USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > Kansas City, Missouri : its history and its people 1808-1908 > Part 6
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 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
had far advanced every Mormon had left the county. Attempts were made to compromise the trouble, and make some adjustment with the Mormons concerning their abandoned property; but all attempts at general compro- mise failed. What adjustments were made were individual matters.
The majority of the Mormons who left Jackson county went to Clay county, where temporary refuge was found. Trouble soon arose, however, and the band went to Caldwell county. Still later they left Missouri and Hled to Illinois, where they founded the town of Nauvoo. They rapidly in- creased in numbers. In 1844, however, Joseph Smith and his brother Hy- rum, presidents of the church, were murdered by a mob in Carthage jail, Illinois, and soon the church membership was torn by contentions of aspi- rants to the mantle of the slain leader and prophet. In 1846 and in sub- sequent years Brigham Young, one of the aspirants for the leadership, presi- dent of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles at the time of the death of Joseph Smith, lead away thousands of the Saints into the Rocky Mountains and settled in Utah, where they have increased until now they number about 350,000. Many refused to acknowledge Brigham Young, and followed other leaders. James J. Strang led some into Wisconsin, and on Beaver Island founded the Court of St. James. Charles B. Thompson gathered some in western Iowa, and at Preparation founded a communistic society. Lyman Wight led others to Texas. Another faction, lead by Granville Hedrick, became known as "Hedrickites."
One faction "reorganized" the church in 1851 and 1852 and denounced Brigham Young as the successor to Joseph Smith, pronounced polygamy and other doctrines introduced by Brigham Young as heresies and not in the doctrine of the church in Joseph Smith's life time, and in 1860 elected Joseph Smith, the eldest son of Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, as the president of the "Reorganized church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." This church is the strongest one of the factions except the Utah church, and twice has been declared in court to be the church in true suc- cession to the one founded by Joseph Smith. Its headquarters is at Lamoni, Ia., although most of its membership is in Jackson county. The largest congregation is in Independence.
The differences between the Utah Mormons and the members of the Reorganized church are marked. The Reorganized Latter Day Saints de- nounce polygamy, Adam-God worship, and other prominent and characteris- tic doctrines of the Utah Mormons, and teach obedience to the laws of the land and good citizenship in general.
Now for the Mormons' return to Independence. The latter part of the '60's and the early '70's several families of the Reorganized church came to Jackson county. The family of Albert W. Noble settled in Rush Bottom
86
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
about 1867. This family soon was followed by others. A small band of Saints, under the leadership of Granville Hedrick, moved into Independence. in 1867, from Bloomington and other points in Illinois, and in June, 1868, resumed the publication of Truth Teller, a newspaper that had been founded in Bloomington. A small congregation of these people have since remained in Independence, although the followers of Mr. Hedrick have never been numerically strong. At present the Hedrickites are in possession of the famous Temple lot on which they have a two-story frame building in which they hold meetings and from which is issued occasional numbers of the Evening and Morning Star.
Members of the Reorganized church established the Independence branch of the church in May, 1873. The membership has grown steadily by accretion, by baptism and the return of the Saints to "Zion" to build up the "waste places" thereof, until now (1908) the Independence congre- gation numbers about two thousand souls. Their stone church on West Electric street is one of the finest church buildings in Independence. But Independence has not received all the returning Saints; in Greater Kansas City there are eight or nine regularly organized branches or local churches of the Reorganized church, besides several regular "Missions." These are the congregations: First Kansas City branch. Second Kansas City branch, Third Kansas City branch, Fourth Kansas City branch, Central Kansas City branch; Armstrong, Kansas, branch; Argentine. Kansas, branch; Chelsea Park, Kansas, branch; Grand View, Kansas. branch. The Central branch pur- chased the old building of the Central Methodist church, South, at Ninth street and Lydia avenue, in 1908.
The Utah Mormons for a number of years have maintained mission head- quarters of the Central States Mission in Jackson county; being in Kansas City until March, 1907, when they purchased and moved into new mission quarters at the corner of Kansas and Pleasant streets in Independence.
The Mormons in Independence are engaged in numerous successful business enterprises. The Utah Mormons, besides their mission headquarters, rent a hall for regular meetings, and from other rented quarters publish their mission paper, The Liahona; the Elders' Journal, with a circulation of about 10,000. They also built near the Missouri Pacific depot a large plow factory that supplied plows mostly for Utah. Only a few families of the Utah Mormons have moved into Jackson county, but one cannot long talk with any Utah Mormon without learning that he expects to return to Independence some day to help build the great temple. The Hedrickites, as an organization, own little or no property except the Temple lot, although some of them are in business.
87
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
The Reorganized Latter Day Saints own the most property, by far, and are the strongest of any other faction in Independenee. Besides the large stone church with its annex, just opposite the Temple lot, the church owns a building near the corner of Osage and West Lexington streets in which is one of their church printing plants, from which is issued a weekly church paper called Zion's Ensign, with about 7,000 eirculation. The members of the Reorganized church control the following business enterprises in Inde- pendence: A state bank, two planing mills, one coal mining company, two eoal and feed stores, one foundry, one casket factory, one stationery store, three real estate firms, two firms of contraetors and builders, one blacksmith, two millinery stores, two cement construction companies, six grocery stores, one bakery, one sewing machine store, three attorneys' offices, two eandy fac- tories, one jewelry store, one publishing house, one house moving firm, two deep well drilling companies, one meat market, one undertaking establish- ment, one nursery, one laundry, three dental offices, two barber shops, one furniture company, two tailors, one hardware store, three physicians one plumbing company, two shoe shops, one machine shop, and one wagon factory.
On a five-acre tract on Blue avenue near the western limits of Inde- pendence, the church erected a large sanitarium at a cost of about $50,000. Surrounding it are the homes of a number of the Saints, built since the sani- tarium was established. Some of the finest residences in Independence are owned by the Saints.
The sanitarium had its inception in a revelation. The General eonfer- enee of the Reorganized Latter Day Saints was holding an annual session in Independence in April, 1906. Late one afternoon, after a busy session, there was a lull. Joseph Smith, the venerable president of the church, a son of the original prophet and founder of Mormonism, arose and with much ap- parent emotion began to address the assembly.
The big church was packed with delegates from all parts of the world. All felt that something extraordinary was about to happen. The congrega- tion listened in dead silence as the president spoke. It was a "revelation" to the head of the church. The Saints believe that direct revelations from God to His servants are just as possible and reasonable now as in apostolic times.
The president told how the Lord had revealed to him that a sanitarium for the healing of the sick should be established at Independence. It created a profound impression. Plans were made at once to carry the revelation into effect. A year was spent in collecting money in the various congregations of the church, and in selecting a site.
The sanitarium accommodates one hundred and fifty patients. It is built primarily as a church institution and preference is given to church
88
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
members who are unable to pay for treatment. The Saints frequently use the Scriptural methods of healing-praying for the sick, anointing with oil and the laying on of the hands.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TOWN OF KANSAS.
The Missouri river landing, near Chouteau's warehouse, where the mer- chants of Westport had their goods brought ashore, was part of the two hun- dred and fifty-six acre tract owned by the estate of Gabriel Prudhomme, a Frenehman who died in 1836. The only buildings near the landing in 1838 were Isaac Richard's saloon where the trappers and Indians resorted, a store owned by a Frenchman whose name has been forgotten and several small shanties. When steamboats arrived small crowds of traders gathered at the landing, and teamsters went there with their wagons to receive freight. The land adjacent to the river, for the most part, was a wildwood, and is de- seribed by John C. McCoy at a meeting of the old settlers of Jackson county, December 30, 1871 :
" I recall a clearing of a few acres, lying on the high ridge between Main and Wyandotte streets, and Second and Fifth streets, made and abandoned by a mountain trapper. A few old dead trees were standing in the field that was surrounded by a dilapidated rail fence. On all sides was a dense forest, the ground covered with vines, underbrush and fallen timber, and in several places there were deep, impassable gorges. A narrow, crooked roadway wound from a point at Twelfth and Walnut streets down the west side of a deep ravine, across the present public square, to the river at the foot of Grand avenue. A narrow path, barely wide enough for a single horseman, led along the river bank under the bluff, winding its way around fallen timber and deep ravines. An old log house on the river bank at the foot of Main street was occupied by a lean, cadaverous specimen of humanity named Ellis, with one blind eye and the other on a sharp lookout for stray horses, straggling Indians and squatters with whom to swap a tin cup of whiskey for a coon skin. Another old ruined log house stood on the point below the Pacific depot. The French mountain trappers had several small dwellings and clearings in the Kaw bottom, now West Kansas. Everywhere else in this locality was the solitude of the native forest, unbroken except by the snort of the startled deer, the bark of the squirrel, the howl of the wolf, the
OLD CHICK HOMESTEAD, ONE OF THE FIRST HOUSES IN KANSAS CITY.
91
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
settler's cow bell, and mayhap the distant baying of the hunter's dog or the sharp report of his rifle."
Mrs. Prosper Mercier, the daughter of Gabriel Prudhomme and one of the heirs to the estate, petitioned the circuit court of Jackson county, Octo- ber 30, 1837, for a division of the land. The court made an order, Decem- ber 9, 1837, appointing a commission to partition the Prudhomme estate. After making an investigation the board reported to the court that it was not possible to make a satisfactory division of the land. The court then ordered the land to be sold at auction, and James H. McGee, who was the guardian of the minor heirs of the Prudhomme estate, was appointed to act as crier. McGee was the first white man to own land within the present limits of the city. He purchased three hundred and twenty acres from the government, November 14, 1828. In advertising the sale of the Prudhomme tract, the commissioners made this announcement :
" The situation is admirably calculated for a ferry across the Missouri river, and also one of the best steamboat landings on the river; an excellent situation for a warehouse or town site.
When the sale was held, July 7, 1838, the only persons present were James H. McGee, Abrahanı Fonda, William Gillis, Michael Auther and per- haps two or three others. While the auction was in progress Gillis and Auther withdrew for a moment to consult in regard to the bidding. In their absence the land was sold to Fonda for $1,800. A remonstrance, charging that McGee and Fonda had conspired and that the sale was irregular, was filed with the court, August 8, 1838, two days before the sale was officially reported. The court made an order setting aside the sale and directing an- other to be held. The date advertised for the second sale was November 14, 1838.
Several residents of Jackson county who had observed the tendency of the trade to center at the river landing conceived the plan of founding a town on the Prudhomme estate. The idea took definite form and a town com- pany was organized with these members: William L. Sublette, Moses G. Wil- son, John C. McCoy, William Gillis, Fry P. McGee, Abraham Fonda, Wil- liam M. Chick, Oliver Caldwell, George W. Tate, Jacob Ragan, William Collins, James Smart, Samuel C. Owens and Russell Hicks. When the sale was held the company bought the land for $4,220. This was the original townsite of Kansas City.
After the tract had been purchased the company held a meeting to de- cide on a name for the new town. Some of the members of the company had resolved to call the town "Port Fonda," in honor of Abraham Fonda, one of the proprietors of the site. Unfortunately for his fame, Fonda became in- volved in a quarrel with Henry Jobe, another part owner, who, with his
92
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
friends, defeated the proposition to adopt the name Port Fonda. The pro- prietors decided to call the town "Kansas" after the Kansas river. The river was named after the Kansas Indians who lived along the banks of the stream. The Kansas Indians' name for themselves was " Kanzas," pronounced by the French traders " Kahns" a term that finally was adopted by the American set- tlers. In regard to the naming of the town, Charles C. Spalding makes this explanation in his "Annals of the City of Kansas," published in 1858:
"Many persons, particularly the citizens of Kansas Territory have of late charged the citizens of Kansas City with 'stealing the name Kansas.' It is therefore due to ourselves to explain the matter.
"When Kansas City was first selected as a town site, and the survey made, (in 1838) it was agreed, by the then proprietors of the town, that it should be called ' Kansas,' inasmuch as it was situated at the mouth of the Kansas river. Some suggested the name of 'Kawsmouth'; but it was finally agreed that the name of the place should be Kansas. All of the territory to the west being at that time known as the Nebraska Territory.
"It is evident, therefore, that no 'stealing' has been done on our part, for the purpose alleged by these persons, viz .: 'to convey the idea that this city is situated in the Territory of Kansas,' for no such Territory was known in the geography of our country till Kansas City had come to be a place of considerable trade."
The official surveyor of the town was John C. McCoy who had platted Westport, but he was engaged in government work when the Prudhomme tract was bought and could not superintend the work of laying out the town. McCoy drew a plat for fifteen aeres of the townsite and employed W. S. Donahue to make the survey.
The town company's first sale was held in May, 1839, when nine lots were sold for $926.80, on one year's time at 10 per cent interest. Jacob Ragan bought three of the first nine lots sold; John C. McCoy, two; William B. Evans, two; James II. MeGee, one; and F. Kleber, one. The town com- pany built a warehouse for the use of the traders, and William B. Evans was appointed keeper. Other building operations were begun.
Shortly after the first sale of lots the town company met with difficulties that checked the enterprise and retarded the growth of the town for eight years. The law required the plat of the town to be signed by each member of the town company and filed with the county clerk before the title to lots could be transferred. The company had made arrangements to comply with the law on the morning of the sale of lots. but it happened that a quorum of the members was not present at the meeting and deeds to the lots sold could not be issued. The purchasers of lots were given title bonds. Another difficulty arose in the fact that two of the commissioners, Peter Booth and
HOME OF JAMES McGEE, FIRST BRICK HOUSE IN JACKSON COUNTY.
95
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
Elliott Johnson, appointed by the court to sell the Prudhomme tract, had died before the auction was held. For these reasons the legality of the transactions of the town company was questioned. The company was in- active until a test case, brought in the circuit court in 1846, cleared the title to the land. The residents of both Independence and Westport made sport of the idea of founding a town on the Prudhomme tract and while the town company was struggling against difficulties, called the town "Westport Land- ing" in derision.
Some of the men who bought lots at the sale in 1839 built houses in spite of the discouragements and business began to develop. William B. Evans built a two-story log tavern on the river front in 1839. Thomas A. Smart was the first American to open a trading house in the new town. In 1839 he established a store with an assortment of groceries and Indian goods. Next came, in 1840, Anthony Richters, with a stock of goods similar to Smart's. A. B. Canville, one of the early merchants, began business in 1840. Cahn & Block opened a store in 1843, with a stock of goods valued at $5.000. About the same time stores were established by E. P. Hart & Co. and William J. Jarboe. William M. Chiek built a warehouse in 1844. Bent & St. Vrain, in 1845, received from the east the first eargo of goods shipped from the " Town of Kansas " to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in wagon trains. The trade with New Mexico gradually was centered at the " Town of Kansas." This commerce amounted to six hundred wagon loads in 1850. More than three hundred traders were engaged in the commerce with Santa Fe in 1853, and that year 9,884 freight wagons carried merchandise across the plains valued at 5 mil- lion dollars.
The town soon had an important local trade with the neighboring Indians, freighters, trappers and boatmen. The Indians bought blankets, saddles, bridles, powder, tobacco, jewelry, ribbons and whiskey. The traders often took advantage of the ignorance of the Indians. Brass finger rings that were bought in St. Louis for ten cents were sold to the Indians some- times for $5 or $6. As long as the Indians' annnity money lasted they paid cash for what they bought, but when they were without money they traded ponies, pelts, furs and silver ornaments for merchandise. The Indians that traded in the " Town of Kansas " in 1839 and 1840 were the Delawares, Mun- see Stoekbridges, Shawnees; Kansas, or Kaws; Kiekapoos, Osages, Pottawato- mies, Weas and Peorias. As early as 1840 it was not uncommon for two or three hundred men to assemble at the river landing to buy and trade when the boats arrived.
W. G. and G. W. Ewing, successful Indian traders, built warehouses in the " Town of Kansas " in 1840. They had been receiving their goods at Blue Mills and at Chouteau's warehouse, but their business had increased and they
96
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
desired to own depots in the new town. John C. Fremont, the celebrated western explorer, went to the " Town of Kansas " in 1842 on his first expedition across the plains. His headquarters were at Cyprian Chouteau's warehouse, six miles up the Kaw river, but he bought his supplies at the levee. Fremont in his subsequent visits made his headquarters with William M. Chick. Hiram M. Northrup opened the largest merchandise store in 1844 that had been established up to that date. He was the first merchant to establish a jobbing trade with the retail dealers of the border. James H. McGee made brick on his farm south of town in 1845 and built the first brick house in the vicinity, which is still standing on 19th street.
The residents of the little " Town of Kansas " suffered considerable loss in the Missouri river flood of 1844. The warehouse built by the town com- pany, Chouteau's and Ewing Brothers' warehouses and several log dwellings were washed away. Settlers in the river bottom near town lost their houses and live stock. The warehouse of William M. Chick, on high ground near the levee, was the only one that survived the high water. The goods saved from the other warehouses were stored in Chick's depot. The Chouteau ware- house while located opposite Randolph Bluffs, had been previously destroyed in the flood of 1826.
The trade with Mexico was suppressed in August, 1843, when Santa Anna, President of Mexico, issued an embargo closing the ports of entry into Northern Mexico, in retaliation for the support the Americans had given Texas in the revolt. The owners of warehouses in the " Town of Kansas " were affected by the loss of the Mexican trade. The commerce with Mexico was resumed in 1845 in larger proportions than before. While preparations were being made at Fort Leavenworth and other places on the border in the winter of 1845-46 for the Mexican war, the business of the " Town of Kansas " was greatly increased. It was the nearest town to the Mexican border that could be reached by river transportation and for this reason became a starting point for expeditions. Army recruiting offices were opened in the border town and quartermasters went there to purchase supplies. The revival of the Santa Fe trade and the Mexican war preparations were followed by the California immigration in 1849. All of these movements contributed to the town's prosperity.
Two vehieles that were common on the plains in the early days were the Concord coach and the prairie schooner. The coaches carried ten to fif- teen passengers. The schedule time between the town of Kansas and Santa Fe was thirteen days and six hours, the journey continuing day and night with stops only for meals and to change teams. At one time the fare for each passenger from the town of Kansas to Santa Fe was $175 in gold. The Overland Mail Express company, one of the firms that maintained an office
97
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
on the levee, received $172,000 a year for carrying the United States mail. The mail, express packages and passengers yielded the company about $5,000 a round trip.
A postoffice was established in the "Town of Kansas" in 1845, and Wil- liam M. Chick was appointed postmaster. He died soon afterwards and his son, W. H. Chick, succeeded him. The postoffice at first was situated on the levee. After being moved several times the postoffice occupied a two-story brick building at the southwest corner of Third and Main streets.
The increase in trade and the encouraging prospects led the members of the town company to revive the project of developing the town. The mem- bers of the company held a meeting, February 28, 1846, at the home of William B. Evans and decided to advertise a sale of lots for April, 1846. At this sale one hundred and twenty-seven lots and two blocks were sold for $8,137.42. The two blocks, lying between Fourth and Fifth streets and Wyandotte and Main streets, were sold to Robert Campbell for $300. Wil- liam M. Chick paid $341 for a lot on the levee. Several other lots in the same vicinity sold for $200 to $300, but most of the lots were sold for less than $100. The population of the town at the time of the lot sale was esti- mated at about three hundred.
The record of the sale of lots in 1846 gives the names of the purchasers with the vocation of each: Farmers-Jacob Ragan, N. Ross, W. G. Barclay, Fry P. McGee, John Park, Peter McGee and Thomas A. Smart; merchants- William M. Chick, Hiram M. Northrup, Pierre M. Chouteau and Thomas Elliott; butchers-John Javins, Thomas Javins and H. Javins; physicians- J. O. Boggs, Benoist Troost and S. G. Harlan; carpenters-Henry Jobe and M. Waldron; grocers-George Hudson and A. G. Yancy; traders-F. H. Booth and B. Linkingfelter; laborers-Henson Javins and Peter Belanger; brick makers-William B. Priddy and James Priddy; brick layers-Wil- liam Champagne and Franklin Barnes; hotel owner-William B. Evans; steamboat pilot-Charles Dripps; lawyer-L. Kaufman; broker-Charles Horning; stone mason-D. Edgerton; Santa Fe trader-B. Pruitt; sur- veyor-John C. McCoy; tailor-J. A. Stull; gunsmith-Gabriel Phillibert ; wheelwright-Moise Belmar; schoolmaster-Lott Coffman; gentleman-Wil- liam Gillis. Other men who purchased lots were: Robert Campbell, Thomas Breeze, E. F. Hand, Lewis Ford, David McWilliams, Robert Hudgins, Elijah Jackson and S. D. Ray, vocations not given.
Fry P. McGee was elected collector for the "Town of Kansas," May 3, 1847, and was the first man chosen for official duty in the town.
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.