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 68
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Edson, a village of Sherman county, is located in Washington town- ship, 9 miles east of Goodland, the county seat. It is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., has a money order postoffice with one rural route, an express office, a general store, and does some ship- ping.
There is also a village named Edson in Crawford county, a station on the Joplin & Pittsburg electric railway. The people there receive mail by rural delivery from Franklin.
Education .- In Kansas education is compulsory. It became so by the law of 1874, which made it the duty of every parent or guardian, having control of any child or children between the ages of eight and fourteen years, to send such child or children to a public or private school, taught by a competent instructor, for a period of at least twelve weeks in each year, six weeks of which time should be consecutive, unless such child or children were excused from such attendance by the board of education. Lack of wearing apparel and ill health were the conditions upon which a child could be excused. In 1903 this law was revised and made more stringent, and provision was also made for
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incorrigible children. In 1905 laws were passed requiring the educa- tion of the deaf, mute and blind.
In 1907 the legislature created truancy districts, each under the charge of a truancy officer whose duty it was to investigate the cases of de- linquent children and see that the mandates of the educational act are obeyed. By this method many children with careless parents or with small inclination for study received benefit from the school where otherwise they would not. Provision was made for healthy children in the general schools, and for the afflicted and abnormal children in spe- cial schools, both of which are maintained by the state; thus in Kansas education becomes a necessity insisted upon for the betterment of the state.
The value of education was recognized by the first settlers, who came from communities in which the free schools had a high place, and who appreciated the power of a good public school system in the making of a state. These pioneers had been preceded by missionaries who entered the West to assist in civilizing the Indians through the com- bined agents-religion and education-and who taught what white chil- dren there were in the vicinity of the missions, but until Kansas became a territory there were few white children to teach. The real beginning of educational life in Kansas was made in 1855, after the great influx of pioneers had begun. Small schools were organized in towns like Lawrence, Wyandotte and Leavenworth, and maintained by public sub- scription. Although a territorial superintendent was appointed in 1857 to oversee all the schools of the territory, very little was done in an edu- cational way until 1859. On Jan. I of that year not more than five school districts had been organized in Douglas county, which was in better circumstances than any other in the territory. But before June of the same year the number had been increased to thirty districts. On Jan. 4, 1866, Mr. Greer, then superintendent of schools, reported 222 organized school districts. School was taught in 138 districts and 2,087 persons were enrolled. In 1908 there were 8,689 districts and 507,827 persons of school age. (See Public School System.)
The state constitution contains important sections relative to educa- tion, one of which provides that no distinction shall be made between the sexes. This principle has been observed in all the public schools and the state university. The men and women of Kansas have the same opportunity for learning. The public schools of the state have en- larged and developed into a permanent and effective system of educa- tion, that touches every section of the commonwealth, every phase of activity. Each county is divided into districts, the pupils completing the elementary work enter the high schools, the high schools are accredited to the higher institutions of learning, the university, the state normal school, and the state agricultural college.
The instructors of common and high schools are involved in the system by way of normal institutes and teachers' associations, and those who have completed courses in the higher institutions of learning, as
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well as those who have not, are organized into county, district and the state associations for the purpose of supplementing their training and improving the work in the schools. The higher institutions of learning perform a great duty in penetrating all districts with their messages and help. The university conducts an extension department, thereby sending the benefits of the institution to those people who cannot go to it, by lectures, by its professors, through correspondence courses and its public welfare department. The agricultural college, through lectures, through the experiment station bulletins, and through the farmers' institutes, does its part toward the improvement of the state, and the state normal school by sending out well-trained teachers con- tributes its quota. At the head of all is the state board of education, consisting of the state superintendent of public instruction, the chancel- lor of the university, the president of the normal school, the president of the agricultural college, and the others appointed by the governor.
The course of study given to the public schools is broader than in early days, and embraces more departments. The high school gives the same grade of work the college used to give, and many high schools present a collegiate course-embracing literature, history and lan- guages-a normal course, and a business course. The introduction of industrial training into the schools marks the beginning of a new kind of education. To develoop the hand as well as the brain assists in bring- ing together the world of theory and practice and presents a more com- plete education. An indispensable adjunct of the school is the library, and this source of education has been developing accordingly. In 1855 the schools had scarcely enough text books for the pupils to learn their lessons, in 1910 the school libraries of Kansas owned 497,142 volumes. Another important factor in education is the Aplington art gallery (q. v.) which is sent to any part of the state by the request of any school or club.
The public school system is supplemented by denominational schools located at various points throughout the state. There are nearly 200 of these schools, many of them small, but they do very good work. The business college also has come to stay and assists in fitting students for direct entrance into the business world.
Edwards County .- On March 7, 1874, Gov. Osborn approved an act creating several new counties and defining the boundaries of some pre- viously erected. By this act Edwards county was called into existence with the following described boundaries: "Commencing at the inter- section of the east line of range 16 west with the north line of town- ship 24 south, thence west with said township line to the east line of range 19 west, thence north with said range line to the north line of township 23 south, thence west with said township line to the east line of range 21 west, thence south with said range line to the north line of township 27 south, thence east with said township line. to the east line of range 16 west, thence north to the place of beginning."
By the act of March 5, 1875, which abolished Kiowa county, two tiers
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of townships were added to Edwards on the south, giving it an area of 972 square miles. Kiowa county was reestablished by the act of Feb. 10, 1886, when the original boundaries of Edwards county were restored, so that the present area of the county is 612 square miles. It was named for W. E. Edwards, one of the early settlers, who erected the first brick block in the county, which block was occupied as a court- house for several years before a building was erected by the county.
Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike's expedition passed through the county in 1806, following closely the route which afterward became historic as the Santa Fe trail. In the fall of 1872 the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was completed as far as Edwards county, and in March, 1873, a colony from Massachusetts settled where Kinsley now stands, W. C. Knight, who was elected county superintendent of schools in Nov., 1874, being the first man to erect a building. Soon after the first settlers lo- cated there E. K. Smart started a lumber yard, and a little later T. L. Rogers opened the first general store. A postoffice-called Peters- was established in May, 1873, with N. C. Boles as postmaster. The first school was taught the following fall by Mrs. A. L. McGinnis in a room 12 by 16 feet, a little over $30 having been subscribed for a three months' term, the law requiring three months of school to have been taught in the county before it was entitled to participate in the public school fund.
On May 18, 1874, a memorial was filed with the governor, represent- ing that the population of the county was more than 600 and praying for its organization. The petitioners also asked for the appointment of Charles L. Hubbs, Nicholas L. Humphrey and George W. Wilson as county commissioners, James A. Walker as county clerk, and that Kins- ley be named as the temporary county seat. Robert McCause was ap- pointed to take a census, which showed the population of the county to be 633, and on Aug. 1, 1874, Gov. Osborn issued his proclamation de- claring the county organized, with the officers and county seat recom- mended in the memorial. One of the first acts of the board of commis- sioners was to divide the county into the townships of Brown, Kinsley, and Trenton, and designate voting places for the general election in November, when the following officers were elected: Charles L. Hubbs, representative ; F. C. Blanchard, J. A. Brothers and T. L. Rogers, county commissioners; William Emerson, county clerk; J. H. Woods, clerk of the district court; E. A. Boyd, treasurer; V. D. Billings, sheriff ; L. W. Higgins, register of deeds; Massena Moore, probate judge; Taylor Flick. county attorney; J. L. Perry, coroner; Frank A. White, sur- vevor ; W. C. Knight, superintendent of public instruction.
Edwards county suffered greatly the year it was organized from grass- hoppers. After investigating the conditions in the county, the com- missioners met in special session on Sept. 15, when they made out a report to the governor in which they said: "Our crops are totally de- stroved ; not one bushel of vegetables or grain being saved for man or beast. Our people are mostly poor people, without wealthy relatives or
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friends to assist them in their extremity. We have personally and care- fully investigated each case and find six families, containing 22 persons, totally destitute ; five families, containing 18 persons, partially destitute. The above are the only persons in the county that will need aid to carry them to another crop. We believe $500, judiciously expended, will be sufficient with what they can earn, to keep them in the necessaries of life."
The commissioners also suggested that, if aid was extended by the extra session of the legislature then about to meet, the persons having charge of the distribution of such funds employ needy, able-bodied men to work on the public highways, etc. The grasshopper scourge of 1874 and the short crops of 1878 retarded for a time the settlement of the county, but in 1885, the reports of abundant crops and cheap land brought hundreds of new settlers to southwestern Kansas, and the population of Edwards county was nearly doubled during the year.
Along the Arkansas river, which enters the county near the south- west corner and flows northeast, the "bottoms" are about 3 miles wide, constituting about one-fourth of the area. The remaining surface is generally level or undulating prairie. Narrow belts of cottonwood trees are found along the Arkansas river and Rattlesnake creek, which flows across the southeast corner. These comprise about all the native tim- ber, but many fine artificial groves have been planted. Building stone is found on the hills, which is the principal mineral of any kind. Transpor- tation facilities are afforded by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., the main line of which crosses the county from east to west a little north of the center, and a branch runs northeast from Kinsley to Great Bend in Barton county. Altogether there are a little over 37 miles of main track.
The population of Edwards county in 1910 was 7,033, a gain of 3.351, or more than 90 per cent. during the preceding decade. The county is divided into the following civil townships: Belpre, Brown, Franklin, Jackson, Kinsley, Lincoln, Logan, Trenton and Wayne. In 1910 the assessed valuation of property was $15,220,616. The value of farm products for the year was $2,137,608. The five leading crops in the order of value were: Wheat, $1.442,741 ; corn, $230,225 ; hay, $62,247 ; Kafir corn, $50,152; oats, $46,444.
Edwardsville, one of the larger towns of Wyandotte county, is located on the north bank of the Kansas river and the Union Pacific R. R., about 13 miles west of Kansas City. A postoffice was established there in 1867. The town received its name in honor of John H. Edwards, gen- eral passenger agent of the railroad and state senator from Ellis county, at the time the town was surveyed in 1869. The land now covered by the town originally belonged to Half Moon, an Indian chief of the Delawares. He sold his land to Gen. Smith, who in turn sold it to Wil- liam Knous, by whom it was platted. The Methodist Episcopal church perfected an organization at Edwardsville in 1868; dwellings were built, a school established, and several stores opened. Today the town is a
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thrifty community, with hardware and implement houses, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph facilities, and in 1910 it had a popula- tion of 209.
Edwin, a small hamlet of Stanton county, is located on Bear creek about 5 miles northeast of Johnson, the county seat, from which place mail is received by rural delivery. Syracuse is the nearest railroad station.
Another hamlet of the same name in Wabaunsee county, is about 3 miles southwest of Alma, the county seat, from which place mail is de- livered. It is a flag station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R.
Effingham, an incorporated town in Atchison county, is located in the southwestern portion on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 18 miles southwest of Atchison. The town was started soon after the building of the old Central Branch R. R. and was a thriving community early in the '8os. It was laid out on a part of the McGilvery farm, and from the first was the supply and shipping town for a large and rich agricul- tural district. Several churches were established at an early day ; there were several general stores and a graded school in 1882, and since that time the town has continued to grow. It has a lumber yard, general stores, hotel, implement houses, 2 banks, a money order postoffice, a weekly newspaper (the New Leaf), telegraph and express facilities, and is one of the leading towns of the western part of the county. In 1910 it had a population of 674. Effingham is the seat of the county high school.
Elba, an inland hamlet of Chase county, is located in the extreme northeast corner of the county, 13 miles from Cottonwood Falls, the county seat, and 6 miles north of Saffordville, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., the nearest railroad station and shipping point, and the postoffice from which its mail is distributed.
Elbing, a village of Fairmount township, Butler county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. near the northwest corner of the county, about 22 miles from Eldorado, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and tele- graph offices, telephone connections, and is the principal trading point for that section of the county. The population in 1910 was 175.
Elco, a small settlement in the southwestern corner of Lyon county, is 8 miles from Olpe, the nearest railroad station, whence it receives its mail by rural delivery, and 15 miles from Emporia, the county seat.
Elder, Peter Percival, for many years intimately connected with Kan- sas affairs, was born in Somerset county, Me., Sept. 20, 1823. He was educated in his native state and in 1857 came to Kansas, locating in Franklin county, which he helped to organize. In 1859 he was a dele- gate to the Osawatomie convention which organized the Republican party in Kansas, and in 1860-61 he was a member of the territorial legis- lative council. President Lincoln appointed him agent of the Osage and Seneca Indians at Fort Scott, and while serving in that capacity he re- cruited a regiment of Osages for service in the Union army in the Civil
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war. After four years as Indian agent, Mr. Elder resigned, and in 1865 engaged in the banking business at Ottawa. In 1870 he was elected lieutenant-governor on the Republican ticket. Subsequently he served several terms in the state legislature; was speaker of the house in 1878 and again in 1891. He is still living at Ottawa, practically retired from active business cares.
Eldon, a little hamlet of Cherokee county, is situated about 8 miles southeast of Columbus, the county seat, and 3 miles north of Galena, whence mail is received by rural delivery.
Eldorado, the county seat and largest city of Butler county, is beau- tifully situated on the Walnut river, a short distance northwest of the center of the county. The first known settler in the locality was William Hildebrand, who built a cabin there in the late '50s. His house became a rendezvous for men believed to be horse thieves, and in 1859 the place was raided by the settlers. Hildebrand was given a severe flogging and ordered to leave the neighborhood within 24 hours. He did not wait for a second notice.
Two houses were built where the city now stands in 1867, but the history of Eldorado begins with the year 1868. On March 23 of that year B. F. Gordy entered the land, and a little later sold Byron O. Carr, Samuel Langdon and Henry Martin each one-fifth of his claim, retaining two-fifths for himself. These four men formed a town company and the first lots were sold at $10 each. Several houses were erected before the close of the year. Elias Main established a sawmill on the Walnut river, and Henry Martin built the first frame house in the town. As soon as it was completed he put in a stock of goods-the first store in Eldorado. Town companies were common in those days, but Eldorado being situ- ated at the crossing of the Fayetteville emigrant trail (sometimes called the California road), it soon outstripped its competitors. In 1869 Bron- son & Sallee published the "Emigrant's Guide," calling attention to the advantages of Butler county, and to Eldorado in particular. In 1870 there was an influx of settlers and the town was enlarged by several "additions." On March 4, 1870, the first number of the Walnut Valley Times was issued, a flour mill was established, and the town began to assume an appearance of permanency. The growth continued and on Sept. 12, 1871, Eldorado was incorporated as a city of the third class, J. C. Lambdin, who had been chairman of the board of trustees, acting as mayor until the election of Henry Falls. It was not many years before Eldorado became a city of the second class.
The Eldorado of the present day has 4 banks, an electric lighting plant, waterworks, a fire department, fine public school buildings, 2 daily and 3 weekly newpsapers, good hotels, well kept streets, a num- ber of first class mercantile houses, a telephone exchange, some manu- facturing interests, an international money order postoffice with four rural routes, telegraph and express service, a number of fine church edifices, and in 1910 reported a population of 3,129. The transportation and shipping facilities are excellent. A line of the Atchison, Topeka &
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Santa Fe system runs north and south through the city; a line of the Missouri Pacific runs east and west, and a branch of the same system runs from Eldorado to McPherson. With these lines radiating in five different directions, the city is in touch with markets and easily acces- sible.
Election Laws .- The first legislative assembly of the Territory of Kansas passed an act providing that on the first Monday in Oct., 1855, and every two years thereafter, an election for delegate to the house of representatives of the United States should be held, and in October of the even years, beginning with 1856, representatives in the legislative assembly and all other elective officers not otherwise provided for should be chosen. Every county was made an election district, "and all elec- tions shall be held at the court-house of such county," and if there be no court-house, then at such house as the county commissioners might name. It was made the duty of the sheriff to give notice of the place, either by posting or by publication in a newspaper, at least ten days before the day of the election. The county commissioners were given power to establish such additional precincts as might seem to them necessary and proper, but in no case could more than one precinct be established in a township. The county commissioners appointed the judges of election ; the polls were opened at 9 o'clock in the morning and continued open until 6 o'clock in the evening; but if all the votes could not be taken before the closing hour, the judges, by public proclamation, might adjourn such election until the following day, though in no case could it be continued beyond the second day.
Every free white male citizen of the United States, and every male Indian who had been made a citizen by treaty or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-one years, who was an inhabitant of the territory and of the county or district in which he offered to vote, and who had paid a territorial tax, was deemed a qualified elector for all elective offices. It was provided further that no person convicted of any violation of any of the provisions of the "Fugitive Slave Law," whether such conviction was by criminal proceeding or by civil action, was entitled to vote at any election, or to hold any office in the territory. Another provision was that if any person offering to vote should be challenged and re- quired to take an oath or affirmation that he would sustain the provisions of the "Fugitive Slave Law" and the "Kansas-Nebraska Act," and re- fused to take such oath or affirmation, his vote should be rejected. Each member of the legislative assembly, and every officer elected or ap- pointed to office under the laws of the territory, was also required to take an oath or affirmation to support these two Congressional enact- ments. Elections were to be by ballot.
The constitution of the State of Kansas, adopted at Wyandotte, July 29, 1859, provided that general elections should be held annually on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. This was changed by amendment, in 1902, to biennial elections for all offices, held in years bearing even numbers. This also includes township officers, which, in
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the original constitution, were to be elected annually on the first Tues- day in April. In 1861 the first state legislature effectually disposed of the acts of what was known as the "Bogus Legislature" of 1855, and among those repealed was the one requiring an oath or affirmation to support the "Fugitive Slave Law," etc. By an act passed in 1862 no person was entitled to vote who should refuse to take the oath of alle- giance to the government of the United States.
Chapter 78 of the Session Laws of 1893 introduced into Kansas what is popularly known as the "Australian Ballot Law." This act provided for the printing and distribution of ballots at the public expense, and for the nomination of candidates for public offices; regulated the manner of holding elections; and was designed to enforce the secrecy of the ballot and to provide punishment for violation of the act. This statute was repealed, in 1897, by the passage of an act "To regulate nominations and elections," under which, as amended by the laws of 1909, the ballots are printed at public expense. As amended by the laws of 1901, all nominations made by political parties are known and designated as "party nominations," and the certificates by which such nominations are certified are known and designated as "party certificates of nomina- tion." Party nominations of candidates could be made only by a dele- gate or mass convention, primary election or caucus of voters belonging to a political party having a national or state organization, and such nominations were placed upon the official ballot. All nominations other than party nominations were designated "independent nominations," and might be made by nomination papers signed by not less than 2,500 voters of the state for each candidate. In counties, districts, etc., the papers must be signed by not less than five per cent. of the voters therein, and in no case by less than 25 voters, in a county or district, or 10 in a town- ship, city or ward. Party certificates of nomination were required to contain a representation of some simple device or emblem to designate and distinguish the candidates thus nominated.
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