USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > Kansas City > Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Historical and biographical. Comprising a condensed history of the state, a careful history of Wyandotte County, and a comprehensive history of the growth of the cities, towns and villages > Part 18
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Had I miscarried, I had been a villain; For men judge actions always by events: But when we manage by a just foresight, Success is prudence, and possession right .- Higgons.
EGISLATIVE action that provided for a con- stitutional convention at Wyandotte City also organized Wyandotte County. The act pro- viding for the constitutional convention passed the Legislature first, and the number of dele- gates from each county was fixed, when a few days afterward the act organizing the county of Wyandotte was passed, the mat- ter of delegates to the convention from the new county was overlooked, and there was consequently no represen- tation in the constitutional convention from this county, though delegates were elected from Wyandotte County, and were refused admission to the convention. These delegates, Dr. J. E. Bennett and Dr. J. B. Welborn, were elected by a small majority, being Democrats. The candidates on the Republican ticket were Gov. W. Y. Roberts and Col. Fielding Johnson.
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WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
As stated in a Legislative act quoted below, Wyandotte County was formed from territory previously belonging to Leavenworth and Johnson Counties. The first election under the new organization was held on February 28, 1859. J. W. Johnson was elected probate judge; Marshall A. Garrett, county clerk; W. L. McMath, county attorney; Samuel E. Forsythe, sheriff; Robert Robitaille, county treasurer; W. J. Lane, register of deeds; J. B. Welborn, superin- tendent of schools, and Cyrus Gorton, surveyor.
Following is a copy of " An act creating and organizing the Coun- ty of Wyandotte."
" Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Terri- tory of Kansas.
"SECTION 1. That a county to be called Wyandotte be hereby erected, including that portion of Leavenworth and Johnson Counties within the following limits: Commencing at a point in the middle of the channel of the Missouri River, where the north line of the Delaware reserve intersects the same; running thence west on said reserve line to the line between ranges twenty two (22) and twenty-three (23); thence south on said range line to the south boundary of Leavenworth County ; thence eastwardly on said boundary to the main channel of the Missou- ri River; thence northwardly with the said main channel to the place of beginning. Also that portion of Johnson County lying north of the township line between Townships eleven (11) and twelve (12) east of Range twenty-three (23).
"SEC. 2. That an election shall be held in the various precincts in said county of Wyandotte, on the fourth Tuesday of February, 1859, for the election of county officers, who shall hold their offices, respect- ively, until the next general election of county officers, as prescribed by law.
"SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the present supervisors of each township in said county of Wyandotte to appoint two clerks and provide places to hold said special election and to act as judge of the same, observing the general election laws except as herein otherwise provided, and on the first Friday of the election, the chairman of all the boards of judges shall meet in Wyandotte City, at the Eldridge House, and canvass the votes and issue certificates to the persons duly elected, and transmit to the secretary of the Territory a true copy of the canvass showing who were elected to the various offices of said county.
"SEC. 4. That the tenure of all other than county officers with-
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in said county shall in nowise be affected by the provisions of this act.
"SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the clerk of Leavenworth County, as soon as practicable after the organization of Wyandotte County, to transmit to the clerk of said county the papers in all suits which may be pending in the probate court of Leavenworth County wherein both parties reside in Wyandotte County, together with a cer. tified transcript of all the entries on record in each case, which causes, when so certified, shall be tried and disposed of in the same manner as though they had been commenced in the county of Wyandotte. It shall further be the duty of the clerk of Leavenworth County in like manner to transmit to the clerk of Wyandotte County the papers and documents, together with a certified transcript of all entries in said cause pertaining to probate business, in all cases wherein the descend- ants' last place of residence was within the limits of said county of Wyandotte, there to be disposed of according to law.
"SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of the clerk of the District Court of the United States in and for Leavenworth County, as soon as practicable after the organization of the county of Wyandotte, to trans- mit to the clerk of the district court in and for said county of Wyan- dotte a certified transcript of the record and of all the papers in each and every case pending in said court wherein the parties thereto reside in said county of Wyandotte, to be disposed of in the same manner as though the same had originally been commenced in the county of Wyandotte.
"SEC. 7. That it is hereby made the duty of the recorders in the counties of Leavenworth and Johnson to make out and transmit to the recorder of Wyandotte County as soon as practicable a true copy of the records of all deeds, mortgages, deeds of trust, bonds and other writings in relation to real estate or any interest therein being within the limits of Wyandotte County as above described, and the said re- corders are authorized to procure suitable books for that purpose, and such clerks and recorders shall be entitled to compensation for said service from the county of Wyandotte at the usual legal rates.
"SEC. 8. The city of Wyandotte shall be the temporary county seat until a permanent county seat shall be established.
"SEC. 9. That at the next election for members of the Territorial Legislature, the people of said county shall vote for permanent county seats, and the place receiving the highest number of all the votes cast shall be the permanent county seat of Wyandotte County.
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WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
"SEC. 10. That portion of any precinct divided by the county lines, and being within Wyandotte County, shall be attached to the precinct adjoining in said county of Wyandotte for election and other purposes until otherwise ordered.
"SEC. 11. That the county of Wyandotte shall be liable for all the money appropriated by the county of Leavenworth to be expended within the limits of said county of Wyandotte, and that all taxes now assessed within said county of Wyandotte shall be paid into the treas- ury of said county.
"SEC. 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage."
This act was approved by Gov. Samuel Medary, January 29, 1859. Following is a copy of the record of the meeting of the supervisors to canvass the vote cast at the election of temporary county officers under the provisions of the above act:
" At a meeting of the county board of supervisors in and for the county of Wyandotte and Territory of Kansas, held at the Eldridge House in the city of Wyandotte, on February 25, A. D. 1859, present George Russell and George W. Veale, acting in place of Alfred Gray.
" The first business was the appointment of chairman of the board, and on motion George Russell was appointed chairman of said board and Myron J. Pratt acting secretary.
"The board then proceeded to the canvassing of the votes cast at the election of county officers held in the county of Wyandotte, on the 22d day of February, A. D. 1859, after which the following named persons were declared duly elected to fill the offices as desig- nated, and the certificates of their election were ordered to be given as follows, to wit:
" For probate judge, Jacques W. Johnson; for sheriff, Samuel E. Forsythe; for clerk of the board of supervisors, Marshall A. Garrett; for register of deeds, Vincent J. Lane; for county attorney, William L. McMath; for treasurer, Robert Robitaille; for surveyor, Cyrus L. Gorton; for coroner, George B. Wood; for superintendent of common schools, Jacob B. Welborn."
March 5 of this year (1859), the board of supervisors met in the clerk's office and ordered as follows:
" That the county attorney be and is hereby instructed to lease the room on the corner of Nebraska Avenue and Third Street from S. D. McDonall, for the term of one year, at $150 per annum, for the use
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of the officers of Wyandotte County; also the one now occupied by the county attorney, over the post-office, up to the first of January, 1860, for the use of said officer, at $5 per month.
"That the chairman and clerk be and are hereby authorized to procure suitable furniture and stationery for the use of the county officers.
"That the board of supervisors of Leavenworth County be re- quested to cause all records, documents and papers to be copied, cer- tified and transmitted to the clerk of Wyandotte County, which are required to be so copied and transmitted by an act entitled, 'An act creating and organizing the county of Wyandotte,' passed January 29, A. D. 1859." The minutes were attested by Marshall A. Garrett, clerk, and George Russell and Alfred Gray, supervisors.
About this time it was ordered by the board that the chairman and the clerk go to Leavenworth and procure the records and papers re- quired by law to be copied and transmitted to the clerk of this county. Fifty dollars, or so much thereof as might be necessary, was the sum appropriated to pay the expenses of this mission. March 19 it was ordered by the board that the chairman of the board and the county attorney be authorized and empowered to make such arrangements to send out of the county the insane persons, in charge of Mr. Bernstein, as they might deem proper, and the sum of $25, or so much of it as might be necessary, was appropriated for such use. March 22 it was ordered that the clerk provide two poll books for each township in the county, and deliver the same to the sheriff for distribution at the elec- tion to be held March 28, 1859, under the provisions of an act to form a State constitution for the State of Kansas. It was ordered, April 18, that the chairman, in connection with the sheriff, be author- ized to rent or procure a suitable place to be used as the county jail, the building then in use being declared unfit for such purpose. April 30, $200, or so much of that sum as might be required, was appro- priated, "out of the first moneys received in the county treasury," to be paid to Mr. Dollsworth, of Leavenworth, for county books. On motion, Alfred Gray was appointed "to correspond with some person competent to build an iron jail." June 15 the board imposed a license of $50 for each dram shop, saloon or tippling house. The salary of the probate judge was fixed at $800 per annum, but this order was rescinded April 2, 1860. The salary of the clerk of the board of supervisors was fixed at $400. It was resolved by the board that "the township, county and territorial and poll taxes levied by the authori-
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ties within the territory included in Quindaro Township, before said township was set off . from Wyandotte Township, be, and the same is hereby ordered to be transferred to the treasurer of said Quindaro Township for collection, and that the said treasurer be instructed to copy and transfer the same as aforesaid, said taxes to be distributed by him according to law, the township and poll taxes to be expended in Quindaro Township by the authorities thereof." . Delos N. Barnes, Monroe Salisbury and Francis Kessler were appointed commissioners to survey and locate a county road from some point on a line dividing Sections 31 and 32 in Township 10 south, Range 25 east, extending in a southerly direction to the bridge across the Kansas River. It was ordered that the county of Leavenworth be requested to send the amount of the indebtedness of Wyandotte County to Leavenworth County, according to the provisions of the act organizing Wyandotte County. Three thousand dollars was appropriated out of the county treasury for the purpose of paying certain notes held by Leonard Lake, Thomas J. Williams and C. R. Stuckslager, and indorsed by Root, Roberts, Killen and others, money to that amount having been borrowed for improvements made in the county.
Under date of August 1, 1859. William Tholen, county treasurer of Leavenworth County, certified that he had received from the repre- sentatives of Wyandotte County $912.81, in Leavenworth County war- rants, and an order for $142 on the treasurer of Wyandotte County, on account of the indebtedness of Wyandotte County to Leavenworth County. July 29, it was ordered that the debt then due from the township of Wyandotte, for the creating and opening of "the southern road," be assumed by the county of Wyandotte, in consideration of the payment to Leavenworth County by the said township of the sum of $1,054.80, which sum the township then held in Leavenworth County orders. A finance committee, consisting of two members of the Leavenworth County board of supervisors, called upon Wyandotte County to "settle all demands against Wyandotte County, according to the act organizing the county of Wyandotte," and on the day last mentioned it was ordered by the board that an order be drawn by the treasurer, and that a receipt be taken therefor. The bills of commis- sioners, authorized to survey and locate a road from Quindaro to the Wyandotte bridge, were allowed as follows: D. N. Barnes, $12; Francis Kessler, $12; Monroe Salisbury, $12; P. Pike, $1.50; S. Mc- Kee, $1.50; Eli McKee, $1.50; survey and plan, $20. It was resolved that Delos N. Barnes, Francis Kessler and Monroe Salisbury, com-
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
missioners, heretofore appointed to view a road commencing on the section line dividing Sections 31 and 32, in Township 10 south, Range 25 east, running thence southerly to the Kaw River, be instructed to begin on said section line, fifty-four rods north of the quarter-section corner, and run thence east to the half-section line dividing the land of the heirs of George I. Clark, deceased, and John Hicks and others, south to intersect the road near the parallel located by said commis- sioners, a plat of which was filed in the office of the board of super- visors, June 28, 1859.
September 2, 1859, Barzillai Gray was declared elected to fill a vacancy in the office of probate judge, occasioned by the death of Jacques W. Johnson. September 20 it was resolved by the board that the survey and plat of the county road, made by Delos N. Barnes, Francis Kessler and Monroe Salisbury, commissioners, and filed on that day, be adopted, and the said road was declared located accord- ing to said survey, and the townships through which it extended were ordered to open it for public travel. "Fifteen hundred dollars was appropriated for roads and bridges, from Quindaro to the Wyandotte bridge. License of ferries was fixed at $25 per annum. The tem- perance feeling of the board was demonstrated by the resolution, that "the county attorney is hereby instructed to strictly enforce the requirements of the act to restrain dram shops and taverns, and regulate the sale of intoxicating liquors, approved February 11, 1859, and he is hereby directed to indict, at the next term of the district court, those persons who fail to take out license and in other respects neglect to comply with the provisions of said law." If this resolution is to be taken literally (and of course it is not), it will be seen to have threatened great hardship and expensive litigation to a vast majority of the citizens of the county. It is presumed that the board meant to have only those indicted who sold liquor without having previously complied with the law.
At a special meeting of the board of supervisors, on October 11, it was resolved that all that portion of Wyandotte Township south of the Kansas River be set off as a separate election precinct, the elections to be held at the house of R. H. Dickinson. Luther H. Wood, Willard L. Green and Charles Lovelace were appointed judges of election. At a special meeting, held November 2, it was resolved that the county tax for the ensuing year be one and one-fourth per cent of the taxable personal and real estate. The county seat was at the November election, 1859, permanently located in Wyandotte. February 9, 1860,
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WYANDOTTE COUNTY.
Silas Armstrong, on the part of the Wyandotte council, laid before the board of supervisors the matter of the taxes assessed against the lands of the Wyandotte Indians and requested that amicable proceedings in the nature of an agreed case be entered into between the county and the Wyandottes. The board referred the proposition to the county attorney, whe requested time to consider the matter before rendering an opinion.
The following rather amusing account of a meeting of the board of supervisors, March 8, 1860, appears in the county records. There were present George Russell, chairman, and Alfred Gray:
" The matter of districting the county into commissioner districts being introduced, Mr. Russell offered the following resolution:
" Resolved, by the board, That the county is hereby divided into districts as provided by an act entitled ' An act relating to counties and connty officers,' approved. All the land south of Kansas Avenue, Wyandotte City, and from the west end of said avenue along the sec- tion line dividing Sections five (5) and eight (8) to the west line of the county, is hereby erected into District No. one (1). All the land north of said Kansas Avenue and said section line and south of the present township line dividing Wyandotte and Quindaro Townships, is hereby erected into a district and is No. two (2). All the present township of Quindaro is hereby erected into a district and is No. three (3).
" The said division being disagreed to by Mr. Gray, was lost. Thereupon Mr. Gray offered the following as a substitute: Resolved, by the board, That the county be and is hereby divided into districts as provided by an act entitled ' An act relating to counties and county officers.' All that land within Wyandotte City proper (that is to say within plat or plan made by John H. Millar, in 1857) is hereby erected into District No. 1. All that portion of Quindaro Township within the Wyandotte reserve, so called, and of Wyandotte Town- ship immediately north of said city, is hereby erected into District No. 2. All the balance of Wyandotte County is hereby erected into District No. 3.
" The said substitute being disagreed to by Mr. Russell, was lost. Mr. Gray then proposed that all that land contained within Wyan- dotte City proper, east of Tenth Street (that is to say within the plat or plan made by John H. Millar, in 1857), is hereby erected into Dis- trict No. 1. Second and third districts substantially as in above sub- stitute.
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
"Mr. Russell disagreeing to said proposition, it was lost. The board then adjourned to meet again on the day following, when no new proposition for the districting of the county being offered, nor any concurrence being obtained on either of the propositions of the previous day, the matter was laid over. In the matter of the ferry across the Kansas River, at or near the month thereof, it was resolved that the ferry company, running the ferry at said point, be restricted to the following rates, or charges, for crossing: Foot passengers, each 5 cents; loose horses, mules and cattle, each 10 cents; swine and sheep, ten or less, 5 cents each, over ten, each 25 cents; man and horse, 15 cents; one horse and vehicle, 20 cents, each additional horse, 5 cents; oxen and mules to be rated as horses." It was unani- mously agreed by Messrs. Russell and Gray that the said ferry company be required to pay a license fee in the sum of $25 to the county of Wyandotte, for the ferry privilege for the current year. Some little investigation has failed to discover the reason for the antagonistic character of this peculiar meeting of the board of su- pervisors, but it is presumed that each of the members wished to so divide the county as to secure the co-operation of an ally in the person of an additional supervisor, and that, each knowing that the success of the other would be fatal to his own projects, and the triumph of his own policy, neither of them would have yielded on this question so long as life remained to him.
At the election for county commissioners and county assessor, on the fourth Monday in March, 1860, votes were cast as follows: For William McKay, for commissioner, 272; J. E. Bennett, 269; Samuel E. Forsythe, 239; J. R. Parr, 99; George W. Veall, 160; J. J. Chap- man, 167; James McGrew, 10; M. W. Battom, 94. For assessor, Benjamin W. Hartley received 242 votes, and Louis M. Cox, 165. Messrs. McKay, Bennett and Forsythe were declared elected commis- sioners; Benjamin W. Hartley, assessor. The new board organized Monday, April 2, 1860, with William McKay as chairman. The seal of the late county board was adopted, and the salary of the probate judge was fixed at $800. Other, but less important business. histori- cally, was transacted. On the next day the matter of the selection of grand and petit jurors was taken up, and the following names from the assessment rolls of the county, for the year 1859, were chosen: For grand jurors, Charles H. Chapin, Francis Kessler, Landor Lydon, Albert S. Corey, Thomas McIntyre, Fielding Johnson, Charles E. Saw- yer, Abelard Guthrie, Arad Tuttle, James C. Zane, Silas Armstrong,
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S. P. Bartlett, O. S. Bartlett, Chester Colburn, P. Clingaman. Will- iam Curns, Louis M. Cox, John M. Chrysler, Emmanuel Dyer, A. P. Day, A. D. Downs, James H. Harris, Joseph Hanford, Ed Hovey. A. Huntington, William Hood, Sterling Hance, Leonard Leake, Valentine Lucas, John McAlpin, Thomas Merry, W. C. McHenry, James McGrew, William Millar, James R. Parr, W. Y. Roberts, George Russell, Samuel Stover, Berry Swander, Martin Stewart, Mil- ton Sabers, Hiram Wright, A. G. Walcott, Gustavus Leitz, Samnel M. Stephens, Charles H. Suydam, G. B. Terrill, E. T. Vedder, C. H. Van Fossen, Isaiah Walker. For petit jurors, Eli McKee, Joseph H. Bartles, Jacob Kyle, John H. Mattoon, Charles Morasch, C. H. Car- penter, Isaac R. Zane, Samuel Marchant, John Stewart. Robert An- derson, Fred Blum, Stephen S. Bradley, E. S. Barche, John M. Blockly, Frank H. Betton, James Clifford, James D. Chestnut, R. Chalk, J. A. J. Chapman, R. G. Dunning, Thomas Downs, Michael Gorman, G. K. Grindrod, Bat. Griffin, Joseph Greible, Malcolm Gregory, Theodore Garrett, M. A. Garrett, James Hennepey, Rob- ert Halford, William D. Jones, N. A. Kirk, Daniel Killen, Claudius Kiefer, Henry Kirby, H. C. Long, William Lovey, Charles Love- lace, Anthony McMahon, Joseph McDowell, J. M. Mather, H. W. McNay, David Powell, E. J. Pedigo, Ed. Purdam, George Roof, J. D. Simpson, Ebenezer Smith, C. Stapleton, Fred Schoup.
At the meeting of the board, April 4, 1860, it was ordered that William McKay, chairman, be authorized and empowered to contract for rooms for use of courts and county officers for the current year. Silas Armstrong and others, proprietors of the ferry over the Kansas River, near its mouth, were required to give bond in the sum of $2,000, and were restricted to the following rates of ferriage: Foot passengers, 5 cents each; loose horses, mules or cattle, 10 cents each; swine or sheep, 5 cents each; man and horse, 20 cents; one horse vehicles and driver, 30 cents; two-horse vehicles and driver unloaded. 40 cents- loaded, 65 cents; each additional person with above, 5 cents; each additional horse, 2 cents-oxen, mules, asses and "jinnies" rated as horses. Double these rates were permitted after dark. The ferry pro- prietors were ordered to pay the county the sum of $35 as a license fee for the ensuing year. This rate was, at the same meeting, estab- lished for all ferries throughout the county. The bond of Byron Judd, as trustee of Wyandotte Township, was approved and accepted; the bond of V. J. Lane, as trustee of Quindaro Township; also the bond of Thomas Ryan, as constable of Wyandotte Township; the bond of
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
Thomas Duncan, as justice of the peace of Quindaro Township; and the bond of Alfred Robinson,. as constable of Quindaro Township. The salary of the county attorney, formerly $600, was reduced to $300. The division of the county into commissioner districts, which Messrs. Gray and Russell had been so signally successful in not accomplishing, was again taken up. It was ordered that all that part of the city of Wyandotte south of the center of Kansas Avenue, and all that portion of Wyandotte Township south of the section line dividing Sections 5 and 6 from Sections 7 and 8, in Township 11 south, Range 25 east, and east of the township line dividing Ranges 24 and 25 east, be erected into District No. 1; that all of the remainder of Wyandotte Township and Wyandotte City be erected into District No. 2; and that all of Quindaro Township be erected into District No. 3. A vacancy having occurred in the office of constable of Wyandotte Township, H. H. Sawyer was appointed, and his bond was approved and accepted. The county attorney was authorized to draw up papers stating an agreement of facts, and enter into the same on behalf of the county with the Wyandotte Nation of Indians for the purpose of testing the legality of the taxes assessed upon the lands in the county allotted to that tribe.
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