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 69
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Republic county was organized in 1868 by proclamation of Gov. Har- vey, who fixed the county seat at Pleasant Hill. The election of 1869 located it temporarily at Belleville, and the next year it was perma- nently located at that place. The first election was held in March, 1868, the whole county being one precinct, and only 13 votes were cast. J. C. Riley was chosen trustee ; J. E. Van Natta, justice ; and J. H. Frint con- stable.
The first postoffice was at Marsh Creek, Grant township, with James G. Tuthill as postmaster. The first lawsuit was tried before Justice Van Natta in 1869, when Henry Mead sued Conrad Myers for breach of contract, each acting as his own lawyer, as there was no attorney nearer than Manhattan. The law library of the county at that time con- sisted . of the "Territorial Laws" of 1859, the session laws of 1865, the Testament and Psalms and the Blue Laws of Connecticut.
The first marriage was between Thomas C. Riley and Nancy Camp- bell on June 7, 1867. The first birth was that of Lincoln Myers on Sept. 15, 1861. The first death was that of John Myers in April, 1861. The first school was opened in 1867, with 13 pupils and Mrs. Margaret Tate as teacher. The building was a log house 18 by 20 feet, built by Peter Moe.
In 1873 bonds were voted for the extension of the Central Branch railroad into the county. They were never issued as the railroad com- pany failed to keep its part of the agreement. Another attempt was made in 1878 to get a road, this time with the Kansas Pacific. The proposal to issue bonds for $4,000 per mile was lost at the election. On Dec. 24 of that year the Missouri Pacific ran its first train to Scandia over a line extended from Concordia. In 1880 a branch of the Burling- ton was extended through the eastern portion of the county. Four years later the Union Pacific was extended from Junction City to Belleville. and a branch of the Burlington & Missouri River was extended through the county 18 miles. In 1887 the Rock Island built 54 miles of track. and the next year the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe built 13 miles.
The first agricultural society in Republic county, which was also the first west of the 6th principal meridian, was organized on Feb. 20, 1871. with the following officers: Albert Odell, president; R. P. West, vice president; I. O. Savage, secretary; John M. Ryan, treasurer. The county horticultural society was organized in 1879, the first officers of which were, O. A. A. Gardner, president ; J. A. Mosher, vice president : W. P. Peake, secretary ; Ezra Powell, treasurer; N. T. Van Natta, Adam Dixon and Dr. Henry Patrick, trustees.
About thirty newspapers have been established in the county from time to time, nine of which still exist. The oldest is the Belleville Tele- scope, established in Sept., 1870, by James C. Humphrey. The Scandia
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Journal was established on Feb. 7, 1872, in Belleville, under the name of the Belleville Republic, by A. B. Wilder. The Republic City News was started in 1881, by William Ketchum; the Courtland Register in 1889, by F. M. Coffey ; and the Narka News in 1893, by James A. Harris. The other papers in the county are, the Republic County Democrat at Belleville, God's Missionary Record (quarterly) at Belleville, the Cuban Daylight, Cuba, and the Comet at Courtland.
Republican River .- This stream takes its name from the Republican Pawnees, who lived on its bank until about the year 1815. Lewis and Clark, the explorers, mention the stream in 1804, and it is more than likely that the name attached at an earlier period. The stream is formed by two branches, the northern of which rises in Yuma county, Col., and flows east, entering Nebraska in Dundy county. The southern branch has its source in the central part of Lincoln county, Col., and flows in a northeasterly direction through the counties of Kit Carson and Yuma, enters Kansas in Cheyenne county, flowing northeasterly and leaving the state at a point south of the village of Benkelman, Neb. Near this point it mingles its waters with the north branch and forms the Repub- lican river; thence flows in an easterly direction through the counties of Dundy, Hitchcock, Redwillow, Furnas, Harlan, Franklin and Webster, across the southwest corner of Nuckolls, and enters Kansas a little west of the station of Stateline, Jewell county. Thence it flows in a south- easterly direction through the counties of Jewell, Cloud, Clay and Geary, until it unites with the Smoky Hill about 2 miles below Junc- tion City to form the Kansas river. Among the most important tribu- taries of the Republican are the Arickaree river and Whiteman's creek of Colorado, the Redwillow creek of Nebraska, and the Beaver, Sappa and Prairie Dog creeks of Kansas. The legislature of 1864 declared the stream unnavigable, although as an experiment the Financier No. 2 in 1855 ascended for 40 miles without being grounded. The stream at Clay Center has been dammed and the power utilized. The length of the Republican river is estimated at 550 miles, about 100 of which are in Kansas.
Reserve, a little town in Hamilton township, Brown county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 10 miles north of Hiawatha, the county seat. It has a bank, 2 churches, a number of well stocked retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 270.
Rest, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Wilson county, is located on the line between Colfax and Pleasant Valley town- ships, 14 miles northeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It has tele- phone connections with all the other towns in the vicinity, general stores, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 35. Rest was a trading post before the railroad was built, and had several stores, a number of residences and a G. A. R. hall.
Rexford, a little town in Thomas county, is located in Smith town- ship, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 19 miles northeast (II-37)
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of Colby, the county seat. It has a weekly newspaper (the News), a bank, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 250.
Reynolds, Charles, D. D., writer, was born on Dec. 19, 1817, in New- cutt, Gloucestershire, England, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Freyer) Reynolds. He immigrated to New York at the age of fourteen ; taught school in Putman county, N. Y., in 1835 and 1836; returned to New York city in 1837 and entered Trinity school; in 1843 received A. B. degree from Columbia; in 1846 graduated at the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary of New York city ; received A. M. from Columbia, and married Miss Mary E. Braine. He was ordained to the ministry in 1847; became pastor of Christ's church of North Brooklyn; took charge of Trinity church in Columbus, Ohio, in 1855; came to Lawrence, Kan., in 1858 as pastor of Trinity church; became chaplain of the Sec- ond Kansas in 1862; was ordered to Fort Scott as post chaplain in 1863, where he had charge of providing for thousands of refugee contrabands from the south, and upon being mustered out in Dec., 1864, became chaplain at Fort Riley. Dr. Reynolds was for a time regent of the Kansas Agricultural College, was a regular contributor to the Kansas Magazine and for various Kansas publications under different noms de plume, and was the author of "Literature of the Farm." He married Miss Florence Clarke of Wakefield, Kan., in 1884 and died at Junction City, Dec. 30, 1885.
Reynolds, Milton W., writer and man of affairs, was born in Elmira, N. Y., May 23, 1823, a son of Alexander and Rebecca Reynolds and descended from English colonial stock. In 1827 his parents moved tr Coldwater, Mich., where he attended common school and worked on a farm until 16 years of age. He then taught school, attended Albion seminary, entered the University of Michigan in 1853 and graduated in the classical course with the highest honors of the class in 1856. He was editor of the Coldwater Sentinel in 1856-57, when he moved to Nebraska City, Neb., and was editor of the Nebraska City News until 1861. In 1858 he married Miss Sarah Galloway of Livingston, Mich., and the same year was elected to the Nebraska legislature on the Democratic ticket ; was reëlected in 1861 on the Union war ticket, and after a pro- tracted struggle was defeated for speaker of the house by a fusion of the Democrats and straight Republicans ; was editor of the Detroit Free Press at Detroit, Mich., in 1862; came to Kansas in 1865 and located at Lawrence; was one of the vice-presidents of the Kansas Editorial Association and president of its sixth annual convention in 1871, and during the latter year was one of the incorporators of the Kansas Maga- zine company. He was also one of the founders of the Parsons Sun and receiver of the Humboldt land office. In 1876 he was elected to the legislature and was also made a regent of the state university, in which institution he was very much interested. The next year he resumed the publication of the Parsons Sun and in 1883 his retirement from the Leavenworth Press ended his activity as a publisher, although
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he still corresponded for a number of papers, particularly the Kansas City Journal and the Kansas City Times, under the name of "Kicking Bird," a nom de plume he appropriated from the Indian chief of that name. Mr. Reynolds was one of the promoters of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad, and it was through his efforts that most of the Osage ceded lands were settled. He died at Edmund, Okla., Aug. 9, 1890, leaving two daughters, Aedwina and Susan.
Rhine, a country hamlet in Sherman county, is located in Grant town- ship, II miles northwest of Goodland, the county seat, whence it re- ceives mail. The population in 1910 was 15.
Rice, a village in Cloud county, is located in Lawrence township on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 6 miles east of Concordia, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, some local trade, and the population in 1910 was 89.
Rice County, in the central part of the state, is in the second tier of counties west of the 6th principal meridian, and in the fourth tier north of the Oklahoma line. It is bounded on the north by Ellsworth county ; on the east by McPherson; on the south by Reno, and on the west by Stafford and Barton. It is crossed a little to the west of the center by the Ist guide meridian west. It was named in honor of Brig .- Gen. Samuel A. Rice, of the United States volunteers, who was killed at Jenkins' Ferry, Ark., April 30, 1864.
Although Rice county was created and its boundary lines fixed by the legislature of 1867, it was not until 1870 that it was settled The first homesteader was John A. Carlson, who came in February of that year. He was followed by Andrew J. Johnson, C. S. Lindell, August Johnson, John Enrick Johnson, John P. Johnson, Q. W. Peterson, John Quincy Adams of Mass., and Leonard Russell. In Aug., 1870, R. M. Hutchinson, A. J. Howard and J. E. Perdue, of the firm of Hutchinson & Co., stopped upon the Little Arkansas with 4,000 head of cattle. Howard and Perdue returned the next January and located claims. A great many settlers came in 1871. A colony from Ohio located at Union City, 3 miles from the present city of Lyons. Buffalo was still plentiful in the vicinity, and was a great help to the homesteaders as a source of food and cash income. The first frame houses were built in this year, the lumber being hauled from Salina, a distance of 60 miles.
The county horticultural society was organized with Rev. J. B. Schlicter, president. The first murder among the settlers was com- mitted on Aug. 27, 1871, when Edward Swanson shot and killed P. B. Shannon. The first natural death occurred the next day, and was that of John Chitty. The first birth was that of twins, George and Angie McKinnis, in September of that year. The Santa Fe trail ran through Rice county and there are a number of records of disasters to travelers prior to the coming of the settlers.
The county was organized on Aug. 18, 1871, the temporary county seat being fixed at Atlanta (Lyons). The officers appointed were : Commissioners, Daniel M. Bell, Theodore A. Davis and Evan C. Jones ;
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clerk, Edward H. Dunham. The first election was held in September. when the following officers were chosen : County commissioners, Moses Burch, William Lowery and S. H. Thompson; county clerk. T. W. Nicholas ; treasurer, T. C. Magoffin ; coroner, J. W. Holmes; register of deeds, G. W. Poole; surveyor, T. S. Jackson; probate judge, Levi Jay ; county attorney, H. Decker; clerk of the district court, William H. Van Osmun. Atlanta received 64 votes for county seat and Union City 48 votes. In the general election of Nov., 1871, Henry Fones was elected coroner; W. P. Brown, county attorney ; Evan C. Jones, county sur- veyor and superintendent of public instruction ; and J. M. Leidigh com- missioner in place of S. H. Thompson. In March, 1872, the south tier of Congressional townships was detached and added to Reno county, in order that Peace (now Sterling) would thus be too far from the center ever to become the county seat. In 1876 an election for relocation of the county seat was held. Peace received 336 votes against 457 for Lyons. which up to this time had been called Atlanta. Rice county was at first in the 8th judicial district and attached to Ellsworth for judicial purposes. It was later changed to the 9th district.
The first newspaper was the Rice County Herald, started at Atlanta in 1872 by a Mr: Frazier. The first marriage was performed on Jan. I of that year, the contracting parties being James A. Moore and Ada Cartwright. The first train passed through the southwest corner of the county on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in July, 1872. The Salina, Atlanta & Raymond railway company was organized in 1872, but later became defunct without building any track. The first business establishment was Salady's grocery store at Atlanta in 1871. The first postoffice was at the same place, Earl Joslin, postmaster.
Soon after its organization the county was divided into three com- missioner's districts, and these districts were later divided into town- ships as follows: Ist district, Farmer, Eureka, Lincoln, Pioneer, Ray- mond, Center and Valley; 2nd district, Sterling, Atlanta and Victoria ; 3d district, Union and Washington. Five more have been organized since-Galt, Harrison, Mitchell, Rockville and Wilson. The towns in the county having postoffices are Lyons, Alden, Bushton, Chase, Craw- ford, Frederick, Galt, Geneseo, Little River, Mitchell, Pollard, Ray- mond, Saxman, Silicia, Sterling and Wherry.
In 1871 there were 130 persons of school age in the county. The next year there were 293, and there were 9 organized districts. The total expenditures for school purposes in that year was $118. The county normal institute was established in 1877. In 1882 the number of persons of school age had increased to 3,488. In 1907 the number of persons of school age was 4,456, and the organized districts num- bered 94.
Three railroads pass through the county. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe enters in the east and crosses west through Lyons into Bar- ton county. A branch road diverges at Little River, in the eastern part and runs northwest into Ellsworth county. Another line of the same
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road from Hutchinson, Reno county, to Ellinwood in Barton, crosses the southwest corner through Sterling. A line of the St. Louis & San Francisco enters in the southeast and crosses northwest through Lyons into Ellsworth county. A line of the Missouri Pacific railroad enters on the southern boundary and crosses north through Sterling and Lyons into Ellsworth county. Another line of this road crosses the extreme northern portion east and west. There are 151 miles of track in the county.
The surface in the western portion is nearly level, in the central and eastern parts somewhat rolling. Extending many miles along the Lit- tle Arkansas are sand hills which have been thrown up by the winds throughout a long period of time. Limestone is found in the northeast and the southeast; sandstone in the northeast and near Raymond in the southwest; red ochre is in the northeast ; there are beds of gypsum in Washington township in the southeast ; immense beds of salt under- lie the county, and the finished product is manufactured at Lyons and Sterling. "Bottom" lands average from one to two miles in width and comprise about 15 per cent. of the area. Timber belts along the streams average from 50 feet to one-third of a mile wide and contain cotton- wood, elm, hackberry and oak.
The principal stream is the Arkansas river which flows across the southwest corner. Cow creek, which drains the western and central parts, is an important tributary. The Little Arkansas has its source in the northeastern part of this county and flows south and southeast into McPherson county.
Rice is one of the best agricultural counties in the state, the annual farm production running between four and five millions of dollars in value. In 1910 the corn raised in this county was worth $1,500,000; wheat, $500,000; live stock sold for slaughter, $1,250,000; poultry and eggs, $124,000, and dairy products, $114,000. The crops for the year before were better in many respects, the corn alone bringing nearly $3,000,000, and the wheat and oats together netting considerable over a million.
The population in 1910 was 15,106, and the assessed valuation of property in that year was $34,000,000, which makes the wealth per capita about $2,240, or about $700 above the average per capita wealthı of the state.
Richardson County, one of the counties created by the first territorial legislature in 1855, was given the following boundaries: "Beginning at the southwest corner of Shawnee county; thence west 24 miles; thence north to the main channel of the Kaw or Kansas river; thence down said channel to the northwest corner of Shawnee county; thencc south to the place of beginning." The territory included within these boundaries was made a part of Wabaunsee county (q. v.) in 1859.
Richey, William E., writer and curio collector, was born in Lee town- ship, Athens county, Ohio, June 1, 1841. His education began in the common schools and was finished at Muskingum College. New Concord,
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Ohio. In Aug., 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth Ohio infan- try, and was mustered out in Dec., 1865, after having taken part in numerous engagements. During his service in the army he was war correspondent for several different newspapers, and after his discharge a medal of honor was voted him by Congress for heroic work between the lines at Chickamauga. In 1873 he came to Kansas, locating first at Manhattan and afterward on a farm near Harveyville, Wabaunsee county, later serving two terms as county superintendent of public instruction. Much of his time has been spent in original investigations of a historical nature, and in his collection of curios are some very valu- able relics, including a two-edged sword bearing the initials of one of Coronado's captains, which he found in central Kansas. This sword is now in the collections of the Kansas Historical Society.
Richfield, the county seat of Morton county, is located north of the center, near the north fork of the Cimarron river, about 50 miles south of Syracuse, the nearest shipping point. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. company is projecting a line through Morton county. There are a number of stores, a weekly newspaper (the Monitor), and a bank. This bank was established in Sept., 1911, the first to be opened in the county. Richfield has a money order postoffice, and the popu- lation in 1910 was 53. It is an incorporated city of the third class and was established in Nov., 1885, by the Aurora Town company. The first building was erected by Jacob Ridleman, who opened a general store, and by Jan. 1, 1886, there were 40 inhabitants. In the spring of that year Sunset, an earlier town, was moved to Richfield. In less than a year there were 600 inhabitants. In 1887 the first city election was held and resulted in the choice of the following officers: Mayor, V. N. Sayer; police judge, Calvin Coon; councilmen, Charles Theis, F. F. Stevens, W. E. Pierce, D. D. Sayer and I. N. Bunting. It is said that at one time during the boom Richfield had 2,000 inhabitants. The popu- lation had begun to decrease before 1890, there being but 164 people in the town at that time. In 1900 the population was 61. A number of residents of the town own automobiles, and there is an automobile livery daily to Syracuse.
Richland, a little town in Shawnee county, is located in Monmouth township on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 16 miles southeast of Topeka, the county seat. It has a bank, a hotel, a number of retail stores, tele- phone exchange, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office with four rural routes. The population in 1910 was 275.
Richmond, the fifth largest town in Franklin county in 1910, is located in the southern portion on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, sixteen miles south of Ottawa, the county seat, in a rich agri- cultural district for which it is the shipping and supply point. It has an excellent public school system, churches, general stores, hardware and implement houses, lumber yards, good hotel, blacksmith and wagon shops, and is the banking town for the southern part of the county. It has a money order postoffice with two rural routes, telegraph and express facilities, and in 1910 had a population of 475.
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Richter, a hamlet in the central part of Franklin county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific railroads, 6 miles west of Ottawa, the county seat, from which it has rural free delivery. In 1910 the population was 25.
Ridge, an inland hamlet in the southeast corner of Woodson county, is located about 12 miles southeast of Yates Center, the county seat, and about 8 miles northwest of Chanute, Neosho county, whence it receives mail by rural route. The nearest railroad station and shipping point is Buffalo, Wilson county.
Ridgley, Edwin Reed, member of Congress, was born on May 9, 1884, near Lancaster, Wabash county, Ill. His education was acquired in the local district schools during the winter months until he was seventeen years of age. Early in 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fif- teenth Illinois infantry and took an active part with his regiment in all actions and engagements until mustered out of the service at the close of the war. In 1869, in company with his brother, he came to Kansas and located near Girard, where they engaged in a general mercantile busi- ness, under the firm name of Ridgley Bros. From 1889 to 1893, Mr. Ridgley lived in Ogden, Utah, but returned to Kansas in the last named year and took an active part in politics. He had left the Republican party in 1876, because of its financial policy. In 1896 he was nominated for Congress by the Populists and his nomination was endorsed by the Democratic party. He was elected as a Fusion candidate and reëlected in 1898. Upon retiring from Congress he again resumed his business.
Ridgeton, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. near the southern line of Osage county, is about 16 miles southwest of Lyndon, the county seat, and 4 miles from Olivet, from which place it receives mail by rural route.
· Ridgeway, a discontinued postoffice in the northern part of Osage county, receives its mail from Carbondale. It is one of the historic early day towns, but upon being missed by the railroads has dwindled to a mere hamlet.
Riley, one of the incorporated towns of Riley county, is located in Madison township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 20 miles northwest of Manhattan, the county seat. It has banking facilities, a weekly newspaper (the Regent), a monthly religious publication, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 500. The first store was opened at this point in 1871 by C. W. Hessebroeck. The town was formerly known as "Riley Center."
Riley County, one of the counties organized by the first territorial legislature in 1855, is the second county east of the 6th principal merid- ian, the second south from Nebraska, and the fifth west from the Mis- souri river. It is bounded on the north by Washington and Marshall counties; on the east by Jackson and Shawnee; on the south by Wa- baunsee and Geary, and on the west by Geary and Clay. As originally organized its eastern and western boundary lines were almost identical
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with those of Marshall county extended south, and the southern boun- dary was the Kansas river. Between the years 1857 and. 1873 several changes were made in the county lines. The eastern line was moved west to the Big Blue river; the western 8 miles west to the present location ; Geary county was enlarged from Riley county territory, and additions were made to the latter from Wabaunsee and Geary, forming one of the most irregularly shaped counties in the state.
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