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 27
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Thirteenth Kansas infantry, recruited in Marysville in Aug., 1862, Ver- million township, furnished the most of the men, W. S. Blackborn captain and Thomas Hensel first lieutenant Company E, Thirteenth Kansas infantry, was recruited in Marysville in the fall of 1862, with Capt. Perry Hutchinson in command. Company H, Second Kansas cavalry, was made up entirely of Washington and Marshall county men, and Marshall county men joined other Kansas regiments and regi- ments raised in other states. Out of 450 voters Marshall county fur- nished in all 431 men for the Union army. At that time Marshall county was on the border and was at times the seat of panics arising from Indian depredations. Emigrants, ranchmen and settlers who had ventured farther west were often driven in. There was some fear that the older settlements would be attacked while depleted of able-bodied fighters. In 1862 a raid was made into Washington county. A detach- ment of troops being recruited at Marysville was sent out, but no In- dians were seen. In 1864 a raid was made on the Little Blue river. On Aug. 10, 1864, the refugees began arriving at Marysville in wagons, each party telling of terrible outrages and tortures of those captured. The next day two companies, one under Capt. Frank Schmidt and one in charge of Lieut. McCloskey, had been raised and were on their way to the scene of trouble. A company from Vermillion, under Capt. James Kelley, and one from Irving, under Capt. T. B. Vaile, joined them. The Marshall county troops were commanded by Col. E. C. Man- ning. A brigade expedition of Nemaha, Riley and Washington county men also went out under the command of Gen. Perry of Seneca. Both expeditions returned without finding the Indians.
During this time considerable domestic trouble was caused by what was known as the "Oketo cut-off." In 1863 the overland stake route came by Guittard's station through Marysville. The proprietor of the stage line for some reason did not like Marysville and proposed to change the route to go through Oketo. Accordingly he built the "cut- off" at great expense, and in Oct., 1862, the stage began traveling that route, leaving Marysville several miles to the south. This was bad for the town, for it not only diverted travel but delayed the mail so that it was sometimes a month behind the regular time in reaching the town. Instead of daily mail they would get it twice a week or once in every two weeks with exasperating irregularity. This pre- cipitated a sort of neighborhood struggle in which no one was killed. but many tricks played by both sides, some of which were destructive to property. At one time the United States troops were called out from Fort Leavenworth to protect the stage line. After losing some $50,000 by the cut-off the proprietor of the stage line changed the route back to Marysville in March, 1863.
As was the case with nearly every county, Marshall had a county seat contest. The territorial legislature placed it at Marysville in 1855, but in 1859 T. S. Vaile, who was a member of the free-state legislature, had the county seat changed to Sylvan, a place located on Section 25.
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KANSAS HISTORY
township 3, range 8. By a vote of the people it was taken back to Marysville. In 1871 the matter again came before the people, with Waterville, Blue Rapids, Frankfort and Marysville contesting. The election resulted in favor of Marysville. The number of votes cast would indicate that there were between 13,000 and 14,000 people in the county at this time.
The first train came into Marshall county over the St. Joseph & Western R. R., which was begun in 1860 and reached the eastern limits of Marshall county in 1870. The next year it was extended to Marys- ville. Marshall county is now well provided with railroads. The Union Pacific crosses the county from north to south a little west of the center ; the St. Joseph & Grand Island crosses the northern part of the county ; the Missouri Pacific crosses the southern part, and a branch of the same system crosses the northeast corner. These lines afford ample transportation and shipping facilities to all parts of the county.
The surface of Marshall county is prairie, broken by hills and bluffs along the Blue river and its branches. The geological formations include gypsum, limestone and coal. Building stone is quarried out of the bluffs. The Big Blue river runs through the county from north to south, furnishing a water power unequaled elsewhere in the state. The Little Blue, one of its branches, enters near the central part of the west line of the county and empties into the Big Blue 2 miles above Blue Rapids. The Black Vermillion flows through the southeastern part of the county and empties into the Big Blue a few miles below Irving. Numerous smaller streams complete the water system of the county.
Marshall is divided into 23 civil townships; Balderson, Blue Rapids, Blue Rapids City, Center, Clear Fork, Cleveland, Cottage Hill, Elm Creek, Franklin, Guittard, Herkimer, Logan, Marysville, Murray, Noble, Oketo, Richland, Rock, St. Bridget, Vermillion, Walnut, Waterville and Wells.
The leading farm crops are corn and wheat. The value of the corn crop in 1910 was $2,416,480, and of the wheat $115,200. The minor crops are grains, grasses and potatoes. Considerable live stock is raised and shipped. The total value of farm products in 1910 was $5,383,- 389.52. The population in 1910 was 23,880.
Martin, David, chief justice of the Kansas supreme court from 1895 to 1897, was born in Clark county, Ohio, Oct. 16, 1839. His father, John Martin, was a native of London, England, but came to the United States as a boy and located in Clark county in 1837. David received a good education and read law in the office of J. Warren Keifer at Springfield, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, but soon after decided to go west, and in May, 1867, he opened a law office at Atchison, Kan. In a short time he was recognized as one of the leading mem- bers of the Atchison bar. In 1880 he was elected judge of the Second judicial district and reëlected in 1884, both times without opposition. He resigned in 1887, and gave his time and attention to his law practice
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until April 30, 1895, when he was appointed chief justice to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Albert H. Horton. The following year he was elected to the vacancy as a Republican by a majority of over 80,000 and served until Jan., 1897. At the close of his term Judge Martin opened a law office in Topeka, but retained his residence at Atchison. On Jan. 5, 1882, he married Lissa, the daughter of Willim B. Kipp of Atchison. He died in Topeka, March 2, 1901.
Martin, George W., secretary of the Kansas State Historical. Society, was born at Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pa., June 30, 1841, a son of David and Mary (Howell) Martin, the former born near Belfast, Ire- land, Dec. 1, 1814, and the latter a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. He received a good common school education, after which he served a five-years' apprenticeship at the printer's trade, beginning in the office of the Hollidaysburg Register and completing his trade in a printing office in Philadelphia. His father first came to Kansas in 1855, but returned to Pennsylvania in the fall of 1856 and the following April brought his family to the territory. Young Martin worked in printing offices at Lecompton until the fall of 1859, and in Aug. 1, 1861, he became con- nected with the Junction City Union, which paper he edited for several years. From Jan. I to Oct. 1, 1865, he was postmaster at Junction City, and from April 1, 1865, to Dec. 1, 1866, he was register of the United States land office, when he was removed by President Johnson -the first removal of an official in Kansas for political reasons. In 1867-68 he was assessor of internal revenue and was then reappointed register of the land office by President Grant, where he served until in 1871. In 1873 he was elected state printer and was three times reëlected, serving four terms of two years each. In 1872-73 he was grand master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Kansas. For ten years he led the fight to change the name of Davis county to Geary, and in 1883 he represented the county in the state legislature. The same year he was elected mayor of Junction City, which office he held for two years. On July 1, 1888, he removed to Kansas City, Kan., where he published the Gazette until Dec., 1899, when he was elected secretary of the State Historical Society, which position he still holds. Mr. Martin's long residence in Kansas and the intense interest he takes in historical matters eminently qualify him for the duties of secretary of this society, and notwithstanding his "three score years and ten" he is active and energetic in the discharge of those duties. Mr. Martin has been twice married. His first wife, with whom he was united on Dec. 20, 1863, was Miss Lydia Coulson. She died on June 7, 1900, and on Oct. 10, 1901, he married Mrs. Josephine Blakely.
Martin, John, United States senator, was born in Wilson county, Tenn., Nov. 12, 1833, the eldest son of Matt and Mary Martin, who were descended from some of the first settlers in Virginia. He was given the best education possible to obtain in that day on the frontier. Shortly after he attained to his majority he came to Kansas with Judge Rush Elmore and located at Tecumseh. He at once took an active part
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in public affairs and was elected assistant clerk of the house of repre- sentatives in the first territorial legislature. Mr. Martin served as clerk and register of deeds of Shawnee county from 1855 to 1857. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar, and the next year was appointed postmaster of Tecumseh. In 1858 he was elected the first attorney of Shawnee county, serving one year and was then appointed assistant United States attorney until he opened a law office in Topeka in 1861. Mr. Martin was sent as a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1872 and was one of the committee to notify Mr. Greeley of his nomination. In 1873 he was elected to the legislature; was reelected in 1874; was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1876, and a dele- gate to the Democratic national convention of that year. He was appointed district judge, and subsequently was elected to that office. In 1893 he was elected to the United States senate, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Plumb, and served until 1895, when he was elected clerk of the Kansas supreme court, but resumed his law practice in 1899. Mr. Martin has been a member of various well known law firms and has won a wide reputation. On Nov. 12, 1860, he married Caroline, daughter of C. B. Clements of Tecumseh.
Martin, John Alexander, governor of the State of Kansas from 1885 to 1889, the tenth man to hold that office, was born on March 10, 1839, at Brownsville, Pa., a son of James and Jane Montgomery (Crawford) Martin, the father a native of Maryland and the mother of Pennsylvania. He was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and the family was related to Gen. Richard Montgomery. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Brown, was the founder of Brownsville, Pa. Gov. Martin's education was acquired in the public schools, and at the age of fifteen years he began learning the printer's trade. In 1857, when only eighteen years of age, he came to Kansas, bought the newspaper known as the "Squatter Sovereign," published at Atchison, and changed the name to "Freedom's Champion." This paper he continued to publish until his death. He was a firm free- state man and soon became actively identified with the political affairs of the territory. In 1858 he was nominated for the territorial legisla- ture, but declined because he was not yet of legal age. In 1859 he was a delegate to the Osawatomie convention which organized the Repub- lican party in Kansas, and for the remainder of his life he was an unswerving supporter of the principles and policies of that organiza- tion. His intelligent activity in political affairs naturally led to his being honored by election or appointment to various positions of trust and responsibility. On July 5, 1859, he was elected secretary of the Wyandotte constitutional convention ; was secretary of the railroad con- vention at Topeka in Oct., 1860; was a delegate to the Republican national convention of that year, and was elected to the state senate in 1861. Before the expiration of his term as senator the Civil war broke out, and in Oct., 1861, he was mustered into the United States volunteer service as lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Kansas infantry. Early in 1862 he was appointed provost-marshal of Leavenworth and
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held the position until his regiment was ordered to Corinth, Miss., in March. There the Eighth Kansas became a part of Gen. Buell's army, and it remained in the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. On Nov. 1, 1862, Lieut .- Col. Martin was promoted colonel, and a few weeks later was assigned to duty as provost-marshal of Nash- ville, Tenn., which position he filled with signal ability until the fol- lowing June. With his command he took part in the battles of Perry- ville and Lancaster, Ky .; the various engagements of the Tullahoma campaign ; the sanguinary battle of Chickamauga, where on the second day he was assigned to the command of the Third brigade, First division, Twentieth army corps; and in November was present at the siege of Chattanooga and the storming of Missionary Ridge. With Gen. Sher- man's army he marched to Atlanta in the memorable campaign of 1864, the line of march being marked by engagements at Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, Kingston, Kenesaw Mountain and various other points. After the fall of Atlanta Col. Martin's regiment joined in the pursuit of Gen. Hood as he marched northward into Tennessee, where it closed its service. During the closing scenes of his military career Col. Martin commanded the First brigade, Third division, Fourth army corps, until he was mustered out at Pulaski, Tenn., Nov. 17, 1864, receiving at that time the rank of brevet brigadier-general "for gallant and meritorious services." Returning to Kansas he resumed the editorial management of his paper, and again he became a factor in political affairs. In 1865 he was elected mayor of Atchison, of which city he had served as the third postmaster, holding the office for twelve years. For twenty-five consecutive years he was chairman of the Atchison county Republican central committee; was a member of the Republican national commit- tee from 1868 to 1884, and secretary of the committee during the last four years of that period; served as delegate to the national conven- tion of his party in 1868, 1872 and 1880; was a member of one of the vice-presidents of the United States Centennial commission ; was one of the incorporators of the Kansas State Historical Society, of which he was president in 1878; was president the same year of the Editors' and Publishers' Association; and from 1878 to the time of his death was one of the board of managers of the Leavenworth branch of the National Soldiers' Home. During all the years following the Civil war he mani- fested a keen interest in the work and welfare of the Grand Army of the Republic, and when the Department of Kansas was organized, he was honored by being elected its first commander. It is said that for years before his election to the office of governor Mr. Martin had a laudable ambition to be the chief executive of his adopted state, but that he knew how to wait and prepare himself for the duties of the office in case he should be called to fill it. The call came in 1884, when he was nominated and triumphantly elected. His first administration commended him to the people, and in 1886 he was reëlected. His years of experience as a journalist and political leader gave him a ripe judg- ment which enabled him to discharge his gubernatorial duties with
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marked ability, and it is probable that no governor of Kansas ever retired from the office with a larger number of friends. On June 7, 1871, Gov. Martin married Miss Ida Challis, and to this union were born seven children. Gov. Martin's death occurred on Oct. 2, 1889.
Martin's Administration .- Gov. John A. Martin was inaugurated on Jan. 12, '1885, and the next day the legislature met in regular session with Lieut .- Gov. A. P. Biddle presiding in the senate, and J. B. John- son occupying the speaker's chair in the house. Through his long and intimate connection with editorial work and political matters generally, the new governor was thoroughly familiar with conditions in the state, and this familiarity was shown in his inaugural message. At the time he was inducted into office Kansas was just entering upon her twenty- fifth year of statehood, and the governor's review of a quarter of a century's progress is both interesting and instructive, covering as it does all phases of development-educational, political and industrial. Presented in tabulated form his comparisons are as follows :
1860
1885
Number of acres cultivated
406,468
9,458,737
Bushels of wheat raised.
194,173
48,050,431
Bushels of corn raised.
6,150,727
190,870,686
Assessed value of property
$27,774,333
$237,020,39I
Number of school districts
217
(nearly) 7,000
Number of teachers.
319
8,342
Value of school property.
$10,432
$5,715,582
Number of votes cast.
14,47I
265,684
Miles of railroad.
none
4,486
Assessed value of railroads ....
nothing
$28,455,907
"The marvelous growth and prosperity these figures reveal," said he, "are not only gratifying to the pride of every citizen of the state, and honorable to the men and women whose industry, energy and intelli- gence have wrought this miracle of development, but they should admonish you, gentlemen of the legislature, of the larger and graver duties and responsibilities devolved upon you by the greatness of the state you represent."
To illustrate still further the development of Kansas during this quarter of a century it is worth while to note that in 1860 she had not a single public building, nor an institution of an educational, penal or charitable nature permanently established. In 1885 the various insti- tutions occupied 2,186 acres of land, and the public buildings of the state were valued as follows: State capitol, $1,600,000; penitentiary, $1,391,090; insane hospital at Topeka, $596,000; insane hospital at Osawatomie, $357,000; state university, $351,300; agricultural college, $213,728; industrial reformatory, $160,000; deaf and dumb asylum, $105,000; state reform school, $86,000; blind asylum, $75,000; state normal school, $68,400; soldiers' orphans' home, $49,000; home for
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feeble-minded youth, $27,500, making the total amount invested in permanent institutions $5,080,018.
In his message Gov. Martin stated the bonded debt of the state on Jan. 1, 1885, as being $935,500, all of which was held by the various state funds, except $321,000, which was in the hands of individuals or corporations. He congratulated the people of the state upon the fact "That the credit of Kansas has always ranked high, and the out- standing bonds of the state command a large premium."
Although the state debt was small, that of the counties, cities and townships had reached a figure that was alarming. According to the message the outstanding bonds and warrants of these municipalities were as follows: Counties, $8,065,748.29; townships, $2,650,030.90; cities, $2,487,436.17; school districts, $2,748.714.50, making a grand total of $15,951,929. 86. "In one Kansas county," says the governor, "the municipal indebtedness aggregates more than one-fifth of the assessed value of all the property in the county, and is nearly double the bonded debt of the state. In another county the aggregate of municipal debts exceeds the state debt over $10,000."
Discussing this subject further he said: "The limitations and restric- tions put upon the powers of counties, townships, cities and school dis- tricts, to create debts and levy taxes, are too few and feeble. The dis- ease which affects the body politic is too much local government. The state is more fortunate than any of its local subdivisions, because the framers of its constitution wisely limited its debts to one million dollars. If proportionate limitations had been placed upon the debt-creating authority of our local governments, Kansas would today have been in a much better financial condition, and in all other respects her people would be quite as prosperous as they now are."
He admitted that the provision and application of remedies consti- tuted a problem difficult of solution, but suggested the following as worthy of trial: Ist-Stringent limitations upon the debt-creating and tax-levying powers of municipalities; 2nd-Relegating about one-half of the so-called "cities" to the rank of towns or villages with less expensive forms of government ; 3d-Reducing the number of officials in cities, thereby cutting off a large part of the expense of local gov- ernment : 4th-Permit no municipality to issue bonds except upon the vote of three-fourths of the legal voters.
The governor then reviewed the condition of the state institutions, discussed the Price Raid claims, the eastern boundary, the work of the state agent at Washington, the New Orleans exposition, the advisability of creating a state board of health, the prohibitory amendment and law. and suggested that the laws relating to assessment and equaliza- tion of property needed "thorough revision," as well as the crimes act, which was "originally brought over from Missouri in 1855."
After calling attention to the several laws enacted or repealed, relating to a state census, he says: "I venture the suggestion that these several acts, commencing with that of 1873. are inadequate in
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their provisions for a regular decennial census, which ought to follow, as nearly as may be, the forms used in the Federal census, so that com- parisons may be made with it, thus giving us the benefit of a complete census every five years. Your attention is respectfully invited to this subject, and to the necessity of an appropriation for the expenses of such a census as, in your wisdom, you shall make provision for."
Section 2, Article X, of the constitution, as originally adopted, required a reapportionment of the state for legislative purposes, based on the census of the preceding year. The adoption of the amendment providing for biennial sessions was found in 1885 to come in conflict with the section authorizing the reapportionment, as no regular legis- lative session would be held in the year 1886. "This," said the gov- ernor, "is one of the anomalies of our organic law growing out of its frequent amendment, and the difficulty of adjusting these amendments to all sections of an originally consistent instrument. You may, perhaps, be able to devise some measure by means of which the necessity for an extra session in 1886 may be avoided."
A number of important laws were passed during the session, which came to a close on March 7. The trustees of the school for feeble- minded youth were directed to secure a new location for the institu- tion within two miles of the city of Winfield; state and local boards of health were established; the militia of the state was organized as the Kansas National Guard; a board of pardons was created; also a board of pharmacy, a board of examiners in dentistry, and a bureau of labor statistics; railroad companies were required to fence their right- of-way; jurisdiction over the site of the National Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth and a site for a Federal building in the city of Fort Scott was ceded to the United States; the prohibitory law was amended ; pro- vision was made for remodeling the east wing of the capitol; a state reformatory and a soldiers' orphans' home were established ; and a con- stitutional amendment increasing the number of supreme court justices was proposed.
On March 1, 1885, the state census was taken, in accordance with the constitutional provision above alluded to, and showed the popula- tion of the state to be 1,268,562, upon which the new apportionment of the state into legislative districts must be made. The general assembly of 1885 had not been able to devise a method to avoid an extra session, and on Dec. 3, 1885, Gov. Martin issued a proclamation calling the legislature together on Jan. 19, 1886, to make a new apportionment as required by the constitution; to correct some mistakes in the acts of 1885 relating to the reform school and the school for feeble-minded; to make an appropriation to pay the salary and expenses of the com- missioner of labor; and to correct the boundaries of certain judicial districts.
The legislature met at the appointed time, with the same officers as the regular session of 1885, and remained in session until Feb. 20. In his message the governor called attention in detail to the defects
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