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, Volume II > Part 14
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As thus defined Leavenworth embraced essentially the present county and that of Wyandotte, which was detached and erected as a separate county in 1859. It was named in honor of Gen. Henry Leavenworth, an officer in the United States army. At present the county is bounded on the north by Atchison county ; on the east by Wyandotte county and the Missouri river, which separates it from Missouri; on the south by Wyandotte, Johnson and Douglas counties ; and on the west by Douglas and Jefferson. It has an area of 455 square miles and is divided into the following townships: Alexandria, Delaware, Easton, Fairmount, High Prairie, Kickapoo, Reno, Sherman, Stranger and Tonganoxie.
In the eastern portion, along the Missouri river, the land is broken and hilly in places, but the western and southwestern portions are rolling prairie. The river and creek valleys average from a half mile to a mile and a half in width and comprise about one-fourth of the area. The uplands are somewhat sparsely wooded and artificial groves have
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been planted in many places. Timber belts along the streams contain all varieties of trees native to Kansas. The principal water courses are the Missouri and Kansas rivers. The largest tributary creeks are Little Stranger, Tonganoxie, Nine Mile, Salt, Wolf and Kaw. Leavenworth county is in the front rank in the production of Irish potatoes and sorghum. Winter wheat, corn, oats and hay are also extensively raised. There are over 300,000 fruit trees of bearing age in the county, and it also ranks high in live stock raising. Limestone and sandstone for building are abundant and are extensively quarried near Leavenworth. Gray limestone is found in the bluffs and blue limestone on the lower lands. Red and yellow ocher exist south of the city of Leavenworth; in the west and southwest cement rock of a good quality is plentiful ; potter's clay is common in several localities ; a great part of the county is underlaid with a bed of coal, which has for many years been mined at Leavenworth and at the state penitentiary at Lansing.
The first whites to visit the country now embraced within the bounds of Leavenworth county were the French traders and explorers who came up the Missouri river early in the eighteenth century. A Jesuit mission was established on the Missouri river, in what is now Leavenworth county, for the support of which "600 livres" were appropriated annually, and this was the first mission in what is now the State of Kansas. By 1757 the Missouri river route to the west was known to the French voyageurs and fleets of boats came down the river each spring laden with furs bought from the Indians at the headwaters.
In the spring of 1827, Col. Henry H. Leavenworth was directed to ascend the Missouri river and select a site for a permanent post. (See Fort Leavenworth.)
In 1833 a Methodist mission was established in what is now the north- eastern part of Leavenworth county, and the following year the Cath- olic church established a manual labor school for the Indians in what is now Kickapoo township, but as they did not take kindly to work it was abandoned. Thus, outside of the fort, the missionaries were the first to locate permanently. In 1844 Maj. Robert Wilson established a trading post in Salt creek valley, but sold out in 1852. The first white settlers in Leavenworth county who had any legal right to locate within the territory were the farmers who came to cultivate the lands on the military reservation and the missionaries of the immigrant Indians. The pro-slavery residents of Platte and other Missouri counties, who favored the establishment of slavery in Kansas, knew of the rich and val- uable land held by the Indians just across the line and only waited for its cession to come in and take claims. When the treaties were made they did not wait to learn the provisions for the sale of the lands, but rushed across the river and staked out claims. So great was this influx that by the close of June, 1854, there was scarcely any land that had not been claimed by settlers from across the border. The first land claimed after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, in what is now Leavenworth county, was that where the present city of Leavenworth
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(q. v.) stands. On June 10, 1854, the squatters who had taken claims near the fort in Salt creek valley held the first "squatter meeting" in the territory. Two squatters' associations-the Leavenworth County and the Kansas-Delaware association-were formed for the purpose of preventing non-residents from taking up land. At one of the meetings a disagreement arose between a man named McCrea, who had a claim near the fort, but not on the trust land, and a man named Clark. This led to a fight in which McCrea shot Clark so that he soon died. The pro-slavery men claimed that William Phillips handed McCrea the revolver, and he was ordered to leave the county. When he did not leave a vigilance committee, after warning him, took him to Weston, tarred and feathered him and rode him through the streets on a rail. This was really the first clash between the free-state and pro-slavery factions, but it did not deter settlers from coming into the county and making permanent homes. Subsequently several prominent free-state men of Leavenworth county were arrested upon various charges and ordered to leave the territory. On May 31, 1856, a meeting was called at Leavenworth at which a vigilance committee of pro-slavery men was appointed to notify some of the most active free-state advocates to leave the territory, but Gov. Shannon's proclamation ordering all committees organized for the purpose of driving settlers out of the ter- ritory to disband broke up the committee in Leavenworth county.
A band of regulators was formed in Leavenworth county, with Frederick Emery as captain, and a reign of terror was again com- menced. Armed men patrolled the river and turned back boats which brought suspected free-state immigrants. The road from Leavenworth to Lawrence became known as "The Devil's Highway," and some of the pro-slavery men vowed that no free-state settler could travel on it between the two towns. Rev. Ephraim Nute, the Unitarian minister of Lawrence, John Wilder, a merchant of Lawrence, and a Mrs. Hoope were taken on the road and the men held as prisoners of war, the woman being allowed to go down the river. The "Regulators" under Emery killed William Phillips in the name of "law and order," entered the homes and stores of free-state men and turned them out of doors. Many of the citizens were placed on board vessels bound for St. Louis and other points down the river. When Gov. Geary arrived he soon put a stop to the actions of the regulators. From this time oppression and cruelty because of politics began to die down in the county, although hostilities were kept alive in the city of Leavenworth until violent means were used to bring about peace.
Leavenworth county was organized by the first session of the ter- ritorial legislature. When the commissioners met Gov. Reeder had been removed, and the commissions of John A. Halderman, as probate judge ; Joseph M. Hall of Leavenworth, and Matthew R. Walker of Wyan- dotte, were signed by Daniel Woodson, the acting governor. The first meeting of the board was held on Sept. 7, 1856, at the warehouse of Lewis Rees in Leavenworth. James M. Lyle was appointed clerk of
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the board, and ex-officio recorder and clerk of the probate court. At this meeting the commissioners divided the county into Kickapoo, Dela- ware, Leavenworth, Alexandria and Wyandotte townships. They also appointed M. P. Rively, treasurer; L. T. Moore, assessor; Bennett Burnham, surveyor; Green D. Todd, sheriff ; and James Blake, coroner. The constables and justices of the peace were appointed within a short time, and the county was thus permanently organized. No town had been named as the county seat and the board appointed A. Dawson, Martin Hefferlin and Samuel H. Burgess judges for an election to be held on the second Monday in October to decide upon a permanent location. Eight miles above Leavenworth was Kickapoo City, a strong pro-slavery settlement, and 6 miles down the river was Delaware City, a flourishing community, with many advantages to offer. The election was therefore a hard triangular fight for the location of the county seat. Pro-slavery voters were imported from Missouri to Kickapoo and Delaware. Kickapoo won, and when this was learned Delaware City 'opened the polls a second day, which resulted in the greatest num- ber of votes being cast for Delaware. A legal contest followed with a decision in favor of Delaware. A county building of two rooms was erected and the county offices removed there on Feb. 20, 1857, but the triumph of the town was short lived, as the legislature of 1857 ordered a new election, at which Kickapoo City received a majority of votes cast. Leavenworth petitioned that the Kickapoo votes be cast out as illegal, on the ground that the voters had not been confined to the county. It was finally decided that Leavenworth received the greatest number of legal votes and was declared the county seat. Jeremiah Clark donated land for the court-house square, which was accepted. This was the east half of "Block 13." The county purchased the other half for $13,000, and $35,000 worth of county bonds were voted for the erection of county buildings. Notwithstanding this celerity, the county offices were located in the city hall for many years and it was not until 1873 that the court-house was erected. It is estimated that the entire cost of the county buildings when completed aggregated $175.000. In May. 1860, a tract of 200 acres of land was purchased about 4 miles southwest of Leavenworth for a county poor farm, on which a county house and contagious hospital were erected, the entire property being valued at over $12,000.
The first school districts were established in 1858, with George E. Budington as superintendent, but the first school in Leavenworth and also in the county is supposed to have been started in May, 1855, by Rev. J. B. McAfee, who purchased a small building near the levee for religious' purposes. Here was taught the first public school in the county. In 1851 the Catholic diocese of Leavenworth was created as a mission. The first mass was said in the county in 1854. The Meth- odists held meetings in 1854. A church was built in 1857. In Jan., 1856, the Presbyterian's organized at Leavenworth the first church of this denomination in Kansas. During the late .'50s and early '6os other
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denominations followed. The Herald was the first newspaper in Leavenworth county and in the territory, the first number being issued Sept. 15, 1854. The state penitentiary is located 5 miles south of Leaven- worth. (See Penitentiary, State.) The Federal military prison was built on the military reservation of Fort Leavenworth in 1874, and the Federal prison, for offenders against the laws of the United States is also located there. The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Federal) is situated on a beautiful site of ground south of the city of Leavenworth. In the vicinity of the home has grown up a considerable city called National Military Home.
At the opening of the Civil war both the city and county of Leaven- worth were better populated than many of the towns and counties of Kansas which lay to the west, and it was but natural that many troops should be raised. Union men and their families who had resided in the border counties of Missouri came in considerable numbers to Leaven- worth for protection and their numbers swelled the ranks of the volun- teers. Many of the leaders who gained a name for bravery and courage during the great conflict called Leavenworth home. Cutler, in his His- tory of Kansas, says: "By the 20th of May, 1861, eighteen companies were organized." After that date the following companies were raised : Kickapoo Guards, Black's Guards, Leavenworth Mercantile Guards, Leavenworth Light Cavalry, Lyon Guards, Third Ward Guards, Fourth Ward Guards, Old Guard and the Union Guards (cavalry). Leaven- worth county was represented in many of the Kansas regiments and some of her bravest men were officers.
The Kansas Pacific railroad was started at Wyandotte in 1863 and completed to Denver within two years. Leavenworth became one of the terminals. This began a new era in railroad building and since that time a number of roads have been built in the county until today trans- portation and shipping facilities are provided by the main line of the Union Pacific. Three lines of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, a line of the Missouri Pacific from Kansas City, the Leavenworth, Kan- sas & Western, a branch of the Missouri Pacific which enters the county on the east and crosses west into Jefferson county, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. The Kansas City & Leavenworth electric rail- way runs southeast from Leavenworth and connects the two cities. There are over 182 miles of main track railroad in the county.
In the spring of 1911 the court-house in Leavenworth burned and the county offices were temporarily located in business blocks until provision was made for a new county building. The population of the county in 1910 was 41,207.
Leavenworth, Henry, soldier, was born at New Haven, Conn., Dec. 10, 1783, a son of Col. Jesse and Eunice. (Sperry) Leavenworth. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Danville, Vt., where he was educated. He then read law with Gen. Erastus Root of Delhi, N. Y., and upon being admitted to the bar formed a partnership with his precepter which lasted until 1812, when he was appointed a captain in
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the Twenty-fifth U. S. infantry. A few months later he was made major; was wounded at the battle of Niagara on July 25, 1814, and the following November was brevetted colonel. The next year he went to Prairie du Chien as Indian agent, and on Feb. 10, 1818, was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth U. S. infantry. While on duty in the West he built several military posts, one of which is Fort Leavenworth, Kan., now one of the leading military establishments of the country. In 1825 he was made brigadier-general by brevet, and in 1833 received the full rank of brigadier-general. He died at Cross Timbers, Ind. Ter., July 21, 1834, while leading an expedition against the Pawnee and Comanche Indians. His regiment erected a monument at Cross Timbers.
Lebanon, the second largest town in Smith county, is located in Oak township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 13 miles east of Smith Center, the county seat. It has 2 newspapers (the Times and the Argus), and a monthly publication (the Gospel Herald). There are 2 banks, an opera house, a score of well stocked retail establishments, telegraph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with five rural routes. The population in 1910 was 731.
Lebo, one of the principal towns of Coffey county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Lincoln township, 16 miles north- west of Burlington, the county seat. It is an incorporated city of the third class, has 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Enterprise), live mercantile interests, good schools and churches, express and telegraph offices and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 560.
Lecompte, Samuel D., first chief justice of the Territory of Kansas, was born in Dorchester county, Md., Dec. 13, 1814. At the age of sixteen years he entered Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, but remained only to the close of his sophomore year, when he went to Jefferson College, Pa., and graduated there with honors in 1834. After leaving college he studied law with Henry Page, a distinguished lawyer of Maryland, and upon being admitted to the bar began practice in Carroll county, Md. In 1840 he was elected to the state legislature; was a candidate for elector for Gen. Cass in 1848; was a candidate for Con- gress in 1850 as a Democrat but was defeated, the district being largely Whig. Early in 1854 he removed to Baltimore, and in October of the same year was appointed by President Pierce chief justice of the ter- ritory of Kansas, which position he held until March 9, 1859. Upon retiring from the bench he located in Leavenworth and opened a law office. After the close of the Civil war he renounced his political beliefs and became a Republican. Judge Lecompte took an active part in politics ; served four years as probate judge of Leavenworth county; represented the county in the state legislatures of 1867-68, and on April 15, 1874, was elected chairman of the Republican congressional com- mittee of the First district. In 1887 he went to Kansas City to live with his son and died there on April 24, 1888.
Lecompton, a town of Douglas county, is located on the Kansas river
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and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. II miles west of Lawrence, the county seat. The first settlement on or near the town site was made in 1854 by A. W. and A. G. Glenn, father and son. , They were followed by David Martin, G. W. Zinn and others that year, and a considerable number of settlers came in 1855 and 1856. The Lecompton town com- pany was organized at the Pottawatomie Indian agency with Samuel D. Lecompte, president ; John A. Halderman, secretary ; Daniel Wood- son, treasurer ; and George W. Clark, Chauncey B. Donaldson and Wil- liam R. Simmons members. The company held its meetings at West- port, Mo., and on May 14, 1855, the officers reported that the town site, which consisted of 600 acres, had been surveyed by D. H. Harting with the design and intention of making Lecompton not only a large city but also the capital of the state. In 1855 the territorial legislature authorized the erection of a capitol building in the eastern part of the town on an eminence overlooking the Kansas valley on a tract of 10 acres donated by the town company. Had the building been completed according to the original design it would have cost $500,000, provided Congress could have been induced to continue the appropriations. (See Capitol.)
A frame hotel called the American was built in the spring of 1856; the National hotel was built the next fall; the Rowena hotel, a large three-story stone structure, was erected by the town company in 1856 and is the only one that withstood the years of strife. The postoffice was established in the winter of 1855-56, with Dr. Aristides Roderigue, the first physician, as postmaster. Lecompton was incorporated by the first territorial legislature with the following limits: "Commencing in the middle of the Kansas river, at a point which shall be designated by the surveyor now engaged in laying out and platting said town site; thence running in such manner as shall be designated by said surveyor throughout the entire limits of the town or city." Lecompton was made the county seat of Douglas county by the same legislature. The second and third sessions of the legislature met at Lecompton. During this period the town was at the height of its prosperity and gave promise of being one of the largest and most prosperous settlements in the territory. It was the seat of government, had a number of large hotels that were usually full; four church organizations; the United States land office; and was the headquarters for the stage line to Kansas City, Leavenworth and St. Joseph, Mo. It had a population of nearly 1,000 inhabitants and lots in the heart of the town sold at $500 or more, but with the downfall of the slave power in the territory progress was arrested and within a short time her glory began to wane. When Topeka was made the capital it was a death blow to Lecompton and all her interests took a downward tendency. Dwelling houses were removed, some to the nearby towns, some to farms in the vicinity, others fell to pieces, weeds grew in the once busy streets; work upon all public buildings ceased and the ruins were left to stand as ghastly reminders of the blasted hopes that had been so high. The population (II-9)
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rapidly diminished to about 300 and remained at that figure for a num- ber of years. In 1881 the town began to improve with the completion of the university building. Subsequently Lane University was removed to Holton. (See Campbell College.) Lecompton has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, and in 1910 reported a pop- ulation of 386.
Lecompton Constitution .- (See Constitutions and Constitutional Conventions.)
Lee, Albert Lindley, jurist, soldier and banker, was born at Fulton, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1834, a son of Moses and Ann (Case) Lee and a descendant of William Lee, who settled on Long Island in 1681. He was educated at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., where he graduated in 1853. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York city until 1858, when he came to Kansas and was one of the founders of the Elwood Free Press. In 1859 he was elected district judge of the Second district, composed of Atchison, Brown, Marshall, Doniphan and Nemaha counties. At the outbreak of the Civil war he entered the Union service as major of the Seventh Kansas cavalry, of which he subsequently became colonel. In May, 1862, his regiment was ordered to Mississippi. He commanded the Second cavalry brigade at the battle of Corinth and afterwards took part in the Mississippi campaign. In Jan., 1863, he was appointed brigadier-general, his commission dating from Nov. 29, 1862. During the operations around Vicksburg he acted as chief of staff under Gen. McClernand. While in command of a brigade at the assault on Vicksburg he was severely wounded in the head. Upon his recovery he was placed in command of the cavalry divison of the Thirteenth army corps, which was ordered to New Orleans. There he was appointed chief of cavalry, Department of the Gulf, and was in command of the cavalry during the Red river cam- paign in 1864. He took part in the White river, Ark., expedition, after which he was placed in command of the cavalry division, with head- quarters at Baton Rouge. In Jan., 1865, he was ordered to New Orleans but resigned in May. He was editor of a newspaper in New Orleans for a time, then engaged in business in New York city and became a banker. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Loyal Legion and Union League Club. He died in New York city Dec. 31, 1907.
Leeds, a small hamlet of Chautauqua county, is located 22 miles northwest of Sedan, the county seat, and 12 miles from Grenola, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., whence it receives mail by rural route. Grenola is also the nearest banking and shipping point.
Leedy, John W., governor of the State of Kansas from 1897 to 1899, was born in Richland county, Ohio, March 8, 1849. His parents were members of the Dunkard church, and his early years were passed under the strict discipline of that religious faith. While still in his boyhood he was thrown on his own resources by the death of his father, and began his career as a farm hand. In 1864, when in his fifteenth
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year, he tried to enlist in a military company that was forming in his native county, but owing to his youth and the protests of his mother he was rejected. He followed the company to the front, however, and remained with it until the close of the war. In 1865 he went to Pierce- ton, Ind., where he was employed as a clerk in a store for about three years. At the end of that time, preferring outdoor life, he went to Macoupin county, Ill., and found employment on a farm near Carlin- ville. He remained there until 1880, when he removed to Kansas and engaged in farming near Le Roy, Coffey county. Mr. Leedy was reared in a firm belief in the tenets of the Republican party, with which he was affiliated until 1875, when he became a Democrat. When the Populist party was organized in 1890, he again changed his party allegiance, and soon came to be recognized as one of the Populist leaders in Kansas. In 1892 he was elected to the state senate, where he served until elected governor of the state in 1896. At the close of his two years' term as governor he became interested in mining operations in the vicinity of Galena. In 1901 he went to Alaska, and later located at White Court, Alberta, Can., where he still resides. In 1875, while work- ing on the farm near Carlinville, Mr. Leedy married Miss Sarah J. Boyd of Frederickstown, Ohio, and to this union were born three children.
Leedy's Administration .- Gov. John W. Leedy, the second Populist governor of Kansas, was inaugurated at the opening of the legislative session which began at noon on Jan. 12, 1897, with Lieut .- Gov. A. M. Harvey presiding in the senate, and W. D. Street as speaker of the house. At 4 p. m. the same day Gov. Leedy's message was read to the general assembly. In his introduction he contrasted the conditions in Kansas with those in the East, as follows:
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