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 71
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Eminence, a village of Garfield township, Finney county, is situated on the Pawnee river, 25 miles northeast of Garden City, the county seat, and about 18 miles north of Charleston, the nearest railroad station.
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It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, a good local trade, and in 1910 reported a population of 92.
Emmet, a hamlet in the southwestern part of Wyandotte county, is about 3 miles north of Bonner Springs, the nearest railroad station, from which it has rural free delivery.
Emmett, a village of Pottawatomie county, is located in Emmett township on the Union Pacific R. R., 20 miles southeast of Westmore- land, the county seat. It has banking facilities, a local telephone com- pany, and all the main lines of business are represented. There is a money order postoffice with one rural route, telegraph and express offices, and the population in 1910 was 200.
Emmons, a village of Charleston township, Washington county, is a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. 4 miles northeast of Washington, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, some general stores, etc., and in 1910 reported a population of 50.
Empire City, a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. in the southeast corner of Cherokee county, was founded early in the year 1877 by the West Joplin Lead and Zinc company. A postoffice was established, and soon afterward the place was incorporated as a city of the third class with S. L. Cheeney as the first mayor. For some time there was a spirited rivalry between Empire City and Galena, located on opposite sides of Short creek within a stone's throw of each other, but in 1907 this rivalry was ended by the annexation of Empire City to Galena (q. v.).
Emporia, the county seat of Lyon county and one of the principal cities of the state, is located near the center of the county and is 61 miles southwest of Topeka. It is an important railroad center, being at the junction of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the main line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and is the terminus of three branches of the latter system, one of which runs to Holliday, one to Chanute, and the other to Moline. It has waterworks, electricity for lighting and power purposes, police and fire departments, well paved streets, and a public library. A street railway is soon to begin operating its cars. Among the industries of the city are woolen and flour mills, foundries, machine shops, carriage and wagon works, ice plant, broom factories, a planing mill, creamery, brick and tile works, a corrugated culvert factory and a marble works. Emporia has 3 banks, I daily and 2 weekly newspapers, an international money order postoffice with ten rural routes, an opera house, telegraph and express service, and is an import- ant mercantile center. The population in 1910 was 9,058.
Emporia was founded in 1857, Preston B. Plumb (q. v.) being the principal promoter. Interested with him were George W. Deitzler. G. W. Brown, Lyman Allen and Columbus Hornsby. The first building was a boarding house erected by John Hammond; the second was the store of Hornsby & Fick, and the third was the Emporia House, the town company's hotel. In the fall the postoffice was moved from
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Columbia to Emporia and Mr. Fick became postmaster. The first number of the "Kansas News," later the Emporia News, was printed on June 6, 1857, in an up-stairs room of the Emporia House while the printing office was being built. No gambling and no selling of intox- icating liquor was allowed, the penalty being the forfeiture of the prop- erty on which the misdemeanor took place. The growth of the town was brisk from the first. During the year 1857 and subsequent years before the war, a steady stream of settlers located in the town and in the sur- rounding country, new business enterprises were established, churches and schools were built. The town company encouraged improvement by setting aside a number of lots to be given to those who would put up buildings on them. A special act was secured in 1862 allowing Emporia to issue bonds to the extent of $6,000 to build a school house. When finished it was the finest in the state except one at Leavenworth. Seeing how successfully the plan worked this special act was made the basis of a general school law for the whole state. Emporia has always figured prominently in the educational matters of the state. It is the seat of the state normal school and the College of Emporia; and is the home of the well known Kansas author, William Allen White.
Emporia was one of the towns listed in Price's itinerary of destruc- tion and would have been sacked and burned but for the prompt response all through eastern Kansas to check the invasion. This was a stopping place for the soldiers on their various campaigns against the bushwhackers and Indians during and after the war. At the time of the operations of the Nineteenth Kansas Emporia had about 800 inhabi- tants. The town was incorporated as a village in 1865, the following being chosen trustees, R. M. Ruggles, chairman; J. C. Fraker, John L. Catterson, William Clapp, and John Hammond. In 1870 it was made a city of the second class. The first election resulted in the choice of, H. C. Cross, mayor; E. W. Cunningham, police judge; H. W. McCune, clerk; S. B. Riggs, treasurer; a Mr. Wilson, engineer; P. B. Plumb, attorney ; W. A. Randolph, marshal ; E. Borton, L. N. Robinson, W. II. Williams, C. V. Eskridge, R. D. Thomas, C. Wheelock, F. Hirth, George WV. Fredericks, councilmen. In common with the other river towns of Kansas, Emporia suffered severely in the flood of 1903, and on account of a cloud burst, suffered almost as severely in 1908.
Emporia College, one of the best known denominational schools of Kansas, was founded on Oct. 9, 1882, by the Presbyterian synod of Kansas. Forty acres of land, overlooking the valley of the Neosho, and $40,000 in money were donated to the synod by the citizens of Emporia to aid in establishing the institution. The charter declares that the purpose of the organizers was "to found an institution for instruction in literature, science and art, according to the highest standards of education." The college was formally opened in Nov., 1883, with 17 students in attendance. The second year 80 students were enrolled. For three years the college work was carried on in rented quarters, poorly adapted to teaching, but in 1886, a sum of $10,000 was given to
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the college by Mrs. Robert L. Stuart, of New York city, and a fine building was erected at a cost of $65,000. This was called Stuart Hall in memory of Mrs. Stuart. Class rooms, laboratory, museum, library, reading rooms and halls for literary societies, were provided in this building. In 1887, William Austin of Emporia gave $5,000 for com- pleting a chapel in the east wing, which was called William Austin chapel, after the donor. It was dedicated on Dec. 8, 1889. In 1886, a large residence on the north side of the campus was purchased for a dormitory for female students. Andrew Carnegie gave $30,000 to the college to erect a library in memory of his friend, John B. Anderson of Manhattan, Kan. This building was dedicated in 1902, and contains some 30,000 volumes. The college has a three-year preparatory and four-year college course, and a special course in music. Many young men attended Emporia College who are preparing to enter the ministry. The expenses of the institution are met by tuition and contributions from church and individuals.
Enabling Act .- (See Admission.)
Englevale, a village of Lincoln township, Crawford county, is a sta- tion on the Missouri Pacific R. R. about 9 miles northeast of Girard, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph service, telephone connections, a hotel, a feed mill, some good general stores, and in 1910 reported a population of 140.
Englewood, an incorporated city of Clark county, is situated in the township of the same name 15 miles southwest of Ashland, the county seat. It is the terminus of a division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway system, has 2 banks, grain elevators, a hotel, flour mills, telephone connections, an international money order postoffice, tele- graph and express offices, churches of some of the leading Protestant denominations, a weekly newspaper (the Leader-Tribune), some well stocked mercantile establishments, and in 1910 reported a population of 518.
Englewood was founded in 1884 by a town company of which N. E. Osborn was president; M. L. Mun, vice-president; B. B. Bush, secre- tary, and Grant Hatfield, treasurer. The capital stock of the company was $60,000. Soon after the town was laid out a stage line was opened to Dodge City, the stages leaving Englewood on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On April 24, 1885, G. M. Magill published the first number of the Clark County Chief at Englewood. In 1890 the popu- lation was 175, and in 1900 it was 18I.
English Bill .- On April 13, while the question of admitting Kansas under the Lecompton constitution was before Congress, the United States senate voted-30 to 24-for a conference committee. The next day the house, on motion of William H. English of Indiana, by a vote of 109 to 108, agreed to such a committee. James S. Green of Missouri, R. M. T. Hunter of Virginia, and William H. Seward of New York, were appointed on the part of the senate, and Mr. English, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, and William A. Howard of Michigan on the
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part of the house. On the 23d Mr. English reported a measure-the work of the conference committee-which has become known in history as the "English Bill," Seward and Howard dissenting to its introduc- tion. The principal provisions of this bill were the clauses in the preamble and section I of the bill itself, the former relating to the changes made by Congress in the ordinance passed by the constitutional convention, and the latter to the submission of the constitution to the people. The provision of the preamble was as follows:
"Whereas, Said ordinance is not acceptable to Congress, and it is desirable to ascertain whether the people of Kansas concur in the changes in said ordinance hereafter stated, and desire admission into the Union as a state as herein proposed : therefore,
"Be it enacted, etc., That the State of Kansas be and is hereby ad- mitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, but upon this fundamental condition precedent, namely: That the question of admission with the following proposition, in lieu of the ordinance framed at Lecompton, shall be submitted to the vote of the people of Kansas, and assented to by them, or the majority of the voters voting at an election to be held for that purpose, namely : That the following propositions be and the same are hereby offered to said people of Kansas for their free aceptance," etc.
Then follows the six propositions relating to land grants, viz: I. That sections 16 and 36 in each township should be given the state for the benefit of the public,schools. 2. That 72 sections, to be selected by the governor, should be granted for the support of a state university. 3. That 10 sections, also to be selected by the governor, should be granted to the state for the erection of public buildings. 4. That all the salt springs within the state, not exceeding 12 in number, should be the property of the state. 5. That 5 per cent. of the proceeds of sales of public lands within the state should be paid to the state to aid in the construction of highways. 6. That the state should never tax the prop- erty of the United States. These provisions were substantially the same as those in the act of admission which was signed by President Buchanan on Jan. 29, 1861, and would no doubt have been accepted by the people of the state in 1858 had it not been for the bitter feeling growing out of the arbitrary course of the Lecompton constitutional convention. (See Constitutional Conventions.)
Section I of the bill, which provided for the submission of the consti- tution to a vote of the people, in connection with the propositions of the preamble, was as follows :
"That the State of Kansas be and is hereby admitted into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, with the constitution framed at Lecompton; and this admission of her into the Union as a state is here declared to be upon this fundamental condition precedent, namely : That the said constitutional instrument shall be first submitted to a vote of the people of Kansas, and assented to by them, or a majority of the voters at an election to be held for that purpose. At the said
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election the voting shall be by ballot, and by indorsing on his ballot, as each voter may please, 'For proposition of Congress and admission,' or, 'Against proposition of Congress and admission.' The president of the United States, as soon as the fact is duly made known to him, shall announce the same by proclamation; and thereafter, and without any further proceedings on the part of Congress, the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever, shall be complete and absolute; and said state shall be entitled to one member in the house of representatives in the Congress of the United States until the next census be taken by the Federal government. But, should the majority of the votes be cast for 'Proposition rejected,' it shall be deemed and held that the people of Kansas do not desire admission into the Union with said constitution, under the conditions set forth in said proposition ; and in that event the people of said territory are hereby authorized and empowered to form for themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of the State of Kansas, according to the Federal constitution, and may elect delegates for that purpose whenever, and not before, it is ascertained, by a census duly and legally taken, that the population of said territory equals the ratio of representation required for a member of the house of representatives of the United States; and whenever thereafter such delegates shall assemble in convention, they shall first determine by a vote whether it is the wish of the people of the proposed state to be admitted into the Union at that time, and, if so, shall proceed to form a constitution, and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a state government, in conformity with the Federal constitution, subject to the limitations and restrictions as to the mode and manner of its approval or ratification by the people of the proposed state as they may have prescribed by law, and shall be entitled to admission into the Union as a state under such constitution, thus fairly and legally made. with or without slavery, as said constitution may prescribe."
The remaining sections of the bill described how the election should be held, etc. On the 30th it passed the house by a vote of 112 to 103, and the senate by a vote of 30 to 22. President Buchanan signed it on May 4. The submission of the Lecompton constitution to the people did not please the pro-slavery press, which denounced the bill as the "English Swindle," and some of the free-state men expressed their dis- satisfaction with the measure because there was a possible contingency of Kansas being admitted under a constitution to which they were so bitterly opposed. ยท However, on June 3 Gov. Denver issued his procla- mation calling an election under the bill for Aug. 2, when the Lecomp- ton constitution and the propositions of Congress were defeated by a vote of 11,300 to 1,788. As a matter of fact the English bill was a wise measure. It gave the people of Kansas an opportunity to express them- selves on a question that Congress had tried to settle without their voice, and it paved the way for the Wyandotte constitution, under which the state was finally admitted. (See Constitutions.)
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English, William H., lawyer, member of Congress and capitalist, was born at Lexington, Scott county, Ind., Aug. 27, 1822. He was educated at Hanover College in his native state, studied law, and before he was 23 years of age was admitted to practice in the Indiana supreme court. He served as deputy clerk of Scott county ; was chief clerk of the lower house of the state legislature in 1843; was principal secretary of the Indiana constitutional convention in 1850, and was elected a member of the first legislature under that constitution. In 1852 he was elected to represent his district in Congress, where he continued until 1861, when he resigned to engage in the banking business. While in Congress he was appointed on the conference committee to report a bill relating to the Lecompton constitution. (See English Bill.) In this capacity Mr. English showed himself to be the friend of fair play, as it was under the provisions of his bill that the proposition to admit Kansas under the Lecompton constitution was finally defeated, though he made many enemies among the administration members of his party. To these enemies Mr. English replied that the corner-stone of Democracy was the right of the majority to rule, and that the people of Kansas ought to have the right to express themselves upon a question which con- cerned them more than the people of any other state. During the time he was in Congress Mr. English was one of the regents of the Smith- sonian Institution. In 1880 he was the Democratic nominee for vice- president on the ticket with Gen. W. S. Hancock, which was his last appearance in public life. The balance of his life was devoted to literary work, and for several years he was president of the Indiana Historical Society. He died at Indianapolis, Feb. 7, 1896.
Enoch Marvin College .- About 1878 the Methodist Episcopal church South established an educational institution at Oskaloosa, Jefferson county, and named it Enoch Marvin College. Owing to sectional feel- ing, the college failed to receive local support sufficient to insure its success, and in 1880 the enterprise was abandoned. The building had been erected upon a tract of land dedicated to school purposes and so entailed that it could be used for nothing else. About 1904 the old structure was torn down and a high school building erected on the site.
Enon, a small hamlet of Barber county is situated about 14 miles east of Medicine Lodge, the county seat, and 4 miles from Sharon, which is the nearest railroad station. Mail is received by rural deliv- ery through the postoffice at Attica.
Enosdale, a little settlement of Washington county, is about 4 miles south of Morrow, the nearest railroad station, and 7 miles southwest of Washington, the county seat, whence mail is received by rural delivery.
Ensign, a rural postoffice of Hess township, Gray county, is located 14 miles southeast of Cimarron, the county seat, and 12 miles south of Wettick, the nearest railroad station. The population in 1910 was 41.
(I-38)
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Enterprise, an incorporated city of Dickinson county, is located on the right bank of the Smoky Hill river 6 miles east of Abilene, the county seat, at the junction of the Union Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railways. A set- ' tlement was started on the site as early as 1868, when C. Hoffman built a frame mill there. The following year Senn & Ehrsam opened a store, and in 1872 the Methodists erected a small church building. The town was not laid out, however, until 1872, when the survey was made by G. R. Wolfe, the county surveyor. In Jan., 1875, a town com- pany was organized with V. P. Wilson as president; John Johntz, vice-president; T. C. Henry, secretary, and C. Hoffman, treasurer. Before the close of the year several new business enterprises had been launched, a hotel was built by Edward Parker, and Mr. Hoffman erected a larger mill, which was used as a woolen mill until 1881, when it was converted into a flour mill with a capacity of 200 barrels a day. Five years later the population had grown to such proportions as to demand better educational facilities, and a new school house was erected at a cost of $7,000.
Enterprise has an appropriate name, as it is one of the most ener- getic and progressive cities of its size in Kansas. It has one of the largest flour mills in the state, machine shops, a manufactory of flour mill machinery, wall plaster works, 2 banks, a creamery, good hotels, a weekly newspaper (the Push and Journal), waterworks, graded pub- lic schools, a normal academy, and is the center of trade for a large and populous agricultural district. The population in 1910 was 706.
Entomological Commission, State .- The act creating the state ento- mological commission was approved by Gov. Hoch on March 1, 1937. It provided that the commission should consist of the secretary of the state board of agriculture, the secretary of the state horticultural society, the professors of entomology in the University of Kansas and the Agricultural College, and some nurseryman-a resident of Kan- sas-to be appointed by the governor for a term of two years. The act also appropriated $500 for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1908, and a like sum for the year ending on June 30, 1909.
The first commission was composed of F. D. Coburn, Prof. T. J. Headlee, Prof. S. J. Hunter, Walter Wellhouse and F. H. Stannard .. In the organization of the commission, Mr. Coburn was elected chair- man and Mr. Wellhouse secretary. Under the law, the commission was given authority to adopt rules for the inspection of nursery stock, seeds, etc., and was required to report annually on or before Dec. I. For the sake of convenience, and in order to conduct the work more systematically, the state was divided into two sections by a line run- ning east and west, as near the center as practicable, the northern half to be under the supervision of Prof. Headlee of the Agricultural College, and the southern under Prof. Hunter of the University of Kan- sas. Aided by the appropriation, although small, the commission began a careful study of the insects that work upon the crops, plants.
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and orchards of the state, and in the reports and bulletins issued there is much valuable information for the farmer and horticulturalist regard- ing the methods of destroying these insect pests, the spraying of fruit trees, the selection of nursery stock, etc.
Epileptic Hospital .- In the establishment of this institution the intention of the legislature. was to make it a third insane asylum, in order to relieve the crowded condition of the hospitals at. Topeka and Osawatamie. It was authorized by an act of the legislature of 1899, which provided that a site should be selected by a committee of the legislature-four senators and five representatives-and appropriated $100,000 for the erection of buildings. There was a spirited rivalry among a number of cities for the new hospital, and when the com- mittee decided to locate it at Parsons, the citizens of Clay Center insti- tuted injunction proceedings. The question was finally settled by the supreme court, which sustained the action of the committee, but the litigation delayed the erection of the buildings so much that the appro- priation lapsed. The legislature of 1901 reappropriated the unex- pended balance of the $100,000 so that the work could proceed without further delay.
STATE HOSPITAL FOR EPILEPTICS, PARSONS.
In the meantime, the state board of charities, in its report for 1900, said: "In the judgment of the board, it would be better to establish an epileptic colony, and thereby relieve the congested condition of the asylums, than to build a new asylum." Following this suggestion, the trustees of the state institutions reported in 1902, that "After a care- ful investigation of the subject, we decided to make the Parsons insti- tution one wholly for the treatment of epileptics, both sane and insane.
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The Parsons purchase is especially adapted to an institution of this character. The large acreage of land gives us plenty of work, and the epileptic patients are not only capable of work, but are benefited thereby."
With the appropriation a dormitory capable of accommodating 70 persons, two cottages capable of accommodating 30 each, and two capable of accommodating 16 each were erected, the institution being modeled after the epileptic hospital at Sonyea, N. Y. The legislature of 1903 made an additional appropriation of $200,000, with which the original five buildings were fully completed and five similar buildings were erected for women. In Oct., 1903, the institution was ready for occupancy and more than 100 epileptic patients were removed from the insane hospitals at Topeka and Osawatomie, and the hospital was opened with M. L. Perry as superintendent. Since the opening an administration building has been erected at a cost of $70,000; a barn, laundry, heating and power plant and a superintendent's residence have been built, and in 1910 the property of the institution was valued at $500,000. The legislature of 1905 designated the institution as the "State Hospital for Epileptics."
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