USA > Kansas > Smith County > Smith Center > The history of Smith Centre, Kansas, 1871-1971 > Part 3
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
In 1912 Ed Miller bought the Opera House furnishings and moved them to the Miller Opera House on the north- west corner of Kansas and Madison. Mr. Miller sold his Opera House when the new Community Hall was built in 1922.
For years the Chautauqua was a most important social and educational event in Smith Center in the summer. The Chautauqua was a traveling group with programs of varies interests consisting of dramatic readings, operettas, plays, varied musical presentation and orators, perhaps the most famous orator here was William Jennings Bryan. The Chautauqua was held in a huge tent on a lot across the street south from the First Baptist Church and was usually in town for a week. Two Smith Center ladies, who were in the Chautauqua circuit, were Mildred Cole Lull and Ruth Haberly Harper.
Negro Citizen Here In 1883
Vince Simpson, who came to Smith Center in 1883, was the only colored person who was a resident of the town for nearly 60 years. He always made his own living working at odd jobs for several families. During perhaps 30 years his work was mostly for the Relihan families and they looked after his welfare. They built a small house where he lived in comfort and happiness until his last short illness.
Vince, by his commendable ways, earned the respect of all who knew him. He lived quietly by himself, never attended shows or public gatherings, seldom conversed with anyone but was known to talk out loud when thought no one was near. After coming to Smith Center he was never out of town except once, when he walked to Downs. A former citizen there recognized him and called Art Relihan, who went down after him. Nothing was ever known of Vince's family, birthday or birthplace. It was thought that he was 75 when he died. With Vince in his last hours were Dr. Frank, Art and Ted Relihan whom the aged man had known since the days of their childhood.
Vince died on Sunday, Feb. 18, 1940. The funeral was from Simmons - Rice Chapel with the Rev. I. N. Faurot officiating. The burial was in Fairview Cemetery.
Early Day Rainmakers
In the 1890's the prolonged drouth discouraged the people and they were willing to accept anything that offered any prospect of relief. Hot winds blew over the prairies and crops were burned to a crisp brown. Then there appeared upon the scene of desolation certain individuals claiming that by their "hocus-pocus" they could make it rain at anytime. They were known as "rainmakers" and Smith Center was not exempt from their alluring influence. One of them was a local young man by the name of Rube Jarvis who established an outfit in the old sod house at the corner of Main and New York. A pipe was erected to reach 40 feet above the roof and from it would belch forth at specified times a dense cloud of black smoke made from a secret concoction. This was continued for several days but no rain came. Finally, after spending all the money the town had contributed and badly chargrined, Rube gathered his paraphernalia together and dumped it in Spring Creek. Other "rainmakers" appeared with the same results. Even the Rock Island Railroad participated in rainmaking schemes and sent a boxcar loaded with rainmaking equipment all along the northern route in Kansas. Rainmakers have since applied their science even to the present day but the elements still seem to resist them.
-12-
4
-
Looking
east
Smith Center Kans
LOOKING EAST from West Court in late 1880's. Note old courthouse, former Smith Center lumber yard to the
right, old school center top and back of brick buildings on Main street.
THE TABERNACLE - Picture taken from court house. looking north. Old Methodist church block north on same lot as present church. Christian church now where livery barn is shown. 1.O.O.F. hall - two stories high - seen over roof. TABERNACLE - Built in 1873 for floral hall at county
fair held on the George White farm, three miles north one and half east of Smith Center, his homestead in northeast corner Center township - section 1. Later moved to town by sections. Used for shows, dances, roller skating etc. Torn down in 1905.
-13-
Unusual Weather And Grasshoppers 1873
The great snow of April 13, 1873 was the most severe that ever swept the country, according to old timers. It lasted 3 days. No one dared venture outside. People were holed up in dug outs, buried under huge drifts, and had to tunnel their way to sheds made in the sides of the hills, where much livestock smothered. The 1873 blizzard was the famed Easter storm that so many recall in stories of the early days. There was considerable loss of life which would be understandable in this sparsely settled, almost raw prairie land at that time, when most people lived in dug outs or crude sod houses.
1874
Probably the greatest misfortune ever suffered in Center Township, and all of Smith County, was the grass- hopper invasion of 1874. On July 23, the hoppers arrived by countless millions, obscuring the sun like clouds as they flew in.
As they landed they began eating everything green in sight. Every corn and wheat field and garden patch was a mass of wriggling, voracious hoppers. Even the trees were eaten bare of their foliage. Crops and even pastures were eaten into the ground. The story was told that the hoppers ate onion tops then went below the ground and ate the onions.
The hoppers remained for 3 days and then took wing and flew away, leaving a bare forsaken land with scarcely a sprig of green remaining.
Many of the disheartened settlers loaded their belongings into their prairie schooners and headed back east. But the hardy ones remained, made it through the winter, and the next spring were busy planting their crops again.
1886
In the March 2, 1912 Pioneer there is a story of another bad winter. This storm was on January 2, 3, 4, 1886, and was said to be the most severe snow storm in the country, up to that time. Then on January 7, another storm struck with blowing snow and a temperature drop to 22 degrees below zero. There was 30 days, at this time, when there was no mail delivery. This was before the coming of the railroad.
1905 VIOLENT CYCLONE
On May 28, 1905, a storm of unusual severity swept just south of Smith Center. It took a course from east to west and was about 4 miles long. Big barns were crushed like egg shells, large trees pulled out of the ground by the roots and every windmill was blown to the ground. An ominous quiet and sudden alarming darkness warned the people of the storm's coming. In this city, people were compelled to light their lamps in their homes so intense was the darkness. Telephone lines were down all over the county - some poles were broken completely in two. The downpour of rain washed out the crops and necessitated replanting of acres of corn. One hundred thousand dollars was the estimate given of damage by the storm. A country schoolhouse was demolished, houses were wrecked, barns destroyed and orchards torn up completely.
The newspaper's advice to all people was, "don't forget to dig that storm cave".
1911
On August 2, 1911 Smith County had a big rainfall that resulted in floods and much damage. In Center Township, between 7 and 9 p.m., it poured in torrents along with a hard wind. An hour after the storm, water was running 6 inches deep in the streets of town. Telephone and tele- graph lines were down, crippling communications. The next day the Rock Island bridge across Spring Creek and also the wagon bridge washed out. The railroad pumping house was turned over and the city well caved in, cutting off water supply to town for awhile. Trains were delayed two days then arrangements were made to transport passengers from one train to another by bus that would go to the bridge on what is now Highway 36 and back down to the train that would be waiting on the other side of the wrecked bridge.
The Chautauqua was scheduled for that week. Local transportation conveyed the speakers and other talent from the train on the east side of the bridge into town. The Robinson Circus, billed to show here a week later, canceled out their show in Smith Center.
1912
The year 1912 was a real winter with roads drifted full many times. One of the biggest snows was on February 22 when the snow came down in blinding sheets with visibility at 100 yards or less. Train traffic stopped. The heavy snow lodged on telephone and telegraph lines causing them to break. No mail came through from Sun- day to Tuesday. The rural mail carriers could not carry their mail because their horses and mail wagons could not make it through the drifts. The weather caused a coal and food shortage. Then on March 14 another storm struck described as "the worst of the season." Coal and food were again scarce. Tragedy struck too, when Harry Agnew the young son of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Agnew was struck and buried by snow thrown from a snow plow on the Rock Island railroad. Gangs of business men went around town and into the country clearing sidewalks and opening rural roads.
1935
The dust storms of 1935 are very difficult to describe. There had never been anything like them before in the history of Kansas and there has been none since then. The storms just rolled in as huge black clouds as high as the eye could see. The day might start as a bright warm day when suddenly these black roiling clouds of dust could be seen in the distance and soon the area would be as dark as night with the thick rolling dust.
The first, and the worst, one was on the night of March 15, 1935. After a very warm and humid afternoon the storm struck at 8:30 at night and blew until the next morning. Radio news had given warnings of the storm coming but no one thought that it would be more than just a usual dust storm. Many stories were told of harrowing experiences on that first night of the dust storm. It was impossible to see through the dense dust so there was danger for car drivers to move at all. People who were trying to walk home, lost all sense of direction and several got lost temporarily.
The dust drifted like snow blocking roads and sections of the railroad, it also built up drifts around buildings and machinery. The dust caused severe eye irritation for a large segment of the people and "dust pneumonia" was a common ailment.
-14-
CONARP. C.KS.
APPROACHING DUST STORM IN MIDDLE WEST
APPROACHING DUST STORM. The first and the worst struck March 15, 1935.
These storms continued for several weeks with several days and nights separating the storms. There were some rains in the fall of 1935 and the next spring weeds began to grow that had never been seen here before but they soon died out. Wheat crops and other vegetation suffered great damage from these storms.
An eye witness report concerning the first night of the storm on March 15 comes from Nate White, of Ft. Morgan, Colo., who lived in Smith Center at that time; "When the great dust storm hit Smith Center on Friday evening March 15, 1935, 1 was with friends in the picture show. Sudden darkenss obliterated the picture and all the lights. Outside the dust was so thick that it was like trying to walk blindfolded. In attempting to find my way home, I bumped into telephone poles, skinned my shins on boxes
and cans and finally got down on my hands and knees, crawling along the curbing until I could distinguish a dim porch light that looked like a candle enveloped in dense smoke. I made it there and discovered it was the home of Gus Dart, which was next to my own home. When in the house, even with the lights on, it was as dark as outside. The dust was so thick that it seemed the ground had actually erupted. My face and body were covered with dirt and my mouth tasted like I had swallowed a mudball. I was foreman of the Pioneer Printing Office and it took the whole force about a week to clean up the presses and other machinery so that the paper could be printed the next week. I will never forget that it was a dickens of a jolt to my home town but I am glad to say it recovered to bloom again,
Court Houses From 1872 To The Present
The county seat had been located in Smith Centre in the fall of 1872, which was an important factor in the development of the town. There were no funds to build a court house then so the county officers took care of their own books and records at their homes or places of business. There was not enough taxable land or private property in the county to raise enough money to build a court house from about 1873 to 1875. If a trial was necessary it was held in Uhl Hall, owned by L. C. Uhl, Sr., a small building which was later bought by the Ahlborn's and rebuilt. At an early election there was a proposal submitted to bond the county for $2,000 to pay current expenses of the county, but it was defeated 181 to 132. Homesteader's, many of them just discharged from the Civil War, had very little cash to pay taxes with at that time.
The first court house in Smith Centre was a temporarily rented building, owned by Col. C.F. Campbell, who had it built for his own merchandise store. It was at the corner of Main Street and Kansas Avenue.
Col. Campbell moved to Kirwin and he later rented the building to the county for a Court House for $5 a month.
From an old time story by L. T. Reese on the construction of the building is this quote, "When Col. Campbell was making plans to build in the new town of Smith Centre, the only lumber for sale in the vicinity was just rough lumber which was sawed over in Jewell County, so he decided to send to Manhattan which was the nearest place that he could get the kind of lumber he wanted. He employed 6 men who owned teams and wagons to go after the lumber. The names of the men who made the trip are: J. H. Hill, A. J. Watson, Jim Logan, Glen Camp- bell, Jim Oatis and L. T. Reese. This was in 1872.
The building was 2 stories high and had a dirt basement. The offices were on the first floor, a court room on the second floor, and a jail in the basement. The cellar was just a pit dug under the floor and was not a secure jail. John Kindred, the blacksmith, made a novel device to hold prisoners. This is Mr. Reese's description, "A horse power tumbling rod was dropped through the floor to the cellar and embedded into the earth, together with an iron clamp with hinges to go around the ankle and a heavy chain and padlock." They did have some thieves held there during the time that this place was the jail. Members of the notorious Jack Allen and Loss Miller horse-stealing gangs were imprisoned there at different times.
-15-
SMITH.CO.
COURT HOUSE
1997
EARLY COURTHOUSE, the second in Smith Center. The first was downtown in Smith Center.
First District Court Here
The first District Court convened in Smith Center on May 5, 1874 with Judge A. J. Banta presiding. The court admitted, as eligible to practice as competent attorneys three men - L. C. Uhl, Sr., E. M. Burr and Levi Morrell. Nick Clemens was the sheriff. O. F. Sheldon was the Clerk of the Court. Other county officers were: T. M. Helm, treasurer; E. R. Fowler, county clerk; J. C. Latham, register of deeds; Edmund Hall, superintendent of schools; J. C. Harlan, probate Judge. A divorce case was the first on the docket list - Phibe Cisco asking a divorce from John Cisco.
Brick Courthouse In 1887
In the early 1880's people began to develop interest in having a new courthouse, however at that time, the county did not have the funds. When the town company had platted Smith Center, Block 22 of the townsite, was set aside for a public square. Block 22 is the block bounded by Main Street, East Kansas, East Court and Madison. Plans did not work out for the square so the city turned the block of land over to a board of trustees who would sell the lots and create a fund to buy a courthouse site. Block 25, the present site of the courthouse, was bought and plans were started for the new brick building.
The contract for the brick building was let early in 1887 in the sum of $5,000 and it was soon under construction. Disaster befell, when one night after the sidewalls were up and part of the roof was on, the walls fell in. The material was so badly damaged that the builders were ready to give up their contract. The citizens of the town rallied financially to raise $1,000, the cost of the damage, to relieve the county of that expense. The city entered a contract with the county commissioners to have use of the courtroom as a place of public entertainment. The building was finished in 1887 and the county officers moved in March, 1888. At that time, the county commissioners had second thoughts about allowing public entertainment in the courthouse, and the following was published in the Smith County Bulletin on March S, ISSS. "We hear it reported that our county commissioners are not going to call upon those citizens of this city who sub- scribed to the last $1,000 to complete the courthouse. They will take this money from the general fund and pay the $1,000 and will be the sole owners of the building." The commissioners serving in 1SSS were: A. D. Barnes, Ora Jones and John Brown.
Items from the 1888 newspaper which are of interest are:
"Al Hester, Ex-county sheriff, received the contract for moving the records of the county offices from down town to the new courthouse. He has had lots of experience in moving and is the best man they could have employed for the job."
-16-
CASH FOR HIDES
SMITH .
MEATS
EARLY STREET SCENE.
"The county commissioners let the following contracts: Gates, Railings and Platforms $60.
Large Cistern (all material and work) $125.
Coal House and Outbuildings $259."
The first marriage licenses, issued by Probate Judge J. W. Henderson, in the new building were to :; Wm. Kugler and Lettie Lambert; M. H. McCarty and Sarah Mathes and W. H. Chandler and Harriett Welch.
County Jail Built In 1893
A jail, still in use today, built of native stone was erected during the summer of 1893. The contract for the building was let on April 24, 1893, for the sum of $3,995, and it was ready for occupancy on October 2, 1893. When it was erected there were two stories on the front of the building, which housed the sheriff, with an ell at the back with cells for male prisoners. The front part is to be remodeled soon and will have cells for women prisoners.
Present Courthouse
The brick courthouse was a nice looking structure with a tall dome high in the middle of the roof and the grounds
had been well landscaped but, after 30 years, it was evident that the county needed a new and larger building. In 1917 bids were called for the construction of a new courthouse. The contract was given to M. C. Brady of Beloit, who had just completed the new high school across the street east.
The lower floor of the Odd Fellows Building, at Main and West New York, was leased to house the officers desks, files, supplies and a vault was built to secure the safety of the records.
Work on the new building started in the spring of 1918 and the corner stone was laid on June 23 with appropriate ceremonies. The Masonic fraternities of the county were in charge of the program. The list of contents in the corner stone were: Names of officers of Masonic lodges and Eastern Star chapters in the county; a roster of Smith County Companies of the Kansas State Guards; copies of the Smith County Pioneer and the Smith County Journal; names of county officers; copies of contracts for the building; one penny and a 5ยข coin of the date of 1867. The commissioners in 1918 were: J.L. Wolfe, Ed Shields and Emery Diggins. The building was completed on January 1. 1920. The total cost, furnished completely, was approximately $98,000 and was all paid for when ready for occupancy.
-17-
Post Offices
The first building in the townsite of Smith Center was a small one at the corner of Main and West Kansas Avenue owned by Wait George, who with his wife con- ducted a boarding house there. The first mail that came to the townsite was left there, even before there was a postmaster. Mr. George was the first postmaster, appointed to this position in 1872.
L. T. Reese became postmaster in 1885 and was handling seven star routes out of Smith Center when the lot on which the little frame post office stood was sold to the Opera House Company. He asked the post office depart- ment for permission to move the office and was instructed to move it out into the street and await further orders. After much delay Mr. Reese learned that there was opposition between the businessmen of north and south Main Street as to its location. Meanwhile, the building was interfering with traffic as well as being in the way of the brick layers on the opera house, so the postmaster has the building mounted on wheels and moved to the center of town. It was jacked up on blocks in the center of the intersection of Main and Kansas Avenue, and there it stood for more than a year. Finally the order came, "Locate the post, office on South Main Street, outside the railroad limit, which is . eighty rods from baggage room door." Mr. Reese secured the building on the west side of Main, and that remained the location of the Smith Center post office until 1952 when it was moved to the third building north. In 1962 it was hoved to temporary quarters until December 9, 1963 when it moved into the present modern structure.
Baseball Memories
(Condensed from a speech by W. W. Relihan given in 1955)
In looking back over 60 years of memory some happening or individual may be overlooked, 1 am sure it will be pardoned.
You all must remember that 50 and 60 years ago there were not the modern means of transportation that we now enjoy. Travel from Smith Center to other towns was limited to the train or the horse and buggy. Baseball was about the only sport that was indulged in then, when considered from the standpoint of team play, there were a lot of baseball teams in a comparatively small area.
The first team that Smith Center had that I can remember anything about dated back to the time when the railroad first came here. That was sometime after 1887. As of that time I remember only one game of note and it was between Smith Center and Phillipsburg and was played at Phillipsburg. The railroad ran an excursion from points west of Belleville to Phillipsburg for the game and a special car was set off here for the Smith Center crowd. Smith Center had imported a pitcher and catcher from Blue Hill, Nebraska, and several players of note were on the team. Smith Center won the game but lost the free-for-all-fight that followed. It was far more exciting than the ball game. At about this time, there being so many baseball fans here that Smith Center came up with a team of home guards. 1 remember the outstanding pitcher at that time was Mose Hollingsworth. Henry Clark was the first baseman and Bill and Al Mathes played on that team. In those times 1 remember quite well we always had a first and second team. The first team was composed of the older men and the second team of the younger ones. At times we would come up with a third team. The second and third teams always had a problem of getting baseballs and other equipment. We seldom had more than two
bats on the second team and were lucky to have a good baseball. We always made our own catcher's mitt. If we could get hold of a good pair of boots, with good tops on them, we had a catcher's mitt. It was not a very fancy one but it helped take the sting and jolt out of a hard thrown ball. The business men of the town bought the balls and bats for the first team.
The early day baseball playing ground was the third block west of Main street with West Court street on the north and West New York at the south. In the second block of the south side of Court street was the little stone Congregational Church and the residences of B. F. Winslow and Alex Montgomery. There was no fencing around the ball block, no admittance fees and no grand- stand nor shade of any kind.
On the second team that 1 first played on was Clyde Arnold, Berry (Earl) Morris and Bill Stewart. We did not play long on the second team for the first team drafted us before we were ready for first team play.
About the time we went into the first team, Rube Jarvis was the local pitcher of note. He was a speed baller with a fast breaking curve and fast as lightning on his feet. Later in his career he played professional ball in the Missouri Valley League. One story told about him was that he hit a line drive down the first base line and while speeding toward the base the ball hit him in the back and he was called out for interference.
At this time of our baseball era Lebanon had a fine team. The rivalry between Smith Center and Lebanon was intense but we were never able to hold our own with that outfit. We won a game now and then but not very often.
In the spring of 1902 we organized a league out here composed of Smith Center, Osborne, Plainville, Kirwin and Kensington. Art Nelson, Dad White, Les Neal and myself were the pitchers. Others on our team that I can recall are Grant Hazelton, Jess Mathes, Ancel Buzzel and Harry Dean. We traveled from town to town in a lumber wagon pulled by a team that belonged to Buzzel. We had a pretty rugged time making the trip to Plain- ville, but at that time, we thought it was a wonderful trip.
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.