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 4
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The territorial legislature elected the probate judges for the several counties, and the appointment of justices of the peace was given to commissioners chosen by the legislature. On Sept. 13, 1855, Sterling G. Cato of Alabama was appointed judge in place of Elmore, and J. M .. Burrill of Pennsylvania, in place of Johnston. The supreme court met at Lecompton on Dec. 3, and on the following day these gentlemen took their seats as associate justices. Judge Burrill remained in Kansas only a short time, and then returned to Greensburg, Pa., where he died in Oct., 1856 .. Thomas Cunningham, of Beaver county, Pa., was appointed his successor. Mr. Cunningham visited Kansas, but resigned without entering upon the duties of his office. During the second week in May,. 1856, the first district court held its sessions at Lecompton, Judge Lecompte presiding, and the following quotation, concerning what was then the disturbing question in Kansas, is taken from his charge to the grand jury: "This territory was organized by an act of Congress, and so far its authority is from the United States. It has a legislature. elected in pursuance of that organic act. This legislature, being an instrument of Congress, by which it governs the territory, has passed laws. These laws, therefore, are of United States authority and mak -. ing; and all that resist these laws resist the power and authority of the United States, and are, therefore, guilty of high treason. Now, gentle- men, if you find that any person has resisted these laws, then you must,. under your oaths, find bills against them for high treason. If you find that no resistance has been made, but that combinations have been formed for the purpose of resisting them, and individuals of influence- and notoriety have been aiding and abetting in such combinations, then must you find bills for constructive treason."
It will be remembered that in the preceding January a state election had been held in pursuance of the "Topeka Constitution," and Charles. Robinson had been declared elected as governor of the "State of Kan- sas." In writing of Judge Lecompte's charge to the grand jury, Mrs. Robinson in her book on "Kansas," says: "To make the matter so plain that even the dullest of his hearers may not fail to comprehend his meaning, he states that some who are 'dubbed governor, lieutenant -- governor, etc., are such individuals of influence and notoriety !'"
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Upon the induction of Gov. Geary into office he sought to awaken and infuse new life and virtue into the judiciary of the territory. On Sept. 23, 1856, he addressed a letter to each of the judges, asking them what they had done. The replies showed that very little had been done, for in the midst of war laws are silent. Chief Justice Lecompte replied that he had a "party bias," and was proud of it. He said: "To the charge of a pro-slavery bias, I am proud, too, of this. I am the steady friend of Southern rights under the constitution of the United States. I have been reared where slavery was recognized by the constitution of my state. I love the institution as entwining itself around all my early and late associations." (See Geary's Administration.)
On June 1, 1857, Joseph Williams was appointed associate justice in place of Cunningham. On July 10 he took the oath of office before Secretary Stanton and established his residence in Fort Scott. In July, 1858, Joseph Williams and Rush Elmore were designated as associate justices and served until the admission of the state. Elmore had been reappointed in place of Cato, who left the territory. In March, 1859, John Pettit of Indiana was confirmed by the United States senate as chief justice of Kansas, and on April 2 he took the oath of office at Leavenworth, before Samuel D. Lecompte, whom he succeeded. Hollo- way says: "While the Kansas governors generally proved true to their honest convictions, other appointees of the administration, in most instances, used all their influence to serve partisan purposes. Such seems to have been especially the case with the judiciary. Judge Cato of Alabama was perhaps the most perverse and partial of all others; Judge Elmore was the most prompt to duty, strict and impartial in his judgments; Judge Lecompte, the most learned and pliant tool; Judge Williams said the most and did the least-as cowardly as he was dis- honest-and Judge Pettit of Indiana, the staggering embodiment of all vices and virtues."
Julia, a discontinued postoffice in Ninnescah township, Kingman county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 7 miles southeast of Kingman, the county seat. It has a general store, and there was a population of 27 in 1910. The railroad name is Alameda.
Jumbo, a country postoffice in Gray county, is located in Hess town- ship, about 20 miles south of Cimarron, the county seat, and about 16 miles from Fowler in Meade county, the nearest shipping point.
Junction City, the judicial seat of Geary county, is an incorporated city of the second class located near the geographical center of the United States, at the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, from which fact it takes its name. It is on the Union Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads, and is connected by electric rail- way with Fort Riley, one of the most important military posts in the United States. The city is lighted by electricity, has waterworks, fire department, sewer system, fine county and city buildings constructed from native materials, an opera house, a high school, a German Luth- eran school, the St. Francis Xavier school( Roman Catholic), numerous
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churches, 3 newspapers (the Union, the Republic, and the Sentinel), 4 banks with a combined capitalization of $225,000, several grain ele- vators, 2 flour mills, an ice plant, a creamery, machine shops, carriage and wagon works, a large number of retail establishments, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with seven rural routes. The population in 1910 was 5,598.
Junction City is one of the places designated by the government for the establishment of a postal savings bank. The city has a library and library building of which any place of ten times its size might be proud. It was founded by a legacy left by George Smith, and in 1911 had nearly 8,000 volumes. The Ladies' Reading club and the high school also have libraries.
This is one of the historic cities in the state. It is on the site of the Kaw Indian village which was occupied by that tribe as late as 1856, when they died in great numbers from cholera. The founders of the town, J. R. McClure, Robert Wilson, F. N. Blake, John T. Price and P. Z. Taylor organized themselves into a company in 1857 and selected the site, but the survey was not made until the spring of 1858. The first building was erected in May of that year and inside of a few months a village had grown up. The first city officers were elected in July, 1859, and were as follows: Mayor, R. C. Whitney ; councilmen, Samuel Orr, Edward Cobb and W. H. Bartlett ; clerk, V. K. Speer. On Oct. 6 of the same year the United States Land office was moved from Ogden to Junction City and remained here until 1871, when it was taken to Salina. In June, 1860, Junction City was made the county seat of Geary (then Davis) county. As an insight into the methods of con- ducting elections in those days it might be mentioned that the number of votes cast by Junction City was 224, while the total population of the town was but 217.
The first brick building in the city was completed early in 1862, and the first school district was organized in the same year. The building of the railroad in 1866 gave a new impetus to the town, many new build- ings were erected and the population increased rapidly. In Feb., 1867, the railroad bridge across the Republican was carried away by high water. During that year a $17,500 bridge was built by the county across the Smoky Hill river and one by the state across the Republican. The city election of 1869 was one of the most interesting events in its his- tory. The opposing factions did not limit themselves to verbal argu- ments. The matter was finally settled in the courts. A fire destroyed a number of the business buildings in 1871. The next year a $10,000 school house was erected. In addition to the grasshopper disaster in 1874, the city was visited by a second fire which destroyed ten of the best buildings. In 1870 the population was 3,100, but in 1875 there had been a decrease of several hundred caused by the removal of the shops of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. from this point to Denison, Tex., and by the removal of the division end of the Union Pacific from Junction City to Wamego. In 1880 the population was 2,977. A city
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hall, which was to cost $28,000, was begun that year. The outlay of so large an amount on the building gave rise to a bitter feeling on the part of the more economical people of the community and they attempted to stop work on the structure by an injunction suit but were unsuccessful. An accident which destroyed a part of the building brought the total cost to $30,000 at the time of completion. The popu- lation of the city in 1890 was 4,502, and in 1900 it was 4,695.
Juvenile Courts .- Not to be behind other states in caring for its chil- dren, the progressive spirit which prevails in Kansas led, in the legis- lative session of 1905, to the passage of a law establishing juvenile courts. The act provides for the establishment in each county of the state of a juvenile court, whose jurisdiction pertains to the care of dependent, neglected and delinquent children. The probate judge of each county is the judge of the juvenile court. Such court has juris- diction of all cases concerning dependent, neglected and delinquent children in the county, and is open at all times for the transaction of business. The court has authority to issue subpoenas for witnesses, compel their attendance by attachment as for contempt, and to issue all other process that may be necessary in any case, the same as justices of the peace are authorized to do in misdemeanors. All writs and process are served by the probation officer of the court, or in his absence by some person especially deputized for that purpose. The act applies only to children under the age of sixteen years, not inmates of any state institution, but when jurisdiction has been acquired over the person of a child, such jurisdiction may continue until the child has attained its majority.
The words "dependent child" and "neglected child" mean any child who for any reason is destitute or homeless or abandoned, or dependent upon the public for support, or has not proper parental care or guardian- ship, and has idle or immoral habits, or who habitually begs or receives alms, or who is found living in any house of ill-fame or with vicious or disreputable persons, or whose home, by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity on the part of its parents, guardian or other person in whose care it may be, is an unfit place for such a child, or any child under the age of ten years who is found begging, peddling or selling any article, or singing or playing any musical instrument upon the street, or who accompanies or is used in aid of any person so doing .. The words "delinquent child" include any child under the age of sixteen years who violates any law of the state or the ordinances of any city, town or vil- lage, or who is incorrigible, or who knowingly associates with thieves, vicious or immoral persons, or who is growing up in idleness or crime, or who knowingly patronizes pool-rooms or places where gambling devices are operated.
The juvenile court appoints one or more discreet persons of good character to serve as probation officers during the pleasure of the court. It is the duty of such official to make necessary investigation, to repre-
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sent the interest of the child when the case is heard, and to take charge of the child before and after the trial, as may be directed by the court. Any reputable person, being a resident in the county and having knowl- edge of a child who appears to be either dependent, neglected or delin- quent, may file with the court a petition in writing setting forth the facts verified by affidavit. When any child under the age of sixteen years is found to be dependent or neglected, the court may make an order committing the child to the care of some suitable institution, or some reputable citizen of good moral character, or some training school or industrial school, or some association willing to receive it, embrac- ing in its object the purpose of caring for or obtaining homes for neg- lected or dependent children. When the health or condition of the child requires it, the court may cause the child to be placed in a public hospital or institution for treatment or special care, or in a private hospital or institution which will receive it for like purpose without charge. In any case where the court awards a child to the care of any association or individual, the child, unless otherwise ordered, becomes a ward, and is subject to the guardianship of the association or indi- vidual to whose care it is committed. Such association or individual has authority to place such child in a family home, with or without indenture, and may be made party to any proceedings for the legal adoption of the child, and may appear in any court where such proceed- ings are pending and assent to such adoption, and such assent is suf- ficient to authorize the court to enter proper order or decree of adop- tion. Such guardianship does not include guardianship of any estate of the child.
When a child under the age of sixteen years is arrested, with or with- out warrant, instead of being taken before a justice of the peace or police magistrate or judge, the child is taken before the juvenile court, which proceeds to hear the defense. An appeal is allowed to the dis- trict court from the final order of commitment, and this may be demanded by the parent, guardian, custodian, or by any relative within the third degree of kinship. The law is liberally construed, to the end that its purposes may be carried out, and that the care, custody and discipline of a child shall approximate, as nearly as may be, proper parental care. In all cases where the same can properly be done, the child is placed in an approved family home, by legal adoption or other- wise. And in no cases are any proceedings, order or judgment of the juvenile court deemed or held to import a criminal act on the part of any child, but rather they are considered as performed in the exercise of the parental power of the state. The result of this legislation in Kansas is similar to that in other states and marks a long step forward in the treatment of youthful offenders. Instead of being started upon a career of crime they are given the opportunity to become useful citizens.
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K
Kackley, a village in Beaver township, Republic county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. about 15 miles southwest of Belleville, the county seat. It is the principal grain market for that section of the county, has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, a bank, several business establishments, good schools, and churches of several different denominations. The population in 1910 was 250.
Kalvesta, a country postoffice in Finney county, is located in Gar- field township, 32 miles northeast of Garden City, the county seat, and 20 miles north of Cimarron, the nearest shipping point. It has a gen- eral store and a tri-weekly stage to Dodge City, 34 miles to the south- east. The population in 1910 was 25.
Kanapolis, formerly Fort Harker (q. v.), an incorporated city of the third class in Ellsworth county, is located on the Union Pacific R. R. 5 miles east of Ellsworth, the county seat. It has a bank, a grain ele- vator, a weekly newspaper (the Journal), telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 577. During its boom Kanapolis was one of the most extensive "paper" towns ever conceived. It was founded in May, 1886, and printing presses were kept busy night and day for a time by the promoters, getting out advertising for what they claimed was going to be a great city by 1900. Sky scrapers loomed up in their vision. The site was laid out on a scale suitable for a city of 150,000 people. Four blocks were reserved for a "State House Grounds;" lots sold as high as $1,000. An incident of the legislative war of 1893 was an attempt by the Populists to move the state capital from Topeka to Kanapolis.
Kanona, a village in Decatur county, is located on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. 10 miles east of Oberlin, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 125. It is a trading and shipping point for the adjacent territory.
Kanorado, a village in Sherman county, is located near the west line of the state, and is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. It has a number of mercantile establishments, a bank, express and telegraph offices and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 175.
Kansas .- The greater portion of the territory that now forms the State of Kansas was formerly included in the province of Louisiana, which was acquired by the United States from France by the treaty of Paris. A small tract in the southwest corner was acquired from Texas in 1850. The state extends from 37° to 40° north latitude, and from 94° 40' to 102° west longitude, being 208 miles wide and 406 miles long and containing 82,080 square miles. It derives its name from the principal tribe of Indians that inhabited the region at the time the ter-
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ritory was organized in 1854, but the origin, meaning and orthography of the word "Kansas" is somewhat uncertain. One authority says the Indian word Kansa has a dual meaning-"wind and swift"-and that the word Kansas may be interpreted as meaning "swift wind." F. W. Hodge says that the word refers to winds, but the full definition is not known. The name of the Indian tribe has been spelled in many differ- ent ways. La Salle referred to them as the Akansea, but later the French adopted the form Cansez. Long and Catlin spelled the word Konza; Lewis and Clark, Kansus; Lieut. Pike, Kans; and Gregg, in his Commerce of the Prairie, refers to these Indians as the Kaws, and the name is spelled in many other ways.
The first mention of the Kansas Indians in the white man's history was about the beginning of the 17th century, when Juan de Oñate gave them the name of Escansaques. It will be noticed that the second and third syllables of this word form the name "Cansa," which is one of the numerous forms later used. George P. Morehouse of Topeka, who has made a rather exhaustive study of Indian lore and tradition, says "The famous historic word Cansa or Kansa is neither of French Ox Indian origin. The word is plain Spanish, and as such has a well- defined and expressive meaning when applied to an Indian tribe. Cansa or Kansa means 'a troublesome people, those who continually disturb or harass others.' It comes from the Spanish verb cansar, which means 'to molest, to stir up, to harass,' and from the Spanish noun cansado. 'a troublesome fellow, a disturber,' "
Following is a summary of the principle events in connection with the state's history :
1541-Francisco Vasquez de Coronado leads an expedition from Mexico in search of the province of Quivira, and reaches a point near Junction City, Kan.
1601-Juan de Oñate's expedition to Quivira.
1662-Don Diego de Penalosa said to have visited Quivira, but the authenticity of his report has been questioned by historians.
1682-Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle on April 9 reaches the mouth of the Mississippi river and claims all the territory drained by that river and its tributaries in the name of France, giving to it the name of Louisiana.
1719-M. Dutisne, a French explorer, visits the country of the Osage Indians. He may have touched the southeast corner of the present State of Kansas.
1724-Bourgmont, another Frenchman, conducts an expedition up the valley of the Kansas river to the country of the Padoucahs or Comanches.
1762-France cedes the province of Louisiana to Spain by the treaty of Fontainebleau, Nov. 3.
1800-Louisiana ceded back to France by the secret treaty of St. Ildefonso Oct. I.
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1803-A treaty concluded at Paris on April 30, by which the province of Louisiana was ceded to the United States, which government took formal possession on Dec. 20 following.
1804-Lewis and Clark start up the Missouri river on an expedition to the Pacific coast. They return to St. Louis in the fall of 1856.
1806-Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike leads an expedition through Kansas and on Sept. 29 raised, for the first time in Kansas, the United States flag at the Pawnee village in what is now Republic county.
1819-Maj. Stephen H. Long's expedition.
1821-Col. Hugh Glenn conducts an expedition up the Arkansas river through Kansas on his way to the Rocky mountains.
1824-Thomas H. Benton introduces a bill in Congress for the estab- lishment of a road from Independence, Mo., to Santa Fe, New Mex. The road was afterward established and became known as the Santa Fe trail.
1825-First treaties between the United States and the Osage and Kansas Indians.
1827-Col. Henry Leavenworth founds Fort Leavenworth.
1828-Napoleon Boone, son of Daniel Morgan Boone, born on Aug. 22 at the Indian agency farm 7 miles up the Kansas river from Law- rence. This was the first white child born in Kansas.
1829-A Methodist mission established among the Shawnee Indians in what is now Johnson county by Rev. Thomas Johnson.
1830-Congress established a vast Indian territory west of the Mississippi river. Kansas was included in this territory.
1833-The first printing press brought to Kansas by Rev. Jotham Meeker and put in operation at the Shawnee mission.
1835-Col. Henry Dodge leads an expedition up the Arkansas river on the way to the Rocky mountains.
1840-Joseph and Ahcan Papan establish a ferry across the Kansas river where Topeka now stands.
1842-43-Gen. John C. Fremont's exploring expeditions pass through Kansas bound for the far west.
1854-President Pierce signs the Kansas-Nebraska bill on May 30, making Kansas an organized territory of the United States. On Sept. 15 the first newspaper-The Leavenworth Herald-was published, and on Oct. 7 Andrew H. Reeder, the first territorial governor, arrives at Fort Leavenworth.
1855-First election for members of the legislative assembly held on March 30. The legislature met at Pawnee on July 2.
1859-Wyandotte constitution adopted in convention on July 29 and ratified by the people at an election held on Oct. 4.
1860-The first iron rail laid on Kansas soil at Elwood-the begin- ning of the Elwood & Marysville railroad. A severe drought. this year.
1861-Last session of the territorial legislature begins on Jan. 7. President Buchanan signs the bill admitting Kansas into the Union as
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a state on Jan. 29; the state government inaugurated on Feb. 9, with Charles Robinson as governor, and the first state legislature convened on March 26. First Kansas regiment for the Civil war mustered in at Fort Leavenworth on June 4.
1863-Quantrill massacre at Lawrence Aug. 21, and the Baxter Springs massacre Oct. 6. Work began on the Union Pacific railroad in Kansas this year.
1864-Gen. Price's raid through Missouri and southeastern Kansas causes considerable alarm among the citizens of the state.
1868-Indian troubles in the west; battle of Arickaree Sept. 17.
1874-The great Grasshopper invasion. Some 1,500 Mennonites set- tled in Marion, Harvey and Reno counties.
1876-Kansas made an exhibit at the Centennial exposition at Phila- delphia that attracted wide and favorable comment, with the result that during the next three years a large number of people settled in the state.
1878-The last Indian raid in Kansas.
1880-An amendment to the constitution ratified at the election in November prohibiting the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors in the state.
1887-Women given the right to vote at municipal elections and for school officers.
1890-The People's or Populist party organized in Kansas by a con- vention at Topeka on June 12.
1893-Columbian exposition at Chicago. Kansas makes a fine exhibit and wins a number of awards.
1894-Oil and natural gas discovered.
1898-Kansas furnished three white regiments and one colored regi- ment for the Spanish-American war.
1901-Mrs. Carrie Nation starts a crusade against the saloons that results in better enforcement of the prohibitory law.
1903-State house at Topeka completed; begun in 1870. This year was marked by destructive floods in the Kansas and Missouri rivers, as well as some of the smaller streams of the state.
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