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 59
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
Prairie Center, a village in the western part of Johnson county, received the name because it was located on a prairie about equidis- tant from four towns in the center of a prairie. The first settlement was made in 1871 and in February of the following year the postoffice was established with David Vestal as the first postmaster. He had opened the first store the previous year. The first school house was built in 1874 and the Friends built a church. Both the Methodists and Free Methodists also built churches within a short time. The post- office was discontinued when the rural delivery system was established, and Prairie Center now has free delivery from Eudora, 7 miles north- west. In 1910 the population was 70.
Prairie Dogs, a species of marmot-like rodents of the plains, genus Cynamys, especially Cynamys ludoviciamus. They are about one foot long and live in communities known as prairie dog towns in the higher or drier parts of the plains. The burrows are often 10 or more feet deep and have hillocks at the entrance. They live on vegetation and while part of the community are foraging others are placed as sen- tinels on the hills to give warning in case of approaching danger. Gopher, a corruption of the French "Gaufre," meaning honey-comb, is the name applied to a smaller species of the same animal, because they honey-comb the earth with their burrows. In the early days these animals were kept in check by wolves, snakes and birds of prey, but with the advance of civilization their natural enemies were destroyed and they increased so rapidly in numbers that they became a formida- ble pest. Not only did they destroy growing crops by burrowing through the ground, but their burrows made pitfalls for all kinds of live stock. Prairie dogs and gophers became such a menace to property that the matter of their extermination engaged the attention of the United States department of agriculture and of the Kansas legisla- ture. Several bills were passed offering bounties for the heads of gophers and prairie dogs (see Bounties). One act provided that ten resident land owners of a township could petition the board of county commissioners to have an official appointed to exterminate the pests on land where the owner refuses to do so, and to have the cost of extermination charged against the land in taxes. The legislature of
495
KANSAS HISTORY
1901 authorized township auditing boards to purchase material and to employ one or more suitable persons to destroy prairie dogs and gophers, not more than $100 to be used in any one township in a year. The board of regents of the Kansas Agricultural College was authorized to select a competent person to direct and conduct experi- ments for determining the most effective methods of extermination, and $5,000 was appropriated for this purpose. On account of the extreme caution of the animals in question it was very hard to catch or shoot them and one of the effective methods so far discovered for destroying them has been suffocation with bisulphide of carbon placed upon absorbent balls and rolled into the burrows. By the act of March 12, 1909, the township trustees were authorized to make diligent efforts to exterminate these pests; to report to the county commissioners before the annual meeting in August of each year as to the probable expense, and the commissioners were authorized to levy a tax on real estate in each township not to exceed 70 cents on each $100 valuation. As a result of these measures the prairie dog and the gopher are rapidly disappearing.
Prairie View, an incorporated city of the third class in Phillips county, is located in Prairie View township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 12 miles northwest of Phillipsburg, the county seat. It has a bank, a number of retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 191.
Pratt, the county seat of Pratt county, is centrally located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads and on the Ninnescah river. It has waterworks, fire depart- ment, electric light and ice plant, paved streets, 3 banks, a flour mill, 3 grain elevators, a steam laundry, an opera house, 2 newspapers (the Republican and the Union), telegraph and express offices, and an inter- national money order postoffice with four rural routes. It has been designated as a point for a postal savings bank. The population in 1910 was 3,302. Pratt was founded in 1884 and the next year began the long contest for county seat, in which it finally won. In 1886, when the county seat fight was at its height, the town had already gained a population of 1,000. In 1890 the population was 1,418, and in 1900 it was 1,213, which shows an increase of over 2,000 people in the last ten years, or nearly 200 per cent.
Prattsburg, a country hamlet in Clear Creek township, Stafford county, is located on Rattlesnake creek 20 miles southwest of St. John, the county seat, and 10 miles south of Macksville, the nearest shipping point. It receives mail from Haviland, Kiowa county.
Pratt County, in the south central part of the state, is the second county from the southern line of the state and the seventh from the west line. It is bounded on the north by Stafford county; on the east by Reno and Kingman; on the south by Barber, and on the west by Kiowa and Edwards. It was created in 1867 and named for Caleb
496
CYCLOPEDIA OF
Pratt, of the First Kansas infantry. The boundaries fixed at that time were as follows: "Commencing where the east line of range II west intersects the 5th standard parallel; thence south to the 6th standard parallel; thence west to the east line of range 16 west; thence north to the 5th standard parallel; thence east to the place of beginning."
The east and west boundaries have not been changed, but the north and south lines have both been moved one tier of townships to the north. Pratt was one of the counties which experienced a fake organ- ization before it had a single inhabitant. In 1873 a party of men from Hutchinson accomplished a complete organization of the county, bonds were issued and a nonentity elected to the legislature. The organiza- tion was never recognized, and as the first settler did not come until the fall of that year it was 1879 before there were sufficient inhabitants to organize. The first actual settler was A. J. Johnson, who located in the vicinity of Springvale. He was followed by J. W. Black and A. Kelly, who came to the same neighborhood, and I. M. Powell came in 1875. These men all brought their families, except Kelly.
One of the noted characters of the early times was "Skunk" John- son, who in 1874 selected a spot at the headwaters of the Ninnescah river, where he made a dugout, which became known as "Skunk" Johnson's cave and was for a long time one of the curiosities of the county. At one time Johnson was besieged by the Indians in this cave for 15 days, during which time he killed several of their number. It was said that during the seige he subsisted on skunks. After John- son left it was a favorite camping place for freighters.
There were a few settlers in 1876, but in 1877 over 100 families came, many of them from Iowa. The county was attached to Reno that year as a municipal township. The bogus organization was set aside in the fall of 1878, and in the spring of 1879 the citizens petitioned the governor for organization. A census taker was appointed and upon receiving the returns Gov. St. John issued a proclamation organizing Pratt county, with Iuka as the temporary county seat and the follow- ing temporary officers: County clerk, L. C. Thompson ; commissioners, John Sillin, Thomas Goodwin and L. H. Naron. The election was held on Sept. 2nd, when the following officers were elected: County clerk, L. C. Thompson; clerk of the district court, Samuel Brumsey ; probate judge, James Neely; treasurer, R. T. Peak; sheriff, Samuel McAvoy; county attorney, M. G. Barney ; superintendent of public instruction, A. H. Hubbs; register of deeds, Phillip Haines; surveyor, J. W. Ellis ; coroner, P. Small; commissioners, John Sillin, L. H. Naron and Thomas Goodwin. For county seat there were three candidates, Saratoga, Iuka and Anderson. In the count the commissioners threw out three townships on account of irregularities. This gave the elec- tion to Iuka, but caused so much dissatisfaction that a recount was taken, including the votes previously thrown out. No candidate then had the majority and a new election was ordered. Anderson with- drew. The election was held Aug. 19, 1880. An attempt on the part
497
KANSAS HISTORY
of Saratoga to buy votes became public before the election, Iuka received an overwhelming majority and was declared the permanent county seat.
The next year some of the county officials were found guilty of swindling the county by issuing scrip illegally. In the two years after the county was organized they had taken nearly $75,000 or about $40 for every man, woman and child in the county. They were prosecuted and new officers elected. In the fall of 1885 there was another county seat election. The candidates were Iuka, Saratoga and Pratt. It was one of the most bitterly contested county seat elections ever held in the state. Saratoga had 546 votes and Pratt 324. As the total num- ber of voters at Saratoga was but 200 fraud was charged, the com- missioners sustained the charges and declared Pratt the county seat. The matter was taken into the courts, and pending the decision the feeling ran high. The Saratoga and Pratt partisans were all armed and trouble was hourly expected. The Pratt men went to Iuka and forcibly removed the county records. On the way back they were attacked by the Saratoga men, who succeeded in capturing the treas- urer's safe, which they took to their town. The next day Saratoga made an attack on Pratt in a fruitless effort to get the other county property. By this time the more peaceable citizens asked the gov- ernor to send militia to restore order. Gov. Martin sent Adjt .- Gen. Campbell and Col. W. E. Hutchinson to the county. They stationed guards at both towns and allowed no one to carry arms. Finally the supreme court handed down its decision and ordered the records taken back to Iuka. Matters quieted down, but the county seat contest was not yet forgotten, and in Feb., 1888, a petition was presented to the commissioners asking for a special election to relocate the county seat. The election was held on Feb. 29 of that year, and Pratt was the win- ning candidate. The question was settled at last.
The first newspaper was the Pratt County Press, established in 1878 by M. C. Davis and J. B. King. The first school in the county was taught in Iuka in 1878 by Miss Laura Long.
The county is divided into 18 townships: Banner, Carmi, Center, Elm, Gove, Grant, Haynesville, Iuka, Lincoln, Logan, McClellan, McPherson, Naron, Paxon, Richland, Saratoga, Springvale and Valley. The postoffices are Caro, Coats, Croft, Cullison, Iuka, Lawndale, Olym- pia, Pratt, Preston and Sawyer. A branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., which runs west from Wichita, enters on the east- ern border and terminates at Pratt. Another line of the same road enters in the southeast and crosses the southern part of the county running west into Kiowa county, with a branch south from Spring- dale into Barber county. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific enters in the northeast and crosses southwest to Pratt, thence into Kiowa county, and a branch of the Missouri Pacific enters in the northeast and ter- minates at Iuka.
The surface is gently rolling prairie, practically all tillable land. (II-32)
498
CYCLOPEDIA OF
Bottom lands average one-fourth to one mile in width and comprise about 8 per cent. of the area. Thin belts of timber line the streams. The Ninnescah river has its source in the central part of the county and flows east. The Chikaskia has its source in the south and flows south- east into Barber county. Gypsum and sandstone are found in the south and southwest.
In 1882 there were about 16,000 acres of land under cultivation. In 1910 the acreage was 371,041, and the value of farm products was $5,279,294. Corn, the largest field crop, brought $1,693,629; tame grasses, $357,943 ; wild grasses, $256,925; oats, $174,773. The animals sold for slaughter brought $2,196,761 ; poultry and eggs, $162,266.
The population in 1880 was 1,890; in 1890 it was 8,118. During the hard times of the 'gos the population fell off and in 1900 it was 7,085. In the last decade the increase was about 57 per cent., the population for 1910 being 11,156. The assessed valuation of property in that year was $25,705,667. The average wealth per capita is $2,313, which is several hundred dollars above the average in the state.
Prentis, Noble Lovely, journalist and author, was born on April 8, 1839, in a log cabin 3 miles from Mount Sterling, Brown county, III. His parents were natives of Vermont, descended from English settlers who came to America in 1630 and 1641, respectively. His grandfather Prentis served in the army during the Revolutionary war and two of his uncles gave their lives, one at Bunker Hill and one at Saratoga. Several of his mother's family enrolled in the Revolutionary army from Connecticut. His parents died at Warsaw, Ill., of cholera during the epidemic of 1849, leaving him an orphan at the age of ten years. He went to live with an uncle in Vermont and remained there until he was eighteen, when he removed to Connecticut and served an apprenticeship at the printer's trade. He then came west and worked for a time in a newspaper office at Carthage, Ill. At the opening of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Sixteenth Illinois infantry and served four years when he was honorably discharged. He pub- lished a paper at Alexandria, Mo., until Capt. Henry King of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat induced him to come to Topeka in 1869 and assist him on the Record. He next worked on the Commonwealth and then on the Lawrence Journal. From 1873 to 1875 Mr. Prentis edited the Junction City Union, then returned to the Topeka Commonwealth, and about 1877 began to work on the Atchison Champion. He remained with that paper during Col. Martin's term as governor and in 1888 took charge of the Newton Republican. In 1890 he accepted a posi- tion on the editorial staff of the Kansas City Star, which he held until his death. In 1877 he went to Europe. His observations during the trip were published in book form, entitled "A Kansan Abroad," which ran through two editions. He also wrote "Southern Letters," "South- western Letters," "Kansas Miscellanies," and in the last year of his life wrote a History of Kansas, which is his best known work. Mr. Prentis married Maria C. Strong on May 13, 1866. She died in Atchi-
499
KANSAS HISTORY
son, Kan., in 1880, and in 1883 he married Mrs. Carrie E. Anderson of Topeka, who survives him. Mr. Prentis died at La Harpe, Ill., at the home of his daughter, within a few miles of his birthplace, on July 6, 1900.
Presbyterian Church .- Presbyterianism is a church government by church presbyters or a body of elders. John Calvin is usually regarded as the founder of the Presbyterian church, as he organized the Reformed church, which is similar to the Presbyterian, but church government by a body of elders had been started by the Waldenses at a much earlier date. All Presbyterian churches are generally Calvinistic in doctrine. The first efforts toward organization of the church were made at Edinburg, Scotland, Dec. 3, 1557, when some of the powerful ·Scottish barons and lesser nobility signed "The First Covenant." The Presbyterian church became the established church of Scotland, and from it other Presbyterian bodies withdrew from time to time, but all were practically the same in principles. In England the organiza- tion took the name of Presbyterian church of England. The Irish church was organized in 1642, and it was established in Wales in 1735-
In the New World the Presbyterian church was established in the colonies by refugees from Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and Holland, who fled to America to avoid persecutions. The Presbyterian colony of Massachusetts Bay was started in 1625. Four years later more colonists arrived and a church was established under Samuel Skelton. Francis Doughty, an English Presbyterian minister, went from New England to Long Island in 1642 and a year later to New York, where he was the first Presbyterian to preach, but no church was organized until 1717. An Irish minister by the name of Francis Mackemie, organized some of the early Presbyterian churches in Vir- ginia and Maryland. Presbyterian churches were founded in New Jer- sey and at Philadelphia, and in 1716, the synod of Philadelphia was formed, consisting of 4 presbyteries, having 17 ministers and 17 churches. In 1729, the synod adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith, but ten years later dissension began and in 1741 two synods were formed-the Old Side, or synod of Philadelphia, and the New Side, or synod of New York.
At the beginning of the Revolution the Presbyterian church was one of the three leading religious organizations in the colonies, and the church was growing so rapidly that there were not enough ministers to supply all congregations. During the' Revolution the Presbyterians were consistent in their support of religious and civil liberty, and John Witherspoon, a prominent Presbyterian minister, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In May, 1788, the general assembly was formed, consisting of four synods-New York and New Jersey, Phila- delphia, Virginia and the Carolinas-and included 17 presbyteries and 419 congregations.
In 1837 the church was divided into the Old and New School Pres- byterians. This was followed by dissensions that arose over the ques-
500
CYCLOPEDIA OF
tion of slavery in the early '50s. In 1853, 6 synods, 21 presbyteries, and some 15,000 southern members seceded from the assembly and formed the United Synod of the Presbyterian church. Five years later the southern portion of the New School church seceded and the united synod of the Presbyterian church South was formed with 100 ministers and some 200 churches.
The Presbyterian church was the pioneer organization to begin work in what is now the State of Kansas. As early as 1820, while the country west of the Missouri river was still unorganized Indian territory, two missions were established among the Osage Indians. (See Missions.) When Kansas was organized as a territory and the country was thrown open to white settlers, the Presbyterian church already had a habitation in the land. On Jan. 1, 1856, one of the first churches in the state was established at Leavenworth by C. D. Martin. To this A. W. Pitzer was called as the first minister and a building was erected there in 1857. The Presbyterians of Doniphan county formed a society at Doniphan in 1856. A Presbyterian church was organized at Wyandotte (now Kansas City) in 1857 and continued until the close of the war, when it disbanded, but was reorganized in 1881. In the summer of 1857 the genera! synod of the Reformed Presbyterian church sent B. L. Bald- ridge to Kansas. He arrived at Leavenworth in July, began at once to hold services, and the next month organized a congregation. On Oct. 21, 1858, a church was formed at Atchison by a committee of the Highland presbytery, but no regular services were held there until 1860. Missionaries went into Johnson county in 1858, the best known being J. C. Beach, A. T. Rankin and William Smith. In 1865 the Reformed or Covenanter church was formed at Olathe, the first of this kind in the state. The first pastor was W. W. McMillan. The Old School Presbyterian church was organized in the summer of 1858 at Lawrence with 25 members by William Wilson, and in 1864 the New School Pres- byterian church was organized there. This was followed three years later by the United Presbyterian church, with J. C. Herron as pastor. A. T. Rankin, of the Highland presbytery, organized the Presbyterian church in Topeka on Feb. 15, 1859, with 17 members and a year later the church was incorporated. Mr. Rankin established the Presbyterian church at Fort Scott in 1859 and the town company donated two lots for church property, where a building was erected in 1865. At Junction City a church was organized in 1860 but no building was erected until 1868. During the early '6os churches were organized in Jefferson, Johnson, Franklin, Jackson, Miami, and Allen counties, and at Emporia, Lyon county. It is claimed by some that the first church was organized about 1840, near the site of the present city of Ottawa, before the terri- tory was organized, but no records can be found to substantiate the statement. It was probably a mission. It is known that a church was organized by William Hamilton and S. M. Irvin of the Highland pres- bytery in 1843. In 1875 there were in Kansas 39 church organizations, with 14 church edifices and a membership of 1,313. In 1890, there were
501
KANSAS HISTORY
495 organizations, having 356 churches and a membership of 29,778 and in 1906 the Presbyterian church ranked fifth in number of members of all denominations in Kansas, having 40,765 members.
Prescott, an incorporated town of Linn county, is situated on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. 8 miles south of Pleasanton. It was named in honor of C. H. Prescott, auditor and treasurer of the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf R. R. at the time it was built through the town, which was laid out in 1870. In April of that year the first store was opened. It was followed by a drug store and a blacksmith shop, and in June the postoffice was established. The first school was taught in 1873, a large school house was erected in 1873, and at the present time Prescott has an excellent public school system. There are a number of general stores, a hotel, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph facilities, and in 1910 Prescott had a population of 255.
Press Association .- (See Editorial Association.)
Pressonville, a hamlet in the northwestern part of Miami county, is about 15 miles northwest of Paola, the county seat. It is supplied with mail service by a rural route from Wellsville, and in 1910 had a popu- lation of 20.
Preston, an incorporated city of the third class in Pratt county, is located in Haynesville township at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Missouri Pacific railroads, 12 miles northeast of Pratt, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Pilot), telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 278.
Pretty Prairie, a little town in Reno county, is located in the south- ern part of the county on the Kingman branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., about 20 miles south of Hutchinson, the county seat. It is the trading point for Albion township, and an important shipping point for live stock, grain and produce. It has a bank, mills and ele- vators, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The town was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1907. The population according to the census of 1910 was 327.
Preyer, Carl Adolph, musician and composer, was born at Pforzheim, Germany, July 28, 1863, a son of Jean and Marie (Heinz) Preyer. He was educated at Pforzheim, studied at the conservatory of music at Stuttgart, under Dr. Navratil at Vienna, and Professors Urban and Barth at Berlin. He married Miss Grace Havens of Leavenworth, Kan., May 2, 1887. In Sept., 1909, he was married to Francis Havens at Kansas City, Kan. He has been professor of piano at the University of Kansas since 1893; is the composer of melodies, numerous studies for technique, rhythm and expression, and of a number of songs, among which are: "I Love My Love," "Childhood," "My Love's Like a Red, Red Rose," "Elusion," "Snow Song" and "Spanish Song."
Price, a little station on the St. Joseph & Grand Island R. R. in Nemaha county, is 14 miles northeast of Seneca, the county seat, and
502
CYCLOPEDIA OF
4 miles west of Sabetha, from which place it receives mail. The popu- lation in 1910 was 30.
Price Raid .- (See War of 1861-65.)
Primary Election Laws .- In his message to the legislature of 1893, Gov. Lewelling suggested that some effort be made "to protect primary elections in the work of selecting candidates." The legislature of 1891 had passed an act providing that "when any voluntary political association or party in any district, county, township, or municipal cor- poration, causing notice for the holding of any primary election to be published," such election must be held under certain regulations author- ized in that enactment. Amendments and additions were made to this law by succeeding legislatures until the special session of 1908, when there was passed "an act relating to primary elections, providing for the organization and government of political parties," etc., and repealing all other acts and parts of acts in conflict therewith.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.