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 72
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Rock Creek, a hamlet of Jefferson county, is located in Rock Creek township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 17 miles west of Oskaloosa, the county seat. It has some general stores, a money order postoffice, and express and telegraph offices. The population in 1910 was 150.
Rockford, a hamlet of Bourbon county, is located about sixteen miles southwest of Fort Scott, the county seat. It has rural free delivery from Uniontown, which is the nearest railroad station. In 1910 the popu- lation was 27.
Rockport, a country hamlet in Rooks county, is located on Bow creek, about 6 miles north of Stockton, the county seat and the place from which it receives mail.
Rocks of Kansas .- (See Geology.)
Rock Saline .- This locality was at one time supposed to mark the western limits of the lands claimed by the Osage Indians, and in the treaty concluded with the Great and Little Osages, at St. Louis, Mo., on June 2, 1825, these Indians ceded to the United States certain lands, the western boundary of which was to be a line drawn from the head sources of the Kansas southwardly through the "Rock Saline," etc. According to the map and field notes of John C. McCoy, the deposit of rock salt, known as "Rock Saline" was on the headwaters of Salt creek, near the north fork of the Canadian river in Oklahoma.
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Rockville, a hamlet in the southeastern part of Miami county, was settled by a pro-slavery man named Rockwell and named in his honor, but when the free-state settlers became numerous the name was changed to Rockville. A school house was built on the town site in 1858 and a store opened in 1859, making this settlement one of the oldest in the county. In 1859 a postoffice was established, but a few years ago it was discontinued, mail being delivered by rural carrier from Fontana.
Rockwell City, a hamlet in Norton county, is located 12 miles north- west of Norton, the county seat, and 7 miles from Oronoque, the near- est shipping point and the postoffice from which it receives mail.
Rogers, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Chautauqua county, is located 6 miles west of Sedan, the county seat, whence it receives mail by rural route.
Rolla, a country postoffice in Morton county, is located 16 miles south- east of Richfield, the county seat, and 35 miles from Hooker, Okla .. the nearest shipping point.
Rollin, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in Neosho county, is located in Erie township, 8 miles northwest of Erie, the county seat, and 5 miles west of Shaw, from which place it receives mail. The population in 1910 was 24.
Roman Catholic Church .- The Catholic church is one of the strongest religious organizations in the United States. Its history in the New World began in the year 1494, when twelve priests, commissioned by the pope, accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to America. The priests serving the Spanish colonies and the missionaries were under the jurisdiction of the see of Saville until 1512, when the Ameri- can see of San Domingo was erected and assumed control of religion in the new world. In 1522 another see was erected in Santiago de Cuba and that of Mexico followed in 1530. From these dioceses mis- sionaries were sent to evangelize the Indians of the southwestern por- tions of the United States. The southeastern portion of what is now the United States was ecclesiastically dependent upon Santiago de Cuba and later Havana. Spanish missionaries, chiefly Franciscans, Domini- cans and Jesuits established numerous missions in what are now the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. In 1565 a royal Spanish grant was issued to colonize Florida with the condition that twelve religious and four Jesuits be maintained. This colony founded St. Augustine, the oldest Catholic city in this country.
The first mission work in New Mexico was started by seven Fran- ciscans in 1598 at San Juan, on the banks of the Rio del Norte, thirty- three years after the founding of St. Augustine, and from this base priests were sent into the surrounding territory and the New Mexican missions established. The period from 1650 to 1680 was the golden age of the New Mexican missions, where there were sixty members of the Franciscan order at one time. Later the Indians rebelled, burned and destroyed the missions, but in time the churches were restored, though they never gained as strong a foothold again.
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In 1687 missions were established in what is now the State of Arizona by a Jesuit priest from Sonora, and after 1732 St. Francis and St. Miguel became the centers of missionary work, the Jesuits having charge until expelled by the Spaniards in 1767. With the close of Spanish dominion in Arizona the history of the missions ceases, as they became a part of the church of the United States. The beginning of Spanish missions in Texas dates from 1689, when three friars and a Franciscan established the mission of San Francisco de Los Texas.
In 1769 an expedition left Mexico for California and among its mem- bers were three Franciscans. A small chapel was erected at San Diego, the first step toward planting the Catholic church on the west- ern coast. On June 3, 1769 the mission of Monterey was established by this same expedition. The Dominican order applied for permis- sion to work in California and in 1773 the country was divided, the mis- sions of lower California being entrusted to the order of St. Dominic, and those of upper California to the Franciscans. San Carlos mission became the residence of the superior and was the center of the mission work. The first report of the California missions was made in 1773 and shows that there were five missions-San Diego, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Antonio and San Carlos. In 1775 the missions of San Juan Capistrino and San Francisco were founded and in 1777 Santa Clara mission. Forty-three years after the founding of the first mis- sion there were eighteen missions in California. As a result of the Mexican revolution the missions were confiscated and the friars were replaced by secular clergy.
While the Spaniards were establishing missions in the south and west the French began the same work on the northeast coast where the first religious establishment was made on Douchet island, Maine, in 1604. The missions of New York were the result of work among the Huron Indians, the first mission being established at Oswego in 1654. In the west the missions were located on the shores of the great lakes and the main waterways, and after the French discovered the Mississippi river they established missions down that stream to the Gulf of Mexico.
As early as 1634 Jesuits were established in the Maryland colony, and after 1681 Catholics were tolerated in Pennsylvania. It was in these states that the first churches were established. After the Revolu- tion many Catholic emigrants came from Ireland, and in 1790 the see of Baltimore was established. At that time there were about 30,000 Catholics in the United States. By 1820 they had increased to 250,000, and during the next twenty years the numbers were greatly increased by immigration. Through the great migratory movement west, after the Revolution, the church was planted in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, and from there it crossed the continent, reaching the Pacific coast in the middle of the 19th century.
The church in the United States is a part of the whole Catholic church, subject to the same control and legislation as all other national
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churches. It is divided into provinces and dioceses. Each province is presided over by an archbishop, each diocese by a bishop, and the diocese is divided into parishes and missions with pastors appointed by the bishop.
Catholic mission work in what is now the State of Kansas was started in 1827 when Father Van Quickenborn, a Jesuit of Missouri, visited the Osage Indians in what is now southern Kansas. He made subse- quent visits in 1829 and 1830. In 1847 Bishop Kendrick appointed Father John Schoenmakers superior of the Osage mission, in what is now Neosho county. During the Civil war the mission was deserted, but at its close work was resumed and as many as eighteen Catholic missions were established. St. Francis school, monastery and church were established, becoming permanent institutions. (See Missions.)
In 1851 John B. Miege was appointed to the vicarate of all "the ter- ritory from Kansas river at its mouth to the British possessions and from the Missouri river west to the Rocky mountains." He had head- quarters at St. Marys, and in 1851 built the church of St. Mary of the
FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KANSAS.
Immaculate Conception, "the first cathedral of Bishop Miege, and the first church of any size in Kansas." In 1855 he removed and established his see at Leavenworth. From St. Marys priests ministered to the early settlers of Kansas after the territory was thrown open to settlement, and in many cases after churches were erected the Jesuit fathers cele- brated mass when there was no resident priest.
In 1855 there was but one Catholic bishop and a population of 700 Catholics in all Kansas territory. One of the earliest churches was organized at Leavenworth where the cathedral of the Immaculate Con- ception was established in 1851. It was built under the direction of
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Father Heiman, who was the first pastor. In 1854 it was consecrated by Bishop Miege. In 1857 St. John's Catholic church was organized at Lawrence by Father Magee, with 15 members. Services were held in residences and public halls until 1860, when a church edifice was erected. St. John's church was established at Doniphan in 1857, Father Wirth being the first pastor. In 1862 St. Benedict's church was organ- ized at Severance by Father Thomas Barth, a Benedictine from Atchi- son. In 1858 Father Heiman of Leavenworth organized St. Mary's mission at Wyandotte, with about 30 members. For some time they met at the house of John Warren, but within a year a church was built. The mission was abandoned during the Civil war but at its close the parish began to flourish and in 1866 a new church was built. The Catholic church at Valley Falls, Jefferson county, was established in 1858, but no building was erected for some time. In Nemaha county St. Mary's Catholic church was established in 1859 at Wild Cat, a set- tlement in Richmond township. The Catholic church at Fort Scott was organized in 1860 through the efforts of Fathers Schoenmakers, Pon- ziglione and Van Gach, and the first priest was Rev. J. F. Cunningham. The Church of the Assumption was organized at Topeka in 1862 by Father James H. Defouri, and the first church edifice, the oldest in the city, was completed in the same year. Father D. E. Mauritier, a mis- sionary, established a church at Salina in 1866, the first pastor being Father Fogarty, the resident priest at Solomon City At Ottawa, Franklin county, the Church of St. Joseph was organized by Father Guindon in 1869, and from that time the growth of the church was rapid. According to the census taken in 1875, there were 233 Catholic organizations in the state, with 15 church edifices and a membership of 63,510, which included children of Catholic parents. By 1886 there were 75,000 Catholics in the state, with 259 church buildings. In 1906 the Catholic church ranked second in membership of all churches in the state, with 93,195 communicants.
Rome, a hamlet of Sumner county, is located in Jackson township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 8 miles south of Welling- ton, the county seat. It has a postoffice, an express office, three milling companies, a bank, and a number of retail establishments. The popu- lation according to the census of 1910 was 82.
Rooks County, in the northwestern section of the state, is in the second tier south of the Nebraska line, and the fifth county east from Colorado. It is bounded on the north by Phillips county ; on the east by Osborne; on the south by Ellis, and on the west by Graham. The legislature defined the boundaries in 1867 as follows: "Commencing where the east line of range 16 west intersects the Ist standard parallel; thence south to the 2nd standard parallel; thence west to the east line of range 21 west; thence north to the Ist standard parallel; thence east to the place of beginning."
It was named in honor of John C. Rooks of the Eleventh Kansas cavalry. Settlers did not begin coming into the county till 1871. By
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the fall of the next year there was sufficient population for county organ- ization, which took place on Nov. 26, 1872. Gov. Harvey in his procla- mation named Stockton as the temporary county seat, and appointed as commissioners, Lyman Randall and Lewis Stults. The commission- ers chose George W. Beebe as clerk. The first election was held Dec. 31, 1872, when the following officers were elected: Probate judge, M. Drake; sheriff, John Russell; county clerk, L. C. Smith; treasurer, Joseph Brossard; surveyor, Albert Cooper; clerk of the district court, Thomas Boylan; superintendent of public instruction, John M. Park; attorney, D. K. Dibble; register of deeds, L. C. Smith; coroner, D. W. Gaun; commissioners, Lyman Randall, D. O. Adams and Lewis M. Stults; representative, Joseph McNulty. For county seat Stockton received 95 votes and Lowell 52. The whole number of votes cast in the election was 147.
Among the early events was the killing of two young men named Roberts by a desperado by the name of Johnson. In 1873 a cattle dealer from Kentucky was murdered and robbed, his body being hidden in the sand 12 miles east of Stockton, where it was found by some children. In June, 1875, two men with 35 head of Texas ponies came to the south fork of the Solomon river not far from Stockton, where they camped and gave notice that their stock was for sale. One of the strangers went to town to make some purchases and the people gathered to inspect the ponies. While they were doing so sheriff Ramsey of Ellis county, accompanied by sheriff Joseph McNulty of Rooks county, rode up heavily armed and announced that the ponies had been stolen. Ramsey ordered the thief to throw up his hands. Instead of doing so, the man jumped behind a pony and prepared to shoot. Both Ramsey and the thief were armed with needle guns. They both fired and simultaneously dropped dead. The other stranger was hunted up and wounded in the jaw by a shot but he managed to escape.
The first newspaper was established in Jan., 1876, by J. W. Newell. It was a Greenback labor paper and was called the Stockton News. The county agricultural society was formed in 1879. Until 1881 the county offices occupied rented quarters. A $5,000 court-house was built that year, the city of Stockton contributing $3,000 of this amount. A strong jail of cottonwood logs, strengthened by tons of iron, was built near the court-house. A number of flour mills were built in the '70s.
The county is divided into 22 townships, viz .: Alcona, Ash Rock, Belmont, Bow Creek, Corning, Farmington, Greenfield, Hobart, Iowa, Lanark, Logan, Lowell, Medicine, Northampton, Paradise, Plainville, Richland, Rush, Stockton, Sugar Loaf, Twin Mound and Walton. The postoffices are: Alcona, Codell, Damar, Palco, Plainville, Stockton, Webster, Woodson and Zurich. A line of the Union Pacific R. R. enters in the southeast and crosses northwest into Graham county. A branch of the Missouri Pacific enters in the northeast and terminates at Stockton.
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The general surface of the county is rolling, with high bluffs along the south fork of the Solomon river and Paradise creek. One-fifth of the surface is almost level, and about three-fifths are undulating prairie. The bottom lands along the Solomon are about one and one-half miles in width, and those of other streams from one-half to one mile in width. The streams are lined with thin belts of native timber, and some artificial plantings have been made. The south fork of the Solo- mon river enters on the west and flows eastward through the county. Slate and Sand creeks are tributaries from the northwest and Spring Lost, Box-Elder, Elm and Medicine from the south. Other creeks are Paradise, Wolf, West and East Eagle and Bow. Magnesian limestone of a superior quality underlies the entire county, with quarries at Iago and on Elm and Medicine creeks. Sandstone, gypsum and potter's clay are aiso found.
In 1878 the number of acres under cultivation was 5,211. In 1882 the value of farm products was $634,077. In 1910 the total value of farm products was $3,403,171. Wheat was worth $1,463,950; corn, $399,543 ; oats, $142,038; Kafir corn, $110,075; tame grass, $220,671; wild grasses, $113,694.
The population in 1875 was 567; in 1880 it was 8,112. In the next decade there was a decrease of 94, the population in 1890 being 8,018. In the next ten years there was a decrease of about 60. In 1910 the population was 11,282, showing an increase of 3,322, or nearly 50 per cent. The assessed valuation of property in 1910 was $16,351,545.
Root, Frank A., author and publisher, was born at Binghampton, N. Y., July 3, 1837, son of Albert B. and Marinda (Boyden) Root. He was edu- cated in the country schools of New York and Pennsylvania, and in his boyhood worked on a farm. He was later hod-carrier and stage driver in Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty he came to Kansas, where he worked first in the office of the Herald of Freedom at Lawrence, and in the latter '5os was local editor on the Quindaro Chindowan. When the Civil war broke out he was assistant postmaster at Atchison, and was prevented from enlisting by his resignation not being accepted. Early in 1863 he went on the overland stage line at Atchison as messenger; later was local agent in charge of the California mail at Latham station, Col .; was then traveling mail agent on the stage line, and made trips across the plains between the Missouri river and the Rocky moun- tains. On Oct. 21, 1864, he married Miss Emma Clark of Atchison, Kan .; was part owner of the Daily and Weekly Free-Press of that city from 1865 to 1869; part owner of the Waterville Telegraph in 1870-71, and one of the owners of the Seneca Courier 1871-72. In the latter year he became proprietor of the Holton Express; was postmaster at that place; was publisher of the Topeka Argus in 1876; of the North Topeka Times 1876 to 1880; was postmaster at North Topeka in the latter '7os; was one of the owners of the Review and the Review Press at Gunnison, Col., from 1880 till 1886, and from that time until 1893 was publisher of the Topeka Mail. He is the author of "The Overland Stage to California" (1901).
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KANSAS HISTORY
Roper, a station in Wilson county, is located where two branches of the Missouri Pacific R. R. diverge, both going southward, about 12 miles northeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. The town was started in 1886, at the time the railroad was built. A telephone system uniting Roper with all the towns in the vicinity went into operation in 1901. The popula- tion in 1910 was 40.
Rosalia, a little town in Butler county, is located in the township of the same name on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 13 miles east of Eldorado, the county seat. It has a number of retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The popu- lation in 1910 was 100.
Rose, one of the smaller villages of Woodson county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. about 6 miles south of Yates Center, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with 2 rural routes. The population for 1910 was reported to be 50. It is a shipping and supply center for a large agricultural district.
Rosedale, one of the largest cities of Wyandotte county, is situated in the southeastern portion on the south bank of the Kansas river and the St. Louis & San Francisco and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail- roads, 4 miles southwest of Kansas City. The town was platted in 1872 by James G. Brown, but building was not commenced to any extent until 1875, when the rolling mills were located there. By 1877 it had grown sufficiently to be organized as a city of the third class. On Aug. 3 of that year an election was ordered for the 28th of the month, when D. S. Mathias was elected the first mayor. The town grew rapidly and as early as 1882 arrangements were made for an excel- lent waterworks system. The population that year was 1,800, a fine large school building, many beautiful homes and stores of all kinds had been erected, and it was one of the prosperous towns of the eastern part of the state. The Catholic church perfected an organization in Rosedale in 1876. The Methodists organized about the same time, and in 1881 erected a beautiful church edifice. Since that time other reli- gious denominations have perfected organization and built churches. At the beginning of its history Rosedale became a manufacturing town, as the Kansas Rolling mills were established there in 1875, employing some 500 men. All kinds of railroad supplies are manufactured, includ- ing rails, miners' tools, etc. The excellent shipping facilities, with the cheap coal to be obtained, has led to the establishment of other iron works. Rosedale has an excellent public school system, and is the seat of the medical department of the University of Kansas, for which a fine new hospital was erected in 1911 at a cost of over $50,000. There are good stores of all descriptions, several miles of paved streets, excellent water and lighting systems, and an independent branch of the Kansas City postoffice. All public utilities are provided and in 1910 the city had a population of 5,960.
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Rose Hill, a village in Butler county, is located in Richland town- ship on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 25 miles southwest of Eldorado, the county seat. It has a bank, several good stores, telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 150.
Roseland, a village in Cherokee county, is located in Rose township on the Joplin & Pittsburg electric line, 8 miles north of Columbus, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and a good local trade. The population in 1910 was 100.
Rosemont, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Osage county, is located 19 miles southeast of Lyndon, the county seat. It has tele- graph and express offices and a postoffice. The population in 1910 was 22.
Rosette, a hamlet in Lincoln county, is located 15 miles west of Lin- coln, the county seat, and 4 miles north of Sylvan Grove, the nearest railroad station and the place from which it receives mail. The popu- lation in 1910 was 53.
Ross, Edmund G., journalist and United States senator, was born at Ashland, Ohio, Dec. 7, 1826. He attended the common schools until he was eleven years old, when he was apprenticed to the printer's trade in the office of the Huron Commercial-Advertiser. He completed his apprenticeship at Sandusky, Ohio, and then spent several years travel- ing as a journeyman printer. On his return to Sandusky in Oct., 1878, he married Fannie M. Lathrop and went to Milwaukee, Wis., where he was engaged in newspaper work. The sacking of Lawrence, Kan., in May, 1856, aroused a storm of indignation throughout the northern states. A meeting was held at Milwaukee and a fund of $3,000 was raised to arm and equip a party of free-state men for Kansas This
party came overland under the leadership of Mr. Ross and upon arrival at Topeka at once took the field with the anti-slavery forces. After the invaders had been driven out, Mr. Ross entered into partnership with his brother in the publication of the Kansas Tribune at Topeka. He took an active interest in politics, was a member of the Wyandotte con- stitutional convention in 1859, and at the close of the convention began the publication of the Kansas State Record at Topeka, which paper was devoted to the interests of the Republican party and was influential in turning the tide of public opinion toward the adoption of the new con- stitution. In 1860 his paper aided in calling a territorial convention to plan a scheme for securing a practical railroad system for the an- ticipated State of Kansas. This was the beginning of the agitation that has given Kansas her efficient railroad service of the present day. He assisted in raising the Eleventh Kansas infantry in 1862, and at the or- ganization of the regiment was elected captain of a company. Subse- quently Gov. Carney appointed him major of the regiment, when it was changed from infantry to cavalry. He was present with his com- mand in all the battles in which it was engaged. In 1865, Gov. Craw- ford appointed him aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. At
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the close of the war he became editor of the Kansas Tribune at Law- ence. On July 25, 1866, Gov. Crawford appointed him United States senator to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Gen. James H. Lane, And at the following session of the legislature he was elected for the nnexpired term. He was one of the young Republican members of the senate, and up to the time of the impeachment proceedings against President Johnson was always in accord with his party. In that cele- brated case he incurred the lasting displeasure of some of the president's enemies by casting the deciding vote against impeachment. His ac- tion was denounced by a partisan press, his friends turned against him. he was ostracized and insulted, and it was not until years afterward, when sectional feeling had died away to some extent, that Mr. Ross was accorded justice. The Chicago Times of Aug. 25, 1889, says : "Though the Republican senators, who disappointed the Republican managers of their two-thirds vote and thus saved Johnson and the coun- try, lost their place, in consequence, as soon as their time expired and never since, except in the case of Ross, have had public employment, not one of them, it is safe to say, regrets his course. It was judicious, cour- ageous and disinterested. These men saved the country from the com- mission of a colossal blunder."
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