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 87
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Company A was recruited at Parsons; B, at Concordia ; C, at Beloit ; D, at Holton ; E, at Emporia ; F, at Columbus; G, at Norton ; H, at Em- poria; I, at Clay Center; K, at Seneca; L, at Atchison; M, at Blue Rapids, though a large number of the members of this last named com- pany were from Manhattan. Company H, while credited to Emporia, was called the "College Company," being made up of students of the State University, Agricultural College and State Normal School.
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The regiment remained at Camp Leedy, Topeka, until May 25, when it was ordered to Camp Alger, Va. Soon after reaching there, the war department ordered each of the twelve companies to be recruited to a maximum of 106 enlisted men. Officers were detailed to return to Kansas to scure the necessary additional recruits, and in a short time the regiment's muster rolls showed 1,272 names. Early in August the regiment moved to Thoroughfare, Va., and on Aug. 29 to Camp Meade, near Middletown, Pa., where it remained until Sept. 9 when orders were received to proceed at once to Fort Leavenworth. Here a furlough of 30 days was granted to the men, and on Nov. 3, 1898, the regiment was mustered out, with 46 officers and 1,230 enlisted men. The Twenty- second was composed mainly of farmers' sons and students from the state's higher educational institutions. Consequently the personnel of the regiment was of a high order, and had opportunity offered it would no doubt have added to the state's laurels by its conduct on the field.
On May 3, 1898, while the three regiments were in process of forma- tion, the Topeka Women's Relief Corps, No. 94, held a meeting and decided to present each regiment with a stand of colors, consisting of the Stars and Stripes and the blue state flag of Kansas. A committee was appointed to solicit contributions to purchase the flags, and in three days reported $200. Within a week the entire amount was ready, and on May 10 the ceremony of presentation took place at Topeka, though all the flags were not ready at the time. Those that were delayed were forwarded to the regiments after they left the state.
The Twenty-third infantry, an organization of two battalions, was composed entirely of colored men from the towns in the eastern part of the state. Company A was recruited at Topeka, and reported for duty on July 2, 1898; Company B, from Lawrence, reported on July 5; Com- panies C and D reported on the 9th, the former from Kansas City, Kan., and the latter from Fort Scott; Company E, from Wichita, reported on the 14th; Company F, from Parsons, Coffeyville and Fort Scott, on the 16th ; Company G, from Kansas City, Kan., on the same date; and Com- pany H, from Atchison, reported on the 19th, when the regiment was mustered into the U. S. service with 29 officers and 850 enlisted men.
The officers of the regiment were as follows: James Beck, lieutenant- colonel ; John M. Brown and George W. Ford, majors; Samuel T. Jones, adjutant; Frederick M. Stone, quartermaster; Charles S. Sunday and Frederick D. G. Harvey, assistant surgeons.
On Aug. 22 the regiment broke camp at Topeka and proceeded by rail to New York, where it sailed on the 25th for Santiago, Cuba, arriv- ing there on the 3Ist. The next day it moved to San Luis, where it remained until Feb. 28, 1899. It then returned to Santiago, and on March I embarked for Newport News, Va. From Newport News it returned to Kansas and on April 10 was mustered out at Fort Leaven- worth. The peace protocol between the United States and Spain was signed on Aug. 12, 1898, ten days before the Twenty-third left Topeka. By the armistice thus declared hostilities had ceased before it reached
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Cuba, but it won the reputation of a well drilled and well disciplined reg- iment, and, like so many volunteer regiments, it only lacked the oppor- tunity to demonstrate its valor and efficiency as a military organization.
In addition to the foregoing volunteer organizations, there were 31 Kansans held commissions in the regular army in the Philippines ; Joseph K. Hudson was commissioned brigadier-general on May 27, 1898, and served until Oct. 3, 1899; Dr. Wladimir F. de Niedman became a brigade surgeon ; Capt. Ralph Ingalls was made assistant commissary of sub- sistence, and near the close of the war the rank of brevet brigadier-gen- eral was awarded to Col. Wilder S. Metcalf. Taken all in all, no citizen of Kansas need to feel ashamed of the record of his state in the Spanish- American war.
On March 7, 1899, the legislature passed an act appropriating $20,000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, "for the purpose of paying the claims of persons for services rendered and expenses incurred by them in the active service, and in raising, recruiting, transporting, sub- sisting, equipping and medical examination of Kansas volunteers in the Spanish-American war," etc. (See Stanley's Administration.)
Hon. John C. Nicholson, who succeeded ex-Gov. Crawford as state agent, in the Kansas Magazine for July, 1909, says: "The State of Kan- sas expended in equipping the Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third Kansas regiments for the Spanish-American war, the sum of $37,787.84, of which amount the United States has reimbursed the state in the sum of $37,200.19."
The final treaty of peace was concluded in Dec., 1899. During and immediately after the war, several societies of soldiers and marines were organized to perpetuate the friendships and associations formed while the war was in progress. On April 18, 1904, the national encampment of the United Spanish War Veterans was organized by the consolida- tion of the National Army and Navy Spanish War Veterans, the Na- tional Association of Spanish-American War Veterans, and the Society of the Service Men of the Spanish War, with Edward J. Gihon, of Wake- field, Mass., commander-in-chief. The society is conducted on a plan similar to that of the Grand Army of the Republic, by being divided into state departments, all soldiers and sailors of the regular and volun- teer army, navy and marine corps who served honorably in the war with Spain or the insurrection in the Philippines being eligible to member- ship. The annual encampment of the Kansas department in 1910 was held at Kansas City, Kan., in June, when Maj. A. M. Harvey of Topeka was elected department commander, and Fred Barrett of Blue Rapids, vice-commander.
Sparks, a village of Doniphan county, is located on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy R. R., about 10 miles northwest of Troy, the county seat. It has banking facilities, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. It is one of the new towns of the county. The population in 1910 was 175.
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Spearville, an incorporated city of the third class in Ford county, is located in the township of the same name on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 16 miles northeast of Dodge City, the county seat. It is in the center of a large farming and stock raising area, for which it is the shipping and receiving point. It has 2 banks, a weekly news- paper (the News), flour mills, grain elevators, hotels, churches and schools, express and telegraph offices, and an international money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 576. The town was founded in 1878 by a colony from Cincinnati, of which George Hall and M. Wear were the leaders. Sheep raising was largely engaged in by the early residents of the vicinity. The railroad company made this an experiment station for tree planting in the '70s. The first newspaper was the Spearville Enterprise, established in May, 1878, by J. J. Burns.
Speed, a little town in Phillips county, is located on the north bluffs of the Solomon river and on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 8 miles south- west of Phillipsburg, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly news- paper (the Clarion), a grain elevator, a hotel, a number of retail estab- iishments, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 225. The railroad name is Big Bend. It is surrounded by a fine agricultural country, and live stock, grain, produce, poultry and dairy products are shipped.
Speer, John, one of the pioneer editors of Kansas, was born at Kit- tanning, Pa., Dec. 27, 1817. He was descended from Irish covenanters, was reared and educated in the country, and at the age of eighteen be- gan learning the printer's trade in the office of the Register at Indiana, Pa. In 1839 he went to New Castle, Pa., where he started the Mercer and Beaver Democrat, a Whig paper that supported Harrison for presi- dent. In 1840 he went to Ohio, where he was connected with different papers, editing the Whig at Medina for eleven years. In Sept., 1854, accompanied by his brother Joseph, Mr. Speer located in Lawrence, Kan. In October he returned to Ohio and printed the first number of the Kansas Pioneer, dating it from Lawrence. Within a year it became the Tribune and was removed to Topeka. Mr. Speer was often in dan- ger because of his fearless attacks upon the institution of slavery, but he remained undaunted and did much to make Kansas a free-state. In 1855 he sold his interest in the Tribune, and established the Re- publican at Lawrence. He was a member of the first free-state terri- torial legislature and introduced the first bill to establish a civil code in Kansas. At the time of the Quantrill raid in 1863, his office was sacked and his two sons were killed. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Grand Sovereign Union League of America, which nominated Lincoln for a second term as president. He was elected state printer in 1861, acted this position he printed the early legislative journals and general stat- until 1864, held the same position in 1866 and again in 1868. While in utes of 1868. On June 28, 1866, he was confirmed as United States revenue collector and at various times was a member of the Kansas house of representatives or state senate. Mr. Speer was one of the in- corporators and treasurer of the Kansas Southern Railroad company.
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As an author his best known book is probably his "Life of Gen. James H. Lane," which was published in 1896. After leaving Kansas Mr. Speer lived in Denver, Col., where he died at the home of his daughter, Dec. 15, 1906.
Spencer, Joab, one of the pioneer Methodist ministers of Kansas, was born in Delaware county, Ind., March 10, 1831, a descendant of Ithamar Spencer, a native of Connecticut, who fought in the Revolu- tionary war. In 1842 his father removed to Anderson county, Mo., which had just been opened to white settlers. Educational advantages were limited on the frontier and Joab did not attend school but a few years. He joined the Methodist Episcopal church at the age of thir- teen and in the spring of 1855 was licensed to preach by the Missouri conference. After spending three years in Missouri he was appointed to the Shawnee Indian mission in Kansas, where he served for two years. In the fall of 1860 he was appointed to the Paola, Kan., cir- cuit, and in 1861 became presiding elder of the Council Grove district. He remained near Council Grove for twelve years. In 1864 he was elected to the state legislature from Morris county. In 1874 he was transferred to Missouri and served at several charges. Mr. Spencer always took an active part in Sunday school work and wrote a "Normal Guide," for Sunday school teachers. In 1906 he was living at Slater, Mo., the last surviving missionary to the Indians in Kansas.
Spiritualists .- Spiritualism is a term used to describe the belief of those who hold that communications are sometimes established between the living and the spirits of the dead. The history of modern spiritual- ism began about 1848, with the "knockings" of the Fox sisters at Hynds- ville, N. Y., but the present organization is based upon the writings of Andrew J. Davis, called the "Poughkeepsie Seer," whose work-The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelation ; A Voice to Mankind-was published in 1845, and aroused the attention of many scholarly men in the country, among whom were ministers and college professors, which led to the formation of a cult called Spiritualism. Mr. Davis and his followers found it necessary to go outside the accepted order of re- ligious thought and establish an entirely new movement, and in a short time the interest in Spiritualism became widespread. The meetings in the large cities were attended by thousands of people, local organiza- tions sprang up all over the country, but no attempt was made to or- ganize a national association until 1863. The first association was not a closely organized body and existed only nine years. In 1893 the National Spiritualists' Association of the United States was organized, since which date there have been yearly conventions.
Doctrine is usually ignored or overlooked by the Spiritualists, as they hold to no formulated creeds and confessions and seldom consider eccle- siastical topics which have to do with the past. They believe the spirit world to be a counterpart of the visible world, only more beautiful and perfect ; that people who enter it must be free from the evil done while in the earthly form; that in the progressive after death all souls will be
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restored to perfect happiness ; and that those who die in childhood grow to maturity in spirit life. No religious test is required to become a member of a Spiritualist church but that of good character and public assent to the principles of Spiritualism.
The first organization of the Spiritualists in Kansas, of which there is a record, was established at Topeka in 1867. The number of organ- ized societies grew slowly during the '7os and '8os. In 1890 there were 9 organizations, I each in Butler, Cherokee, Crawford, Douglas, Lin- coln and Ottawa counties and 3 in Shawnee county, with a total mem- bership of 627. During the next fifteen years greater progress was made, due to the denser population which facilitated the organization of local congregations, and in 1906 there were 14 organizations reported in the state with a membership of 1,496.
Spivey, one of the incorporated cities of Kingman county, is located on the Santa Fe R. R. and the Chikaskia river, 12 miles south of King- man, the county seat. It has a bank, a church, about a dozen business houses, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 252.
Spring Creek, a country trading point in Chautauqua county, is lo- cated 7 miles northwest of Sedan, the county seat, whence it receives daily mail by rural route, and about 3 miles north of Rodgers, the near- est railroad station. The population in 1910 was 20.
Springdale, a hamlet in the western part of Leavenworth county, is about 5 miles south of Easton, from which it has rural free delivery, and 3 miles north of Ackerland, the nearest railroad station.
Springfield, a rural postoffice of Seward county, is situated about 5 miles northwest of the center of the county and 3 miles from the Cim- arron river. It is 16 miles from Liberal, the county seat, and I0 miles from Arkalon, the nearest shipping point.
Spring Hill, the second largest town of Johnson county, is located just north of the southern boundary on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., 9 miles south of Olathe, the county seat. The town was sur- veyed on May 18, 1857, and was named after Spring Hill, Ala., by James B. Hovey, the first settler. In Jan., 1858, a town company was formed with J. B. Hovey, president, and A. B. Simmons, secretary. The first building was the Spring Hill Hotel, built by Mr. Hovey in the summer of 1857. The postoffice was established that fall with Mr. Hovey as the first postmaster. The first store was opened in the winter of 1857-58, and in the spring of 1858 the Methodis church was organized. In 1869 the railroad reached the southern boundary of the county but as the town would not contribute the sum demanded by the company, the road was built a half mile east of the town and the nearest stopping place was Ocheltree, 2 miles north. For some time the trains would not stop at Spring Hill and the residents went to Ocheltree for their mail. The matter was finally adjusted and a station built. The first independent school house was built in 1858, and school was taught by Mrs. Duvall. On Dec. 7, 1870, the Spring Hill Enterprise was, established as a Re-
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publican paper, but in 1872 it changed hands and became known as the Western Progress. Spring Hill now has several general stores, a dry goods store, furniture, hardware, drug and implement houses, 2 hotels, agricultural implement dealers, lumber yard, a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, and is a shipping point for the rich farming community by which it is surrounded. The population in 1910 was 700.
Springs, a discontinued postoffice in Brown county, is located about 12 miles northwest of Hiawatha, the county seat. It has a hotel and a general store, and receives its mail by rural delivery from Sabetha, which is the nearest shipping point. The population in 1910 was 20.
Springside, one of the hamlets of Pottawatomie county, is located in Shannon township, about 12 miles northwest of Westmoreland, the county seat. It receives mail from Irving, Marshall county.
Springvale, a small hamlet in Pratt county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 15 miles southwest of Pratt, the county seat, and 3 miles east of Croft, whence it receives mail. It has a gen- eral store, flour mill, express office, and the population in 1910 was 21.
Spurs, Battle of the .- On Dec. 20, 1858, ten negroes were taken from the Hicklin, Cruise and LaRue farms in Missouri, as spoils of a raid by some free-state men from Kansas, headed by John Brown. The negroes were brought into Kansas by Brown, who with George B. Gill as the only escort, started on one of the routes of the under- ground railroad for Canada. The party passed through Lawrence, where clothing was secured for the negroes, then on through Topeka to Holton. When that point was reached they no longer feared to travel by daylight, and Brown pushed on to the log cabin of Albert Fuller on Straight creek, one of the stations of the underground railroad, where it had been decided to spend the night. Here he was detained several days on account of high water. One evening Dwight Stevens, one of the men who had joined Brown near Topeka, after the negroes were safely in the cabin, went down the stream to water his horse, when he was accosted by two deputy U. S. marshals on horseback. They asked him if he had seen any slaves in the vicinity, to which Stevens replied that there were some in the Fuller cabin at the time, and volunteered to accompany them to the house. This apparent frankness on the part of Stevens threw the men off their guard and only one accompanied him. Stevens spent some time in attending to his horse, in order to give the men in the cabin time to see who was with him and to prepare for them, then moved to the cabin, threw open the door and said, "There they are, go take them." The marshal moved forward, but found him- self covered by revolvers, and was taken prisoner. This man was a members of a posse under command of John P. Wood, a deputy U. S. marshal from Lecompton, who was on the lookout for Brown in hope of securing the reward of $3,000 offered for his apprehension by the governor of Missouri.
The terror with which Brown had inspired his enemies was never
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better illustrated than at this time. The Wood posse numbered some 30 men, all well armed and acting under authority of the law, while op- posed to them were Brown, his three associates and the unarmed ne- groes, but the posse was afraid to attack. Wood drew up his forces in shelter of the timber on the creek and sent for reinforcements. In the meantime one of the men crept out of the cabin under cover of the dark- ness, went to the home of a farmer well known for his anti-slavery sen- timents near by, and asked him to go to Topeka and inform Col. John Ritchie that Brown was surrounded at the Fuller cabin on Straight creek. The messenger reached Topeka on Sunday morning, found Ritchie in church and informed him of the condition of affairs. The minister dis- missed his congregation and preparations were at once made to go to the rescue. Much secrecy was maintained, however, because the free-state men did not want the Federal authorities to know that a party was being organized, or that John Brown was in the country. About a dozen men left Topeka, some on foot. They traveled all night and the next after- noon, Jan. 31, 1859, reached Holton, where they were joined by a few others and then pushed on toward Straight creek.
When they arrived at the cabin, Brown's three companions were hitching the horses to the wagon, while across the creek, half a mile away, lay Wood's posse intrenched in rude rifle pits they had thrown up to command the ford and the road leading to it. Upon learning that Brown proposed to cross the ford in the face of the enemy they at- tempted to dissuade him, saying that the stream was high, the crossing dangerous, and that there was a much better ford 5 miles up the creek. Brown said that he intended to travel straight through, that those who were afraid might turn back but he intended to use the Fuller crossing, saying, "The Lord has marked out a path for me and I intend to follow it. We are ready to move."
Some of the men were uneasy, knowing that 45 intrenched men were . waiting across the creek, but with Brown in the lead, the 21 men moved into the road and started straight for the crossing. Brown appeared utterly unaware of Wood and his posse, and led the way to the ford. Not a shot was fired and as the first of the free-state party reached the creek there was noticed some commotion in the rifle pits. Part of Wood's men ran back toward the horses, and within a short time nearly the entire posse was retreating in wild panic. The Topeka party charged across the creek to give chase but found only 4 men left in the rifle pits. They threw their arms on the ground and informed Ritchie that they had remained merely to show that there were some of the Wood party who were not afraid. These men were made prisoners and Brown pro- ceeed on his way toward Iowa, being accompanied by the Topeka party as far as Seneca.
Richard Hinton gave this affair the name "Battle of the Spurs," as he believed spurs were the most effective weapons used, not a shot being fired by either side, and what promised to be a serious affair ter- minated as a farce. This bloodless battle was important, however, for
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had Brown been captured there probably would never have been the affair at Harper's Ferry to fan the slumbering blaze into open flame, and the name of the great emancipator would have remained practic- ally unknown outside of Kansas.
ยท Squatter Sovereignty .- The doctrine of "Squatter Sovereignty" was based on the theory that the people of any state or territory should have the right to regulate their domestic institutions as they might see fit, particularly the institution of slavery. The idea was first promul- gated by Gen. Lewis Cass on Dec. 24, 1847, in a letter to a Mr. Nichol- son, of Nashville, Tenn. The Wilmot Proviso, which was intended to prohibit slavery in the territory acquired as a result of the Mexican war, had been before the country for some time, and in referring to this meas- ure in his letter Cass said: "I am strongly impressed with the opinion that a great change has been going on in the public mind upon this sub- ject-in my own as well as others-and that doubts are resolving them- selves into convictions, "that the principle it involves should be kept out of the national legislature and left to the people of the Confederacy in their respective local governments. Briefly, then, I am opposed to the exercise of any jurisdiction by Congress over this matter ; and am in favor of leaving the people of any territory which may be hereafter ac- quired the right to regulate it (slavery) themselves, under the general principles of the constitution."
Three years later, when the compromise measures known as the "Omnibus Bill" were passed by Congress, Stephen A. Douglas, one of the United States senators from Illinois, voted for the bill and was de- clared a traitor by the Chicago city council on the evening of Oct. 22, 1850. The next night Douglas spoke in the same hall, and in explaining his position, said: "These measures are predicated upon the great fundamental principle that every people ought to possess the right of framing and regulating their own internal concerns and domestic insti- tutions in their own way. These things are all confided by the constitution to each state to decide for itself, and I know of no rea- son why the same principle should not be extended to the territories." . This utterance found its way into the public press, and Douglas has been given the credit of being the originator of the dogma' of "Squatter Sovereignty." He embodied the idea in the Kansas-Nebraska bill (q. v.) four years later, when "Squatter Sovereignty" became the slogan of the pro-slavery element. On June 10, 1854, a Squatters' Claim Associa- tion was organized by a number of Missourians in the Salt creek valley, 3 miles from Leavenworth. Among the principles and declarations enunciated were the following: "We recognize the institution of slav- ery as already existing in this territory, and recommend slaveholders to introduce their property as early as possible; we will afford no protec- tion to abolitionists as settlers of Kansas Territory; that a vigilance committee of thirteen be appointed to settle all disputes."
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