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 5
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1904-Louisiana Purchase exposition at St. Louis. Kansas again makes a notable exhibit of her products and wins several first prizes.
1905-Kansas battleship launched on Aug. 12.
1906-Monuments marking the line of the Santa Fe trail placed in position by the state and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1908-First nomination of state officers under the primary election law on Aug. 4.
19II-President Taft visits Kansas and lays the corner-stone of the Memorial Building at Topeka on Sept. 27.
Note .- In the state are a number of institutions, etc., the official names of which begin with the word "Kansas," as Kansas States Agri- cultural College, Kansas State Historical Society, etc. In a number of (II-4)
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such cases in this work the official title has been dropped and the sub- ject treated under its popular name, as Agricultural College, Historical Society.
Kansas Christian College, located at Lincoln, Kan., was established in 1882, under the auspices of the Christian church. It was incorporated under the laws of Kansas in 1888, and has property valued at some $15,000. The main building is two stories in height and contains class rooms and laboratory. While the school is under the supervision of the Christian church it is non-sectarian. Five courses of study are provided : classical, scientific, normal, commercial and musical. Prof. O. B. Whitaker was the first president of the college. During the first ten years of its existence the growth of the college was rather slow, only 84 students being enrolled in 1893, but since then progress has been more satisfactory and the college is now one of the recognized and established denominational schools of the state.
Kansas City, the county seat of Wyandotte county and the largest city in Kansas, is located at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, in the extreme eastern part of the county and is separated from Kansas City, Mo., by the Missouri river. The present municipality was created in 1886 by the consolidation of Kansas City with the towns of Wyandotte, Armourdale and Armstrong. The early history of the city is inseparable from that of the Wyandot Indians, who were as civilized as many of the whites when they came to Kansas in 1843 and bought the land upon which the town of Wyandotte was subsequently laid out. J. W. Armstrong, the interpreter, built a log cabin in the fall of 1843 and occupied it in December of that year, the first house erected on the town site.
In the spring of 1857 the town was laid out by John H. Miller, a sur- veyor from Pennsylvania, who made the following statement upon his map: "The present city company is formed of seven original stock- holders, three of whom are Wyandots. They purchased the lands form- ing the town site from the Wyandot owners, who are to receive patents for these lands as soon as they can be issued. The government com- missioners completed the assignment of these Wyandots on the town site only in Feb., 1857."
John McAlpine was to receive conveyances of the land, and on the sale of lots, was to make deeds to the purchasers. The sale was adver- tised for March 8, 1857, when people came from all directions and bought lots at a good figure. The rush of immigration was rapid and houses could not be erected fast enough to accommodate the settlers. Carpenters were at a premium, lumber was in great demand, so that sawmills sprang up almost over night, to supply building materials. Within six months from the time it was laid out Wyandotte was a city in full blast. A postoffice was established in the spring of 1857 with Thomas J. Barker as the first postmaster. It was located in the old court-house building on Nebraska avenue, where Mr. Barker and Isaiah Walker had a store. On June 8, 1858, a number of the citizens peti-
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tioned the probate judge of Leavenworth county, in which Wyandotte was then located, for a town government. The request was granted, Charles W. Glick, William F. Simpson, Daniel Gillen, George Rus- sell and William McKay being appointed trustees. Four days later the trustees held their first meeting, after being sworn into office by William L. McMath, the justice of the peace. William McKay was chosen chairman; Joseph W. Watson, clerk; Charles W. Patterson, assessor ; Walter N. Canfield, collector; and Samuel E. Forsythe, con- stable. On Jan. 29, 1859, Wyandotte was incorporated as a city of the third class and the first election was held in February of that year, when James B. Parr was chosen mayor; W. P. Overton, J. N. White, B. Judd, H. McDowell, Isaiah Walker and D. Killen, councilmen; E. T. Vedder, clerk; David Kirkbride, assessor; J. H. Harris, treasurer; W. L. McMath, attorney; N. A. Kirk, marshal; W. Miller, engineer ; and H. Burgard, street commissioner.
The first religious organization in the town was the Methodist mis- sion among the Wyandot Indians, which had been established in 1843 by James Wheeler, a missionary sent out by the North Ohio conference. The mission church was completed in 1844. St. Paul's Episcopal parish of Wyandotte was organized in 1857 by Rodney Nash of Lexington, Mo. It was the pioneer parish of Kansas and was erected under the authority of Bishop Kemper.
In 1859 the convention which framed the constitution under which Kansas was admitted to the Union met at Wyandotte. The building in which the convention was held was known for years as Constitution Hall. When Wyandotte county was created in 1859, Wyandotte became the seat of justice. The county offices were located in Consti- tution Hall for a time. They were changed several times, but in 1882, a fine court-house was erected on the northwest corner of Minnesota avenue and Seventh street.
While Kansas was still a territory manufacturing industries were established at Wyandotte. In 1870 the Union Pacific railroad shops were located in the southern portion of Wyandotte-known as Arm- strong, a town absorbed by Wyandotte.
The first hotel in Wyandotte was kept by Isaac W. Brown as early as 1855. Thomas Eldridge opened a second in 1857. Two banks were started the same year. The Kansas City Town company was organized in 1868 by T. H. Swope, Silas Armstrong, Dr. George B. Wood, David E. James, Luther H. Wood, William Wier, Thomas Ewing, Jr., and N. McAlpine. The town was surveyed by John McGee in April, 1869, and the plat recorded with the register of deeds of Wyandotte county on May 3. Kansas City made rapid progress and in 1872 it had sufficient population to be incorporated. The first election was held in October, when James Boyle was elected mayor; S. W. Day, John McKnight, Charles H. Jones, James Lundell and George Forschler, councilmen ; Cornelius Cushin, clerk ; James Kennedy, police judge; Samuel McCon- nell, treasurer; and H. L. Alden, attorney. The fire department of
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Kansas City, Mo., furnished fire protection for Kansas City, Kan., until 1882, when a building was erected on James street for the accommoda- tion of the police and fire departments.
In 1880 the Weekly Spy, the first newspaper in the town, made its appearance. It was edited and owned by B. M. Brake until 1882, when Charles H. Van Fossen and Felix G. Head bought the Spy and began the publication of the Daily Evening Globe on Sept. 5. Several labor organizations were established in Kansas City early in the 'Sos.
Soon after the town was founded, Kansas City began manufacturing with the building of flour mills, but Kansas City did not take high rank as a milling center until about 1900. It now occupies second place in the United States, having the largest hard wheat mills in the world, with a capacity of 5,000 barrels a day. The meat packing industry, the most characteristic of Kansas City today, was one of the first to become established. The first packing house was established in 1868 by Pattison & Slavens, and by 1890 Kansas City began to take its place as the second greatest packing center in the country. Associated with this business are the stock yards, soap industries and other manufactures of by-products.
Armourdale, situated on the north bank of the Kansas river, about a mile south of its junction with the Missouri, was named after the Armours, the great Chicago packers. It was laid out in 1880 by the Kaw Valley Town Site and Bridge company, composed of the following Boston capitalists: Charles F. and John Quincy Adams, Charles Mer- riam, Nathan Thayer, H. H. Hunnewell and John A. Burnham. The company owned a large tract of land not included in the town site, which they sold for manufacturing purposes. In the spring of 1882, Armour- dale had a sufficient population to be incorporated, and the first city election was held on May 5, when Frank W. Patterson was chosen the first mayor; Daniel Herbert, Nehemiah Shirrick, E. W. Anderson, Jo- seph Bradley and S. Snyder, councilmen : William Ross, marshal; Gran- ville Patterson, clerk; and John C. Foore, police judge.
In 1883 the street railway was extended so as to connect Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Kan., Armourdale and Wyandotte, which made the towns practically one as far as transportation and business interests were concerned.
Until 1886, the towns west of the Kansas river were a group of inde- pendent municipalities. These were all then annexed to Kansas City, which since that time has more than quadrupled in population, added to its manufacturing concerns, multiplied its packing houses, until it now produces more manufactured articles than any other city in the United States according to population, and practically doubles that of Kansas City, Mo. It has large railway repair and construction shops, iron works, factories that turn out hay-presses, creamery supplies, tin ware, agricultural implements, wagons and carriages, gas and gasoline engines, furniture, foundry supplies, wheelbarrows, wooden boxes and barrels, soap, brick, etc. The residences and business houses are lighted and heated by natural gas, but there is also an electric lighting system.
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There are 25 public school houses in the city and a high school with manual training department. There are also located here the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Kansas City University-a Methodist institution, the Kansas City Theological Seminary, eight Roman Cath- olic institutions. Kansas City has an elevation of 763 feet and in 1910 had a population of 82,331 inhabitants.
Kansas City University .- This institution, located in Kansas City, Kan., comprises seven departments or schools, each having its own fac- ulty, with courses of study leading to appropriate degrees. These schools are, Mather College, School of Theology, College of Music, Kansas City Normal School, Wilson High School, School of Elocution and Ora- tory, and Kansas City Hahnemann Medical College. Mather College is situated on the university ground in the suburbs of Kansas City. It owes its existence to Dr. Samuel Fielding Mather, a descendent of Cotton Mather. About a year before his death he made a proposition to a board of trustees, appointed by the general conference of the Meth- odist Protestant church, to convey to this board certain valuable tracts of land in the suburbs of Kansas City, providing a building or buildings should be erected before Oct. 15, 1896, costing not less than $25,000 The offer was accepted on the last day of May, 1895, just a few hours before Dr. Mather died. His will gave the residue of his estate to the con- templated college, provided the board of trustees fulfilled their part of the agreement.
On Sept. 23, 1896, the building known as Mather Hall was opened to students. In 1910 there were three buildings and plans made for the erection of three more. H. J. Heinz, of Pittsburg, Pa., has contributed $10,000 toward a dormitory, as a memorial to his wife. The business affairs of the university are under the management of 24 trustees, 12 of whom are elected quadrennially for a term of eight years. These trustees elect an endowment board of 16 persons who have charge of the invested funds. The course of study in the college leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree and is open to both men and women.
The Wilson High School occupies a new building erected in 1907 at a cost of $25,000. It offers six courses of study, classical, the philo- sophical, and scientific courses, which admit students to the college; an English course, a teacher's course, and a business course are provided for students not expecting to attend college. The College of Elocution and Oratory presents facilities for instruction in the art of speaking, and is located in Kansas City, Mo. The Hahnemann Medical College is also located in Kansas City, Mo. It has been in existence about twenty years and offers courses leading to the degrees of M. D., B. S. and Ph. D.
The catalogue for 1910-II gives the following enrollment: Mather College 30, Wilson High School 149, School of Oratory 198, Normal School 10, Hahnemann Medical College 68, School of Theology 13; those counted twice 23, making a total of 435 students.
Kansas County, named in memory of the Kansas Indians, was created in 1873, with the following boundaries: "Commencing at the intersec-
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tion of the east line of range 39 west, with the 6th standard parallel; thence south along range line to its intersection with the south boundary of the State of Kansas; thence west along said south boundary line of the State of Kansas to the southwest corner of the State of Kansas; thence north along the western boundary line of the State of Kansas to where it is intersected by the 6th standard parallel; thence east to the place of beginning." In 1883 Kansas county disappeared, Seward taking its place. The territory included in the above described bound- aries now constitutes the county of Morton.
Kansas Legion .- (See Danites.)
Kansas Medical College .- (See Medical Colleges.)
Kansas-Nebraska Bill .- For more than thirty years prior to the organ- ization of Kansas as a territory of the United States the slavery ques- tion had been a "bone of contention" in the halls of Congress. The first petition of Missouri for admission into the Union, in March, 1818, started the agitation that culminated in the passage of the act of March 6, 1820, known as the "Missouri Compromise." Section 8 of this act pro- vided "That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36° 30' north latitude, not included within the limits of the state contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited."
Of the original thirteen states, seven were free and six were slave states. From the adoption of the constitution to 1819 five slave states- Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama-had been admitted into the Union, while during the same period but four free states-Vermont, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois-had been added, so that in 1819, immediately after the admission of Alabama, there were eleven of each. The admission of Maine in 1820 gave the free states a majority of one, but the equilibrium was again restored by the admission of Mis- souri in 1821. With the exception of short intervals, this policy of equality was maintained during the next twenty years. Arkansas, a slave state, was admitted in 1836, but was followed by the free state of Michigan in 1837. The admission of Texas and Florida in 1845 gave the slave power a slight advantage, which was regained by the free states in the admission of Iowa in 1846 and Wisconsin in 1848.
By that time practically all the available territory south of the line 36° 30' had been divided into states, and the slaveholders were com- pelled to look for a new field if the institution was to be extended. After an acrimonious discussion of eight weeks in the first session of the 31st Congress, over the admission of California, Henry Clay, on Jan. 29, 1850, introduced the resolution which formed the basis of the celebrated "Omnibus Bill" (q. v.), or compromise measures of 1850. These reso- lutions, and the bill which followed, provided for the admission of Cal- ifornia "without the imposition by Congress of any restrictions in respect to the exclusion or introduction of slavery within those boundaries."
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With the admission of California as a free state, which made sixteen free to fifteen slave states, the slave power was driven to desperation. Soon the region west of the Missouri river must be organized into territories, and as all this section lay north of 36° 30' and was part of the Louisiana Purchase, the cry went up for the repeal of the "Missouri Compromise."
A slight infraction of the compromise had been made in 1836, when the small, triangular tract known as the "Platte Purchase" was taken from the Indian Territory and added to Missouri. But the territory em- braced by it was so small, and the change was made merely to give better definition to the Missouri boundaries, that no serious objection was made to the act by the free-state members of Congress.
Petitions were received in the first session of the 32d Congress (1851-52) for the erection of a territory west of the Missouri river, but no action was taken. The first real effort in Congress to organize a territory including the present State of Kansas was made on Dec. 13, 1852, when Willard P. Hall, a member from Missouri, introduced a bill providing for the organization of the "Territory of Platte," to include all the present states of Kansas and Nebraska. Nothing came of this bill and on Feb. 2, 1853, William A. Richardson, of Illinois, reported another bill, providing for the establishment of the Territory of Ne- braska, embracing the same region as the Hall bill. This bill passed the house on Feb. 10, by a vote of 98 to 43, and was sent to the senate, where on the 17th it was favorably reported by Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois and chairman of the committee on territories, but on March 3 it was ordered laid on the table by a vote of 23 to 17. Thus ended the second attempt to organize a territory which would embrace the present State of Kansas. No reference to the subject of slavery was made in either the Hall or the Richardson bill, and had either become a law Kansas would have been organized as a free territory under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, and admitted as a free state without question or dispute.
The third, and what proved to be the successful, effort to organize a territory west of the Missouri had its beginning on Dec. 14, 1853, when Augustus C. Dodge of Iowa, introduced a bill in the United States senate providing for the erection of the Territory of Nebraska, covering the same section of the country as the Hall and Richardson bills of the previous Congress. The bill was referred to the committee on terri- tories, of which Mr. Douglas was still chairman, and was reported back to the senate on Jan. 4, 1854, with several important amendments. In his report Mr. Douglas called attention to the doctrine of "Popular Sovereignty" and the compromise measures of 1850, in "That all ques- tions pertaining to slavery in the territories, and the new states to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the decision of the people residing therein by their appropriate representatives, to be chosen by them for that purpose."
On Jan. 16, while the bill was still pending, Archibald Dixon, one of the senators from Kentucky, gave notice that when the proper time
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came he intended to offer an amendment to the bill declaring the provi- sions of the Missouri Compromise excluding slavery north of the line 36° 30' should "not be construed as to apply to the territory contem- plated in this act, or to any other territory of the United States; but that the citizens of the several states and territories shall be at liberty to take and hold their slaves in the territory as if the Missouri Compromise act had never been passed."
To avoid the open rupture between the North and South, which would be certain to follow the introduction of such an amendment, Mr. Douglas secured the recommittal of the bill to his committee, ostensibly for fur- ther consideration, but really that the features suggested by Senator Dixon might be incorporated in such a way as to accomplish the repeal of the Missouri Compromise without arousing determined opposition. On Jan. 23, 1854, Senator Douglas reported a substitute bill, providing for two territories instead of one-the northern territory to be called "Nebraska" and the southern one "Kansas"-the parallel of 40° north latitude to form the boundary line between them. This was the origin of the term "Kansas-Nebraska Bill," which in a short time became a familiar expression all over the country.
A long and bitter discussion followed, but, near the close of an all- night session, the bill passed the senate on Saturday morning, March 4, by a vote of 37 to 14. It was then sent to the house, where it was several times called up for debate, and finally passed just before mid- night on May 22, by a vote of 113 to 100. It was signed by President Pierce on May 30, 1854, and thus became the organic law of the Terri- tory of Kansas.
The first eighteen sections of the bill related to the Territory of Ne- braska. Section 19 defined the boundaries of the Territory of Kansas (see Boundaries), and provided "That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said territory into two or more territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, and that the said territory, or any part of the same, shall be received into the Union, with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission." The section also provided for the protec- tion of Indian rights until they should be relinquished by treaty.
Section 20 related to the executive power and authority of the gover- nor, which were not materially different from those of other territorial governors. He was to be appointed for a term of four years, unless sooner removed by the president, and was required to reside in the ter- ritory.
Section 21 defined the duties of the territorial secretary, who was to be appointed for a term of five years, subject to removal by the president.
Section 22 provided for a territorial legislature, composed of thir- teen members of a council, to be elected for two years, and twenty-six representatives, to be elected for one year, the legislature to have power to increase the number of members in each branch in proportion to
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the increase in the number of qualified voters. No session of the legis- lature was to last more than forty days, except the first, which might continue for sixty days.
Section 23 provided that "Every free white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years, who shall be an actual resident of said territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within said territory; but the qualifications of voters, and of holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the legislative assembly." The section then goes on to declare that citizens of the United States, or those who might announce their intention of becoming such, should be entitled to vote, but that no sol- dier or seaman, or other person belonging to the army or navy of the United States should have the right of suffrage in the territory.
Section 24 related to the powers of the legislature and the veto power of the governor, and the next section defined the authority of the executive in the matter of appointments.
Section 26 set forth that no member of the legislature should be eligible to any office created during the session of which he might be a member, and that all Federal officers except postmasters should be ineligible for members of the legislature.
Section 27 related to the territorial and inferior courts, the manner in which they should be established, their jurisdictions, etc.
Section 28 declared the fugitive slave laws of 1793 and 1850 to be in full force and effect within the territorial limits.
Section 29 provided for the appointment of a district attorney and marshal for the territory, each to be appointed for a term of four years, unless sooner removed, and defined their duties.
Section 30 provided for the appointment of all territorial officers by the president, "by and with the advice and consent of the senate," and fixed the salaries as follows: "Governor, $2,500 per annum; justices, $2,000; secretary, $2,000; marshal, $200 and fees the same as the mar- shal of Utah Territory; district attorney, fees similar to those of the district attorney of the Territory of Utah. Members of the legislature were to receive $3 per day for the time actually employed in the dis- charge of their duties, and $3 for every twenty miles traveled in con- nection therewith.
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