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 70
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The first white child born in the county was John Bauer, whose birth occurred on Jan. 29, 1868, and the same year witnessed the first mar- riage, the contracting parties being Peter Tondell and Elizabeth Duncan. The first court was held soon after the county was organized, Judge Humphrey presiding. The county has but one line of railroad-the Union Pacific-which crosses it from east to west near the center, giving it a little over 32 miles of main track.
In 1910 the population of Ellis county was 12,170, a gain of 3.544 during the preceding decade. The county is divided into the following civil townships : Big Creek, Buckeye, Catherine, Ellis, Freedom, Hamil
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ton, Herzog, Lookout, Pleasant Hill, Saline, Smoky Hill, Victoria, Walker and Wheatland. The assessed value of property for 1910 was $18,938,312, and the value of farm products, including live stock, was $2,867,960. The five leading crops, in the order of value, were: wheat, $1,718,900; corn, $261,882; hay, including alfalfa, $119,702; Kafir corn, $110,160; barley, $40,760. The value of dairy products for the year was $94,718. According to the report of the state superintendent of public instruction, there were 53 organized school districts, with a school population of 4,138.
Ellsworth, the county seat and largest city of Ellsworth county, is situated about 4 miles northwest of the center of the county, on the north bank of the Smoky Hill river and the Union Pacific R. R. It is also the terminus of a division of the St. Louis and San Francisco R. R. that runs southeast to Wichita. The town site was surveyed in the spring of 1867 by McGrath and Greenwood for a company of which H. J. Latshaw was president. E. W. Kingsbury built the first house, which was used for the double purpose of hotel and store and was known as "The Stockade." At that time it was thought by many people that Ellsworth would be the western terminus of the railroad for some years to come, and the place grew with such rapidity that in a short time it boasted a population of 1,000 or more.
The town was at first located on low ground near the Smoky Hill river, in sections 28 and 29. On June 8, 1867, that stream rose suddenly, and in a short time Ellsworth was in four feet of water, some of the frail frame houses being washed from their foundations. A new site was then surveyed in section 20, a short distance northwest and on higher ground. Those who had bought lots in the old town were given new ones in the "Addition." But the flood was not the only disaster the new city had to encounter. Scarcely had the new site been surveyed when the Indians began to commit depredations in the vicinity, and in July the cholera (q. v.) broke out both in town and at Fort Harker, about 4 miles to the southeast. Floods, Indian raids and cholera in such rapid succession were more than the people could stand, and in a short time the 1,000 population of Ellsworth dwindled to less than 50.
Then came a second growth, more substantial and more permanent in character. In the fall of 1867 Arthur Larkin built a second hotel, called the Larkin House, business enterprises sprang up, buildings of a better class were erected, etc. For some time Ellsworth enjoyed a large trade from the 1,500 soldiers stationed at Fort Harker, especially in liquors, and from the emigrant trains that passed through on their way westward. In 1868 Ellsworth was incorporated as a village, with J. H. Edwards as president of the council of five members. The first school was taught in rented quarters by a man named Wellington. In 1869 a one-story school house was erected, which served until 1873, when the people voted $9,000 in bonds for the erection of a larger and more modern building. The first number of the Ellsworth Reporter was issued in Nov., 1870, by M. C. Davis.
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In 1873 a large share of the cattle trade came to Ellsworth, and with it came the usual turbulent element that concentrated in the western cattle towns. Shooting scrapes were common, gambling houses were run "wide open," and the better class of citizens were pleased when the cattle trade moved on westward, because its disadvantages more than offset its advantages. The pioneer church of Ellsworth was established by the Catholics in 1869, and it remained the only house of worship in the place until 1878, when a building was erected by the Presbyterians. . Several other denominations came later and the city now has a number of cozy church buildings. The Mother Bickerdyke home for soldiers' widows and orphans is located here.
Ellsworth is a city of the third class. It. owns its electric lighting plant and waterworks, has a telephone exchange, 2 banks, 4 grain ele- vators, a large flour mill, a salt plant with a daily capacity of 500 barrels, a good public school system, a normal training school, an international money order postoffice with three rural routes, express and telegraph offices, two weekly newspapers (the Reporter and the Messenger), machine shops, wagon works, and a number of well appointed stores in all lines of merchandising. The streets are paved with a by-product of the salt works, making a roadway that is both dustless and noiseless. Coal and building stone are found in the vicinity and are a source of wealth. The commercial club is always alert to the interests of the city, which in 1910 had a population of 2,041, a gain of 492 over the preceding U. S. census.
Ellsworth County, located nearly in the geographical center of the state, was created in 1867 with the following boundaries: "Commencing at the southeast corner of the county of Lincoln, thence west 30 miles ; thence south 24 miles ; thence east to the west line of McPherson county, thence north to the place of beginning." It was formed out of unor- ganized territory and has an area of 720 square miles. The county was named in honor of Allen Ellsworth, a lieutenant in the army, who built Fort Ellsworth on the Smoky Hill river in 1864. At the present time it is bounded on the north by Lincoln county, on the east by Saline and McPherson, on the south by Rice and on the west by Barton and Russell counties, and is divided into the following townships: Ash Creek, Black Wolf, Carneiro, Clear Creek, Columbia, Ellsworth, Empire, Garfield, Green Garden, Langley, Lincoln, Mulberry, Noble, Palacky, Sherman, Thomas, Valley and Wilson.
The surface of the country is diversified and may be divided into "bottom" land, upland or rolling prairie and bluff land. The "bottom" lands or valleys are from a quarter of a mile to a mile in width and aggregate about one-eighth of the entire area. The bluff land is found near the rivers and creeks, while the south half of the county is nearly all undulating prairie or table land. The principal water course in the Smoky Hill river, which enters the county about 6 miles south of the northwest corner and flows in the southeasterly direction, leaving the county about 5 miles north of the southeast corner. Its main tributaries
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are Blood, Buffalo, Turkey, Ox Hide, Oak, Ash, Clear, Thompson's, Elm, Bluff and Mule creeks. Plumb creek crosses the southwest corner. The soil is well adapted to grains and the most important crops are corn and winter wheat, but oats, Kafir corn and prairie hay are also extensively raised. The county ranks high in live-stock raising and there are over 50,000 bearing fruit trees. Magnesium limestone is abundant in the northeastern portion and red sandstone in the central ยท and southwestern parts. Mineral paint of a good quality and excellent potter's clay are found in many localities. Large quantities of gypsum exist in the high lands and in the central part are vast beds of rock salt which is extensively mined at Ellsworth and Kanapolis. Coal is the chief mineral product, however, three mines having been opened in the early '8os, near Wilson, south of the Smoky Hill river.
One of the earliest settlements in the county was made late in the '50s by P. M. Thompson. Others who came about this time were Adam Weadle, D. H. Page, D. Cushman and Joseph Lehman. They all set- tled in the same locality. In 1860 a settlement was made on Clear creek north of the Smoky Hill by S. D. Walker, C. L. and J. J. Prater and Henry and Irwin Farris. Late in the same year H. Wait and H. P. Spurgeon came to Ellsworth, the former settling on Thompson's creek and the latter with the Walker party on Clear creek. All of these men were unmarried or without their wives. T. D. Bennett moved to the county in Aug., 1861, and his wife was the first white woman in the settlements.
In the summer Indian troubles began, when a settler on Cow creek and S. D. Walker of the Clear Creek settlement were killed. Fearing another attack, the settlers in the county took refuge at the stage station on the Smoky Hill, where all the people of the surrounding country gathered, but learning that the Indians were coming in great numbers they left for the east. In June, 1864, Lieut. Allen Ellsworth and forty men were stationed at Page's old ranch, where they built a blockhouse. and in July Gen. Curtis named it Fort Ellsworth (q. v.)
On April 2, 1868, the first marriage was solemnized in the county when George W. Hughes married Rusha Maxon. For some years immi- gration was slow, and it was not until 1873 that rapid settlement began by foreigners. The Swedes located in the southeastern part of the county, some Bohemians in the west, and the Germans were scattered, but were especially numerous in the south. A large colony arrived from Pennsylvania in the spring of 1878 and located near the present town of Wilson. In the early 'Sos large tracts were bought up for ranches, some of them containing as many as 18,000 acres, and this had a ten- dency to keep the population down. In time, as the land increased in value, these large ranches were broken up and sold as farms so that today Ellsworth is essentially a farming country.
When the county was organized in 1867, the following officers were appointed by the governor : J. H. Edwards, V. B. Osborn and Ira Clark. commissioners ; E. W. Kingsbury, sheriff; M. O. Hall, clerk. At their
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first meeting on July 9, 1867, the commissioners ordered an election to be held on Aug. 10, for the election of county officers to serve until the next general election. There were to be four polling places, Ellsworth, Merriam's house on Elkhorn creek, Clark's house on Thompson's creek and Farris' house on Clear creek. At the election V. B. Osborn, W. J. Ewing and J. H. Blake were elected commissioners : E. W. Kingsbury, sheriff ; M. O. Hall, clerk; J. C. Hill, probate judge; Thomas Delacour, register of deeds; M. Newton, treasurer; J. H. Runkle, attorney ; C. C. Duncan, superintendent of public schools; J, C. Ayers, surveyor ; M. Joyce, coroner, and J. E. New, assessor. They perfected the county organization on Aug. 24, 1867. Prior to that time it had been attached to Saline county as a municipal township. The town of Ellsworth was made the seat of justice. In 1871 agitation was begun for the erection of a county court-house. Bonds to the amout of $12,000 were issued for its construction on July 30, 1872, two lots had already been donated the county for a site, and a fine two-story brick building was erected. A stone jail, also two stories in height, was built.
The Ellsworth County Agricultural and Mechanical Fair association was organized in 1877, "for the purpose of advancing the agricultural, horticultural and mechanical interests of the county." It has become one of the well known institutions of the county. The first paper in the county was the Ellsworth Reporter. The second was the Wilson Echo, published by S. A. Coover, and made its initial appearance in Aug., 1879. The first railroad in the county was the Kansas Pacific, built in 1868. which followed the general course of the Smoky Hill river, while today five lines of railroad, with a total of 88 miles of main track, afford excel- lent transportation and shipping facilities.
The population of the county in 1910 was 10,444, a gain of 818 during the preceding ten years. The assessed valuation of the property was $25,103,723, and the value of agricultural products for the year, includ- . ing live stock, $3,458,260.
Elm City, a hamlet of Labette county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Elm Grove township, 13 miles southwest of Oswego. the county seat, and about 2 miles east of Edna, from which place it receives mail daily. The population in 1910 was 77. The town was founded by Jesse Edmundson soon after the railroad was built in 1886. The first building erected was occupied by Wilson & Vanbibber, the first merchants. This is a grain shipping point.
Elmdale, a town in Chase county, is located on the Cottonwood river. in Diamond Creek township, 6 miles west of Cottonwood Falls, the county seat. It is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., has telegraph and express offices. a money order postoffice with two rural routes, all the main lines of merchandising, a bank, and a weekly newspaper called the Elmdale Gas Jet. The town was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1904. The population according to the census of 1910 was 253. Natural gas has lately been discovered in the vicinity
Elmo, a thriving little town of Dickinson county, is located in Banner
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township and is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 16 miles south of Abilene, the county seat. It has a bank, a grain elevator, a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices. telephone connections, Catholic and Methodist churches, several well stocked stores, etc., and annually ships considerable quantities of agri- cultural products. The population in 1910 was 225.
Elmont, a village of Soldier township, Shawnee county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 7 miles north of Topeka. with which city it has telephone connection. It has a money order postoffice with two rural routes, a good local trade, telegraph and express service, and in 1910 reported a population of 61.
Elmore, Rush, one of the first associate justices of Kansas Territory, was born in Autauga county, Ala., Feb. 27, 1819. He was educated at the University of Alabama, then studied law and soon after attaining to his majority he was admitted to the bar at Montgomery, where he began the practice of his profession. In a short time he had established a lucrative practice, but upon the breaking out of the war with Mexico he raised a company in Montgomery, was elected captain, and served to the close of the war. After the restoration of peace, Capt. Elmore formed a partnership with his brother, John A. Elmore, and William L. Yancey. He was also made brigadier-general of the Alabama militia and held the office until appointed associate justice of the Kansas terri- torial court in the fall of 1854. After serving about a year he was removed, at the same time Gov. Reeder and Judge Johnston were removed, but in the spring of 1857 he was reappointed by President Buchanan and continued on the bench until the establishment of the state government in Feb., 1861. In addition to his judicial duties, Judge Elmore was one of the delegates to the Lecompton constitutional con- vention, where he made a fight to have the constitution submitted to the people. When Kansas was admitted as a state he located at Topeka, where he formed a partnership with John Martin and continued in the practice of law until his death, which occurred on Aug. 14, 1864.
El Paso County, one of the early counties of Kansas, was created by the territorial legislature on Feb. 7, 1859, out of territory which was later included in the State of Colorado. El Paso is a Spanish word meaning the passage, or the gap. At the time of its creation, the boun- daries of the county were defined as follows: "Commencing at the northeast corner of Fremont county and running thence due east to the southeast corner of Montana county, thence due south to a point 20 miles south of the 39th parallel of latitude, thence due west to a point 20 miles west of the 105th meridian of longitude, thence due north to the place of beginning." The same act appointed William H. Green, G. W. Allison and William O. Donnall commissioners, and they were authorized to locate a temporary seat of justice as near the geographical center of the county as was convenient.
Elsmore, an incorporated town of Allen county, is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in the southeastern part of the county,
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some 15 miles southeast of Iola, the county seat. The old town of Elsmore, which for several years was the center of attraction for the citizens of Elsmore township, was located farther west, not far from Big creek. On Aug. 25, 1888, after the route of the railroad from Kansas City to Parsons had been definitely settled, N. L. Ard, J. L. Roberts, J. A. Nicholson, W. D. and H. W. Cox, and O. P. Mattson, purchased 20 acres where the present town of Elsmore stands and platted the town. It soon became a popular trading center and shipping point for that section of the county, and in 1909 was incorporated. In 1910 it reported a population of 216. Elsmore has a money order postoffice with two rural delivery routes, a bank, several good stores, some small manufacturing enterprises, telegraph and express facilities, good schools, etc.
Elwood, formerly "Roseport," one of the principal towns of Doniphan county, is located on the Missouri river opposite St. Joseph, Mo., with which it is connected by bridges. It is at the extreme eastern point of the county, in Washington township, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and on the St. Joseph & Grand Island railroads, 14 miles east of Troy, the county seat.
A trading post was established on the site of Elwood in 1852 by Henry Thompson, who in 1856 sold 160 acres to the "Roseport Town company" which had been organized by St. Joseph capitalists. The consideration paid Thompson was $10,000. The town grew rapidly in its early years. and was a dangerous rival to St. Joseph. A hotel of 75 rooms was built and enjoyed liberal patronage. In 1858 there were ten stores, all lines of business was well represented. By 1859 the population was 2,000, and the town might have outstripped its neighbor had not the inroads of the Missouri river washing away acres of the best improved property, discouraged capital and enterprise. The first store was opened by A. N. Campbell, in 1856, and the first sawmill by William High in the same year. The next year Daniel W. Wilder, author of Wilder's Annals of Kansas, opened a real estate office, and James P. Brace was made post- master of the newly established postoffice. In 1860 the town was incorporated as a "city of the first class." The first company of the first regiment sent into the Civil war by Kansas was organized here.
In 1876 the town was reorganized and an election held which resulted in the selection of J. W. Montgomery as mayor and the appointment of J. R. Stone as city clerk. The population in 1910 was 636. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, telephone con- nections, graded public schools, and a good local trade.
Elyria, a village of McPherson county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 7 miles southeast of McPherson, the county seat. It is in King City township, not far from the former site of the historic King City. It has a postoffice, general stores and an express office. The population according to the census of 1910 was 100.
Ematon, a money order post-village of Stevens county, is located about 15 miles southeast of Hugoton, the county seat, and the same
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distance from Liberal, which is the most convenient railroad station. It has a general store and is a trading point for the adjacent farmers, and in 1910 reported a population of 20.
Emerald, a little settlement of Anderson county, is located in the extreme northwest corner, about 3 miles north of Amiot, which is the nearest railroad station. Mail is received by rural delivery from Wil- liamsburg, Franklin county.
Emerson, a small hamlet on Rattlesnake creek in the southwest corner of Stafford county, is about 15 miles from St. John, the county seat, from which place mail is received by rural delivery.
Emigrant Aid Societies .- While the Kansas-Nebraska bill (q. v.) was pending in Congress it became apparent that there would be a struggle between the friends and foes of slavery for the territory of Kansas as soon as it was organized. In fact before the bill became a law a number of aid societies and cooperative associations were formed in the North, for the purpose of peopling Kansas with a sturdy yeomanry opposed to slavery. Some of these societies were incorporated under the laws of different New England states; some were private companies; and some were of local significance-formed in a town or county-but all had the same end in view.
Eli Thayer (q. v.), evolved the plan of a society which should offer to anti-slavery emigrants inducements sufficient to offset the hardships of frontier life. His plan was for an investment company to give advan- tages to those whom it induced to go to Kansas, and at the same time defeat slavery. Mr. Thayer, as a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives, presented to that body in March, 1854, a petition for the incorporation of the "Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company," and on April 26, 1854, more than a month before the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska bill, this company was chartered with a capital of $5,000,000
The incorporators selected a committee consisting of Eli Thayer. Alexander H. Bullock and Edward Everett Hale, to recommend a system of operation. The first charter proving unsatisfactory, the company reorganized under a charter granted by the Connecticut legislature, and a third charter was obtained in 1855, when the name was changed to the "New England Emigrant Aid company." with a capital of $1.000,000. The work done by this society, directly and indirectly, was one of the greatest factors in making Kansas a free-state. Agitation of the ques- tion, advertisements in the papers and the literature distributed, started many for Kansas, who never knew of the country until this work com- menced.
Charles Robinson, S. C. Pomeroy and M. F. Conway were the com- pany's agents. They secured low rates of transportation to the terri- tory, and the first emigrants. 30 in number, led by Charles H. Brans- comb, arrived at the mouth of the Kansas river on July 28, 1854. Two weeks later they were followed by a second and larger party, and these men laid the foundations of Lawrence, the first free-state settlement in Kansas.
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"The Emigrant Aid Company of New York and Connecticut," was organized on July 18, 1854, under a charter from the Connecticut legis- lature, its objects being the same as those of the New England society, with which it was ultimately consolidated, with John Carter Brown of Providence, R. I., as president, and Eli Thayer as vice-president. The company was not a financial success. Its original capital was depleted until in 1862, it amounted to only $16,000, but the work of the society was done, for Kansas had been admitted as a free-state. In 1901, the state legislature passed an act authorizing the regents of the state university to build a gymnasium with the money appropriated by Congress in payment of the claim assigned to the university by the New England Emigrant Aid company.
Several minor aid societies were formed in the north. The "Union Emigrant Aid Society," was organized in Washington, D. C., in the spring of 1854, "by such members of Congress and citizens generally, as were opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the opening of Kansas and Nebraska to the institution of slavery." John Goodrich of Massachusetts was president; Francis P. Blair, vice-president ; and its directors were from various northern states. Agents were appointed in several states to call the attention of the public to its work and organize auxiliary societies to promote immigration to Kansas.
. The "Kansas Aid Society," was formed just after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, with John Goodrich of Massachusetts as presi- dent, and a Mr. Fenton of New York as vice-president. Some assist- ance was rendered to emigrants, but its records can not be found, and it is supposed to have been absorbed by the New England Emigrant Aid company.
The "Worcester County Kansas League," was formed at Worcester. Mass., July 6, 1854, "for the encouragement and organization of emi- gration to the new territory of Kansas." The plan of the league was to arrange parties of emigrants, so that they could travel together and settle in the same locality. Their first train for Kansas left Worcester on July 17, 1854, only eleven days after the league was organized.
The "Kansas League," was organized by Eli Thayer about 1856. Its members promoted emigration, organized parties who wished to go to Kansas, and published a "History of Kansas, also Information Regard- ing, Rates, Laws," etc., which was widely circulated. Some of the other organizations of this character were the "Oberlin Kansas League," the "Kansas National Committee," and after the sack of Lawrence the "General National Kansas Aid Committee," the "Boston Relief Com- mittee," the "Kansas Aid Society of Wisconsin," and the "Female Aid Society of Wisconsin," all of which were formed to send people and supplies to Kansas, and in other ways aid in defeating the friends of slavery.
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