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 35
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act of Feb. 26, 1864, the legislature authorized the state to refund to the governor "the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be neces- sary," to reimburse him for his expenditures in protecting the state.
In troublous times, when the constituted legal authorities of a com- munity are engrossed in repelling invasion or suppressing rebellion, law- less characters frequently take advantage of conditions to commit law- less acts, and often mob rule is the result. This was true of Kansas in 1863. In his History of Kansas, p. 374, Cutler says: "During the year 1863, so annoying became the depredations of lawless bands of jayhawkers that means were devised for self-protection, and the most effective seemed to be a vigilance committee under the control of brave, discreet loyalists."
On the night of May 16, a desperado named Sterling, with three of his gang, went to the home of a Mr. Kelsey, near the head of the Big Stranger, and upon being admitted knocked down the proprietor, took $40 in money and four horses and departed. A posse was hurriedly organized and the ruffians were captured at Atchison the following morning. One of the gang, a man named Parker, turned state's evi- dence and on Monday morning all four were taken to the woods a short distance from town, where Sterling was hanged. The intention was to hang all four, but the others begged so piteously that their lives were spared.
A few nights later two men named Mooney and Brewer, with others of the Sterling gang, attempted to rob a man about 15 miles northeast of Atchison. They were pursued, captured and taken to Atchison, where they were confined in jail. About nine o'clock on the morning of Saturday, May 23, some 400 or 500 men, on horseback or in wagons, came in from the surrounding country. Two hours later 100 of these men, selected for the purpose, went to the court-house, where the two men were on trial by jury, everybody being excluded except the wit- nesses, lawyers and jurors. The trial lasted for four or five hours, at the end of which time the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Then the 100 men quietly took Mooney and Brewer away from the officers and, with the crowd following, conducted them to a spot about half a mile from the town, where they were hanged. No excitement prevailed, and as soon as the two men were dead the people quietly returned to their homes.
Another lynching occurred on June 3, when James Melvine and William Cannon were hanged at Highland. These two men had robbed Mr. Devine, Mr. Beeler and Mr. Martin of a pair of mules, a wagon and some other property. Martin, Beeler and Devine imme- diately started in pursuit, and when about a mile from the village of Kennekuk fired on the bandits, leaving them for dead. They recovered, however, and another pursuit followed. Near Mt. Pleasant, Atchison county, they were overtaken, captured and taken to Highland, where they were tried by a jury of twelve men. A verdict of guilty was ren- dered, and the execution quickly followed the verdict.
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The records do not show that the governor, in any of these cases, made any effort to apprehend or punish the men who did the lynch- ing. He knew the conditions that prevailed all through the eastern part of the state, and no doubt realized that the people were exercis- ing the "higher law" of self-protection. Nor is there any doubt that the prompt and efficient manner in which summary justice was meted out to offenders had a great influence in restoring order in the dis- tricts where the lynchings occurred.
On Nov. 3, 1863, there was an election for chief justice of the supreme court, district attorneys and members of the legislature. Robert Crozier was elected chief justice, receiving 12,731 votes, only 14 scat- tering votes being cast against him.
Gov. Carney's message to the legislature at the opening of the ses- sion on Jan. 12, 1864, is one of the longest ever presented to a Kansas general assembly. In it he reviews in detail the negotiations of the state bonds; urged that provisions be made for a complete geological survey of the state; that measures be adopted to encourage immigra- tion ; devoted considerable attention to the guerrilla warfare along the border, and the work of the Kansas soldiers in the field. In locating the state university at Lawrence, the preceding legislature had made a requirement that a fund of $15,000 should be raised before the law became effective. On this subject the governor said: "Amos Law- rence, of Boston, Mass., gave $10,000 to it; the citizens of Lawrence advanced $5,000, making the amount required, which sum has been deposited with the treasurer of state. I am loth to recommend the expenditure of money, devoted by law to specific objects; but I think this case so clearly exceptional, that I do not hesitate to urge the legislature to return to the citizens of Lawrence the amount contributed by them. Their gift, as we know, was a generous one; it was noble as well as generous. In a fell hour they lost, as it were, their all. Rebel assassins did this fatal work. Where, then, the patriotic heart in the state, that would not say promptly 'Return to these public-spirited men the generous gift, which, when wealthy, they promised, and which promise, when poor, they fulfilled?"
In this part of the message the governor referred to the Quantrill raid of the previous August. The legislature accepted the governor's recommendation, and by the act of Feb. 15, 1864, directed the state treasurer to "refund and pay over to the mayor of the city of Law- rence, or the person acting as mayor, to be refunded to the contributors to the university fund, the sum of $5,167, to be deducted from the endowment fund," etc.
The legislature adjourned on March I. The most important laws of the session were those regulating the granting of pardons; provid- ing for the appointment of commissioners to locate a blind asylum in Wyandotte county ; authorizing the governor to appoint a state geolo- gist ; establishing a bureau of immigration ; abolishing grand juries ; pro- posing an amendment to the state constitution to enable soldiers to
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vote, and several acts to encourage the construction of railroads. One action of the legislature which caused widespread comment and much adverse criticism, was that of voting for a United States senator for the term beginning on March 4, 1865. Another assembly would meet in Jan., 1865, and many contended that it was the proper body to elect a senator; that such an election by the session of 1864 would be "pre- mature and unwarranted, if not actually illegal." However, a resolu- tion to elect a senator was adopted by the house early in the session. On Feb. 6 it was taken up in the senate and the question of calling a joint convention was decided in the affirmative by a vote of 17 to 8. The joint convention accordingly met on the 8th and, after some acrimonious debate, voted to cast a ballot for senator. The vote stood : Thomas Carney, 68; against a fraud, I ; blank, 2; excused from voting, 27. As Gov. Carney was the only one voted for, he was charged by some of having instigated the whole proceedings, through "his inor- dinate desire to go to the senate." But his subsequent action would indicate that the charges were unfounded. A certificate of election was made out to him, but when the Republican convention met at Topeka on April 21 he announced that he never intended to claim the office. And he never did.
The Republican convention above referred to selected as delegates to the national convention at Baltimore Gen. James H. Lane, A. C. Wilder, Thomas N. Bowen, W. W. H. Lawrence, Martin H. Insley and F. W. Potter. On June I the Democrats held a convention at Topeka and selected as delegates to their national convention at Chi- cago W. C. McDowell, Wilson Shannon, Orlin Thurston, L. B. Wheat, H. J. Strickler and J. P. Taylor.
A Republican convention for the nomination of a state ticket assem- bled in Topeka on Sept. 8, 1864. Samuel J. Crawford was nominated for governor; James McGrew for lieutenant-governor; R. A. Barker for secretary of state; John R. Swallow for auditor; William Spriggs for treasurer; J. D. Brumbaugh for attorney-general; Isaac T. Good- now for superintendent of public instruction; Jacob Safford for justice of the supreme court, and Sidney Clarke for representative in Con- gress. Ellsworth Cheeseborough, Nelson McCracken and Robert Mc- Bratney were named as presidential electors, but before the election Cheeseborough and McCracken both died and their places on the ticket were filled by Thomas Moonlight and W. F. Cloud.
Two political conventions-the Republican Union and the Demo- cratic-met in Topeka on Sept. 13. The former nominated the follow- ing state ticket, which was indorsed by the Democrats: For governor, Solon O. Thacher; lieutenant-governor, John J. Ingalls; secretary of state, William R. Saunders; auditor, Asa Hairgrove; treasurer, J. R. McClure; attorney-general, Hiram Griswold, superintendent of public instruction, Peter McVicar; associate justice of the supreme court, Samuel A. Kingman; representative in Congress, Albert L. Lee ; presi- dential electors, Nelson Cobb, Andrew G. Ege and Thomas Bridgens.
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Mr. McVicar declined the nomination for superintendent of public instruction and John S. Brown was selected to fill the vacancy on the ticket.
Early in October the news spread rapidly through the state that the Confederate Gen. Price was marching toward Kansas with a large force of troops, and that his movements were being accelerated by the close pursuit of the Federal army. Invasion seemed imminent, and for the time interest in the political campaign was almost entirely lost. On the 8th Gov. Carney issued a proclamation calling out the militia of the state, under command of Gen. George W. Deitzler. (See War of 1861-65.)
The entire Republican ticket was elected on Nov. 8, and the admin- istration of Gov. Carney came to an end with the inauguration of Gov. Samuel J. Crawford on Jan. II, 1865.
Carona, a town of Ross township, Cherokee county, is situated on the Missouri Pacific R. R. about 10 miles north of Columbus, the county seat. The railroad name was formerly Folsom. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph facilities, telephone connections, and is a trading and shipping point for the neighborhood in which it is located. The population in 1910 was 350.
Carroll, a little hamlet of Greenwood county, is located 12 miles southeast of Eureka, the county seat, and 10 miles west of Toronto, the nearest shipping point, from which place it obtains its mail.
Carruth, William Herbert, professor of German language and litera- ture in the University of Kansas, was born on a farm near Osawatomie, Kan., April 5, 1859, the son of James H. and Jane (Grant) Carruth. His father, from whom he inherited his love of books, was a home mis- sionary of the Presbyterian church, and from his mother he inherited courage, energy and an independent disposition. He worked his way through school and college, graduating at the University of Kansas in 1880. In the fall of that year he began teaching in the university as assistant in modern languages and literature. In 1882 he was elected professor of modern languages. In 1884 this department was divided, one branch embracing French and the other German, and Prof. Car- ruth remained at the head of the latter. In 1886 he spent a year of study abroad at Berlin and Munich. Three years later he was Morgan fellow at Harvard for a year, receiving the degree of A. M., and in 1893 he received the degree of Ph. D. from the same institution. He is an able translator and has edited several volumes of college texts. In 1887 with F. G. Adams Prof. Carruth published an account of Municipal Suffrage in Kansas. In 1900 two volumes entitled "Kansas in Litera- ture," compiled by Prof. Carruth, were published. In 1908 Putnams brought out a volume of his poems, "Each in His Own Tongue." He is a member of the honorary fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa and of the Modern Language Association, and is district vice-president of the American Dialect Society. He took an active part in the organization of the Central States Modern Language Conference and was presi-
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dent of it from 1895 to 1897. In 1896 he was president of the Kan- sas Academy of Language and Literature. Prof. Carruth is a director of the Kansas Historical Society; a member of the executive com- mittee of the State Temperance Union ; one of the Committee of Twelve of the American Modern Language Association on entrance require- ments to college, and for several years was managing editor of the Kansas University Quarterly. He has been active in university exten- sion work; was secretary of the Lawrence Civil Service Reform club, and served on the common council and board of education of Law- rence.
Carson, Christopher C., a famous guide, scout and frontiersman in the early settlement of the West, is better known to the readers of American history as "Kit" Carson. He was born in Madison county, Ky., Dec. 24, 1809, but while he was still in his infancy his parents removed to Howard county, Mo. At the age of fifteen years he was apprenticed to a saddler, but two years later he joined an overland trading expedition to Santa Fe. This determined the course of his career. He was an expert with the rifle and the wild life of the plains had a fascination for him that he could not shake off. He married an Indian woman and for sixteen years supplied his food with his rifle. Eight years of that time he was in the employ of Bent and St. Vrain, who engaged him to furnish meat to their forts. In 1842, after the death of his wife, he went to St. Louis to place his daughter in school and there met Col. John C. Fremont, who was fitting out his first exploring expedition to the Rocky mountains. Carson was engaged to act as guide to the expedition, and he was also with Fremont on his second expedition and in the conquest of California. In 1847 he was sent to Washington as a bearer of despatches and President Polk nominated him as lieutenant in the United States mounted rifles, but the senate refused to confirm the nomination. In the meantime Carson had mar- ried a Spanish woman of New Mexico in 1843, and in 1853 he drove a flock of some 6,500 sheep over the mountains to California, where he sold them at prices that repaid him well for the venture. During the Civil war he was loyal to the Federal government and rendered valuable services in New Mexico, Colorado and the Indian Territory, being brevetted brigadier-general at the close of the war. Many of Carson's exploits were along the line of the old Santa Fe trail in Kan- sas and New Mexico, and he has been called the "Nestor of the Rocky mountains." Inman says of him: "He was brave but not reckless; a veritable exponent of Christian altruism, and as true to his friends as the needle to the pole. Under the average in stature, and delicate in his physical proportions, he was nevertheless a quick, wiry man, with nerves of steel, and possessing an ·indomitable will. He was full of caution, but showed coolness in the moment of supreme danger that was good to witness." Carson died at Fort Lyon, Col., May 23, 1868.
Carter, Elizabeth, one of the pioneer mission teachers of Kansas, was born at the Shawnee Baptist mission in Johnson county on Jan. 24.
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1835, a daughter of Rev. Robert Simerwell. She was educated at Upper Alton, became a teacher in the Baptist Kansas mission, and was the first teacher at Ottawa. Throughout her life she was an enthu- siastic worker for the advancement of the Baptist church in Kansas. She died at Auburn, Shawnee county, Jan. 3, 1883. The claim has been made that Mrs. Carter was the first white female child born in Kansas, but that honor belongs to a daughter of Daniel Yoacham. (See Dillon, Susanna A.)
Carter, Lawrence, the first white child born in the city of Lawrence, was born on Oct. 25, 1855, and the comments of the Herald of Free- dom of Jan. 20, 1855, are interesting a half century later. The editorial said: "The first birth in this city was on the 25th of October last. The Lawrence Association donated the boy a first class city lot, and named him Lawrence Carter after the city and his parents. We learn that the little fellow is quite healthy, and is growing finely. May he live to see our beautiful city ranking with the first in the Union. . We may be allowed to say, in this connection, that the first white child born in Chicago is now but twenty-two years old, while the city boasts a population of near 80,000. May not a destiny equally prosperous await our own Lawrence?"
Carwood, a rural postoffice of Wichita county, is located in Edwards township, about 12 miles northwest of Leoti, the county seat. It is in the Ladder creek valley and is a trading center for the neighborhood. It has a store, a Presbyterian church, and is connected by telephone with the surrounding country.
Cace, Nelson, lawyer and writer, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., April 22, 1845. When he was about a year old his parents removed to Lee county, Ill., where he grew to manhood. In 1866 he graduated at the Illinois State Normal School, and after teaching one year he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1869. He then came to Kansas and located at Oswego, where he began the practice of law. He was twice appointed probate judge of Labette county by Gov. St. John; served two terms as regent of the State Normal School under Gov. Humphrey; was one of the first board of trustees of the Labette county high school; was for ten years president of the Oswego board of education; was for seventeen years a trustee of Baker University, and was also a trustee of Oswego College for young women. For three years he was editor of the Oswego Independent, and he is the author of a history of Labette county. In 1872 Judge Case married Mary E. Claypool of Attica, Ind., who died in 1892, and later he married Miss Georgiana Reed, teacher of art in Baker University.
Cash City, an extinct town of Clark county, was laid out by Cash Henderson of Wichita in township 35, range 25, at the crossing of the Tuttle, Ashland and Meade Center trails. A weekly newspaper (the Cash City Cashier) was established, the first number making its appear- ance on Oct. 29, 1886. An old map of the county shows two projected
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lines of railroad running through Cash City, but the roads were not built and the town finally disappeared.
Cassoday, a town of Butler county, is situated in the northeast cor- ner, about 20 miles from Eldorado, the county seat, and 12 miles from De Graff, the nearest railroad station. Although so far from the railroad, Cassoday is a town of considerable commercial importance. It has a bank, some well stocked mercantile establishments, good schools, and is the trading center for a rich agricultural district. The population in 1910 was 300. 'Its money order postoffice has one rural route emanating from it, and it has telephone connections with the surrounding towns. A daily stage line connects Cassoday with Eldorado.
Castaneda, Pedro De, who might be termed the official chronicler of the Coronado expedition (q. v.) to Quivira in 1540-42, was a native of the Biscayan town of Najera in Spain. He came to America before the middle of the 16th century, and became prominently identified with the government and affairs of Mexico. His account of the Coro- nado expedition was first written in Mexico soon after the event, but the original manuscript has disappeared. After his return to Spain, Castaneda made a copy, which was finished on Oct. 26, 1596. His nar- rative was not published, but remained in the archives in manuscript until translated into French by Henri Ternaux-Compans, whose trans- lation was rendered into English at Paris by Eugene F. Ware, of Kan- sas City, Kan. The Spanish manuscript, now in the Lenox Library, New York, was translated into English by George P. Winship, assist- ant in American history in Harvard University, and his translation was published in the 14th annual report of the United States Bureau of Ethnology.
Castle Rock .- One of the most interesting works of nature in the state from a geological standpoint is known as "Castle Rock," a natural formation located in Gove county, in the valley of the Hackberry, about Io miles from its mouth. This castellated mass is composed of a coping of limestone and the shaft of chalk and compact shale. Its ,unique formation was produced by the shales wearing away, the strongly cemented stone serving as a protection to the upper surface. In this way mountainous appearing masses are frequently produced, especially where various streams cut their way through the hard stone into the softer materials below. Similar formations are met with in Ellis county which show isolated columns which rise from 20 to 70 feet in height.
Castleton, a town of Reno county, is a station on the Hutchinson & Blackwell division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 14 miles south of Hutchinson. It has a bank, a grain elevator, a hotel, a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices, tele- phone connections, a good local trade and ships large quantities of grain and live stock. The population was 275 in 1910.
Catalpa, a rural postoffice of Gove county, is located in 'Larrabee township on Indian creek, and about 12 miles southeast of Gove, the
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county seat. Pendennis, on the Missouri Pacific, is the nearest rail- road station.
Catharine, a rural postoffice of Ellis county, is located on Victoria creek, in Catharine township, about 9 miles east of Hays, the county seat, and most convenient railroad station. The population of the vil- lage was 50 in 1910.
Catholic Church .- (See Roman Catholic Church.)
Cato, a village of Crawford county, is located in the northeastern part, about 12 miles from Girard, the county seat, and 3 miles north- west of Drywood, which is the nearest railroad station. Mail is received by rural delivery from Arcadia. The population was 112 in 1910.
Cato, Sterling G., associate justice of the Territory of Kansas, was a native of Alabama. He was appointed on Sept. 13, 1855, to succeed Judge Rush Elmore and served until in July, 1858, when he was suc- ceeded by Elmore and left the territory. Repeated efforts have been made by the Kansas Historical Society to learn something of Judge Cato's early life and antecedents, but without avail. He was a strong pro-slavery advocate, was in the pro-slavery camp at the time of the "Invasion of the 2,700," and many of his decisions were of a bitterly partisan character. He connived with Sheriff Jones, of Douglas county, and issued writs for the arrest of several prominent members of the Topeka (free-state) legislature, but released from custody George W. Clarke, who was charged with the murder of Thomas W. Barber, a free-state man. On Oct. 20, 1857, he issued a writ commanding Gov. Walker to issue certificates of election to a number of pro-slavery men who claimed to have been elected members of the legislature, but owing to the palpable frauds committed in the election, the governor refused to obey the order of the court. (See Walker's Administra- tion.) S. S. Prouty, correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, in writing to his paper of Judge Cato, said: "It is almost a mockery to call where he presides a court."
Cave, a money order post-village in the southeast corner of Gray county, is in Hess township, about 20 miles southeast of Cimarron, the county seat, and 12 miles from Fowler, which is the most convenient railroad station. Cave has a general store, and is the trading center for that part of the county. The population was 40 in 1910.
Cave Springs, an inland hamlet of Elk county, is 9 miles northeast of Howard, the county seat. It receives mail daily by rural route from Severy, Greenwood county, about 10 miles northwest. The nearest railroad station is Fiat, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, 5 miles west.
Caven, a rural hamlet in the northwestern part of Pratt county, is about 14 miles from Pratt, the county seat, and 8 miles north of Cul- lison, the nearest railroad station, from which mail is received by rural delivery.
Cawker City, the second largest town in Mitchell county, is located in Cawker township in the northwestern part of the county, near the
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junction of the north and south forks of the Solomon river and on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 18 miles west of Beloit, the county seat. It is an incorporated city of the third class, has a public library, an opera house, 2 banks, flour mill, a creamery, a grain elevator, 2 weekly news- papers (the Ledger and the Public Record), express and telegraph offices, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. The population in 1910 was 870.
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