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 96
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Greenwood County, one of the original 33 counties erected by the first territorial legislature, is located in the southeastern part of the state, the fourth county west from the Missouri line, and in the third tier north from Oklahoma. It is bounded on the north by Chase and
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Lyon counties, on the east by Coffey, Woodson and Wilson, on the south by Elk, and on the west by Butler and Chase.
As first laid out Greenwood county comprised a square area about equal to the adjoining counties, but later Madison county was disposed of, half of it being given to Lyon county and the other half to Green- wood, which made it irregular in shape.
The first settlement was made in 1856, by people from the south who entertained pro-slavery views. All but one of them left at the breaking out of the war. The next spring a number of settlers came to Madison and Lane townships. Among them were D. Vinning, Austin and Fred Norton, Anderson Hill, Wesley Pearson, Mark Patty, Myrock Huntley, E. R. Holderman, William Martindale, E. G. Duke, James and W. F. Osborn, Issac Sharp and David Smith. In July of the same year the following persons settled in the same neighborhood: Josiah Kinnaman, Archibald Johnson, Peter Ricker, Adam Glaze, Jolın Baker, Wayne Summer and William Kinnaman. In the next two or three years the growth of the county in population was rapid, but most of the settlers being poor people, who had come to the new country to better their condition, money was an unknown quantity, and just as they began to realize a little income from their holdings the drouth of 1860 reduced them to the condition of starvation. Supplies could only be obtained in Atchison and had to be brought 160 miles by teams. Storms and exceedingly cold weather, together with the enfeebled condition of the teams from scanty rations, made it well nigh impossible to get food on which to subsist. Most of the stock died and the next spring found the settlers without animals with which to put in their crops. How- ever, those who were able to overcome this difficulty raised a good crop in 1861.
The various accounts of the organization of the county as well as the addition of a half of Madison county do not agree as to dates. However, there is an act on the statute books of 1860, whereby the county of Greenwood was organized, Eureka made the temporary county seat, and the following men were appointed commissioners : James Ashmore, A. Clark and H. B. Slough. The act further provided that the commissioners should divide the county into townships, not to exceed three, and establish election precincts, and that an election for county officers should take place on April 4, 1865. For some reason these instructions of the legislature were not carried out for the next legislature (1862) passed an act organizing Greenwood county, stating in the preamble that, as Madison county had been divided and half of it given to Greenwood county, and as the citizens of that territory given to Greenwood county had now no government it was thought expedient to organize Greenwood county. The division of Madison county then must have taken place prior to 1862 instead of in 1867, as given by some historians. The act of 1862 appointed as commissioners, R. H. Gas- soway. Franklin Osborn and M. E. Stratton, and directed them to meet at Janesville which was to be the temporary county seat. The com-
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missioners were instructed to divide the county into townships and to establish election precincts ten days before March 4, 1862, at which time an election should be held to choose county officers. The act further provided that the first regular election of a full corps of county officers should take place at the regular election in Nov., 1862, before which time the county was to be districted and a commissioner elected from each district.
The commissioners met on March 14 and divided the county into the following townships: Lane, Pleasant Grove, Janesville and Eureka. The election was held on March 24, but it does not appear for what purpose, the commissioners having already appointed the county officers as they had been instructed to do by the act. These officers as appointed were: Probate judge, I. M. Todd; county clerk, W. M. Hill; register of deeds, E. Tucker; sheriff, James Steel; county treasurer, William Martindale. C. Cameron became register of deeds in place of Tucker, who declined, and D. Nichols was made sheriff instead of Steel.
The county was bonded in 1871 for $30,000 to build a court-house, and $20,000 more was added before the edifice was finished.
Greenwood county suffered considerably during the war period. I was the scene of violence from all quarters. It suffered especially because its people were divided on the slavery question and wrought personal and property damage against each other. It was exposed to the attacks of hostile Indians and both the Southern and Union guer- rillas. Its villages were sacked and burned on a number of occasions. In 1861 a rough fort was built at Eureka and named in honor of Col. James Montgomery of the Tenth Infantry. It was erected by the home-guard under Capt. Benis and was occupied by them during the entire term of the war.
There was a strip of territory about 10 miles in width along the southern part of the county, that had belonged to the Osage Indians and was not opened to settlement until 1870. This interfered with the early development of the southern portion of the county.
The end of the war did not altogether end outlawry as is evidenced by the assassination of William and Jacob Bledsoe, who had been arrested on charge of horse stealing in 1865. They were arrested merely on pretext and it is thought they were murdered by their guard. A man by the name of Robert Clark was also brutally murdered in his cabin on the Verdigris in the presence of his wife and children in 1866, by an outlaw named Wash Petty. In 1874 O. C. Crookham was shot while gathering corn in his field, by Alexander Harman, who was rendered insane by the settlement of a business matter between the two relating to a mortgage held by Crookham on the property of Harman.
Railroad negotiations began as early as 1870, and a number of bond elections were held during the 'zos on propositions submitted by various roads. The bonds carried in almost every instance but the roads were not built. The first road to comply with its contract was the line of
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the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (at that time the Kansas City, Em- poria and Southern), which enters the county about midway on the north line and runs directly south through Eureka and Severy into Elk county. This was in 1879. The next was the St. Louis & San Fran- cisco, which was built in 1880. The third was what is now the Mis- souri Pacific, running directly across the central part of the county from east to west. This road reached Eureka in June, 1882. There are two other lines in the county, a line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe running along the east side of the county from Madison Junction to Toronto in Woodson county, and a line of the Missouri Pacific run- ning from Madison east into Coffey county.
At present there are 15 townships in the county, II having been added since the organization of the county. They are Bachelor, Eureka, Fall River, Janesville, Lane, Madison, Otter Creek, Pleasant Grove, Quincy, Salem, Salt Springs, Shell Rock, South Salem, Spring Creek and Twin Groves. The towns and mail stations are, Eureka, Barry, Carrol, Fall River, Climax, Fame, Flint Ridge, Hamilton, Hilltop, Ivanpah, Lamont, Lapland, Madison, Neal, Provo, Piedmont, Quincy, Reece, Ruweda, Severy, Star, Thrall, Tonovay, Utopia and Virgil.
The surface of the county, except for the bluffs along the streams, is undulating prairie. The bottom lands average one-half to one mile in width and comprise 10 per cent. of the total area. The timber belts which follow the streams are from 40 to 80 rods in width and contain hickory, burr-oak, Spanish oak, walnut, maple, elm, box-elder, mul- berry, black ash and locust. Of the geologic deposits, blue limestone is abundant in the north, sandstone in the south, magnesian limestone in the west, and potter's clay in the southwest. Mineral paint has been found in the central and southwestern portions of the county and there is a vein of cement several feet in thickness in the central west. There is a salt spring in the southeast.
Fall river, flowing through the county in a southeasterly direction, is the principal stream. The Verdigris, Willow and Homer, all in the northeast, join just beyond the county line. Spring and Otter creeks are the two largest tributaries of Fall river.
Of the 739,000 acres of land in Greenwood county, 525,000 have been brought under cultivation. The total yearly income from farm crops exceeds five million dollars. The value of the corn crop in 1910 was nearly three-fourths of a million, grass and hay crops over half a mil- lion, and live stock nearly three millions. Kafir corn, wheat, oats, Irish potatoes and poultry are other important products. The assessed valu- ation of property for 1910 was nearly $34,000,000. The population was 16,060, making an average wealth of more than $2,000 per capita.
Grenola, an incorporated city of Elk county, is located on the Caney river and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Greenfield town- ship, about 14 miles southwest of Howard, the county seat. It has banking facilities, a weekly newspaper, hotels, an opera house, good public schools and churches; is a shipping point for stock and agricul-
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tural products ; is supplied with telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 532.
Grenola was the result of the consolidation of two rival towns, Canola and Greenfield, which lay about 3 miles apart. When the rail- road came through in 1879 and passed half way between them, a new town was laid out to which both towns were moved. The Grenola postoffice was established in that year. Business houses and residences were put up in rapid succession, and the town soon had a population of 700. Due to the construction work on the railroad, things were prosperous but the town was not as orderly as it might have been. There were several well patronized saloons, and quarrels and shooting scrapes were frequent. This condition subsided with the removal of the construction hands to another division of the road.
The first school was taught in 1879 by John D. Simpson. The first newspaper, the Grenola Argus, was launched on its career in December of that year by John D. Stinson. The first religious services were held in the residences of the people, and in the school houses in the vicinity, by Rev. Mr. Vickers. He founded the first church in Grenola, which was of the Methodist faith. The first child born on the townsite was named Grenola Lee. She was given one of the best town lots.
Grenola became a city of the third class in the fall of 1885, such action being hastened by the differences arising between the temperance and saloon elements. The first officers were: Mayor, J. C. W. Crider ; treasurer, J. L. Barnes; clerk, M. W. Williams; police judge, C. A. Kelso; marshal, W. Hatchett; councilmen, William Dory, J. N. Aubu- shon, J. A. Weston, L. H. Smith and A. S. Browden.
Gretna, a village of Arcade township, Phillips county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 6 miles east of Phillips- burg, the county seat. It is a thriving little place with a grain elevator, general stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 75.
Gridley, one of the important little towns of Coffey county, is located at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe railroads in Liberty township, about II miles southwest of Burlington, the county seat. It has banking facilities, telegraph and express offices, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, and a good retail trade. The population according to the 1910 census report was 250.
Griffin, an inland hamlet on Owl creek, on the eastern line of Wood- son county, is about 12 miles east of Yates Center, the county seat. It receives its mail from Humboldt, Allen county, which is the nearest railroad station and shipping point.
Grigsby, a village of Scott county, is located in the eastern part of the county, in Keystone township, and is a station on the Great Bend & Scott City division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 10 miles east of Scott, the county seat. The railroad name is Grigston.
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It has a grain elevator, general stores, a hotel, an express office, tele- phone connections, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 75.
Grinnell, a little town in Gove county, is located in the township of the same name, and is on the Union Pacific R. R., 13 miles northwest of Gove, the county seat. It has 2 elevators, a newspaper (the Gove County Record), a number of mercantile establishments, a bank, tele- graph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 350. The first newspaper in Grinnell was the Golden Belt, established in 1885.
Gross, a post-village of Crawford county, is a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. 20 miles south of Fort Scott and 16 miles north- east of Girard, the county seat. It has telephone connections with the surrounding towns, an express office, and is a trading center for the neighborhood.
Groveland, a hamlet of McPherson county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 6 miles southwest of McPherson, the county seat. It has telegraphic communications, express office and post- · office. The population according to the census of 1910 was 20.
Grover, a hamlet in the extreme northwestern part of Douglas county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 15 miles north- west of Lawrence. It has rural free delivery from Lecompton.
Guelph, a discontinued postoffice in Sumner county, is located in the southeastern corner, 18 miles southeast of Wellington, the county seat, and 3 miles from Ashton, on the Kansas Southwestern, which is the nearest railroad station and shipping point. It gets its mail by rural delivery from Ashton.
Guerrillas .- The word guerrilla comes from the Spanish "guerra," which means war, and a guerrilla is one who indulges in a little war or an irregular warfare. During the early years of the Civil war the border line between the Northern and the Confederate states was infested by guerrillas. In a few instances these irregular soldiers favored the Union cause, but in a large majority of cases they were secessionists, and sometimes they cared more for plunder than they did for principle. William C. Quantrill (q. v.) was the great guerrilla leader in western Missouri and Kansas, all the others in that section of the country acting under him or in conjunction with him. Among the most notorious guerrillas of the western border were Upton Hays, John Thrailkill, Coon Thornton, Bill Anderson, Archibald Clements, Jesse and Frank James, Cole Younger and his brother, Bill Todd, Si Porter, William C. Haller, George Todd, William H. Gregg, Cy Gor- don, John Jarrette, Dave Poole, Lee McMurtry, George Shepherd, George and Dick Mattox, Dick Yeager (or Yager), Peyton Long and Fletcher Taylor.
Several of these men were only privates, but by their daring and blood-thirsty deed they won a notoriety that has carried their names into history, even though in a way that is unworthy of emulation.
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Frank James was never a leader among the guerrillas. He and the Youngers were at Lawrence in Aug., 1863. Jesse James had not yet joined Quantrill. After the war the James boys and the Youngers became noted outlaws.
Upton Hays went with Quantrill to Utah in 1858. He was in com- mand of the "Partisan Rangers" in western Missouri until succeeded by Quantrill in 1862. He then left that part of the country for a time, but later in the year returned to Jackson county, Mo., to raise a regi- ment for the Confederate service. Quantrill made a raid to attract attention while Hays was recruiting. Hays joined Col. John T. Hughes for an attack on Independence in August, and in the action was wounded in the foot. He succeeded, however, in capturing enough arms and ammunition to equip his 300 men.
A number of raids were made by guerrilla gangs into Kansas. In Oct., 1861, the town of Humboldt was raided by "Cols." Williams and Matthews, who sacked nearly every house and store in the place. About the same time the little town of Gardner, Johnson county, was plundered. On March 7, 1862, Quantrill raided Aubrey, a little town in the southeast corner of Johnson county, where he killed 3 men and destroyed considerable property. In June Bill Anderson made a foray as far west as Council Grove, killing 2 men and burning at least one house. On Sept. 6 and 7 Quantrill visited Olathe, where he destroyed or carried off a lot of property, and in October he made a descent upon Shawnee, Johnson county, and killed 7 citizens. Just before visiting the town he attacked the camp of a Santa Fe wagon train and killed 15 members of the escort. Humboldt was again visited in 1862-this time by "Col." Talbot, who burned several buildings, plundered right and left, and killed 4 or 5 citizens who tried to defend their homes.
On Aug. 15, 1862, Quantrill was commissioned captain in the Con- federate service and placed in command of a company of 150 men. William C. Haller was made first lieutenant; George Todd, second lieutenant, and William H. Gregg, third lieutenant. Whatever the acts of these men had been prior to that time, after that date they were sup- posed to be acting under the authority of a power that was engaged in warfare according to the rules adopted by civilized nations. In May, 1863, Jarrette, Younger, Clifton, and some other minor guerrilla leaders united their gangs with Quantrill's command for the big raid on Law- rence in August. (See Quantrill's Raid.)
In May, 1863, Dick Yeager left Missouri on the Santa Fe trail, crossed over into Kansas, and on the 4th encamped near Council Grove. That night he raided the little village of Diamond Springs, where he killed one man and wounded a woman. On the return trip he stopped at Rock Springs, a stage station near the line of Osage and Douglas counties, where he met and killed George N. Sabin, a soldier of Com- pany K, Eleventh Kansas, who had been at his home in Pottawatomie county on furlough and was on his way to rejoin his regiment. Seven miles farther on Yeager's men shot and seriously wounded David Hub-
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bard, then passed through Baldwin and Black Jack, where they robbed the stage, and then returned to Missouri, via Gardner.
Just after the raid on Lawrence, Quantrill passed through the old town of Brooklyn, where he did some damage, and on Oct. 6, 1863, his men ruthlessly massacred some Federal troops at Baxter Springs. (q. v.). Other depredations by guerrillas were in the vicinity of Mine. creek, where a number of settlers were driven from their homes, and at the towns of Potosi and Spring Hill. By the fall of 1863 the Union troops were so well organized along the eastern border of the state that guerrilla raids practically ceased.
Guilford, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., in Wilson county, is located in Guilford township 8 miles northeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 32.
Guittard Station, a hamlet of Marshall county, is located 8 miles northeast of Marysville, the county seat. It has a population of 28 according to the 1910 census, and receives mail from Beattie.
Guy, a small post-hamlet of Valley township, Sheridan county, is a station on the Union Pacific R. R. 8 miles east of Hoxie, the county seat. The railroad name is Tasco Station.
Gypsum, an incorporated city of Saline county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Eureka township, 18 miles southeast of Salina. It has banking facilities, telegraph and express offices, and an inter- national money order postoffice with three rural routes. The popula- tion in 1910 was 623.
Gypsum .- Technically, gypsum is a "native hydrated sulphite of calcium." In mineralogy it is classed as a "monoclinic mineral, rang- ing from transparent to opaque." It is usually colorless or white, though it is sometimes found gray, flesh-colored, yellow or blue. When found in transparent crystals it is called selenite; in the fibrous form it is known as satin spar ; in fine-grained, translucent masses it is called alabaster ; and in large beds of massive rock, mixed with clay. calcium carbonate, or other impurities, it constitutes the rock gypsum of com- merce, which is sold as land plaster, or when calcined as plaster-of- paris. Its origin is due to the evaporation of sea water in enclosed lakes or bays cut off from the ocean, to deposits of thermal springs, or to volcanic action. Gypsum is abundant in Kansas, both in the form of rock gypsum and as a fine powder of sand or dirt in the beds of the streams and marshes, and is believed to have been deposited by the first method when Kansas was an inland sea. Volume XI of the reports of the geological survey of Kansas made by the University of Kansas. gives an exhaustive account of the origin, nature and distribution of gypsum within the state. (See Geology.)
Gypsum was first discovered in Kansas by Thomas C. Palmer, who settled in Marshall county in 1857. Noticing that some rocks he had used about his camp fire had burned to lime, he used the product to "chink" his cabin. Subsequent investigation disclosed the fact that
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the rocks were gypsum. The following year Gen. F. J. Marshall burned some of the same kind of lime and plastered a house at Marysville. In 1872 Judge Coon and his brother began the manufacture of plaster- of-paris with a five barrel kettle at Blue Rapids, and three years later a stone mill was erected, which was conducted for about twelve years. In 1887 two companies were organized at Blue Rapids for the manu- facture of cement plaster, and one was organized at Hope, Dickinson county. A mill established at Salina in 1889 furnished the plaster for the buildings of the Columbian exposition at Chicago in 1893. This brought Kansas gypsum to the notice of builders, and in 1898 the American Cement Plaster company was organized at Lawrence. Fac- tories have since been established at Burns, Marion county ; Kansas City, Mo .; and Wymore, Neb., all of which use large quantities of gypsum from the Kansas deposits. The United States Gypsum com- pany, with offices in Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Minn., and San Francisco, manufacture a gypsum hollow tile for fireproofing, which has found favor with the architects of the country, and it is cer- tain that the next few years will witness a great development of the Kansas gypsum fields.
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Hackberry, a country postoffice in Gove county, is located on Hack- berry creek about 14 miles southeast of Gove, the county seat, and II miles south of Quinter, the nearest shipping point. The population in 1910 was 15.
Hackett, a village in the northern part of Franklin county, is situated in the valley of Eight Mile creek, about 6 miles northwest of Ottawa, the county seat, from which it has rural free delivery.
Hackney, a village of Pleasant Valley township, Cowley county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 6 miles south of Winfield, the county seat. It has a grain elevator, some general stores, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections and an international money order postoffice. It is a shipping point for a rich farming sec- tion and in 1910 reported a population of 40.
Haddam, an incorporated town of Washington county, is a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. in the township of the same name, 14 miles west of Washington, the county seat. It was founded in 1869, when J. W. Taylor opened a store there and a postoffice was established. West Haddam was started about the same time by a man named Whitney and for several years there was a spirited rivalry, the postoffice sometimes being located in one town and sometimes in another. In 1874 Whitney gave up the fight and removed his store to the present town. Haddam has 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Clipper), a telephone company, a township graded school, a good retail trade, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. It is a shipping point for a large agricultural district in the western part of the county. The population in 1910 was 408.
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Hageman County .- The Kansas legislature by the act of Feb. 26, 1867, created a county to be known as Hageman, with the following boundaries : "Commencing where the east line of range 21 west inter- sects the fourth standard parallel; thence south to the fifth standard parallel ; thence west to the east line of range 26 west; thence north to the fourth parallel; thence east to the place of beginning." These boundaries now include all the present county of Hodgeman except ten Congressional townships in the northern part of Ford county, being all of the two northern tier of Ford.
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