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 96
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Under the new law the board of county commissioners of each county is authorized to appoint a county assessor to have supervision of the county assessment, with authority to appoint deputy assessors subject to the approval of the board of county commissioners. The law requires him to appoint the duly elected township trustees as deputy assessors, but such appointment may be disapproved by the county commissioners, thus providing a means of rejecting incompetent persons.
The tax commission is given great power over assessment and in other matters relating to the assessment and taxation of property. It is required to provide a uniform method of keeping the tax rolls and records in each county in the state ; to formulate and send to the proper officers in each county all necessary forms to be used in listing return of property and collection of taxes; to visit from time to time each county in the state for the purpose of requiring the assessment and return of property at a uniform value, the use of forms and system of keeping accounts provided for by the commission, etc. At least once in two years the county assessors must meet with the commis- sion at the state capitol to consider in general matters connected with
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assessment and taxation. The system of taxation throughout the state is entrusted to the commission, which is given power to make all investigations necessary to enable it to recommend improvements of the system to the legislature. Power of supervision is also given over township and city assessors, boards of county commissioners, county boards of equalization, and other boards of levy and assessment, to the end that all assessments of property, real or personal, shall be made relatively uniform and at the true cash value.
The members of the tax commission ex-officio constitute the state board of railroad assessors, the state board of appraisers and the state board of equalization, and are charged with the assessment of all prop- erty, railroad, telegraph, telephone, pipe-line, express, sleeping car, pri- vate lines and street railroad companies, and in general the property of all public corporations, which render inter-county or inter-state serv- ice. The state board of equalization is a court of last appeal for per- sons aggrieved by the action of the county board of equalization.
On March 7, 1907, the governor appointed and the state confirmed the appointments of the three members of the tax commission, but as the law was not to take effect until the succeeding July I the com- mission was not organized and did not commence work until that date. Immediately upon taking office the commission, acting as the state board of equalization, began the work of adjusting the assess- ment of all property for 1907. A series of forms for assessment rolls of both real and personal property were prepared and sent to the county clerks of each county ; circular letters were mailed to the county clerks and to the boards of county commissioners, explaining the required change in the methods of assessment, with instructions as to the procedure to follow.
Pursuant to the law the county assessors met with the tax commis- sion at Topeka on Jan. 28, 1908, and this meeting was important because from it came, in a great measure, the inspiration which controlled the assesors in their work of supervision and assessment. The assessment of property and franchises belonging to railroad, telegraph, telephone, and express companies, and other public service corporations, was determined only after a very careful consideration of all elements that combine to make up actual money value.
In July, 1908, acting as the state board of equalization, the commis- sion began the work of the equalizing assessments. There were 127 appeals filed, many of them involving large sums, which brought many perplexing questions before the board, and it was the end of July before the equalization was finished. The commission fixed the state tax levy at .9 of a mill, which provided for the state revenue the sum of $2,203,- 561.18. In 1904 the Federal census bureau estimated the true value of property in Kansas at the sum of $2,253,224,243, but the assessment that year of all property in the state aggregated only $372,673,858. When the assessed values of 1907, which amounted to $425,281,214, are compared with those of 1908, which amounted to $2,451,560,397, it will
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be seen that the assessment of 1907 equals only 17.34 per cent. of that in 1908, due to the changed plan of assessment put into operation under the commission, for inequalities were everywhere present under the old system. As an example of this inequality the property for one manufacturing corporation had been valued by a local assessor for sev- eral successive years at $30,000, but under the spur of the tax commis- sion the property of this corporation was assessed in 1908 at $1,100,000. On another corporation the assessment was raised from $100,000 to $1,107,000, and another result of the assessment of 1908 was to place on the tax roll personal property to the value of $213,591,148 which had never before been listed for taxation.
Teachers' Association, State .- The history of this association dates back to Sept. 29, 1863, when 34 teachers at the call from the Leaven- worth teachers met at Leavenworth. The meeting lasted for three days, and although organization was the main purpose in assembling a program of exercises was conducted. A constitution was adopted and officers elected. Isaac T. Goodnow, at that time state superintendent of public instruction, was made president; Orlando Sawyer, superin- tendent of Atchison county, recording secretary ; R. W. Putnam, corre- sponding secretary ; and J. E. Platt, treasurer. The next meeting was held in the Methodist church in Topeka from July 19 to July . 21, 1864. The custom of recommending a candidate for state superintendent began at this meeting, when Mr. Goodnow was recommended for reëlection. Resolutions were adopted advising teachers' institutes to be conducted semi-annually where they could be sustained. Supt. H. D. McCarty was elected president, and was also chosen as editor of the Kansas Educational Journal, which was entering its second year. On July 26-28, 1865, the association met in Price's hall at Atchison with 59 teachers in attendance, and Orlando Sawyer was elected president for the ensuing year. In 1866 the meeting was held on July 3-5 in Law- rence. Peter McVicar was elected president and David J. Brewer was made chairman of the executive committee. District libraries and calisthenics were discussed for the first time. Mr. McVicar was recom- mended as state superintendent and H. D. McCarty and Isaac Good- now were elected delegates to the National Educational Association.
The next and fifth meeting was at Topeka July 2-4, 1867, when a resolution was passed asking that women be allowed to vote at all school meetings. The enrollment was 129. Prof. B. F. Mudge of the state agricultural college was made president. In 1868, June 30 to July 2, the association met at Emporia. Judge David J. Brewer was elected president. The next assembly of teachers was on June 29-30, . 1869, at Manhattan. I. J. Bannister was elected president. The Jour- nal was transferred for two years to its editors, Kellogg & Norton.
The meeting of 1870 was held on July 27-29 at Wyandotte. Resolu- tions were passed asking the legislature to give $3,000 for the support of normal institutes, and that each board of county commissioners be required to grant for the same purpose an amount not to exceed $150.
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J. E. Platt of Manhattan was elected president. The next meeting was held at Lawrence on Dec. 27-29, 1871. Gen. John Fraser was elected president. The following meeting was at Humboldt with 53 in attend- ance. In the absence of Mr. Fraser D. J. Evans presided. J. W. Horner of Chetopa was elected president. On Aug. 27-29, 1873, the association met at Ottawa. W. C. Rote of Lawrence was elected president.
The meeting of 1874 was held at Lawrence on Aug. 18-20, when it was resolved that the plan of work of the association be changed, and that there be three sections, common school, high school and colleges, each of which should be regularly organized by the election of officers. E. F. Robinson of Concordia was elected president. In 1875 the meet- ing was held at Topeka on Aug. 24-27. Chancellor James Marvin presided in the absence of Mr. Robinson. H. C. Speer of Junction City was elected president. The meeting in 1876, June 20-21, was at Valley Falls .. Mr. Speer was unable to preside and Maj. E. C. Newton was made chairman. It was the last meeting in its history at which a state superintendent was recommended. Resolutions for incorporation were adopted. An effort was made to revive the dead Educational Journal. The meeting adjourned to meet in Topeka Dec. 26-29, when the com- mittee on incorporation made its final report and the first board of directors was elected. L. B. Kellogg was made president. The next meeting was at Emporia on June 26-28, 1877. Allen B. Lemmon was elected president.
The meeting of 1878 was at Atchison. A temperance resolution was passed and an arbor day recommended. James Marvin was elected president by the board of directors. In 1879 the association met at Lawrence on June 16-18. An address was made by Gen. John Eaton, then commissioner of the bureau of education. L. A. Thomas was elected president. The assembly of 1880 was held in the hall of the house of representatives on June 22-24. By resolution a geological sur- vey of the state was requested, and the support of the association was promised to the prohibition amendment to the constitution. William A. Wheeler was elected president. The first meeting of 1881 was on June 21-23 at Manhattan. Resolutions were adopted calling for a strict enforcement of the prohibitory law recently enacted, and Dr. William Bishop of Salina was elected president. The second meeting of that year was at Topeka on Dec. 27-29. A committee was appointed to amend the constitution, but no constitution could be found. George T. Fairchild was elected president. In 1882 the association met in Topeka. The constitution revised was approved, and Frank A. Fitz- patrick of Leavenworth was chosen president. The association held its next meeting on Dec. 26-28, 1883. Resolutions were passed asking for the grading of institutes. Pres. A. R. Taylor of the state normal was elected president. The meeting of 1884 was at Topeka on Dec. 29-31. Prof. J. H. Canfield read a bill providing for county high schools, which was approved by the association. Mr. Canfield was elected president.
In 1885 the association met at Topeka on Dec. 28-30. It was decided
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to hold department meetings in the forenoon and general meetings in the afternoon and evening. A committee of seven to investigate the evils of the independent school district system was appointed. Prof. P. J. Williams was elected president. The meeting in 1886 was at Topeka on Dec. 28-30. The committee on changes in the school sys- tem recommended the substitution of the township for the district sys- tem, county taxation, a board of education, and other reforms. The report was adopted. T. W. Conway was elected president. In 1887 the meeting was at Topeka on Dec. 27-29. Memorial services for H. D. McCarty were held. H. D. Larimer was elected president. The meet- ing of 1888 was also at Topeka. The constitution was again revised and amended. The resolutions passed asked for an equitable system of school taxation, county uniformity of text-books, total abstinence from tobacco by teachers and pupils, the raising of the minimum school age from 5 to 6 years, and a geological survey of the state. The attend- ance was 650. Prof. J. W. Wilkinson was elected president.
An unwritten law of the association has fixed the place of meeting at Topeka and no change has been made since 1881. In 1889 the meet- ing was on Dec. 25-27. Resolutions asked for the hoisting of the flag on school houses and for a state school tax. The enrollment was 1,243. D. E. Sanders was elected president. In 1890 the meeting was on Dec. 29-31. Resolutions against state uniformity of text-books, in favor of district ownership of books, county taxation, qualifications for the office of county superintendent, district libraries and a more strin- gent compulsory law were adopted. The attendance was 825. D. S. Pence was elected president. The meeting in 1891 was on Dec. 29-31. There were 1,165 in attendance. A primary and kindergarten depart- ment was established. J. E. Klock was elected president. In 1892 the association met on Dec. 27-29. Resolutions asked for restoration of state school tax, uniform courses of study for district schools, and free text-books. George W. Winans was elected president.
From 1892 until 1909 the meeting of the association continued to be held in Topeka the last week in December. In 1909 the schools through- out the state were dismissed the latter part of the first week in Novem- ber that the teachers might convene at Topeka. The importance of the association as a factor in the teachers' work is appreciated by the various boards of education and the teachers are required to attend. The asso- ciation is divided into nine districts, which have local meetings once a year, usually during Thanksgiving or Easter vacation. The district associations are: The northeastern, the northwestern, the north cen- tral, the Golden Belt, the western, the central, the southwestern, the southern and the southeastern. These meetings are for discussion and mutual helpfulness, and usually an interesting program is given. The state association, which convenes annually for three days, has a mem- bership of about 4,500, including leaders in every line of educational work. The general program of the state association brings before the teachers many of the best educators and lecturers of the country.
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The association maintains departments as follows: the college and high school, the common and graded schools, primary and kindergarten, county supervision, music. These departments devote their attention to some phase of educational work within their respective provinces. In addition there are round tables for the informal discussion of topics of interest related to educational matters as is shown by the follow- ing list of round tables: city superintendents, history and sociology, county high schools, science teachers, drawing, teachers of English and teachers of foreign languages. The annual meetings of the state college presidents' association and the state association of mathematics teachers occur at the same time. The presidents of the association from 1893 to 1910 were: W. M. Davidson, 1894; John Dietrich, 1895; George W. Kendrick, 1896; J. E. Pears, 1897; John McDonald, 1898; F. R. Dyer, 1899; E. T. Fairchild, 1900; E. M. Sinclair, 1901 ; J. H. Hill, 1902; Arvin S. Olin, 1903; A. H. Bushby, 1904; T. W. Butcher, 1905; D. M. Bower, 1906; W. S. Picken, 1907; J. E. Boyer, 1908.
In every county of the state a county association is maintained, which is under the management of the county superintendent and officers elected by the membership of the association. The meetings are usually held on one Saturday of each month. A program is given and questions of general and local educational interest are discussed.
Tecumseh, a hamlet in Shawnee county, is located in the township of the same name on the Kansas river and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 5 miles east of Topeka, the county seat. It has 2 stores, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 35. This is one of the old villages of Kansas and is figured in the early history of both the state and Shawnee county. The territorial legislature of 1855 passed an act making it the county seat, but it was never so recognized by the people of the county.
Tehama, a country hamlet in Cherokee county, is located 5 miles southeast of Columbus, the county seat, and not far from Quaker, the nearest railroad station. It receives mail from Columbus.
Temperance .- (See Prohibition.)
Templin, a country hamlet in Wabaunsee county, is located 13 miles southwest of Alma, the county seat, 5 miles northeast of Alta Vista, the postoffice from which it receives mail, and 2 miles from Celia, the nearest railroad station.
Terracotta, a hamlet in Ellsworth county, is located in Carneiro township on the Union Pacific R. R. 17 miles east of Ellsworth, the county seat. There are valuable deposits of clay,talc and glass sand in the vicinity. The population in 1910 was 20.
Terryton, a country postoffice in Finney county, is located in Pleasant township 16 miles north of Garden City, the county seat, to which it has a stage line. The Garden City, Gulf & Northern R. R. passes about 2 miles to the west and Tennis, 4 miles northwest, is the nearest station. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 28.
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Tescott, the third largest incorporated town of Ottawa county, is located in Morton township on the Salina river and the Union Pacific R. R., 18 miles southwest of Minneapolis, the county seat. It has a bank, a flour mill, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 421.
Tevis, a country station in Shawnee county, is located on the Mis- souri Pacific R. R. II miles southeast of Topeka, the county seat, and 2 miles from Berryton, the postoffice from which it receives mail. The population in 1910 was 79.
Thacher, Solon O., statesman, jurist and man of affairs, was born in Steuben county, N. Y., Aug. 31, 1830. His father was a county judge. He graduated from Union College of Schenectady, N. Y., and from the Albany Law School. In Sept., 1856, he married Sarah M. Gilmore of York, N. Y. He came to Kansas in 1858, located at Lawrence and was one of the proprietors of the Lawrence Journal. He was a member of the Wyandotte constitutional convention; was appointed judge of the Fourth judicial district in 1861 ; was a candidate for governor in oppo- sition to the Lane faction of the Republican party in 1864; and from that time until 1880 was engaged in the practice of law. He amassed a fortune; was several times regent of the state university; held the chair of equity jurisprudence in its law school, and in 1880 was elected to the state senate. Two years later he was a candidate for governor against John P. St. John. At the close of his first term in the senate he was appointed a member of a commission to visit the South Ameri- can republics in the interests of reciprocity. He made a perilous voyage of over 34,000 miles, and being shipwrecked off the coast was taken to England, whence he returned to America. He met nearly every ruler in the southern continent, learned a great deal about the conditions existing there, and his report to Congress was so exhaustive that he was called before a special committee to explain his views on reciproc- ity. On his return to Kansas he was again elected to the state senate, of which he was a member for the remainder of his life. He was presi- dent of the State Historical Society at the time of his death in Aug., 1895. He was a descendant of the exalted Peter Thacher of Queen Elizabeth's time, of Rev. Thomas Thacher, who landed at 'Boston in 1635, the first member of the family to come to America, and of Rev. Peter Thacher of Revolutionary times.
Thacher, Timothy Dwight, scholar, statesman, editor and orator, was born in Hornsville, N. Y., Oct. 31, 1831, a son of Mowery Thacher, and descended from New England stock, being seven generations removed from his ancestor, Rev. Thomas Thacher, who landed at Boston in 1635, and was pastor of the Old South Church. He graduated from Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., in 1856 and campaigned that year on the platform for the new Republican party. In April, 1857, he came to Lawrence and began the publication of the Lawrence Republican, a free-state paper which figured prominently in state politics. He was married in that year to Miss Catherine Faulkner Angell, who died in
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1858. He was a member of the Leavenworth constitutional convention held in the winter of 1857 and 1858. In 1861 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Heilman at Philadelphia, Pa. In 1863 he purchased the Journal of Commerce in Kansas City, to which place he moved, remaining there until 1865, when he disposed of the paper and went to Philadelphia. He was on the staff of the Evening Telegram for the next three years. In 1868 he returned to Lawrence and revived the Lawrence Republican, which had been destroyed by Quantrill's raid. The next year he combined it with the Kansas State Journal of Ottawa and the Ottawa Home Journal under the name of the Republican Daily Journal. In 1874 he was elected to the house of representatives, and seven years later a joint session of the legislature elected him state printer. In this office he served three terms, remaining in Topeka after his retirement from public life. He died Jan. 17, 1894.
Thayer, an incorporated town of Neosho county, is located in Che- topa township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 14 miles southwest of Erie, the county seat. It has natural gas wells which yield gas in sufficient quantities for commercial purposes, 2 banks, a weekly newspaper (the News), telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. The popu- lation in 1910 was 542. The town was founded in 1870 by J. M. Walker, president of the railroad company. During the autumn of that year and the next winter hundreds came to the locality to get work on the railroad, which was then under construction. That winter the popula- tion reached 1,000, mostly men .. The merchants who established stores at that time were H. L. Mills, George Weaver, W. W. Work, Holmes & Hindman, Fouts & Ingersoll, and a little later J. M. Halstead and the firm of Harris & Sax. H. M. Baldwin built a hotel and Thomas Thomp- son a hotel with a saloon. The first postoffice was at Prairie du Chien, but it was moved to Thayer when the town was founded and A. I. Sherwood was the first postmaster. The first newspaper was the Thayer Criterion, started in 1871 by Perry & Olney.
Thayer, Eli, educator, inventor, Congressman and one of the organ- izers of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid society, was born at Mendon, Mass., June 1I, 1819, and was descended from Thomas Thayer, who settled at Braintree, Mass., in 1640. He was educated at Bellingham and Amherst Academies, and at Brown University, where he grad- uated in 1845. He then began teaching in Worcester Academy, became its principal, and in 1848 founded the Oread Institute, a woman's col- lege at Worcester. In 1853 he was elected to the Massachusetts legis- lature, where he was the leader in organizing the Bank of Mutual Re- demption, and the Union Emigrant society. In 1856 he was elected to Congress and was reëlected, serving as a member of the committee on militia and as chairman of the committee on public lands. He was active in promoting emigration from New England to Kansas in order to have it admitted to the Union as a free state, and in the spring of 1854 was instrumental in organizing the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid
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company, with a capital of $5,000,000. Subsequently this company was merged with the Emigrant Aid company of New York and Connecti- cut under the name of the New England Emigrant Aid company. Charles Sumner said that he would "rather have the credit due Eli Thayer for his work in Kansas than be the hero of the battle of New Orleans." During the early part of the war Mr. Thayer was United States treasury agent, and later was connected with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad company. After the war he devoted most of his time to inventions, which covered a wide field. He was a man of strong character and convictions, a scholar of marked ability and a prominent member of the Baptist church. Mr. Thayer was the author of a volume of Congressional speeches and the "Kansas Crusade"; was a member of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, and an honorary member of the Kansas Historical society. He died at Worcester, Mass., April 15, 1899. A beautiful marble bust of Mr. Thayer has been placed in the rooms of the Kansas Historical society at Topeka, Kan.
Thelma, a country postoffice in Tribune township, Greeley county, is located about 14 miles northeast of Tribune, the county seat and nearest shipping point. It has mail tri-weekly.
Theosophical Societies .- The first organization of this kind was founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Petrovana Blavatsky, Col. Henry S. Olcott and William J. Judge, under the name of the Theosoph- ical Society and Universal Brotherhood. For some years the special attention of the members was directed to education in theosophical philosophy and to the development of the organization in America and Europe. In 1879 Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott went to India and established the headquarters at Adyar, Madras, while Mr. Judge re mained in charge in America. Madame Blavatsky died in 1891 and Mr. Judge assumed entire charge of the society in America while Col. Olcott continued the work in India. About this same time Mrs. Besant became one of the prominent workers in Europe. Friction arose between Mrs. Besant and Mr. Judge in 1894 as a result of which two parties developed. Early the next year the American section voted to support Mr. Judge and organized the Theosophical Society in America. Similar action soon followed in several European countries and these organizations affiliated with the American Society. The dissenting members retained the name Theosophical Society, with three sections, American, European and Indian.
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