Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 111

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 111

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City Hospital Medical Society .- An association of physicians who have served

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CITY OF KANSAS, EARLY MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF.

in the city hospital of St. Louis, which was founded in 1884 by Dr. Brandford Lewis and others. It is now known as the Medical So- ciety of City Hospital Alumni. The objects of the society are the scientific investigation and discussion of medical and allied subjects and the bringing together of those who have been connected with the city hospital in social intercourse. To the efforts of this so- ciety has been due mainly the introduction into the public school system of medical inspection of pupils for the purpose of pre- venting the spread of disease and inaugurat- ing health reforms. The society holds regular meetings twice a month, except dur- ing July and August of each year.

City of Kansas, Early Municipal Government of .- When I consented to write the early municipal history of the city of Kansas it was without a due appreciation of the labor which the work required. Be- cause of my long association with the early municipal government of the city, and famil- iarity with its contemporaneous history, it was supposed that I was well equipped with information for the task to be undertaken. I have found some difficulty in my way in the attempt to give a concise history without tak- ing up more space in this work than can well be accorded to this subject. There is much of interest that could be told that must be left untold, and the decision as to what should be included and what left out is a source of em- barrassment. However, what is here offered to the reader may be accepted as a true state- ment of events, not so complete nor elabo- rate as I would have it, if space and time would permit, but correct and trustworthy in its statements. My subject, literally inter- preted, does not justify the chronicling. as I would fain do, of the stirring events, of the indomitable courage and enterprise of the whole people in developing improvements and in securing the magnificent system of railroads which has placed the present Kan . sas City in the front rank of the great com- mercial cities of the United States. Were it permissible I should find much pleasure in making the achievements of the enterprising and courageous people, from 1853 to 1875, a part of the municipal history. The other con- tributors to this work will no doubt supply much of what I must necessarily omit. The location of the city, with its high hills and

deep ravines, was a most unsightly one for a town. The selection of the site was due to its excellent geographical position, its splen- did rock-bound shore, against which the strong current of the Missouri River could make no abrasion, and the feeling and belief of its projectors that at some day a great in- land city would be built somewhere on the frontier in the Missouri Valley. This loca- tion was admitted to be favored with a secure and permanent landing for steamboats plying the river, such as no other part of the river could claim. Besides, it was the nearest point of access to the great natural roadway which led southwest for over six hundred miles on the divides where the streams did not require to be bridged. But it was not these superior advantages alone that suggested a town. The vast commerce between the East and the West, the trade with the Indians, the mountaineers and the people of New Mexico, and even of Old Mexico as far as Chihuahua, were auxiliary factors. The territory ex- tending west from the State line to the crest of the Rocky Mountains, before the organi- zation of part of it as Kansas and Nebraska, May 30, 1854, was called the Indian country or "the plains." When the Indians from east of the Mississippi were removed to this do- main, in 1834, the criminal laws of the United . States were put in force there under the juris- diction of the United States District Court of Missouri. By virtue of the Platte Pur- chase. in 1836, the Missouri River north from Kansas City constituted the boundary line of the State of Missouri on the northwest. The acquisition of Mexican territory in 1848 extended the domain of the United States from the top of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. The discovery of gold in Cali- fornia in 1849 stimulated emigration west- ward, and immigrants began to land at the wharf-or Westport Landing, as it was then commonly known-to outfit for their long and perilous journey across the plains and over the mountains. Although the town of Kansas was platted in 1839. in 1846, and finally on June 7-17. 1847, it was still under township laws, while more effective means for preserving the peace were needed. Ac- cordingly a petition was presented to the county court at its February term, in 1850, and an order for a town organization was obtained, but the trustees appointed failed to qualify and act. At the June term, by a new

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order. William Gilliss, Madison Walrond, Lewis Ford, Dr. Benoist Troost and Henry Jobe were appointed trustees. They elected a president and secretary of their own number, and appointed such other officers as assessor, collector and treasurer. They improved the wharf between Main and Delaware Streets. Just at this juncture a movement looking toward statehood was in- augurated among the civilized Indians of the Indian country, notably the Shawnees. the Ottawas, the Miamis, the Pottawottomies, the Delawares and the Wyandottes, who sent delegates to a convention which met in Wyandotte, now Kansas City, Kansas. This convention resolved to organize the Indian country into a Territory, which they named Nebraska, and elected William Walker. a Wyandotte Indian, provisional Governor. and Abelard Guthrie, an adopted white man of that nation, as their delegate to Congress. This action was the harbinger of the greater civilization, and of the unparalleled develop- ment of the country in the trans-Missouri States. The far-sighted men of the town of Kansas at once saw that their future needs required city organization. They conse- quently applied to the General Assembly, and on February 22, 1853, obtained a charter for the city of Kansas. The territory covered by this franchise was bounded on the west by a line one-fourth mile west of Broadway, from the middle of the main channel of the Mis- souri River to Ninth Street : on the south by Ninth Street, from this west line to the alley east of Holmes Street ; thence north to Inde- pendence Avenue: thence east to Troost Avenue : thence north to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River, and thence west to the place of beginning. The city derives its name from the Kansas River. named after the Kansas Indians, who owned the territory, including the site of Kansas City, up to 1825. It is not named after the State of Kansas, as is popularly believed. The first city election for mayor, marshal and councilmen was held April 18. 1853. when 67 votes were cast. William S. Gregory was elected mayor, receiving 36 votes, against 27 votes cast for Dr. Benoist Troost, and 4 votes scattering. M. B. Hedges was elected marshal by a vote of 30, against 27 votes cast for George W. Wolf. Six coun- cilmen were elected by the following vote : Thompson MeDaniel, 62; Tilman H. West,

59: Milton J. Payne. 57: Dr. Johnston Ly- kins, 55 : William G. Barclay, 39, and Witham J. Jarboe. 38. The first council meeting was held April 25. 1853. Dr. Johnston Lykins act- ing as president pro ten. He was subse- quently elected president, and became acting mayor after Mayor Gregory resigned. in Feb- ruary, 1854. The mayor appointed, and the council confirmed, the following officers : 1. W. Ammons, city register : George W. Wolf. assessor : Pierre M. Chouteau, treasurer. . At the meeting of the council, April 29th, the mayor was instructed to make settlement with the officers of the town of Kansas, and on May 4th Samuel Greer, who had been the town treasurer. paid over $7.22 as the balance in the treasury. At this meeting Messrs. Ly- kins, Payne and Barclay were appointed a committee to receive and entertain Honor- able Thomas 11. Benton at the Union Hotel, later called the Gilliss House. Mr. Benton addressed the citizens of Kansas City, when, among other prophetic and encouraging words, he said : "Here, gentlemen, where the rocky bluff meets and turns aside the sweep- ing current of this mighty river ; here. where the Missouri, after running its southward course for nearly 2,000 miles, turns eastward to the Mississippi, a large commercial and manufacturing community will congregate, and less than a generationwill see a great city on these hills," confirming what John C. Fre- mont, speaking of the town of Kansas, said six years before: "This is the key to the immense territory west of us." On May Lith a calaboose of hewn logs, 14 x 16 feet. was ordered to be built on the river front and was completed by July 30th. On July 28th George W. Wolf was elected marshal in place of M. B. Hedges, resigned; T. L. Wright was elected councilman in place of Thompson MeDaniel, who did not qualify. and J. C. MeNees in place of William G. Barclay, resigned. At this time three wagon roads connected the city with the outer world. One road leading to Independence. the county seat : another to Wyandotte. a narrow roadway having been cut through the bluff near Broadway ; while a third road, over which freight was hauled to Westport, wound from the foot of Grand Avenue along a deep ravine, across Market Square, where the City Hall and market now are over private ground to Delaware Street, at Sixth, and out Delaware Street to the junction of Main and

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Delaware at Ninth, and thence south along Main Street to the south of McGee Creek, and then ascending the high bluffs and reach- ing the apex of Baltimore Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street, and continuing on the high ground to Thirty-first Street and Balti- more Avenue ; thence in a southwest direc- tion to Broadway and Thirty-third Street, and thence to Westport, on Broadway, as the streets are now constituted. On May 21, 1853, the assessor was ordered to make an assessment of all the property within the city limits, upon which, by Ordinance No. 15, ap- proved December 17, 1853, a tax of 1-3 of I per cent was levied. This rate was increased to 2-5 of I per cent in 1854, and to 1-2 of I per cent in 1855. This rate prevailed until 1859, when it was increased to I per cent. Property was assessed at its full value in those days. On August 2, 1853, some steps were taken to improve the Independence road and to lay out a connecting street to the west, but outside of improving the wharf, little progress was made for want of funds. On the 5th of September a committee was appointed to secure a council chamber, but not until April 4, 1854, was a suitable room obtained. This room was located on Front Street, between Main and Walnut Streets, and was furnished with a table and a dozen chairs, costing $19,25. By ordinance ap- proved May 4, 1853, the portion of the south bank of the Missouri River lying within the city limits was declared to be the wharf, and a tax of $2.50 was imposed upon each up- ward-bound steamer landing at the city of Kansas. This tax was set aside for the im- provement of the wharf between Delaware and Walnut Streets. This rate remained un- til November 5. 1855, when, by Ordinance No. 25, a tax of $5 was levied on steamboats for each round trip. On May 5, 1856, the wharf from Grand Avenue to the west line of the bluff was ordered to be improved, and a loan of $10,000, on the credit of the wharf fund, was authorized, the interest not to ex- ceed 10 per cent per annum. The revenue from wharfage up to April, 1853, was $207 net, the taxes collected $64.33. while the total expenditures were $264.33. In December, 1853, a movement against dram shops began by the council instructing the mayor to peti- tion the county court to grant no licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors within the limits of the city of Kansas. The prohibitory

Ordinance No. 17 was passed January 14, 1854, and in November, 1854, an ordinance for licensing dram shops, and making the annual tax $250, was passed, but vetoed by the mayor. A year later, November 5, 1855, Ordinance No. 17 was repealed, and the prin- eiple of high license adopted. At the mu- nicipal election in April, 1854, Dr. Johnston Lykins, the former acting mayor, was elected mayor. New officers were appointed, among whom was John Curtis, as city attorney. Pierre M. Chouteau resigned his treasurer- ship on February 7, 1854, and was succeeded by H. M. Northrup, who acted until Novem- ber 23, 1854, when he reported a balance of $465.91 cash in the treasury; $440.52 had been received from taxes, and $330.75 from wharfage. In April, 1854, the city began to provide water. Ten dollars were spent for a town pump, and one hundred dollars were paid for building a wall 4x4 feet for the spring at the levee, near Johnson's ware- house, at the southeast corner of Delaware Street. The wall was built at the outer edge of the sidewalk from the rock foundation be- low. The owners of lots on Water (Front) Street were required to construct brick or stone sidewalks in front of their lots. The office of street commissioner was then cre- ated. Main Street was viewed with the pur- pose of grading it. The road tax for 1853 was donated to the city by the county. On the first of May a committee was instructed to contract for a large plow, two grubbing hoes, three spades and three shovels on the credit of the city. With these implements the gigantic task of creating a metropolitan city was begun. An engineer was employed to estimate the cost of grading Main Street. The survey was made July 16, 1854, but the final grade was not established by ordinance until December 7, 1857. The temporary grade of Market Street-now Grand Avenue -from Front Street to Third Street, was es- tablished August 30, 1854. At this meeting of the council the office of city engineer was created, Frederick Breckenridge being the first incumbent. The work of constructing Main Street was begun October 7th, and on December Ist a culvert crossing Main Street at Fifth Street, and costing $225, was ordered to be built. Thus the year 1854 is memorable as a year of beginnings in city improvements. The congressional act organizing the two Territories of Kansas and Nebraska out of

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part of the Indian country repealed the Mis- souri Compromise and brought the slavery agitation to the front. This led to the hor- der troubles, which Colonel R. T. Van llorn has detailed elsewhere. At the general elec- tion in April, 1855. John Johnson was elected mayor. He resigned this office in June, and Milton J. Payne was elected his successor without opposition. He was re-elected in 1856, in 1857, in 1858 and in 1859, and again in 1862. While, as stated, the year 1854 was the beginning of the plans looking to public improvements, systematic work for the grad- ing of streets, the construction of culverts and the building of sidewalks did not engage the attention of the city authorities until the next year. The towering bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, through which streets had been made, required much study and en- gineering skill in order to accomplish the purposes in view at an expense not too bur- densome to bear. It was planned to open Main, Delaware, Wyandotte and Market Street-now Grand Avenue-from the river front to the lower ground at Fifth Street, which served as the flow line of the rains be- tween the river bluff and the northern slope of the south bluff. The city engineer was di- rected to survey these streets, take levels and make estimates of the cost of grading each of them. The engineer's report showed that to obtain the grade of eight feet to one hun- dred feet for Main Street, from the river to the summit grade, a cut of forty feet at Sec- ond Street would be required, and a eut of about forty-seven feet, one hundred feet north of Second Street. To reduce the street to this grade was considered too expensive, and a modified grade was established and a contract let for the grading, so that the next year, 1856, witnessed the first practical street grading through the high hill. This grade did not prove satisfactory; it did not meet the requirements ; the grade was too heavy for practical use, and in consequence the street was regraded in 1857 to the grade first advised by the engineer. The grading of Delaware Street and Wyandotte Street. which was undertaken in 1857 and completed in 1858, on grades of eight feet per hundred feet, involved very heavy work, as did Main Street. The deep eut of fifty-seven feet at the summit of the bluff on Delaware Street. between Commercial and Second Streets, and a cut of thirty-four feet at Third Street, were

necessary to give this street the required grade. On Wyandotte Street the grade de- manded a cut of forty-nine feet at the highest surface near Second Street, while a little way north of Second Street the cut was greater. Broadway was also graded this year, but its topography was such that deep cuts were not required to give it a good grade. The heavi- est grading was a eut of about fifteen feet north of Third Street. Walnut Street, which was some years afterward graded from Sec- ond Street south, was perhaps the most unique in topography and most difficult in construction. The cut made at Second Street was fifty-four feet below the summit, while between Fourth and Fifth Streets a fill of fifty-five feet was made to bring the street to the established grade. Hence. in a distance of 700 feet, the difference in the elevations of the high and low summits was toy feet. Other instances of like irregularities in the city's topography could be given, but this will suffice to suggest to the reader how earnest the people were in their ambition to make a beautiful and healthful city by cutting down the hills and filling the ravines. During the progress of these improvements the con- struction of many culverts at street crossings were made, as also were sidewalks. The ma- cadamizing of these streets and the grading of the cross streets soon followed. I have not the means of arriving at even the approx- imate expense of the many improvements re. cited. and of others made previous to the war, which ended for the time being all pub- lic enterprises and improvements. I venture the opinion, however, that the cost of the public improvements from 1855 to 1860 ex- ceeded $150,000. not inclusive of wharf bonds, a large portion of which improve- ments were paid by special taxes on the abut- ting properties. In 1857 the limits of the city were extended west and south. The boun- dary on the west was the State line from the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River to Twelfth Street; on the south, Twelfth Street to the alley east of MeGice Street; thence north to Ninth Street. and thence by the former boundaries to the place of beginning. In 1850 the limits were ex- tended south and east. The boundary on the west was the State line from the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River to Twen- tieth Street : on the south, Twentieth Street to Troost Avenue ; thence north to Twelfth

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Street ; thence east to Lydia Avenue ; thence north to Independence Avenue ; thence west to the section line west of Lydia Avenue ; thence north to the middle of the main chan - nel of the Missouri River, and thence by the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River to the place of beginning. The exten- sion of 1859 brought into the municipality very valuable property, the most important of which was McGee's addition, the first plat of which was made March 28, 1856, and the second plat June 3. 1857. This addition had become quite a prosperous suburb, which was largely due to the great industry, ability and tact of its founder, Colonel E. M. McGee. At the general election in 1860, Dr. G. M. B. Maughs was elected mayor. During his administration public improvements were prosecuted with the zeal of the preceding years. The most conspicuous work was the macadamizing of some of the graded streets, of which some were unfinished contracts of the previous years. The following streets were graded: Second Street, from Grand Avenue to Delaware; Third Street, from Grand Avenue east to Campbell Street, and west to Broadway, and Walnut Street, from Third to Fourth Streets. To meet the ex - penses of the street improvements from 1858 to 1861, short-time bonds bearing 10 per cent interest were issued to contractors and ac- cepted by them. These bonds, as a rule, were taken up at a discount by the property own- ers to the amount of their respective taxes. In 1861 Dr. Manghs was a candidate for re- election, but was defeated by Mr. R. T. Van Horn by 104 majority. After his defeat for mayor he was elected to the Legislature in place of Nat Claiborne, who vacated his seat by removal to St. Louis. It is appropriate here to say that the General Assembly of the State, Claiborne Jackson being Governor, on May 15. 1861, enacted a law for the police government of the city, to be independent of the mayor, who had been elected as a Union man. Police commissioners were appointed by Governor Jackson, clothed with power to organize a metropolitan police for the city. The commissioners were selected be- cause of their known disloyal affiliations, and the policemen appointed by them were like- wise disloyal. This interference with local government and police brought about a crisis, when Mayor Van Horn-who had been mustered into the United States service

as a major of volunteers-issued a proclama- tion dissolving this police system. It seems needless to say that this proclamation was effective. This police act was repealed Jan- mary 17, 1863. It may also be stated that in December, 1861, the seat of six of the nine councilmen elected in April of that year were declared vacant by the mayor, because of their disloyalty to the Federal government in uttering treasonable sentiments. The mayor's authority in this event was also respected by these men, as they made no effort to retain their seats. Their successors were elected January 4, 1862. Mayor Van Horn resigned his office March 4, 1862, and went to the front and participated in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. At the general election in April, Milton J. Payne was again elected mavor, and in 1863 was succeeded by Wil- liam Bonnifield. In 1864 Colonel R. T. Van Horn was again elected mayor, and served until his election to Congress in November of that year, when he resigned the office of mayor, and was succeeded by Patrick Shan- non, who was also elected mayor in 1865. During the Civil War no improvements nor any other events of importance marked the municipal history. During the next decade the following gentlemen served as mayors : A. L. Harris, 1866; E. H. Allen, 1867-8; F. R. Long, 1869; Colonel E. M. McGee, 1870; Major William Warner, 1871 ; R. H. Hunt, 1872; E. L. Martin, 1873 : S. D. Woods, 1874; and Turner A. Gill, 1875. When the great fire calamity befell Chicago in 1871, the mu- nicipality of the city of Kansas donated $10,- ooo for the relief of the sufferers. The charter of 1853 had been amended in 1857, 1859, 1861, 1866, 1868, 1870 and 1872. In 1875 a new charter was granted, which continued in force until May 9, 1889. (See "Municipal Govern- ment of Kansas City.") An ordinance had been passed March 12, 1858, approved March 20, 1858, authorizing the issuance of scrip in denominations of from one dollar to ten dol- lars. This scrip was to be in the form of warrants, bearing 10 per cent interest, and the revenues of the city were pledged for their redemption. Not more than $40,000 were to be used in making cross streets and culverts, and the balance was to be used for grading and macadamizing streets. The only use made of this anthority to issue scrip for building streets was under an ordinance ap- proved by Mayor R. T. Van Horn, July 13,

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1861. The property-holders on Main Street had advanced the amount of their taxes to pay contractors for work on that street, and the Union Bank held bonds in trust to cover these amounts. Serip was issued in lieu of these bonds. No further use was made of this authority, but the ordinance remained in force until it was nullified by the charter of 1875. During the administrations of E. M. McGee and William Warner, 1870-1. a large amount of scrip, in one-dollar and two-dollar bills, was engraved and put in circulation to provide a necessary currency for business purposes, the lawful currency in circulation being inadequate. It is not known to what extent this serip was issued, as there is no record thereof obtainable. These warrants were taken on deposit by the banks as cur- rency. The revenue officers of the United States assessed the banks heavily in conse- quence, when the bankers sent 11. M. Holden to Washington, who obtained an abatement from the Treasury Department. Some one in the country sent a two-dollar bill of this scrip to ex-Mayor MeGee, whose signature it bore. for redemption, when he sent a remit- tance of $2.10, declaring that the scrip was at a premium in that city. At the conclusion of the Civil War the population had de- creased from 7,180, in 1859, local census. 10 less than 4,000 ; streets that had been graded and those that had been macadamized were in bad shape from neglect, and required re- pairing, in some cases at much expense. As soon as the city government, in 1865, could adjust itself to the era of peace, and recover in a measure from the stagnation caused by the war, it set about to repair the graded streets, replace the wasted macadam, and plan for the immediate revival of public im- provements, which were of too great impor- tance to be left to the chances of possible delays of petitions of property-holders. The necessity for building cross streets from Grand Avenue, through the bluffs to West Kansas, was too urgent for delay. Several propositions for issuing bonds and levying special taxes for improvements were submit- ted to the people, but not favorably acted on, until finally an ordinance was passed direct- ing that an election should be held July 25. 1865, on the proposition of providing for an issue of $60,000 in bonds to be negotiated at par : the bonds to bear to per cent interest. to be made payable in New York City, as fol-

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 111

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856