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 90
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I. Clays: The clays of the Dakota are numerous and variable in quality and bid fair to become some of the most valuable in the state, on' account of their great variety. In places they are almost free from iron, producing a clay approaching fire-clay in quality, which is very suitable for making light colored and buff colored brick and ornamental terracotta.
Benton .- Immediately overlying the Dakota, and conformable witlı it, we find the Benton complex of limestones and shales, aggregating a thickness of about 400 feet. It is composed almost entirely of alternat- ing beds of soft, light colored limestone and darkly colored, sometimes almost greenish shales, which in other places are practically black. The limestones are in broad thin layers much softer than the Coal Measures limestones, but substantially the same in chemical composition. They lend themselves readily to quarry purposes and may be broken readily into long slender pieces suitable for fence-posts, for which they are used to a great extent throughout the entire Benton area of the state. In fact, one riding east or west across the state on any of the trans-state railroads north of the Arkansas river can recognize when he is in the Benton area by the limestone fence-posts so readily seen from the car window. This fence-post zone is from 30 to 40 miles wide and prac- tically outlines the area throughout which the Benton formation covers the surface of the ground. The stone is so soft it can be cut with a car- penter's saw and shaped at pleasure. Upon exposure to the atmosphere
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it dries and hardens so that it becomes quite servicable for structural pur- poses, and many pretentious buildings are built of it.
The Benton shales thus far have been used but little in the economic arts, although, as shown from preliminary examinations, they are ser- vicable for making many kinds of brick, tile, and other clay products. Also, they are servicable for making Portland cement when properly mixed with calcareous material, as is shown by the plant at Yocemento in Ellis county, which uses the uppermost horizon of Benton shales mixed with the overlying Niobrara chalk for making Portland cement.
Niobrara .- Overlying the Benton and conformable with it we find the Niobrara shales and limestones, aggregating about 500 feet in thick- ness. The limestones are the famous Kansas chalk. The eastern limit of the Niobrara, which is also the western limit of the Benton, is an exceedingly irregular line stretching from the middle of the north side of Washington county southwestward, crossing the west side of the state about 8 or 10 miles north of the Arkansas river. Much of the area to the west is covered with Tertiary material, so that the exposure of Niobrara is confined principally to the valleys and bluffs of streams, although there is no doubt about it being a continuous formation under- neath the Tertiary.
This general outcropping border corresponds with the ideas advanced in speaking of the northward recession of the great inland sea, the extreme southwest corner of the state being occupied by the Dakota, then a strip of Benton along the Arkansas river, and now the Niobrara on top of the Benton as one travels westward and northward. On a geological map of Kansas one would find, therefore, comparatively small areas occupied by the Niobrara, but, could one by magic remove the Tertiary mantle, without doubt the Niobrara would occupy as large an area, probably much larger, than either the Benton or the Dakota.
The Niobrara limestone, or chalk, is distinguished from the Benton in physical properties principally by its thick, heavy beds rather than thin well-marked ones common to the Benton, and by the general chalky nature of the material. In chemical composition it is about as pure a limestone as is found in the state, ranging from 90 to 96 per cent. pure lime carbonate. It is particularly soft, so that it may be whittled with a knife or cut with a saw almost like shale. Here and there ground water has deposited silica within it, producing locally masses of agate and other silicious forms of rocks, some of which are of the moss-agate variety and fairly beautiful. The upper Niobrara, also, is noted for its abundance of fossils, reptiles and fishes which are found here and there wherever the Niobrara is exposed throughout the state.
Pierre .- In the extreme northwest part of the state some of the streams have cut through the mantle of Tertiary exposing Cretaceous rocks which usually are considered to belong to the Pierre, or Ft. Pierre, as it was previously called. Some parties have also thought that the Fox Hill was exposed in the vicinity of St. Francis, Cheyenne county, although usually this is considered Pierre. Both the Pierre and Fox
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Hill occur in much greater abundance farther to the north and north- west. How much of either of them underlies the Tertiary in Kansas probably never will be known, but so small an amount of each of them is actually found that their importance is correspondingly reduced.
Tertiary and Pleistocene .- As already explained, the western end of Kansas is covered by a veneering or mantle of material carried eastward by rivers from the great Rocky mountain area. This debris, or löess as it is now frequently called, covers the entire plains area from the foot- hills of the Rocky mountains eastward far into the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It consists principally of soil, sand and gravel, which in places seems to be reasonably well stratified, but which in general is practically void of structure. Here and there are coarse gravel beds extending miles horizontally and from 5 to 100 feet ver- tically, the sand and gravel of which is cemented together by calcium carbonate, forming a sandstone of variable hardness which has been called by different names, such as "mortar beds," "Tertiary grit," etc. This Tertiary mantle carries the vast amount of ground water found so abundantly throughout the plains area. Also, here and there it carries many fossils of vertebrae animals, important to the paleontologist. It seems that in geological age, the oldest of it is at least as old as the Loup
Fork Tertiary, while recent winds and river action has worked over the surface material until part of it, at least, and probably much of it, should be designated as Pleistocene. In general, it has quite the appearance of river alluvium and, broadly speaking, is about as regular in character as alluvium usually is, while in detail it differs very materially from place to place, again very much like river alluvium.
Gerardy, a little village of Washington county, is a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. 17 miles northeast of Washing- ton, the county seat, and 5 miles north of Hanover, from which place mail is delivered by rural carrier. The population in 1910 was 57.
Germaine Sisters .- One of the most thrilling instances of Indian atrocity that ever occurred in Kansas was the murder of an emigrant named Germaine, with several members of his family, and the carry- ing off of four daughters into captivity in the fall of 1874. In the early part of that year a great number of buffaloes were killed by hunters and frontiersmen, the hides being shipped east, the tongues used for food and the carcasses left to rot on the plains. This whole- sale slaughter of their main food supply exasperated the Indians to such an extent that the Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes and Arapahoes held a council and determined to make war upon the whites.
The Germaine family, consisting of the father, mother, one son and six daughters, was on the way to Colorado. On the morning of Sept. IO, 1874, they were attacked on the bank of the Smoky Hill river in western Kansas. Mr. Germaine, his wife and son were killed and scalped ; one daughter was shot; another burned to death, and the other four girls carried off to be subjected to a worse treatment than death.
The youngest girl was rescued from the Indians at a village on the
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banks of the Solomon river by James Cannon and Lieut. Whittemore, in command of 100 men of the Fifth United States infantry from Fort Wallace. A blizzard came up and the soldiers were forced to march to Fort Dodge, where it was learned from the rescued child that her three sisters were still captives. Later Mr. Cannon discovered that the girls were held at a Cheyenne village on Crooked creek, near the Cimarron river, about 40 miles from Fort Dodge, and he managed to rescue a second girl.
Gen. Pope was notified, and an expedition was started for the village. A messenger was sent to the band holding the girls to surrender to the authorities and the Indians returned to their agency, where they surrendered to Gen. Miles' command. The girls were sent to Fort Leavenworth, Gen. Miles was appointed their guardian, and Congress diverted $10,000 of the Indian annuities for their benefit. The income from this sum was to be used for their support during their minority and the principal divided among them when they became of age.
German Evangelical Synod of North America .- On Oct. 15, 1840, six German missionaries of Illinois and Missouri met at Gravois set- tlement in Missouri and there formed the German Evangelical associa- tion of the West. Many of the ministers of this organization had been ordained in the Evangelical church of Germany and sent to the United States by missionary societies of the Fatherland, and in many cases a large number of the church members had belonged to the United Evangelical church in Germany before coming to America. The movement, which gave rise to this association in Missouri, was felt in other parts of the country, and other unions were organized which joined with the Western association. The most important of these were: The German Evangelical association of Ohio, established in 1858; the German United Evangelical synod of the East, organized in 1860; the Evangelical synod of the Northwest, started in 1872; and the United Evangelical synod of the East, established the same year. In 1866 the name of the organization was changed to the Evangelical Synod of the West, and in 1877 to the German Evangelical Synod of North America.
The church is divided into seventeen districts, each district having charge of local affairs, and its officers responsible to the general synod. which meets every four years, being composed of ministerial, lay and teaching delegates elected by the district meetings.
During the two decades, from 1880 to 1900, the church made rapid progress, for in the latter year the synod had 922 ministers in the United States; 1,153 congregations and a membership of 203.574.
The movement of Evangelical unions in Kansas began in the early '6os, an Evangelical association having been formed at Humboldt. Allen county, in 1860, with a preacher named Dubbs as the first pastor. This was followed in 1861 by the Evangelical association of Leaven- worth.
The Marysville, Marshall county, German Evangelical association
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was organized in 1868 by A. Bathe, who in 1870 established the 'Ger- man Evangelical church at Stozenbach. In Douglas county, St. Paul's German Evangelical church was organized at Eudora in 1869, by B. C. Haus, with 15 members, and he became the first minister. A Ger- man Evangelical association was organized at Hiawatha, Brown county, in April, 1881, by Philip Fricker. The Evangelical association at Jewell City was organized in the spring of 1872 by L. Wegner, the first pastor. In July, 1882, a German Evangelical association was per- fected at Emporia with II members, by C. F. Erffmeyer, and the same year an Evangelical association was organized at Wyandotte, now Kansas City, Kan. Today the German Evangelical Synod of North America ranks tenth of all denominations in Kansas with a member- ship of 3,617.
Germantown, a little village in Mission township. Brown county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 10 miles south- west of Hiawatha, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and is the trading point for the surrounding country. The population in 1910 was 50.
Geuda Springs .- On the line between Cowley and Sumner counties is a remarkable group of salt springs that flow from 100 to 450 gal- lons each per hour, that have been known since the earliest settle- ment of that section. These springs are situated on a branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad, a little to the north of the town of Geuda Springs and about 7 miles from Arkansas City. The waters from these springs strongly impregnate the waters in the creeks in the vicinity. A lake formed by the creek near these springs has been greatly enlarged and improved by damning the creek and now covers about 50 acres, making it the largest body of salt water in the state. Geuda is said to be an Indian word, Ge-u-da, meaning healing springs, and the place must have been a well known stopping place with the Indians. Many improvements were made at the springs during the l'atter 'Sos, including bath-house and hotel, improving the lake, laying out drives, etc. Much of the water has been bottled and shipped to points in Kansas and adjoining states, an analysis showing them to contain sodium chloride, sodium phosphate, sodium bromide, sodium iodide, sodium nitrate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium biborate, potas- sium sulphate, lithium chloride, calcium sulphate, calcium bicarbonate, magnesium sulphate, magnesium chloride, iron bicarbonate, alumina, silica, and organic matter. About 1890 a dam with a flume outlet was built across the salt marsh just north of the springs, which was the means of covering the whole marsh with water and affording excellent boating.
Geuda Springs, an incorporated town of Sumner county, is located in Walton township, on the Kansas Southwestern railroad, 20 miles southeast of Wellington, the county seat, and near the mineral springs of the same name. It has a bank, a score or more of good retail stores, churches and schools, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 254.
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The main street is on the line between Summer and Cowley counties. The first house on the town site was built by George B. Green, the first drug store was opened by G. A. Cutler, the general store by J. R. Musgrave, and the first hotel, the Geuda Springs house, was built by James Stiner.
Gideon, a hamlet located in the central part of Douglas county, is about 8 miles southwest of Lawrence, the nearest railroad town, from which it has rural free delivery.
Gilbert, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Mitchell county, is located about 3 miles east of Beloit, the county seat, from which place it receives mail.
Giles, Fry W., one of the founders of Topeka, was born at Littleton, N. H., in 1819, a descendant of John Giles, who came from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1634. In the fall of 1854 Fry W. Giles left New England for Kansas, and on Dec. 4 of that year arrived at the place where Topeka now stands. He was secretary of the associa- tion that laid out the city, and it is said was the man who gave the name to the new town. In March, 1855, he was appointed postmaster, the first to serve in that capacity in Topeka. During the early settle- ment of the county he kept a private record of real estate transfers, which was later made the legal records of Shawnee county by act of the legislature. In 1857 he was elected county recorder and clerk, and in 1864 he opened the first bank in Topeka. Two years later he cook a partner and the business was conducted for some time under the firm name of F. W. Giles & Co. When the Topeka National bank was founded he became the first president of that institution. Mr. Giles was the author of a work entitled "Thirty Years in Topeka," which was published in 1886. In this work he relates many interest- ing incidents that occurred during that period-incidents that other- wise might have been forgotten. He died on June 9, 1898.
Gilfillan, a small village of Bourbon county, is the terminus of a short branch of the Missouri Pacific R. R. that connects with one of the main lines at Marmaton, 6 miles west of Fort Scott, from which place mail is delivered by rural carrier.
Gill, a little village of Western township, Logan county, is located on the Smoky Hill river about 16 miles west of Russell Springs, the county seat, and 4 miles southeast of Turkey Creek on the Union Pacific, which is the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and is a trading center for the neighborhood. The popula- tion in 1910 was 47. There is also a hamlet named Gill in the western part of Finney county.
Girard, the county seat of Crawford county, is situated near the cen- ter of the county at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the St. Louis & San Francisco railroads. It is also connected by electric lines with Franklin and Dunkirk. The town was laid out in 1868, when the railroad survey was made, by a company of which A. Danford was president and C. H. Strong was secretary. It was named
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Girard by Mr. Strong, after his old home town in Pennsylvania. The first dwelling was erected by C. H. Strong, who was appointed the first postmaster when the office was established in 1868. J. Alexander opened the first store. A second store was soon afterward opened by a man named Sinnet, and in Dec., 1868, James Hull erected a build- ing which was used as the first court-house. Owing to the troubles over the building of the railroad the growth of Girard was slow for a time, but by Feb., 1870, there were 140 buildings in the place. The first town trustees, appointed on Nov. 10, 1869, were L. F. Crawford, N. Sinnet, D. W. Burnett, W. E. Blandon and James Hull.
The first school house was built in 1869, and Maggie T. Hill taught the first school in the new building. A high school was established in 1882. The first newspaper-the Girard Press-was started in Nov., 1869, but did not live long. (See Newspapers.) In March, 1871, Girard was incorporated as a city of the third class, and at the election in April George Ryan was chosen mayor; A. J. Vickers, J. E. Raymond, E. Fanger, H. P. Grund and F. B. Andrus, councilmen. The first bank was started in June, 1871, by Frank Playter.
The Girard of the present day is a city of the second class, equipped with waterworks, electric lights, fire and police departments, a fine sewer system, good public schools, a number of churches, etc. It has 3 banks, 3 weekly newspapers (the Girard Press, the Independent News, and the Appeal to Reason), an international money order post- office with seven rural routes, a telephone exchange, an opera house, telegraph and express offices, good hotels, and a number of fine stores and residences. Among the industries are flour mills, an oil refinery, a creamery, cereal coffee, condensed milk, vinegar and fence factories, a stove works, an ice and cold storage plant, etc. Being located in the coal fields, a large number of the inhabitants are interested in mining operations, and large quantities of coal are shipped from Girard every year. The population in 1910 was 2,446.
Girls' Industrial School .- (See Industrial Schools.)
Glade, a village of Phillips county, is a station on the Atchison & Lenora division of the Missouri Pacific R. R. 6 miles south of Phillips- burg, the county seat. It was formerly known as Marvin, or Chil- licothe. Glade has a money order postoffice with two rural routes, telegraph and express offices, a good local retail trade, and is a ship- ping point of some importance. The population in 1910 was 175.
Gladstone, a small hamlet in the northwestern part of Phillips county, is located near the head of Driftwood creek, about 8 miles from Beards- ley, which is the nearest railroad station. Mail is received by rural delivery from Benkelman, Neb.
Glasco, an incorporated city of Cloud county, is located in Solomon township on the Solomon river and the Union Pacific R. R., about 20 miles southwest of Concordia, the county seat. It has 2 banks, an international money order postoffice with four rural routes, express and telegraph service, telephone connections, a weekly newspaper (the Sun),
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an opera house, graded and high schools, churches of the leading denominations, hotels, mercantile houses, etc. The population in 1910 was 720.
Gleed, Charles S., lawyer and writer, was born at Morrisville, Vt., March 23, 1856, a son of Thomas and Cornelia (Fisk) Gleed. In early life he came to Kansas, and from 1876 to 1880 he was a student in the state university, receiving from that institution the degree of A. B. He then became a student in the law school of the University of Kan- sas, and from 1880 to 1884 he was connected with the traffic and law departments of the Union Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. In 1884 he was admitted to the bar, and on June 28, 1888, he married Miss Mabel Gore of Lawrence, Kan. Mr. Gleed has served as editor of the Denver Daily Tribune; as president of the Kansas City Daily Journal, the Missouri and Kansas Telephone com- pauy, and the Bell Telephone company of Missouri; vice-president of the Pioneer Trust company, and as a director of the Atchison, Topeka (. Santa Fe railroad. From 1889 to 1893 he was a regent of the Uni- versity of Kansas. He has written many legal, economic and feature Articles for newspapers and magazines; is a life member and director of the Kansas State Historical Society, and belongs to various clubs in Topeka, where he resides, and elsewhere.
Gleed, James W., lawyer and brother of the above, was born at Mor- rasville, Vt., March 8, 1859. In 1879 he received the degree of A. B. from the University of Kansas, and from that time until 1882 was a tutor in Latin and Greek in that institution. He then received the degree of A. M., and for the next year was professor of Greek. In 1884 he received the degree of LL. B. from Columbia University. On Aug. 25, 1886, he married Miss Grace Greer of Topeka. From 1887 :) 1900 he was professor of the law of real property in the University f Kansas. In 1904 Columbia University honored him with the degree of LL. D. and in 1906 the same degree was conferred on him by Baker University. Mr. Gleed has served as general solicitor for the Missouri and Kansas Telephone company ; was for twelve years on the board of regents of the state university, and has contributed articles to maga- zines on educational and economic subjects. He resides in Topeka, where he is engaged in the practice of law.
Glen, a hamlet of Lincoln county, is located near the head of Spill- man creek, about 16 miles northwest of Lincoln, the county seat. Mail is delivered by rural carrier from the office at Cedron. Vesper, on the Union Pacific, is the nearest railroad station.
Glendale, a hamlet of Bourbon county, is situated about 8 miles north of Fort Scott, the county seat, from which it has rural free delivery.
Glen Elder, an incorporated town of Mitchell county, is located on the Solomon river and the Missouri Pacific R. R., in Glen Elder town- ship, 12 miles west of Beloit, the county seat. It has 3 hotels, 2 grain elevators, 2 banks, a weekly newspaper, express and telegraph offices and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes.
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The population in 1910 was 565. The town was established in 1871 by Neve & Spencer, and called West Hampton. The Glen Elder post- office, which was located half a mile north of this point, was moved and the town took the name of the postoffice. The promoters of the town built a large flour . mill. The Mitchell County Key, a green- back paper, was started by George E. Daugerty, who printed it by hand with a roller.
Glengrouse, a small village of Cowley county, is situated near the northeast corner of the county on Grouse creek, about 25 miles from Winfield, the county seat. The population in 1910 was 32. Mail is received from Atlanta by rural delivery.
Glenloch, a hamlet of Anderson county, is located in Jackson town- ship, on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 6 miles northwest of Garnett, the county seat. It has express and telegraph offices and a money order postoffice. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 50.
Glenn's Expedition .- Of all the expeditions that visited Kansas, or some portion of it, in the early part of the 19th century, less seems to be known regarding that led by Col. Hugh Glenn than any other. It appears to have been merely a party of adventurers, acting without official authority, and with no other object in view than to see the country and learn something of its possibilities. The best, and per- haps the only, account of the expedition is that found in the journal of Jacob Fowler, who was the chronicler of the undertaking. This journal was edited and published by Dr. Elliott Coues a few years ago, and from it the following facts regarding the expedition are taken.
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