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 58
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charges were investigated by a committee of the United States senate and also by a joint committee of the Kansas legislature. On March 3, 1873, a majority of the former committee reported that "the whole transaction, whatever view be taken of it, is the result of a concerted plot to defeat Mr. Pomeroy." Three days later the committee of the state legislature reported Mr. Pomeroy "guilty of the crime of bribery, and attempting to corrupt, by offers of money, members of the legis- lature." He was arraigned for trial before Judge Morton at Topeka on June 8, 1874, but a change of venue was taken to Osage county. After several delays and continuances the case was dismissed on March 12, 1875. On Oct. II, 1873, while the political opposition to Mr. Pomeroy was at its height he was shot by Martin F. Conway in Wash- ington, the bullet entering the right breast, inflicting a painful but not serious wound. Conway claimed that Pomeroy had ruined himself and his family. After the bribery case against him was dismissed Mr. Pomeroy returned to the East and died at Whitinsville, Mass., Aug. 27, 1891.
Pomona, the fourth largest town in Franklin county in 1910, is located in the valley of the Marais des Cygnes river and on the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific railroads, 10 miles west of Ottawa, the county seat. The original town site consisted of 320 acres of land. A. Jones erected the first building, for a residence, and within a short time Rev. L. Rickseeker built a store which was used for drugs, general merchandise and the postoffice. A. H. Scranton built the second business block, which afterwards was converted into a hotel known as the Pomona House. At an early date Pomona became a considerable manufacturing center. A furniture factory was started in 1870 by Krouse & Sons; a steam flour mill was erected the same year by H. O. Kelsey. Within a year a school house was built that would accommodate 200 pupils. The first religious services were held in 1870, and in April, 1871, the Methodist church was organized. The Presbyterian church perfected an organization in 1873. Pomona was started on a temperance plan by the founders and from the first pros- pered in a marked degree. Today it is the banking, shipping and supply town for a rich agricultural district, with a number of retail stores, lumber yard, hardware and implement houses, money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, good schools, hotels, and some manufacturing establishments. It is an incorporated city, and in 1910 had a population of 523.
Pontiac, a hamlet in Butler county, is located in Prospect township on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 8 miles east of Eldorado, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices, some local retail trade, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 65.
Pony Express .- William H. Russell, of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, freighters, of Leavenworth, was the individual who insti- tuted the "pony express" from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast. St. Joseph, Mo., was the starting point, and on April 3, 1860, a little
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after sunset Johnnie Frey, mounted on a black pony, made his depar- ture on the first trip. Anticipating the occasion St. Joseph was decorated in holiday attire, with bands discoursing enlivening music. while a large crowd had gathered on the levee to speed the departing messenger. At Sacramento the occasion was observed in a more osten- tatious manner. A substantial fund had been contributed by the citi- zens for celebrating the inauguration of the enterprise; the city had been gaily decorated with flags and bunting; business was suspended; cannons boomed; brass bands played, while state officials and local orators made the occasion one long to be remembered.
A pure white pony ridden by Harry Roff left this city the same day the black pony left the other end of the line, and covered the first 20 miles-two stages-in 59 minutes. He changed horses in 10 seconds, changing again at Folsom and reaching Placerville, 55 miles from Sac- ramento, in 2 hours and 49 minutes. The first "pony" rider to reach Salt Lake was the east bound one, who arrived on the 7th, and reach- ing St. Joseph in 11 days and 12 hours from the Pacific coast. The rider from the eastern starting point reached the Utah capital on the 9th, entered Sacramento in 9 days and 23 hours from the time he started.
The quickest trip ever made over the route was in March, 1861, when President Lincoln's first inaugural address was carried from St. Joseph to Sacramento, 1,980 miles, in 7 days and 17 hours. On one occasion despatches were carried from St. Joseph to Denver, 675 miles, in 69 hours. The regular schedule for delivering mail to the Pacific coast, however, was 8 days for despatches and Io days for letters. This schedule was about two weeks ahead of the best time by the Southern Overland Mail company.
The route from St. Joseph, after crossing the Missouri river, lay a little south of west until it reached the old military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Kearney, near the village of Kennekuk, in Atchi- son county, 44 miles out. Thence it diverged northwesterly across the Kickapoo Indian reservation via Granada, Log Chain, Seneca, Ash Point, Guittard's, Marysville and Hollenberg, which was the last station in Kansas; thence up the Little Blue Valley to Rock Creek, Big Sandy, Liberty Farm, thence over the plains to the Platte river and up that stream to Fort Kearney; thence west via Julesburg, Col., Fort Lara- mie, Wyo., through the Rocky mountains via South Pass to Fort Bridger, Salt Lake City, Carson City and Sacramento, where the pony was changed for steamer for San Francisco.
Pony charges were first fixed at $5.00 for each half ounce, but the postoffice department later ordered this price reduced to $1.50, which price prevailed until the Pacific telegraph put the "pony express" out of business. Thousands of letters were plastered over with "pony stamps" and during the British troubles with China one document for the English government had $135 in stamps on it. In addition to the "pony" charges the United States required a ten-cent stamp on all correspondence going by this route.
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The line was operated semi-weekly. It was stocked with several hundred fleet-footed ponies,, which were distributed at intervals of from IO to 15 miles, at stations technically called "stages." Some 80 riders were employed, those selected usually having been chosen for light- ness as well as being able to cope with the dangers attending the work. Their pay ranged from $50 to $150 a month, those portions of the route through the sections infested with treacherous Indians being most highly paid. The average weight of riders was about 135 pounds, and in addition to the rider the pony had to carry an average of 15 pounds of mail matter besides the weight of the bridle, saddle and mail bags, an extra 13 pounds. All mail matter was wrapped in oiled silk as a precaution against dampness.
To all but promoters the enterprise proved a blessing. Russell lost about $100,000, and his partners also lost fortunes. Their expenses were heavy, nearly 500 good saddle horses were required, 190 stations were kept up, and in addition about 200 men were employed as station keepers: All grain for the horses had to be freighted from the east at a cost of from 10 to 25 cents a pound. The "pony express" lasted less than two years, the daily overland stage coach following in July, 1861, two months before it ceased operations, and four months later the Pacific telegraph was working.
Ponziglione, Paul M., one of the early Catholic missionaries in Kan- sas, was born on Feb. II, 1818, in the city of Cherasco, Piedmont, Italy. He was of noble descent, his father having been Count Felice Ponzig- lione di Borge d'Ales, and his mother Countess Terrero Castelnuoro. After his preliminary education he attended the Royal College of Novara and subsequently the College of Nobles at Turin, both Jesuit institu- tions, taking his degree at Turin. He then studied law for over a year. but seemed to turn naturally to the priesthood, and in 1839, entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Chieri, near Turin, where he received the usual training. In 1848 he was connected with the Jesuit college at Genoa, during a period of disturbance in Italy, and at one time eighteen of the priests in the college were arrested by one of the political factions. They were sent to Spenzia but managed to escape to Modena, where most of them took to the mountains. Father Paul determined to go to Rome and thence to the United States. He reached Rome, where he was ordained priest on March 25, 1848, and soon after that came to the United States. From New York he went to St. Xavier's College at Cincinnati for a short time, but before leaving Italy he had made up his mind to spend his life as a missionary among the Indians. Following out his resolve he offered himself to Rev. Anthony Elet, the superior of the western Jesuits of the United States, and was assigned to the Missouri mission. For two years he worked in Missouri and Kentucky, and then returned to St. Louis. In March, 1851, he left St. Louis for the region west of the Missouri river. While his home was to be at the Osage mission and that tribe his special charge, his labors extended from Fremont Peak, Wyo., to Fort Sill,
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I. T. For twenty years Father Paul's work was with the Osages, and this was one of the brightest periods in the history of the tribe. He was an honored guest among the Indians, baptized and taught their children, and ministered alike to bodily and spiritual needs. The particular scope of his work in Kansas was from Cherokee county north to Miami, then west to Fort Larned, Pawnee county, along the southern border of the state. He also penetrated the wild regions of the Indian Territory and established mission stations at the Indian agencies and military posts. Within forty years he established over 100 missions-87 in Kansas and 21 in the Indian Territory. In 1870 the Osages withdrew from Kansas, but Father Paul still watched over them, making the trip by wagon from the old mission to their new home in the Indian Territory. The beautiful church at the Osage mis- sion, known as St. Francis, next to the cathedral at Leavenworth, is the finest in the state. It was built through the efforts of Father Paul and dedicated on May II, 1884. In 1889 he was asked to go as a peace- maker to the Crow Indians in Montana and did not return to Kan- sas. The next year he became historian of St. Ignatius' College in Chicago, Ill., and assistant pastor of the Jesuit church. His sympathies were so broad that he also became chaplain of St. Joseph's home for deaf mutes. He died in Chicago on March 28, 1900.
Population .- (See Census.)
Porterville, a hamlet of Bourbon county, is located on a branch of the Big Walnut in the extreme southwestern part of the county. It has free rural delivery from Walnut. In 1910 the population was 20.
Portis, one of the incorporated towns of Osborne county, is located in Bethany township on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 8 miles north of Osborne, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Independent), 3 churches, good schools, and a number of well stocked retail establishments. The town became a city of the third class in 1905. It has telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 304. A trading post was located at this point in 1871, and the town was platted in 1873. The Portis Patriot, one of the first newspapers in this section of the state was started in 1872. The town was named in honor of the vice-president of the Missouri Pacific R. R.
Portland, a hamlet of Sumner county, is located in Guelph township on the Kansas Southwestern R. R. 15 miles southeast of Wellington, the county seat. It has a mill, about a dozen retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 69.
Portland Exposition .- (See Exposition.)
Post, a country postoffice in Gray county, is located 18 miles south- west of Cimarron, the county seat, and 15 miles from Ingalls, the near- est shipping point.
Pottawatomie, an inland hamlet of Coffey county, is located on the east line of the county, about midway north and south. It is about
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15 miles northeast of Burlington, the county seat, and 6 miles north- west of Westphalia, Anderson county, from which place it receives mail by rural route.
Pottawatomie County, formerly a part of Riley, was organized by the territorial legislature of 1857 with northern and southern bound- aries the same as at present; the western boundary 5 miles east of the site of Manhattan, and the eastern boundary extending 5 miles beyond that of the present. The county is the second from Nebraska and the third west from Missouri. It is bounded on the north by Mar- shall and Nemaha counties; on the east by Jackson and Shawnee; on the south by Wabaunsee and Riley, and on the west by Riley. The Kaw river forms the southern boundary, and the Big Blue the. western.
The first white people to settle within the borders of the county were Catholic missionaries who went to St. Marys a few weeks pre- ceding the immigration of the Pottawatomie Indians to their reserva- tion, of which St. Marys was a central point. This was in 1848. The mission and a log house near it were built the same year. The In- dians contributed to the erection of the mission school, which was 15 years in advance of the common schools. A band of Michigan Potta- watomies joined their tribesmen on the reservation in 1850. In 1853 the population consisted of the Catholic missionaries, a few traders, 5 government employees, and the following settlers: Dr. L. R. Palmer and his family, Alexander Peltier, Basil Germore, William Mar- tell, Francis Bergeron, Antoine Tescier, J. B. Frapp, Robert Wilson and family, Joseph Truchey, Alva Higbee, O. H. P. Polk, Baptiste Ogee, Mrs. Zoe Durcharm, Mrs. E. A. Bertrand, Mrs. A. P. Bertrand and Mrs. Clara Bertrand.
Dr. Palmer, who came in Sept., 1850, was later a member of the first free-state territorial council and of the convention which framed the Wyandotte constitution. His son, Francis X. Palmer, born March 17, 1851, was the first white child born in the county. James Graham, who came with the priests, was probably the first white settler. Robert Wilson was the first man to stake off a claim and he built the first house outside of the reservation on the site of the present town of Louisville in 1853. The first Indian agent was Luke Lee, stationed at St. Marys. The last was Dr. Palmer in 1870.
In Feb., 1857, after the founding of the new county, St. George was made the county seat, and Gov. Geary appointed the following officers : Robert Wilson, probate judge; J. L. Wilson, sheriff ; George W. Gilles- pie and Charles Jenkins, commissioners. The commissioners met at St. George and divided the county into four townships, Pottawatomie, St. George, Blue and Shannon. They also appointed L. R. Palmer, county clerk ; Josiah D. Adams, treasurer ; J. A. J. Chapman, surveyor ; W. L. Seymore, coroner; and James S. Gillespie, assessor. During the next two years Vienna and Louisville townships were organized. In 1861 an election for the location of county seat was held. Louis- ville won by a majority of 12 votes and the next year the legislature
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declared it the county seat. It continued as such until 1882, when another election gave the honor to Westmoreland. By that time 15 new townships had been organized, making 21 in all.
The public lands were surveyed in 1857-58, and the settlers began to get clear titles to their farms, which they had been occupying and improving for several years. During the war Pottawatomie con- tributed her quota of soldiers for the defense of the nation, as well as taking care of her own troubles.
The population in 1860 was 1,529; in 1870, 7,848; and in 1910 it was 17,552. The assessed valuation of property was $32,573,774, which would make an average of $1,944 for each person. The total value of farm products was $5,279,294, of which field crops amounted to $2,804,778, and animals slaughtered to $2,196,761. The wheat crop sold for $35,088, and the corn for $1,693,629. Other important farm crops are sweet and Irish potatoes, oats, Kafir corn, sorghum and alfalfa. The fruit trees of bearing age numbered 150,000, of which 90,000 were apple trees.
The general surface is rolling, with bluffs along the Kansas and Big Blue rivers, in which limestone is extensively quarried for building pur- poses. Bottom lands average 2 miles in width and comprise one-fourth of the whole area. A good quality of gypsum is found along the water courses, especially at the mouth of Spring creek. Potter's clay is found in the southern and central parts of the county. There are thin veins of coal in the east and south which have received little attention. There is said to be a mineral spring of medicinal properties at Onaga. Besides the Big Blue and the Kansas rivers, which form the western and southern boundaries, there is the Vermillion flowing south through the eastern portion of the county and emptying into the Kansas. Its tributaries from the west are French and Mill creeks, and the tributaries of the Big Blue are Spring creek with eastern branches, Four Mile as a western branch, Shannon, Carnahan, McEn- tire, Cedar and Elbow creeks.
Pottawatomie county is well supplied with railroads to handle her products. The main line of the Union Pacific crosses the extreme south following the north bank of the Kansas river, the Topeka & Marys- ville branch of the same road is extended to Onaga and is in process of construction northwest from that point. The Leavenworth, Kan- sas & Western branch of the Union Pacific enters in the northeast and crosses west to Blaine, thence southwest into Riley county. The Kan- sas, Southern & Gulf operates a line from Blaine to Westmoreland. There are 98.23 miles of track in the county. There are 120 organized school districts in the county and several high schools. St. Mary's College at St. Marys is one of the leading Catholic educational insti- tutions in the West. There is also a Catholic parochial school at that place, an Evangelical school at Belvue, and St. Luke's (a German Lutheran school) at Onaga.
The county is divided into 23 townships: Belvue, Blue, Blue Valley,
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Center, Clear Creek, Emmett, Grant, Green, Lincoln, Lone Tree, Louis- ville, Mill Creek, Pottawatomie, Rock Creek, Shannon, Sherman, Spring Creek, St. Clere, St. George, St. Marys, Union, Vienna and Wamego. The towns and villages are: Arispie, Belvue, Blaine, Broderick, Emmett, Flush, Fostoria, Garrison, Havensville, Holy Cross, Laclede, Louisville, Moodyville, Myers Valley, Olsburg, Onaga, St. Clere, St. George, St. Marys, Springside, Wamego, Westmoreland and Wheaton.
Pottawatomie Massacre .- This tragedy occurred on the night of May 24, 1856, near the place called Dutch Henry's crossing on Pottawatomie creek in Franklin county. Five men were killed, and it would have been regarded as ordinary murder had it been ordinary times, but it was in a new country, at a time when civil war practically existed in the border counties of Kansas. Early in 1855 the five sons of John Brown came to Kansas and settled on the north side of the Potta- watomie, about 2 miles southwest of the present town of Lane. Between the Pottawatomie and Mosquito creeks was a pro-slavery settlement, just north, between the Mosquito and Marais des Cygnes, was a free- state settlement, while south of the Pottawatomie was a mixed com- plexion of politics. The Browns lived right in the heart of the pro- slavery element.
Among the pro-slavery men were Allen Wilkinson, who kept the postoffice; James P. Doyle, who took up a claim north of the Potta- watomie in the fall of 1854; Henry and William Sherman, who set- tled on an abandoned Indian farm at the ford of the creek, which became known as Dutch Henry's crossing. Some of the free-state men regarded Wilkinson, Doyle and the Shermans as harmless pro- slavery men, but as the first had been elected by fraud and violence to a legislature where he voted for a black code; the second had his sons, William and Drury, keep free-state men from the polls by force, and the Shermans entertained lawless invaders, this view was not held by all.
On May 21, 1856, the Pottawatomie Rifles were called together, when it was heard that an attack was to be made on Lawrence, for the pur- pose of going to the defense of the town. On the way they learned that Lawrence had been destroyed and were in camp when, according to the narrative of James Towsley, one of the eye-witnesses, news was brought that an attack was expected on the Pottawatomie. Owen Brown, and later John Brown, asked Towsley to take a party down there to watch what was going on. The party consisted of John Brown, his four sons-Frederick, Oliver, Owen and Watson-his son- in-law, Henry Thompson, Theodore Weiner and James Towsley. They left Shore's about 2 o'clock of May 23. They went into camp about a mile west of Dutch Henry's crossing and after supper John Brown revealed his plan, which was to "sweep the Pottawatomie of all pro- slavery men living on it."
Crossing the Pottawatomie and Mosquito creeks the party went north
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until Doyle's house was reached. Here Frederick Brown, Theodore Weiner and James Towsley stood guard in the road, while the rest went to the house. They brought out Doyle and his sons-William and Drury- and went back south across the Mosquito creek .. Doyle attempted to escape and John Brown shot him. When the boys attempted to get away Brown's sons killed them with swords. The party then proceeded to Wilkinson's house and ordered him out. He had gone but a short distance with them when one of the Brown boys killed him with a sword. They then crossed the creek at Dutch Henry's and went to Sherman's, where a Mrs. Harris was preparing breakfast for Buford's men. She mistook the Brown party for them, but when she learned of the mistake she alarmed Henry Sherman and her husband. In the meantime William Sherman had been taken to the river, where he was killed with short swords and his body thrown into the stream.
When Brown started out that night he had intended to capture these men and hold a trial, but after Doyle's effort to escape the plan was changed. This massacre greatly terrified the pro-slavery settlers of Pottawatomie creek, who supposed that the whole rifle company had returned to commit the deed.
Pottawatomie Mission .- (See Missions.)
Pottawatomie River, a stream of eastern Kansas, is composed of two branches. The north fork rises in the southwest corner of Anderson county, about 2 miles south of the village of Westphalia, and flows in a northerly and northeasterly course through the townships of West- phalia, Reeder, Jackson, Monroe, Putnam and Walker. The south fork rises in Richland township of the same county, about 2 miles west of Selma, and flows northwest into Washington township, where it turns toward the northeast and forms a junction with the north fork not far from the town of Greeley. From that point the course of the main stream is northeast until it empties into the Osage river, just below the town of Osawatomie, Miami county.
Potter, one of the larger towns of Atchison county, is situated in the southeastern portion on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 15 miles south of Atchison, the county seat. It is one of the towns which has grown up since the building of the railroad and is the largest banking town in the southeastern part of the county. There are several general stores, implement and hardware houses, school, church, money order postoffice, and telegraph and express facilities. In 1910 the pop- ulation of the town was 250.
Pottersburg, a country hamlet in Lincoln county, is located about 15 miles northwest of Lincoln, the county seat, and 6 miles north of Vesper, the postoffice from which it receives mail by rural route.
Potwin, an incorporated city of the third class in Butler county, is located in Plumb township on White Water creek and the Missouri Pacific R. R. 13 miles northwest of Eldorado, the county seat. It has
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a bank, a flour mill, schools and churches, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 249.
Powell, a hamlet in Phillips county, is located 10 miles south of Phillipsburg, the county seat, and 6 miles south of Glade, the post- office from which it receives mail by rural route.
Powhattan, an incorporated town in Brown county, is located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 8 miles southwest of Hiawatha, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Bee), 3 churches, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 216.
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