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 92
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
Gov. Martin was inaugurated on Jan. 12, 1885, and the next day Gov. Glick retired from the office which he had held for two years, during which time he had endeavored to discharge his duties with fidelity and impartiality.
Globe, a hamlet of Douglas county, is located in the extreme south- western portion in the valley of Eight Mile creek, about 12 miles west of Baldwin, the nearest railroad town, from which it has rural free delivery. In 1910 the population was 47.
Goddard, an incorporated city of the third class in Sedgwick county, is a station on the Atcaison, Topeka & Sante Fe R. R. 14 miles west of Wichita, the county seat. It has a bank, grain elevators, general stores, graded schools, Baptist and Methodist churches, telegraph, express and telephone service, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The name was formerly Blendon. In 1910 Goddard reported a population of 225.
761
KANSAS HISTORY
Godfrey, a small hamlet of Bourbon county, is situated at the junc- tion of the Missouri Pacific and the St. Louis & San Francisco rail- roads, 7 miles south of Fort Scott, from which place mail is received by rural delivery.
Godfrey County .- This county was created by the first territorial legislature, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the south- east corner of Greenwood county ; thence south to the southern bound- ary of the territory; thence west 24 miles; thence north to the south- west corner of Greenwood; thence east 24 miles to the place of be- ginning."
In the original act the name is spelled "Godfroy." It was attached to Allen county for civil and military purposes and was never organ- ized as an independent political division of the state. By the act of June 3, 1861, the name was changed to Seward county, in honor of William H. Seward, and subsequently the territory was divided into the present counties of Elk and Chautauqua.
Goessel, a hamlet of Marion county, is located 18 miles southwest of Marion, the county seat, and 10 miles south of Lehigh, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., the nearest railroad station and shipping point. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 100.
Goff, one of the thriving towns of Nemaha county, an incorporated city of the third class, is located in Harrison township 15 miles south- east of Seneca, the county seat, at the junction of the two branches of the Missouri Pacific R. R. It was established by the railroad in 1880 and named after Edward H. Goff, a railroad man. In 1910 it had 422 inhabitants, a weekly newspaper, good banking facilities, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes.
Gognac, a country postoffice in Grant county, is located near the west line about 9 miles southwest of New Ulysses, the county seat, and 30 miles south of Hartland, the nearest railroad station.
Gold .- From the earliest period of history gold has had a strange fas- cination for the human race. To secure the yellow metal men have undergone all sorts of hardships. The lure of gold led Coronado (q. v.) to undertake an expedition into the wilds of North America in search of the wealthy province of Quivira. Since that time rumors of gold in what is now the State of Kansas have been repeatedly circulated. Du Pratz's map of Louisiana, published in 1757, has marked at the mouth of the Little Arkansas river "A Gold Mine." It may be, however, that this marking was due to a tradition that years before a party from New Mex- ico, while going down the Arkansas river in boats, was attacked at this point by Indians and all the members killed but one, who succeeded in making his escape after burying a large amount of money and treasure. In 1836 Jesse Chisholm guided a party to the place to search for this buried wealth, and other searching parties made investigations, but with- out success.
762
CYCLOPEDIA OF
William B. Parsons and O. B. Gunn both published in 1859 accounts of the gold mines in western Kansas. Parsons tells of a party being made up at Lawrence to go to the mines under command of J. H. Turney. These mines are in the vicinity of Pike's peak and have produced a large amount of gold, but they are now in the State of Colorado.
The Kansas City Journal of June 17, 1859, in giving an account of a trip down the Kansas river by the steamer Gus Linn, says: "Mr. Budd informs us that while the boat was aground near Topeka, some of the deck hands washed several particles of gold from the sand in the bed of the river. No claims have yet been sold, but it is really said that there is to be a daily express started from Leavenworth next week to the new diggings. The gold is a fact."
If the Leavenworth express. was started, or if any systematic effort was ever made to develop gold mines at Topeka, no account of the occur- rence has been preserved. The Kansas City Star of Feb. 25, 1896, pub- lished another report of mines having been found in Kansas. It says: "Gold has been found at Hollenberg, Kan., and is said to assay $16 to $20 to the ton. It is found in the sand and near a large creek. Hollen- berg is a German settlement in northeastern Kansas on the Grand Island road. According to the traditions of the country, gold was found in that locality by emigrants traveling to the far West in '42 and later. The excitement is increasing and people are coming into the little town in crowds from all directions."
But again the gold seekers were doomed to disappointment and the crowds departed almost as quickly as they came, leaving Hollenberg to pursue "the even tenor of its way" as a quiet little village of Washing- ton county.
About the time of the Hollenberg discovery, C. K. Holliday, hearing reports of tin along the upper course of the Smoky Hill river, sent a man to investigate. No tin was found, but an ore bearing a low percentage of zinc was discovered. A shaft was sunk to the depth of some 200 feet, and in experimenting with the shale a metal was found that bore a strong resemblance to gold. In the spring of 1902 a company was formed at Topeka for the purpose of making more extended investigations. Prof. Ernest Fahrig of the Philadelphia commercial museum was em- ployed to come to Kansas and examine the shale. Samples assayed by him showed about $3 to the ton. Machinery was brought from Phila- delphia and a special mill was erected at Topeka for the reduction of the ore. Another company established a mill at Smoky Hill, and a number of well known Topeka citizens invested in Trego and Ellis county lands. Among them were John R. Mulvane, C. K. Holliday, W. A. L. Thomp- son and Judge Frank Doster. For a time the press was filled with accounts of the development of the "Trego shales." Prof. Haworth of the state university and Prof. Waldemar Lindgren of the United States geological survey were skeptical as to the metal's being gold, and thorough tests demonstrated that their skepticism was founded on scientific facts. The Trego gold, while having the color, was lacking in
763
KANSAS HISTORY
specific gravity. When its true character became known the project of developing mines was abandoned, as the amount of zinc contained in the shale was so low that it could not be mined with profit.
Hazelrigg's History of Kansas (p. 252) tells of the establishment of a gold and silver refinery at Pittsburg in 1891, and also states that during the next four years several were started, the largest being located at Argentine. The statement is further made that in the four years one of these concerns refined 9,600,000 ounces of silver, and the author adds: "With an abundance of ore near, and possibly in this state, this work promises to become an important industry."
The prediction was not fulfilled, however. The smelters at Argen- time and Pittsburg were built to refine ores from Mexico, Colorado and Utah, and not with the hope of finding gold, silver or other valuable ores in Kansas. They were established upon the theory that the smelter should be near the center of manufacturing and transportation-a theory that was soon found to be false. The duty on fluxing ores from Mexico, and the impracticability of placing the smelter so far from the mines, caused the abandonment of the enterprise and resulted in the disman- tling of the smelter at Argentine, which was one of the largest in the United States.
With some people, the hope of finding gold in Kansas may linger, but with a large inajority of her citizens the belief prevails that the real gold mines of the state are in her corn, wheat and alfalfa fields.
Goode, a small hamlet in the northwestern part of Phillips county, is about 14 miles from Phillipsburg, the county seat, whence mail is deliv- ered by rural route. Long Island, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, is the nearest railroad station.
Goodin, Joel K., lawyer and legislator, was born at Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, Feb. 24, 1824. He received an academic education, after which he took up the study of law. Early in 1854 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and the following June located upon the Waka- rusa river in what is now Douglas county, Kan. He quickly espoused the free-state cause; was a delegate to the Big Springs convention ; was clerk of the lower house of the Topeka legislature until it was dispersed by Col. Sumner ; was secretary of the council in the free-state legislature of 1858, and the same year he began the practice of law in Douglas county, but soon afterward removed to Ottawa. In 1866 he was elected to represent Franklin county in the legislature, and was reëlected in 1867. While a member of the house he assisted in organizing the State School for the Deaf at Olathe. On Jan. 8, 1846, Mr. Goodwin married Elizabeth Crist of Bucyrus, Ohio. She died on May 21, 1870, and he sub- sequently married Mrs. Catherine A. Coffin, nee Taylor, a daughter of one of the early presidents of Baker University. Mr. Goodin died at Ottawa on Dec. 9, 1894.
Goodin, John R., judge and member of Congress, was born at Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, Dec., 14, 1836. His father John Goodin, was county treasurer for several terms, state senator in the Ohio state legislature and
764
CYCLOPEDIA OF
agent for the Wyandotte Indians at Upper Sandusky. In 1844 the family moved to Kenton, Ohio, and John was thus enabled to attend college. In 1854 he began to read law and was admitted to the bar three years later. In 1858 he married Naomi Monroe. Within a year they went west and located at Humboldt, Kan., where Mr. Goodin resumed his law practice. During the raid on Humboldt, in 1862 he lost everything. In 1866 he was elected to the Kansas state legislature ; the following year he was elected judge of the district court; was reelected in 1871. He was kept on the bench term after term, although a Democrat living in a district that was unaminously Republican, having been elected as the reform and opposition candidate. He resigned to take a seat in Congress in 1874. Two years later he was defeated for reelection, and in the later 'zos was a candidate for governor but was unsuccessful. In 1883, Judge Goodin moved to Wyandotte, now Kansas City, Kan., where he engaged in the practice of his profession until his death on Dec. 18, 1895.
Goodintent, a hamlet in the eastern uortion of Atchison county, is about 7 miles northeast of Atchison, the county seat, from which it has free rural delivery.
Goodland, the county seat of Sherman county and one of the most progressive cities in western Kansas, is situated almost in the exact geographical center of the county on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. It was settled in 1887. The railroad company established shops, round house and power house, coal chutes, and the largest stock yards between Topeka and Denver. The company also erected a fine passen- ger station and office building. Goodland has electric lights, water- works, a telephone exchange, 3 banks, 2 weekly newspapers (the News- Republic and the Sherman County Record), 2 opera houses, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. Among the industries are the railroad shops, flour mills, a cigar factory, grain elevators, etc. The city has spent in recent years about $750,000 for improvements, with the result that the streets are well paved, and practically all the sidewalks are of cement. Much of the progress is due to the energy of the commercial club, which is com- posed of the active business men of the city. A $20,000 high school building was erected a few years ago, and the graded schools are equal to those in any city of similar size. The fraternal organizations are well represented, especially the railroad orders, and the Freemasons have a fine temple. The population in 1910 was 1,993, a gain of 934 during the preceding decade.
Goodnow, Isaac T., educator, was born at Whitingham, Vt., Jan. 17, 1814. When fourteen years old he entered a store as a clerk. At the age of twenty he entered the Wilbraham Academy and for four- teen years was connected with that institution, first as student and later as an instructor. In 1848 he was elected to the chair of natural sciences in Providence Seminary at East Greenwich, R. I., which posi- tion he held until 1855, when he removed to Kansas, settling near Man- hattan. Two years later he went east and raised $4,000 for building
765
KANSAS HISTORY
a Methodist church at Manhattan. He was one of the founders of Bluemont College, which later became the State Agricultural College. In the interest of this institution he again went east and raised $15,000 in money, a library of some 2,000 volumes, and some scientific apparatus. As a member of the state legislature he secured the passage of a bill to locate the state university at Manhattan, but it was vetoed by Gov. Robinson. In 1862 and again in 1864 he was elected state superintendent of public instruction, and during his two terms he wielded considerable influence in laying the foundation for the pres- ent public school system of the state. He was appointed agent to dis- pose of the 90,000 acres of the agricultural college lands, and in 1869 was made land commissioner of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas rail- road. Mr. Goodnow died in 1894.
Goodrich, a village of Linn county, is situated in the northwestern portion, about 17 miles northwest of Mound City, the county seat. It is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R., has a money order postoffice and telegraph station, and in 1910 had a population of 90.
Goose Question .- Judge Lawrence D. Bailey, in an account of the border troubles in Kansas written for the Garden City Sentinel in 1887, says: "All who were actively and heartily in favor of making Kansas a slave state were pronounced 'S. G. Q.,' that is to say 'sound on the goose question,' and all others were abolitionists."
McNamara, in his "Three Years on the Kansas Border" (p. 143., tells how some pro-slavery men from Platte county, Mo., came into Weston on March 29, 1855 (the day before the election for members of the first Kansas legislature), with a live goose fastened on the top of a long pole, thus giving a "living demonstration" that they were sound on the goose question and ready to invade the territory for the purpose of voting.
Just how the expression originated, and for what purpose-if there was any fixed purpose-is rather problematical. A diligent search through the archives of the Kansas Historical Society fails to bring to light any information on the subject. It may have been a sort of password of some of the secret political organizations of that day, or it may have originated with some one in a spirit of levity and accepted by the pro-slavery advocates as a slogan. Whatever may have been its origin, the newcomer to Kansas territory was certain to incur the lasting displeasure, if not the mortal enmity, of the pro-slaverites if they discovered that he was not "sound on the goose question."
Gophers .- (See Prairie Dogs.)
Gordon, a little village of Butler county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 19 miles south of Eldorado, the county seat. It is in Walnut township, on the Walnut river, has a money order postoffice, an express office, and a good local retail trade, though the population in 1910 was only 28.
Gorham, a village of Big Creek township, Russell county, is located near the western boundary, and is a station on the Union Pacific R.
766
CYCLOPEDIA OF
R. 8 miles west of Russell, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice with one rural route, telegraph and express offices, a grain elevator, some good general stores, and in 1910 reported a population of 175.
Goss, Nathaniel S., naturalist, was born at Lancaster, N. H., June 6, 1826, a son of Nathaniel and Parmelia (Abbott) Goss. While he was still in his boyhood his parents removed to Wisconsin, where he married in 1855 Miss Emma Brown of Pewaukee, who died in a short time, and in the spring of 1857 he came to Kansas, having been one of the first settlers of the city of Neosho Falls. In 1860 he was com- missioned major in the Kansas militia, and in 1863 was made lieutenant- colonel of the Sixteenth militia regiment, with which he was engaged in active service in southwestern Kansas. After the war he was appointed register of the United States land office at Humboldt, but resigned to become land attorney for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad, and later held a similar position with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. Mr. Goss is better known, however, for his work as a naturalist. His opportunities to acquire an education in early life were very limited. Unable to study in the schools established by man, he studied nature. Birds had a peculiar attraction for him. As a boy he loved them, and learned many interesting facts concerning their habits, etc. As he grew older he took up the work of gathering and pre- paring specimens of birds from every quarter of the country. In 1881 this collection-which is one of the finest in existence-was presented to the State of Kansas, with the understanding that it should be known as the "Goss Ornithological collection," and that he should be the cus- todian of it as long as he lived. The collection is now in the state capitol at Topeka. In 1883 Mr. Goss was elected a life member of the American Ornithological Union in recognition of his work. His later years were spent in writing a history of the "Birds of Kansas," which was published a short time before his death. Mr. Goss died suddenly of heart trouble at Neosho Falls, March 10, 1891. He was buried at Topeka, the funeral services being conducted in the senate chamber.
Gove, the county seat of Gove county. is centrally located II miles south of Grainfield on the Union Pacific, the nearest shipping point. It is an incorporated city of the third class, has a bank, a weekly news- paper (the Gove County Republican-Gazette), over a score of mer- cantile establishments, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 196. Gove was founded in 1885. A number of buildings were at once erected and a telephone line to Grainfield was installed. It was made the county seat in 1886. In Jan., 1888, it was organized as a city of the third class. At that time it had a fine two-story brick school house, a two-story court-house and a newspaper, bank and stores, and a brick plant. The Gove county high school is located here.
Gove County, in the western part of the state, is the third from the west line of the state, the third south from the Nebraska line and the fifth north from Oklahoma. It is bounded on the north by Thomas and
.
767
KANSAS HISTORY
Sheridan counties, on the east by Trego, on the south by Lane and Scott, and on the west by Logan county. The first settlements were made in the latter 'zos. The Union Pacific railroad was built through this section of the state about that time and the first towns were estab- lished along the railroad. Buffalo Park was the first town. It was established about 1878. One of the most important early settlements was the Bristol colony, which came from Bristol, Bucks county, Pa., in 1879. Its officers were: President, M. E. West; secretary, R. Robin- son; treasurer, R. Shaw. Eleven families constituted the party. They came first to Buffalo Park and after prospecting through the surrounding territory located southwest of the town. The people found native build- ing stone to construct buildings, plenty of good grass for cattle, and water at an average depth of 50 feet. There was no timber and the government granted timber claims, whereby the claim holder was required to plant ten acres of timber. Hundreds of these timber claims were taken, resulting in the planting of thousands of acres of trees.
In 1879, the legislature erected Gove county and bounded it as fol- lows: "Commencing at the northeast corner of township 10 range 26 west; thence west on said township line to the east line of range 30 west; thence south on said range line to the north line of township 15; thence east on said line to the west line of range 25 west; thence north on said range line to the place of beginning." The present boundaries extend to the east line of range 32, and to the south line of township 15 Gove township, as it was called at that time, was attached to Ellis county for judicial purposes. In 1881 the legislature removed it from Ellis and attached it to Trego.
The drought of 1880 was rather severe in Gove county and reduced many families to destitute circumstances. Outside aid was sent in and much suffering relieved in this way. There were several little towns in the county by this time, and two newspapers were established in this year, the Grainfield Republican and the Buffalo Park Express.
In 1886 the governor appointed L. F. Jones census taker. He made his returns in August, showing that the population was 3,032, of whom 851 were householders, and that there were $549,909 worth of taxable property. Two petitions were sent in on the county seat matter, one asking that Grainfield be made the temporary county seat and the other asking the same thing for Gove. Delegations from each town went to Topeka to interview the governor, help count the names on the petitions, and to prefer charges of fraud against each other. Originally the peti- tion for Gove had 612 names and that from Grainfield 336. Some of the names on the Gove petition were not on the census taker's list, which cut the Gove majority down to 71. Then it was found that some of the names on the Grainfield petition were open to the same objection, and after a thorough investigation the governor proclaimed Gove the tempor- ary county seat. The following officers were appointed: Commission- ers, Jerome B. McClanahan, William T. Stokes and Lyan Raymond; clerk, Dell A. Borah. The election was held at the time of the general
768
CYCLOPEDIA OF
election on Nov. 2, 1886, and Gove was made the permanent county seat, in spite of the offer of Grainfield to furnish the site, put up a $6,000 court- house and buy $1,200 worth of books. The officers chosen were as follows: Clerk, Dell A. Borah; sheriff, J. W. Hopkins; probate judge, C. E. Hebard ; treasurer, George S. Dyer ; register of deeds, L. F. Jones ; clerk of the district court, U. W. Ohlinger; superintendent of public instruction, G. G. Lehmer; attorney, R. C. Jones ; surveyor, F. B. Cope; coroner, David Blackwell; commissioners, Lyman Raymond, J. W. Campbell and Gustavus Peterson.
By this time there were 8 towns in the county, and 41,590 acres of cultivated soil. The settlers had recovered from the hardships of the early beginnings and most of them were raising fair crops.
Gove county is divided into nine townships, viz: Baker, Gaeland, Gove, Grainfield, Grinnell, Larrabee, Lewis and Payne. The postoffices in the county are, Gove, Alanthus, Ball, Campus, Catalpa, Coin, Grain- field, Grinnell, Hackberry, Jericho, Jerome, Orion, Park, Quinter, Tweed and Valhalla. The surface is undulating with bluffs and rough lands along the streams. Bottom lands average one-half mile in width. The largest stream is the Smoky Hill river which flows from west to east through the southern part. Two branches of Hackberry creek enter in the northwest and join two other creeks near the center of the county, forming the larger Hackberry creek which continues in a southeasterly direction, joining the Smoky Hill in Trego county. Gypsum, limestone and mineral paint are found in considerable quantities.
Winter wheat, corn, barley and sorghum are the principal field crops. Live-stock raising is profitable. The value of the farm products in 1910 was $1,194,476, of which field crops amounted to over $1,000,000, live stock, poultry, eggs and dairy products making up the balance. The population of the county in 1910 was 6,044, which was nearly three times that of 1900. The assessed valuation of property was $10,373,486. The school population is 1,437, and there are 46 organized school dis- tricts.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.