1,500 in labor and building material. A second ballot resulted the same as the first, but on a third two votes were cast for Carson and I for Padonia. The county seat, therefore, was removed to Carson, but it did not remain there long, as the next legislature passed an act pro- viding for an election to submit the question to a vote of the people. which resulted in 128 votes for Hiawatha and 37 for Carson, with a few scattering. On May 25, 1858, the county commissioners appropriated $2,000 for building a court house with jail and offices attached. On Oct. 4, 1877, the county commissioners decided, "That a proposition be submitted to the people on the 6th day of November, authorizing the board to build a court house, the cost not to exceed $20,000." This measure was approved by the people and the commissioners, early in 1878, contracted with E. T. Carr of Leavenworth for its erection.
At the outbreak of the Civil war nearly one-half the voters in the county entered the army, forming a party of Company I, Thirteenth Kansas infantry, and in 1864, the militia was ordered to gather at Atchi- son. The Hiawatha company consisted of 65 men; the Walnut creek company of 41, and Robinson company of 100. Upon their departure to the front the home-guard was organized and within twenty-four hours had an enrollment of 79 men.
The first newspaper, the Brown County Union, was established by Dr. P. G. Parker in the spring of 1861, at Hiawatha, but the office was destroyed by fire the following winter. On Aug. 20, 1864, H. P. Steb- bins started the Union Sentinel and the third paper, the Hiawatha Dis- patch, made its appearance in 1870.
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There are three lines of railroad in the county with over 97 miles of main track. The St. Joseph & Grand Island enters the county on the east, about midway north and south, crosses in a northwesterly direc- tion through Hiawatha and enters Nemaha county. A line of the Mis- souri Pacific, built in the early 'Sos, crosses the northern boundary about the center, passes through Hiawatha and leaves at the southeast corner. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific road enters in the south, branches at Horton near the southern boundary, one line leaving near the south- east corner, the other traversing the county in a northwesterly direction and connecting with the main line in Nebraska. Hiawatha, the county seat, is a large shipping point for all agricultural products and has sev- eral factories, but Horton in the south is the largest town in the county, and has the repair shops of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific road located there, and is also the division point of that road.
In 1910 the population of Brown county was 21,314, and the total value of farm products, exclusive of live stock, was $2,921,381. The principal crops were corn, $1,920,240; hay, including all kinds, $428,716; oats, $394,522; Irish potatoes, $63,578; wheat, $37,614.
Brown, John, abolitionist, frequently referred to as "Osawatomie Brown," was born at Torrington, Conn., May 9, 1800, a son of Owen and Ruth (Mills) Brown. His earliest American ancestor was Peter Brown, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620, and his grandfather, John Brown, was a captain in the Connecticut militaia during the Revolution. This Capt. Brown married Hannah Owen, of Welsh ex- traction, and Ruth Mills was of Dutch descent, so that John Brown of Osawatomie was an admixture of three nationalities. His maternal grandfather, Gideon Mills, was also a Revolutionary soldier. In 1805 Owen Brown removed with his family to Ohio, where John grew to manhood, working on the farm and as a currier in his father's tannery, part of the time as foreman. When about 20 years of age he took up the study of surveying and followed that occupation for a few years. He then went to Crawford county, Pa., where he lived until 1835, when he located in Portage county, Ohio. In 1846 he went to Spring- field, Mass., and engaged in the business of buying and selling wool on commission. No sooner had he established himself in this busi- ness than he tried to force up the price of wool, but the New Eng- land manufacturers combined against him and he was compelled to ship some 200,000 pounds to Europe, where he sold it at a loss, be- coming bankrupt. Gerrit Smith then gave him a piece of land near North Elba, N. Y., in the bleak, desolate region of the Adirondacks, and here Brown lived until 1851. He then returned to Ohio and again engaged in the wool business, this time with better success.
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