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 32
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Merriam, a village of Johnson county, is located on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., 13 miles northeast of Olathe, the county seat. It has several general stores, a money order postoffice, telegraph and ex- press facilities and is a considerable shipping point. In 1910 the popu- lation was 127.
Mertilla, a rural money order postoffice in Meade county, is located in the township of the same name, about 14 miles northwest of Meade, the county seat, and 10 miles north of Jasper, the nearest shipping point.
Messer, a hamlet in Cherokee county, is 10 miles east of Columbus, the county seat, and 5 miles north of Galena, the postoffice from which its mail is distributed by rural route. The population in 1910 was 73.
Methodist Episcopal Church .- This religious organization was started in England by John Wesley, while he was a student at Oxford. A few students of religious inclination became associated in 1729, and were called by the other students of the university, Methodists or the Club of Saints, and by 1735 became known as the Oxford Methodists. The
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community formed by Charles and John Wesley retained the form, organization and liturgy of the Anglican church, but differed from it in requiring fasts, special prayers, reading of the Bible and frequent communions. The Methodists did desire separation from the estab- lished church and were not formally cut off until forced to do so by the orthodox ministers.
The Methodist church in America was first established in the colony of Georgia under Oglethorpe, who returned from a trip to England in 1736 with 300 emigrants, among them John and Charles Wesley, the former having come to America to be not only a missionary among his fellow countrymen but also to carry the Gospel to the Indians, while Charles acted as secretary to Gov. Oglethorpe. Difficulties arose be- tween the colonial authorities and John Wesley determined to re- turn to England and lay the whole matter before Gov. Oglethorpe. Although he never returned to America the seeds he had planted grew, and in future years bore much fruit. Soon after his departure, George Whitefield arrived at Philadelphia and began to preach the Methodist doctrine. Philip Embury arrived in New York City from England in 1760, with a party of protestants, a few of whom were avowed Metho- dists. Before coming to America he had served as a local Wesley preacher, but he did not hold any services in America until 1766, and from that time Methodism began to flourish. Embury was a successful leader, who organized societies on Long Island and Trenton, N. J., and Capt. Webb, a convert, established Methodist congregations at Phila- delphia and Wilmington. The church was first started in Maryland by Robert Strawbridge, who came from Ireland and located in Freder- ick county. The first conference was held at Philadelphia on July II, 1773. and by 1774 the number of preachers had .reached 17 and the number of members over 2,000.
In 1787 the colored people of Philadelphia belonging to different Methodist organizations became dissatisfied, withdrew from the church, and a colored preacher was ordained for them. This was the beginning of the movement that resulted in the colored people organizing an in- dependent body with the same doctrine and standards as the Methodist Episcopal church. They held a first conference in 1816, when the Af- rican Methodist Episcopal church was formed. Since that time many different Methodist organizations have been started. Early in the '40S it was seen that the church was divided upon the question of slavery and in 1844, the Southern churches withdrew from the jurisdiction of the general conference, deciding upon a separate organization to be known as the Methodist Episcopal church, South. In 1860 the Free Methodist church was organized in New York with but slight modifications of the articles of the Methodist church, but some change in the form of government. Other branch organizations have been perfected until today the original Methodists are divided into the following churches : Methodist Episcopal, Union American Methodist Episcopal (Colored), African Methodist Episcopal, African Union Methodist Episcopal, Af-
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rican Methodist Episcopal Zion, Methodist Protestant, Wesleyan Methi- odist Connection America, Methodist Episcopal church, South, Congre- gational Methodist, New Congregational Methodist, Colored Methodist Episcopal, Reformed Zion Union Apostolic (Colored), Primitive Meth- odist Episcopal, Free Methodist North America, and Reformed Meth- odist Union Episcopal (Colored).
The first work of the Methodist church in Kansas was started while the region was unorganized Indian Territory. At the Missouri con- ference held in St. Louis on Sept. 16, 1830, action was taken with re- gard to the mission work among the Indian tribes of Kansas. A so- ciety was formed, the constitution of which set forth that, "The mem- bers of the Missouri conference, considering the great necessity for mis- sionary exertions, and feeling a willingness to aid in the great work of sending the Gospel among all people, formed themselves into a mis- sionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church."
The first missionary appointments of 1830 read: "Shawnee Mission, Thomas Johnson, Kansas or Kaw Mission, William Johnson." A little later missions were formed among the Delawares, Peorias, Iowas, Sacs and Foxes. (See Missions.) When the Methodist church was divided on the question of slavery, the Indian missions of Kansas fell to the Southern branch. One of the last Indian missions was established among the Wyandottes in April, 1844, and subsequently resulted in one of the earliest permanent Methodist organizations in Kansas. The actual mission work of the Methodist church among the Kansas In- dians ceased in 1854. These Indian missions were nearly all in what is now the eastern part of the State of Kansas. A few missions were maintained until the Indians were moved to the Indian Territory.
In Douglas county, the first religious services of the Methodist Episco- pal church were held by W. H. Goode, at Lawrence in Dec., 1854. A class was organized in the early spring of 1855, but was soon disbanded. In July a permanent Methodist organization was perfected by L. B. Dennis, and a tent used for services until rooms were secured for the winter. A year or so later a church was erected. The first Methodist services in Shawnee county were held at Tecumseh in Oct., 1854, by J. B. Stateler, who soon succeeded in having a church building erected. On Oct. 8, 1854, the first Methodist sermon was preached at Leaven- worth, but no church organization was formed there until 1857, when a charter was obtained from the state legislature for a regular organiza-' tion and M. M. Harm was called as pastor. A church building was completed by 1861. Fort Scott was first established in Bourbon county as a government military post, and religious services were held there while it was a garrison, but no organization was perfected until 1855. C. E. Rice preached in Allen county early in 1856 and a church was es- tablished at Humboldt in 1860. One of the first ministers in Atchison county was James Shaw, who came to Kansas territory in the spring of 1857, and in May delivered a sermon in S. C. Pomeroy's office at Atchison. In October of that year the Methodist Episcopal church,
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South, was regularly organized there and a building erected. The Methodist Episcopal church, South, was organized at Doniphan, Doni- phan county, in 1856, and though no church was erected by this organi- ation, services were held at different points for some time. The first Methodist church was established at Doniphan on May 10, 1857, and a church edifice erected early in the '6os. The Methodists in Miami county were organized in the summer of 1858 at Paola by M. M. Pugh. They formed part of the Stanton circuit until 1864, when the church became an independent organization and erected a building in 1865. The first meetings in Ottawa, Franklin county, were held in the spring of 1866, by a Mr. Adams and in 1867 the first accredited preacher was sent there by the Kansas conference. Johnson county had early Indian missionaries, but the first regular church was organized in Olathe in 1868.
As new settlements were formed, the outlying districts were served by Methodist circuit riders, who rode through the nearly unbroken wil- derness and organized congregations. The Methodists were among the first denominations in Kansas and today are the strongest in num- bers, having in 1906 a total membership of over 121,000, or more than 26 per cent. of the membership of all the churches.
Miami County, one of the eastern tier, and the second south from the Kansas river, was one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the southeast corner of Johnson county; thence south 24 miles; thence west 24 miles; thence north 24 miles, to the southwest corner of Johnson county ; thence east 24 miles to the place of beginning."
It was named Lykins in honor of David Lykins, one of the early set- tlers of the county and a member of the territorial council. In 1861 the name of the county was changed to Miami for the Miami Indians and in March, 1868, the boundaries were changed so as to include an additional half-mile strip on the west, so that today the county has an area of 588 square miles. Miami county is bounded on the north by Franklin and Johnson counties; on the east by the State of Missouri; on the south by Linn county, and on the west by Franklin county. It is divided into the following townships: Marysville, Miami, Middle Creek, Mound, Osage, Osawatomie, Paola, Richland, Stanton, Sugar Creek, Ten Mile, Valley and Wea.
The general surface of the country is undulating prairie, with a few bluffs and some broken land along the streams. The valleys of the rivers and creeks average about a mile in width and comprise about one- fourth of the area. Belts of timber are found along the streams, the principal varieties of trees being walnut, cottonwood, oak, hickory, hackberry, ash, elm, soft maple, coffee bean and box-elder. Artificial groves have been planted on the uplands. The soil is exceedingly fer- tile. On the uplands it averages about 4 feet in depth while in the val- leys it runs as deep as 30 feet. The principal water courses are the Marais des Cygnes and Pottawatomie rivers. The former enters the
(II-18)
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county on the west and flows in a general easterly direction for 8 miles, where it is joined by the Pottawatomie which crosses the western boun- dary about 4 miles north of the southwest corner and flows northeast. The main creeks in the north are Bull, Ten Mile, Wea and Middle, and the southern portion is watered by Mound, Middle and Sugar creeks.
The county ranks high in agriculture, especially in the production of corn, oats and flax. Live stock raising is an important and pro- ductive industry and large quantities of poultry and eggs are sold. There are 150,000 fruit trees of bearing age. Limestone and sandstone for building are plentiful. Marble of a good quality is found and quar- ried near Osawatomie and Fontana. Potters' clay exists in several lo- calities ; salt water is found in places; and coal is mined for local con- sumption. Natural gas is abundant in most parts of the county. Wells have been sunk at Osawatomie, Louisburg and Paola, and the gas is extensively used for heating and lighting. There are numerous oil wells near Paola, where a refinery has been established.
The territory now embraced within the boundaries of Miami county was originally owned by the Miamis, the Pottawatomies, the Shawnees and the Confederated tribes. It is believed that the first white man to visit the country through which the Osage river flows was Dutisne (q. v.), a French officer sent out by the governor of Louisiana to ex- plore the country west of the Mississippi river in 1719. One of the first white men to come to Miami county as a permanent settler was David Lykins, and after whom the county was first named. He came as a missionary to the Confederated tribes in 1844. The Methodists estab- lished a mission in the county in 1837 a little east of the present town of Osawatomie, but it was abandoned in 1847 when the Pottawatomies moved to their reservation on the Kansas river. In 1840 the Baptists established a mission a little east of the present city of Paola. This was followed in 1847 by the Miami mission about 10 miles southeast of Paola. The Catholics established their mission among the Potta- watomies in 1850. The men carrying on this religious work were the first whites in the county of whom there is any definite record.
Some of the first men who came after the organization of Kansas Territory to make homes and develop the country were S. H. Houser, who located in what is now Stanton township; Daniel Goodrich, C. A. Foster, John Childers, C. H. Crane, S. L. Adair and others took up claims in Osawatomie township; T. J. Hedges, the Shaw brothers and D. L. Perry were the first settlers in Paola township; and A. Mobley settled in what is now Osage township in 1854. The following year Charles Alexander, S. P. Boone, Elias Hughes, W. D. Hoover, James and Joseph Lykins, J. H. Phillips, Allen Ward and several othere set- tled near the present city of Paola. Thomas Roberts, James Williams, S. M. Merritt and John Littlejohn were among the first to take claims in what is now Osawatomie township. John Brown, Jr., Jason, Owen and Salmon Brown all took claims on the banks of Middle Creek.
Paola was laid out in the spring of 1855 and later incorporated by the
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legislature. A store was opened there in 1856, and it became one of the flourishing villages of the early period. Stanton was located by H. B. Stanford in the summer of 1855. The following year a postoffice was established and a store was opened. Osawatomie, one of the most historic towns in Kansas, was surveyed in Feb., 1855, by A. D. Searl. The name was formed by combining the first part of the name Osage with the last portion of Pottawatomie, the names of two streams which unite near the town site to form the Osage river. Settlement had been made in this locality early in 1854 and the first postoffice was established in 1855 with Samuel Geer as postmaster.
Trouble between the pro-slavery and free-state settlers began at an early date in Miami county. Most of the actual settlers of Miami county were free-state men who were opposed to the laws passed by the first territorial legislature, which had been forced upon the residents of the territory by Missourians. On April 16, 1856, a meeting of the free- state men was called at Osawatomie, at which resolutions were adopted opposing the payment of taxes levied under laws of this legislature. At this meeting John Brown made a spirited speech against the bogus laws and legislature, as did others present. At the May term of the second judicial district court the grand jury found an indictment against John Brown, John Brown, Jr., O. C. Brown, O. V. Dayton, Alexander Gardiner, Richard Mendenhall, Charles A. Foster, Charles H. Crane, William Partridge and William Chestnut, in which it was charged that they "did unlawfully and wickedly conspire, combine, confederate and agree together to resist the enforcement of the laws passed by the legis- lature for the collection of taxes." This indictment, and other inci- dents about the same time, caused the smothered blaze to break into open flame. There had been no act of hostility by either side in Miami county up to that time, but on June 7 a company of about 170 pro- slavery men, under the leadership of John W. Whitfield, entered the county, and at Osawatomie, which was defenseless, they plundered sev- eral stores and houses and carried off several horses. This affair was known as the first battle of Osawatomie. The Missourians were gath- ering their forces just across the border preparatory to entering Kan- sas, the intention being to wipe out some of the strongest free-state towns, among them Osawatomie. The party chosen for this purpose was under command of Gen. John W. Reid. On the morning of Aug. 30, they were approaching Osawatomie from the northwest, the object being to surprise the town, when discovered by Frederick Brown, who was on his way to Lawrence. He returned to the town and gave the alarm about twenty minutes before sunrise. John Brown, Sr., Dr. W. W. Updegraff and Capt. Cline commanded the defense. (See Osa- watomie, Battle of.)
One of the routes of the underground railway lay through Miami county, Osawatomie beings its most important station. It is well known that a number of negroes escaping from the slave states were as- sisted on their way to Canada by the free-state residents of Miami, who provided clothing, food and safe conduct to the stations beyond.
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Miami county was the cradle of the Republican party in Kansas, as it was organized at the Osawatomie convention called May 18, 1859. This was the most important and notable political event in the territory that year.
At the outbreak of the Civil war the men of Miami county showed their patriotism by enlisting for the defense of the Union. Company D of the Tenth Kansas infantry; Companies C and D of the Twelfth Kansas; Company F of the Fourteenth Kansas cavalry and Company C of the Fifteenth cavalry were all recruited in Miami county. During the war Miami county suffered perhaps less than any of the other border counties from Confederate raids and border warfare. On Oct. 24, 1862, Price with his Confederate army entered the southeast part of the county and passed through into Linn county in retreat. The most important event of the war was the passage through the county of Quantrill, the famous guerrilla leader, and his forces, after the sack of Lawrence. News was brought of the approach of the enemy and preparations were made at Paola for defense. Quantrill heard of this and when 2 miles west of the town turned northward, camping for the night on the west side of Bull creek. A Union force following Quantrill spent the night at Paola, but no attack was made and Quantrill con- tinued into Missouri.
When Lykins (Miami) county was created, provision was made for the election of county commissioners and Paola was named as the county seat. The body which corresponds to the board of county com- missioners of today consisted of the probate judge and two commis- sioners. According to the records that have been preserved the first board consisted of A. H. McFadin, probate judge, James Beets and L. D. Williams, commissioners, who first met on April 2, 1857. In 1860 the county commissioner form of government was established, and the first meeting of the new board was held on April 2, 1860. It consisted of Israel Christie, John M. Ellis and R. W. Shipley. The other county officers in 1857 were E. W. Robinson, clerk; Richard Mendenhall, as- sessor ; L. McArthur, clerk of the district court ; B. P. Campbell, sheriff ; W. A. Heiskell, register of deeds; Allen T. Ward, treasurer; J. N. Ros- cone, surveyor ; Cyrus Holdridge, coroner, and B. F. Simmons, county attorney. On July 27, 1857, the first steps were taken toward erecting a court-house for the county. On that date the commissioners ordered an issue of $15,000 in ten per cent. bonds, the money to be used to erect a building at Paola for court-house purposes, but the bonds were never issued and no court-house was built. Union Hall was rented and used for such purposes for some time, when the county offices were moved into the second story of an office building. On May 8, 1876, the old school building of Paola was rented for a court-house and in the fall it was purchased by the county for the sum of $9,200.
The earliest school of which there is a record was that taught in Paola in the fall of 1856 by Mrs. May Williams. The first white child born in the county, of which a record can be obtained, was Sue Heis-
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kell, who was born May 31, 1857. The first marriage solemnized was that of George Tomlinson and Mary Mead in the spring of 1856. In that year the Methodist church was organized at Osawatomie, though missions among the Indians had existed for years. By an act of the legislature of 1863 the first state insane asylum was established at Osa- watomie. (See Insane Hospitals.) The first newspaper in the county was the Southern Kansas Herald, which was started at Osawatomie about the beginning of the year 1857.
Immediately after the war a great deal of interest was manifested in Kansas in railroad building. In 1865 Miami county voted bonds to the amount of $150,000 to aid in the construction of the Kansas & Neosho Valley road, and in 1869 $100,000 and $125,000 were voted re- spectively to the Paola & Fall River and the Paola & State Line roads, which were to be completed in 1871. The Kansas & Neosho Valley road was changed to the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, and the Paola & State Line road to the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. Some of the bonds were forfeited because the roads were not completed on time, but $225,- 000 became a valid lien on the county.
At the present time the St. Louis & San Francisco, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, and the Missouri Pacific railway systems have lines radiating in six different directions from Paola; a branch of the Mis- souri Pacific runs west from Osawatomie to Ottawa, and a line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe system crosses the extreme northwest corner. Altogether there are about 100 miles of main track in the county, affording good shipping facilities to all parts except a district in the southeast corner.
The population of Miami county in 1910 was 20,030. The value of all farm products, including live stock, etc., was $3,496,104. The five principal crops were as follows: Corn, $1,017,060; hay, $443,132; wheat, $355,535 ; oats, $249,264; flax, $53,662. The value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter was $1,073,343.
Michigan Valley, one of the villages of Osage county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 10 miles northeast of Lyndon, the county seat. It has a number of mercantile establishments, a bank, good schools and churches, telegraph and express facilities, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population according to the government report of 1910 was 200.
Middletown, a little inland hamlet in Wilson county, is located in Verdigris township 14 miles north of Fredonia, the county seat, and 8 miles west of Buffalo, the nearest railroad station, whence it receives mail by rural route.
Midland, a hamlet in Douglas county, is located on the Union Pacific R. R., about 4 miles north of Lawrence, the county seat and the post- office from which its mail is distributed by rural route. The popula- tion in 1910 was 50.
Midland College, located at Atchison, Kan., was the first college founded in Kansas under the auspices of the general synod of the Evan-
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gelical Lutheran church. For years the ministers of the church had felt the need of a college in Kansas, to educate the youth of the church and prepare young men for the ministry. In 1885 a petition was pre- sented to the synod asking for the establishment of such an institution. The synod decided to locate the college in the town which would make the most liberal donations. Atchison pledged $50,000 for suitable build- ings and gave a tract of 25 acres of land in Highland park for a site, and was therefore chosen. The main building, Atchison Hall, was erected
ATCHISON HALL, MIDLAND COLLEGE.
in 1889, at a cost of $28,000, on the grounds overlooking the Missouri river. It is 64 by 106 feet, four stories high, and in it are situated the president's office, chapel, reading room, library, museum, chemical and physical laboratories, ten recitation rooms and rooms for about 50 male students. The college was dedicated the same year. In 1891, a dormi- tory for women, known as Oak Hall, was erected, with accommodations for about 40 students. The other building on the campus is a gym- nasium, 61 by 31 feet, equipped with suitable apparatus. The college possesses a six-inch refracting telescope housed in a permanent build- ing, which is valued at $1,800. The library and reading rooms contain about 8,000 volumes. Andrew Carnegie has offered the college $15,000 for a new library building as soon as a like amount is set aside as a per- manent endowment, and in 1911 it was expected that the sum would be secured and the library erected within a short time. In 1895. the endow-
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ment fund of the institution had reached $30,000, $24,000 of which was bequeathed by Rev. George D. Gotwald, of Kansas City, Mo.
There is a four-years' college course, a preparatory course, normal, business and music departments. The college and preparatory depart- ment offer three regular courses-classical, scientific and literary. In 1904 the Midland cadet corps was organized and instruction in military tactics and the use of arms is given three times a week. The average number of students enrolled in the college is over 300. In 1910 Rev. Millard F. Troxell was president of the college, which had an able faculty of 18 members. Midland is regarded as one of the leading denominational schools, and is rapidly gaining a reputation for its high standard of scholarship.
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