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 47
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Colfax, a mail distributing hamlet of Chautauqua county, is located in the northeastern corner and is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 15 miles northeast of Sedan, the county seat, and 6 miles west of Elk City, Montgomery county, whence it receives mail by rural route. The population in 1910, according to the census report was 38.
College of the Sisters of Bethany, commonly called "Bethany College," located at Topeka, Kan., has a history coincident with that of the Epis- copal diocese of Kansas. In 1859, Bishop Kemper called a convention
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to organize the diocese, and in the report of the educational committee is found the following statement: "There is a female seminary duly incorporated at Tecumseh, Shawnee county. Liberal donations have been secured and a building is being erected to be used in Sept., 1860."
The convention adopted resolutions approving the erection of a female seminary and recognized it as one of the church institutions of the diocese. The location at Tecumseh proved unsatisfactory, and it was not long until the institution was removed to Topeka. Through the influence of the rector of Grace Church, Topeka, a seminary build- ing was commenced on a plat of ground bounded by Eighth, Tenth and Polk streets, and Western avenue.
"The Episcopal Seminary of Topeka" was organized under a charter granted by the territorial legislature on Feb. 2, 1861, giving it the rights of a college. The first session of the school opened on June 10, 1861, with Mr. Preston as principal, two assistant instructors and 35 pupils. In 1865 the school reopened with Rev. J. N. Lee as principal and a staff of five assistants. Five years later the management decided to abandon the old charter and a new one was obtained under the state laws on Feb. 4, 1870. The property which had been held by Wilson Shannon as trus- tee was turned over to a board of trustees, and on July 10, 1872, the name of the institution was changed to the College of the Sisters of Bethany. This name does not refer to any order of sisters, but to the scriptural model of the two sisters of Bethany-Mary and Martha.
In 1900 the college received a legacy of over $35,000 from Phelix R. Brunot of Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1907 opened a school for boarding pupils between the ages of seven and twelve years in a separate build- ing from the college. The main building; Wolf Hall, was erected at a cost of $70,000 in 1872. In 1875 two stone buildings, a laundry and a barn were built at a cost of $10,000. Holmes Hall, built in 1881, cost $18,000 and Burr Hall, an addition to Wolf, was built in 1884. In addi- tion there is a stone boiler house and chaplain's residence. The courses of the school include a kindergarten, primary and intermediate depart- ments; a four-year college preparatory course; four-year academic course for pupils who do not intend to enter college, and a college course equivalent to the first two years of work in the University of Kansas. There is a two-year kindergarten training course and work done here receives credit at the Chicago Kindergarten College, Chicago, Il1. Spe- cial courses are offered in music, art and elocution. The college is under the supervision of Rt. Rev. Frank R. Millspaugh, bishop of the diocese, who acts as president of the school. Meliora C. Hambletin is the principal, assisted by a staff of sixteen instructors. The institution is supported by tuition and the income from its endowment fund. The property is valued at about $400,000. Bethany is one of the few women's colleges in Kansas.
Collyer, one of the principal towns of Trego county, is located in the township of the same name and is a station on the Union Pacific R. R. 14 miles west of Wakeeney, the county seat. It has a bank, a money
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order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices, tele- phone connections, Baptist, Catholic and Congregational churches, good public schools, well stocked general stores, a lumber yard, etc. Collyer was first settled in 1879, and in 1910 reported a population of 300.
Coloma, an inland hamlet of Woodson county, is located about 4 miles north of Yates Center, the county seat, from which place it receives its mail. The population in 1910 was 57.
Colony, an incorporated city in Ozark township, Anderson county, is located near the southern boundary of the county, at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and two divisions of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway systems, 16 miles south of Garnett, the county seat. The history of the town begins with the construction of the first railroad over the site, the plat being filed on Aug. 2, 1872. Two years later a number of members of a colony formed in Ohio and Indiana settled in the new town, and these gave it the name it bears to this day. Many of these colonists stayed but a short time, and for several years the growth of the town was slow. In Aug., 1881, several of the best build- ings were destroyed by fire, and since that time the growth has been more substantial. Colony has a bank, an international money order postoffice with three rural routes, grain elevators, a hotel, an opera house, a weekly newspaper (the Free Press), telegraph, telephone and express accommodations, churches of several of the leading denomina- tions, good public schools, and in 1910 reported a population of 530. A number of gas wells in the immediate vicinity furnish both light and heat for the inhabitants.
Columbian Exposition .- (See Expositions.)
Columbus, the county seat of Cherokee county, is centrally located at the junction of two divisions of the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads. The first settler in the city was John Appleby, who located there in Feb., 1868. In the spring fol- lowing a town company was organized. Among the members were Wil- liam Little, John Hanson, John Appleby and Dr. Bailey. A town was laid off in the southwest quarter of section 13, but later in the season a second company, consisting of John Appleby, F. Fry, H. and H. A. Scovell, was organized. These four men each owned a quarter of section 13, and each donated 25 acres, so that the new plat consisted of 100 acres in the center of the section. Columbus was incorporated as a town on April 1I, 1870, and at the suggestion of Mr. Fry was named for Columbus, Ohio. A two-story school building was erected late in the year, and in April, 1871, Columbus was incorporated as a city of the third class with a population of 700. In Jan., 1873, owing to the high price asked for lots by the founders of the town, a joint stock company was formed for the purpose of establishing a new site half a mile east. This had the effect of reducing the price of lots, and the growth was so rapid that in the spring of 1882 Columbus was incorporated as a city of the second class with a population of about 2,000. On Jan. 3, 1883, ten buildings on the south side of the public square were destroyed by fire,
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the total loss being about $20,000, but these buildings were almost imme- diately replaced by structures of a more substantial character.
In 1910 the population of Columbus was 3,064, an increase of 754 dur- ing the preceding decade. The city is divided into five wards. It has the largest water power electric plant in the west (11,000 horse power), a $25,000 high school building, a public library, a fine waterworks system, natural gas, carriage and wagon works, a canning factory, brick and tile works, the largest cigar factory in Kansas, a bottling works, machine shops, three weekly newspapers, an opera house, flour mills, 2 national and 2 state banks, and some of the best mercantile houses in southeast- ern Kansas. It also has an international money order postoffice with eight rural routes, a telephone exchange, express and telegraph offices, etc. Coal of fine quality is found in abundance in the immediate vicinity and forms one of the principal articles of export. Grain, flour, live stock, flax seed and castor beans are also shipped in large quantities.
Colusa, a small hamlet of Gray county, is situated in Salem township near the western boundary of the county, and about 20 miles southwest of Cimarron, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and some local trade. Pierceville is the nearest railroad station.
Colwich, a town in Union township, Sedgwick county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 14 miles northwest of Wichita. It was set- tled in 1887, was incorporated some years later, and in 1910 reported a population of 258. Colwich has a bank, a grain elevator, an alfalfa mill, a hotel, Catholic and Methodist churches, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, and is the shipping and supply point for a large agricultural district in the Arkansas valley.
Comanche County, one of the southern tier, is the sixth county east of the Colorado state line. It was created by an act of the state legis- lature in 1867, which provided for the division into counties of all the unorganized part of the state east of range line 26 west, and was named for the Comanche tribe of Indians. The act provided the following bounds for Comanche county: "Commencing where the east line of range 16 west, intersects the 6th standard parallel, thence south to the 37th degree north latitude, thence west to the east line of range 21, thence north to the 6th standard parallel, thence east to the place of beginning." By political divisions, it is bounded on the north by Kiowa county ; east by Barber; south by the State of Oklahoma, and west by Clark county. Its area is 795 square miles.
Before the county could be organized it was required by an act of June 4, 1861, that a census be taken and that the county should show a population of "600 inhabitants, excluding Indians not taxed, and who are bona fide residents of the county and the United States."
Actual settlement was slow. The first real settlers entered land during the spring and summer of 1873, but only a few attempted farming. A number of "cow men" took possession soon after the land was ceded to the government by the Osage Indians, and ranged thousands of head
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of cattle over this and adjoining counties. Some of the stockmen organized a company which became well known as the "Comanche Pool." Very few men took up land for agricultural purposes until the spring of 1884, when a rush for the most desirable land began. This influx of homesteaders, who broke and in many cases fenced their land, ended the career of the "cow men." By the close of 1885 practically all the good claims in the county had been taken up. A majority of these pioneers were men of small means, who came into the county to lay the foundations of their fortunes.
In 1884 G. W. Vickers of Harper, Kan., conceived the idea of laying out a town in the northern part of Comanche county, in company with Timothy Shields, J. P. Grove, Samuel Sisson, C. M. Cade and C. D. Bick- ford, all from Harper county. They preëmpted a section of land, had it platted off as a town site and named it after the town of Coldwater, Mich. Early the following year the county had the required number of inhabitants, who petitioned the governor for its organization, and on Feb. 27, 1885, it was organized with Owen Connaughton, George M. Morris and David T. McIntire, commissioners and R. A. Crossman, clerk. Coldwater was designated as the county seat.
In 1887 a branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was built across the northwest corner of the county, from northeast to south- west, through Coldwater. It turned the tide of emigration to Comanche county, and added materially to the population. This is the only line in the county and farmers in the southeastern portion have to drive a considerable distance to market produce and ship cattle.
When news reached Comanche county that part of the Indian Terri- tory was to be thrown open to settlement in April, 1889, the same rest- less, adventurous spirit that brought many of the settlers there in 1884 impelled them to take their worldly possessions and move to the new land of promise. When, in the spring of 1892, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe country was thrown open the depopulation of the county con- tinued. In 1888 the assessors' report showed a population of 5,636, while that of 1890 was only 2,498. Hard times came with the dry years from 1891 to 1897, when crops were either a complete or partial failure, and . the retrogression of the county reached its climax in 1896, when the population fell to only 1,269. During these years when the settlers were leaving, fields lay untilled, homes were abandoned and property values depreciated. The so-called "Cattle Barons" fenced in all the land within reach for pasture. They paid light taxes, owned little land and ranged large herds at will. The many streams afforded fine water for the stock. cattle brought a good price, and these may be called the palmy days of the second generation of the "cow men," some of whom held the land so long that they seemed to think they had an indisputable right to it. By their influence and activity in local politics, they managed to secure the election to the principal county offices men who were friendly to their claims, and the homesteader who wished to locate in the county found everything against him. This domination of the cattle men lasted
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until late in the 'gos, when gradually but surely, the farmers began to gain in numbers and influence, and resettlement by small landholders began in earnest in the spring of 1905. Men in adjacent counties who had not sufficient land, removed to Comanche, which is becoming one of the leading agricultural counties of southwestern Kansas, and ranks especially high in stock raising.
The pioneer papers of Comanche county were the Western Star, edited by W. M. Cash and W. T. Willis, and the Coldwater Review, owned and edited by Edward C. Austin. The first churches in the county were the Methodist and Presbyterian. George M. Norris and Dr. Lam- bart were the pioneer merchants. The county is divided into the fol- lowing townships: Avilla, Coldwater, Irwin, Logan, Nescatunga, Powell, Protection, Rumsey, Shimer and Valley. Coldwater, the county seat, is the largest town and commercial center. It is a few miles north- west of the center of the county.
The general contour of the county is level except where the land breaks into bluffs along some of the larger streams. The valleys and second bottom lands are alluvial deposits and very fertile. The many streams are fringed with narrow belts of timber, chiefly cedar, walnut, elm and cottonwood. Sandstone, mineral paint and gypsum are plentiful, while salt springs are numerous in the southwestern portion. The Cimarron river flows southeast across the southwest corner of the county. Its principal tributaries in the county are Calvary creek, which flows south through the western part. The eastern portion is well drained by Mustang, Nescatonga, Indian and Big Mule creeks, all of which are tributary to the salt fork of the Arkansas river. A pamphlet issued by the state department of agriculture, entitled, "Kansas, Her Story and Statistics," stated that in 1907 there were 32 organized school districts in the county and a school population of 597. The population in 1910 was 3,281, a gåin of 1,682 during the preceding ten years, or more than 100 per cent. The assessed value of property was $9,242,528, a per capita wealth of over $3,200, and the value of farm products for the year was $1,491,801.
Comiskey, a postoffice of Lyon county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Agnes township 25 miles northwest of Emporia, the county seat. There are telegraph and express offices, some mercantile interests, and the population according to the census of 1910 was 28.
Committee of Safety .- The Committee of Safety was called into exist- ence by the same chain of circumstances that inaugurated the Wakarusa war. Shortly after the capture and rescue of Jacob Branson the border ruffians began to menace Lawrence, and the people of that city held a meeting on Nov. 27, 1855, to consider what was the best course to pursue. As a means of preventing an attack by the pro-slavery forces, some suggested that all who had taken part in the rescue of Branson should be compelled to leave the town, and a partial order to that effect was issued. George P. Lowery moved that a committee of ten citizens be appointed "to provide for the protection of the town against any
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armed force," and upon the adoption of the motion Mr. Lowrey was made chairman of the committee. His associates were G. W. Hutchingson, Charles Robinson, George W. Deitzler, C. W. Babcock, George W. Brown, Robert Morrow, Josiah Miller, A. H. Mallory and J. S. Emery.
Holloway says: "It was the express understanding that this com- mittee was to provide, not for the purpose of aggression nor to shield any person from deserved punishment, but to protect the town against armed invaders then assembled around Lawrence."
One of the first acts of the committee was to appoint Charles Rob- inson commander-in-chief of all forces raised for the defense of the city, and Col. James H. Lane was made second in command. As commander and vice-commander, Robinson and Lane signed the treaty of peace with Gov. Shannon on Dec. 8, 1855. (See Shannon's Administration.) Although that treaty ended the immediate danger, the committee did not at once disband, but continued to act in an advisory capacity for some time, holding itself in readiness to exercise the authority originally con- ferred upon it should occasion require.
Commonweal Army .- In the summer of 1892 began a distressing series of events which widened into all departments of American indus- try, blasting the fruits of labor and indicating in the industrial society of the United States the existence of profound and dangerous vices. In June of that year the managers of the great iron works at Homestead, a short distance from Pittsburgh, Pa., apprehending a strike of their operatives on account of a reduction of wages, declared a lockout and closed the establishment. The operatives, deeming themselves wronged, assumed a threatening attitude and the trouble increased until the Pennsylvania National Guard to the number of 8,500 was called out by proclamation of the governor, and on July 12 a military occupation was established. This was maintained for several weeks and the restoration of order was extremely difficult.
About the same time the miners of the Coeur d'Alene region in far-off Idaho rose against a body of non-union workingmen, who had been introduced into the mines, killed several and drove away the remaining ones. Railroad bridges and other property were destroyed and a reign of terror was established. It was not until July 17 that military rule prevailed over the rioters, whose leaders were arrested and imprisoned.
A short time thereafter scenes of violence were enacted at Buffalo, N. Y., on account of a strike of the switchmen of the Erie & Lehigh Valley railway. When an attempt was made to coerce the strikers they attacked the loaded freight trains standing on the sidetracks and burned the cars by hundreds. On Aug. 18 the whole National Guard of New York was summoned to the scene and the strikers were finally overawed and dispersed.
In the spring of 1893 came the precipitation and intensifying of the financial panic and universal prostration of business, the parallel of which had never before been witnessed in our country. The industrial depression, the discontent and suffering of the people, led to the most
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alarming consequences. Strikes and lockouts became the order of the day. Business failures resounded through the land like the falling of a forest. Commerce virtually ceased. In the latter part of April, 1894, some 130,000 miners stopped work and were joined immediately after- ward by fully 25,000 others. Nearly all the coke plants in western Pennsylvania were closed. Meanwhile, the discontented people began to show their desires and passions in a way never hitherto displayed in the United States. Those who had been thrown out of employment began to combine, without knowing why, into what was known as the army of the Commonweal. One such army, under the leadership of Jacob S. Coxey of Massillon, Ohio, marched on Washington City, to demand employment from the national government. Another band came on from the far West, under the leadership of their so-called "Gen. Kelley." Railway cars were appropriated here and there for transpor- tation. Collisions occurred between divisions of the army and various bodies of troops. On May 30, 1894, these men of the Commonweal made a demonstration on the steps of the capitol at Washington. The author- ities of the District of Columbia, on the alert for some excuse, found the leaders of the army on the capitol grounds in a place forbidden. Coxey and Carl Brown were arrested for trespassing, convicted and imprisoned. Throughout the summer of 1894 these strange movements of the under men of the United States continued. Serious disturbances occurred among the miners in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. In many places the state militia was called out and petty fights occurred. At Cripple creek, Col., a great riot took place, prominent citizens being seized and held for some time as hostages.
The hard times of 1893 affected Kansas in common with other states. Several prominent banks failed and numerous business concerns were forced to suspend. Many workingmen were thrown out of employ- ment, and some of them became recruits to the "Army," with the inten- tion of marching to Washington and demanding a redress of grievances. A detachment of this industrial army, under "Gen. Sanders," was brought to Topeka by officers of the law. The men were charged with the cap- ture of a railroad train and cited to appear for trial before the United States court at Leavenworth.
Concord, a small hamlet of Sumner County, is about io miles south of Wellington, the county seat, and 2 miles southeast of Rome, the near- est railroad station, from which mail is supplied by rural delivery.
Concordia, the county seat and largest city of Cloud county, is beau- tifuly situated, a little north of the center of the county, on the Repub- lican river and at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Missouri Pacific, the Union Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads. When the county seat was located here by vote of the people in the fall of 1869, there was not a building of any kind on the site of the present city. That winter a one-story building 16 by 20 feet was erected for the use of the county commissioners, but only two meet- ings were held there, the board adjourning to Clyde, where better accom-
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modations could be secured. Two town companies were organized soon after the election of 1869. The first, which was composed of G. W. Andrews, S. D. Houston, Sr., and J. M. Hagaman, owned what was known as the deeded part of the site, and the second, consisting of S. D. Houston, J. J., W. M. and Frank Burns, owned the Congressional site. Two surveys were made before the plat was finally adjusted to the satis- faction of all parties. In July, 1870, a United States land office was opened at Concordia and remained in operation there until consolidated with the Topeka office in Feb., 1889. There was a rush of applicants for lands, and the town grew accordingly. In Jan., 1871, Henry Buck- ingham removed the publication office of the Republican Valley Empire from Clyde to Concordia. On Aug. 6, 1872, Concordia was incorporated as a city of the second class, with R. E. Allen as the first mayor.
The Concordia of the present day is one of the prettiest and busiest cities of its size in the state, as well as one of the most progressive in the matter of civic improvements. Its streets are well kept, and it has an electric lighting plant, a good sewer system, waterworks, a telephone exchange, a fire department, etc. The early settlers were mostly people from the eastern states, who understood the advantages resulting from good schools, and it is due to their influence that the city has three fine graded public school buildings. A Catholic school and convent are also located there. The commercial and industrial enterprises include 3 banks, 3 grain elevators, a flour mill, a creamery, brick and tile works, marble and granite works, a broom factory, ice and cold storage plant, cigar factories, planing mills, hotels, well stocked stores, etc. Concordia also has a Carnegie library of over 5,000 volumes, express and telegraph offices, and an international money order postoffice, from which six rural routes supply daily mail to the inhabitants of a rich and populous agri- cultural district. The population of the city in 1910 was 4,415, a gain of 1,014 during the preceding decade.
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