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 41
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The growth of the county in population may be noted from the fol- lowing figures: It was 99 in 1855; 2,436 in 1860; 2,638 in 1865 ; 7,296 in 1870; 13.486 in 1880; and 19,072 in 1910.
The increase in wealth has far out-distanced the increase in popu- iation. The value of property per capita in 1881 was a little less than $24, while in 1910 it was over $2,000. The principal wealth is in farms and the income is from products, which amounted in 1910 to $5.307.178. The leading field crop is corn, which in 1910 amounted to $2,338,953.84. The second crop is oats, third Irish potatoes and fourth wheat. The assessed value of all property in 1910 was $40.652,775.
Neodesha, the second largest town in Wilson county. is located near the confluence of the Verdigris and Fall rivers in the center of a rich agricultural district, II miles southeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It is on the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri Pacific rail- roads, and is headquarters for the Kansas division of the former. The railroad company maintains a roundhouse and machine shops here. There are brick and tile factories, flour mills, extensive Portland cement plant, ice plant and other manufactories. The city owns the gas plant and natural gas is supplied for manufacturing purposes at a low cost. Neodesha is also in the midst of the oil fields, and has a large oil refinery and tank field. There are two newspapers, one a daily, and a national bank. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. The population in 1910 was 2,872.
Neodesha is the outgrowth of a trading post established in 1867 by A. McCartney and A. K. Phelon, among the Osage Indians. The post stood near the Little Bear Mound. Numerous Indian villages were located in the neighborhood and the natives had given the place the
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name of Neodesha (meeting of waters). In 1868 R. S. Futhey and John B. Keyes came to the trading post, and deciding it would be an ideal location for a town, bought the site for $500. McCartney and Phelon joined the two promoters and a town company was formed. They set up a shingle and sawmill in November of the same year and later began grinding corn. The frame of the first building was raised late in 1869. The town company gave lots to all who would build, and before long there were 200 buildings and 1,000 inhabitants. On March 5, 1870, the first child, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Derry, was born. She was named Neosho. In the winter of 1870-71 a stage line, with four-horse Concord coaches, began running from Neodesha to Thayer, the terminus of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston rail- road. In March, 1871, the town was incorporated as a city of the third class, the first officers being as follows: Mayor, Alexander K. Phelon; police judge, E. D. Huntley ; councilmen, T. Blakesley, John S. Gil- more, W. A. Hampton, S. L. McQuiston and C. W. Derry. The post- office was established in 1870, with Alexander. K. Phelon as postmaster. The next winter the first school was taught by J. A. McHenry. In 1871 a flour mill was built and a bank started. The bank was robbed after about three months and discontinued business. That fall the town site was entered at the land office. The Neodesha bank was organized in 1872, and a city hall was built that year at a cost of $12,000. A school building worth $15,000 and a bridge worth $14,000 were built by bonds. When the railroad came through in 1879 the company located its division headquarters here, which was a stroke of good for- tune for the little city. The Missouri Pacific railroad was built in 1886. The oil and gas fields were developed in the 'gos. The Lanyon smelter was started in 1902. Two disastrous fires occurred in 1897, destroying a total of $46,000 worth of property.
Neola, a country postoffice and station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in York township, Stafford county, is about 20 miles southeast of St. John, the county seat. The population in 1910 was 15.
Neosho County, in the southeastern part of the state, is located in the second tier of counties from Missouri, and the second from Okla- homa on the south. It is bounded on the north by Allen county; on the east by Bourbon and Crawford; on the south by Labette, and on the west by Wilson. It was founded from the northern part of Dorn county (q. v.), which was changed to Neosho, by the first state ter- ritorial legislature in 1861. The actual organization of the county was in 1864. In 1866 the boundaries were fixed to include the territory of what is now Neosho and Labette counties. In 1867 it was diminished by the territory included in Labette county. It took its present bound- aries in 1870.
The lands of Neosho county were occupied by the Osage Indians until the treaty of 1865, and were known as the "Osage Ceded Lands." There were a number of early missions among the Osages in this locality. The first missionary was Rev. Charles De La Croix, who
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came to Neosho county in May, 1822, and established the Osage Mission. Upon the death of La Croix, two years later, he was suc- ceeded by Rev. Charles Van Quickenborn, who in 1828 performed the first Christian marriage ceremony in the state. Trading posts were established among the Osages in 1837 by Edward Chouteau and Gerald Papin. A half-breed settlement was established between Canville and Flat Rock creeks. A. B. Canville, for whom the creek was named, started a trading post among the Indians in 1844, married the next year and settled on Canville creek in 1847.
The first settlements in the various townships were as follows: Grant township-Dr. W. W. Hill in 185r, killed by a mob in his own dooryard in 1866; Levi Hadden in 1858, and in 1859, Simeon W. and James A. Hadden, and Solomon Markham and his four sons. Big Creek township-J. L. Fletcher, S. Barbee, H. Schooley, S. and L. Had- den in 1859; in Tioga township in the same year-Darius Rodgers, Thomas Jackson, Benjamin Smith and S. E. Beach. The first settler in Canville township was T. R. Peters in 1859, followed by M. Kitter- man, William Dox, David Lowery and J. C. Comstock in 1865. Walnut Grove township was settled in 1865 by E. J. Pierce and W. I. Brewer. Centerville in the same year by Reuben Lake, Joseph Cummings, Henry and John Wilkie and John Blair. Chetopa was settled in 1864 by George T. Shepard and A. A. Ashback, who were followed the next vear by M. J. Salter and John Post. Ladore was settled in 1865 by I. N. Roach and family, W. C. Dickerson and S. Rosa; Lincoln in the same year by M. L. and Frank McCashu, Dr. Dement, M. A. Patter- son and J. L. Evans; Erie was settled by I. M. Allen, John Johnson, D. T. Mitchell, P. Walters, R. Leppo, E. F. Williams, P. McCarthy and John C. Weibley in 1865. The first settlers in Mission township were S. J. Gilmore, J. M. Roycroft, D. Bronson, B. P. Ayres, J. P. Williams, Solon Marston, S. H. Ulmer and M. Barnes, all of whom had taken claims before 1866. The first postoffice was established in 1851 at the Osage Mission and the first church and first school buildings erected at that place in 1847.
On the organization of the county in Nov., 1864, the governor ap- pointed three commissioners: R. W. Hadden, S. E. Beach and S. W. Hadden; declared the county seat at Osage City (Rodger's Mill), lo- cated 3 miles northeast of the present city of Chanute. The first elec- tion for county officers was held in Dec., 1864, and resulted as follows: Commissioners, R. W. Jackson, S. W. Hadden, T. Jackson ; clerk, J. L. Fletcher; treasurer, William Jackson; surveyor, S. Jackson; county attorney, Darius Rodgers; probate judge, H. Woodard; sheriff. B. Vaughn ; coroner, W. H. Davis; assessor, Wiley Evans; superintendent of public instruction, S. E. Beach. The county was first divided into four townships, Neosho, Big Creek, Canville and Mission. Changes took place at intervals until in 1871, when the present division into 12 townships was made. The names as they now stand are Big Creek, Canville, Centerville, Chetopa, Erie, Grant, Ladore, Lincoln, Mission, Shiloh, Tioga and Walnut Grove.
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At an election held in June, 1867, the county seat was located at the geographical center of the county. The next year another election was held, in which factional feeling ran very high. The fight was be- tween Osage Mission and Erie. Life-long enemies were made and business sacrificed in the struggle. Erie was declared suc- cessful by the commissioners. Court proceedings were brought to com- pel a recount of the vote, which was done in 1870, when it was found that Osage Mission had the majority. Considerable excitement was caused by the county records being stolen from Erie and conveyed to the Mission. They were never found, and the county lost several thou- sand dollars by the incident. No legal proceedings were brought to regain them, as Erie regained the county seat and the people there were willing to let it pass. In 1872 another election was held in which no choice was made, and another election was held a few days later to settle the matter. On the face of the returns, Erie received the most votes. . Charges of fraud led to litigation which was settled in 1874 by the supreme court in favor of Erie.
A great deal of trouble was occasioned by a complication in land titles. After the treaty with the Osages, made at Canville trading post in 1865, it was supposed by the settlers that the lands were opened to settlement and 144 persons took claims with this understanding. How- ever, when President Andrew Johnson declared a sale of the Osage lands in May, 1868, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad company came forward claiming every other section for ten miles on each side. of its road, according to a grant approved by the president of the United States in 1866, and the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston made a similar claim according to a grant of Congress in 1863. Joseph S. Wilson, commissioner of the general land office, repeatedly refused the claims of the railroads, but O. H. Browning, secretary of the interior, reversed his decision and the lands were withdrawn from sale. Fearful lest they should be deprived of their homes and be obliged to buy of the railroad companies at high prices, the citizens formed an organi- zation in 1868 known as the "Osage Settlers' Rights Society," through which they worked to get legislation in their behalf. They sticceeded in 1869 in getting an act through Congress allow- ing bona fide settlers to buy any of the lands, but the act also pro- tected "vested rights." A question arose as to what "vested rights" were. The matter was taken into the courts where the settlers finally won.
Neosho county is noted for its oil and gas wells. They were first discovered in 1885 at Osage Mission in drilling for coal. Not thinking that the gas was of valuc, the first wells were not turned to account, and it was not until 1897-98, when the Standard Oil company put in a pipe line that started an interest in the industry. (See Natural Gas.)
On account of the occasional overflow of the Neosho river and its branches, it was found necessary to construct levees along the banks of the streams. These levees were begun in 1800 by private enterprise.
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When it was found that, although rude in construction, they protected the wheat fields from submersion, legislation was secured (in 1893) to authorize the public officials to build levees from public funds. The cost of this protection has been about $5 per acre, and the increased value of protected lands from $10 to $20 per acre. The benefit from a sanitary point is also a great consideration.
During the Civil war Neosho county did her full part in furnishing soldiers for the front. She also had considerable trouble of her own with border raids and depredations of various sorts. The Osage In- dians, who were being taught farming, met with so many discourage- ments in the way of the destruction of their crops and newly built houses by raiders who also drove off their live stock, that they ceded their lands to the government.
Thirty-five Neosho county boys enlisted in the Spanish-American war, five of whom were officers, viz: Clay Allen, adjutant and first lieutenant ; Joseph E. Knight, first lieutenant ; Logan H. Wells, second lieutenant ; Albertus Priest, sergeant; Edward E. Berry, corporal. All the men except Allen were members of Company A, Twenty-second regiment. More than 20 Neosho county boys saw service in the Phil- ippines.
Among the extinct towns, Jacksonville, on the corner where Neosho. Labette, Crawford and Cherokee counties join, had the distinction of having the first newspaper and printing office in the county. The paper was called the Neosho County Eagle and was printed in 1868. Later the office was moved to Erie.
The first schools in the county, outside of the missionary schools for Indians, were established in the latter '6os and the early '70s. They were taught in log buildings, sometimes stores and dwelling houses. In 1910 there were over 100 organized districts, and the school property was valued in the neighborhood of $200,000. In the same year there were 24 rural mail routes emanating from the different towns in the county, and several entering from other counties, so that the country people are well supplied with daily mail.
The first railroad lines built through the county were the Leaven- worth, Lawrence & Galveston, now the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Missouri. Kansas & Texas, both in 1870. The line built at that time by the latter road enters the county on the east, crossing the line about 2 miles north of the center, and runs in a southwesterly direc- tion, crossing the southern line about 3 miles east of the center. The stations on this line are St. Paul and South Mound. The road built first by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe crosses the county line and the Neosho river just north of Chanute, passes through that city, pro- ceeds in a southeasterly direction through Erie, and out on the east line of the county. The line was built in 1883. A second line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R., also built- in 1870, enters on the north line, runs in a southeasterly direction and crosses the southern line near the center. The third line of this system was built by the Kansas
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City & Pacific company in 1886. It crosses the southern line about 2 miles east of the center, runs northeasterly, leaving the county near the northeast corner. The total mileage of the two systems in the county is 123.
The general surface of Neosho county is a gently undulating prairie, about 20 per cent. bottom land, which along the Neosho river averages over 2 miles in width, and along the smaller streams about a quarter to half a mile. There is an abundance of native timber and many groves of artificial forest. The Neosho, the principal stream, enters in the northeast and flows southwest through the county. Its principal tributaries are Rock, Canville and Big creeks. Limestone and sand- stone of a superior quality are found in abundance. A stone resembling black marble has been found near Erie. Brick clay is plentiful.
The area of the county is 576 square miles or 368,640 acres, of which 252,000 acres have been brought under cultivation. The farm produce for Igro amounted to about $2,500,000, of which corn, the most valua- ble crop, contributed $500,000; oats, $150,000, and wheat, $100,000. Other leading field crops are Irish potatoes, flax, Kafir corn and prairie grass. Animals sold for slaughter in 1910 brought $500,000. The as- sessed valuation of property was nearly $30,000,000, and the population was 23,754, a gain of 4,500 over that of 1900.
Neosho Falls, one of the important towns of Woodson county, is lo- cated in the northeast corner, at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads and on the Neosho river. It is an incorporated city of the third class; has all lines of mercantile interests, banking facilities, flour mills, sawmills, sorghum mills, and a weekly newspaper (the Post). There are eleven oil wells in the vicinity. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 571. Neosho Falls is in the midst of a prospering farming district and is the shipping point for the prod- uce raised within a radius of several miles, being 13 miles from Yates Center, the county seat.
It is the oldest town in the county and was for many years the judi- cial seat. The vicinity was settled in 1857, when a postoffice was es- tablished with Col. N. S. Goss as postmaster. Rugglew & Stevens opened a store on the south bank of the river, and in 1858 they built the "Falls House." The first school, taught in 1858, was a private in- stitution kept by E. H. Curtis, who was afterwards colonel of a colored regiment in the Civil war. The first newspaper was the "Frontier Democrat," issued in 1869 by I. B. Boyle. The first churches were built in 1870. The incorporation as a town took place in Sept., 1870, and a year later it became a city of the third class. The trustees of the town were D. W. Finney, V. L. Spawr and I. W. Dow, and the first officers of the city were O. P. Haughawout, mayor, and E. W. Grove, clerk.
The largest enterprise for the times was the Neosho Valley fair. which was held here beginning in 1875. Four counties participated-
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Allen, Anderson, Greenwood and Woodson-and it had a decided in- fluence in the development of this section of the country. The fair gained a reputation far and wide and in 1879 the officers had as their guests President and Mrs. Hayes, Gen. W. T. Sherman and a num- ber of state officers. A buck horn chair was presented to the president, and "the time when Hayes was here" is still referred to as an incident in the history of the town.
Neosho Rapids. an incorporated town in Lyon county, is located in Jackson township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and on the Neosho river, just below its junction with the Cottonwood. It is 12 miles east of Emporia, the county seat. The main lines of business and mercantile interests are represented. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The popu- lation according to the census of 1910 was 256.
In 1855 a town by the name of Italia was laid out on the site of Neosho Rapids, which name was afterwards changed to Florence. No improvements were made. In 1857 Neosho Rapids was founded by the same promoters-F. R. Page, H. S. Sleeper and G. J. Tallman. The first building was a two-story frame structure, erected by F. R. Page and Mrs. Allen, and used for a hotel. The first religious services were held in this building by a minister named Rice. A sawmill was built in 1860 by P. Harvey. In 1872 a dam costing $3,000 was put across the Neosho by the mill company.
Neosho River .- This stream was first known to the white man as the Grand river and to the Indians as the "Six Bulls" river. The origin and history of the name is unknown. Pike mentions the stream as the "Grand" in the description of his trip to the Pawnee village in 1806. Long, who visited this section in 1819-20, speaks of it as the Neosho or Grand river, which might indicate that the name Neosho attached to the stream between these two dates. Maps of 1825 and later spell the name Neozho. The survey of the Santa Fe trail made in 1825-27, gives the name as Neozho, while later maps adhere to the spelling Neosho. This stream is formed by two branches, one of which rises a few miles west of Parkerville, Morris county, while the other has its source in the southwest part of Wabaunsee county, at a point a little southeast of the village of Alta Vista. These branches unite in Morris county at a point a little northwest of Council Grove and flow in a southeast direction through the counties of Morris, Lyon, Coffey, Woodson, Allen, Neosho, Labette and Cherokee, entering Oklahoma at a point about due south of the village of Melrose. From here the stream flows in a southerly direction and empties into the Arkansas river opposite the town of Lowe, Muskogee county. An early writer, in speaking of the tributaries of the Arkansas, says: "There is not one that is at all navigable, except the Neosho from the north, which has been ascended by small boats for at least 100 miles." The Neosho is about 450 miles in length, 300 of which are in Kansas, and the stream traverses a very fertile section. On the lower river in and around
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Labette county exist many evidences of an early or ancient civilization, fragments of pottery and flint implements being frequently found.
Ness City, the county seat of Ness county, is eentrally located and is on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. It is an incorporated city of the third class; has 2 national banks, 2 newspapers (the News and the Echo), an electric light plant, flour mill, ice plant, creamery, tele- graph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 712. Ness City was founded in 1878 by Richard Dighton. In 1880 an important addition was made by Robert Stephens. When the rail- road was built in 1886 the town, which had not had much of a growth in the six years of its existence, began to have a wholesome boom, which reached its height in 1890 when it had a population of 869. In the next ten years there was a falling off in the population, due to the money panic and poor crops. A succession of good years and contin- ned prosperity caused a gradual rise in the next decade.
Ness County, in the central part of the western half of the state, is the fifth county from Colorado, the fourth south from Nebraska, and the fourth from the Oklahoma line. It is bounded on the north by Trego and Gove counties; on the east by Rush and Pawnee; on the south by Hodgeman, and on the west by Lane. It was created in 1867 and named. for Noah V. Ness of the Seventh Kansas cavalry. The boundaries were defined as follows: "Commencing where the east line of range 21 west intersects the 3d standard parallel, thence south to the 4th standard parallel, thence west to the east line of range 26 west, thence north to the 3d standard parallel, thence east to the place of be- ginning." The legislature of 1873 changed the western boundary so that it extended to the east line of range 27 west, thus adding 180 square miles and making the area 1,080 square miles.
Prior to the spring of 1873 no one but two or three cattle men lived in the county. At that time Dr. S. G. Rodgers came from Chicago with half a dozen families. Ile made up a fraudulent census showing a population of 600 and sent a petition to the governor which he had signed with a lot of names taken from a Kansas City directory. The petition was granted and on Oct. 23, 1873. the governor proclaimed the county organized. named Smallwood City as the temporary county seat. and appointed Charles McGuire, county clerk; Dr. S. G. Rodgers, (. 11. Perry and Thomas Myers, county commissioners. As chairman of the board of commissioners Rodgers proceeded to issue bonds, this being his object in organizing the county, and had himself elected to the legislature. He took his seat on Jan. 13, 1874, and remained there for 30 days, when John E. Farnsworth, one of the cattle men, not being in favor of county organization, exposed the frauds of Rodgers to the legislature. He took a census which showed but 79 inhabitants and gave it as his opinion that the legal voters of the county did not ex- ceed 14. An investigating committee appointed by the legislature found these claims to be true and upon presentation of a petition to
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Gov. Osborne, signed by 20 citizens, the county was promptly disor- ganized. Rodgers was unseated in the legislature and he took the money which had accrued from the sale of bonds and left the country. The families which he had induced on false representations to come to Ness county nearly starved before they could get away.
The county was without officers of any kind until June, 1878, when Gov. Anthony appointed Alfred Page notary public. Settlers had been coming in gradually and in 1879, J. W. Miller, deputy county superin- tendent of public instruction, organized 22 school districts. In Nov of that year the citizens of Ness City petitioned Gov. John P. St. John for county organization, with that place for temporary county seat. A meeting was held at Sidney about the same time, and another in Jan., 1880. That town sent in a petition asking that it be named the temporary county seat and making recommendations as to who should be appointed as county officers. On April 14, 1880, the governor issued a proclamation reorganizing the county, designating Sidney as the county seat and appointing the following officers: County clerk, James H. Elting; county commissioners, John E. Farnsworth, L. Wes- ton and L. E. Knowles.
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