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 6
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The annual report for 1875 was the best issued up to that time. In fact, it embodied so much useful and valuable information regarding the agriculture, mechanical and educational institutions of the state that the legislature, by the act of March 4, 1876, appropriated $8,625, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for the publication and distribution of a second edition.
Since 1877, when the constitutional amendment making the legisla- tive sessions biennial went into effect, the reports of the board have been made biennially instead of annually, and efforts have always been made to keep the character of the report up to the high standard estab- lished in 1875. The first biennial report embraced the years 1877-78. For a number of years the annual appropriation for the board has been in the neighborhood of $10,000, and special appropriations for certain specified work have been made from time to time. By the act of March 5, 1901, the secretary was ordered to print and distribute 7,500 copes of the report for 1899-1900, in addition to the 15,000 previously printed. and appropriated $10,550 to defray the expenses of the extra edition. The act also provided for the publication of 20,000 copies of the report thereafter. The legislature of 1903 made a special appropriation of $300 to gather data to make tests of sugar beets.
Following is a list of the presidents of the board, with the years in which they served: H. J. Strickler, 1872; E. S. Niccolls, 1873; George T. Anthony, 1874 to 1876, inclusive; John Kelly. 1877-78; R. W. Jen- kins, 1879 to 1884, inclusive; Joshua Wheeler, 1885-86; William Sims, 1887-88; A. W. Smith, 1889 to 1892, inclusive; Thomas M. Potter, 1893 to 1896, inclusive ; George W. Glick, 1897-98; T. A. Hubbard, 1899-1900; Edwin Taylor, 1901-02 ; J. H. Churchill, 1903-04; J. W. Robison. 1905-06; A. L. Sponsler, 1907-08; Charles E. Sutton, 1909-10; I. L. Diesem, I9II -.
Alfred Gray served as secretary from the organization of the board to 1879, when J. K. Hudson was elected to succeed him. Hudson re-
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signed before the expiration of his term, and on Oct. I, 1881, F. D. Co- burn was elected to fill the vacancy. William Sims was then secretary from 1882 to 1887. He was followed by Martin Mohler, who served un- til 1894, since which time the office has been held by Foster D. Coburn.
Air, a small hamlet of Lyon county, is located on Elm creek in Waterloo township, about 20 miles northeast of Emporia, the county seat, and 5 miles from Admire, which is the most convenient railroad station, and from which it receives mail by rural free delivery.
Akron, a village of Cowley county, is situated in Fairview township. 8 miles north of Winfield, the county seat. It is a station on the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., has some local trade, and in 1910 reported a population of 52.
Alabama Colony .- In 1856, in several Southern states, movements were made to encourage and promote emigration to Kansas, hoping thereby to advance the cause of slavery in Kansas. A Kansas executive committee was formed in Alabama, and considerable money raised for the purpose of giving free transportation to all southerners who would go for the purpose of settling. In Aug., 1856, Capt. Henry D. Clayton left Eufaula, Ala., with 29 emigrants for Kansas, being joined by others at different places along the route, until 90 persons were added by the time the colony reached Atlanta, Ga. The colonists were taken to Nash- ville by rail, and from there by steamboat down the Cumberland river, up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, reaching Kansas City on Sept. 2. Among the colonists were four families who came with the view of joining the "Georgia Colony" which had recently been driven out of Kansas into Missouri. On account of the disturbed conditions in the territory the emigrants, soon after landing, organized a military com- pany, with Mr. Clayton as captain; J. H. Danforth, first lieutenant ; \V. W. Mosely, second lieutenant ; J. C. Gorman, C. W. Snow. S. G. Reid and B. B. Simons, as first to fourth sergeants respectively ; W. H. Bald- win, W. S. Reynolds, W. L. Stewart and W. R. Kaen, as first to fourth corporals ; and P. M. Blue, W. T. G. Cobb, James Coxwell, A. Haygood, J. L. Hailey, R. P. Hamilton, J. J. Kitchen, A. P. McLeod, J. W. Guinn, Charles O'Hara, W. A. Pinkston, T. H. Rich, T. F. Rogers, T. Semple, D. R. Thomas and M. Westmoreland, as privates.
This company was in active service in the territory for a short time, but at the solicitation of Gov. Geary disbanded. Peace being estab- lished in the territory the next step was to locate the settlers, which was done in Shawnee county, about 4 miles south of Tecumseh, upon the California road from Westport, and about 14 miles from Lecompton. then the capital of the territory.
The executive committee which raised the money to send the settlers to the territory estimated the cost to be about $50 a head, but by taking deck passage on the steamboats it was found that the cost per capita did not exceed $30. The money saved on this item was distributed to the colonists most in need of help, while $500 was paid over to the Mis- souri executive committee, A. G. Boone, secretary, to be used "not only
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in purchasing munitions of war" to advance slavery in Kansas, but also in furnishing provisions to the distressed (southern) settlers, many of whom were recently driven from their homes along the border. Several of the colonists returned to the South without setting foot on Kansas soil.
After seeing the colony settled, Mr. Clayton returned to Alabama, and issued a report of sixteen pages in which he gave detailed statements of the doings and expenses incident to the settlement. According to the report something over $7,000 was raised for the purpose, of which $3,- 739.83 was expended.
Alamota, a money order postoffice of Lane county, is located in the township of the same name, and is a station on the division of the At- chison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. that runs from Great Bend to Scott, 9 miles east of Dighton, the county seat. It is a shipping and trading point of some importatnce and in 1910 reported a population of 40.
Alanthus, a post-village in Larrabee township, Gove county, is on the Smoky Hill river about 18 miles southeast of Gove, the county seat, and 12 miles north of Utica, which is the most convenient railroad station.
Albia, a small hamlet of Washington county, is situated near the Ne- braska line, Io miles north of Morrowville, from which place mail is delivered by the rural free delivery system. Endicott, Neb., is the near- est railroad station.
Albert, a prosperous little town of Barton county, is near the west- ern boundary, and is a station on the Great Bend and Scott division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 15 miles from Great Bend. Al- bert has a bank, a money order postoffice with one rural delivery route, large grain elevators, several good mercantile houses, and in 1910 re- ported a population of 250.
Alburtis, a small settlement in Morris county, is about 2 miles from the Wabaunsee county line and 7 miles from Council Grove, the county seat, from which place the inhabitants received mail by rural free de- livery.
Alcona, a post-village of Rooks county, is located in the township of the same name, a little north of the Solomon river and some 15 miles west of Stockton, the county seat. The population of the entire town- ship in 1910 was 320. Alcona is therefore a small place, but it is a trad- ing center and rallying point for the people in that part of the county.
Alden, one of the thriving towns of Rice county, is located in Valley township, on the main line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., about 10 miles southwest of Lyons, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices, a money order postoffice with one rural delivery route, a bank, telephone connection with the surrounding towns, a good graded public school, and is a trading and shipping point of considerable importance. The population in 1910 was 275.
Aleppo, a small hamlet of Sedgwick county, is situated about 15 miles west of Wichita, the county seat, and 5 miles northwest of God.
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dard, from which place the inhabitants receive mail by rural free de- livery. Goddard is the most convenient railroad station.
Alexander, a prosperous little town of Rush county, is situated in Belle Prairie township, on Walnut creek and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., about 15 miles southwest of La Crosse, the county seat. It has a bank, two creameries, several good mercantile establish- ments, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph service, churches of several denominations, and reported a population of 150 in 1910.
Alexis, Grand Duke .- Many people may not know that Kansas was once honored by a visit from royalty. In Nov., 1871, Alexander II, at that time czar of Russia, sent his third son, Grand Duke Alexis, as a special embassador to President Grant and the people of the United States with congratulations on the outcome of the Civil war. With a desire to see something of the country, the grand duke spent a por- tion of Jan., 1872, with some army officers and plainsmen in roughing it through Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. The duke's desire was to engage in a buffalo hunt. Accordingly he was met by Gen. Custer and conducted to a camp on Red Willow creek, where it was supposed buffalo could be found. Learning that a large herd of buffalo had been seen in the vicinity of Kit Carson, 130 miles east of Denver, the party took a train at Fort Wallace, Kan., and went there. The troop horses used by the hunting party were unused to the bison and almost stampeded when they came within sight of the herd, causing several ludicrous and some slightly serious accidents. The grand duke has been described as "modest, good-humored and companionable," and his good humor never showed to better advantage than in that ·buffalo hunt. After a ball at Denver, given in his honor, the royal party left on a special train for the east. A short stop was made at Topeka, where the grand duke was officially received by Gov. Harvey and the legisla- ture, which was then in session, after which there was an informal re- ception.
Alfalfa .- This leguminous plant was cultivated in ancient times by the Egyptians, Medes, Persians, Greeks and Romans. It is called lucerne in all countries of Europe, except Spain, where it is known by its Arabic name-alfalfa. Early in the history of the western continent the Spaniards carried alfalfa to South America, where it escaped from cultivation and is said to be found today growing wild over large areas. Alfalfa was carried from Chile to California about the year 1853 and from there it has spread eastward to the Mississippi river-and be- yond. It was also introduced into America by the Germans, who planted it in New York as early as 1820. Alfalfa was grown in Kansas earlier than 1891, but not until then does the Kansas State Board of Agriculture give a report of its acreage in its statistics on tame grasses. The table for 1891 shows three counties, Miami, Atchison, and John- son as growing no alfalfa whatever. It shows the counties of Stanton, Ness, Neosho, Morton, Linn, Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Doniphan, Franklin, Haskell, Jefferson and Leavenworth as
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growing 10 acres or less per county, the counties of Chase, Cloud, Gray, Kearney, Lyon, Saline, Sedgwick and Wabaunsee as growing more than 1,000 acres per county and Finney county as growing 5,717 acres ; the total acreage for the whole state being 34,384.
Alfalfa is an upright, branching, smooth perennial plant, growing from one to three feet high. It is often called "Alfalfa clover," because of its resemblance to clover. It has a pea blossom and a leaf of three leaflets ; is adapted to a wide range of soils and climate, and is consid- ered by good authorities to be the best forage plant ever discovered. It is now grown in every county in Kansas and 90 per cent of the arable land is suitable for its production. There are only two condi- tions under which it will not grow. When rock is found within four or five feet of the surface and the soil is dry down to the rock, or where the soil is not drained and is wet a considerable part of the year. The young alfalfa plant is one of the weakest grown and is especially feeble in securing from the soil the nitrogen it needs to develop it. Mature alfalfa plants obtain their nitrogen from the air while their deep growing roots gather potash and phosphoric acid from the sub- soil. Alfalfa from one seeding can be expected to live from three to fifteen or more years. Its value as a stock food and as an article of commerce has made it one of the foremost of Kansas crops. The ex- periment station at Manhattan has investigated its properties and tested its worth, and the recommendation given it has done to increase its growth in Kansas. The statistics of 1908 show alfalfa production in six counties as being less than 100 acres per county, thirty-three coun- ties have areas from 10,000 to 35,000 acres each, and Jewell county had 60,018 acres in alfalfa, the acreage of the whole state reaching 878,283.
The growing appreciation of alfalfa as a stock and dairy food, the slight expense and little waste in handling it, have led to the manu- facture of several food preparations. In some cases these are made by simply grinding the alfalfa into meal, and at other times they are a mixture of the meal with molasses or other ingredients. The manifold uses of alfalfa give it a prominent place in modern agriculture and large areas in western Kansas are giving a return of from $15 to $35 per acre from their alfalfa fields where but a few years ago the land was deemed worthless.
Alfred, a hamlet in the southwestern part of Douglas county, is IO miles west of Quayle, the nearest railroad station, and about 4 miles west of Lone Star, from which it has rural free delivery.
Aliceville, a village in Avon township, Coffey county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., about 12 miles in a southeasterly direction from Burlington, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order post- office, express office, a good retail trade, and is a shipping point of some importance. The population in 1910 was 150.
Alida, a little village of Geary county, is in Smoky Hill township, and is a station on the Union Pacific R. R., 8 miles west of Junction City, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, a telegraph
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office, and is a trading and shipping point for that section of the county. The population in 1910 was 48.
Aliens .- Under the Wyandotte constitution, as originally adopted and ratified by the people, aliens had the same rights and privileges in the ownership and enjoyment of real estate in Kansas as did the citizens of the state. Some years later there grew up a sentiment in opposition to aliens owning lands within the state, and in 1888 this sentiment found expression in an amendment to the constitution providing that the rights of aliens with regard to ownership of real property in Kansas might be regulated by law. The legislature, however, took no action on the subject until the act of March 6, 1891, the principal provision of which was as follows :
"Non resident aliens, firms of aliens, or corporations incorporated under the laws of any foreign country, shall not be capable of acquiring title to or taking or holding any lands or real estate in this state by descent, device, purchase or otherwise, except that the heirs of aliens who have heretofore acquired lands in this state under the laws thereof, and the heirs of aliens who may acquire lands under the provisions of this act, may take such lands by device or descent, and hold the same for the space of three years, and no longer, if such alien at the time of so acquiring such lands is of the age of twenty-one years; and if not twenty-one years of age, then for the term of five years from the time of so acquiring such lands; and if, at the end of the time herein limited, such lands so acquired by such alien heirs have not been sold to bona fide purchasers for value, or such alien heirs have not become actual residents of this state, the same shall revert and escheat to the State of Kansas," etc.
Coal, lead and zinc lands were exempted from the provisions of the act, and there were some other provisions to secure the application of the law without working unnecessary hardships upon any one. The law was subsequently held to be constitutional by the supreme court of the state.
Allegan, a little hamlet of Rice county, is located on Cow creek, about 10 miles northwest of Lyons, the county seat, from which place mail is supplied by rural free delivery. Chase is the nearest railroad station.
Allen, one of the principal towns of Lyon county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., about 18 miles north of Emporia, the county seat, and 19 miles west of Osage City. Allen was incorporated in 1909 and in IQ10 reported a population of 286. It has telegraph and express service, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, a bank, several good mercantile houses, a graded public school, churches of various denominations, and does considerable shipping of live stock and farm products.
Allen County, one of the 33 counties established by the first territorial legislature, was named in honor of William Allen, United States sena- tor from Ohio. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, in
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the second tier of counties west of Missouri and about 50 miles north of the state line. In extent it is 21 miles from north to south and 24 miles from east to west, containing 504 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Anderson, east by Bourbon, south by Neosho and west by Woodson county. The county was organized at the time of its creation, Charles Passmore being appointed probate judge; B. W. Cow- den and Barnett Owen county commissioners, and William Godfrey sheriff. These officers were to hold their offices until the general elec- tion in 1857, and were empowered to appoint the county clerk and treas- urer to complete the county organization.
The first white inhabitants located in the county during the early part of the year 1855. Duncan & Scott's History of Allen County (p. 9), says: "There is some dispute as to who made the first permanent settlement, but the weight of the testimony seems to award that hon- orable distinction to D. H. Parsons, who, with a companion, B. W. Cowden, arrived on the Neosho river near the mouth of Elm creek in March, 1855."
During the spring and summer settlement progressed rapidly. The greater number of settlers located along the Neosho river, among them being W. C. Keith, Henry Bennett, Elias Copelin, James Barber, Bar- nett Owen, A. W. G. Brown, Thomas Day and Giles Starr. Along the banks of Morton creek the early settlers were Hiram Smith, Michael Kisner, Augustus Todd, A. C. Smith, Dr. Stockton, George Hall, An- derson Wray, Jesse Morris and Thomas Norris. Although many of the early settlers were pro-slavery men, but few slaves were brought into the county. The free-state men showed such open antagonism toward slaveholders, that the slaves were soon given their freedom or taken from the county by their masters. A party of pro-slavery men from Fort Scott founded a town company and laid out a town in Allen county, south of the mouth of Elm creek and on the east bank of the Neosho river, about a mile and a half southwest of the present site of Iola. The company was incorporated by the bogus legislature as the Cofachique Town Association, with Daniel Woodson, Charles Pass- more, James S. Barbee, William Baker, Samuel A. Williams and Joseph C. Anderson as incorporators. The first postoffice was established at Cofachique in the spring of 1855 with Aaron Case as postmaster, but no regular mail service was opened until July 1, 1857, the mail up to that time being brought in from Fort Scott by private carrier paid by the citizens.
In Feb., 1856, M. W. Post and Joseph Ludley, who were engaged in the survey of the standard parallels, finished with the fifth parallel through Allen county and concluded to locate near Cofachique. The next summer Mr. Ludley brought a sawmill from Westport, Mo., and set up in the timber near the town. This mill was run by horse power and was the first manufacturing concern of any kind in the county.
In the second territorial legislature, elected in Oct., 1856, Allen county was represented in the council by Blake Little and in the house by B. Brantley and W. W. Spratt.
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In 1858 the town of Iola was started and the greater part of the town of Cofachique was moved to Iola, while the old site of Cofachique became farm land. Several reasons may be given for the failure of the town. Being on hilly ground it was difficult of access and the water supply was limited; it had been built by pro-slavery men and during the political troubles a feeling of enmity had grown up against the town, hence it was not long before it was depopulated. Humboldt, in the southwest part of the county and Geneva in the northwest part were founded by free-state men and both became flourishing communities. Up to this time settlement had been exclusively confined to the timbered valleys of the larger streams, but the new settlers began opening farms upon the prairies and the population became generally distributed over the county, especially the western half.
A census of Kansas was taken in April, 1857, in preparation for an ap- portionment of delegates to the Lecompton constitutional convention. By this census Bourbon, Dorn, McGee and Allen counties had a popula- tion of 2,622, of whom 645 were legal voters. This gave the district which these counties comprised four delegates in the convention, and at the election held in June, 1857, H. T. Wilson, Blake Little, Miles Greenwood and G. P. H. Hamilton were elected.
In the legislative apportionment of July, 1857, eighteen counties, in- cluding Allen were allowed two members in the council and nineteen counties, including Allen, were allowed three representatives. The election was called for Oct. 5, 1857, and under the assurance of the governor that it should be free and fair, the free-state men determined to muster their strength for the first time at the ballot box. At the election Samuel J. Stewart was elected a representative for the district and was the first citizen from Allen county to occupy a seat in the ter- ritorial legislature.
Immigration continued during the year 1858. The Carlyle colony from Indiana selected 320 acres of land in the northwest part of the county, north of Deer creek, for a town site, but found many difficulties in the way of making a prosperous town and abandoned the project. Later the site was cut up into farms. In the course of time a post- office was established, a store followed and Carlyle became a thriving village in the center of a splendid farming district. About the time that the Carlyle colony arrived another town was projected, called Florence, located north of Deer creek and east of Carlyle. It was ex- pected that in time a railroad would be built, but it was not and the town was a failure.
Upon the organization of the county in 1855, Cofachique was des- ignated as the county seat, and as it was centrally located no strife was stirred up until Humboldt was located in 1859 by the free-state men who went before the state legislature early in 1858 and secured an act lo- cating the county seat there. The first meeting of the county board at Humboldt, of which there is a record, was on Feb. 8, 1859, but lit- tle business was transacted, and they adjourned to meet at Cofachique.
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where, on Feb. 14, the board organized the new township of Geneva and appointed judges of election to ratify or reject the Leavenworth con- stitution. Apparently little interest was taken in the election, as only 138 votes were cast, 134 for and 4 against the constitution.
In the summer of 1858 the second mail route was established from Lawrence to Humboldt, via Garnett and Hyatt in Anderson county, Carlyle and Cofachique in. Allen county. The service began July I, and a few days before that time a trail was marked from Hyatt to Carlyle. Zach Squires was the first mail carrier and for some time his weekly trips were made on mule back. Later the service was made tri-weekly, the mule gave way to a two-horse wagon, later to a two- horse stage, and finally to an overland coach, which was kept on the route until the railroad was built in 1871.
During the year 1859 political matters engaged the attention of the people. On June 7, an election was held for delegates to the Wyandotte constitutional convention (q. v.). When this constitution was sub- mitted to the people on Oct. 4, the vote in Allen county stood 244 for and 159 against, and on the homestead clause, which was submitted separately, 201 for and 152 against. The territorial legislature of 1859 adopted a new plan of county organization, providing for three com- missioners and a probate judge with restricted powers. On March 26, 1860, a special election was held for the new officers. J. G. Richard was elected probate judge; George Zimmerman, N. T. Winans and D. B. Stewart county commissioners.
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