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 37
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Chance, a small hamlet of Stockholm township, Wallace county, is situated on a branch of Ladder creek, about 15 miles southwest of Sharon Springs, the county seat and most convenient railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and is a local trading center for the neighborhood.
Chanute, the largest town in Neosho county and one of the most important in southeastern Kansas, is located on the Neosho river in Tioga township at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads, 14 miles northwest of Erie, the county seat. It is a gas, oil and manufacturing center, having the largest oil and gas wells in the state located in the immediate vicinity. Some of the industries are car repair shops, of which the monthly pay roll exceeds $40,000, brick and tile works, cement plants, zinc smelter, glass factories, flour mills, oil refinery, planing mill, gas engine works, boiler works, egg case factory, machine shops, broom factories, torpedo manu- factory, an ice plant, drilling tool factory and lime plant. Chanute has an electric light plant, city waterworks, good fire and police depart- ments, an opera house, 4 banks, 4 newspapers, fine church buildings and excellent schools. Several oil and gas companies have their head- quarters at this point. There are express and telegraph offices and an international money order postoffice with six rural routes. The popu- lation in 1910 was 9,272.
In 1870 when the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston R. R. (now the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) crossed the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line within the limits of Neosho county four rival towns sprang up, in the vicinity of the junction. They were New Chicago, Chicago Junction, Alliance and Tioga. Two years of the most bitter animosity ensued until the four were consolidated in 1872, and the name of Chanute given it in honor of Octavius Chanute, a railroad civil engi- neer. The business buildings of the other three towns were all moved
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to New Chicago and this location forms the business section of Chanute at the present time. At the time of the consolidation the combined population was 800. The next year the town was incorporated as a city of the third class. New Chicago, which was the largest of the four, had been organized as a town in 1870 and incorporated as a city of 11:€ third class in 1871, with C. A. Dunakin as mayor. The New Chicago postoffice was established in 1870 with a Mr. Moore postmaster. The first school house in the vicinity was a large, expensive building located in the south end of New Chicago. A bridge was built over the Neosho about 1871, which the citizens of New Chicago managed to have placed in a position to their own advantage.
In 1883 the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. extended its line from Chanute to Pittsburg, thus connecting the town with cheap fuel. This was followed by a general growth in business and population. A particular boom was experienced by the discovery of oil and gas. The Standard Oil company in 1897 built a pipe line from Benedict, 17 miles away, at a cost of $37,000, which was afterward purchased by the city of Chanute for $65,000. From this line the city derives considerable revenue.
The first newspaper established in Chanute after the consolidation was the Chanute Democrat which was started in 1879 by Bowen & Hite. There were two papers before the consolidation, the New Chicago Transcript, established in Sept., 1870, by George C. Crowther, and the New Chicago Times, established in 1872 by A. L. Rivers, the name being later changed to Chanute Times.
Chaplin, an inland hamlet of Elk county, is located about 8 miles southwest of Howard, the county seat, whence it receives its mail daily by rural route. The nearest railroad station is Grenola, about 6 miles south on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. The population in 1910 was 36.
Chapman, an incorporated city of Dickinson county, is located on the Smoky Hill river, just above the mouth of Chapman creek, and is a station on the Union Pacific R. R. II miles east of Abilene, the county seat. The first settlement was made at Chapman in 1868, and the same year Jackman's mill was built on Chapman creek a little northeast of the present town. James Streeter and S. M. Strickler laid out the town in 1871 and the growth has been steady from that time to the present. Chapman has 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Advertiser), a flour mill, some well stocked mercantile establishments, churches of the lead- ing denominations, an international money order postoffice with four rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a fine public school system and the county high school. It is the most import- ant shipping point between Abilene and Junction City, and in 1910 reported a population of 781.
Chardon, a rural money order postoffice of Rawlins county, is located in Clinton township, between two branches of Sappa creek and about 12 miles south of Atwood, the county seat. It is a trading point for that section of the county.
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KANSAS HISTORY
Charities and Corrections .- The tendency of modern government is to concentrate power and responsibility into fewer hands. Prior to 1873 each of the Kansas benevolent institutions had its own board of trustees, but by the act of March 13, 1873, the blind, deaf and dumb and insane asylums were all placed under the control of one board of six trustees. The legislature of 1876 created a "State Board of Charities and Corrections," to consist of five persons to be appointed by the governor, and placed under the control of this board the same institu- tions as were formerly controlled by the act of 1873.
The first board of charities and corrections, appointed by Gov. Osborn in 1876, consisted of John T. Lanter, J. P. Bauserman, W. B. Slosson, John H. Smith and Thomas T. Taylor, any three of whom were to con- stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
By the act of Feb. 27, 1901, the state insane hospitals, the feeble minded school, the asylum of the deaf and dumb, the school for the blind, the soldiers' orphans home and the girls' and boys' industrial schools were placed under the control of the board, which in 1905 was superseded by the Board of Control (q. v.).
Charleston, a village of Gray county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 13 miles west of Cimarron, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, does some shipping, and is a trading point for that section of the county.
Charlotte, a discontinued postoffice of Sherman county, is located on Beaver creek about 10 miles north of Goodland, the county seat, from which place the people receive mail by rural delivery.
Chase, one of the principal towns of Rice county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 8 miles west of Lyons, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a weekly newspaper (the Register), a hotel, some good mercantile establishments, churches of the leading denominations, and a graded public school. Chase was incorporated in 1902, and in 1910 reported a population of 263.
Chase County, organized in 1859 and named for Salmon P. Chase, chief justice of the United States supreme court, is located 50 miles south of the Kansas river and 100 miles west of Missouri. It is bounded on the north by Morris county; on the east by Lyon and Greenwood; on the south by Greenwood and Butler, and on the west by Marion. The earliest settlement was made in 1854, when Seth Hayes, an Indian trader at Council Grove located a cattle ranch on the Cottonwood river, near the mouth of Diamond Spring creek. Two years later Nathan Corey, Daniel Holsinger and Gabriel Jacobs located in the eastern part of the county. Among those who came in 1857 were: Dr. M. R. Leonard, B. McCabe, J. Lane, M. Coyne, A. Howell, C. T. Hegwer, William Osmer, William Dixon, Walter Watson, A. B. Wentworth, Milton Ford, James Fisher, and several families from Illinois. The first marriage was in 1857, between a Mr. Pine and Jane Wentworth. The first school house was erected in Bazaar township
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in 1860, the schools previous to that time having been taught in private houses. The first birth was that of George Holsinger in 1857. The first postoffice was located in Bazaar township in 1860, with George Leonard as postmaster. The first death was that of Mrs. M. R. Leon- ard in 1859. The Fratchet grocery store, established in 1859 in Cot- tonwood township, was the first business enterprise in the county.
There were 549 people in the county when it was organized by act of the legislature in 1859. It was formed out of territory taken from Butler and Wise' (Morris) counties. Three townships-Falls, Bazaar and Cottonwood-were formed, and voting places fixed. The first election was held on March 26 and resulted as follows: M. R. Leonard, probate judge; A. W. Smith, sheriff; Sidney A. Breese, register of deeds; R. C. Farnsworth, superintendent of public instruction ; J. F. R. Leonard, surveyor; J. W. Hawkins, coroner; C. S. Hill, clerk of the board of supervisors; Samuel N. Wood, Augustus Howell and Barnard McCabe, supervisors. There were 72 votes polled. Chase county was located in the Fifth judicial district and for some time court was held in the Congregational church at Cottonwood Falls. Unlike many of the counties, Chase lived within her means and did not vote bonds in extravagant amounts or build expensive public buildings which she could not afford. The first court-house was a log building, which was bought in 1863 from George W. Williams for $175. In 1871 $40,000 were voted for public buildings, and two years later the present court- house was completed at a cost of $42,600. The square in which it stands was donated by the city. The first county officers served without pay. The first assessment was made in 1859 and the total valuation of prop- erty was $71,536. Lodges, churches and societies of different kinds were organized early in the history of the county.
When the war began in 1861, out of the 262 voters of Chase county, 72 enlisted at once. Samuel N. Wood was made captain of Company I, Second Kansas infantry. He was made brigadier-general of the state militia in 1864, and a number of other Chase county men achieved distinction in the war for the preservation of the Union.
The first railroad was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, built some time in the early '7os. It enters the county from the east, about 8 miles below the north line, runs west to Strong City and Cottonwood Falls, thence southwest through Elmdale and Clements and on into Marion county. There is a branch of the same line operating between Strong City and Abilene which runs northwest from Strong City and leaves the county near the northwest corner. A branch line connects Cotton- wood Falls with Bazaar, a few miles to the south.
The county is divided into 8 townships: Bazaar, Cedar, Cottonwood, Diamond Creek, Falls, Matfield, Strong and Toledo. There are II post- offices as follows: Cottonwood Falls, the county seat; Bazaar, Cedar Point, Clements, Elk, Elmdale, Homestead, Hymer, Matfield Green. Saffordville, and Strong City.
In surface the county is somewhat broken and hilly, especially in the
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southern portion, while in the north are gently rolling slopes. In some places along the streams the slopes terminate in abrupt bluffs. The Cottonwood river is the principal stream and with its numerous tribu- taries forms the water system of the county. It enters the county from the west about 12 miles from the southern line, flows northeast to Cottonwood Falls and thence east into Lyon county. Some of the im- portant creeks are Diamond, Fox and Middle creeks on the north, and Fork and Cedar on the south. The river bottoms average over 2 miles in width, those on the creeks three-fourths of a mile and together com- prise about one-eighth of the total area. The timber belts along the streams average less than half a mile in width and contain the following varieties of wood : walnut, cottonwood, burr-oak, sycamore, ash, hickory, hackberry, box-elder, redbud and buckeye. Limestone of an excellent quality and material for building-brick is found in abundance.
Chase is strictly an agricultural and stock raising county. Grazing lands are plentiful. The total value of farm products in 1910 was nearly $3,000,000, of which live stock sold for slaughter amounted to $1,500,000, and corn, the largest field crop, brought $500,000. Tame grasses amounted to $250,000. There are 100,000 fruit trees of bearing age.
The population of the county according to the census of 1910 was 7,527. The assessed valuation of property that year was over $18,000,000, which makes the wealth per capita nearly $2,500.
Chattel Mortgages .- Every mortgage or conveyance intended to operate as a lien upon personal property, which is not accompanied by immediate delivery, followed by an actual and continued possession of the property mortgaged, is absolutely void as against the creditors of the mortgagor, and as against subsequent purchasers or mortgagees in good faith, unless the mortgage or a true copy thereof be forthwith de- posited in the office of the register of deeds in the county where the property is situated, or if the mortgagor be a resident of some other county of this state, then of the county of which he is a resident. As between the original parties, any personal property that may be sold may be mortgaged, for the mortgage is at least a contract or an assign- ment. The description of the property in the mortgage must be suffi- ciently definite to enable third persons to identify it. If the mortgagor reserves the right of possession, the mortgagee cannot replevy or other- wise take possession before conditions are broken. After conditions are broken, the mortgagee may take possession or obtain it by replevin, but possession, however obtained, whether by replevin or consent, or under a stipulation in the mortgage, does not give the mortgagee an absolute ownership, though he may sell the property on reasonable notice to the mortgagor, but must account for the surplus after his debt is paid. The remedy for conditions broken is like foreclosure of real estate mortgages and cuts off all equities of redemption, for it is an enforcement of the terms of the mortgage.
Every mortgage filed is void as against the creditors of the person making the same, or against subsequent purchasers or mortgagees in
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good faith, after the expiration of two years from the filing thereof, un- less, within 30 days next preceding the expiration of the term of two years from such filing and each two years thereafter, the mortgagee, his agent or attorney, makes an affidavit exhibiting the interest of the mort- gagee in the property at the time last aforesaid, claimed by virtue of such mortgage, and, if said mortgage is to secure the payment of money, the amount yet due and unpaid. Such affidavit shall be attached to and filed with the instrument or copy on file to which it relates. If such affi- davit is made and filed before any purchase of such mortgaged property is made, or other mortgage deposited, or lien obtained thereon in good faith, it is valid to continue in effect such mortgage as if the same had been made and filed within the period provided. A copy of any such original instrument, or any copy thereof so filed, including any affidavit made in pursuance of the statute, certified by the register in whose office the same is filed, will be received in evidence, but only of the fact that such instrument or copy and such affidavit was received and filed accord- ing to the indorsement of the register thereon. When the mortgage is paid or satisfied due entry must be made of that fact on the record.
Chautauqua, one of the incorporated towns of Chautauqua county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Belleville town- ship, in the southern part of the county, 7 miles from Sedan, the judicial seat. It has a bank, a grist mill, a weekly newspaper (the Globe), ex- press and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice. It is the ship- ping point for a large agricultural area. The population in 1910 accord- ing to the census report was 348. The chief incentive for founding a town at this point was the mineral springs. The landscape is interesting and picturesque, and the springs are said to have great curative proper- ties. The town was located in 1881, and by the next year there were 300 inhabitants. The first newspaper, the Chautauqua Springs Spy, was established in 1882 by C. E. Moore and L. G. B. McPherson. It had 350 subscribers. Some of the early business men who came in during the first two years were: B. F. Bennett, drugs; T. J. Johnson, drygoods ; F. M. Fairbanks, livery barn; Thomas Bryant, drygoods; Bennett & Binns, grocery store; George Edwards, drugs; Richard Foster, hard- ware; C. C. Purcell, drugs; James Randall, grocery store; Mrs. Bush, millinery ; James Allreid, who owned a saw mill; Castleberry, the hotel man, and six others who established livery barns, blacksmith shops and wagon shops. The school district was organized in 1880.
The original town site consisted in 80 acres, belonging to Dr. G. W. Woolsey and Dr. T. J. Dunn, to which additions were made by J. C. Kyles and Binns & Bennett. Chautauqua was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1882 and the following officers were chosen at the first election : mayor, Thomas Bryant ; clerk, S. Booth ; treasurer, I. H. Wilson ; marshal, B. F. Atkinson ; councilmen, O. F. Shoupp, N. M. Lee, F. A. Fairbanks, E. Moore and S. Cheney.
Chautauqua County, formerly the southern half of Howard county, is located in the southern tier of counties and is the fourth west from the
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Missouri line. It is bounded on the north by Elk county, on the east by Montgomery county, on the south by the State of Oklahoma, and on the west by Cowley county.
Chautauqua county was not settled until after the war, the first white man to occupy land being Richard Slater, who took a claim in Salt creek valley, Salt Creek township, in 1868. Although the land still belonged to the Osage Indians and was not open to settlement until 1870, a num- ber of people made homes in the vicinity before that time. Among these pioneers were William Bowcher, in' Lafayette township; O. Hanson, Harrison township; H. S. Halliday, Sedan township; Alexander, Shaw- ver, Caneyville township; George M. Ross, Summit township; John W. Morris and John Sutton, in Belleville township, all of whom came in 1869. By the time the county was organized in 1875, the population was over 7,000. The first marriage was between Ebenezer Horton and Martha Starks of Salt Creek township in 1869, the first birth was that of Abigail Slater in the same year, in the same township. Elgin in Hen- dricks township was the first town.
The incorporation of Chautauqua county was provided for by act of the legislature, to take effect June 1, 1875, and Sedan was designated as the county seat. When the day arrived M. B. Light, clerk, of Chautau- qua county, moved to the place appointed, while the other officers were retained at Elk Falls until the constitutionality of the division could be tested in the courts. The court upheld the division and the necessary changes were made, thus bringing to a close a bitter and expensive county seat war, which was hindering development. The debt of How- ard county, most of which was incurred in useless county seat elections, was divided equally between the two new counties. The debt of Chau- tauqua county at the beginning was therefore $30,000. In order to avoid new county seat troubles Sedan offered to build a court-house and donate it to the county in consideration that the county seat remain there. The building was put up by private donations and its construc- tion was fraught with the greatest difficulties on account of the unset- tled condition of the location of the county seat. The construction was under the management of H. B. Kelly, who was the proprietor of the paper. The walls and roof were built at a cost of $4,000 and turned over to the county. This proved satisfactory and Sedan became the perma- nent' county seat. A jail was built in 1877 ..
The first school building was erected in 1870 at Elgin. A number of others were erected in 1872 in different parts of the county. In 1880 the school population was over 2,000, and in 1881 the money raised by taxation for school purposes was over $71,000. The school population in 1882 was double that of 1880, and the valuation of school property had increased from $4,500 to $52,200. There were three graded schools in the county at that time. At present all the schools are graded. The. school population is 4,000, the number of districts 93, all of which are supplied with good substantial buildings, in most cases brick or stone.
The county is divided into 12 civil townships, viz : Belleville, Caney-
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ville, Center, Harrison, Hendricks, Jefferson, Lafayette, Little Caney, Salt Creek, Sedan, Summit and Washington. The towns and villages number more than a score, the principal ones being Sedan, the county seat, Brownsville, Cedar Vale, Center, Chautauqua, Cloverdale, Colfax, Elgin, Farmersburg, Grafton, Hale, Hewins, Jonesburg, Leeds, Lowe, Monett, Niotaze, Peru, Rogers, Sedan, Spring Creek and Wauneta.
There are two lines of railroads in the county, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Missouri Pacific. The former, a branch diverging from the main line at Cherryvale in Montgomery county, enters the county on the east and traverses the southern portion, the line terminat- ing at Cedar Vale on the western border. The Missouri Pacific crosses from east to west a few miles south of the center. This company oper- ates a line which enters the county in the northeast corner and con- nects with the first at Peru Junction. The total railroad mileage is 94.
The surface of the county is level in the northern part and hilly toward the south. Bottom lands along the creek beds average a mile in width on the larger streams and one-fourth of a mile on the small streams, and comprise one-fourth of the total area. The streams are numerous with the watersheds bearing toward the south. The three important branches of Caney creek-Big Caney, Middle Caney and North Caney- are the larger streams. Salt and Bee creeks in the northeastern portion are next in importance. These streams are belted with thin strips of timber native to Kansas soil.
Among the natural products of the county are sandstone of excellent quality for paving and building, limestone from which an excellent quality of lime is produced, and marble which takes a high polish is found in the hills about Sedan. There are a number of gas wells from which all the important towns are lighted and heated. Coal has been found along the streams. This is one of the leading oil producing coun- ties of the state, thousands of barrels of oil being carried out daily by the pipe lines.
There are over 416,000 acres of land in the county, of which 250,000 are under cultivation. The value of farm products in 1910 was nearly $1,500,000, of which Indian corn amounted to $167,000 and Kafir corn to a similar figure. The field crops furnished about half the total income and barnyard products about half.
The assessed valuation of all property was $13,930,000 in 1910. The population in the same year was 11,429.
Chautauqua Springs are situated in a little valley south of the village of Chautauqua Springs, Chautauqua county, and the waters have more than a local reputation on account of their freedom from salts of lime and magnesium. An analysis of these waters show them to contain so- dium bicarbonate, calcium bicarbonate, calcium sulphate, magnesium bicarbonate, iron bicarbonate and silica.
Chavez, Antonio Jose, was a Mexican merchant engaged in trade be- tween Santa Fe and the United States. In Feb., 1843, he left Santa Fe
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with 5 servants, 2 wagons, 55 mules, some $10,000 or $12,000 in specie and gold bullion, and a small lot of furs. Owing to the early season, the Santa Fe trail was in bad condition and he was compelled to abandon one of his wagons. About April 10, while encamped on the Little Arkan- sas river, near the boundary between Rice and McPherson counties, he was robbed by 15 men claiming to be Texan troops, under the com- mand of John McDaniel. After the booty was divided-amounting to sonie $400 or $500 each-the party separated, part of the men starting back to the settlements. Those who remained behind killed Chavez and found a considerable sum in gold concealed on his person and about the wagon. His body and all his effects were thrown into a ravine, the plunder packed on some of Chavez's mules and the party then set out for the States. A posse of citizens from Jackson county, Mo., led by George Buchanon, sheriff of the county, met the gang near Council Grove and captured several of the men. As the crime was not committed in Mis- souri the malefactors were turned over to the Federal authorities. In the trial which ensued three of the men were found guilty of murder and hanged, and the others were sentenced to various terms of impris- onment.
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