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 39
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KANSAS HISTORY
Mound City, the county seat of Linn county, is located south and east of the center of the county on the Missouri Pacific R. R. The site was located in 1855 by D. W. Cannon and Ebenezer Barnes and named Mound City from its proximity to Sugar Mound. A town company of 20 members was organized in 1857, with Charles Barnes, president; Dr. J. H. Trego, secretary ; T. E. Smith, trustee. The town site, consisting of 240 acres, was surveyed that year by J. N. Roscoe, and the first building, a log cabin, was erected by William Wilson, for a dwelling. The second building was a frame structure used by Mr. Barnes as a store and postoffice, as he was the first postmaster of the town. The first physician to locate in Mound City was Dr. Lee in 1856; the first lawyer, Addison Danford, came a year later. A. A. Johns taught the first school during the winter of 1858-59 in the town hall, which had been erected the previous summer. In 1859 an election was held in the county to determine the permanent location of the county seat. Paris and Mound City were the principal contestants. Mound City received a majority of the votes and was declared the seat of justice, but some of the people were dissatisfied and a second election was held in 1865, at which time Linnville received the majorty of the votes. A year later a third election took place and Mound City again became the county seat. In 1871 the question was again opened, and in February of that year, after an indecisive vote in January, an election was held, at which La Cygne was chosen the county seat. In 1873 Farmers City was made the seat of justice by a majority of the votes cast at an election in an effort to settle the question, but county offices were never opened there and La Cygne retained the seat until 1874, when it was changed to Pleasanton. The next year Mound City again received the majority of the votes and has since remained the judicial seat of the county.
The first religious services were held in 1857 by a United Brethren minister, and within a short time several churches had perfected organi- zations. In 1871, the town was organized as a city of the third class. Mound City and its vicinity became the headquarters of Jennison and Montgomery (q. v.) during the border war. The citizens rode with these leaders on their forays against the Missourians. Jennison was the first to become established in the town and his name became a terror to the people of Bates and Vernon counties, Mo. Mound City was used as a base from which to strike quickly and get back across the border into some rendezvous before the citizens of Missouri could gather a force and strike back. In Dec., 1860, a company of infantry under Capt. Lyon came to Mound City with orders to capture Capt. Montgomery, who lived about 5 miles up the creek, but when the company arrived Montgomery, who had been notified, was gone.
The Linn County Herald, the first newspaper in the town, made its appearance April 1, 1859. It was owned and edited by Jonathan Lyman. The second paper, the Border Sentinel, was started in 1864 by Snoddy Bros. and was published until 1874, when they moved it to Fort Scott. The Masons established a lodge at Mound City in 1860, and six years
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later the Independent Order of Odd Fellows established Magnolia lodge there. At the present time Mound City has a number of fine stores, blacksmith and wagon shops, a good hotel, public schools, churches, a creamery, flour mill, and stone quarries. It is located in a rich agricul- tural district and the shipping point for grain, live stock, flour, and pro- duce. In 1910 the population was 698.
Moundridge, an incorporated town in McPherson county, is a station on the McPherson & Eldorado branch of the Missouri Pacific R. R. 15 miles southeast of McPherson, the county seat. It has a steam roller flour mill with a capacity of 300 barrels per day, 3 large grain elevators, 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the Journal), an opera house, and a score or more well stocked retail stores. The town is supplied with tele- graphic communications, has an express office, telephone connections, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 626. The famous Santa Fe trail passed a little to the northwest of Moundridge.
Mound Valley, an incorporated city of Labette county, is located at the junction of the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri Kansas & Texas railroads, on Pumpkin creek in Mound Valley township, 14 miles west of Oswego, the county seat. There are 2 banks, 2 weekly newspapers (the Herald and the Journal), an opera house, a flour mill, a grain elevator, 2 vitrified brick plants and a glass plant. Coal, natural gas, oil and building stone are all found in the vicinity. There are express and telegraph facilities and an international money order post- office with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 956.
The town was laid out in 1869 by a town company of which William M. Rodgers was president. A store building was erected immediately by A. Honrath and H. Roar. John P. Kremer started a grocery store, L. F. Nicholas a drug store, Dr. E. Tanner and M. Anderson a general store and R. Blakely opened a grocery store. 1870 J. Campbell built the Mound Valley hotel and L. F. Nicholas, the Nicholas hotel. Owing to the contest between the railroad company and the town company over the title to the land, very little progress was made until the matter was settled in 1876. In that year a stage line was put in operation from Oswego. Until that date the mail had been brought from Oswego on horseback. The postoffice was established in 1870. The first bank was established in 1883. Several fires have occurred, one in 1872, when the town company building with a stock of goods was burned; one in 1889, when a whole block of business buildings was consumed, and a third in 1892, when the grist mill was destroyed. The town was incorpor- ated in 1871, and the following persons were appointed as trustees : Alexander Honrath, William M. Rodgers, John B. Campbell, E. Tanner and Alexander McBride. In 1884 it became a city of the third class, the first election being held in January of that year. E. Tanner was the first mayor and W. N. McCoid, the first clerk.
Mount Hope, an incorporated city of the third class in Sedgwick county, is located in Greeley township on the Arkansas river and the Missouri Pacific R. R. 25 miles northwest of Wichita, the county seat.
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It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Clarion), all lines of mercantile stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 519, a gain of over 60 per cent. since 1900. It was founded about 1880.
Mount Oread, the height upon which the University of Kansas is located at Lawrence, was so named by the first immigrants who pitched their tents there in Aug. 1854, after the Mount Oread school at Worces- ter, Mass., of which Eli Thayer was the founder and proprietor. The view from Mount Oread is one of the finest in the state, the landscape including the valleys of the Kansas and Wakarusa rivers for several miles. The Agora Magazine for April, 1893, says: "There is no place in Kansas where one's breast swells with pride more than on Mount Oread at Lawrence. From it one can get a view of the best that nature has given the state, and on it is the best that man has given it." (See University of Kansas.)
Mudge, Benjamin F., geologist and educator, was born at Orrington, Me., Aug. 11, 1817, a son of James and Ruth Mudge, who removed to Lynn, Mass., in 1818. There Benjamin attended the public schools and at the age of fourteen years began learning the shoemaker's trade, at which he was employed for the next six years. In the fall of 1837 he began teaching, saved his money to secure a better education, and finally graduated at the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. He then returned to Lynn, studied law, and practiced in that city for some time. He also served as Mayor of Lynn. In 1850 he went to Kentucky as chem- ist for a coal and oil company, and some two years later settled at Quin- daro, Kan. In 1863 he was appointed state geologist, and in 1865 was elected to the chair of "geology and associated sciences" in the State Agricultural College at Manhattan. From that time until his death he was engaged in scientific research. After serving as professor for eight years a disagreement arose between him and the college management and he accepted a position from Yale University to gather specimens in the west for that institution. In one year he shipped over three tons of fossils, etc., to New Haven. He spent much of his time in camp, and between expeditions spent his time in lecturing and writing for scientific periodicals. In 1878 he was elected a Fellow of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, and he was one of the founders of the Kansas Academy of Science. Up to the time of his death he probably did more than any other one man to make known the geological forma- tion of Kansas. Prof. Mudge married Miss Mary E. Beckford on Sept. 16, 1846, and died at his home in Manhattan of apoplexy on Nov. 21, 1879.
Mulberry, an incorporated town in Crawford county, is located in Lin- coln and Washington townships at the junction of the Kansas City Southern and the St. Louis & San Francisco railroads, 12 miles east of Girard, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the News), a flour mill, all lines of retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with two rural routes. The popula- tion according to the census of 1910 was 997. Mulberry was founded in the late 'zos as a mining town and was called Mulberry Grove.
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Mullinville, an incorporated town in Kiowa county, is located on the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 10 miles west of Greensburg, the county seat. It has three grain elevators, a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Tribune), telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 289.
Mulvane, a thriving little incorporated city in Sumner county, though located partly in Rockford township of Sedgwick county, is on the Arkansas river and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 19 miles northeast of Wellington, the county seat. It has 2 banks, a flour mill, a feed mill, an ice and cold storage plant, electric light plant, creamery, natural gas, a weekly newspaper (the News), and a large number of well stocked retail establishments. It is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has an international money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 1,084. The town was laid out in 1879, and the first building was erected by Dr. Whitehorn. The first store was opened by J. S. Brown, the first dwell- ing was built by Lee Wilson, J. N. Trickey opened the first dry goods store and the Mulvane House was erected by A. C. Crawford. The post- office was established in Oct., 1879, with J. B. Brown as first postmaster.
Mumford, an inland hamlet in Barber county, is located about 10 miles northeast of Medicine Lodge,the county seat. It receives mail by rural delivery from Nashville, Kingman county, which is 6 miles north, and is the nearest railroad station.
Muncie, a post hamlet of Wyandotte county, is situated on the north bank of the Kansas river and the Union Pacific R. R. 8 miles west of Kansas City. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, and in 1910 had a population of 40.
Munden, an incorporated town of Republic county, is located on the north line of Fairview township, 8 miles northwest of Belleville on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. It was established in Sept., 1887, and was named after the owner of the town site, John Munden. The first general store was built by John Washichek and the first postmaster was A. M. Canfield. Munden now has a dozen business establishments among which are a bank, a newspaper (the Munden Progress), several stores, telegraph, telephone and express offices, and a money order post- office with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 275.
Munjor, a country postoffice in Ellis county, is located in the town- ship of the same name 6 miles south of Hays, the county seat and nearest shipping point. The population in 1910 was 100.
Murdock, a country hamlet in Butler county, is located 12 miles west of Ellsworth, the county seat, and 6 miles north of Benton, the nearest shipping point and the postoffice from which its mail is distributed.
Murdock, one of the little villages of Kingman county, is located in Dale township 12 miles east of Kingman, the county seat. It is on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The popula- tion is 175.
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Murdock, Victor, journalist and member of Congress, is a native Kan- san, having been born at Burlingame, Osage county, March 18, 1871. The next year his parents-Marshall M. and Victoria (Mayberry) Mur- dock-removed to Wichita, then a frontier town, where Victor attended the public schools and the Lewis Academy. At the age of ten years he commenced learning the printer's trade, working at the case during his vacations, and when fifteen years old he became a reporter. He rapidly developed the "journalistic instinct," and five years later went to Chi- cago, where for some time he held a position on the staff of one of the metropolitan dailies. In 1890 he was united in marriage with Miss M. P. Allen, and in 1894 he became managing editor of the Wichita Eagle. In 1902 he was nominated by the Republican district convention for Congress, was elected the following November, and has been reelected at each succeeding biennial election to 1910. At his last election he car- ried every county in the district, receiving a clear majority of 4,298 over three competitors.
Muscotah, an incorporated town in Atchison county, is located at the junction of Little Delaware creek and the Delaware river on the Mis- souri Pacific R. R. in the western part of the county. The name Musco- tah means beautiful prairie. The old town of Muscotah, located about two miles northeast of the present town, was laid out by Dr. W. P. Badger and Maj. C. B. Keith in the spring of 1856. The survey was com- pleted in the fall, and Mr. Keith opened the first store about a year later. In 1867 the Union Pacific railroad purchased the site of the new town from an Indian. The town was surveyed in the fall of that year, and Mr. Armstrong soon afterward opened a general store, which was fol- lowed by other business houses. A number of dwellings were built, a school was established and in the early 'zos it was one of the prosperous towns of the county. It is a banking point for the surrounding country, has several general stores, a hotel, hardware and implement houses, blacksmith shop, several churches, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices. In 1910 its population was 491.
Mushroom Rock .- This peculiar landmark is situated near the village of Carneiro, Ellsworth county. It is a huge stone poised on a solitary pillar and strongly resembles the plant for which it was named. Kansas at one time was in the bed of an inland sea, and the action of the reced- ing waters produced the grotesque shapes in stone found in different localities of the state. When the Kansas Pacific railway was being built through the state, excursion trains were frequently run as far west as the track was laid, and on one of these occasions, while building through Ellsworth county, George Francis Train, the noted lecturer, delivered a speech from the summit of Mushroom Rock to an interested group of listeners.
Myers Valley, a discontinued postoffice of Pottawatomie county, is located in Pottawatomie township, 6 miles south of Westmoreland, the county seat, and about a mile north of Flush, from which place it receives mail daily. The population in 1910 was 22.
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Myrtle, a country hamlet in Phillips county is located 14 miles north of Phillipsburg, the county seat, 5 miles east of Woodruff on the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy R. R., the nearest shipping point, and 7 miles south of Alma, Neb., the postoffice from which it receives its mail.
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Nadeau, a hamlet of Jackson county, is located near the southern line of the county, 16 miles south of Holton, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and some local trade. The population in 1910 was 25. Hoyt is the nearest railroad station.
Narka, a village of Republic county, is located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 14 miles northeast of Belleville in Albion town- ship. It was established in 1887 by M. A. Low and C. J. Gilson, presi- dent and secretary of the town company, and was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1894. According to the census of 1910 it had 278 inhabitants. It has 2 churches, a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Narka News), a money order postoffice with three rural mail routes, telegraph, telephone and express facilities, and is a trading and shipping point for a rich agricultural district.
Naron, a hamlet in Pratt county, is located 12 miles northwest of Pratt, the county seat, and 8 miles from Iuka, the nearest shipping point and the postoffice from which its mail is distributed by rural route. The population in 1910 was 45.
Nashville, a little town in Kingman county, is located in Liberty township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 22 miles southwest of Kingman, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, churches, schools and mercantile establishments. The population according to the census of 1910 was 200.
Nation, Carrie, temperance reformer, author and lecturer, was born in Kentucky in the year 1846. Her maiden name was Carrie Moore. Her first marriage was with a Dr. Gloyd, who died from delirium tre- mens, and her unhappy experience as his wife led her to become an enthusiastic advocate of prohibition. Some time after the death of her first husband she became the wife of David Nation, a lawyer and editor, who was in sympathy with her views on the liquor traffic. After a residence of several years in Texas, they came to Kansas and located at Wichita. Mrs. Nation came into public notice in the winter of 1900-0I by her radical efforts and unusual methods of breaking up saloons. The prohibitory amendment to the Kansas constitution had been in effect for nearly 20 years, yet intoxicating liquors were sold in a number of places in defiance of law. On Dec. 27, 1900, she went into the Carey hotel at Wichita and demolished the mirrors, glassware, etc., in the room where liquors were sold. She was arrested and remained in jail for several days, when she was released on bond, and almost imme- diately afterward broke up the furniture and emptied the liquors in two
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inore saloons. Late in Jan., 1901, Mrs. Nation visited Topeka, where she had a spirited interview with Gov. Stanley, whom she openly denounced for his failure to enforce the prohibitory laws. Associating with her a few women, she issued a warning to the saloon keepers of that city, but they paid no attention to it, and on Feb. 5, accompanied by a few of her followers, she wrecked two places where liquors were sold. She was arrested and held for a short time, but was released and she then returned home. A mass meeting was held at the Topeka audi- torium on Sunday, Feb. 10, to demand the enforcement of the laws. On the 18th, Mrs. Nation and about 100 women raided all the saloons they could find in Topeka. They were arrested, tried and convicted for willful destruction of property, but by this time "Carrie Nation's hatchet" was almost as widely known as the historic hatchet with which George Washington cut down his father's cherry tree. Notwithstand- ing the decree of the Topeka court, Mrs. Nation made a tour of Kansas towns, leaving in her wake broken furniture and wasted intoxicants. She then began the publication at Topeka of a temperance paper called the "Smasher's Mail." She also wrote some books, which reached a sale of 50,000 or more, and later went upon the lecture platform. She finally got into litigation with a lecture bureau, which caused a nervous break down, and in Jan., 1911, she was taken to a sanitarium at Leavenworth, Kan., where she died of paresis on June 9, 1911. The day following her death the Topeka State Journal said editorially: "She was something of a zealot to be sure, a crank, if you will, on use and sale of liquor and tobacco. But it is an undeniable fact that she opened the eyes of Kan- sans in 1901 to the truth that their prohibition law was being almost wholly ignored. Her joint-smashing crusade was the beginning of law enforcement in this state which has meant so much to Kansas. Her services to the state, therefore, have been of no small proportions. Her services to tottering humanity were also large. She made much money on her lecture tours in this and other lands, but the greater part of it she devoted to helping unfortunates on their way. Carrie Nation is entitled to a chapter in the history of Kansas when the time comes for it to be written and this chapter will show that her life was worth while, and of value to her state."
One of Mrs. Nation's efforts in behalf of suffering humanity was the founding of a home for drunkards' wives at Kansas City, Kan., and it is said that while in New York City on one of her lecture tours she created a sensation by publicly demanding that the occupants of the Vanderbilt box at the Madison Square Garden horse show contribute money for the support of the institution. The home was taken in charge by the associated charities of Kansas City after Mrs. Nation was taken to the sanitarium where she ended her life.
National Guard .- (See Militia.)
National Military Home, a town of Leavenworth county, is located on the Missouri river and the Union Pacific R. R. 4 miles south of Leaven- worth. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices,
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and in 1910 had a population of 4,281. It derives its name from the soldier's home established there by the Federal government in 1885. (See Soldier's Home.)
Natoma, one of the thriving incorporated towns of Osborne county, is located in the southwest part of the county, on the Union Pacific R. R. 25 miles southwest of Osborne, the county seat. It has numerous retail mercantile establishments, churches and schools, a bank, and a news- paper (the Independent). It was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1905, has telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population accord- ing to the census of 1910 was 407.
Natural Bridge .- The western part of Barber and the eastern portion of Comanche counties furnish specimens of natural bridges, which are located in the gypsum deposits of that locality. These bridges repre- sent remnants of old caves or underground water channels, whose roofs have partly fallen in. One of the best specimens of these bridges is found on Bear creek, south of Sun City, Barber county, and is thus described by Prof. F. W. Cragin: "This bridge spans the canon of the creek, here about 55 feet from wall to wall. The height of the bridge above the bed of the creek is at the highest point 47 feet, at lowest 31, and at middle 38. The width of the bridge at the middle is 35 feet. The upper surface of the bridge declines toward the down-stream side, but not so much that a wagon drawn by a steady team could not be driven across it. The thickness of the arch is therefore greater on the up-stream side, where it measures 26 feet, than on the down-stream. The relief of the vicinity seems to indicate that at a geologically recent time Bear creek here flowed to the east of its present course, and that its waters, becoming partially diverted by an incipient cave, enlarged the latter, and finally were entirely stolen by it, the cave at length collapsing, save at the portion now constituting the natural bridge."
Natural Gas .- Legendary and historical records show that natural gas has been known in Kansas almost from the earliest white settle- ment. In 1865 tar springs were reported to exist near Paola, and in the same year borings were made for oil in that locality, resulting in the discovery of some gas. In 1871 a well driven by Nelson F. Acres near lola showed an intermittent flow of mineral water, which was thrown into the air by escaping gas. The gas became lighted and much damage was done before it could be subdued. Gas as a fuel was not fully appre- ciated at that time and the discovery was regarded with some curiosity but with no significance as to its value.
In 1882 gas was found in wells drilled near Paola in quantities suffi- cient to be used commercially, and for a time Paola was regarded as the center of a large oil and gas belt. A glass plant was located at consider- able expense to the citizens of the town, but an insufficient amount of gas for fuel caused the enterprise to be abandoned. Drilling for gas was carried on with a fair degree of success at Kansas City, Mound City and Fort Scott, but these wells did not have a large enough production to
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