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 25
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to allow others to do so. Robinson, one of the men with Pike, in a letter to his superior, referred to Malgares as "a gentleman, a soldier, and one of the most gallant men you ever knew," and Pike himself expressed the hope that sometime he might have the opportunity of reciprocating the kindness shown him by Lieut. Malgares.
Manchester, an incorporated city of the third class in Dickinson county, is located in Flora township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 14 miles north of Abilene, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the News), a hotel, a number of general stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 250.
Manhattan, one of the important cities of the state, is located at the junction of the Big Blue and Kansas rivers in Riley county, of which it is the judicial seat. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. on the north side of the Kansas river and the Union Pacific R. R. on the south, both enter the city from the east. The former road continues in a northwesterly direction into Clay county, and the latter diverges, one branch going southwest into Geary county and the other following the valley of the Blue river into Marshall county. Manhattan is a well improved and well kept city, having paved streets, an electric street railway, a $50,000 court-house, a $25,000 city hall, I state and 2 national banks, two daily papers, three weeklies and three college papers. There are express and telegraph offices and an international mony order post- office with eight rural routes. Manhattan is the seat of the State Agri- cultural College. The population in 1910 was 5,722.
Before the year 1855 two towns had been located in the vicinity of Manhattan-Poleska, in 1854 by Col. George S. Park of Parkville, Mo., on which Seth I. Childs had built a house, and another place called Canton at the mouth of the Big Blue located by Samuel D. Houston of Illinois, Judge J. M. Russell of Iowa, Judge Saunders W. Johnston of Ohio, E. M. Thurston of Maine and Dr. A. H. Wilcox of Rhode Island. The two towns were consolidated by a committee of the New England company from Boston in 1855, and the place called Boston. In June of the same year a company of 75 persons from Cincinnati, who had come to Kansas for the purpose of establishing a town the name of which should be Manhattan, appeared on the scene. They were given half of the town site of Boston as an inducement to locate at that point, and the name was changed to Manhattan. They had come all the way from Cincinnati in the steamer Hartford, and brought with them ten houses ready to be put up. These houses were commodious for Kansas buildings, some of them containing 8 or 9 rooms. The site occupied by the town was originally two Indian floats, each containing 640 acres. Prominent in the Cincinnati company were Judge John Pipher and A. J. Mead, while the leaders of the Boston company were I. T. Good- now, J. Denison and Rev. C. E. Blood. Samuel Houston, of the original Canton company, was the only free-state man elected to the first terri- torial legislature, this locality being far enough away from the Mis- souri border not to be molested with illegal voting.
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The first school was taught in 1855 by Mrs. C. E. Blood. The first school house was built in 1858 at a cost of $2,500. The first birth was that of Irvine Lovejoy, son of Rev. C. F. Lovejoy, in 1855. The first marriage was between Thomas Olatt and Sally E. Pipher in 1856. The first death was that of G. W. Barnes, son of Charles Barnes. The first store was kept by George Miller and John Pipher. The postoffice, which was established in 1856, was kept at this store.
Manhattan was incorporated as a city by the legislature in Feb., 1857. The first election was held the next May with the result that the fol- lowing men were the first city officers: A. J. Mead, mayor; S. G. Hoyt, A. Scammon, Ira Taylor, Fred Marvin, John Hoar, George Miller, Edward Hunting, John Pipher and C. W. Beebe, councilmen. It became a city of the second class under Gov. St. John in 1880. In 1910 bonds to the extent of $20,000 were voted to aid in the construction of an interurban electric line from Manhattan to Fort Riley.
Mankato, the county seat of Jewell county, is located a little to the north of the center of the county on a table land which lies between White Rock creek on the north and the Solomon river on the south, and is at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. run- ning east and west and the Missouri Pacific running north and south. It has good banking facilities, graded and high schools, 2 opera houses, 3 weekly newspapers (the Monitor, the Western Advocate and the Republican), express and telegraph offices, and a postoffice with five rural mail routes. It is a trading and shipping center for a large and prosperous section of country. The population in 1910 was 1,155.
Mankato was settled in 1872 under the name of Jewell Center, on account of its being centrally located in Jewell county. Earlier than this David Blank had located on the site and opened a blacksmith shop. The land which was platted for the town consisted of 320 acres, a part of which had been preëmpted by Jack Mango in 1870. The officers of the town company were: M. W. Whitney, president ; P. S. Mccutchen, secretary; G. S. Bishop, treasurer. It was started with the idea of making a county seat town, and accordingly the next year the question of changing the county seat began to be agitated, with the result that in a few weeks a petition was filed for a special election, which was held on May 13. It resulted in favor of Jewell Center and May 17 the county offices were moved from Jewell City and Jewell Center became the county seat. A store had already been built by C. W. Pettigrew and the town company had built a town house, the lower part of which was occupied by a store and the upper part used as a public hall. A combination saw and grist mill was in operation. The postoffice was established in 1872 with D. T. Vance as postmaster.
The similarity of names caused the Jewell Center and Jewell City mails to get mixed, and in 1880 the residents of the former decided to change the name. "Alta" was at first chosen, but when it was found that a postoffice of that name already existed in Kansas it was named Mankato after a town of the same name in Minnesota. It was incor- porated as a city of the third class in 1880. The first city officers were:
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B. J. Thompson, mayor ; A. Evans, clerk; L. P. Vance, treasurer ; J. W. McRoberts, police judge; M. Stone, C. Angevine, L. M. Butts, S. C. Bowles and C. G. Bishop, councilmen. The first newspaper was the Jewell County Monitor established in 1874.
Manning, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Scott county, is located II miles east of Scott, the county seat. It has a postoffice, a general store, and in 1910 reported a population of 22.
Mansfield, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Finney county, is located 7 miles southeast of Garden City, the county seat, whence it receives mail by rural delivery.
Manteno, a country postoffice of Ness county, is located on Guzzlers Gulch creek, 15 miles southwest of Ness City, the county seat. It has a postoffice and in 1910 had a population of 25.
Mantey, a small hamlet of Linn county, is near the southern boundary 8 miles from Mound City, the county seat, and 6 miles west of Pres- cott, from which place mail is delivered by rural carrier. The popu- lation in 1910 was 25.
Manual Training .- (See Education and Public School System.)
Manufacturing .- The manufacturing district of Kansas, if the scat- tered flour mills and a few other minor industries be left out, is prac- tically confined to a strip of territory not more than 200 miles wide at its greatest extent, extending across the eastern part of the state. Geo- graphical lines cannot be observed with entire accuracy, however, as Kansas City, Mo., is economically a part of Kansas, and to a certain extent must be considered in any discussion of Kansas manufactures. West of the middle of the state there is little manufacturing to be con- sidered.
The development of manufactures cannot be considered separately from the development of the natural resources of the state, as one has followed the other in nearly logical order. In 1860, when the 8th census was taken, the country was sparsely settled and the main occupation was agriculture. Timber was abundant enough to offer a good raw material for furniture factories, which were located at Atchinson, Leavenworth, Fort Scott and some other towns. The large streams were of great economic value at that period, offering a convenient source of power for industries that did not demand heat. The census of 1870 gave the first record of water wheels in use, there being then 62 in operation in the state, furnishing power for saw and grist mills scat- tered over the eastern portion. In 1875 there were 79 wheels furnishing power for flour mills and 26 more for combined saw and grist mills. A year later there were 105 wheels, and in 1881 the number had grown to 150. From this time on, due to the opening of the coal fields and the enlargement of a few mills, the water wheels fell off rapidly and but a few are now in operation.
In the southeastern corner of the state covering an area of about 45 square miles, which contains the valuable lead and zinc deposits of the Galena district, and great coal bearing beds of shale cover nearly half
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the state of Kansas. (See Geology.) At intervals in the beds of shale, and exposed to the surface in eastern Kansas, are heavy beds of lime- stone that are becoming of greater commercial value in a manufacturing way for the production of Portland cement. These materials are made more valuable by their proximity to the cheap and abundant fuel supply of coal and natural gas. The production of natural cement was one of the earliest industries at Fort Scott and other towns in the vicinity. With the great development of the cement industry since 1900, the importance of the limestone beds has greatly increased. It has been estimated by the state geologist that there is enough limestone shale in Kansas to supply the world with Portland cement for thousands of years.
The oil and natural gas area of Kansas is confined within an irregular strip from 40 to 50 miles wide and some 250 miles long, extending in a southwesterly direction from Kansas City to about 100 miles south of the northern boundary of Oklahoma. The gas and oil of this region generally come from the layers of sand or from the sandstone shales immediately above the Cherokee shales. The last resources of great importance with which the Kansas-Oklahoma region has been endowed by nature are the gypsum beds of the central portion of both states and the vast and valuable salt beds of central Kansas.
The beginning of a history of manufactures in Kansas cannot date back of 1860, for previous to that time there were no factories of any importance in the prairie region. When the census of 1860 was taken, less than one-fourth of the state was settled or improved, and although a prairie state, 124 of the 209 establishments listed were devoted to manufacturing lumber and shingles. The sawmills were located on the larger streams in the eastern part of the state. Two other lines of manufacturing were of importance at this time-milling and the manu- facture of wagons and carriages. There were 36 grist mills, operated mostly by water power. A few of them were of fair size and did a good business, but most of them were small custom mills, grinding for local consumption as the farmers brought the grain. There were 3 wagon and carriage factories, with a capital of $18,000, making in 1860 about $65,000 worth of vehicles and employing only 35 workmen. Among other industries listed for Kansas were 6 boot and shoe shops, 4 brick yards, 3 harness shops, and some dozen others of one or two establishments to a trade.
During the decade from 1860 to 1870 was a period of stress in Kansas and immigration was slow. After the close of the Civil war settlement again began to pour into the state, and by 1870 the population had about trebled, manufacturing in all lines had increased, and the state was becoming self-supplying in the lines of manufacturing that its natural resources favored. The number of establishments increased seven times, capital the same amount, the number of men employed nine times, and the value of products five times. The lumbering estab- lishments increased 70 per cent. and in numbers was still in the lead,
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but the milling industry, second in number, was first in value of prod- ucts with an output of $2,938,215. From this time until 1885, flour and feed milling was the leading industry of the state, and the most widely distributed. The mills were usually small, one-third were run by water power and the remainder by steam, with the exception of a
OLD WINDMILL AT LAWRENCE. (One of Kansas' first factories.)
few wind driven mills. Nearly 20 per cent. of these mills were "saw- and-grist" mills, using the power for running the saws when not grind- ing grain, and thus could run at a profit, when either alone could not. The growth of the furniture and wagon shops was also great, the census
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of 1870 showing that there were 52 furniture factories and 68 wagon and carriage shops or an average of more than one for every organized county in the state. The wagon shops soon diminished in number as they were of necessity small, and could not compete with the products of the larger factories of the east. The furniture factories continued for a number of years and furnished the local demand for the cheaper grades of furniture. Harness shops prospered, and in 1870 they did a business of about $400,000. The number of brick yards had increased to 27, a few lime kilns had begun operations in the eastern part of the state, where the surface veins of coal had been opened. There were but 5 iron works and only 3 establishments making agricultural implements.
From this time the growth of the milling industry was rapid, and it soon became the most important in the state. It was based upon the needs of the people and products of the country, and could not help but grow with the increasing population. From 1870 to 1880, the increase of capital in the milling business was 200 per cent., and the output increased 300 per cent. The greatest increase was during the first six years. At this period there was little to indicate that Kansas would ever develop as a manufacturing state, the mineral resources being unknown and wholly undeveloped. The scanty timber supply precluded the idea of any extensive manufactures of wood, and it was taken for granted that the state would remain an agricultural state, with flour mills as the principal manufacturing industries.
The coming of the railroads made greater concentration possible, well defined centers of distribution were established, and the towns with transportation facilities began to secure factories of various kinds. All over the state manufactures have followed the railways, rather than having the railways push forward to accommodate manufacturing enterprises.
In the report of the state board of agriculture for 1876 the growth of a few towns of importance is indicated. Those in the eastern and north- eastern part of the state had the greatest number of manufacturing establishments, and all of them had the advantage of the early lines of railroad. The most prominent were Atchison, Topeka and Emporia, on the Santa Fe; Leavenworth and Lawrence on the Union Pacific; still further west on that road was Junction City, and Fort Scott on the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis road. In 1875 Fort Scott had over 20 enterprises, with capital varying from $2,000 to $80,000 and aggre- gating over $300,000, considerably more than one-half of which was invested in flour mills, the city at this time leading in the milling indus- try, while the other towns showed a greater activity in other manu- facturing lines.
A coal supply is of vast importance in connection with the growth of manufactures. It is probable that there are numerous industries in the state, particularly zinc-smelting and salt-making, which would never have been developed had not the mines yielded large supplies of good, cheap fuel. Almost contemporaneous with the opening of the coal beds
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KANSAS HISTORY
in Kansas came the discovery of lead and zinc, and within a short time the smelting industry grew up in the vicinity of the mines. The output of the mineral district has been steady and constantly increasing, the combined districts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas today supplying half of the zinc and a large portion of the lead of the country.
Between 1880 and 1890 several of the larger towns in the state began to compete for the position of leading trade centers, and to this end new industries were encouraged. A half dozen towns rose to positions of importance in manufacturing during this period. Atchison, Leaven- worth and Lawrence were so situated that they experienced a consider- able growth in manufacturing establishments. Topeka, Emporia and Fort Scott also experienced a growth, but in a less degree. Leaven- worth and Lawrence once had more industries than they have today, but as the establishments were built on the basis of conditions that were but temporary, they became competitors with industries located where natural fitness gave them advantages, so that business fell off in the older towns and the industries were removed or discontinued. At the time manufactures were declining in the towns of northeastern Kansas, Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., were developing as centers of trade and manufacturing. The beginning of the growth of manu- facturing in these cities was simultaneous with the great period of activity in the smaller and older towns, but when the latter began to decline this centralized junction of trade and commerce continued to grow. One of the most important reasons for the rapid growth and concentration of manufacturing in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., is their location, which makes them the natural gateway for the produce to pass through, on its way to the west.
With the introduction of hard wheat into Kansas in the early '8os (see Mennonites) the wheat crop became more assured and the growth of the milling business in Kansas City and the towns of the wheat belt was marked. Meat packing was another of the now important manu- factures of Kansas City to make its appearance soon after the close of the war. The pioneer packing house was built at Junction City in 1867. The following year the first packing house was erected in Kansas City and some 4,000 head of cattle were packed. In 1868 the first packing house for hogs was opened in Kansas City, to supply the Irish and English markets. One of the most important factors in the rise of this industry at Kansas City was the great number of cattle on the Texas plains at the close of the war. When that region was opened by the railroads, Kansas City became a great market for which there were plenty of cattle. (See Kansas City.) By 1900 the number of packing houses increased to eight; the capital invested to $15,000,000, and the value of packing house products to more than $73,000,000, or more than the value of all the manufactured products of both Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., in 1890. The growth during the past decade has been continuous. Capital has increased over 50 per cent. ; the output has increased even more, and at the present time amounts to over
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CYCLOPEDIA OF
$250,000,000. From the by-products of the packing houses a large soap and tallow business has grown up; one plant turning out 25,000 tons and another 40,000 tons of laundry soap annually, nearly all of which is marketed in the Missouri valley.
Natural gas and oil have revolutionized some lines of manufacturing, and have caused a new manufacturing district to grow up in south- eastern Kansas. The importance of the development of the natural gas field is in its relation to several branches of manufacturing. It is of particular advantage as a fuel to certain kinds of industries, and to some industries it is absolutely essential, as in glass factories, which have to make gas when they cannot secure the natural product. Port- land cement mills find it advantageous, it has greatly stimulated the brick industry, and has made the smelting of zinc more economic. Most of these industries have grown up since 1890.
An important result of this growth of manufacturing due to the dis- covery of natural gas was the great demand for machinery, which led to the establishment of iron foundries. This led to the consolidation of several large iron working establishments into one company capi- talized at $650,000, with eight plants, reaching from Springfield, Mo., to Iola, which has given cheaper machinery, more prompt repairs upon the special kinds of machinery used, and the iron trade has become a prosperous industry.
There is a noticeable tendency in recent years for the encouragement of important manufacturing centers through the central part of Kansas, to produce articles that have heretofore been imported from Kansas City and the east. Topeka and Wichita are the towns where this growth is most noticeable. Not counting the manufactures of Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita have over one-ninth of the capitalization of the rest of the state; more than one-sixth of the wage earners; pay more than one-seventh of the wages; and produce more than one-fourth of the products.
Of the 36 flour and grist mills in Kansas in 1860 the average capital was a little over $3,000, the value of the product, nearly $300,000, the trade being confined to 41 counties. In 1875 there were 158 grist mills with an average capital investment of $11,000 each, but only about a half of the mills were valued, the total number in the state being 300. During the following decade the milling business made great headway. This was due to several causes, the first of which was the introduction and cultivation of hard wheat, and the second was the introduction of the gradual reduction process into the Kansas mills. In 1878 exporta- tion outside the limits of the state began and by 1890 the product of the Kansas mills was exported to the states south and southwest. About 1900 Kansas City rose as a milling center, and one of the largest hard wheat mills in the world was erected there. In 1910 there were in Kansas a dozen towns having a milling capacity of from 1,500 to over 3,000 barrels of flour a day. Topeka heads the list with 6 mills, pro- ducing 3,750 barrels. Hutchinson and a number of other towns in the heart of the wheat belt are also milling towns.
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KANSAS HISTORY
The youngest of the manufacturing industries is glass, the first estab- lishment in Kansas being opened at Independence in 1902, and within four years 16 factories were built in the gas belt. The capital invested was then $1,467,571 and the value of the products $1,792,034. The indus- try is increasing materially in output, glass being 13th in manufactured products and 15th in the amount of capital invested. (See also the articles on Lead and Zinc Mining, Cement, Salt and Gypsum.)
Maple City, a village in Spring Creek township, Cowley county, is located about 20 miles southeast of Winfield, the county seat, and 7 from Silverdale, the nearest shipping point. It has several stores and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 92.
Maplehill, an incorporated city of the third class in Wabaunsee county, is located in Maplehill township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 17 miles northeast of Alma, the county seat. It has 2 banks, a hotel, all lines of mercantile establishments, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 277. The town was founded about 1882 by George Fowler. In 1884 a store was opened by Brooks & Verits, who soon took Joseph N. Dolley, the present state bank commissioner, into the firm. Mr. Dolley has been closely con- nected with the development of the town. In 1885 a stone church was built and dedicated. The railroad was built in 1887, when the first store with the postoffice was moved to it and more stores built. The first house was moved from the Fowler ranch. There have been three dis- astrous fires, two in 1900 and one in 1901. The Business Men's Com- mercial club was organized in 1900.
Mapleton, a village of Bourbon county, is situated near the Little Osage river on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 19 miles northwest of Fort Scott, the county seat. It is one of the oldest settlements in the county, having been located in May, 1857, by a company of men from New England. They abandoned it and a company of western men was formed, known as the Eldora Town company, which preempted the abandoned site. The town was called Eldora for a time, the name being changed to Mapleton because the postoffice had been established there in 1857 under that name. The first store was opened in 1858 and the following year a mill was built on the Osage river south of the town. In 1910 Mapleton had 3 general stores, a blacksmith and wagon shop, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph facilities, and a popu- lation of 275.
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