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 83
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
692
CYCLOPEDIA OF
Voltaire. The first named town moved to Shermanville, which began to be called Sherman Center. An effort was made to get Voltaire to move, and the Voltaire newspaper was very much in favor of joining forces against Eustis and making Sherman Center the county seat. About half of the people of Voltaire moved but those who remained entered the town in the lists at November election, when Eustis won by 61 votes, and the following officers were elected: county clerk, G. W. Benson ; sheriff, R. G. Albright; treasurer, J. E. Rule ; superintendent of public instruction, F. S. Palmer ; register of deeds, E. W. Penny ; county attor- ney, W. K. Brown; probate judge, L. E. Tobias; clerk of the district court, P. C. Brown ; surveyor, L. M. Harwood ; coroner, A. E. Tice ; com- missioners, C. E. Bennett, John Bray and E. L. Lyons.
In the spring of 1887 Goodland was founded just south of the geo- graphical center of the county and not far from Sherman Center. The latter town was induced to move to the new site. The county seat mat- ter was again voted upon in Nov., 1887. The vote was not properly can- vassed and a mandamus was issued by the supreme court the next spring to compel a canvass of all the returns of the election. It was found that Goodland had a majority and that town became the permanent county seat. Eustis moved to Goodland and the county seat contest was ended.
At their first meeting in 1886 the commissioners divided the county into 6 townships, Grant, Voltaire, Shermanville, McPherson, Itasca and Washington. Since that time, Iowa, Lincoln, Llanos, Logan, Smoky, State Line and Union have been organized, making 13 in all. The Chi- cago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad crosses the center of the county from east to west, a distance of 36 miles.
The general surface is undulating prairie, with a few bluffs and some rough lands along Beaver creek and in the western part of the county. Lamborn (railroad name Kanorado) is the highest point in the state. Its altitude is 3,906 feet. Timber is scarce, existing only in thin belts along the north fork of the Smoky Hill river and on the middle fork of the Sappa. The north fork of the Smoky Hill enters near the southwest corner and flows across the southern portion into Wallace county. The north and middle forks of the Sappa have their source in the central part of the county and flow northeast across the eastern boundary. Beaver and Little Beaver creeks rise in the northern part and flow north into Cheyenne county. Limestone is found in the southwest.
In 1885 there were 2,605 head of live stock in the county valued at $12,138. The next year there were 4,409 head with a total value of $100,- 087. The field crops that year amounted to $82,628, the wool clip to $1,548, the produce to $2,000 and the milk sold to $100. In 1910 the value of live stock was $1,035,082, and the number of head was 19,756. The value of animals sold for slaughter in the same year was over $66,000; the value of corn, the largest field crop, was $158,214; barley, $126,694; wheat, $137,569; hay, $94,863 ; sorghum, $45,465; oats, $22,540; poultry and eggs, $18,203; dairy products, $53,230. The total value of farm products in 1910 was $776,149.
693
KANSAS HISTORY
The population in 1890 was 5,261, nearly twice what it was in 1886. During the next ten years there was a decrease incident to poor crops and heavy immigration to the southwestern states and the population in 1900 was but 3,341. The last few years have seen an increase and in 1910 the number of inhabitants had reached 4,549. The assessed valua- tion of property in that year was $9,343,387. The average wealth per capita being $2,054, several hundred dollars above the average for the state.
Sherwin Junction, a hamlet in Cherokee county, is located in Lota township on the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri Pacific rail- roads, 6 miles from Columbus, the county seat. It has general stores, a hotel, feed mill, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office. The population in 1910 was IIO.
Sherwood, a hamlet of Smith county, is located 17 miles northeast of Smith Center, the county seat, and I0 miles north of Lebanon, which is the nearest railroad station and the postoffice from which its mail is dis- tributed by rural route.
Shields, a hamlet in Lane county, is located in Wilson township on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 10 miles north of Dighton, the county seat. It has general stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office. The population in 1910 was 48.
Shirley County, was created by the act of Feb. 27, 1860, which pro- vided that: "The territory composed of townships 5, 6, 7 and 8 south, in ranges, I, 2, 3, 4 and 5, west of the 6th principal meridian, shall con- stitute the county of Shirley." It was named after a woman in jest. By the act of creation commissioners were appointed to locate a temporary county seat, and by the act of Feb. 26, 1867, the name was changed to Cloud county.
Shook, a hamlet of Harper county, is located in Eagle township on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 8 miles southwest of Anthony, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and a general store. The population in IgIO was 20.
Shorey, a suburb of Topeka, with which it is connected by an electric line, is located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. It has schools, churches, general stores and nurseries. The population was 400 in 1910. Mail is supplied from Topeka.
Short Grass Country .- The short grass country of Kansas figures slightly in the romances, Molly Warren's story in the Kansas Magazine of Sept., 1909, dealing with that section. The term "short grass" is as old as the settlement of the plains country, and was used in order to dis- tinguish the point where prairie grass left off and buffalo (short) grass became plentiful. The term has within recent years come into general use, and applies to the western half of the state in which buffalo grass (q. v.) is the predominating natural forage. Not many years ago the "short grass" section of Kansas extended as far east as Salina, but with the introduction of tame grasses it has been pushed a little farther west, until by common consent it now begins at a point about the 98th degree
694
CYCLOPEDIA OF
of longitude in the central part of the state, the northern and southern borders extending slightly further west, the soil there being a little more fertile.
The short grass section therefore embraces portions of Harper, King- man, Reno, Rice, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Mitchell, Jewell counties, and all of Smith, Osborn, Russell, Barton, Stafford, Pratt, Barber, Comanche,
PIONEER RESIDENCE, SHORT GRASS COUNTRY.
Edwards, Pawnee, Rush, Ellis, Rooks, Phillips, Norton, Graham, Trego, Ness, Hodgeman, Ford, Clarke, Meade, Lane, Gove, Sheridan, Decatur, Rawlins, Thomas, Logan, Wichita, Kearny, Grant, Stevens, Morton, Stanton, Hamilton, Greeley, Wallace, Sherman and Cheyenne.
Sibley, a hamlet of Douglas county is located on the Atchison, To- peka & Santa Fe R. R. 7 miles south of Lawrence. It has a postoffice and express facilities, and in 1910 had a population of 25. The railroad name is Sibleyville.
Sidney, a country postoffice in Colony township, Greeley county, is located 15 miles northwest of Tribune, the county seat and usual ship- ping point. It has tri-weekly mail.
Silica, a rural postoffice in Rice county, is located in Pioneer township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. near the west line of the county, 14 miles from Lyons, the county seat. The population according to the census of 1910 was 20.
Silk Culture .- The culture of silk was first introduced into Kansas by Ernest V. Boissiere, a Frenchman, who came to the United States in 1851. In 1869 he bought a tract of nearly 4,000 acres of land near Wil- liamsburg, Franklin county, where he began to raise silk-worms. He had noticed that the climate of Kansas was very similar to that of the silk producing section of France, where the business was prosperous, and he believed that silk culture could be made a profitable industry in Kansas.
695
KANSAS HISTORY
He planted 70 acres to Russian mulberry trees and induced several French families who understood the business to come to Kansas. In a short time more than 40 French people, some of them being expert in raising silk-worms and manufacturing silk, were located in Franklin county, the colony becoming known as Silkville. His first silk-worms were produced from California eggs, and in 1870 he began weaving silk ribbon, his looms having a capacity of 224 yards a day. The following year he began weaving silk cloth. In 1873 he imported eggs from Japan and in 1874 the cocoons showed a marked improvement. Those of 1875 were still better than the first generation bred from Japanese eggs, and by this time he had demonstrated that the silk produced in Kansas was of an excellent quality, surpassing much that was imported. He sold his product at high prices, but said : "There seems to be a good business in it for the commission man, but not for me." He exhibited his products at the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia in 1876 and was awarded a · diploma, but the profits not coming up to his expectations, the enterprise was finally abandoned.
In the early 'Sos, the Russian Mennonites who settled in Marion, Har- vey, Sedgwick and Reno counties, planted mulberries and achieved a cer- tain success in raising silk-worms, many of them having been engaged in this occupation in southern Russia.
Gov. Martin, in his message to the legislature in 1887, said that the subject was "worthy of careful investigation," and suggested that the legislature appoint a committee "to ascertain such facts as are attain- able and recommend such action as may be deemed necessary or advis- able." As a result of the governor's suggestion, an act was passed on March 17, 1887, by which the sum of $13,000 was appropriated, "for the purpose of establishing, maintaining and conducting a silk station of Kansas." A board of three commissioners, consisting of J. S. Codding of Pottawatomie county, J. H. Morse of Marion county and Dr. Charles Williamson of Washington county, was appointed. The commissioners were to hold office for two years, and they were authorized to locate a silk station and provide for its equipment.
The towns which offered the best locations and desired the station, were Peabody, Hutchinson, Larned and McPherson. The commission- ers decided on Larned, and appointed as superintendent, Prof. I. Horner of Emporia, a well known silk culturist, but he did not approve of the location and Peabody was selected. A contract was let for a $3,000 building, the necessary machinery and planting of trees. The act of 1889 provided for a resident commissioner at Peabody, who was "to purchase such equipment as might be necessary for the successful working of a silk station." A superintendent was to have charge of the station, pro- cure and distribute silk-worm eggs, and in every way encourage the development of the industry. The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the support of the institution, and subsequent appropriations were some- thing like $7,500 each. The station occupied 10 acres of land, on which were raised mulberry trees and other varieties of plants used as food for
696
CYCLOPEDIA OF
silk-worms. The two-story building was equipped with boiler, engine and ten reels. From 4 to 10 men were employed throughout the year.
The primary work of the station was to raise silk-worm eggs for free distribution to such residents of Kansas as might desire to grow cocoons. From 50 to 150 ounces of eggs were produced each year. After the people who had obtained the eggs and raised the cocoons, which the station bought at the rate of $1 per pound, reeled and sold the commercial silk. This reeling, which is a very slow process, constituted the bulk of the work done at the station. The eggs were furnished in April and the work of hatching and raising the worms was done during the last of April and first of May. Many people in the state secured eggs from the station and sold the cocoons, but the station never paid, as the reelers had to be paid much higher wages in Kansas, than in foreign silk produc- ing countries. Consequently, in 1897 the legislature passed an act repeal- ing all laws for the encouragement of silk culture, and appointed the chairman of the board of county supervisors of Marion county, the sec- retary of state and state treasurer, a board to lease or sell the Peabody silk station. Before disposing of the station, the board was to "nego- tiate with the United States department of agriculture, with a view to establishing a national experiment station, for the purpose of continuing, perpetuating and disseminating the knowledge of sericulture," and if the department did take up the plan, the station was to be donated to the government. Nothing was done by the national government and the silk industry in Kansas came to an end.
Silverdale, a hamlet in Cowley county, is located in the township of the same name on Grouse creek and the Missouri Pacific R. R., 15 miles southeast of Winfield, the county seat. It has a hotel, a general store, a stone quarry, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office. The population in 1910 was 100.
Silver Lake, an incorporated city of the third class in Silver Lake township, Shawnee county, is located on the Kansas river and the Union Pacific R. R., II miles west of Topeka, the county seat. It has a number of retail establishments, two telephone exchanges, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The popula- tion in 1910 was 260. The town was founded in 1868 by a Mr. Huntoon of Topeka. C. S. Palmer and M. B. Beaubien opened the first store in July. Palmer opened the first hotel in the spring of 1869. About this time the first postoffice was established, with J. B. Oliver as the first postmaster. Flour mills were built and churches and schools established early in the 'zos. The site of Silver Lake was settled in 1847. In 1852-53 three ferries were located there and it was known as the "Great Cross- ing."
Simerwell, Robert, missionary to the Indians, was born in Ireland, May 1, 1786. He attended school occasionally until fifteen years of age, and came with his parents to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1803. His parents died soon afterward and he became a blacksmith's apprentice. In 1824 he went to the Baptist Indian mission at Carey Station on the St. Joseph
697
KANSAS HISTORY
river in Michigan, and the next year married a Miss Goodridge; be- came government blacksmith to the Pottawatomies and studied their language. In 1833 he came with a part of the tribe to the Baptist mission in Kansas, led them to their new home on the reserve near Topeka in 1848, and labored among this tribe as a teacher and spiritual leader until ill health forced him to retire in 1854. He died at his home on Six-mile creek in 1868. He was the author of a primer in the Pottawatomie lan- guage, published in 1833; translated a book containing a catechism and hymns into Pottawatomie in 1835; and his books and manuscripts now in the Kansas Historical Society include fragments of translations of hymns, grammar, vocabularies, discourses, etc.
Simpson, an incorporated town of Mitchell county, is located on the Union Pacific R. R. and the Solomon river in Logan township, 12 miles southeast of Beloit, the county seat. It has a bank, a flour mill, tele- graph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 211. The town was founded in 1879 under the name of Brittsville, but the name was changed in 1882.
Simpson, Jerry, member of Congress, often referred to as the "sock- less statesman" from Kansas, was born in Westmoreland county, New Brunswick, March 31, 1842. His father was a masterful man in mind and body, so that young Jerry found at home many of the best old English authors. His mother was of Welsh and English ancestry. She was a self-poised woman of commanding presence and strong char- acter. About 1848 the family removed to Oneida county, N. Y., and when Jerry was only fourteen years of age he began life as a sailor on the Great Lakes, starting in as cabin boy. He followed the lakes for twenty-three years, won promotion by his assiduous attention to his duties, and had command of several large vessels. In the early part of the Civil war he served for a time in the Twelfth Illinois infantry, but was forced to leave the service on account of illness and returned to his life of a sailor. With a view to the comfort of his family he finally gave up his life on the lakes and located temporarily in Indiana, at a time when the Grange movement was at its height. He took a deep interest in the work of the Grange, which led to his study of transportation and the money question. In 1878 he came to Kansas, locating first in Jackson county, where he had a farm and sawmill. After the death of his little daughter the family removed to Barber county, where he engaged in farming and stock raising 6 miles from Medicine Lodge. Mr. Simpson was originally a Republican, having cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In 1886 and again in 1888 he ran for the Kansas legislature on the Independent ticket, representing the Greenback and Union Labor principles. Both times he was defeated by T. A. McNeal, the Republican candidate. The men were personal friends, however, and in 1890, when McNeal was elected mayor of Medicine Lodge, he appointed Simpson city marshal. The modest duties of this position Mr. Simpson performed as faith- fully as if the office had been one of national importance. About this
698
CYCLOPEDIA OF
time the Farmer's Alliance began to take a hand in politics. An Alliance convention was held at Kinsley, to which Mr. Simpson was sent as a delegate. Here he attracted general attention by his readiness in debate and he was nominated by the People's party for Congress and elected by aid of the Democrats, who indorsed his candidacy. When nominated he was without money to meet the incidental expenses of a campaign, but his ardent admirers in all sections of the "Big Sev- enth" district contributed the necessary funds. This campaign was one of the most remarkable in the history of Kansas. In 1892 he was reëlected, but his majority was cut from 8,000 to less than 2,000. In 1894 he was nominated a third time, but was defeated. Two years later, when the free silver excitement swept over the country he was again elected to Congress, this time as a Democrat. Steadily declining health caused Mr. Simpson to seek a home at Roswell, N. M., in 1901, where he engaged in the real estate business and acted as agent for the Santa Fe railroad lands. His last public speech was made at Pond Creek, Okla., where so many of his friends and associates had located. He spoke for three hours with the old life and enthusiasm. For years Mr. Simpson was afflicted with aneurism of the heart, and late in Sept., 1905, accompanied by his wife, he went to St. Francis' hospital at Wichita, Kan., for treatment. Two of his most loyal friends, Victor Murdock and David Leahy, were among the few people allowed to see him. He passed away on the morning of Oct. 23, 1905. Mr. Simpson married Miss Jane Cape on Oct. 12, 1870, at Buffalo, N. Y., and two children were born to them.
Singleton, Benjamin .- (See Negro Exodus.)
Sitka, a post-village of Clark county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 6 miles east of Ashland, the county seat. It has an express office and telephone connections, and is a trading and shipping point for the neighborhood in which it is situated.
Skiddy, a hamlet in Morris county, is located in Rolling Prairie town- ship on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. 24 miles northwest of Council Grove, the county seat. It has a hotel, general stores, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 90.
Skidmore, a hamlet in Cherokee county, is located on the Joplin & Pittsburg electric line 5 miles north of Columbus, the county seat. It has a general store and a postoffice. The population in 1910 was 75. .
Slate, a hamlet in Rooks county, is located on Slate creek 16 miles northwest of Stockton, the county seat, and 12 miles south of Logan, in Phillips county, from which place it receives mail. The population in 1910 was 36.
Slavery .- Human slavery is as old as human history, of which its story forms one of the most somber chapters. It no doubt originated in the custom of enslaving prisoners captured in war. Among the ancient oriental nations, even Jehovah's chosen people, the Jews, had their bond-servants, which is but another name for slaves. With the
699
KANSAS HISTORY
introduction of Christianity the condition of the slaves was improved, and about the time of Justinian jurists began to regard slavery as con- trary to the laws of nature-justifiable only as a punishment for debt or crime, a sort of modification of the old theory that the victor pos- sessed the right to slay the vanquished. But so long as the toil of the bondsman allowed his owner to live in comparative ease, or there was a profit to the trader in human beings, it was a difficult matter to present the moral aspects of the slavery question, and the traffic went on.
Modern negro slavery was one result of the discovery of America. In the early settlements upon the Western Hemisphere some attempts were made to enslave the Indians, but they proved to be intractable or too weak physically for the arduous labor of the plantations, and the would-be slave-owner was compelled to turn his attention in some other direction. Prior to the discovery of America by Columbus, the Portu- guese had explored the western coast of Africa, where they found that the African tribes, like other savage people, were accustomed to enslaving or selling the captives taken in war. The failure to make slaves of the American aborigines led the early planters and mine owners of this continent to adopt the alternative of buying slaves of the African chieftains.
As early as 1517 Charles V, then king of Spain, gave royal permis- sion to the Spanish settlements in America to import negroes from the Portuguese establishments on the coasts of Guinea, and in 1565 Pedro Menendez, the founder of St. Augustine, was authorized by Philip II to import 500 negro slaves. The first negro slaves in the English colony at Jamestown, Va., were brought there by a Dutch trader in 1620, and a few years later black slaves were introduced in the English colony at Charleston, S. C. When Antoine Crozat in 1712 was granted a monopoly of the Louisiana trade by the French government, he was also given authority, if he found it necessary to employ slave labor, "to send a ship every year to trade for negroes directly upon the coast of Guinea, taking permission of the Guinea Company to do so." The slaves thus imported were to be sold to the inhabitants of Louisiana, and all other companies were forbidden to bring slaves into the colony. Five years later Crozat was succeeded by the Western Company, which agreed to bring into Louisiana, during the 25 years of its franchise, not less than 3,000 negro slaves. After this company gave up its charter in 1732, the French government resumed control of Louisiana and con- tinued to supply negroes to the colonists. Late in the 17th century England obtained from Spain the right to enter the slave trade, but instead of exercising the right as a government, the privilege was turned over to a company of which Sir John Hawkins was the head, and by 1700 this company had taken some 300,000 negroes from the African coast to the English colonies. In 1780, about a century after the right was obtained from Spain, the English slave-ships had carried to the island of Jamaica alone over half a million negroes. Thus it will be seen that each of the three great European nations that claimed terri-
700
CYCLOPEDIA OF
tory and formed settlements in America countenanced the institution of slavery.
As a result of the activity of these nations in fostering and promoting the slave trade, slavery existed in all the American colonies at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. Vermont was the first to abolish it. That colony, in 1777, adopted a constitution, the first article of which prohibited slavery. Toward the close of the Revolution an agitation was started in both Europe and America for the suppression of the slave traffic. One result of this agitation was that the North Atlantic colonies took steps to abolish and prohibit slavery within their boundaries. Massachusetts led off in 1780; the same year Pennsylvania passed a law that all slaves born after March 1, 1780, should be free at the age of 28 years; New Hampshire followed in 1783, and the next year Rhode Island and Connecticut each adopted a system of gradual emancipation. Another effect of the agitation was that the convention which framed the Federal constitution in 1789 incorporated in that instrument the provision that "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person." (Art. I, Sec. 9.)
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.